“It’s not that simple. Dalton promised to have one of his “fans” hunt me down. He knows where I live. The case I saw today is a copycat of Dalton’s murders. Dalton has a connection here in the triangle and I’m afraid he’s coming for me.”
The color drained from Katie’s face. She gasped, “Oh, my God.”
Rainey leaned forward and took both of Katie’s hands in hers. “Honey, you are in danger, too. He’ll lash out at the people I love, if he can’t get to me… and he’s killing lesbians. That’s another reason you aren’t safe.”
Katie was speechless. The terror in her eyes spoke volumes. Rainey had been so wrong to bring this fear back into Katie’s life. She knew all along that this was a possibility, and yet, she let Katie walk into this without all the facts.
“Katie, I’m sorry. I should have been honest with you about the risks you were taking being with me. I’m so sorry.”
Katie said nothing. She appeared to be too scared to speak. Rainey tried to reassure her.
“Danny is on his way to Dalton’s cell. He’ll tear it apart until he finds out who Dalton has been talking to. The BAU is sending a team. They will catch this guy.”
Katie finally spoke, “Are you going to help them?”
“No, my priority is you and keeping all of us safe. I’m not in the FBI anymore. They can handle this without me. I just need to keep us alive until they arrest him.”
Katie began to cry, softly. Rainey, who could investigate horrific crime scenes, stare down a serial killer, and pull the trigger on a criminal without blinking, could not handle seeing Katie cry. Her heart was breaking when she pulled Katie off the ottoman and into her lap. She held Katie close and whispered in her ear.
“I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve to have to go through this again.”
Katie sniffled, and then said, “I’m not worried about me. I can’t lose you.”
Rainey felt the tears welling in her eyes. Her voice cracked, when she said, “I can’t lose you either.”
The knock on the front door, followed by a “Yoohoo,” startled both of them. The alarm beeped a warning, and was quickly silenced. Ernie had let herself in.
Katie stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes, calling out, “We’re back here. Be there in a sec.” She looked down at Rainey. “Promise me, you’ll be careful when you take this guy down and then hurry home, okay.”
Rainey’s voice cracked again. “Okay.”
Rainey stood up. Katie hugged her, saying, “I love you too much, Rainey Bell.”
Rainey brushed her lips on Katie’s, whispering back, “No, you love me just enough.”
Chapter nine
Chauncey Barber, whose bail Rainey was about to revoke, was a suspect in some gang related shootings, but he was on bond for charges relating to criminal enterprise. Rainey didn’t really care. She just wanted him locked up. She knew he’d run when she bailed him out. That’s why she paid someone to watch him. If she revoked, more than likely no one else would pick up the bond, and the judge might raise the amount anyway. Either way, Chauncey would be out of Rainey’s hair, back in jail, and she had his non-refundable premium of $20,000.
Chauncey was a former basketball star at a local high school that couldn’t shake the gang life. He already spent several years in prison for armed robbery. He was six-feet-five-inches tall and used his time inside the walls of Central State Prison to become tattooed and thickly muscled. He was known to have a quick temper and an even swifter trigger finger. He was armed, according to her informant. There were also several guns in the house they were going to raid. She was very happy the fugitive squad was willing to lend a hand on this one. Chauncey had, like so many before him, sworn he was not going back to prison.
Rainey concentrated on putting her emotions back in their proper boxes, while she sped to Mackie’s side. She left Katie to explain to Ernie what was happening. Rainey never had anyone worry about her the way Katie did. It was an awesome responsibility to take someone’s hopes and dreams with you when you went out to do the job. Her dad had worried, but she never thought of his concerns as she did Katie’s. This thinking was a distraction and she needed to be focused on the task at hand, bust this guy, and get back home as quickly as possible, without getting dead in the process. By the time she reached the scene, she was back in control.
True to her word, Rainey took all precautions. Four blocks away from the target house, she stood at the back of the Charger gearing up. Her Sarkar IV, bulletproof vest came with removable attachments. She rarely wore the extra protection, but considering the amount of firepower that was going into this situation, she feared being shot in the crossfire more than she feared Chauncey. She added the upper arm and throat pieces, along with the collar. She even put on her helmet, which she never wore. Mackie helped her get the collar to stay on right. He wore his normal vest, but he made Junior wear the collar on his, and borrowed a helmet for him from the fugitive apprehension team.
In order to make this work, Rainey had to take custody of Chauncey. The police could go in first, if he broke a law, but could not enter the house without a warrant. He had not violated his bond, yet. Rainey needed to get him to come out the door voluntarily. The plan was for Junior and Mackie to go around back with two guys from the fugitive team, while Rainey knocked on the front door. She would have four officers with her. The police presence could convince Chauncey to surrender peacefully, or send him over the edge into the “going out in a blaze of glory” mentality. Rainey hoped everything went easy. She sure didn’t want to shoot the guy.
Junior’s cell rang. He answered it, listened for a few seconds, and then said, “All right, we’re comin’ in.” He hung up and looked at Rainey. “Chauncey’s getting’ antsy. He don’t want to wait. Says the boys can bring him the money later. Bobo says he’s messed up on somethin’. There’s three people in the house. Bobo says don’t fuck up and shoot him, he’s wearin’ a NC State hoodie.”
“Okay, I guess we better go. He’ll be in the wind if we don’t.” Rainey pointed at Junior. “Let the other guys know Bobo’s a good guy and what he’s wearing.”
When they were alone, Mackie got Rainey’s attention. “You don’t have to do this. Let me go in the front.”
Rainey had not told Mackie about the copycat, yet. She wanted him focused on the task at hand.
“No, he’ll probably run out the back. I doubt he’ll come at me with four cops on my hip. Let’s just try and talk him out of there.”
“It’s your call, but if he flinches…”
Rainey nodded. “Chill out, big guy. I’ve been face to face with worse than Chauncey Barber.”
“Don’t get cocky,” Mackie warned.
“You’re the second person to tell me that in the last hour.”
Mackie stared down at her. “Then, I guess you better heed the warning.”
Three minutes later, Rainey stood at the end of the walkway leading up to the little white house. The place belonged to Chauncey’s grandmother, who was at Bingo for the moment. On either side of Rainey, two officers with rifles, trained on the front of the house, kept pace with her as she walked up to the porch. She stopped on the top step, watching for signs of movement. Her pistol was drawn and secured with both hands. She listened for a moment before moving closer to the door. She could hear male voices coming from the front room on her right. She moved to the left of the door and waited for the four officers to take positions.
“Chauncey!” Rainey yelled. “Chauncey come on out. It’s Rainey Bell… I got to take you in … Back on out this door with your hands in the air… You hear me Chauncey?”
There was movement behind the door. A scared voice said, “Hey man, don’t shoot my ass. I’m comin’ out. I ain’t Chauncey, but I don’t want to get my ass shot. You feelin’ me?”
“Yeah, I feel ya’,” Rainey yelled back. “Open that door nice and slow. Back out with your hands clasped behind your head. You flinch and four of Raleigh’s finest are going to light you up. You got it?”
/> “Okay man, here I come.”
One of the cops grabbed the storm door and held it open. The wooden door creaked open slowly, revealing Bobo in his red hoodie. He backed out and went to his knees on the porch, hands quickly placed on the back of his head. The wooden door slammed shut again.
Bobo looked up at Rainey. “Man, he’s nuts. Y’all better call some more cops. He ain’t coming out of there.”
One of the cops patted Bobo down and then told him to get across the street. Rainey looked at the four men holding rifles on the front of the house. Each man nodded it was time to make a move.
“Chauncey, don’t make me have to shoot you,” she tried one more time. “Come on out and we’ll go straighten this out at the courthouse. You could be back on the street by suppertime.”
“Fuck you! You come in that door, bitch, and I’m going to blow you up,” Chauncey shouted from behind the door.
“Is that a threat, Chauncey? You packin’? You know that’s a violation of your bail. Now the cops can come on in. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Rainey moved as she talked. She slid down by the door handle, with the wall protecting her back. She signaled the cop to her right, who in turn said into his headset, “Go, go, go.”
They heard the back door splinter, as Mackie and the others gained access rather rapidly. Rainey turned the handle on the door and the four cops entered one behind the other. By the time Rainey made it into the house, Chauncey was face down in the floor. He had been too drugged up to take the safety off his gun.
Rainey was standing in the hallway, holstering her weapon, when Junior said, “Where’s the third guy?”
She heard the distinct click-click of a revolver being cocked behind her. She looked up at the top of the small staircase to see a young boy, probably thirteen or fourteen, with the barrel of a gun pointed squarely at her.
“Chauncey, who’s this young man with the weapon aimed at me?” Rainey said, as calmly as she could muster.
“That’s my sister’s boy. Don’t shoot him.”
“I’m more worried about him shooting me at the moment, and you know these guys are going to blow him away after that, right?”
“Darnell, put that gun down fool,” Chauncey said. The cuffs seemed to have cleared his mind some.
Darnell was trembling, the gun barrel wavering in the air. He looked like a child with a toy, but the voice that spoke was not childlike. “I’m going to pop this bitch. I’ll make my bones and be out in seven years.”
One of the cops peeked around the corner at Darnell and Rainey. He tried to reason with the kid. “Son, that ‘bitch’ is a former FBI agent. You don’t know the world of hurt that’s going to come down if I let you shoot her, so I’m not going to let you do that. You’ll be dead before you can pull the trigger. Now drop the weapon and no harm done.”
“Shit, I’ll be famous if I pop a FBI bitch and if you shoot me I’ll be a legend.”
“Then dead it is,” the cop said.
Rainey saw the grin creep across Darnell’s face. She saw his finger twitch and knew she was about to be shot. It all happened so fast. In one move the cop stepped in front of Rainey, as she dove for the floor. He fired his weapon at the boy. The bullet from his gun crashed into Darnell’s leg milliseconds before the bullet from his revolver smashed into Rainey’s right shoulder. The force of the bullet rolled her. She lay there taking stock of her condition. Her shoulder hurt like hell, but when she looked she could clearly see the end of the bullet sticking out of the ballistic material on the shoulder pad she had added.
“Thank God for small miracles,” she said under her breath.
Darnell was in a pile at the top of the stairs. He dropped his gun and was now screaming like the kid he was. The cop stood over him.
“Shut up. You’ll live a long and happy life in prison. Maybe your uncle there will teach you the ropes when you get to the big house.”
Mackie was suddenly standing over Rainey. “You all right?”
“Yeah, the shoulder pad caught it. Gonna bruise like hell. What the fuck? I thought one of those guys was supposed to clear the upstairs.”
“That young one was supposed to, but I think he got excited,” Mackie said, nodding toward the young cop being chewed out by an older one.
Rainey could hear the sirens coming. “Shit. Katie.”
Mackie looked confused. “What about Katie?”
“You know this hit the scanner. The news trucks will be here in a minute. I have to call her, before she sees this.”
Mackie helped her to her feet. She walked out onto the porch and dialed home. Katie picked up on the first ring.
Rainey spoke quickly, “It’s over. Everything’s all right.”
“Then, why do I here sirens in the background?” Katie asked.
“Cause the guy’s nephew decided to shoot at me and one of the cops shot him.” No sense in lying, she would see the news.
Katie’s voice was strained with worry. “Are you okay? Did he hit you?”
“Just a graze on the shoulder. It hit the vest, so no harm done. I wanted you to know I’m okay, in case the news trucks show up. You good?”
“Rainey, can we seriously talk about you getting shot at all the time? I mean is this normal?”
“Honey, we’ll talk when I get home, okay? I love you. I have to go.”
“Okay, but we’re going to talk about this.”
“I gotta go, Katie. Bye.”
Rainey didn’t want to talk about it now. She wanted to get this asshole booked, along with his wanna-be gang banging nephew, and get home. Her boxes were coming open, and her walls were crashing in.
#
Paperwork and interviews with the police about the incident took up the whole afternoon. When she wasn’t dealing with the police, she explained to Mackie who Dalton was and how his copycat might be after her. Mackie did not appear surprised; in fact, it seemed he had been expecting it.
“Baby girl,” he said, his big bass voice rumbling in the narrow hallway, “We knew this day could come. You got a plan?”
“I had a plan, but that went out the window when I met Katie.”
“Sounds like your plan was, “bring it on, let the assholes come,” but now that you have Katie, your life means more to you.”
Rainey’s father had been killed just weeks before the attack that nearly killed her. From that moment until she met Katie, Rainey was prepared to challenge all comers. She didn’t care if someone from her past came looking for her. If she survived the next attempt on her life, great, if she didn’t, then so be it. That type of thinking did not jive with the added responsibility, for not only Katie’s life, but also their lives together.
“Mackie, I’ve never been accountable for someone else’s hopes and dreams. It’s overwhelming sometimes. I’m afraid I can’t protect us both.”
Mackie lowered his voice. “You’ll be surprised at what you can do when you love someone. Loving someone gives you strength. Your daddy didn’t survive the jungle because he was some badass. Nobody was going to kill him, because he had to get back to his baby girl.”
“Dad was never afraid of anything.”
“Not true. He just channeled his fear into action. As smart as you are, you should know that fear can do two things. It can paralyze you, or it can be a powerful motivator.”
“Everything is happening so fast. I can’t think.”
“Let your instincts kick in. It’s like when you are in an accident, how everything slows down. You see it all happening in slow motion.”
Rainey nodded in agreement and added, “That’s your brain shutting down all the processes it doesn’t need to survive the threat.”
“Then clear your mind. Let your training take over. The only thing you need to be thinking about is how to catch this fucker, before he makes his move.”
“I’ll have a better idea what I’m dealing with after I talk to Danny.”
Mackie was making his own plans. He said, “I’ll look
after Ernie and the business. Use your training. Profile him and send Danny after his ass.” He put his bear paw size hands on her shoulders. “You call me, I come running. You don’t go nowhere alone. Day or night, you call me. You got that?”
“Yeah, I got that.” Rainey could barely reach around Mackie’s giant shoulders when she hugged him. She whispered, “You stay safe.”
Mackie squeezed her tightly. “You too, baby girl.”
“Always.”
#
Three and a half hours after being shot, Rainey pulled the Charger under the cottage. She checked her shoulder in the bathroom just before she left the police station. It was already deep shades of purple and black. The throbbing heat from the bruise was becoming distracting. When she got out of her car, Rainey saw a black SUV, typical of the BAU team, coming down the road toward her. Damn, she still had to meet with Danny. All Rainey wanted was an ice pack and some Ibuprofen. She certainly was in no mood to deal with Dalton’s copycat, or Katie’s reaction to her being shot. She sighed loudly, knowing the chances of avoiding either one of those things was slim.
Katie was standing on the deck, looking down at Rainey when she emerged from under the cottage. Rainey smiled for the first time in hours.
“That’s Danny coming now,” Rainey called up to Katie, as she began to climb the stairs. “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you he was coming.”
Katie rushed Rainey when she reached the deck. She wrapped her arms around Rainey and hugged her tightly, too tightly. Rainey wriggled loose.
“Ouch!” She exclaimed, and rubbed her bruised shoulder.
Katie stepped back. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you hurt? You said you weren’t hurt.”
“Calm down. It’s just a bruise,” Rainey said a little sharply, still smarting from the pain.
Katie tilted her head and looked at Rainey. “I’m going to assume that tone is because you are hurt and hungry. Have you eaten?”
Rainey felt stupid. Near-death experiences tended to make her short tempered and cranky. Katie didn’t deserve the attitude. “I’m sorry. I am hungry and I want to change my clothes.”
Rainey Nights Page 14