by Dale Mayer
“She’s allowed her own opinion. She just needs to keep it away from me,” he sneered.
“Because, God help us, she might not agree with what you said, huh?” She laughed at that. “God, you’re such a loser.”
A split second passed before his hand was on her throat, choking her. “She’ll kill you, you know?” Catherine said in that conversational tone.
He snorted. “She has to catch me first.”
“And that’s the secrecy you’re afraid of. And I suppose that’s the reason, the real reason, you’re worried about Kano—is in case he found out who was the traitor.”
He glared at her and turned away, and his hand dropped from her throat too.
“You know my mom’s looking for you, right?”
“She can look,” he said. “I’ve been operating under her nose for years.”
“So maybe Michael was after you too.”
“So it seemed, but, now that he’s almost dead, I doubt that it makes a difference.”
“Did you shoot him too?” she asked in alarm.
“No, but maybe I should though,” he said, with a sneer.
“Why would you say that?” she said. “I don’t understand how some people can be so trigger-happy.” But she settled back, not sure what she should do or say to get herself out of this because, so far, this scenario was nothing but bullshit. “Doesn’t matter anyway, Reginald,” she said. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Nothing to find out,” he said.
The driver looked back at her. “She’s just trying to get your goat.”
“I know that,” he said in disgust. “She’s not very good at it though. Definitely not her mother’s daughter.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong,” she said. “My mother tried to protect me from all this,” she said, with a newer understanding. “She didn’t want to get pregnant in the first place, but then she couldn’t do anything about it and did her best to protect me.”
It’s funny how a situation like this only helped Catherine to understand some of the motivations of her parents. To think that Michael was her father actually filled her with delight. She thought about all the possible men out there who could have been her father, and she was more than happy to have Michael be the man who had actually donated the sperm. He at least had some role in her life, some role in being there for her. And she’d loved every minute she’d spent with him.
Now she realized it came from more than just a sense of duty on his part but also likely from true caring. And that made her feel even better. He would never go against her mother. And that just made Catherine even more astonished at the powerful hold her mother had over some people. It didn’t seem right in so many ways, but her mother would not wish to change the status quo now.
Catherine wished to God that Michael hadn’t let her mother shoot him because that was just so wrong. He was in pain and could actually die from his wound, and her mother didn’t seem to care, as long as the lesson was learned. It just blew Catherine away.
“The mother’s a bitch, and the daughter’s a bitch, just different varieties,” the driver said, “but, once a dog, always a dog.”
She didn’t even respond to the insults. It just showed who they were mentally. Men so hardened by the type of work they did that they’d lost that little bit of humanity that made them something else. They were nothing more than dogs to be shot themselves. She thought it was interesting that she was in a situation to see so much firsthand of what she had deliberately tried hard to get away from seeing. “You know that, if you kill me, it won’t end there,” she said.
“Yes, it will.”
“Not only will Kano come after me, which, of course, is what you’re counting on,” she murmured, “but so will my mother. And so will Michael.”
“No reason for either of them to. It’s business. They understand that.”
“Besides, they’ll never know who it was,” the driver said.
“You think the satellites didn’t pick you up already? Do you think the street cameras don’t have you pegged?” She just shrugged and stared out the window. “My mother will likely already know.” And she thought about her mother and her arrival at the warehouse.
“Doesn’t mean she’ll do anything about it though,” the driver said, “and I didn’t get out of the vehicle, so there’s no way I’m on camera.”
“Right, but I’m pretty sure it won’t take her long to figure it out. You might not like who she is, and she might challenge you and make you feel diminished in some way,” she said, deliberately slighting him, “but the one thing you can’t say is that she’s stupid. Because she’s not.”
“No, she’s not, but neither is she what she’s built herself up to be.”
“Yeah, she’s got quite a reputation, doesn’t she?” Catherine said, with a laugh. “Who’d have thought?”
“Not me,” he said. “Just people are terrified, and that’s how she’s kept that ring going.”
“Yeah, makes sense. Kinda sucks for a lot of people who are so scared of her, but I understand it.”
“Yeah, because you were scared of her too. Still are.”
“Nope, not anymore,” she said. “That’s the funny thing about this. Fear is something you can manage for a while. But, at some point in time, even that wears you down.”
“So what then? You’re all over her now?”
“Nope, I wouldn’t say that,” she said, “but I faced her down. Now I’m free. All because I’m certainly not the same person I was seven years ago.”
“None of us are,” he said. “Just think. I used to believe in fairness and justice in the court system. But that all became straight bullshit pretty fast.”
“So you turned against everyone?” When he turned to look at her, she said, “I’m actually really interested. You know that I do a lot of rescue work in child psychology, so I always find it interesting to see what makes people switch their lives around.”
He snorted and said, “You won’t fucking psychoanalyze me.”
“Of course not,” she said. “Nothing to analyze. You’re pretty simple. Just like my mother is pretty simple.”
“That she’s not,” he said.
She looked at him, smiled, and said, “Oh, she’s very simple. She was hurt badly and is still lashing out at the rest of the world.”
He frowned at her.
“Just like you. You were betrayed. Somebody hurt you in a way that was one of the most deeply felt moments in your life, and you’ve been spending the rest of your time getting back at the justice system by operating under and around it, making fools of everybody who lives and works within it,” she said. “See? Not so hard to figure out at all.”
Once again, that same hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. She gasped for breath, but she stared at him calmly, even as she choked. She closed her eyes, feeling dark circles coming over her mind, as he choked the life out of her. But suddenly somebody smacked him hard and said, “Knock it off.”
The grasp on her throat was released, and she choked for air.
“Stupid bitch,” he said. “I said, don’t fucking analyze me.”
“As I said, you’re too simple to be analyzed. Nothing is there to even work our way through.”
At that, the other guy beside her said, “Knock it off, or next time I’ll let him at you.”
She smiled and settled back. But it wasn’t that hard to sort out what made these men do what they did.
*
Kano was behind the wheel, following the directions that Stone gave them over Fallon’s cell, which Fallon had on Speaker. “Yeah, we’re on the trail,” Kano said. “I can’t see them in front of us yet.”
“You want to stay a little bit behind them,” Stone said. “We tried to get pictures of all the different members in the vehicle.”
“How many are in there?” Kano asked.
“From what we can see, looks like two in the back and one driver. We’ve got an image on the guy from the right
of Catherine, but it’s dark. We’re trying to get the guy on her left.”
“And what about the driver?” Kano asked.
“We’ve got a partial, but it’s just the lower chin. We’re looking for a break here somewhere,” Stone said. “We’re sending whatever we get to Ice. I’ll call you back if they change directions or if we find out more.” And Stone hung up.
“Have you contacted her mother?” Fallon asked Kano.
Kano shook his head. “Not yet. But I guess I need to.” He pulled out his phone and handed it to Fallon, who quickly found her number in his Contacts. Putting it on Speaker, he propped up the phone in the holder on the dashboard.
“I thought we had an agreement,” she said, her voice hard.
“Catherine’s been kidnapped,” Kano said. “She was snatched from the front of the warehouse, while we were talking on the side.”
She gasped. “Are you serious?”
He quickly read off the license plate and the vehicle model they had garnered. “Two men in the back seat, with her pinched between them, and one driver.”
“Damn it,” she said, “you brought this down on them.”
“I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with me,” he said, “but I could be wrong. The bottom line is that she’s the one in danger.”
“I’m on it,” she said and hung up.
“So now I guess she doesn’t coordinate or do team effort?”
“No,” he said, “not at all.”
“What about our team?” Fallon asked.
“I’m sure Stone’s in touch with them, since we’re dealing with matters on the ground directly. They’ll be running what Stone has through facial recognition, at least the one of the guys on the right-hand side.” Just then Kano’s phone buzzed. “Oh, this is them,” he said, then answered the call. “Hey, what have you got?”
“I think what we have,” the caller said, “is somebody who used to work for DeeDee.”
“That would make sense. She said some former employees had gone rogue. We’re still wondering about that group. I don’t understand why they’re after me or what it has to do with Catherine though,” he said.
“I’m not sure yet, but we’re sending you photos.” Seconds later they arrived, and he glanced at the first photo. He took a look and then nodded to Fallon. “You know this guy?”
He looked at it, shook his head. “Not that one. No.” Then he spoke their team member on the phone. “Do we know anything about him?”
“No, that’s just the guy on the right side of the van.”
“Right, so could be anything. Keep looking,” he said.
“We will.” With that, Kano hung up and turned his attention back to Stone, who called back, on Fallon’s phone. “Go ahead, Stone.”
“Okay, we’ve got an ID on the one guy,” and he read off the name. “We can’t identify him as being important here, but obviously he’s a player.”
“Could be just hired muscle,” Fallon said.
“Most likely, yes,” Kano said, “we’re still trying to get something to ID the guy on the left. Do you have any more images?”
“Yes,” Stone said, with a note of satisfaction. “I just sent them to your team.” Moments later, Kano’s phone buzzed, and the same guy called back.
“We know him,” he said, “he’s one of DeeDee’s main guys. Reginald.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. He’s like her number two, number three guy in there. Depending on where you place Michael.”
“Reginald is likely the one we’ve been looking for, since she shot Michael,” he snapped.
“Seriously?” the team member asked.
“Yeah, and apparently didn’t even think twice about it. Something about a lesson.”
“Wow,” Fallon said. “She’s quite the bitch, isn’t she?”
“They were lovers at one time, and it turns out he’s Catherine’s father to boot.”
Fallon whistled at that. “DeeDee’s got a problem in-house.”
“She said she was cleaning house, but I guess she hasn’t gotten to this Reginald guy.”
“You’ve got his name now,” the guy from their team said. “I’ll call you back, if we get something on the driver.”
“Good enough.” And the call disconnected.
Fallon looked at Kano. “What do you want to do?”
“Dial DeeDee,” he told Fallon.
“I don’t want this to be a habit!” she exclaimed.
“It’s Reginald,” Kano snapped, “your number two guy.”
Silence came on the other end. In a deadly voice, she said, “Proof?”
“I’m sending you the pictures in a minute.” He hung up and told Fallon, “Can you forward that photo of him and the license plate?” It took less than ten seconds, and it was done. “Let’s see what she does now.”
“You’re about two blocks behind,” Stone said, still on Fallon’s cell.
“Okay, I’ll pick up the pace a little bit,” Kano said, “but I don’t want them to see me.”
“No, that’s the last thing we want. Shit, wait. They’ve pulled off less than one hundred yards ahead. Take the next right, right now, and stop.”
Immediately, almost too far past the corner to make the turn, Kano yanked hard on the steering wheel and entered the right-hand alleyway. He pulled to the side of the road and said, “Okay, I’m parked.”
“Go on foot from there. They’ve pulled off to the side, and I don’t know where they’ve gone,” Stone said. He quickly gave them further directions and then said, “I’m out. I’ll keep watch overhead.”
“We’re good,” Kano replied. And, with that, they exited the vehicle, pulled out their guns, and slipped around the corner. They saw no sign of the vehicle they had been following. No sign of Catherine. No sign of anyone. But, of course, they must be hidden.
“Looks like a garage door up ahead.”
They studied the shadows and nodded. “That looks quite possible.”
“I’ll head around the back,” Fallon said. “Don’t go in there without me.”
“I won’t,” he said. “I’d like to make this as smooth and as simple as possible,” he murmured.
“Not going to happen. Not now that you’ve brought in DeeDee.”
“True,” he said, “but we can’t wait on her either.”
“They’re looking for you. Remember that.”
“And I think they should get me,” he said, straightening up and looking at Fallon.
“Not a good idea,” he said. “Every time you do that, something backfires.”
Kano chuckled. “Yeah, well, in this case, we have to make sure that Catherine gets out alive.”
“I want to make sure that you get out alive.”
“You’d better make sure she gets out alive too,” Kano said, “or you won’t want to see me afterward.”
“Noted,” Fallon said. “But, damn it, it would be nice, just for once, if we’d end up with somebody not trying to kill us.”
“It’ll be a bit longer yet,” he said. “We have some shit to deal with first.”
“Yeah, I hear you. I’m just tired of it.”
“Better not be that tired. Lots of houses to clean and lots of threads to tie up,” Kano said.
And, with that, Fallon disappeared.
Kano studied the layout, looking for a door. He didn’t want to get too close, in case anybody was watching them. He figured that, at the very least, the kidnappers would have posted a sentry, but Kano saw nobody within a block. He did a quick reconnaissance around the front of the other buildings, wondering if anybody was there. But he couldn’t see anything. Finally he walked up to the door, realizing he didn’t have too many other options.
Just then he heard a vehicle, with the low purr of a panther pull up down the block. He lifted a hand, as he recognized one of DeeDee’s men. It sure as hell wasn’t Michael, and Kano didn’t know whose side this guy was on. Because DeeDee may have lost a little more control than she thought. It
happened to the best of them. And, if you didn’t have a team you could count on, everything else went to shit.
The one guy she could count on she herself had put in the hospital. Not smart of her at this point in time. She might have been doling out what she considered a necessary lesson, but the end result was that it had left her very unprotected. And Kano wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out other people had noted that too. He slipped inside and waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
“Wow, look at that. He just walked right in,” a snarly voice came from the shadows inside.
“Was there any other way to go?” Kano asked, leaning against the door.
“And yet you’re still huddling at the door. Why don’t you come visit your girlfriend?” he said.
“I would, but she’s over there, and I can’t see yet.”
“Yeah, the lighting’s a little rough in here.” Somewhere, a harsh light was turned on overhead, directly above Catherine. It lit her up fully but still left Kano in the shadows. He looked around at the warehouse, boxes on the sides, a forklift off in the far corner. “This is somebody else’s business, I presume?”
“Hey, what goes on at nighttime, nobody really knows about, and most never check that close.”
“Makes sense,” Kano said, but he didn’t move. He wasn’t sure who was coming behind him from the car recently on the scene or on whose side the guy would be. The timing was perfect for it being either. Kano just didn’t have any faith in DeeDee’s team at this point. He eyed Catherine, sitting there quietly on a chair. He looked at her, glad to see she wasn’t tied up or even gagged. He smiled. “You doing okay, honey?”
She nodded slowly. “Getting a little tired of this though,” she said.
“Yep, me too,” he said, but he kept his words light and happy. If nothing else, he needed to throw the others off.
“Where’s your partner?” one of the guys asked.
“Same as you,” Kano said. “Where’s your partner?” He looked at the guy now that he could see in the light. “I know you,” he said. “You’re Ken, aren’t you? The hired muscle.”
At that, Ken stiffened. “I might be new to the team,” he bit off, “but I’m sure as hell not hired muscle.”