“The environment? What the hell are you talking about? No, no you don’t. I’m not leaving here on just your say-so that you have nothing to hold me here on. You have a sniper out there, don’t you? Just waiting for me to come out of here and have me killed.” The agent, he forgot his name, didn’t say anything but stared at him. “Tell me why you’re releasing me.”
“We figured that once you were out, you’d be contacted by some of your associates. That’s the reason we held you here for so long. We want them to think just what we want them to, that you were giving us information. When you are around them, they can take you out and we’ll get them.” Randolph couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “We’ve set you up, pure and simple. There is a reporter out in the hall that I’m going to talk to as soon as you’re out of here. So, after you have a conversation with him, or not, just go on about your business and we’ll have a meat wagon ready for you in about ten minutes.”
“I’m not leaving here. You can’t do this. You know as well as I do that they’re not just going to kill me. They’re going to make me suffer in ways that you can’t imagine. And on top of that, you won’t know a damned thing, because we’re good at making sure you don’t know.” The agent pointed out that they had him. “No, I came here to report a crime.”
“Ah yes. You wanted to add your testimony to that of Con and Ava Macintosh to keep them in jail. Right? Well, I don’t buy that. You were brought here, and then you started singing about what they’d done to you. Nope, not going to fly. First of all, why would you do that?” He told him about how he’d been threatened by them. “Really? Big bad Randy Boone is afraid of a little man and woman? Christ, get real. You just want to know if they’re here, so you can have them killed right under our noses.”
That was what he wanted, but he was surprised to hear that they’d figured it out. There were times, like right now, that he missed Benson more than ever. He would have helped him get his shit together so that he’d not look like such a fool.
“You should know that while all the charges are still pending, the reporter is going to say that we’ve given you a deal for information. Information in the form of people that you’ve worked with and associated with. How the bodies on your property were not your doing, but that of your associates in crime.” He laughed. “Then there are the several million dollars that we found in your safe, with your fingerprints on them, that were from a robbery a few years back.”
“I didn’t kill them. And I never stole anything in my entire life.” He remembered Benson saying something to him once. The extra dead man, the one from too long ago to be his, would maybe get him off. He’d use that to get out of it all, he thought. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, you don’t. By the way, did you know that when you wrap a body up in a shower curtain, it sort of does its job?” He asked him what he meant. “It doesn’t let the liquid out. The woman, the one that has a dead child right next to her, is wrapped in a curtain. The baby, while it’s been there for some time, it’s well persevered. We’re going to run some tests on that too. Tell your fellow inmates, if you ever make it that far, that you murdered your own baby. Child killers and molesters don’t last long in prison, Randy. I would think that you, of all people, would remember that molesters don’t last long, inside of prison or not.”
His father had been a child molester and a collector of porn. Not of him—no, Randolph was his son, his dad had told his mom when she’d approached him about it. Besides, he told her, girls were more to his liking. His mom had pulled out a gun and shot him in the head. Then she’d turned the gun on Randolph, only to miss as he ran out of the room. A few hours later, he’d been informed that his parents were dead and that he’d been left a note from her. Telling him and whoever had read it before him what sort of sick bastard his dad had been.
“Stop calling me Randy. It’s Mr. Boone or Randolph to you.” He thought of the child and the woman. He hadn’t any idea what her name was, but she’d been huge pregnant when he’d knocked her down the stairs. He’d been sickened when the baby, all squirmy and slick, had come out of her. Not needing any kind of reminders running around, he made sure that it was buried right with his mommy. “For all you know, some ex-lover had her killed and put on my land.”
“Sure, and you had nothing to do with the other fifty plus deaths that we’ve uncovered. And one or two of them were actual partners of yours. Christ man, can you not be trusted with anything?” He wanted to tell the ass that he was the one that had been fucked over, but it would admit something that he didn’t want to. “Anyway, you should get your ass in gear and out of here. I have a lot of paperwork to do, and I want to look good for the cameras when the mayor has a press conference telling the country how he’d been instrumental in taking one of you guys off the streets.”
“No. I’ve told you, I’m not leaving here. I want answers. First of all, why not just arrest me?” He knew that this was going to be something that he might manage to live through. If he walked out of this building, he was as good as dead once the news reel was rolling. “And why did you send a car for me in the first place? Christ, man, have you no compassion at all for someone? They’re going to kill me if you tell everyone this.”
“That’s sort of the point. And because, as I said, we want to bring out the others in this city. There are a lot of them; I’m thinking that you’ve been hanging around with the worst of the worse. Anthony Warsaw. Then there is Davy Wickum. Known associates of yours.” The agent laughed. “Of course, we could be wrong. You might not be as high up in the organization as you want us to believe. Is that it, Randy? You don’t even know these men?”
He wasn’t falling for that one. He could have told them that these men and more had been to his home on more than one occasion. That the night that the woman had died, they’d been there with him, laughing as his men took care of the corpses. But he only leaned back in his seat and tried to think his way out of this.
“Where’s my lawyer?” He was asked why he needed one, he’d not been arrested. “I want my attorney here right now. Then you’re going to tell him just what you’ve done to me. I’m sure there are laws about setting someone up like you’ve done.”
“Nope. I checked. We’re only letting you go, and that’s it. What people, reporters, and your associates infer from that is their own conclusion. But while someone is looking for your attorney, tell me what it is you think you need him for?” Randolph said nothing. “Not talking? Oh well. Let me make a few guesses. You want him here because we’re not arresting you. No, that can’t be it. That would be a good thing. You think you have grounds to have us arrested for not putting you in prison. Well, that’s not really going to fly, now is it? I mean, what fool would do that?”
“Where is he?” The agent nodded at the glass behind him, and he knew that Joseph was on the other side of the glass. “And I want a room that’s private. I don’t need you guys recording my conversation with my attorney.”
“You could just leave here. I mean, whatever you have to say to him, we’d only be listening in for entertainment value. As I have said to you, you’re not under arrest, nor are we going to press charges against you. We have no use for you whatsoever, not, as the saying goes, when there are bigger fish to fry.” He didn’t move when the men stood up. “Have it your way, Randy. I’ll set you up in an office, so you can have some quiet time. You might want to think about taking a nap too. You’re sort of cranky.”
When he was shown to the room where Joseph was, he asked to go into the one next to it. He wasn’t sure why they’d tape his conversation, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. Joseph asked him what was going on.
“They’re not arresting me.” He nodded and told him that was a good thing. “No, it’s not. They’re selling me up the creek, Joseph. And having a new reporter say that I’m working with them. That will have me dead in a heartbeat.”
“I don’t understand. Do you want them to arrest you, Randolph?�
�� He told him again what their plan was. “So, what? You didn’t tell them anything, did you? I’ll put in a call with them, all of them, and tell them what they’ve done. Will that help you?”
“Yes, yes. You think they’ll allow that?” He pointed out that he wasn’t arrested. “Yes, I suppose that is good in this. But I don’t trust them. Don’t tell them that I’m here with you. I want you to tell them everything, and that I’m not leaving here until I’m assured that this is going to be all right with each of them.”
“All right. Just sit there quietly.”
He did, even when there was some heated discussion with the men that Joseph had called about what he may or may not have told the Feds. Joseph was good, he’d have to say that. But the end of the thirty-minute conversation with his associates on conference call, he was not only told he’d be fine, but one of them had asked if he wanted to come and stay with him for a few days, to decompress. “I’ll let him know that the offer is out there, Mr. Wickum. I just don’t know what the world is coming to when even the Feds are out to make someone be killed.”
After the call was disconnected, Joseph sat back in his seat. Randolph knew he was upset, he was too. But he didn’t think their reasons were even close to being the same. Randolph decided to come clean, for his help.
“There’s some cash I need for you to get for me. It’s for you.” Joseph told him he wasn’t going to do it. “You take it. I want you to have it.”
“Why would you do that?” He told him it was for helping him out. “You do know that you pay me a great deal of money each month just to have me around, right? I don’t want your money, Randolph, not like this. You might need it. I’ve just found out that all your accounts are empty as of five this morning.”
“I figured that would be the first thing the Feds did was freeze my accounts.” Joseph shook his head. “What do you mean, no? Are they empty or frozen?”
“Empty. And it wasn’t the Feds this time. It was a woman by the name of Clare Macintosh Winchester. She left you a note with the banker that she worked with.” He dug it out and handed it to him. “You read it. I’ve not, so if you’d like to share, that would be all right with me.”
He opened the envelope and could smell her perfume on it. The woman had class, that’s all he could think about. And he was sure that someone had helped her with this. Whoever it was, he was going to kill them as well.
“Randy.” He hated that nickname, and now it seemed that everyone was calling him that. “Randy. I wanted to personally thank you for the funds to use. The people in our town will have all they need for a long while. Blankets and other items were easy to get, but with your donation we’ll be able to give each person enough money to see a doctor for their depression, as well as the medicine to help them cope. You’ve saved a great many lives with this money, and I think we might even name the shelter for you. I’ll have to think on that. Thank you kindly, Clare Winchester.”
“I hate those fucking Winchesters. I hate them with all my heart, Joseph.” The other man nodded. “I’m going home, finding this bitch, and making her pay. Then I’ll find the rest of them. I’m sick to death of being taken advantage of.”
~~~
Addie saw the limo pull up in front of the Bureau. She had been on the top floor of this hotel for the last several days, just making sure that things were going to go her way. Looking out the window through the small hole that she’d put there, she saw that there was still no movement. Not that she didn’t trust the man on the inside that was helping her, but she had her own methods of working too.
He’s moving. Picking up her gun, she made sure that the sights were all in line, the barrel still fit into the hole before putting it to her shoulder. Nothing, from this point out, could be wrong, or so many people, including her, would be pissed off. Down the elevator. I’d say, less than fifteen ticks.
There was no reason for her to answer. They had no use for headsets, microphones, or anything else electronic. Addie didn’t own a cell phone, or any other device other than a watch. Old as fuck, but still worked. All the other things, they could and would get you killed.
The man, Randolph Boone, came out of the FBI building thirteen seconds later. Letting out a long breath, she lined her crosshairs on his head and pulled the trigger. When he turned to look at the men beside him, she fired once.
Before she saw him fall, Addie was breaking her rifle down and putting it away. Looking out the window again, the shot from across the building hit her in the chest. Then her shoulder and gut. Pulling her nine-millimeter out, she fired at the other person twice before he fell out of the broken window he’d been firing from. If her bullet didn’t end him, then the fall from forty stories certainly would.
Furnace tape was put over each of the holes in her body suit. Black would hide the blood, but she didn’t want a drop of it to fall to the floor. After she was sure that there were no traces of her, she held her handgun in her hand as she made her way out of the room. The elevator dinged just as she slipped into the next room where the maid was working.
Her room was raided. The sound of breaking furniture and glass had the maid that had been in the bathroom here go into the hall. She could hear the men stomping through the room without saying a word. Very unfair of them, she thought, but didn’t have time or the energy to school them today in rules of combat.
Instead of going up, she made her way down. Every bad guy went to the roof. To her way of thinking, where did you have to go but off the side? And she wasn’t feeling it today. Today, she needed to get medical aide. Reaching to her partner, the only person in the world that she trusted, she told him she was hurt.
Arm, gut, and chest. I took care that nothing was left behind. Addie shot the two men coming up the stairs in front of her. Gone bad here. I’m going to need a place to hide and a med.
I have a car for you in the alley behind the little restaurant, about ten blocks away. Can you make it? She told him she’d have to. You get there, I’ll find us a driver that I can control.
Addie killed three more men, dressed in the same type of tactical gear that the others had been wearing. This was really bad. Each person had letters blazed across their chest, FBI. Since they’re the ones that had called her in, she had no idea what the fuck was going down.
In the lobby of the hotel, she took a left instead of a right to gather her clothing and get dressed. The wounds were making themselves known to her now, and she was hurting. Stopping the bleeding, she put the sulfur on each of them when she peeled off her suit. Folding it up and putting it away, she called out to Bug again.
I’m not going to make it. I’m really bleeding here. Bug cursed long and fluently, and in several different languages. You are making some of those up, I think.
You must really be hurting if you’re making jokes. I’ll be on the street. Don’t get yourself killed over this. She walked out of the lobby and into the street. There was a lot of cruisers there, men in suits directing traffic, and the coroner’s wagon. She asked him about that. Yeah, I can see that too. This was arranged, Addie. I mean, they were waiting for you to be here.
No shit. Now what do I do? The restaurant was too far away. Instead of going there, she took a turn into an alley and rested. Bug, I’m not sure I can go much further. I’m bleeding out here.
Christ. I’m sending you someone. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t have a clue what you’re about. He and his wife were having a nice dinner when I made him leave. A man and a woman came in the alley just as she was sitting down. Pulling out her gun, she asked Bug what he knew about them. Doctor Winchester. Don’t shoot him, Addie. He’s a wolf and you’ll only piss him off.
I’ll try not to. I’m fading fast here. They were talking about the feeling that had made them leave the restaurant before dessert. Bug, you said they were wolves, didn’t you? Because I’m feeling so much more.
I don’t know. I’ve only heard that he was a very special doctor. A country one. She laid back and raised her gun and straig
htened up as soon as they both started walking toward her. What would you like for me to do?
I don’t know. He said he’d be in touch with her. She looked at the couple that had stopped when she lifted the gun. “I know who you are, but not what, because you’re more than a pair of wolves.”
“Yes. I’m also a doctor.” She said that he was more than that too. “Yes. But for now, how about we have a look at your wounds? I can smell the blood from here.”
Nodding once, she lowered her gun. She was much too weak to put it away. And when the woman took it from her, Addie said she’d need it back. It was special to her.
“You’re a para-canvas, aren’t you?” Addie didn’t answer but stared at her. “I’ve been around others like you. Ones that didn’t embrace their other selves and killed themselves. How did you manage to figure this out?”
“I’m smart like that, I guess.” It was harder to keep her eyes open now. She would need to sleep for a few hours after they removed the bullets, then she’d be able to run. Weak, but able to run. “I’m going to need a place to lay low and to get something to eat.”
“My place.” She was shaking her head as a sting at her arm made her realize that he was doping her up. “I’m not going to argue with you. That person that sent us to you, I’m sure that they knew we could be trusted.”
“What the fuck are you?” The woman smiled, and Addie knew. As surely as she was sitting there bleeding to death, she knew who this was. “You’ve come to collect me, Death Watcher?”
“No. I’ve come with my husband to save your life. And those people that are close to you now, none of them have a single bit of hard feelings for you. Whatever you did, they feel as if you did it for them.” Whatever, her mind screamed at her when the drugs kicked her ass. “Let it take you. Slip away.”
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