Extreme Heat Warning: A Shallow End Gals Trilogy, Book Two

by Graybosch, Vicki

  Thor was standing next to him, his chest heaving, his eyes darting about the scene. His gaze landed on the row of knives on the island counter. Jeanne’s car was out front. Pablo said, “Either they took her, or she has the mom and the kid in another vehicle.”

  Thor pointed to the row of knives, “She saw them coming. And she still has ammo or these wouldn’t be here. If she still has ammo, there was nobody left to shoot. I’m betting she’s got the wife and kid.”

  Pablo stared at Thor, “You’re right.” He ran out the back door and yelled back, “Lisa’s SUV is gone! We have a tracker on it!”

  Pablo pulled up the GPS and saw that Lisa’s car was out by Jeremiah’s. He looked at Thor, “I bet she is taking them to Mambo’s.”

  Thor shook his head, “Why the hell would she do that? Take them to a swamp when half the city is crawling with law enforcement?”

  Pablo’s mind was racing, “She had to have a reason. Maybe someone was chasing her? The traffic? She feels safe there.”

  Thor called Simon and told him to bring Nelson to Core’s house and secure the sight. “Local PD is walking all over everything. We have to leave. There are five dead men here. The wife and kid are missing. So is Jeanne. We think Jeanne has them and is heading to that Voodoo lady’s place.” Thor snapped his phone shut.

  Simon stared at his phone, “What? Why would she do that?” The line was dead. Simon looked at Todd, “We’re off to Core’s house. Been a shooting and maybe abduction.”

  “Did someone take Jeanne?”

  “We don’t know what has happened. Jeanne, the wife, and the kid are gone. Five men shot. You drive. I’ll bring Roger up to date.”

  Roger closed his eyes for a brief moment and said a prayer for Jeanne’s safety. Thor and Pablo were on their way to help. Jeanne was good. It was out of his hands.

  Mathew had promised lunch to Lisa and Jamie. He wanted to spend time with them and find some way to alert Lisa to be extra vigilant about Jamie. Maybe he could just tell her he heard about a pedophile club in New Orleans. He’d think of something. What he needed to be doing was finding out where his guns were. He only had five hours before Manio’s men expected delivery. He was sure they had heard the news about the raid. He was also sure they didn’t care. They wanted their guns. They had paid for them. Mathew had to figure this out.

  He abruptly stopped his car at the end of the block. What was happening at his house? Mathew felt fear for the first time in years. His mind was racing, he thought he would puke. He slowly rolled his SUV past the house. He could see the bodies of two men lying on his front lawn and one up by the door. He slowed to almost a stop and saw Lisa’s car was gone. Maybe they were okay? Maybe the cops had actually saved them? He rolled a little farther down the street and stopped where a young officer was leaning against his patrol car.

  Mathew asked, “I live in this neighborhood. What happened back there?”

  The young officer said, “All I heard was some lady and her kid were abducted. FBI guy said some pedophile bunch or something.” Mathew’s jaw set. He pulled away and headed toward the country house address he had from Tourey’s desk. Patterson. The irony wasn’t lost on Mathew. His mind kept repeating, it’s my fault. It’s my fault.

  When he reached the country house, he parked right in front. He didn’t see Lisa’s car anywhere. He walked up to the door and picked the lock. Inside he heard a television and saw the feet of someone in a recliner. Their back was to him. He walked up quietly and saw Patterson was sleeping. Mathew lifted the remote and shut off the television. He walked around the chair, stood directly in front of Patterson, and shot his left arm.

  Patterson screamed, saw Mathew, and started crying. He grabbed his arm and with terror etched on his face asked, “What the hell did you shoot me for?”

  Mathew answered very quietly, “Where’s my daughter? Where’s my wife?”

  Patterson shook his head like he was shaking water from his ears. “What? I have no idea where your daughter is.”

  Mathew shot his right knee. Patterson screamed like he was on fire. “I don’t know. I swear. We don’t take kids from our own cities. It’s a rule.” Blood was covering Patterson’s clothes and hands. He held his hand up like he couldn’t believe he was looking at his own blood.

  Mathew shot Patterson’s left ear. Patterson screamed and began grabbing his body everywhere.

  Mathew whispered, “I can shoot about seven more body parts before you bleed out. So far none of these is life threatening. Who has my address? Where did that sick video go?”

  Patterson sobbed so hard he could hardly be understood. “All over the country. I don’t know who picked her. That’s one of the rules.”

  Mathew’s phone rang. It was Roger. Mathew answered, “Yeah.” He was holding his gun on Patterson and trying to decide where to shoot him next.

  Roger said, “I believe one of my agents has your wife and daughter. I think there was a cartel abduction attempt. I want you to know I do not have them in my custody yet. My agent has removed them from the danger sight, but we have not had contact with her. I will keep you posted.”

  Mathew snapped his phone shut. Roger had said ‘her’. Mathew guessed she would have taken them to the tunnel by the swamp if they were not in the city. He looked at Patterson, “Well, I have some good news and some bad news.”

  Patterson stared at him, shaking so violently his glasses had fallen off from his face.

  Mathew said, “The good news is I believe you. The bad news is it doesn’t matter. That’s my rule.”

  Mathew shot him in the groin. He watched him double over in agony and shot the back of his head at the base of his spinal cord. He wasn’t dead yet. It would take about twenty minutes. It would be an excruciating death. Mathew left the mansion without closing the door and headed toward Jeremiah’s.

  Thor and Pablo saw the deep tire tracks in the turn before Jeremiah’s. Thor twisted the wheel at the last minute and said, “She was movin’. Look how deep these tracks are. She didn’t want whoever was chasing her to find Jeremiah’s place.”

  Pablo was nearly out of his mind when they reached the end of the drive and saw Lisa’s SUV in the swamp. Another SUV was parked at the marsh edge and was empty. Thor saw trampled grasses heading toward Jeremiah’s. “Stay in the car, we’re movin’.”

  They raced back down the drive and nearly collided with a truck when they reached the road. Thor stood on the throttle until they saw Jeremiah’s drive. They nearly flipped the vehicle turning in. Pablo yelled, “I don’t see anyone.”

  Thor yelled, “The boat is gone.” They heard a gunshot from the six foot tall marsh grasses.

  Pablo jumped from their vehicle and yelled, “FBI. Cease firing!” He was shot in the shoulder. Another bullet passed his face and plowed through the gravel next to him.

  Thor yelled, “Get down,” as he tackled Pablo. “Get in those grasses. How bad are you hurt?”

  Pablo answered, “I feel it.”

  Roger, Paul, and John climbed up the boarding steps to the jet. They had decided a meeting on the jet was the most secure place for the Director. When they entered the cabin, Roger thought the Director looked ten years older than the day before. They all shook hands and the Director motioned them to take a seat.

  The Director handed them each a stack of about twenty pages. “Ellen has boiled down our problems to these transmissions, for now. You can’t imagine the number of communications being scrutinized already.” He was shaking his head. “We couldn’t possibly do this without her help. She just told me she is heading to some swamp to help Jeanne. Does that make sense to you?” The Director was talking to Roger.

  Roger told him about the abduction attempt of Mathew Core’s wife and daughter. He told the Director they believed the woman and child were with Jeanne. Roger expressed his concern about the amount of force the abductors were willing to use. The Director shuffled his pages. “Item seventeen on page twenty.” They all flipped to that page. Roger whistled. “The Manio
Cartel? We already have the involvement of the Zelez Cartel for Friday.”

  The Director said, “Read the entire conversation.”

  When they were through reading, Roger asked, “Do I understand this right? Lisa and Jamie Core were kidnapped for insurance to get this deal done? He sent eight guys? Talk about overkill. Jesse Manio was promised safe delivery to twenty-six U.S. cities, and he expects the weapons available to him by five o’clock today? How can Core do that? Manio is threatening blood baths in fifteen major U.S. cities tonight if he doesn’t get his guns? He obviously was one side of the deal for today.”

  The Director rubbed his neck, “It gets worse. Look who made the first set of calls at the time of the raid.”

  John said, “We have the prisoner from the target building at the port calling Core. Core calling Thornton. Thornton calling Thomas Fenley. Shit.”

  The Director said, “Keep going.”

  John continued, “Fenley called Manio? Manio called someone in Algiers, who called someone in London, who called someone in Yemen.”

  Paul couldn’t keep silent any longer. “What is happening?”

  John answered, “Algiers is diamonds, drugs and oil. London is oil and diamonds, Yemen is weapons and manpower. It appears old enemies are now strange bedfellows.”

  The Director nodded and focused on Roger, “The call Mathew Core received from Thornton followed a call Thornton had received from Thomas Fenley.”

  John asked, “What call are we talking about now?”

  The Director answered, “A hit was placed on Roger and Paul this afternoon. It was contracted to Core. Core called and warned Roger.”

  John stood and paced, “I knew about the hit call. I am starting to confuse the good guys and the bad guys. Why would Core warn Roger?”

  Roger answered, “Core says he wants to trade information for his and his family’s safety.” Roger looked at John, “Who is Thomas Fenley?”

  John answered, “Oil and diamonds. OSI thinks he’s the fixer for the top one percent of the top one percent. Never been able to nail him. He’s like a ghost. If oil needs a government dismantled, they call Fenley. CIA has him in their crosshairs on a regular basis, and he vaporizes away. I am working on him with OSI.”

  The Director said, “Ellen is keeping me updated. When I have something important, I will fly here again. I think it is important we keep our communications as private as possible. I’m sorry I’ve been hogging all of Ellen’s time. She told me the other angels helped with the community sweep this morning. My reports indicate several cities are asking for authority to copy you on this.”

  Roger asked the obvious question, “How do we handle this threat of Manio’s. Blood baths in fifteen cities?”

  The Director looked at Roger, “I have no idea. We have four hours before his delivery deadline. A little good news, we have Jason Sims again. He’s doing a little explaining to CIA right now.” That was probably the understatement of the day.

  Roger looked at the Director, “I think we can assume that our communication sting cover will be blown any time now. Too many people had to be involved for people like Fenley and Thornton not to get wind. I may want to use that to our advantage. We will want them to think they are in the clear. If I can put something together I am going to call you directly and I am assuming you will pass what I say on to Thornton. He may find out about the call anyway based on his sources. We need this to look legit.”

  The Director nodded slowly, “If I get a call like that from you I think I will ask Ellen to find a way for us to communicate easier than me flying here. Just to make sure I am following your plan.”

  Roger said, “Perfect. We may be able to spin this our way without Thornton and Fenley realizing it.”

  Roger, Paul, and John were in the SUV driving back to the city. There wasn’t a lot of talking. Paul and John were reading the papers the Director had given them. Roger was driving and looked in the mirror to the back seat at John, “You have a pensive look on your face.”

  “Pensive? What kind of word is that? If I look like I’m scared shitless, that I would understand. How is your orchestra rehearsal coming, by the way?”

  Roger answered, “The percussion section showed up.”

  Mathew Core pulled up in front of Jeremiah’s house. His SUV was hidden from view of anyone in the back. He heard a gunshot and saw Pablo was running toward the marsh grasses holding his shoulder. He could see Thor heading into the grasses from the other direction. The boat was gone. He knew Jeanne thought highly of Mambo. She might have taken Lisa and Jamie there. He saw a man coming up behind Pablo in the tall grass. Mathew took aim and fired. The man fell. He saw Pablo look around, but he didn’t change the direction of his assault.

  Jeanne had waited silently in the tall grass as one of her attackers crept forward. She stabbed him in the chest, retrieved her knife and stepped over his body. Like a lioness she crouched for her next attacker. She saw him through the reeds aiming his weapon. Jeanne made a noise to draw his attention and landed her kill shot as he turned to face her.

  Mathew went into Jeremiah’s house, moved the kitchen chairs, and lifted the trap door to the tunnel. He could see there was a light on. When he got to the bottom step he yelled, “Lisa? It’s okay it’s me.” Mathew heard the sound of someone running toward him. He aimed his gun in the darkness, and then saw Jamie’s face.

  “Daddy!” Jamie was hugging Mathew’s hips and crying. “Daddy, we are so scared.” Mathew could feel her little body shaking. Hiding in a dirty stone tunnel. Jamie pulled away, her big eyes searching his face, “Daddy, why are you holding a gun?”

  Lisa had run up behind Jamie, and wrapped her arms around Jamie’s chest. Lisa pulled her back against her body. Mathew and Lisa just stared at each other. Lisa could barely speak, her throat felt closed, and she could hardly breathe. She swallowed, “It’s all true isn’t it?” Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Mathew took a deep breath, “Lisa, I’ll explain everything someday. Right now you need to stay with the FBI. I have to make some things right.” Mathew looked at Jamie and touched her hair. She turned and buried her head deep in Lisa’s waist. Mathew said, “I love you both.”

  Mathew and Lisa heard Jeanne yell from the other side of the tunnel, “All clear, Lisa.”

  Lisa shoved Mathew’s hand from Jamie. Her eyes kept searching his, “Who are you?”

  “I don’t know anymore.” Mathew turned and left.

  The Shallow End Gals…Book 2

  List of Characters

  FBI

  Supervisory Special Agent Roger Dance, Senior FBI “lead” on case

  Supervisory Special Agent Paul Casey, number 2 FBI Agent on case

  Supervisory Special Agent Dan Thor, Indy Senior Agent…involved with Patterson arrest

  Special Agent Ray Davis, FBI Computer tech Special Agent Todd Nelson, arresting officer of William Patterson in Book One, team member Book Two

  Supervisory Special Agent Simon Frost, Senior agent transfer from NY Fraud Division

  Special Agent Pablo Manigat, New agent transfer from New York, brother of Jeanne

  Supervisory Special Agent Frank Mass, Senior Agent in New Orleans office

  Special Agent Jeanne Manigat, sister of Pablo and victim of Devon and Patterson in New Orleans

  Supervisory Special Agent Jim Spelling, based out of Virginia

  List of friends not approved by Mom

  Attorney James Devon, serial rapist and murderer convicted and jailed, escaped…alias Attorney Michael Parker

  William Patterson, convicted embezzler, child molester, escaped…alias Bernard Jacobs

  Mathew Core, the Fixer, does work for CIA and DOD, started own side business

  Jason Sims, Ex CIA computer genius, in business with Mathew Core

  Daniel Warren, “double” that replaced Devon in jail

  Guy Johnson, “Double” that replaced Patterson in jail

  Mark Mills, sniper that works for Mathew Core Thomas Fenley, works within
DC inner circles is known world wide

  William “Carl” Thornton, Deputy Director FBI

  Senator Rolland Kenny (Retired), friend of Patterson

  Theodore Chain, Gallery Owner

  Interesting characters

  Tourey Waknem, CIA Undercover, native N.O.

  Judge Ashley Tait, had been a victim of Devon in Book 1

  Mambo, Voodoo Queen that lives by Honey Island, NOLA

  Jeremiah Dumaine, old swamp man

  Alan Dumaine, Jeremiah’s nephew

  Adele Brown, “Other woman”, found in swamp by Jeremiah

  Jerome Brown, Adele Brown’s son

  Lisa Core, Mathew Core’s wife

  Jamie Core, Mathew Core’s daughter

  “Spicey”, Sadie Corbin, self-proclaimed psychic in New Orleans

  Sasha, Spicey’s friend and co-worker

  Wilma Abrams, cleaning lady for Patterson

  George Fetter, William Patterson’s gay encounter, works at Gallery

  John Barry, retired CIA, now OSI (Office of Special Investigations)

  Detective Johnson, NOPD Homicide

  Officer Demiere NOPD

  Dusty, portrait Artist

  Scotty, Bartender at Mickey’s

  Rebecca and Amy, bank tellers captured by Devon