‘Make it thirty.’
Priest held out a hand, palm upward.
Kane shook his head. ‘You talk first, then you get paid if I think it’s worth it.’
‘You’ll stiff me.’
‘That is a chance you will have to take.’
Priest growled and jabbed a finger at him. ‘You keep talking about two men. Only, there was three of them.’
Kane paused, glanced down at his feet. Back up again. It didn’t sound like bullshit, but this was news to him. ‘You positive about that? Way I heard it, only two strangers came into the bar that night.’
‘Sure, that’s right enough. But when they left I got up to take a piss. I could see out through the window and I watched them walk to the car, get inside, and pull away. Thing is, neither of them got behind the wheel.’
Three men.
Kane caught his breath and considered that. Since his search had begun, one had become two, and now it seemed that the two had picked up a third somewhere along the way. Unless this piece of human garbage was lying to him. He nodded once, turned to leave.
‘Hey! How about my damn thirty bucks?’ Priest called out, heat in his tone.
Kane waved a hand in the air but this time did not look back. ‘Always trust your instincts, Priest. Consider yourself stiffed.’
9
We chose a spot close to access points onto Highways 70 and 285. That way, if it all went to shit we’d be on a fast drive out of there within minutes. I parked up outside a desolate-looking industrial plant enveloped by a chain-link fence. From the number of steel tubes that were stacked up in piles dotted around the site, I guessed they either manufactured them at one point, or had used them for oil, gas or water distribution. It was hard to tell. Patches of hardcore lay like grey place mats in the dirt where once buildings must have stood. All that was left were a handful of doorless brick sheds, whose contents had long since been stripped away. A couple of forklift trucks stood idle, rusted, cables bubbling out of their inner tubing. Thick dust covered every surface, suggesting the plant had closed years back and had simply been left to its own devices while its acreage grew in value.
Other than the proximity to the highways, the spot had one other distinct advantage: you could see vehicles approaching for miles around.
‘Dust spiral,’ Terry said in my ear. ‘At roughly your eight o’clock. Coming hard.’
I turned to look back over my shoulder. It took a couple of seconds to adjust my vision, but I finally spotted it. A tiny, dark speck with a cone of desert dust billowing behind it like a parachute.
‘You think they got lucky with their approach given the way we’re facing, or do they have eyes in the sky?’
‘I wouldn’t bet against it.’
I took a breath. Squinted at the vehicle coming our way. ‘We should’ve gone with your idea, Terry. I’ve had doubts about this plan of mine ever since we got here.’
‘Don’t second guess yourself now, Mike. Each strategy had its pros and cons.’
‘Yeah. Your way would’ve at least made them feel comfortable from the outset.’
Terry had suggested we meet with the cops in a crowded shopping mall or busy diner, somewhere with plenty of people around to lessen the possibility of gunplay if things did not go the way we intended. These cops were not going to like what we had to say, or the way we were going to have to say it, and one way or another it was going to draw a reaction.
‘Don’t sweat it, Mike. Their level of comfort will change the moment we tell them why they’re really here. If we were back in town and had to run for it, we’d be caught up in a snarl of traffic, or running through crowded streets more familiar to the cops than us. At least this way we have a chance to escape and nobody around us gets hurt.’
‘Unless the spy in the sky is there, in which case they track us. Plus, this location must have sent up all kinds of distress flares in the minds of those cops.’
‘You ready for this?’ Terry asked.
I took a breath. Let it out slowly. ‘As I’ll ever be. What’s to worry about? All we’re doing is inviting two armed officers way out here so’s we can pull weapons on them. What could possibly go wrong?’
It had initially felt like the right thing to do. Lure them out to the edge of town, away from the general population, with escape routes close by. Now it felt as if I were a fly sitting in a web of my own making, and had brought a friend along to be the second course. I watched in the rear-view as the dark speck and cloud of dust gradually transformed into a police cruiser.
Officers Fraser and Clark, I presumed.
‘I have them, Terry. You see anything else out there? Anything at all?’
‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘Not on the ground, nor in the air either.’
‘Which doesn’t mean they aren’t there.’
‘True.’
‘So we call it now. Stay or go?’
‘I say we hang around.’
I had to smile. There was no way Terry was ever going to choose to run. The weight of it fell on me.
‘You stay put,’ I said. ‘I’m going to get out and greet our RPD friends.’
I walked around to the rear of the Jeep and leaned back against it, making sure I showed them my empty hands. The rear door was unlocked and left slightly ajar. One swift flip up and my hand would be on an H&K assault rifle. Plus I now had a Sig tucked into the back of my cargo trousers. As the cruiser slowed its progress there was no further conversation required. Terry and I had no need to discuss our intentions. In a two-on-two situation our code was simple – whoever drove had the driver, the passenger took the passenger. If there were more than two people in the vehicle, then we played it by ear.
The cruiser pulled up short, leaving a dozen or so yards between it and the Jeep. This triggered another alarm inside my head, though it was the smart thing to do on their part. Two uniformed cops emerged from inside the black-and-white Dodge Charger. Both wore midnight blue jackets over grey and black shirts. All kinds of paraphernalia hung on their utility belts, but my eyes were drawn to their 9 mm S&W handguns. First thing I noted was their holsters flapping. Both had paused with their doors open, and now I knew why.
The two cops were unstrapped and ready for action.
Which meant they were suspicious.
Which in turn meant Terry and I were in all kinds of trouble.
The cops approached with understandable caution. The driver was a big man, white with slicked back fair hair and sideburns much longer than anyone ever needed. His partner was a smaller, wider black cop whose bulges of hard muscle made him look as if steroids were on his five-a-day list. The passenger wore sunglasses despite the fading light. I did not like being unable to see the man’s eyes.
‘Officers Fraser and Clark, right?’ I said.
‘Yes, sir,’ Sideburns responded. I heard a hitch in his voice that told me his adrenaline was pumping hard. ‘I’m Fraser, this here is Officer Clark. You have some information for us, Detective Reeves?’
William Reeves was the name of one of the four Newcastle-based detectives who grilled me following the events of the previous summer. I needed to use a name that would stand up to a cursory check, hoping the detective sergeant hadn’t quit the service since. This was another potential hurdle in my fifty-fifty strategy. The choice was to either give them my real name so that I could show them ID if asked, but which would throw up nothing if the cops looked into my supposed service with the police, or a fake name which would check out okay but one I would not be able to back up with any identification. Becoming a fake cop was a no-brainer; these two were not going to be lured all the way out into the middle of nowhere by a civilian. Still, it had been a risk.
I knew right there and then that it had been a bad play on my part. The whole shebang, from location to use of name to the initial crazy notion of holding these two serving cops at gunpoint and doing so until they fed us the details we were looking for. As for what I had been thinking, I had no idea. But why on earth had
Terry gone along with it? The master strategist.
I made my play anyway.
‘To be honest, it’s the other way around, officers.’
Fraser and Clark risked a sidelong glance at each other before turning their full attention back to me. ‘Say again,’ Clark said.
‘I misled you. When I spoke to you earlier, I needed your attention. I thought you would be interested in beating the FBI to the punch. Now, please don’t be alarmed because this is in no way a set-up. All I want from you is information.’
Clark’s hand movement gave him away. It went immediately to his weapon. He did not draw the gun, but he was poised to. Fraser was a rock, albeit a clearly troubled one. ‘You have some identification you can show me, sir?’ he asked.
I shook my head. ‘No, officer. I deliberately left my passport, driving licence and credit cards elsewhere. I admit I am not Detective Reeves, but I’m not one of the bad guys, either.’
Fraser nodded. He licked his lips while he chewed that over. ‘Sir, you are dangerously close to becoming a threat to both myself and my partner here. That’s a risk I don’t think you want to take. I don’t know what game you are playing, but I do think the best place to discuss matters further is back at our station house.’
‘That’s not going to happen. We need to talk, but we need to do it here and now.’
My gaze dropped from Fraser’s eyes to Clark’s twitching right hand. He looked to be the younger, less experienced of the two cops, and my guess was he would react first. I wasn’t overly bothered by that, because I knew Terry would have his man. Fraser was the detonation switch here. If he decided to act, then the situation could easily get out of control. There could be four dead bodies lying here within seconds. I decided to ease the tension by showing my hand.
‘Officers, I realise what this looks like. I’ve ambushed you and that must seem like a real threat to you. I assure you now that it is not. You have nothing to fear from us.’
Both cops peered beyond me towards the Jeep. ‘Us?’ they said in unison.
I nodded. ‘Oh, my own partner is not in the Jeep. But he does have you in his sights.’
Terry had secreted himself inside the abandoned site behind a stack of dust-laden pipes. He was less than twenty yards away. We had been communicating on a two-way bug for the past thirty minutes.
‘Really?’ Fraser said, glancing around, a smile of doubt touching his lips. I knew he thought that I was playing him.
I nodded. ‘Really.’
Less than a second later, a large red dot appeared on Officer Clark’s forehead. It switched to Fraser’s then back again. Kept on that way for a few seconds, until both of them became aware of what was happening. While they were busy being shocked by the trap, I eased out my Sig and held it on Fraser. The red dot stopped switching and held firm on Clark’s face.
This was the point of highest anxiety.
These two proud cops would not like being taken for mugs, and having weapons pulled on them was akin to waving a red flag at a bull. This still had plenty of room to go sideways. I felt the adrenaline kick in like a sparking electricity circuit, but my gun hand remained steady.
‘I know you’d like nothing better than to rip my guts out right now,’ I said. ‘But you two officers know better than most how necessary it is control a situation. That’s all we’re doing here. Managing the scene while you answer a few questions for us.’
‘You’re gonna drop us anyway,’ Clark said, his face tight with fury. ‘You get your answers, you’ll put us both down like dogs.’
I thought I would try for the truth, let that fall where it may.
‘No, see that’s where you’re wrong. Me and my friend here, all we want to do is find somebody who is currently missing. Someone whose vehicle you pulled off Highway 70 to check out this morning because it was left abandoned out there. Now, I know the FBI swarmed all over that scene once you called it in, but before they did, before they tossed you off your own case, you had some time with it. Free and clear time, just the two of you. You don’t strike me as a couple of cops who would sit on your hands waiting. All I need to know is what you found. Your impressions. Anything you can tell me that will help.’
‘What do you want with her?’ Fraser asked, his gaze becoming venomous.
‘What do I want with who?’ For a moment I wondered if he was referring to the Kia, the way some men do think of cars as female.
‘The woman who owns the vehicle. You say you want to find her. For all we know, it could be to kill her, abduct her.’
I smiled. Fraser was testing me. I admired the nerve of his play. ‘Officer Fraser, given you two ran the plates and then called in to your HQ because of the red flag on that licence number, you know as well as I do that car belongs to Vern Jackson. Not a girl. Fair play to you for testing me out, but we’re beyond that now. As for Vern, we don’t know him at all, but we do know his family and they want him back. That’s why we’d like to know more about the car and the scene when you first rolled up on it.’
‘You think this is helping?’ Clark said.
Anger and lost pride screamed loudest in his quiet voice. His fingers remained twitching by his side. He was edgy. Had a lid on it for now, but I wondered how long that might last. I did not want to put these cops through the indignity of having their service weapons taken from them. However, I saw now that it wouldn’t be too long before that was no longer contained. I did know someone who would control it, but I also had no doubt that Terry would blow this cop away if it went bad here. So I had to turn to the one other person capable of reeling the nervous cop in.
‘Officer Fraser. I look at you and I see a man who doesn’t much like the situation he finds himself in, but is prepared to bite down on it. I think you believe what I’m telling you, and that you will also believe me when I tell you that when we’re done here you two will be fine. Officer Clark there, however, has other ideas. All the way through he’s been thinking of the best time to remove his weapon. Not whether to, but the best time to. That’s a danger this situation simply does not need. Now, as a gesture of good faith I’m going to slip my own weapon away. In return, how about you ask your partner there to strap his holster.’
Fraser went ahead without any hesitation.
‘Officer Clark. Re-strap your holster and keep your hand well away from your firearm. Trust me, there’s no need. It’s clear to me that these men are not amateurs, and professionals would not kill us for no good reason. Pulling your weapon at this point only gets us both dead. I get the feeling that as soon as they get what they came here for these two will be on their way.’
‘But, sir, I–’
‘This is one of those big decision days, Clark.’ Fraser turned to face his partner. ‘Better to be pissed and alive, than glorious and dead.’
I could not have said it better myself. Still I had no idea which way this might go. My chest was rising and falling as the swell of panic rushed over me. It took a few more seconds, but the pumped-up officer finally complied with our wishes. Fraser did the same, and I respected him for that.
‘What exactly are you looking for here?’ Fraser asked, eyes only for me now as the desert breeze blew fine billows of dust around us.
‘You found the minivan. What did you bag and tag?’
‘Nothing. FBI wanted their own people on it.’
I wondered why the Bureau were investing so much time and effort in this. Drew and Donna only wanted to know where their nephew was.
‘Okay. So what did you find while you had time alone with it? And I know you searched it. No way you could resist, right?’
Fraser nodded. ‘Coupla overnight bags. Nothing out of the ordinary. I heard one of the agents talking about sending a photo of the contents to the kid’s mother.’
‘That was it?’
He looked up at me, checking me out more closely. ‘You expecting something else?’
I shook my head. ‘I’m expecting everything and nothing. So, that’s what you found.
Anything you didn’t find? Anything unusual about the scene?’
The cop regarded me as if he had a newfound respect. ‘Anything I didn’t find, huh? You and your partner out there really cops?’
‘No. Military. At least, once upon a time.’
‘I did my own tours, man.’ The first semblance of a smile passed across his lips. ‘Maybe that’s why I got that you two were the real deal.’
‘We are. We didn’t draw you here to hurt you. Neither of us want it this way and I feel bad that we had to do this at all. It won’t go down that way, least not from us.’
I saw something glint in his eyes, sensed him reach a decision. ‘It was a little too clean for my liking,’ he said. ‘You travel several hundred miles, your vehicle collects a certain amount of trash on the interior as well as exterior dust and grime. Not the Kia. I got the impression that whatever had accumulated was removed, which meant what they left us was deliberate on their part. There were also a couple of maps lying on the ground by the open driver’s door. They looked out of place to me. As if perhaps when the rest of the garbage was tossed, the maps were kept and laid out on the floor to get them noticed.’
Maps.
I chewed that over. From Drew and his PIs I knew the minivan had no GPS, but people these days often have some form of Sat-Nav app on their phone. I thought maybe the poor signal in these parts precluded that option. But if Vern was using maps, would he also be using indication markers? Like a cross through a chosen destination, or a circle. Maybe even a route highlighted with coloured marker pen. I looked hard at the two cops.
‘Think about it,’ I said. ‘You saw the maps, but did you see any markings on them?’
Clark cut a look across at his more senior partner. Fraser gave a couple of nods.
‘Corona,’ he said.
‘You mean, like the drink? The beer?’
‘Sure,’ Fraser said, nodding. ‘It’s the kind of place you could drive through while blinking and not even notice it.’
‘And any other markings?’ I prompted.
‘Not that I noticed.’
Cold Winter Sun Page 7