“Falcone,” he announced then listened. He appeared relieved to the news. “Great. We’re standing by.” He disconnected the call and returned his phone to his pocket. “They’re on their way with the search warrant.”
Both men heard a loud engine along with the repetitive barking of a dog. They looked to the front gate of the mansion near Holden’s parked SUV. The sports car, containing a blonde haired driver, suddenly crashed through the gate, sideswiped Holden’s SUV, burned out in the road, and sped away. A few seconds later, Darth ran after the car.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Holden exclaimed while indicating the sports car. “There was a blonde woman behind the wheel!” Holden slammed his hand on the driver’s side door. “Go, go, go!”
The SUV burned out onto the road and chased after the sports car. Holden ran for his damaged SUV, jumped inside, and turned on the flashing lights. Gil jumped into the passenger seat just as he was about to step on the gas. Holden reached for his gun, saw it was only Gil, and relaxed his hand on the grip.
“Follow that dog!” Gil shouted while pointing out the windshield.
Holden put the SUV into gear and burned out onto the road before jetting after the other SUV, which was steadily gaining on the dog. The first SUV passed the running dog, still determined to catch the car. Holden’s SUV drove alongside the German shepherd. Gil opened the car door and whistled. Without slowing, Darth leaped into the passenger seat nearly on top of Gil. Gil caught the dog and closed the door. Holden eyed the large, panting dog sitting on Gil’s lap. Darth stared intently out the windshield and barked at the cars in front of them, slinging saliva over the dashboard.
“What the hell--?” Holden demanded.
Gil glared at Holden while clinging to the dog on his lap. “Technically, that’s his collar up there.”
Holden eyed Gil, refrained from commenting, and concentrated on his high-speed driving.
†
At the rear gate of the mansion grounds, a white catering van left through the back gate with one of the caterers behind the wheel. The agent sitting within the SUV outside the back gate suspiciously eyed the catering van as it passed. His radio crackled with word of the chase happening on the other side of the mansion. He flipped his flashing lights on and sped away in the opposite direction. Within the catering van, Tonya removed her baseball cap and allowed her long, blonde hair to spill onto her shoulders. She grinned while staring through the rearview mirror at the fading vehicle.
†
Several minutes later, at the office building, the catering van pulled into the parking garage near the entrance and stopped just behind the parked police car with its lights still flashing. Tonya jumped out of the van and hurried toward the back entrance. As she passed, she took a second to stare at the two dead officers and the third body not far from them. Large amounts of blood surrounded the three dead men, soaking into the concrete. She didn’t look nearly as confident now. Tonya was about to run the special access key through the lock when she noticed that the alarm hadn’t been set. The door wasn’t even locked. She hurried into the building and stopped short of another dead man just beyond the door. Someone suddenly appeared in front of her. Tonya jumped with alarm and looked at the man near the steps. Jericho’s man saw her and lowered his gun.
“Do you have it?” he asked.
She nodded and regained her confidence. “Make sure I’m not being followed,” Tonya informed him then ran for the nearby elevator.
Jericho’s henchman approached the door, opened it, and stood just inside, keeping watch over the blood-strewn garage. Despite the earlier carnage, the parking garage was quiet. Tonya paused before the elevator and vigorously pressed the button. It arrived almost immediately, since the building was empty. She hurried inside and pressed the button for the nineteenth floor. The elevator ride was quicker than usual, without the nuisance of other stops. She hurried from the elevator and jogged along the hallway for the computer closet. She threw open the door and stared at the massive computer a moment. Tonya nervously ran her fingers through her hair then took a deep breath and removed the side panel. Upon looking inside, she saw the CPU, main power connector, and IDE cables were disconnected. Although not much of a computer genius, she was able to connect the cables without any trouble.
Tonya didn’t appear completely confident in her assembly of the motherboard, but she seemed willing to risk it. She hurried from the computer closet and back toward Wiley’s office. Despite the door being shut, it wasn’t locked. She darted inside, being certain to shut and lock the door behind her, then sprang into the chair behind the desk. She frantically typed on the keyboard and entered the password. The password was denied. She tried several times and got the same ‘denied’ message. Tonya screamed aloud and beat her palms on the desk. She hesitated a moment, composed herself, and tried the same password again, this time capitalizing the first letter. ‘Access granted’ appeared. She clapped her hands together and grinned.
†
Jericho’s man remained in the partially open parking garage doorway and kept watch on the surrounding area. Everything seemed quiet except for the distant sound of traffic beyond the parking garage entrance. A car was then heard approaching. He allowed the door to close just enough so he could see the approaching vehicle, but so the driver wouldn’t see him until it was too late. The expensive Town Car parked near the catering van. Mac slowly got out of the car, cautiously assessed the situation while removing her gun, and approached the fallen police officers. Jericho’s man aimed his gun at Mac as she paused by the first dead officer and tightened his finger on the trigger.
“Is that really wise?” Zack asked from behind him.
Jericho’s man appeared alarmed then determined as he spun with his gun aimed.
Back within the parking garage, the entrance door was heard softy clicking shut. Mac looked at the door as she took cover behind the first car. When nothing moved, she slowly approached the door, keeping her gun leveled in front of her. She tried the door and discovered it was unlocked. Mac slowly pushed the door open with her free hand while keeping her gun aimed at the opening with the other. As the door opened, she saw two dead men lying on the floor just inside the doorway. The first man was shot and appeared to have been dead for more than an hour. The second man lie in an unnatural position as if his neck had been broken. Mac appeared bewildered and looked around the narrow corridor. When she didn’t see anyone around, she headed toward the elevator.
†
Pinto sat behind her father’s desk in the study and frantically typed on the computer. Beck and Lee hung over her shoulder while Monroe and Bogart paced the office and watched helplessly. Both men stopped pacing when they saw Pinto’s expression suddenly turn enthusiastic.
“Are you in?” Monroe suddenly asked.
“Yes, someone fixed the computer,” Pinto informed him. “I was able to bypass the firewall, but someone else is accessing the server.” Pinto leaped out of the chair. “You’re up,” she announced to Lee.
Lee jumped into the chair and wildly typed on the keyboard. Files and folders seemed to open and close at a startling rate. Lee softly said aloud Wiley’s children and wife’s name. There were several files.
“I found the files,” Lee announced as she frantically typed without looking at them. “It looks like nearly a dozen different files, although I could be mistaken.”
Sal and Ross entered the study with the bound Jericho. They stopped to see Lee behind the computer, working feverishly and not even looking up from her speed typing.
“What files?” Sal suddenly asked.
Beck straightened and looked at Sal across the desk. “The files containing the fifty million Wiley hid from Tonya and that one,” he announced while indicating Jericho.
Sal hurried to the desk to join them. Ross shoved Jericho into the nearby chair and headed across the study past Bogart. He indicated the man to Bogart.
“Watch him. If he so much as moves, I want you to rip his nuts off,” Ross ordered then approach
ed the desk with the others.
Despite Bogart not being the ‘rip off their nuts’ type, Jericho didn’t know that. Bogart folded his arms across his chest and glared at the bound man with his best, intimidating look.
Lee stopped typing and stared at the screen with alarm. “Oh, hell, someone’s accessing the files. If that’s Tonya, she’s already transferring the money from one of the files into a private account.”
“Can you stop her?” Sal asked.
“Can we access the account she’s using?” Beck countered.
“No,” Lee replied and began typing even faster. “Once the transfer is complete, the money is gone.”
Jericho chuckled softly from where he sat. Bogart sneered at the man. Lee continued to type.
“What are you doing?” Ross asked.
“I’m transferring money into another account as well,” Lee informed them without looking up. “I may not be able to stop her from transferring some of the money, but I can keep her from getting all of it. It’s spread out over several files, and I’m faster on a computer than she is.”
“What account are you transferring it to?” Sal asked with a curious look on his face.
“Sorry,” she announced without looking up. “I only know one account number by memory. My savings account.” She briefly glanced up at him. “Relax; I’ll transfer it back to you.”
“I wasn’t worried,” Sal replied while fidgeting. “Just stop her. Stop her!”
Once she accessed the last file, Lee slowly sat back in the leather chair and watched the monetary amount climb in her personal savings account as the money was transferred.
“Come on, come on,” she muttered softly then subconsciously chewed on her finger.
Beck and Pinto stood over her shoulder and watched the number as it continued to climb. The numbers clicked off so fast, it was almost impossible to read the amount.
“Damn it,” Ross growled and straightened. “I thought Holden was watching the exits. How did she slip past him? Where the hell is he?”
†
The first agent’s SUV chased after the speeding, swerving sports car. The sports car took a sharp curve, skidding the entire way. The first SUV struck a parked car, smashing both vehicles together in a mass of twisted metal and fiberglass. Holden’s SUV flew past the disabled vehicle and chased after the sports car, taking the sharp curve with a little more skill. Within the SUV, Holden kept his eyes locked on the sports car as he closed in. Gil held the German shepherd on his lap while the dog continued to bark and steam up the windshield. He now clawed at the dashboard as if prepared to leap through the glass. The sports car swerved to miss another car and slid into a telephone pole on the passenger side. As Holden’s SUV skidded to a stop, the driver of the wrecked sports car jumped out and ran for a nearby abandoned building. His blonde wig flew onto the ground behind him.
“Son-of-a-bitch,” Holden yelled out. “It’s not Tonya.”
“I’ve got this,” Gil announced and opened the car door. “You call it in.”
Darth jumped from Gil’s lap and ran for the building with Gil chasing after him. Darth barely stopped for the mostly closed door, bounding against it, and knocking it open. The dog ran into the abandoned building after the man. Gil entered behind him with his gun firmly in his hand. Although he didn’t see the man, he saw Darth running across the large, open area scattered with debris from a collapsing ceiling. Darth rounded the corner. By the time Gil reached the corner, Darth was gone. He heard the dog barking. Gil ran toward the sound of the barking dog. He passed through another doorway and saw Darth chasing after the running man.
The man turned and fired at the dog gaining on him. Darth suddenly yelped and tumbled to the floor. Gil stopped near the motionless dog, aimed his gun at the man, clenched his jaw, and, without mercy, fired several shots into the man as he attempted to shoot back. Jericho’s henchman took all four hits to his chest before falling to the floor. Gil’s hardened expression dropped to concern as he fell to his knees near the lying, bleeding dog. He tenderly petted the dog’s head and gently attempted to assess the bullet wound beneath the blood-soaked fur on his shoulder. Darth lifted his head and licked Gil’s face. As he parted the bloodied fur, he saw the bullet had only grazed his shoulder. Gil sighed with relief and hugged the dog.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he announced while almost down to tears. “You stupid, stupid dog.”
Darth again licked his face and whined softy. As Gil stood, Darth sprang to his feet, whimpered softly with discomfort, and limped alongside Gil as they left the building.
Chapter Forty
Back at the mansion, the others were still within the study. Bogart leaned against the study door with his arms folded across his chest while glaring at Jericho, who stared across the room at the group who had gathered behind the desk. Jericho’s expression matched that of those behind the desk as they stared at the monitor with nervous anticipation. Ross had his cell phone to his ear and talked to someone on the other end while watching the computer screen. Lee remained sitting behind the computer while Pinto and the others either stood behind the chair or leaned on the desk and watched the climbing dollar amount. Sal slammed his palm against the top of the chair, jolting Lee, as he watched the number climbing to nearly forty million dollars.
“Go, go!” Sal cried out excitedly.
The amount came to a grinding halt. Everyone held his or her breath then straightened. Sal groaned and turned away from the computer. Ross turned to Beck and Monroe.
“I need the two of you to go after the others to the office building,” Ross informed his men. “Holden and Gil are on their way, and Kirk is a few minutes behind them. I want her caught.”
Both men nodded. Ross stopped them with a simple ‘hey’ and gave them a serious look.
“Try to take her alive,” Ross remarked. “We need that account number if we want to get that nine million back.”
They started to leave when Sal spun to face the men. “Ten percent,” he announced boldly. “Ten percent finder’s fee to whoever captures her and gets my money back.”
Beck and Monroe exchanged looks then glanced at Ross. He barely flinched and shrugged. Beck and Monroe grinned and slapped hands in the air before heading for the study door with Bogart standing just before it. Bogart stared blankly at Ross.
“I hope you don’t intend to keep me here,” Bogart suddenly announced. “You can babysit this one.”
Ross waved him off. “Just go.”
Bogart grinned then politely opened the door for Monroe and Beck. Once they left the study, he hurried after them.
†
Tonya stared at the computer screen with a stunned look on her face. The message read, ‘transfer complete’ at only nine million dollars.
“No,” she cried out in a high-pitched squeal and leaped from her chair, causing it to roll back and hit the table behind it. “No!” She suddenly hesitated and looked around the office with a horrible realization. “Oh, hell no.”
Tonya ran across the office, fumbled with the lock, and pulled the door open. Mac stood before the door and smiled sweetly. Tonya gasped with surprise. Mac punched Tonya in the face, tossing her several feet into the room and onto the floor. Mac casually entered the room while Tonya scrambled to her feet, holding her reddened cheek. Tonya’s eyes were wide with fear as she stared at the approaching woman.
“You know,” Mac announced casually, “you and I never did get a chance to have that talk.”
Tonya placed her hands in front of her and frantically waved them. “Why don’t we come up with a workable deal? We split the money and both of us can disappear forever.”
“You’re offering me twenty-five million dollars to screw over my boss?” Mac suddenly asked then smiled sweetly while cocking her head to the side. “I’m listening.”
“It’s only nine million,” Tonya quickly announced then slowly straightened. “Someone downloaded the rest out from under me.” She suddenly frowned. “Lee, no doubt.
”
Mac snorted a laugh. “You want me to betray my boss for a mere four and half million dollars?” She sneered her annoyance. “I’m no longer listening.”
Tonya again held her hands up as Mac approached. “I’ll give you five.”
She stopped her approach. “I’ll take seven,” Mac remarked sternly.
“Seven?” Tonya exploded.
“Or I could just take you to Sal and let him shake that account number from you,” Mac replied casually.
Tonya sneered with disgust, huffed, and folded her arms across her chest. “Fine, you can have seven, but we have to get out of here. If they accessed the server, they must know I’m here. Get me out of here, and I’ll transfer the seven million to an account of your choosing.”
“You want out of here?” Mac demanded. “Then you better give me that account number now.”
“I’ll give you half of the account number,” Tonya bargained. “That way you won’t screw me over.”
Mac offered a pleased smile. “You’re smarter than I gave you credit. What are the numbers?”
Tonya approached the desk and wrote several numbers on a piece of paper then handed it to Mac. Mac glanced at the number. When she looked back at Tonya, Tonya thrust a stun gun against her side. Mac cried out, jerked, and collapsed to the floor. Tonya ran from the office, into the hallway, and headed for the stairs. As she rounded the corner, she saw Zack casually leaning against the wall near the stairs while holding a magazine in one hand and a business card in the other. He tossed the magazine aside then turned the card over to reveal some handwritten numbers. He grinned with an almost humored expression.
“Please tell me you weren’t stupid enough to leave your offshore bank account number on this card I found tucked in the pages of a magazine,” he announced.
Tonya stared at the card in his hand. Her surprise turned to anger. “Give that to me.”
She took a step toward him. Zack grinned and slipped the card down the front of his pants. He suddenly jumped and grimaced his discomfort.
Witness Protection 2: The Return of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Page 24