Sirens screamed from all directions. An FBI agent scaled the fence to assist Nick. An EMT crew began working on Joey.
The agent had been called to the scene from the Special Cases task force. He had barely been briefed as to what was happening. He asked Nick, “You must be Stryker. Is he dead?”
“No. He’s just stunned. Keep a close eye on him. I don’t know what you’ve been told, but he’s a professional hit man for the mob. How are your men inside?”
“Alive.”
Nick walked over to the older woman and wrapped his hands around hers. “Are you hurt, ma’am?”
She looked tearfully at Nick’s face. She was shaking badly, but answered, “Oh my, you’re a handsome young man.” Then she fainted. The EMTs started working on her.
Nick called Phillips, “We’ve got him. Ask Travis where this paperwork is and I can start finding it.”
Phillips said, “My guys should be doing this.”
Nick sighed, “Your guys are kind of busy right now. Let’s fight about territory when this is done.”
Phillips was still driving, so he handed Travis his phone. “Here, tell Stryker what to look for.”
Nick kept Travis on the phone with him as he located a stack of binders, a bank bag full of flash drives, and ten years of recorded telephone calls. Travis was into covering his butt. Travis directed him to a desk computer and was listing the file folders for Nick to copy when a flurry of gunshots and shouting rang out from the street.
Nick hung up on Travis, jumped over the EMTs working on the fallen agents, and ran outside. FBI agents were shooting down the street at a fleeing car. An FBI agent and two EMTs were motionless in the ambulance. The agent in charge was screaming orders to his men. Nick glanced at the massacre in the ambulance. Lacastra was better than he thought.
One of the EMTs had been outside of the ambulance and suffered only minor wounds. “He needed an IV. I talked the FBI agent into cuffing him in the front. This is all my fault. I thought the guy was unconscious.”
Nick holstered his pistol and went back inside. Once seated at the desk computer again he dialed Phillips. “Lacastra escaped. I was told he took your guy’s gun, shot him and two EMTs. All three are dead. Lacastra played possum to put them off guard. It isn’t pretty here.”
Nick paused, he felt guilty for stating the obvious. Agent Phillips had just lost at least one man and had several others wounded.
Nick sighed, “I’m sorry, the last thing you need is hot air from me. I’ll finish this with Travis. Who do you want to take this stuff? There is a lot.”
Agent Phillips couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His men were having a bad night. Because of the secret nature of the assignment, the other agents didn’t even know what was going on. Nick was right, people were making mistakes. He had to have those documents. “I’m not that far from you. Can you bring the stuff here? I’ll give you the address.”
“No problem.”
* * *
Dominick Guioni settled back in his leather chair, sipped on his scotch and listened to Etta James singing ‘At Last’ on his sound system. A loud buzzer from the front gate blasted from the intercom on the end table. Dom scowled as he turned down his music and answered. “What?”
The voice of one of his guards replied, “There’s a Mr. Lacastra here. He’s bleeding and says you’ll want to see him.”
Dom wondered why he was bleeding already. He had only arrived in the city this afternoon. “Let him in and call the Doc.”
The guard at the gate took Joey’s small .22 and motioned him through. Joey drove down the long, dark drive toward the mansion and readjusted his pistol in his waistband. The escort guard walked alongside the car obviously talking to a girlfriend. The gate guard hadn’t even patted him down. Sloppy, they were all sloppy. Joey wondered how men like Dom had survived in positions of power.
Dom watched as Joey was ushered into the doorway of his study leaning heavily on one of the guards. His pant leg was soaked in blood. Dom motioned for him to sit in the leather chair. He knew from experience that blood cleaned easily off leather.
Dom frowned, “What happened?”
Joey tried to put the best light on the situation he could. “Obviously, I’ve been shot. I went to do Cummings at his house and the damn FBI showed up.”
Dom raised an eyebrow. “How do you know it was FBI?”
Joey raised his voice. “They told me! I think I killed a couple of them.”
Dom stood and shouted, “So you decide to drive here? To my home? Were you followed?”
“I was careful.” Joey could see that Dom was not reassured. “There was some ninja Chicago cop that shot me and roughed me up. You never mentioned the FBI was crawling all over this Cummings when I took the job.”
Dom shrugged. “I didn’t know. Did you get Cummings?” Dom realized that Travis Cummings more than likely went to the FBI to make some kind of deal. Now he had both the Northside crew and the FBI gunning for him.
Joey answered, “Cummings never even came home. I’m the one that was set up. I’m telling you there must have been ten FBI agents and that crazy cop there.”
Dom wondered if the crazy cop wasn’t Nick Stryker. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t going to get to Cummings in time to stop him from talking.
CHAPTER 15
Wednesday 8:00 p.m.
He heard Ryan’s key in the lock. The excitement of escaping was almost too much to bear. He smoothed his clothes with his palms to remove the dampness of his sweat.
Ryan closed the door behind him. “We’ve hit a snag. I need to take care of something before we can go.”
He felt the disappointment wash over him in waves. Ryan must have noticed. “Trust me; I’m getting you out of here.”
* * *
Renee sat in her car in the employee lot of Building D. She dreaded going back inside and running into Dr. Elmhurst. She was just about ready to open her car door when Dr. Bates walked out of the employee entrance in the back. Renee slid down in her seat. She didn’t want him to see her.
She watched in shock as Dr. Bates released the trunk lid of Dr. Elmhurst’s car and crawled into the trunk. A moment later Dr. Elmhurst walked out the door, glanced around, slammed his trunk lid and drove away. Renee didn’t know why, but she started crying. Nothing here seemed real or logical. Why would Dr. Bates get in the trunk of Dr. Elmhurst’s car? Could it be her? No, she knew what she saw. She just didn’t know what it meant.
Ryan knocked on her driver’s window and nearly gave her a heart attack. Renee lowered the window and Ryan asked, “Where have you been for the last hour? I’ve been looking for you!”
Renee got out of her car and answered, “I had some business to attend to.” They started walking back toward the building. “Can I ask you a personal question, Ryan?”
Ryan looked nervous, but answered, “Sure, anything.”
“Are you a patient here? What is your diagnosis?”
Ryan’s cheek twitched, but he calmly answered, “I’m a paranoid schizophrenic, but I take my meds. I’ve been in the Independent Living Program for two years now.”
The Independent Living Program allowed patients to live outside of the facility. Most patients in that program secured employment from the facility they had been assigned to. It was a convenient way to continue the monitoring requirements and the patients realized fewer socialization adjustments.
Renee thought Ryan’s answer was reassuring. She asked, “Why were you looking for me?”
Ryan’s cheek ticked again, “I have to show you something important.”
Ryan led Renee into Dr. Elmhurst’s office and closed the door behind them.
Renee said, “We’re not supposed to be in here, Ryan.”
“First, who doesn’t lock their office in this kind of place?” Ryan had his hands on his hips. “Second, the only file Dr. Elmhurst looks at is this one.” Ryan moved the file marked ‘Budget’ from the corner of the desk.
Renee recognized the file
, but didn’t want to admit she had peeked at it earlier.
Ryan opened the cover to expose the top page. The red ink drawings and scratch marks were as Renee remembered them. Renee said, “He probably keeps this on top of his desk as evidence that someone tampered with his file.”
Ryan said, “He has a red ink pen in his center drawer and when I walked in this afternoon he was doodling in that right hand margin. Look close at what is there.” Ryan pointed to the far right column.
Renee leaned closer and saw a skull with her name next to it. She looked at Ryan. Ryan could have done this. Renee started to edge toward the door.
Ryan shook his head. “I’m not doing this. Look at the other names next to skulls…they’re all gone.”
Renee walked back to look at the list. “What do you mean? Gone?”
Ryan pointed to the top name on the list: Nancy Logan. “I haven’t seen her in a month. Dr. Bates had a tow truck come get her car. He said he was giving her a ride home.” Ryan thumped his finger next to her name. “Nancy hated him! She said he stalked her from the first day she transferred here. She would never have gotten in his car.”
Ryan pointed to the next name with a skull. “Joshua Jones.”
Renee interrupted, “You know that Joshua killed himself after he killed Jane. You were right there when it happened.” Renee was thinking that Ryan’s paranoid issues were not as controlled as he thought.
Ryan said, “Dr. Elmhurst told me to stop giving Joshua his meds about a week ago. Joshua was fine on his meds.” Ryan lowered his voice to a whisper. “I heard Dr. Bates in Joshua’s room yesterday morning telling him that Jane was a whore and someone should kill her. I heard Dr. Bates tell Dr. Elmhurst they would increase their profits by two thousand a week with those two gone.”
Renee didn’t know whether to believe Ryan or not.
Ryan pointed to the next skull. The name was John Bates. “This is Doctor John Bates, the real one. The guy calling himself Dr. Bates now came here in an armored ambulance over a month ago.”
Renee felt her knees weaken. What if all of this was true?
Renee swallowed, “Where is the real Dr. Bates?”
Ryan shrugged, “Disappeared overnight. He’s been gone for a month. He told me once that Brookfield Place was his only family. His car was towed, too.”
Renee leaned against the wall for support, “Dr. Elmhurst wouldn’t allow a patient to pretend to be a doctor.”
Ryan nodded, “I agree, I think the real Dr. Elmhurst has been locked away and drugged. You saved him yesterday, remember? I think they are keeping him alive so he can sign some court paper. At least that’s what Jane told me before she was killed.”
Renee knew immediately which patient Ryan was talking about. She had noticed the tattoo and thought it strange. Much of what Ryan was saying fit with what she already knew. Now her name had a skull next to it.
“Wait. How would Jane know anything? She was in her own world.”
Ryan shook his head. “She wasn’t like that until they started drugging her. Bates caught her listening at Dr. Elmhurst’s office door. I think that’s why they changed her meds and got Joshua to kill her.”
Renee asked, “Then who is pretending to be Dr. Elmhurst?”
Ryan looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure. I guess I don’t know.”
“Ryan, what should we do? Call the police?”
“I thought about that, but what do we tell them? I have no real proof. Except the real Dr. Elmhurst has been drug free for 24 hours now and is waiting for me to help him escape. I figured I’d get him out of here and let him tell me what to do.”
Renee rubbed her temples; she was getting a headache. Ryan was right, they had no proof. The real Dr. Elmhurst would know what officials to call at the state. He could also identify who they were dealing with to the police.
Renee looked at Ryan, “I still don’t know what we should do.”
Ryan begged, “Please help me get Dr. Elmhurst out of here. I thought I could smuggle him out in my trunk, but it’s too small. I saw your new car and…please?”
Renee’s mind was spinning. The thought of smuggling a person out of a facility for the criminally insane made her sick to her stomach. What if Ryan is wrong?
The list of names with skulls drawn next to them made her shiver. Where were Nancy and the real Dr. Bates? What had happened to them? Was Joshua tricked into killing Jane to increase profits or because Jane knew something she shouldn’t? Now her name was on that list. It was true that Dr. Elmhurst didn’t act like any doctor she had ever been around. What if Ryan is right?
* * *
Tommy Albergo sat in his car waiting for Anthony to show up. Anthony had said he had something important to tell him. Tommy wiped beads of sweat from his forehead with his wrist. He knew that Anthony was knee deep in a plot with Milo’s Northside crew to take over Dom’s crew. He had warned Dom this afternoon and Dom had promised him protection. Yet here he was waiting for Anthony. It was possible that Anthony was who he needed protection from. Tommy turned the key to start his car. What had he been thinking to agree to meet Anthony in the dark?
His passenger door opened and Anthony slid in. “You weren’t going to leave without meeting me, were you?”
Tommy swallowed, “I got cold. I just wanted the heater on. What’s up?”
“I know you were worried that Dom had Emil Carson shot right when he got released from the joint. I know Dom didn’t have it done. I told you that Fed was messin’ with us.”
Tommy was relieved to hear it wasn’t Dom. He was never sure how safe he was with the crew. “Who did it then?”
Anthony leveled a pistol at Tommy’s head. “Me.”
* * *
Jake Billow had spent the last hour at the firing range. He was finally starting to get the feel of his new rifle and loved it. There was a slight pull to the right that he now adjusted for.
The firing range manager tapped him on the shoulder. “We’re closing now, you’ll have to leave. I noticed it didn’t take you long to start killin’ those targets. You’re pretty good!”
Billow raised himself to stand. “New rifle, I had to get used to it.”
The manager held out his hand, “May I?”
Billow handed the rifle over. The manager lovingly ran his hands over the stock and barrel. “This is a sweetheart. It’s the best sniper rifle that was ever made in my opinion.”
He handed the rifle back to Billow and said, “Got a cop that comes here that would love to shoot that sometime. He’s military sniper trained. Nick Stryker, maybe you’ve heard of him?”
Billow smiled, “I have. Stryker and I go way back. When you see him, tell him Billow would like to show him his rifle.”
“Will do. I’ll write that down so I don’t forget. You have a nice night now.”
Billow chuckled to himself as he pulled the van into traffic. He wanted to scope out the neighborhood of Nick’s girlfriend’s place. He took a piece of paper down from behind the visor. He had done a ‘people search’ on the internet and discovered Lacey had moved about six months ago. The Google map search had provided him a street view of her new townhouse. Lacey Star was in a picture with Nick at some award dinner. The article said she was Nick’s significant other. Billow smirked as he entered the address into the van’s computer. Lacey was now significant to him, too.
* * *
Nick delivered the items he had collected at Cummings’ house to Agent Phillips at the safe house. Nick wasn’t impressed with what the FBI had arranged, but the last thing Cummings needed to hear was that the safe house wasn’t safe. Nick thought of his mom. No wonder she didn’t think the FBI could protect the family from the mob.
Agent Phillips met him at the door and stepped out to a guarded terrace to talk to Nick.
“It went worse than I had thought back there. The first two agents that entered Cummings’ house: one was seriously injured and the other will recover soon. He had an armored plate under his vest and took three shots to
the heart. He said if you hadn’t arrived when you did, he would’ve been killed. Lacastra had his brains targeted for the next shot. Outside, we lost one agent in the ambulance and had two more wounded. I’d call this a bad night.”
Agent Phillips tried to read Nick’s expression, he couldn’t. “Spit it out, what’s on your mind?”
“This place sucks. You need to be rural, long driveway, a place to hide cars, some kind of perimeter security. A pizza delivery guy could tell this place was being used by Feds for something. Could you park another black SUV on the street?” Nick figured if Phillips asked, he deserved an answer.
Agent Phillips sighed, “I agree. This came about too fast for an ideal solution.”
Nick said, “My dad has a rural place about 30 minutes south of here. He built it for his and mom’s retirement. It’s vacant, rural, and I installed security there myself last year.”
“What kind of security?”
Nick smiled, “Cameras, mass and thermal detectors, detonators, every whistle I could think of. There’s also a barn with a hidden trap door to a safe room that has a tunnel escape to the woods. The tunnel can be tripped to explode and collapse if needed.”
Phillips stared at him in disbelief. “All that for a retirement house in the woods? What the heck did you do all of that for?”
“Dad told me he worried about retaliation from the criminals I deal with. He wanted me to have a safe place if I needed it. I never gave his reasoning much thought. It was fun setting the place up like that, reminded me of my military days.” Nick’s expression turned thoughtful. “Knowing what I know now, I think he hopes that mom will come back and they will live there. He wants her to feel safe.”
Agent Phillips stared at Nick. “This offer is too good to refuse, but I do have one concern.”
Nick nodded, “Me, too. Mom’s really not going to like this.”
Nick called his dad, drew a map for Agent Phillips and gave him instructions on the security system.
Twisted: Nick Stryker Series, Book Two The Shallow End Gals Page 12