by M T Stone
“She didn’t want to hurt you or your brother, but neither of you can take a fucking hint,” someone with a strong Russian accent hisses in my ear. “Now I have to scramble your brains, too.”
“No!” Mandy screams. I can see out of the corner of my eye that someone is holding her hostage as well. God dammit, I can’t do a fucking thing about it. Where the hell is Anthony?
“Slide the file over to me!” the man behind me demands. “Now or he’s dead!” I feel another sharp pinch in the back of my neck.
I hear the file hit the concrete and a second later is the sound of it sliding toward us. He turns me toward Mandy, so now I can see a man behind her holding a gun between her shoulder blades.
“Let her go,” I tell the man. “I’m the one who has been pushing her to go after Tommy.”
“I do not know this Tommy,” my captor says. “But you both need to be erased, he says as his hand shifts and I once again feel a surge of pain in the back of my neck. A split second later, there is a thud and a warm spray of blood splats across the right side of my head.
“Uuugh!” the man behind me screams out, just as there is a second thud. I reach back pulling a syringe from my neck, just as the other man’s head explodes like a pumpkin that has been shot with a shotgun.
“My God!” Mandy screams, dropping to her knees and covering her head with her hands. I scramble over to her with the syringe still in my hand. Anthony and I both reach her at the same exact time.
“You’re okay,” Anthony tells her after giving the back of her head a quick once over. “How about you?” he asks, turning to me. He grabs my head, pushing my eyelids up and looking into my eyes. “I think you’re okay,” he says, before scurrying back to his feet and taking off after the guy who had attacked me.
I turn to see that my captor has disappeared, along with the manila envelope. An engine revs and the sound of squealing tires fills the air. I immediately know that he has gotten away and taken the case file with him. I turn to Mandy, putting my arms around her and squeezing her tightly. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“I’m glad you’re okay too,” she replies with tears rolling down her cheeks. “Trey, are you all right?” she asks as spots begin to fill my eyes and everything begins to go dark.
Mandy
“Trey! Trey! There is something wrong with him,” I yell to Anthony as he comes jogging back toward us.
“I was afraid of that,” he replies, but I wanted to see if I could catch that fucker. “I wanted to take him alive,” he says, glancing over at the other man who is missing a chunk of his head.
“Trey, can you hear me?” he asks loudly, slapping the side of Trey’s face. “Call 9-1-1 he instructs me. We aren’t close enough to anything, so we’re better off waiting for an ambulance.” He pulls the syringe from Trey’s hand and continues to try to get a response from him. “It’s either the toxin or else the needle itself did some damage,” he adds, wiping away the blood in an attempt to examine his neck.
“Holy fuck,” Trey moans, while his eyes begin to flutter rapidly.
“The ambulance is on the way,” I tell them, dropping the phone and taking Trey’s head in my hands. “You’re okay, just open your eyes,” I tell him, looking directly into them.
“Uugh, I don’t feel good,” he says turning to the side and expelling the contents of his stomach onto the concrete. “Oh, fuck, I feel weird.” He sits up and drops his face into his hands.
“I’ll make sure they do a tox screen and take you in for a ct scan to make sure nothing is bleeding back there,” Anthony tells him, looking around to make sure the area is still secure.
“How did you know this was going to happen?” I ask him, amazed by the fact that he seemed to be ready for them.
“I noticed a gray CR-V a few times on the way here,” he tells me, still trying to wipe the blood from the back of Trey’s neck. “It pulled into a parking spot, right over there, after you two went inside,” he says, pointing across the street. “So I snuck out of the vehicle and picked out the best vantage point.”
“Well, thank God you did or we both would have had scrambled brains right now,” I reply, still not believing what just transpired. “I’ll never forget the feeling of having that gun jammed in my back.”
“Yeah, sorry I left you hanging for a bit, but until he turned Trey around I couldn’t get a clean shot at both of them,” he explains. “I wanted to take The Ghost alive, but I guess I should’ve just taken him out. I got greedy.”
“Well, I don’t think he will make it too far,” I reply, looking at the huge pool of blood on the floor. “Where did you hit him?”
“Right in the wrist,” Anthony says showing me the inside of his wrist. “I damn near blew his hand right off.”
“Okay, now I’m starting to feel nauseous.” I stand up and try to walk it off. “Noticing that Trey’s phone is still laying on the ground, I pick it up. “Hello?” I say, seeing if Agent Mitchell happens to still be on the other end.
“Mandy?” he replies, sounding distant. “I had you on speaker phone. I’ll be there in just a few minutes, so you guys stay put.”
“We aren’t going anywhere for now,” I inform him. “We are waiting for an ambulance, Trey isn’t feeling well.”
“Alright. I’ll be right there.” I hear a click as he ends the call. At least he heard how everything went down; there will be no ambiguity as to what happened here.
CHAPTER 17
T rey
Agent Mitchell and the ambulance show up at the same exact time. Both come rushing toward us, with completely different agendas in mind. I am starting to feel better, but I agree that a quick CT scan would be a good idea. The last thing I want is to go back to the hotel and bleed out in my sleep.
“Who’s this guy?” Agent Mitchell asks Anthony after briefly checking on me.
“An accomplice apparently, I’ve never seen him before,” Anthony replies, looking back at the guy over his shoulder. “He definitely looks Russian.”
Agent Mitchell walks over to the man and begins to search his pockets. After a few seconds he stands up with a wallet in hand and begins going through it. “Oh shit, this guy is a foreign diplomat,” he tells Anthony, holding up a visa.
“Fuck, I guess I should’ve just shot him in the leg or something, but he had a gun in Mandy’s back,” Anthony explains. “He left me no choice.”
“You’ll have to work with us, Sir,” a paramedic scolds me for not paying attention to him. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Four,” I reply, stating the obvious.
“The correct answer was three,” he replies. “Let’s get him on a stretcher.” Two paramedics carefully lift me onto the stretcher as the other shares the plan with the others. “We’ll be taking him over to the Mount Sinai in Chinatown. It’s the closest place where he can get a quick scan. If there are any signs of hemorrhage or other issues, we will transfer him to the main hospital downtown.”
“Okay. This is what was jammed in the back of his neck,” Anthony replies, showing him the syringe. “You might want to have them test the solution.”
“You can take a sample of the contents, but I want the syringe,” Agent Mitchell scoffs. “If it was The Ghost, I want to get his finger prints on file.”
“It was definitely him,” Anthony confirms. “I should’ve taken him out instead of this guy.” He nods toward the dead man.
“You guys need to protect Vicky, she’s in a meeting upstairs,” Mandy tells Agent Mitchell. “I need to talk to her about rebuilding the case file.”
“I’ll have Bolt come down and keep an eye on her,” Anthony says, pulling out his phone and sending him a text message. “Crusher can handle Trump Tower alone.”
“I’ll stick around in the meantime. You all get out of here now and let me clean up this mess,” is the last thing I hear Agent Mitchell say as they load me into the ambulance and close the doors.
Mandy
I get a sickening feeling as t
hey close the rear doors of the ambulance and it pulls away from the curb. I probably should have ridden in the back with him, but I was a little distracted by the thought that Vicky might be in danger. Anthony and I get back into the SUV and I feel my hair crunch against the headrest. I suddenly realize that Trey wasn’t the only one covered in blood.
“Gross! I can’t believe no one said anything!” I tug at the shoulder of my blouse trying to see how much blood is on the back of it.
“It could’ve been a lot worse. At least it’s his blood and not yours.” Anthony counters, glancing over at me. “Besides, it really doesn’t stand out against your black jacket and dark hair.”
“That’s true, but it’s pretty disgusting to have a stranger’s blood sprayed across your back,” I reply in my defense, feeling nauseated once again.
Anthony’s phone begins to ring just as we turn onto Centre Street and head toward the hospital. He pops his Bluetooth headset back on and clicks to answer. “What’s up Romeo?” he asks, his expression immediately turning back to a scowl. “I see… hmm, that’s not good.” He rubs his chin between his index finger and thumb apparently contemplating what Romeo is telling him. “I would go in,” he says after several more seconds of pondering. “If that’s what the neighbor saw, I think you have to go in and take a look.” He leans back and switches to rubbing his neck, still listening to what Romeo has to say. “I’m onboard with that. Hit me back, asap.” He clicks to end the call and lets out an extended breath. “Carly might also be dead,” he says bluntly, glancing over at me. “The boys are going in to check on her.”
“Dead, why would she be dead?” I ask, vocalizing my initial thought.
“She’s in a third world country and she left the bank with a million and a half in cash,” he looks at me over his shades. “Remember the guy on the bench by the bank? He was scared to hang onto five grand, because he knew he would get rolled if anyone found out.” He turns back to focus on following the ambulance. “We’ll know for sure, shortly.”
I think back to what The Ghost had said to Trey. Even though I was scared shitless, I distinctly remember him saying, she didn’t want to hurt you or your brother. When Trey and I met Carly at the funeral, she seemed like a very confident, professional woman. I never would’ve taken her for a criminal, especially one who was capable of murder. Although, looking back, she never did display the slightest bit of emotion. Silvia and Nana were both much more emotional than she was. I guess you never know whom you are dealing with when you meet someone for the first time.
An Hour Later
Trey
“You’re one lucky man,” the ER doctor tells me as I am rolled down the corridor toward the waiting room. “Nothing vital was punctured and we were able to neutralize the fluid that had leaked from the syringe. You won’t have any lasting effects.”
“That’s good” I reply, looking up at him. “But my head is still pretty fuzzy.”
“That might take a day or two to clear up, but as long as you take it easy there shouldn’t be any further complications,” he assures me, swinging open the door to the waiting area.
“Trey, is everything okay?” Mandy asks, shooting up from her chair and racing to my side.
“Who are you?” I ask, punctuating it with a convincing blank stare.
“What happened? He seemed fine,” she asks the doctor with a pleading look in her eyes.
“I don’t know, apparently the trauma affected his sense of humor.” The doctor sighs. “He’s fine, other than this distasteful joke.”
“Seriously?” she squeals, holding up her hands as if she wants to grab me by the neck. “You’re lucky your neck is injured.” She shakes it off and a smile comes to her face. “I’m really glad you are okay.” She runs her fingertips along my cheek, looking down at me.
“I’m glad we’re both alright,” I tell her, feeling closer to her than ever. “Let’s go back to the hotel and get something to eat.”
“Yes. He needs to lay low for a few days in order to avoid complications,” the doctor warns sternly. “He was about a quarter inch from seriously damaging his brain stem.”
“Wouldn’t that have been nice,” Anthony chuckles. “Scrambled twins.” He steps behind the wheel chair and takes over pushing me out to the SUV. “I think your mother already has her hands full with Tyler,” he adds once we are outside the door.
“Scrambled twins.” I can’t help laughing as I rise from the wheelchair. “You really have a way with words.” I slap him on the shoulder and slide into the back seat of the vehicle with Mandy following me inside.
Anthony’s phone begins to ring while he is closing the door, so he grabs the call and stops in front of the SUV, lowering his head as he listens.
“It’s most likely Romeo,” Mandy informs me. “It looks like Carly was robbed and most likely murdered. I’ll let Anthony explain it to you, he’ll have more details.”
“Murdered?” My mind immediately goes into a spin. “She’s supposed to be the one behind all the murders.” This is getting too damn crazy.
“It doesn’t look good,” Anthony tells us as he hops into the driver’s seat after hanging up with Romeo. He turns around to talk directly to Trey. “To bring you up to speed, they found an old wooden chair with duct tape and blood stains on both arms, sitting in front of an open safe,” he explains to him. “There was a pool of blood on the floor and it appears as if her body was dragged part way across the room. This coincides with the original report from a neighbor who saw three men loading a rolled up rug into a van. She was most likely inside of it.”
“Jesus Christ! I think we need to stop by the office and have another talk with Tommy,” I blurt out, immediately knowing that he had something to do with this. “Somehow he figured out how to pin everything on her and now she’s dead. Maybe he’s right and he will walk away from the whole thing.” I reach back and rub my neck as I feel it beginning to throb.
“You are going to rest tonight,” Mandy demands. “I’m having Vicky put together a new case file and we’ll confront Tommy, with it in hand, tomorrow afternoon.”
“You’re right, I think I need to lie down for awhile.” I look straight forward, trying to focus on the headrest in front of me. “I’m still feeling dizzy.”
“It will take a little time for those chemicals to completely dissipate,” Anthony says, giving me his medical opinion. “A couple big glasses of that fancy Cognac should flush things out.”
“Now who has the warped sense of humor?” I reply, shooting him a look through the rearview mirror.
Mandy
After a hot shower, a bite to eat and lying down for an hour, Trey seems to be getting back to normal. He comes out to the living room where Anthony and I have been writing down everything that occurred leading up to and following Victor’s death.
“It looks like a war room out here,” he observes, after seeing everything we have laid out. “Have you guys come to any conclusions?”
“Every time we think we’ve answered one question, it creates two more,” Anthony says, walking over to the bar and pouring himself a glass of Jack.
“Like, how did The Ghost know to intercept us at the SEC office?” I ask, providing an example. “It seems odd that we were attacked right after picking up the case file. There is no way that Tommy should have known anything about it.”
“The Ghost seemed to know exactly what was in the envelope, so someone had to have tipped off Tommy,” Trey says with a look of realization crossing his face. “Vanessa… she’s the only one who would’ve done that.”
“Seriously? She would risk both of our lives to keep him out of trouble?” I ask very pointedly, as Anthony nods his head in silence.
“It doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t think there was anyone else in the room who would’ve leaked it,” Trey says, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m positive it wasn’t Becky.”
“You need to talk to Vanessa tomorrow morning,” I tell him with conviction. “We can�
��t have her around if she’s going to jeopardize everything.”
“I agree,” Anthony adds, downing the rest of his drink. “I’m going to go check in with Bolt and Crusher, then I’m going to grab some shuteye. I’m sure it will be another busy one tomorrow.”
“Damn, I can’t believe Vanessa did that,” Trey adds. “But, she has been acting weird ever since I got home. I’m not sure what the deal is between her and Tommy, but something is going on there.” He grabs the black marker and writes on our diagram. First Vanessa and now he’s taking over the company. “That’s what Tyler said in the voicemail message he left me. I’m going to get to the bottom of that statement tomorrow. Vanessa is the one who changed Tyler’s doctor, so we need to take that into consideration too.”
“I’ve always felt that there was something going on between Tommy and her, but then he was with Liv and there is a connection with Carly as well,” I recap in exasperation. “If he has been using all three of them, it’s obvious the man has no soul.”
“Tommy has always been about Tommy,” Trey says walking toward the bar. “He totally used Liv to get the scoop on me, he used Vanessa to manipulate Tyler and as a grand finale he pinned everything on Carly and had her taken out.”
“So you think Tommy was behind her murder as well?” I ask, curious as to how he made the connection.
“He knew that she was going to shut down the bank account, so maybe he suggested that she take out a chunk in cash to have just in case things went bad,” he says dropping ice cubes into a rocks glass. “Then after she left the bank, he told some thugs where she was staying and they got to keep the cash for disposing of her.”
“She paid for her own death? Wow, that’s cold.”
“She paid for her own death, so there is no trail back to Tommy,” he says, filling the glass with sparkling water and adding a lime twist. “All the evidence points to her and now she appears to be dead. Everything leads to one big dead end.”