Moonlight Avenue

by Gerri Hill

  She nearly jumped when Rylee touched her arm.

  “If you don’t slow down, you’re going to fly right by our exit,” Rylee said, squeezing her arm.

  “Sorry. I just…I have this nagging feeling that we’re too late. That we’re going to find…well…”

  “I know. But slow down. I’m not sure the tires are even touching the pavement right now. And it’s so foggy…”

  Finn changed lanes, cutting off a truck. A loud horn blared behind them, and Finn moved into the far right lane, tires squealing as she skidded into the exit. Rylee was holding on to the dash now.

  “You didn’t see that truck, did you?”

  “No.”

  “I’m driving on the way back,” Rylee murmured.

  * * *

  It was dark…the fog thick. Finn slowed as they approached the gate. She killed her lights but doubted anyone could have seen them from the warehouse. They were enveloped in the swirling mist, as was the warehouse itself. Even through the binoculars she could barely make out the shape of the building. No vehicles were in front, but that wasn’t to say they weren’t hidden in the back. Of course, with the boat, they wouldn’t need a vehicle.

  “It’s kinda creepy,” Rylee said quietly. “The old boat trailers…they look like giant skeletons.”

  “I always liked foggy nights when I’d sit on the pier,” she said as she lowered the glasses. “But yeah, it’s a little creepy out here.”

  “How long do we wait for him?”

  “We don’t. You stay here. I’ll—”

  “Finn—”

  “The gate’s locked. I’ll have to climb the fence.”

  “Are you suggesting that I can’t?”

  “Rylee—”

  Rylee opened the door and got out before Finn could stop her. Finn got out too, looking at Rylee across the top of her car.

  “Don’t be stupid.”

  “Don’t piss me off!”

  “God…I had no idea you were so stubborn!” Finn said as she pounded the top of the car.

  “Yeah? Look in the mirror!”

  Finn hurried around the car and grabbed Rylee’s arm as she was about to climb the fence. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. Stay here!”

  “That makes no sense. I don’t want anything to happen to you! You stay here!”

  Finn threw her hands up. They had no time for this. “Fine! Get yourself killed!”

  Before either of them could attempt to scale the fence, lights appeared out of the fog. Rylee tensed, but Finn let out a relieved breath.

  “It’s okay. It’s him.”

  “Thank God,” Rylee whispered. “Because I’m not sure I could have climbed the fence.”

  Finn pulled her into a sudden hug, then released her just as quickly. “Please stay here, Rylee. Wait for me in the car. Please? Do it for me. Please?”

  She could hear Rylee’s breathing, feel her indecision, feel her hands tightening around her. “Okay. Go get Dee. But you better come back in one piece.”

  “I promise.”

  The large armored truck stopped next to her car and unlike her, they didn’t kill the lights. She walked over to it, seeing Elliott Sparks hop out.

  “About damn time.”

  They shook hands quickly.

  “Going to get my ass into all kinds of trouble, Finn.”

  “I thought trouble was your middle name.”

  “When we came up together, trouble was your middle name, if I remember.” Sparks turned to one of the three officers he’d brought with him. “Check it out,” he told one of them. He walked with Finn over to the gate. “Damn glad you’re okay. Heard you jumped off a boat.”

  “I felt like it was safer than wherever they were taking me. Which I assume was here.”

  “You think this is the place then? It’s already a crime scene, according to the detectives I spoke with.” He peered through the fence at the warehouse. “Nobody seemed to think they’d come back here. Not unless they were crazy.”

  “Yet you came anyway.”

  “I trust your gut, what can I say?”

  “Commander…we got people inside. Looks like at least ten.”

  Finn looked at the monitor for thermal imaging he held, seeing the distorted images moving inside the warehouse. There were what looked like five stationary figures. Mabanks and Dee were two of them, she hoped.

  “Cut the lock on the gate. Let’s roll.” He turned to Finn. “I’m calling for backup, then we’ll go in. You stay here.”

  “No, way. I’m going with you.”

  “You’re a goddamn civilian, Finn. I can’t let you—”

  “You can’t stop me,” she said, meeting his gaze in the fuzzy lights of the truck. “Got a friend in there. And in case you don’t remember…I never had many friends.”

  He shook his head, then pointed to the truck. “Get in the back with Thompson. And put a goddamn vest on.”

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Dee felt her heart jump into her throat at the sound of Drake’s phone ringing. Was their time up? From what she’d gathered from the little conversation she’d been able to decipher, they were most likely going to be eliminated right here and now…unless Hernandez ordered them moved somewhere else. She wondered how much Spanish the rest of them knew. There had been no reaction to the conversation so she assumed none.

  Drake was speaking quietly now and she couldn’t hear him. She watched Lobo’s reaction instead. He was nodding at whatever Drake said. She saw the other three starting to fiddle with their guns.

  Her throat was dry and she could barely swallow. She glanced over at Duncan. His tears had stopped, but their stains still marred his young, handsome face. He turned to look at her and she saw the fear in his eyes. Could he see the same in hers?

  To her left, she felt Roger King shift—the first movement he’d made since she’d gotten there. She turned to look at him, but as before, he was staring straight ahead, unblinking. What was he thinking? For that matter, what were they all thinking? What was she thinking?

  Nothing. Even her mind seemed paralyzed with fear. Should she be reliving the good times in her life? Should she be thinking of her parents, her younger sister…or thinking of Angela, the only woman she’d ever been in love with?

  Drake pocketed his phone, then moved toward them. Duncan was shivering beside her, his lower lip trembling. If she had had a free hand, she would have offered him some comfort. All she could do was press her shoulder closer to his, giving him some human contact.

  Eric Lawrence was the first to speak. He directed his question at Lobo, not Drake.

  “What have we done to deserve all of this, Lobo? We did everything Jose asked of us.”

  “And you were paid well,” he shot back.

  “So why all of this? What did we do?”

  “It’s not what we did…it’s what we know.”

  Dee’s gaze went to Oliver Judge. At least he recognized the truth. The tone of his voice indicated that he knew—and accepted—the fate that was coming. He seemed calm now, his eyes no longer darting around the room, his jaw no longer clenching tightly.

  “Jose is in Mexico,” Eric continued. “It doesn’t matter what we know. They can’t touch him there.”

  Perhaps Eric Lawrence didn’t know that Jose Hernandez was an American citizen. If he was linked to the deaths of this many people—a mayor, a councilman, a judge, a police captain—he would be a hunted man. If he wasn’t extradited back to the US, if he was protected by a drug cartel, he would eventually be assassinated…somehow, someway. At least, that’s what she wanted to believe.

  Drake stepped forward. “For one of you…it’s your lucky day. I’ve been told to keep a hostage…just in case.” He looked at all of them, a smug smile on his face. His gaze returned to her. “A police detective will do nicely.”

  Lobo walked up to Duncan, jerking him to his feet. “Everyone. Get up.”

  “What…what are you going to do?”

  “What do you think they
’re going to do? They’re going to kill us.”

  Roger King didn’t move. Dee was on her knees, struggling to stand without the aid of her hands—old and out of shape, she chastised herself. She leaned toward Roger.

  “Get up,” she whispered.

  But why? For what reason? Were the five of them going to charge…hands tied behind their backs? Were they going to fling themselves at Drake and the others? Five men with guns? No. It would be over in a matter of seconds.

  If they did nothing, it would still be over in a matter of seconds. For the rest of them. For her? Apparently, she was being spared for a little while longer.

  Yeah…it was her lucky day.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Finn could feel the rapid pounding of her heart in her chest and she took a deep breath. It had been ten years since she’d been on the force. More years than that since she’d been in a situation like this…if ever. She tugged at the vest around her neck, pulling it lower. She didn’t miss wearing that damn thing.

  “There’s movement, sir. Something’s happening”

  Finn looked over at the monitor. Everyone was moving at once. Yeah, something was happening all right.

  “Ram the door!” Sparks instructed urgently. “Be ready. Remember…we got civilians in there.”

  Finn braced herself as the armored truck smashed into the dual metal doors on the side of the warehouse. Gunfire erupted immediately. Both doors of the truck were flung open and she was left alone in the back. She looked around the room, trying to find Dee and Mabanks among the chaos.

  * * *

  Roger King was seconds away from a bullet to the head when all hell broke loose. Dee was as shocked as anyone to see a SWAT truck crash through the doors. Lobo’s automatic rifle began firing and Dee flung herself in front of Duncan Frazier, feeling a bullet rip through her. She collapsed on top of him, squeezing her eyes against the pain.

  “Get down! As low as possible,” she hissed at him.

  * * *

  Finn ducked down below the seat and crawled out the back side, ignoring Sparks’s directive to “stay the hell down” as bullets bounced off the wall behind her. She saw Drake creeping along the side, trying to slither away. She ran after him, jumping over two bodies…realizing as she did that one of them was John Mabanks.

  A bullet whizzed by her head and she instinctively ducked, then continued running. She heard the banging of a door and ran to it. She pushed it open, but stayed inside. Three shots rang out, ripping into the door.

  She dove out the door, gun ready as she landed. Drake was running away and she fired twice, but he never broke stride.

  “I’m too damn old for this,” she muttered as she got up and ran after him.

  * * *

  Rylee chewed on her lower lip, wondering how long she should wait. The gunfire had stopped, but no one had come out. Should she stay put? Should she wait for Finn? Or should she go in?

  She opened the door on Finn’s car and got out, trying to see through the fog. She took a couple of steps through the gate, then stopped. She heard footsteps.

  Someone was running.

  She turned, seeing the shadowy figure of a man running along the fence toward her. Her chest tightened in fear.

  It was Drake.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  “I’m okay,” she managed.

  “You lost a lot of blood, Detective. Sparks says paramedics will be here in about a minute.”

  She looked at the tourniquet he’d applied, then saw the blood. “God…just my arm?”

  “You’re damn lucky the bone’s not shattered.”

  “Where else? My ass hurts.”

  He smiled. “Yeah.”

  “Oh, God…I got shot in the ass?”

  “Afraid so.”

  “I’ll never hear the end of that. Where’s Finn?”

  “She’s here somewhere,” the officer said. “Now be still.”

  Dee winced as she shifted back against the wall, watching as Sparks shoved Lobo—hands cuffed—roughly against the truck. Only then did she look around her.

  “My God,” she murmured.

  Bodies and blood littered the warehouse floor. Roger King was covered in red. His face nearly unrecognizable. Next to him was Eric Lawrence, his midsection riddled with bullet holes. Oliver Judge was on the floor, propped up against the wall much like she was. His eyes were open…lifeless eyes. He had a bullet hole in his forehead.

  She swallowed, turning away from the sight. Duncan Frazier was sitting next to her, his hands twisting together nervously. She looked at him, seeing fresh tears on his face.

  “You okay?”

  He nodded slowly, then turned to meet her gaze.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Because you’re just a kid and you’ve got your whole damn life ahead of you.”

  “I’m…I’m not a kid.”

  “Yeah, you are. You’re a kid who just lost both parents.” She leaned her head back against the wall, wondering why her arm didn’t hurt more than it did. “I don’t know how you got involved in all of this or what they promised you…but you’re damn lucky to be alive. Don’t waste this second chance you’re getting.”

  “They…they came to me at my dad’s funeral. They made it seem like I didn’t have a choice.”

  “There’s always a choice, Duncan.”

  “I’m…I’m sorry you got shot. He meant to kill me, not you.”

  “He meant to kill all of us.” She turned to look at him again. “Your father worked hard…had a successful business. But he got greedy.”

  “I knew what was going on. I’m friends with one of the managers. There was too much money. My dad got mad when I asked him about it.”

  “Yeah, there was a lot of money. He was making a good living without getting mixed up with Jose Hernandez. Now look what happened.”

  “Am I…am I going to go to jail?”

  “Best I recall, you were tied up like the rest of us. But I tell you what…if you ever pull any shit like this, I’ll be all over your ass.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I won’t.”

  “Good. Because you’ve got some pizza joints to run, I guess. By the way, my favorite is the Bayside Bomber.”

  “With the jalapenos?”

  “Yeah. In case you want to bring me one at the hospital,” she murmured as her eyes closed. “Tell them to hurry, would you? I’m feeling…really faint.”

  * * *

  For several seconds, Rylee stood still, unmoving as Drake came toward her. Then, instead of going back to Finn’s car, she ran through the gate toward the warehouse. Barely ten steps into her run, however, she was taken crudely to the ground.

  She was surprised that she didn’t scream. Perhaps because she knew it was coming. With as much force as she could muster, she rolled them over, kicking him hard with her heels.

  “Goddamn you!” he spat as he grabbed her shoulders, forcing her back.

  Then he was flung off her; Finn had materialized out of nowhere, tackling him from behind. Rylee scooted out of the way as Finn wrestled with him on the ground. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could hear nothing else. She stood up, her hand shaking as she pulled her gun from its holster.

  Drake tossed Finn off him, then scrambled to his feet, but Finn was too quick. She grabbed his ankle, tripping him, making him stumble. Rylee pointed her gun at him, but her hand was trembling too much to pull the trigger. Then Finn jumped on his back, knocking him to the ground once again. In the dark, foggy mist, she could barely make out their shapes.

  She heard rather than saw Drake’s fist connect with Finn’s face. Finn lay still on the ground as Drake stumbled away from her. He turned then, coming toward her.

  “Should have let Lobo kill you,” he said as he wiped at the blood oozing from his lip. It was only then that he saw the gun she held. He laughed. “Really? I don’t think so.”

  She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Really,” she said, her voice shaky, belying the conf
idence she suddenly felt.

  “You’re not going to shoot me. You’re going to get in the car. We’re going to drive off.” Behind his back, he produced a gun. “See…I have a gun too. And unlike you, I’m not afraid to use it.” He took a step closer, only six feet away now. “Get in the car.”

  She fired without thinking, hitting him in the shoulder. The gun fell from his hand. He stared at her in disbelief.

  “On your knees,” she said loudly.

  He growled as he charged her, six feet turning to four, three. She fired again, twice, three times. He was upon her, taking her backward to the ground, landing squarely on top of her, nearly knocking the breath from her.

  “Rylee!”

  By the weight of him, she knew he was dead. Dead weight. His head was against her shoulder and she shoved hard, unable to move him. She heard running…voices. Then he was pulled away and Finn was there, scooping her up in one motion.

  “Are you okay?”

  Was she? Her body seemed to be shaking, head to toe. “I…I think so,” she managed. “You?”

  “I think he broke my damn nose.”

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  “Lobo was the only survivor? Why the hell didn’t you shoot him too?”

  Sparks shook his head as he walked with her down the hallway. “It’s probably a good thing you quit the force, Finn.” Then he grinned. “Your nose is quite attractive, by the way.”

  “It must be. You’re like the fourth person to say that.”

  He laughed. “I’m surprised they kept you, though. Something serious?”

  “No. It wouldn’t stop bleeding, that’s all.”

  “Hurt?”

  “Hurt like hell when they straightened it,” she said, touching the bandage.

  He nodded. “So where’s your girlfriend?”

  She frowned. “Girlfriend?”

  “Rylee.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.”