“Arthur never talked about his work. We had an unspoken agreement from our first days of marriage that I never asked and he never told. He kept everything bottled up inside, but I could see he wasn’t happy working there.”
“He sure stuck it out, though, didn’t he?” Nate remarked. “Forty years is a long time to work somewhere you hate.”
Molly’s eyes narrowed at no one and she tightened her mouth into a straight line. “He hated it, all right. He used to sit and stare into space for hours. I wanted more than anything to do something to ease his mind, but I never asked.”
“Did you know he had memory sticks hidden in his desk?” Nate asked.
Molly shook her head. “Not until the voice told me about them. The person even told me the sticks would be labeled with certain numbers. The person read off the numbers to me so I would be sure to bring the right sticks. He said if I didn’t bring them at the right time, they would go after my children and grandchildren. They said if I didn’t come at the right time with the right sticks, that I would get a phone call the next day from the Police that my granddaughter Addie was dead. She’s only five!” Molly’s lips twisted in an agonized grimace and she gulped back tears.
Jo squeezed her arm. “Okay. We’re gonna find whoever did this, but we need to know everything.”
“There’s nothing more to tell,” Molly replied. “I found the sticks and I took them to the graveyard. As soon as I handed them over, someone hit me from behind. You know the rest.”
“Did the guys who attacked you cover their faces?” Nate asked. “When we got there, they were running around where anyone could see them and recognize them.”
“They didn’t cover their faces. I remember every one of them and I didn’t recognize any of them.”
Nate took a photograph out of his pocket and held it out. “Do you recognize this man?”
Molly took one look and turned away. “He was there. He was the one laughing in my face describing how he was going to throw me off the pier.”
Nate put the picture away. “This man’s name is Julian Kingston. His father Gabriel is a well-known criminal overlord in this area. It sounds to me like Arthur found out something incriminating in his job at Trenton’s. He recorded it on those sticks. Kingston may have started the fire that destroyed Trenton’s to stop Arthur from telling anybody what he knew. After his death, Kingston found out that Arthur left evidence behind.”
Molly raised her watery eyes to his face. “What could Arthur have to do with a criminal like that? My Arthur was a law-abiding man. He never got so much as a parking ticket in his life.”
Jo patted her arm again. “Believe me when I say that a law-abiding man like that is the greatest threat to any criminal. If Arthur found out something illegal was going on at Trenton’s, he never would have let it go. He recorded evidence and now Kingston is desperate to get rid of it.”
“Well, now he will.” Molly compressed her lips and tears streamed down her cheeks. “He has the memory sticks. Arthur’s sacrifice will go to waste and it’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jo murmured, “and it won’t go to waste because now we know what’s going on. We know and we’re going to stop Kingston.”
“It’s thanks to that man in the graveyard that I’m here to tell you at all,” Molly told her. “If it wasn’t for him, I would be dead now and no one would ever know.”
Chapter 4
Outside the Hospital, Nate yanked out his phone and pressed it to his ear. “Where are you guys?”
Jo heard Kat’s voice squeaking down the line.
“Finish whatever you’re doing and meet us at Pier 18 in twenty minutes. We got a lead on the Trenton Warehouse fire.” He hung up and nodded to Jo. “Let’s go.”
She followed him back across the street and up the stairs to the Police Station. “What are you going to do?”
“What do you think? I’m going to question Gabriel Kingston on the Trenton Warehouse fire.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Jo asked. “Even if he did have something to do with that fire, he’ll either laugh us out of the room or he’ll lawyer up. He won’t tell us squat.”
“I’m guessing as, even mentioning it to him will force his hand.” Nate entered the Police Armory and stopped in front of the ammunition lockup. “He’ll panic when we remind him that his son is in custody for kidnapping, attempted murder, extortion, and assault with a deadly weapon.”
Jo scowled at him jamming cartridges into spare clips. “Are you sure it’s wise to use the words ‘force his hand’ and ‘panic’ in the same sentence with Gabriel Kingston?”
“It’s wise as long as you have enough lead to back it up. Come on. Load up and take extra for Kat and Blake.”
Jo grabbed boxes of ammo and copied him. She loaded her spare clips as fast as she could and stuck a few extra cartons in her pockets. She probably wouldn’t choose to rush off and confront Gabriel Kingston with what they knew, but she trusted Nate to take the lead on this.
Back on the street, the pair turned their steps toward the docks. Nate halted across the street from the security gate and cast a glance right and left.
“Don’t you think we should question Julian first?” Jo ventured.
“What for? We already know everything he could tell us. I knew when Kat found his ID that he never rolled out for any drug deal. His old man wanted someone trustworthy on hand to take possession of those memory sticks.”
“How do you explain Julian not having the sticks on him when he was arrested?” Jo asked. “None of them had any memory sticks.”
“He must have handed them off when he realized he was under the gun.” Nate turned away. “Here they come.”
Kat and Blake came striding down the street. “What’s this about the Trenton Warehouse fire?”
“We just found the motive for the fire,” Nate told them. “Turns out sweet little old Molly Christensen is the widow of Trenton's freight manager. He died in the fire, but not before recording something important on a series of memory sticks. Kingston and friends threatened her into handing them over, after which they beat her up, threatened her life, and then got busted downtown by the Dark Avenger.”
Kat snorted under her breath. “And don’t forget that the Dark Avenger got away in the Batmobile and disappeared into the Gotham City underworld.”
Jo glared at her. “It’s not funny, Kat.”
“Oh, it’s very funny. It’s hysterical.”
“The Trenton Warehouse fire isn’t funny,” Blake cut in. “If this manager died in the fire because of his information, that’s not funny, either.”
Kat got serious quickly. “No, it isn’t. So what are we doing here?”
“We’re going to have a little chat with our friend Gabriel. Maybe he’ll be willing to cough up some relevant information in exchange for a plea deal for his son.”
Jo smacked her lips. “Not likely. What county of Fantasy Island are you living in?”
“The one where Dark Avengers leap out of nowhere to rescue old ladies in distress.” Nate handed a box of cartridges to Blake. “Take these. We might need them.”
Blake furrowed his brow. “You said we were chatting with him.”
“Last I checked, you need bullets to chat with Gabriel Kingston.” Nate wheeled away. “Let’s move.”
He marched across the street and approached the security guard’s booth. He held up his badge. “We’re here to see Mr. Kingston. Can you tell us where to find him?”
“One minute, Sir.” The guard grabbed his phone and conducted a whispered conversation with someone on the other end.
Jo nudged Kat while they waited. “I don’t like this.”
Just then, the guard stuck his head out of the booth and pointed behind him. “Follow the yellow arrows to the Albert Cromwell Building. The receptionist at the desk has instructions to take you to Mr. Kingston’s conference room.”
“Thank you.” Nate clipped his badge to his belt.
<
br /> The guard pushed a button and the high electric gate whirred out of the way. The four officers followed the yellow arrows inside and the gate closed behind them. It clanged extra loud when it latched, but when Jo looked back, there was nothing to see.
The docks of the Port of Soledad looked only too familiar. Jo and Nate came here dozens of times in their careers, but the area seemed ominous and threatening now. Jo kept checking on all sides for anything out of place.
The more she looked, the more she saw a whole lot of nothing. A few scattered workmen drove their container forklifts around. Enormous cranes lifted more containers onto cargo ships. Two men in suits and hardhats stood to one side checking their tablets.
“Here’s the building.” Nate turned off and pulled open a glass door. The four officers entered and Nate crossed to reception. He showed his badge. “Detective Nathaniel Fricks of the Soledad Police Department. Mr. Kingston is expecting me.”
The reception scowled at her computer screen. “I’m terribly sorry, Detective, but Mr. Kingston isn’t here. He’s over at the Health and Safety Annex on the other side of the yard.”
Nate stiffened. “The guard at the front gate assured me that he was here and that you would take me to him.”
“I’m really sorry, Sir,” the receptionist replied. “I can’t imagine why the guard would tell you that. Mr. Kingston hasn’t been here all day. He’s been at the Health and Safety Annex since ten o’clock this morning, and before that, he was in a meeting at City Hall.”
Nate clenched his jaw. “All right. Thank you.”
He went outside and the four friends formed a ring. Nate narrowed his eyes at the cranes in the distance. “Why do I get the distinct impression I’m being given the run-around?”
“This isn’t the run-around,” Jo murmured. “Kingston is screwing with us. Something’s wrong. Let’s get out of here.”
Nate nodded. “Maybe he thinks we’re going to hike across the yard to the Health and Safety Annex, only to discover that he’s somewhere else.”
“That isn’t it, either.” Blake’s whisper cut like a knife. “Take a look.”
The other three followed his gaze. Jo’s spine prickled when a black moving van glided out of a nearby storehouse. It parked right there in plain view. The rear tire was fully inflated, but all four officers could see the passenger window shattered and gaping wide.
Kat backed away. “Come on.”
The others retreated, but Jo couldn’t take her eyes off that truck. She expected it to open up at any second and disgorge countless attackers who would run her and her friends down.
Nate tugged her arm and she picked up her pace. She turned around to walk away, but all four kept glancing behind them for the slightest hint of danger. Nothing happened. Did she make a mistake? Did she see danger here when there wasn’t any?
She faced front. Nate was checking on both sides. Up ahead, the yellow arrows turned toward the security gate. Then Jo and her friends would be free and safe out on the streets of Soledad.
Her heart leaped into her throat when, out of nowhere, gunfire exploded around her ears. She barely had time to duck before bullets blasted from her left. Kat screamed. Jo wheeled in time to confront with dozens of armed men charging into view. They rushed between a neighboring building and a high stack of shipping containers.
The attackers paused only long enough to spray bullets everywhere. Nate dove and caught Jo’s arm. He yanked her out of the way. “What did I tell you? No one sees Gabriel Kingston without a mouthful of lead.”
“Quit gloating!” she yelled back. “Where’s the....?”
She didn’t have time to finish before the enemy rotated. They turned around the shipping container where Jo and Nate cowered for cover. Jo reacted on instinct. She pulled her service weapon and popped off eight or ten shots. She didn’t bother to aim. She waved her gun anywhere and squeezed the trigger while she and Nate made another dive to get behind the container.
The next thing she knew, Nate was towing her down a narrow corridor between stacks of containers and a twenty-foot cyclone fence. Beyond it, the sleepy town of Soledad went about its business none the wiser.
Those streets and businesses might as well be on the Moon for all the good they did Jo. She hardly dared imagine what it would mean if she ever got back there alive.
Right now, her whole world shrank to a two-foot-wide strip of concrete blocked in by wire on one side and shipping containers on the other. All at once, gunfire erupted behind her back. She and Nate dove aside just in time. They pivoted into more aisles between containers, but he was too far ahead. He ducked into one row and she skidded into another. She was alone.
She charged to the end and burst out into blazing sunshine. She ran straight into a wild gun battle between seven armed attackers on one side and Kat and Blake on the other. Kat and Blake crouched behind an overturned car. It lay on its roof with all four windows smashed out.
Jo didn’t have time to wonder how it got there before the enemy swung around to aim their weapons at her. At the same instant, one of the container forklifts went purring by with its container tilted at an angle. Without a second thought, Jo rushed straight among the gunmen. She sprayed bullets everywhere, and when the enemy cringed away, she whipped around the forklift.
In a heartbeat, she took refuge behind its huge wheel, but now she had to run alongside it to stay hidden. The forklift buzzed sideways and almost crushed her to a pulp. She sprang clear, but now the forklift swiveled to drive over to the cranes. It delivered its load to the cargo ship.
Jo halted rasping for breath behind the forklift, but now she found herself exposed to the gunmen coming for her from the side. She didn’t see Nate or her friends. She cast one glance around and zipped into another maze of containers.
Shouts and yells echoed all around her. She didn’t dare slow down or check where she was going. She dodged this way and that with no plan at all. She had no idea where she was or how to get the hell out of here. For all she knew, Nate and her friends were already dead.
She shoved that thought out of her head. She was getting out of here one way or the other. She would find Nate and Kat and Blake waiting for her. She knew it. She had to believe that above all else.
Chapter 5
Jo plastered her spine against a shipping container and gasped for air. Gunshots ripped everywhere, but with shipping containers piled to the sky all around her, she couldn’t tell which direction they were coming from.
She sent up a silent prayer for Nate. She couldn’t live without him and she didn’t want to try. She would rather die here than to find out anything happened to him.
He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. Just to prove it to herself, she dove into her pocket and pulled out the box of ammo. Her hands shook, but she forced herself to stay calm. He would want her to take this moment of reprieve to reload and......What would he want her to do? He would want her to think.
She blew a shaky breath between her lips and ejected her clip. She jammed in a fresh one and loaded the old one before she put it and the box back in her pocket. Nate always insisted that she be fully loaded before she left the Station—or the house, for that matter. He never tolerated one inch of slack. He was a true Police officer.
Once she got her gun straightened out, she almost succumbed to another wave of despair now that she had nothing to take her mind off her predicament. That wasn’t true, though. She had a job to do and that job was getting out of here.
She tiptoed to the end of the aisle and peeked. More forklifts carted containers around. The cranes and the dockworkers kept right on with their work, but not far away four of those gunmen stood together. They talked to each other and pointed in different directions.
Jo hid behind the stack watching them. They split up to search different parts of the yard. None of them came near her, but that didn’t help her much. This hiding place gave her a clear view of the security gate. Two gunmen guarded it. She wasn’t getting anywhere near it.
She cast her mind around the yard. She visited it dozens of times, but she never ventured beyond the visitor areas. She entered a few of the buildings on Police business. She never went near the container stacks or the cranes or the huge ships loading and unloading at the pier.
She traced her mind’s eye around the perimeter fence. She must have driven around every inch of it on the city streets, but that didn’t help her find a way out of here. As far as she knew, the security gate was the only way in or out of the yard.
That couldn’t be true. There had to be another exit, an emergency exit. Even if there wasn’t, she had to find another way. She ought to be able to find a shipping container sitting close enough to the fence. She could climb on top of it, jump over the fence, and land on the sidewalk outside.
She held onto that thought for dear life and shrank into the shadows. She crept away trotting further into the labyrinth of containers. She swerved right and left looking for the fence. She didn’t care about anything else.
She turned a corner and saw it. Some thirty feet in front of her, the aisle in which she stood ended in cyclone mesh. She charged it almost sobbing in relief when a sharp voice made her skid to a halt.
“I don’t want to hear that,” a male voice snapped. “Find them and bring them to me. I’m sick of all these mistakes. Find them or it’s your head.”
“Yes, Sir,” another male replied.
Jo froze. She shouldn’t stay. She should run for it while she had a chance, but when she started to turn away, the first voice came again, softer this time. “Excuse me. This situation won’t interfere with our arrangement.”
Another male almost murmured in response. “I hope not. I came to you because I trust you.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” the first man said.
Jo tried to force herself to leave, but overwhelming curiosity took possession of her. She snuck closer and extended a single eye around the corner. Her heart almost stopped when she recognized none other than Gabriel Kingston himself.
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