The Witness Series Bundle

by Rebecca Forster

  "It is our law," Gjergy answered.

  "What kind of freakin' law says you have to kill a kid?"

  "The Kunan is our law." Gjergy moved but did not take his eyes off Hannah for longer than a second. Facing down a girl, he felt no urgency and his curiosity had got the best of him. "This is one persons house?"

  "It was," Hannah answered. "He's dead."

  "He was a president?" Gjergy asked.

  "No. He was a freak. A freaky old man like you."

  Gjergy snorted. He tapped the baseball bat against his leg.

  "He is not like me. I am a man who only wants justice. Rosafa knew that and she would not tell me where Besnik was. That was all she would have to do and she refused." He turned back to Hannah and smiled. "Rosafa was well named. She was brave." He turned toward Hannah. "Rosafa was like you, I think. You protect him out of love. I hunt him out of respect for the law."

  "Tell me what law you're talking about," Hannah demanded. "Tell me what Billy did."

  Instead of answering, Gjergy leaned against the stairwell wall and asked.

  "Do you know what it is like to starve?"

  "I know what it is to be hungry," Hannah said.

  "That is different. Starving, it makes women old and men useless and children cry. When I was younger than Besnik, my country suffered under a president who enslaved us. For fifty years there was but one car in our country, and it belonged to the president. He said God did not exist. He took our work. He told us what we could eat and where we could go. The people had nothing left but family and honor.

  "That is how we lived. And the president put mines around our country to keep people out, but we knew it was to keep us in. He made our countrymen his soldiers to make sure we did not leave. Yes," the big man mused, "I was twelve. I was a boy."

  Gjergy seemed to have lost himself in his tale, but Hannah didn't kid herself. He knew where he was, he knew who she was, he knew what he wanted to do and he didn't care if it was wrong.

  "Billy wasn't even born when you were twelve," Hannah ventured.

  The old man blinked. The light was growing dimmer with the storm and the passing of the day. This man was a shadow, a silhouette, a deadly presence that Rosa Zuni tried to guard Billy against in the only way she knew how – by keeping Billy away from their house. Escape would have been impossible when Gjergy found them. Rosa was proof of that.

  "What did he do to you?" Hannah balled her fist, stepped forward, and demanded an answer. Her efforts were futile. She might as well have been a gnat nipping at the ear of a plow horse.

  "I will tell you." Gjergy spat the words at her. "My brother was taking me across the border. We went at night, and it was Yilli who guarded the border. Yilli's rifle fired and killed my brother. I saw it. I witnessed his death. With my eyes, I saw him die."

  "Then talk to the Yilli guy." Hannah moved a bit, trying to position herself in front of the sliding door that led to the wide patio and the steps down to the beach.

  "The Kunan says I could kill Yilli to revenge my brother, but the president outlawed the justice, the blood feud. So I waited for the revolution and freedom. When it came, Yilli stayed in his house and I could not enter to take his life. The Kunan says I could kill his son, but Yilli only has a daughter, Teuta, who I was not allowed to kill."

  "Holy shit," Hannah breathed. "You're going to kill Billy because his grandfather shot your brother?"

  "It is the law," Gjergy stated.

  "It's screwed."

  With that, Hannah threw herself at the glass door and screamed.

  "Billy! Run! Run! Josie! Help! Josie!"

  The old man started. With a great roar born of centuries of culture, a half a century of fear and anger, and an instant of surprise when he saw this moment slipping away, Gjergy lunged across the room determined to silence Hannah. As he did, Billy ran down the stairs as best he could, letting out a blood- curdling scream as he dashed for the front door. Hannah's head twisted and she saw that Billy was going the wrong way. Gjergy turned, too, but his hard shoes skidded on the wood floor.

  "It's locked, Billy! It's locked!" Hannah screamed and just then the lock on the sliding door gave way. "This way! This way!"

  Billy twirled and he dashed toward Hannah but Gergy had almost righted himself and grabbed for Billy. The teenager used his cast like a weapon, deflecting the old man. Gjergy roared, found his footing, and went after Hannah and Billy who had already escaped into the gathering gloom.

  ***

  Mike Montoya drove and Archer rode shotgun. It had taken mere minutes for Archer to relay the basics of the story to Mike, Mike to repeat it to Sam Lumina, and Sam Lumina to give up Gjergy Isai. Bottom line, Sam said, the old man would have killed him if he didn't help him finish up the blood feud.

  Yeah, a blood feud.

  That was ancient law and Sam couldn't say no. Gjergy was supposed to take care of the kid and been out of the country before anyone was the wiser. All Sam had to do was drive him around.

  Sam drove him to Oi's house, but Oi wouldn't tell where the kid was.

  They followed him to Hermosa.

  They found Oi dressed like a woman.

  Which was totally weird.

  They found Jac Duka giving Oi the skinny on who was going to vote which way in the contract talks.

  Traitor.

  Gjergy found Rosafa. Gjergy wasn't supposed to hurt her. That was against the Kunan, but she wouldn't give up the kid.

  Gjergy went crazy. They could hear everything downstairs.

  It was sickening.

  Oi couldn't take it. The idiot went for his gun, and Sam went for Oi, and it all happened so fast, and Jac just sat there like a lump.

  What was I supposed to do? Oi knew the score, but when he heard that girl screaming it was too much for him. He was going to shoot my uncle. I grabbed the gun, like just to get it away from him. He ran. I shot him. God, that was weird. Like I was shooting a woman. That's when Jac started to get up. I shot him. I just turned and pulled the trigger. I didn't even think. Self defense. Pure and simple. It was self- defense. That's what it was. I didn't know what my uncle did to that chick. It sounded bad, but I didn't know and I didn't know the two guys were dead. I just ran to the car with the gun. I saw the kid and the other guy go in. I saw everyone running back out. I hid. I hid in the car with the gun. . .

  Mike had heard enough. He left Sam Lumina to Wendy Sterling. The story was one for the books, but they would have plenty of time to sort it out. Right now, though, they didn't have a lot of time; they had to get to Josie who was more than a half an hour ahead of them and not answering her phone.

  ***

  Josie struggled onto her hands and knees. Her stomach heaved. She opened her mouth to throw up but nothing came out. Her ears rang, her brain was jangled, her eyes unfocused. She put her head against the floor, raising it again in time to see Gjergy Isai run out the door toward the beach.

  Calling on every ounce of strength she possessed, Josie got to her feet. She stumbled, she walked, and weaved, and fell. She got up again, and again, and the last time she tripped over the bat. Pain shot up her shoulder, and the back of her head felt like it was caved in.

  Picking up the bat, she leveraged herself. Single-mindedly, Josie put one foot in front of the other, gaining speed only to fall back a step when her head began to spin. Sweating, she tore off her hooded jacket and tossed it aside before falling against the open glass door.

  She squinted at the figures on the beach. The old man was faster than she had imagined he could be. He was gaining on the teenagers, but they were still ahead of him, headed for the old wooden pier and the dinghy tied to it. Suddenly, Billy collapsed. Hannah ran back for him. Josie could hear the old man bellowing. It didn't matter what he was saying; she knew what he meant.

  Gjergy wanted blood.

  ***

  "Jesus." Archer cursed in frustration when he saw what was coming.

  The rains had soaked the
Malibu Mountains loosening the earth. A rock slide had closed Pacific Coast Highway going north.

  "I see it. I got it."

  Montoya reached for a light and put it on top of his unmarked unit, stepped on the gas, and turned the wheel until the car was riding on the shoulder – a shoulder that actually didn't exist.

  Archer raised a brow. He didn't think Montoya had it in him. Montoya raised one right back as if to say he wasn't surprised to be underestimated.

  They flew past a mile and a half of stopped cars, past the rocks, and swerved back onto PCH. It was wide open all the way to Fritz Rayburn's house.

  ***

  The sky had opened up. Josie ran toward the shore. The waves rolled in, but not with the rage of a week ago. The wind was not gale force, but she still struggled against it. Sunset was covered over with dark clouds. Ahead, Gjergy, Billy and Hannah stumbled across the wet sand.

  Billy was up and for a moment he and Hannah were one person. His arm was around her shoulders and they started forward again. But Hannah was slight, and even her heroic spirit was not enough to move them any faster. Then they were apart, Hannah clutching his good arm as they made it to the pier.

  Gjergy was moments behind them and Josie seconds behind him, but even as she gained on him, the old man didn't look back. He got to the old pier and lumbered toward the two kids. Hannah abandoned the rope that tied the skiff, jumped up, and threw herself in front of Billy Zuni.

  "Leave us alone. Go away. He didn't do anything to you."

  Gjergy ignored her. He had eyes only for Billy. Winded, Gjergy's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.

  "Move the girl away. Move her, Besnik. I have no care for her."

  "I do," Billy called back.

  "And so do I," Josie cried as she came up behind the old man.

  The bat was poised at her shoulder. Josie waited for him to make a move toward Billy. Instead, Gjergy stood as he had in the hospital room: still as a statue, turning only when he decided to turn. This time, though, hidden hands were a worry. This time, when Gjergy faced Josie there was a knife in his hand.

  "Put it down," she said.

  "What difference will it make if I take one more life?" he growled.

  "In our courts, it will make a difference."

  From the corner of her eye Josie saw Hannah put her arm around Billy's waist. The rain fell and the ocean swelled. Beneath their feet, the old pier undulated. There was no good way for this to end, but Josie had to mitigate the outcome.

  "Listen to me. Listen to me. Our courts will take your culture in to consideration. But if you hurt Billy, if you try to take his life purposefully, our judges won't have any mercy. Do you understand that?"

  "Consideration?" Gjergy scoffed. "That is weakness. A crime is committed and someone must pay. That is law."

  "But not someone who had nothing to do with the crime," Josie insisted. "Your brother died fifty years ago."

  "And his killer's blood flows in that boy. Besnik owes his life for the life of my brother. I saw my brother die on a mountain and all he wanted was for us to be free as Besnik has been free."

  Gjergy stood his ground, raising the knife, and pointing it at Billy. Josie steeled herself to attack, but Gjergy made no move for the boy.

  "Oi was my friend when we were young. He knew of my brother. He knew of the blood feud, but he married Rosafa. He took the boy so that Besnik could escape justice. That was foolish. Distance and money could not save him. No man can save Besnik." His arm shook, his voice rose above the surf with a roar. "The Kunan says I am justice." Gjergy advanced on Josie. "You will not keep me from what I must do. No woman can do that."

  Gauging the distance, Josie held her breath, aware that the teenagers' eyes were on her but hers were on Gjergy. His rage was beyond reason, his devotion to the ancient Albanian law unshakable. Josie could no more understand his justice than he could submit to hers, so she defaulted to a law they both understood: survival of the fittest.

  Josie Bates swung the bat at the knife and screamed at Hannah and Billy.

  "Get out of here. Run. Go! Go!"

  Hannah and Billy ran: past the man who was on the defensive. They ran past Josie who prayed she had enough strength to keep the old man at bay long enough for them to escape. They were on the beach when Hannah turned back.

  "Josie!"

  "Go. Get as far away as you can."

  Hannah and Billy did as they were told and Josie had to trust that they would find their way. In front of her Gjergy Isai was rising, the knife still in his hand, the rain streaming down his face, the waves drumming their furious score to this drama.

  "I will find him. He cannot run far enough," Gjergy called.

  "Our law won't let you," Josie promised. "I won't let you."

  "My country does not judge me. Yours cannot either." He pulled himself to his great height. "I am Albanian. I have walked on stone."

  "Yeah?" Josie spit the rainwater out of her mouth and narrowed her eyes. "Well, you're not on stone now, you bastard."

  Josie Bates fell to the pier and swung the bat at his knees. It hit its mark with a sickening crunch. The old man's hard soled shoes slipped, his weight threw him backward, and Gjergy Isai fell into the angry sea.

  CHAPTER 33

  Mike Montoya reluctantly turned away from the view of Hermosa Beach when Archer opened the door to Josie's house.

  "It's Saturday, Montoya. Don't you ever take a day off?"

  "Now and again," Mike answered, as he took Archer's hand. "Is Ms. Bates here?"

  Archer drew the detective inside and called: "Jo? We've got company."

  She came from the back of the house and, even though she smiled, Mike Montoya thought she looked tired. It could have been that she was still recuperating from the injuries she sustained in Malibu, but he thought it was simpler than that. He thought Josie Bates was sad. She didn't bother to say hello, and that didn't surprise Mike. Instead, she asked:

  "Did you find Hannah?"

  "No, I'm sorry. That truck stop where they abandoned the car is pretty busy. They could be anywhere by now. We've been in contact with state agencies but . . ." Mike shrugged and Josie interpreted as she led the way to the living room.

  "But Hannah isn't going to make a peep until she believes Billy is safe."

  "That's what I came to talk to you about. I think we can discount a continued threat from Gjergy Isai. His body washed up in Manhattan Beach."

  "Really?" Josie said this as she took the couch. She seemed only politely interested in his news, but Mike knew she couldn't wait to hear what he had to say.

  "He drowned." Mike opted for the leather chair and stated the obvious.

  "No surprise there." Archer sat next to Josie. "I doubt he had a lot of experience with the ocean given where he came from. Josie said she lost sight of him pretty quickly."

  "Yes, it's a pity you couldn't have just held out a hand. Maybe dragged him to a place where he could latch onto the pier."

  "I was still out of it, Montoya. Remember, he attacked me. I was lucky I made it to the pier at all," Josie answered.

  "Of course, you're right. No one could accuse you of depraved indifference." Mike looked square at Josie and raised a brow. She didn't flinch so he pushed on. "And the surf was bad. You could have jeopardized yourself if you tried to help. And he couldn't help himself at all given that he was probably in shock. It seems that his knee-caps were broken."

  "That old pier wood can be slippery, detective. Especially when it rains," Josie noted.

  "I suppose he could have broken them when he slipped. It's just odd that the bones on both legs were broken in exactly the same place – shattered actually. It was almost as if he'd been deliberately struck with something very heavy."

  "I can't imagine what." Josie leaned into Archer as she held Montoya's gaze.

  "Perhaps it was the same thing that he used to hit you," Mike suggested.

  "Gjergy hit me. He was a s
trong man."

  "Did he break that window with his fist?" Mike probed.

  "I don't know," Josie answered. "I don't remember much."

  Mike nodded and drummed his fingers on his knee just once. He knew Josie was lying and so did Archer, but there would never be any proof that anyone had assaulted Gjergy Isai. Montoya had no doubt that whatever weapon was used against him was now on the ocean floor, deep in the water off a private beach in Malibu. He tried once more. All he wanted was the truth; all he wanted was for everything to be tidy.

  "You didn't see Hannah or Billy attack him with anything, did you? If they did, I doubt even Carl Newton would file against them. Clearly, there's an argument to be made for self-defense on their part."

  Josie shook her head, "No. They were long gone. I sent them away like I told you. Look, Montoya, they didn't do anything that would interest you or the courts."

  "You mean other than Hannah interfering with an open investigation?" Mike chuckled.

  "She's a kid helping another kid. Teenagers run away all the time. At most that's a misdemeanor under these circumstances. There's no money in the budget to prosecute them," she answered.

  "Hannah and Billy wouldn't know that. And you're forgetting Billy's immigration status," Mike countered. "He's in this country illegally."

  "That's a federal concern." Josie waved him off.

  "It boils down to what those two believe, doesn't it?" Mike challenged her. "Right now they probably think we're hunting them and not in a good way. In fact, unless they were around to see Mr. Isai slip on that pier, they may think they have to hide from him, too. I'd like them to know Isai is dead and I'd like to know what they saw in that house or on that pier."

  Josie's heart beat a little faster, but her expression remained composed. All she had thought about since that afternoon was finding Hannah and Billy, but now she was thinking it might not be bad if they laid low until something bigger came along to distract Mike Montoya and Carl Newton. Eventually, Gjergy Isai would be a footnote on a crime log and the teenagers' return to Hermosa would not be worth mentioning. Now, though, the condition of Isai's body made the circumstances of his death suspicious.