“Randi,” Chris muttered under his breath before speaking up. “What? What have I done? What the hell are you looking for?”
“Please, Chris,” Bobby sobbed. “He’s gonna hurt you.”
“Drop the gun, Bowman,” growled Jonathan, applying pressure to the trigger of his own pistol.
“I’m no longer in control,” Bowman replied in quiet defeat. “Randi is.”
“What do you want me to say, Randi?” Chris demanded.
“Tell your friends who the Vigilante was, Chris,” screamed Randi. “Tell them you committed all those murders. Go on. Tell them.”
“You should put down the gun, Randi,” Chris quietly suggested. “Otherwise, you’re going to get hurt.”
“Admit it,” Randi shrieked in response. “You’re just like us. You got hurt when you were young and got even. Admit it, you fucking hypocrite.”
“Drop the gun,” bellowed Jonathan through clenched teeth, moving slowly to Bowman’s side and pressing the tip of his silenced gun against the doctor’s temple.
“Admit it, motherfucker,” screamed Randi hysterically, raising Dave’s revolver to point it at Chris’ head.
“Lower the gun, Randi, or you will die,” Chris warned, staring the crazed man in the eyes. “You will all die.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” shrilled Randi, tensing his arm as he took aim.
The pistol in Jonathan’s hand danced ever so slightly, accompanied by the sickeningly gentle putting sound of a bullet rushing through the silenced muzzle. Bowman’s body stiffened for an instant and then seemed to relax, remaining upright for several seconds before falling over to one side. His face displayed an expression of peace, of contentment. His problems were over.
“You guys OK?” asked Jonathan, crouching down to check the psychiatrist’s lifeless form for a pulse. “He’s dead, all right.”
“I’m fine,” replied Chris, proceeding to unravel the yards of duct tape which still held Dave prisoner to his chair. “You, Dave?”
“Yeah, I’m great,” the cop responded, gazing at the dead doctor, still amazed by the multiple personality spectacle he had witnessed.
Glancing up at Jonathan, he asked, “May I enquire, who the hell are you?”
Flashing a grin at Chris, Jonathan replied, “Jonathan Addley, at your service, Captain.”
“Well, Jonathan Addley, thanks for saving our collective butts,” Dave responded, noting that the name sounded vaguely familiar. “How’d you know to show up here?”
“I saw your truck when I arrived,” Chris explained. “I figured something was wrong so I gave Jonathan a buzz.”
“OK. That explains that,” nodded Dave as he turned towards Jonathan once again. “Now, if I may be so bold, who the hell are you?”
Chris glanced at Jonathan then back to Dave. “Jon’s my boss, Dave.”
“I see,” Dave thoughtfully replied, scratching his chin with a now free hand. “I didn’t know you were employed, Chris.”
“I’m sorry, Dave. It’s not the kind of job I can openly talk about.”
“And what, may I ask is it that you do?” Dave asked stoically.
“Allow me,” Jonathan stepped in, assisting Chris to remove Dave’s remaining restraints. “Dave, officially, I’m Director of Police Relations with the Ministry of Defence.”
“Yes,” Dave nodded, his expression brightening. “I thought your name rang a bell. Wait a minute. What do you mean, officially?”
“This stays with you, Dave,” Jonathan quietly forewarned. “Very few people know of this. Understand?”
Dave nodded wordlessly, sensing the ominous seriousness of the warning.
“Have you ever heard of Discreet Activities, Captain?” Jonathan asked softly.
“Discreet Activities?” chortled Dave incredulously. “Yeah, here and there, especially at police conventions. Why?”
“What do you know of such an organization, Dave?” Jonathan enquired curiously.
“I’ve heard that it might be involved in helping us get things solved via less orthodox methods,” McCall slowly responded, looking from Jon to Chris through narrow eyes “I never quite believed that it existed.”
“Well, it does,” Jonathan announced, “And I run it.”
“You’re not kidding,” Dave stated in a daze, then turned to Chris. “And you work for this organization? Since when? Why?”
“Suffice it to say,” Jonathan spoke before Chris could reply. “That Chris and I go back a long way, Dave.”
“What Bowman was saying about the Vigilante?” Dave wondered aloud. “Was there any truth to that?”
“A lot of what I told Bowman was about the Vigilante murders, Dave,” Chris truthfully explained. “I had to convince him I was violent. I just hadn’t figured he’d know enough about the case to tie me to it like he did.”
“In my book, Captain,” added Jonathan, “the Vigilante case is where I think Chris did some of his best work. He’s by far the best computer specialist we have.”
“Well, this all comes as quite a shock,” McCall exclaimed in disbelief, shaking his head. “And you really couldn’t tell me, huh?”
“Unfortunately not,” Chris apologized. “I would have if I could.”
“I guess,” McCall shrugged coolly then abruptly changed the subject. “Now, how do we explain this?”
“This gun,” replied Jonathan, holding up his Beretta, “Is not registered. You came here, following a call from Bowman. He went nuts on you, did his multiple personality thing, confessed, pulled the gun and shot himself in the head. End of story.”
“Just like that?” McCall sneered, not accustomed to this type of approach.
“Do you have a better suggestion, Captain?” asked Jonathan in a friendly but firm manner.
“That’s just not how I do my job, Mr. Addley,” Dave replied just as firmly.
“Suit yourself, Captain,” responded Jonathan with an easy smile, crouching down to place the gun in Bowman’s hand. “This is your turf. I trust you understand that Chris and I must leave now.”
“Yeah. Go,” replied McCall, staring at the body. “I’ll look after this. Thanks for your help, gentlemen.”
“I’m sorry about this, Dave,” Chris apologized with helpless frustration.
“Sure thing,” muttered McCall. “Get out of here. I’ve got to do my job.”
Chapter 25 - Sunday, June 22, 1997
“It’s on the front page of the Gazette,” announced Sandy as she breezed into the dining room and tossed the paper before her husband. “You still moping, Barry?”
“I’m just not sure how yesterday’s events affected Dave,” Chris moodily replied. “I like the guy and feel like I let him down.”
“Better he thinks you’re a government agent than a serial killer, n’est-ce pas?” Sandy reasoned. “I’m sure Dave’s going to be OK with this. Just give him time to digest it.”
“I guess,” Chris muttered absently, laying out the paper before him to read the front page article, now old news.
PSYCHO PSYCHIATRIST COMMITS SUICIDE
Montreal’s sex slayer case solved
by Ron Henderson
The rash of violent, sex related killings over the last month in Montreal came to a surprising and somewhat tragic end yesterday. Following eight brutal murders in half as many weeks, renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Samuel Bowman, confessed to having committed the crimes before taking his own life.
Strangely enough, Bowman, a specialist in criminal psychiatry, had been assisting the police in establishing a profile of the killer or killers responsible for these hideous slayings. According to Captain David McCall, head of the Special Homicide Task Force, Bowman had been insistent that the various crimes had been committed by four distinct individuals. His adamant attitude had left authorities with an impression that the doctor knew more than he was admitting.
Yesterday, the psychiatrist contacted McCall, asking him to meet at Bowman’s downtown office to discuss serious developments with the case
. Upon McCall’s arrival, the psychiatrist, while brandishing a firearm, confessed to having committed all eight murders before turning the gun on himself, taking his life.
While yet unconfirmed and pending investigation, it is believed that Bowman may have suffered from a multiple personality disorder, this based on comments made by Captain McCall who stated, “It was like several people talking to me through one person; quite strange and scary as hell.” Criminal and psychiatric investigators have already begun looking into Bowman’s past for further evidence.
Bowman’s verbal confession was further substantiated by computer records where details of the murders could be found in what apparently were the files of fictitious patients.
Initial indications show that Bowman had no family, having lost his parents in recent years and was divorced. His ex-wife, living in Toronto, would not comment on yesterday’s events.
“Well, at least Dave played along,” Chris thought aloud somberly as he finished reading the article.
He sat there, gazing absently at the paper while thinking about McCall and yesterday’s events, which would quite possibly forever change their friendship, if not end it. In the background, he heard the phone ring and Sandy answering. After a moment, she appeared in the doorway of the dining room, phone in hand and a solemn look on her face.
“That was Dave on the line,” she announced, her tone serious. “He says that he does not accept what you did to him yesterday and must get even. He’s booked a tee-off time for 1:00 this afternoon and said that this time he’d kick your butt.”
Books by Claude Bouchard
Available for your Kindle at
Amazon.com ~ Amazon.co.uk
Vigilante
Book 1 of the Vigilante Series
Montreal . . . the long, hot summer of 1996. . . and in the dark of night, moving like a shadowy wraith, a vigilante prowls the city's streets. The targets of his bloody rampage: the worst of the worst. . . Murderers. Gangbangers. Rapists. Six months. Sixteen murders. The harried police are still without a clue . . . until the day they receive an email from the assassin himself. Lieutenant Dave McCall, head of Montreal's Special Homicide Task Force, needs help to crack the secrets of the killer's taunting message. He calls on an expert, Chris Barry, who runs a security firm specializing in computer communications. Together, McCall and Barry launch a grim quest to track down a man who preys on predators - an urgent quest to bring this remorseless killer to justice. But whose justice will prevail: theirs--or the vigilante's?
The Consultant
Book 2 of the Vigilante Series
The friendly takeover of CSS Inc. leaves computer executive Chris Barry unemployed, very wealthy and pleased with the situation. But the hiatus is short-lived. . . As a result of his involvement in the recent ‘Vigilante’ investigation, Barry is approached by Jonathan Addley and invited to join ‘Discreet Activities’, a government agency of the clandestine variety. Accepting, he promptly takes on his first assignment under the guise of an IT consultant, to investigate possible links between a local import business and the murder of its MIS director. As he discovers the firm is being used to import narcotics, his cover is blown and things get personal, spurring him to show that murderers, drug lords, biker gangs and kidnappers are no match for. . . The Consultant. . .
Mind Games
Book 3 of the Vigilante Series
Montreal is plagued by a string of vicious sex slayings. . . Captain Dave McCall and his Special Homicide Task Force are in a frustrated frenzy as they try to bring an end to the savage butchery. . . Assisting officially is noted psychiatrist, Doctor Samuel Bowman and unofficially, computer genius and multi-millionaire, Chris Barry. . . With each passing day, McCall works his way closer to the truth. . . Unaware that they are heading deep into the deadly core of. . . Mind Games. . .
The Homeless Killer
Book 4 of the Vigilante Series
The homeless of Montreal are dying at the hand of 'Allan', a serial killer set on ridding the city of street people. . . As the killer taunts the police about the increasing body count, Captain Dave McCall calls on the services Jonathan Addley and Chris Barry, both operatives with the government's clandestine 'Discreet Activities' team. . . All while fighting the city's proposed by-law banning the homeless from downtown parks, philanthropist and activist, William Enright, joins the law-enforcement crusade to capture the assassin. . . But will the combined efforts of the law and old money be sufficient to stop the Homeless Killer?
6 Hours 42 Minutes
Book 5 of the Vigilante Series
Though most of them dabbled in a variety of criminal activities, they weren't experienced in this particular field and had never been involved in a job like this before. However, with proper planning, careful organization and the inside information available to them, they were certain that this bank heist would be a piece of cake. Ten minutes, in and out, was all it would take and they'd be sharing 2.5 million dollars. Nothing could go wrong as they had thought of everything. . .How could they possibly know that a new member of the board was visiting the bank that morning?How could they know that the new board member was Chris Barry?
Discreet Activities
Book 6 of the Vigilante Series
As a result of information gathered via electronic surveillance by intelligence agencies in the U.S. and Canada, a budding terrorist organization, the Army for Islam or AFI, is suspected of planning an attack, its target possibly NYC, Burlington, Vermont or even Canada's famed Montreal. . . When four foreign students from Pakistan with known ties to the AFI's Montreal cell arrive in the area on New Year's Eve, Discreet Activities' head, Jonathan Addley, along with Chris Barry and other DA consultants are more than willing to take on the additional workload. . . After two of the DA team members die violently in an AFI related suicide-bombing, the job becomes getting revenge on those responsible for this Holy War...
Femme Fatale
Book 7 of the Vigilante Series
Less than two years earlier, Leslie Robb, an accountant in her late twenties working for the Imperial National Bank, had seen her life-partner and co-worker, Gina, shot to death during a bank heist subsequently foiled in part by Chris Barry, millionaire and clandestine operative of the government's 'Discreet Activities'.Taken as a hostage along with Chris by the remaining robbers onto a helicopter secretly piloted by two 'DA' operatives, including 'DA' head, Jonathan Addley, Leslie had played an integral role in helping bring the offenders down. As a result, thanks to her sang froid, sense of moral justice and martial arts affinities, Leslie left the world of finance to fight crime as a member of the 'DA' team.Now, Leslie has a new partner in life, Dominique Petit, a Canadian/French dual citizen who suggests Leslie visit Paris with her while she is in the City of Lights on business. Less than twenty-four hours after Leslie arrives, Dominique and her sister, Corinne, disappear, turning Leslie's vacation into her own business trip of justice and revenge...
ASYLUM
As Managing Director of the “Montreal Hospital for the Criminally Insane”, Doctor Matthew Russell has always put his professional responsibilities ahead of all else. That is, until he one day realizes he is losing his wife, Cassidy, and his two children, Stuart and Jennifer. . . With only his family in mind, Russell takes an adventure-filled, impromptu vacation of indefinite duration, leaving all else behind and stopping at nothing to show how much he cares for his loved ones in an effort to win them back. But, will he succeed . . Or, will it prove to be all too late in the end?
Learn more about Claude Bouchard’s books
Visit http://www.claudebouchardbooks.com
Questions or comments?
Email at [email protected]
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Mind Games Page 20