True Justice

by Morgan Kelley

  “Hey, baby,” Ethan said, putting her up on the screen so she’d behave.

  “Handsome, I love you and miss you.”

  “Where are you?” he asked, keeping his fingers crossed that this was social.

  “I’m heading to Cleveland.”

  That said it all.

  It was time for her meeting.

  “Behave. Homeland isn’t watching this dude for shits and giggles. They likely want to keep watching him.”

  She got it.

  No killing the jackwagon.

  Check.

  “What do you need?” Ethan asked.

  “I only called for an update, handsome. I figured since you and Chris were there, I could tell you what I need from you, Ethan, and get what I need from Chris.”

  He was good with that.

  “What do you need to tell me?”

  “I just met up with Scott Downing. He said that his partner and he parted ways after the op. Can you get me that information from a personnel file? I mean, if Devin showed up dead, his partner might know what was going on, right?”

  “Likely. Stay on, and I’ll look it up for you,” he said, entering in his password.

  “It’s ‘IloveElizabeth’, right?” she teased.

  He grinned.

  “It’s ‘Mywifehatesbritches’.”

  That made her laugh.

  “Touché, Mr. Blackhawk. Touché.”

  When dealing with Elizabeth, you had to keep your sense of humor.

  He scrolled through Devin’s file.

  It was wiped.

  As in there was nothing but the basic information that you’d find in a file.

  “What the hell?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “His file is empty. There’s nothing. There are no electronic postings. I’ll call Linda. Maybe she can explain it. Stay on the call. She’ll pop up beside you.”

  Oh, she wished.

  She waited, biding her time.

  When the woman’s face came on the screen, Elizabeth blurted out, “Don’t fire her for ogling you, Ethan! I’ll handle her! Give her a second chance.”

  He gave her the look.

  Meanwhile, the woman looked shit scared and that had been the purpose of that little experiment.

  Yeah, Emma had been right.

  She was a poacher.

  “Linda, I just pulled up a personnel file. There’s nothing in it,” he said. “Why?”

  She looked confused.

  “Sir, only I, HR, or the director, could alter those. I didn’t touch it. I swear.”

  That didn’t really answer his question, but okay.

  “Well, get me his paper file. We keep paper duplicates to scan them in. The electronic system just rolled out two years ago.”

  “Sir, they aren’t kept here. DC had them shipped there for security reasons. They didn’t want our agents’ information getting out if a box was stolen.”

  Well, shit.

  “Okay, Linda.”

  Elizabeth stared at her on the screen and then pointed at her. The woman disconnected pretty damn fast.

  “Elizabeth, keep your terrorizing to one coast, please. I need her to keep doing her job.”

  She snorted.

  “I’ll call Ginny. She’ll dig up the file and send it to me.” He looked at his watch. “It won’t be here until tomorrow. It’s after seven on the East Coast.”

  “I don’t need paper. Have her scan it for me.”

  He could do that.

  She focused on Chris.

  “How are those autopsies going?” she asked.

  “Backbreaking.”

  “Ethan, can you rub his shoulders, please?” she asked, looking concerned.

  He moved behind Chris and rubbed the knot in his shoulder blades.

  “You have magic fingers,” Chris said, staring at the ceiling to alleviate some of the pain.

  “I say that allllll the time.”

  “Elizabeth, you have a gunrunner to question, and then we have to get ready for tonight,” he warned.

  She was aware.

  “Touchy. Doc, tell me what you found out. Where’s your helper?”

  “He’s a city employee. He clocks out after ten hours. Imagine that,” he said.

  “Maybe you should rest tonight…”

  He stopped her.

  “Mothering again.”

  “Yes, son.”

  He laughed.

  “Anyway, I went over the Jane Does that we had before we arrived in Vegas to accumulate more bodies.”

  She listened.

  “They were all tortured. Each one was a different method, and it was brutal. We had burns all over one, one had multiple healed fractures to her hyoid—which means multiple times he choked her out and let her come back—and then one was whipped to death. At one point, she was beaten so badly, that whatever he used had caught the carotid artery in her neck and she bled out.”

  She wasn’t surprised.

  “What about Molly Shepherd and the body under the bed, Sofia Bisecker?” she asked.

  “Well, that was an interesting one—and by interesting, I mean disgusting and made me want to weep.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “He repeatedly raped her with something not very dick like—meaning not soft and pliable.”

  Ethan waited for a joke, but none came.

  That told them how much this bothered her. Her face said nothing, but her silence spoke volumes.

  “Like?”

  “Bat, handle of a hammer, but your guess is as good as mine. She was damaged. Her cervix was full of scar tissue.”

  “How long was she dead?” she asked.

  “Two weeks.”

  “That’s so foul that I don’t even know what to say to that. Viktor Marchenko is a sicko.”

  “I hope you’re closer to finding him,” Chris said, stitching up the dead Fed.

  “Uh, the irony is my interviews all are leading toward the person helping in the FBI. Nothing on Marchenko yet. I’m hoping Mr. Gunrunner will help.”

  Ethan knew how frustrating that had to be. His wife wouldn’t rest until she got justice for those girls.

  “How about Molly’s wounds?” she asked. “I know COD. I was there,” she stated. “Was she pregnant?”

  “He had her for a while. It looked like her eyes were cut with something hot. A knife, a blade, something.”

  She was horrified.

  “She had no muscle mass left as her body began eating away at itself. She was close to death, and he likely knew it. He enjoyed torturing her. You can see it in his results. He was a master at his work. As for being pregnant, no, she wasn’t.”

  “Well, there is that,” Ethan offered.

  It pissed her off.

  “And then he killed her like she was garbage. She was someone’s fucking child. She mattered. I’m going to be the one who calls her parents, sees them cry, and tells them we found their daughter, and I almost had her saved. ALMOST!”

  Chris closed his mouth, caught off guard by the outburst. Normally, Elizabeth was cool and collected.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “Either of you.”

  Both men understood.

  This was a tough one.

  “Sweetness, it’s all good. I know this had to be hard for you. I had to look down at her, and I didn’t get to talk to her while she was alive. I can only imagine what you’re feeling. If you didn’t snap, I’d be concerned.”

  They could see Ivan rubbing her arm as he drove to offer her some sort of comfort.

  Both men were glad she was being soothed.

  “How about Devin Barosi?” she asked, pushing on despite the bile rising in her gut.

  “One GSW to the back of the head—like you called it. With the upward angle, he wasn’t on his knees, and there was no gun held to his scalp. The killer took the shot from behind him.”

  “Yeah, likely opened the door and he let him in.”

  “Who do
es that?” Chris asked.

  “Someone you trust, but doesn’t like you,” she stated. “If you’re involved in something dirty, you don’t turn your back on anyone. I’d be as paranoid as hell.”

  Ivan said something.

  “Boys, I have to roll. We’re here. This place is in the middle of nowhere. Now we know why he likes to run guns out of his home. It’s all woods—which is odd for Vegas.”

  She pulled her one gun, cocked it, and then patted her vest to reassure herself that it was still there.

  That always scared Ethan.

  ALWAYS.

  “Be safe, and don’t kill anyone else.”

  She smiled.

  “Darlin’, does that sound like me?” she asked.

  The feed cut before he could say anything else. Yeah, that sounded exactly like her.

  And that was what had them freaked out.

  * * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *

  Meanwhile…

  Viktor Marchenko was three days past pissed over the entire situation.

  His pets were dead.

  His house was gone.

  To make it a million times worse, his favorite gun was gone too. How was he supposed to live without his gun?

  He couldn’t.

  Your gun was an extension of you. It made you who you were. It made you strong.

  His mother always told him to keep track of his gun, and he hadn’t.

  She was going to hate him.

  He knew it.

  He wanted to please her.

  He wanted to make her happy.

  Only she was in his head screaming at him. She was always there, nagging…nagging…nagging. Nothing he did was good enough, and here was the proof.

  She wouldn't shut up.

  Viktor couldn’t handle it much anymore. Now that everything was gone, she’d really bitch.

  Then, she’d beat him until he got it right. It was training. She’d trained him to be a stronger man. He deserved it. He always deserved it.

  Now, he needed to get his gun back. He needed to find a way to get it. Not just any gun would do. He needed the same one his father had used. He needed that specific sniper rifle.

  Why?

  His brother used it too.

  It was that gun.

  IT made the man. He wanted to be just like his father. His mother loved him so much, and he was a good man. How dare Dimitri use it?

  He wasn’t worthy.

  So, he headed to Babylon’s place, and he surprised him when he appeared. That was how he worked. The element of surprise worked best.

  When the overly tattooed man opened the door, he was shocked.

  “Uh, why are you here?” he asked. “You can’t come here. Dimitri Gideon is looking for you,” he hissed.

  He wasn’t worried.

  “I need a new gun. I need a new Dragunov, and I need it now.”

  He shook his head and laughed.

  “I can’t get you that gun. I can’t make that appear. Between you and Dimitri, there are none around Vegas. I’ll need a couple of weeks. I’ll have to import it in, and then…”

  Viktor didn’t like that answer, so he hit him.

  Babylon went down.

  He struggled to get back up.

  “I need it now. That’s the gun that killed my brother. That’s the gun that will kill you if you don’t get it for me.”

  He laughed.

  “Uh, Viktor, I hate to rain on your parade, but your brother is very much alive. One of my guys saw him come off that mountain with a police detective. She saved him.”

  “HOLY FUCK!”

  He began cursing in Russian.

  He paced.

  Why wouldn’t he die?

  “I need that gun.”

  “I don’t have one. I’m sorry. You’ll have to wait, and the price has gone up. You know…supply and demand.”

  He turned, and when he did, he was so close to Babylon that he could smell his cologne.

  “Is that so?”

  “I’m sorry, but…”

  He didn’t get to continue.

  Babylon gasped as he felt the blade pierce his chest, and he looked down at it as it stuck sickly out of his body.

  “What have you done?” he asked, as he staggered.

  “Supply versus demand. I no longer have need of you, so my demand has dropped, and you won’t be supplying anyone.”

  “I helped you,” he said, as Viktor twisted the blade in his body.

  “Yes, you did. I hope you got my brother to pay for his favor. If not, you have a problem. Where you’re going, there’s no communication. Rest assured he’ll be joining you soon.”

  Babylon fell.

  Unfortunately, just as the man hit the ground, Viktor didn’t get to grab anything. He heard a car in the driveway, and he looked out.

  Shit!

  It was the Fed who invaded his home. If he had that Dragunov, she’d be dead.

  “See you later, alligator,” he said, laughing as he rushed out the back door.

  He’d get his gun.

  One way or another.

  This was far from over.

  Elizabeth knocked on the man’s door, and there was no answer.

  She tapped it with her boot.

  Again, nothing.

  Elizabeth only had to finish this interview, and then she and Ivan could head in. There was only one thing she could do.

  “Boost me up. I’ll look in the window.”

  “Are you insane?” he asked. “This dude sells ILLEGAL guns. If he’s not answering, we’re leaving.”

  She stared at him.

  “Ivan, we don’t have time. Once Viktor gets that gun, you’re likely going to be WEARING my brains.”

  Okay, she had a point.

  He boosted her up.

  “Bob and weave, crazy train.”

  She snorted as she stared into a window. That’s when she saw it.

  “I see shoes.”

  “Uh, okay. It’s his house.”

  “They are on feet, and attached to legs that are in a horizontal position.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “There’s a man down, Marine.”

  Great.

  Just freaking great.

  She was going to have to boot the door.

  Ivan dropped her to her feet, and Elizabeth got into position.

  “I’ll do it,” Ivan said. “Watch our backs. I don’t want to go to jail for whatever it is now,” he said. “Besides, he might booby trap his shit. If I let you get hurt on my watch, AGAIN, Ethan will kill me.”

  He had a point.

  Ivan kicked the door in, his gun in hand. Elizabeth followed, closing the door behind them. As they entered the living room, she’d been right. There was a heavily tattooed man on the floor—and he looked like a snake with all the scales tattooed on his body.

  It was Cleveland Landry, AKA Babylon, and he had a knife sticking out of his chest.

  “Oh, hell!” she said.

  She went to his side.

  “Who did this?” she asked, as his eyes flickered open.

  “Viktor,” he said before his eyes rolled up into his skull and his head lolled to the side.

  He was dead.

  “I’ll go,” Ivan said, standing up to follow Viktor.

  She grabbed his arm.

  “No. That’s crazy dangerous. He’s some Russian bag of nut-filled trail mix, and you don’t know the area. It’ll be like playing ‘kiss me fuck me’ in the woods with a bear. Not on my watch.”

  He was aware, but he couldn’t risk that she’d try to go.

  “Look around. Find me anything that Croft can use to find this guy.”

  He began searching.

  Meanwhile, Elizabeth made the video call.

  “Hey, baby,” her husband said. “That was fast. He wasn’t there?”

  Oh, not quite.

  “Hello, honey.”

  He and Chris both stared at her.

  “A funny thing happened on my illegal entry into
a gunrunner’s house who is being watched by Homeland Security.”

  Oh, Jesus.

  “What happened?” they both asked at the same time.

  “Know how you told me that they were watching him and not to kill him?” she asked.

  “You didn’t,” he said. “Please tell me this is your April Fool’s Day joke early.”

  She pointed her phone at the dead man.

  “I didn’t break my promise. Someone killed Cleveland, and it wasn’t us. When we got here, he was alive. He said it was Viktor, and then he was gone.”

  “DO NOT CHASE HIM!”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, I am not cuckoo. What do you want me to do about this funfest?” she asked.

  Chris sighed.

  He was up again.

  “I’ll go. What’s a seventh body in one day? I really need coffee.”

  Ethan stopped him.

  “I have to tell Homeland. If he was one of the people they were watching, they will want to scrub that location. Did anyone see you go in?”

  “No, Ivan lost the media on his way here.”

  “Okay, walk out of there, and I’m calling them right now.”

  “Ethan, give me ten minutes. I’m going to see if there’s anything here that can help us. When in a gunrunner’s home, look for his customer list.”

  “Ten minutes, Lyzee, baby. Homeland is going to shit a brick that he’s gone. He was likely a link to a bigger ‘problem’.”

  She was aware.

  “Thanks, Ethan. See you at the penthouse.”

  She hung up.

  “Okay, Ivan, get me something. This place is going to be burnt to the ground in a little over ten minutes.”

  They both pulled on gloves in case that didn’t happen. With Homeland, you never knew.

  They dug through everything, and they found a sales book. Everything was abbreviated, but they would take it.

  “I found this,” he said, grabbing the man’s phone.

  “That will work too.”

  There were two minutes left.

  “Let’s head out. We can’t get caught here,” he said. He’d seen Homeland scrub a scene. They didn’t look inside first. They literally lit it up with some Molotov cocktails.

  He grabbed the knife from the body and wiped it on the man’s pants. Then he followed Elizabeth out, closing the door behind them. They were in their vehicle and driving down the road when they saw a blacked-out ride heading their way.