by Rick Murcer
“I see you caught that son of a bitch.”
“Did you get a text?”
“Yep.”
“Yeah, we got him. He almost got away, but he screwed up.”
“Why didn’t you kill him? I think I would have.”
“That’s a good question. Let’s just say my kids wouldn’t let me.”
She gave him a tired smile. “You know, I actually get that.”
The door opened behind them, and Belle and Josh entered. They walked to the other side of the bed and sat in the other two chairs.
After a few minutes, Josh spoke to Sophie.
“Still the same?”
Sophie nodded.
“He is, like I told Manny. I’m not sure what that means.”
“It means we still have a shot,” said Josh.
“It does. The doctors also finally decided to tell me that if he makes it, he’ll have only a snowball’s chance in hell of walking again,” she said, her emotion under control. “Did I tell you that?”
“Doctors are wrong every day,” said Manny. “Let’s take one step at time.”
“I’m trying, Manny. I’m trying.”
“I know. We all are.”
“By the way, has anyone heard from Dough Boy?” asked Sophie. “I haven’t been able to reach him or Barb. I think he’d like to know what’s going on here.”
“I talked to him via another agent. He knows. He said to tell you he’s thinking of you and might even try praying,” said Josh quickly.
“Okay. Thanks. I hope his prayers work better than mine and the rest of ours,” said Sophie.
“It will,” said Belle.
“So. I have a couple questions about Valentino and Tovant,” said Sophie. “And yes, let’s change the subject for a minute before I go insane.”
“Have at it,” said Manny.
“What was going on with those two? Josh’s text said the killer was a friend of Tovant, but the pictures identifying each of them were screwed up or something?”
“It appears that Benjamin Grimes and Tovant exchanged IDs in some attempt to confuse law enforcement,” said Manny.
“Why?’ asked Sophie.
“It doesn’t matter much now, but when the smoke clears, I think we’ll find out after a little more research that Tovant was really Grimes and Grimes is Tovant.”
“Explain, please,” said Sophie.
“Yeah, explain,” said Belle.
“Given the real Ben Grimes’s personality and how the Tovant family had taken him in, I suspect he did it out of a misguided loyalty to help keep the real Eric Tovant, a.k.a. Valentino, off the authority’s radar. There’s no doubt in my mind, if Valentino talks, he’ll reveal more murders; and the real Ben Grimes knew that. Throw in Daddy’s denial and protection, and you’ve got a true problem.”
“Really? The real Grimes would go that far?” asked Josh.
Manny shrugged. “It’s not unprecedented. James Jones got over nine hundred people to drink tainted Kool-Aid. We all know that the real Grimes had mental issues, and he proved it before I took him out. I think the wildcard here is that Grimes had been loyal to a fault and tried to show that in the extreme.”
“How so?” asked Sophie, her eyes wandering back to Dean.
“I’d guess he thought if he killed cops, his friend would get away with what he was doing. I don’t know right now, and I don’t care. We can talk about it later. Just know this was a screwed-up relationship, and neither of them is going to be able to hurt anyone again.”
The fluorescent light flickered above them as five members of Manny’s BAU family waited for what was next.
An hour later, the ICU nurse came in, checked Dean’s vitals, readjusted one of the IV drips patched into Dean’s forearm, and left after saying, “He’s hanging in there.” That was encouraging.
Manny watched as Sophie barely acknowledged the nurse, kissing Dean’s hand again.
If ever Manny wanted God to make an appearance, it was now.
He was told once that you only had to ask God once for what you wanted Him to hear. After that, just thank Him for hearing you and let your faith take over.
He was trying, but his faith was a little low right now.
“Hey, Princess.”
Manny sat upright in his chair, his eyes running to Dean’s face.
Sophie’s husband, his friend, and forensic tech extraordinaire looked tired, but his eyes were open and focused completely on his wife. There was a trace of a smile on his lips.
“Hey, yourself,” she said.
“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?”
Sophie Lee held back nothing, her tears streaming down her face.
“Yeah, but I still love how it sounds, Dean.”
“Good. Just know I’ll always love you, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, Dean Mucus.”
His smile widened. “It’s Mikus, and I know that.”
Dean Mikus then closed his eyes and died.
CHAPTER-42
Standing in the hospital hall, Manny relived the doctors and nurses rushing into Dean’s room, yelling, prodding, and shocking Dean’s chest over and over, to no avail, then emerging ten minutes later.
Dean’s surgeon had taken Sophie’s hand and told her they had done all they could, but Dean was gone.
The look on Sophie’s face would haunt him forever.
His tough partner had been through her fair share of hell, maybe more than her fair share, but there was nothing like this one. Nothing like losing the love of your life. How could there be?
He’d held her close until she said she needed to be alone, then she wandered into the Chapel just down the hall. That was more than understandable.
Belle decided to go sit outside the chapel while Josh, after another long hug, wandered to the other end of the hall, his phone stuck to his head.
“What do we do next?”
Manny looked up and saw Josh had returned.
“That’s a question for the ages, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“I only know what I will do next. I’m tired, Josh. I can’t do this anymore. There’s only so much in me. I almost killed two men this week. I’m at the end.”
With that, Manny handed Josh his credentials and his gun.
“It’s time, Josh. I’m leaving the FBI.”
Then Manny Williams headed for the chapel to be with his friend.
Dear readers,
Thank you for reading Miami Fire. Much appreciated.
You’ve helped to make my dream of being a writer come true, and I thank you wholeheartedly.
Yes, Manny will be back!!
Celtic Fire is already in the works, and it will be a beauty!
What will happen next with Alex and Barb?
What of Manny’s career?
How will Sophie handle Dean’s death?
Who is the next threat to Manny and his family?
You won’t want to miss the answers to those questions!!
Please visit me at www.rickmurcer.com or email me at [email protected]
I’d love to hear from you, and I promise I will do my very best to respond to you.
If you take the time to talk to me, I’ll take the time to answer.
Sincerely yours,
Rick Murcer
Books by Rick Murcer
Manny Williams Thrillers
Caribbean Moon
Deceitful Moon
Emerald Moon
Caribbean Ran
Carolina Rain
Vegas Rain
Caribbean Fire
Ellen Harper Thrillers
Drop Dead Perfect
Short Stores
The Light House
Capital Murder
413
Herbs Home Run
Manny Blue and Black Max
The Killing Sands
Table of Contents
DEDICATION
CHAPTER-1
CHAPTER-2
CHAPTER-3
CHAPTER-4
CHAPTER-5
CHAPTER-6
CHAPTER-7
CHAPTER-8
CHAPTER-9
CHAPTER-10
CHAPTER-11
CHAPTER-12
CHAPTER-13
CHAPTER-14
CHAPTER-15
CHAPTER-16
CHAPTER-17
CHAPTER-18
CHAPTER-19
CHAPTER-20
CHAPTER-21
CHAPTER-22
CHAPTER-23
CHAPTER-24
CHAPTER-25
CHAPTER-26
CHAPTER-27
CHAPTER-28
CHAPTER-29
CHAPTER-30
CHAPTER-31
CHAPTER-32
CHAPTER-33
CHAPTER-34
CHAPTER-35
CHAPTER-36
CHAPTER-37
CHAPTER-38
CHAPTER-39
CHAPTER-40
CHAPTER-41
CHAPTER-42
CHAPTER-42
Thank You
Books by Rick Murcer