That’s why he had gone back to work. When he was there, he could at least hide the pain for a few hours…
He opened the car door and rushed into the building.
Walter and Thomas were waiting in the briefing room.
He entered soaking wet, leaving drips of water in his path.
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“You didn’t even bother to change before entering this place.” Walter tried to joke.
Neither Jason nor Thomas laughed.
“Tough crowd,” He grumbled and shook his head,
“What’s the situation at the safe house?”
He looked into Jason’s eyes. Instead of his usual irritated, somewhat arrogant look, Jason’s red eyes gave away that he had been crying before entering the room. Walter’s own eyes could only reply with sympathy.
“I have appointed fifty police officers to guard the safe house, fifty-one if I count myself. There are thirty-five men and fifteen women.”
“What is the setting of the safe house?” Thomas asked sharply.
Jason looked at Thomas intensely before continuing his statement.
“I have the witness in our underground facility at the Gowanus Batcave.” He looked to Walter, who gave him a reassuring nod. “Patrolling the premises are ten men: seven patrol men in civilian clothes and three snipers on the Batcave’s roof with nightvision equipment.” He took a breath and took a seat. “Ten men have also been strategically positioned on the Batcave’s ground floor to quench any aggression that might overpower the men outside. The remaining thirty officers are in the underground facility. The female officers are closest to the witness, attending to her needs, while the male officers are scattered strategically in the facility. They can handle any form of aggression easily.”
“Can you trust these men and women? One of them might be working for Carlos and his organization.”
Thomas asked, “How do you know that someone will not sneak into her room in the night and cut her throat?”
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“I have handpicked every one of them and they are part of the absolute best this force has. I have also taken the precaution that no guard will walk alone. They move in groups of two or more.” Jason said confidently. He was more on edge after they had massacred his entire team the previous day, all because of one worthless ex-cop.
“Has she said anything apart from what she told you in the interrogation room?” Thomas asked carefully, trying not to raise suspicion.
Jason scowled, “I couldn’t even look at her, let alone listen to anything that would come out of her dirty mouth.” Jason said with disdain. “Our drive to the safe house was silent. If it were up to me, I’d have ripped off her head. But she is a valuable witness that needs our protection.”
Jason had wanted to kill Mary the previous night. He could have, but he somehow disciplined himself to carry out his duty as a cop.
“Jason, I…” She fell silent the moment his scornful eyes had met hers in the rearview mirror.
“Will you not listen to my side of the story? You’ve always been reasonable.” She tried to look at him, but his piercing eyes were too much for her.
He didn’t answer.
“My life was in danger. If I didn’t agree to work with Carlos, he would have killed me.” She tried again. He kept on driving without saying a word. He hated her.
When he heard that his team were dead, he attacked her.
He lifted her off her feet against the Batcave’s wall, just outside the entrance to the underground facility. She 89
desperately slapped against his powerful forearms as the airflow to her lungs waned.
He thought about Catherine, what she would think of her daddy doing such a thing…
He finally released Mary, leaving her gasping for air.
When he wanted to lift her to her feet, she cowered away in fear.
“Is everything set?” Walter asked Jason as he walked to the door. He nodded in reply. “Good. I will come and interrogate her myself today, if that is fine with you? You certainly have the situation under control.”
“Why wouldn’t it be fine with me?” Jason asked sarcastically, looking up at Walter. “The last time I checked, you were my boss and I listen to you, regardless of what I have to say.” He said as he stood up.
“You don’t have to be so uptight, loosen up a bit. It will only do you good.” Sidney said, smiling as he walked out.
“Chief.” Jason saluted Thomas half-heartedly as he walked out after Walter.
Thomas sat alone in the briefing room, thoughts gnawing away at his mind. What would be the consequences if she talked? What would happen to his family if Leo was caught? What would happen to his career?
His secretary rushed in, “Mister Patrick, sir, there’s a telephone call for you. The man says it’s urgent.”
“Put him through to the briefing room.” He waved her off.
“Mister Patrick.”
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“Leo? You can’t call me at the office…”
“Then you should pick up your cell.”
“I am not available at your beck and call, you…” Thomas took a breath to contain himself, “I was in a meeting. I’ll call you back.”
He hung up the phone before Leo could say anything.
He hurried to his office, not noticing the officers who greeted him as he went. Once in his office, he told his secretary not to put any calls through to him and locked the door.
“Why haven’t you sent me the address for the safe house yet?!”
“I told you I’d contact you once I had it!” Thomas realized he was being too brave by raising his voice to Leo.
“Besides, I can’t walk around with this damn phone. It would cause suspicion.” He said more gently.
“Well, what’s going on? I thought the bitch had talked or something…”
“We need to talk in person; I can’t tell you the details right now. Meet me at Downtown Yummy in New York by nine PM.” Thomas said and hung up.
Leo looked at his phone with amusement and turned to the man beside him, “Looks like we are going to New York.”
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CHAPTER FIVE
Thomas shivered as the icy air met his face when he stepped out of the NYPD building. He ran to his car, hoping to escape the cold. He jumped into his car and headed straight for the Chinese restaurant where he had instructed Leo to meet with him.
When he entered the restaurant, he checked the clock against the wall. He wouldn’t wait more than fifteen minutes, he thought, and squeezed past crowded tables.
He found a somewhat isolated spot at the back of the restaurant. Once seated, he ordered a cup of green tea.
Thomas shook his head angrily when he checked the time again and saw it was already half-past nine. Finally, Leo walked through the door. But to Thomas’ surprise, he wasn’t alone. A tall, sinister figure accompanied him.
He saw Leo scanning the restaurant. Thomas asked a waiter to keep his table and stood up, struggled through the busy crowd again and tapped on Leo’s shoulder when he came close. In an instant, he found himself on the floor, with people staring down in shock. Leo’s 92
sinister companion had been so swift, Thomas couldn’t comprehend when or how the man got a hold of him to throw him to the floor.
“Whoa…” Leo intervened. “He is the man we are meeting.”
“Apologies,” the sinister man said rather politely as he offered a hand to help Thomas. “I thought you were about to harm Leo.”
Thomas laughed it off, albeit uneasily. He reached out, and he was standing as fast as he had fallen down. He cleared his throat and dusted his suit with his bony hands, hoping to get rid of the shivers creeping around his spine, too.
He gestured that Leo and his sinister companion should walk in front of him to their table. He kept a careful gaze on both of them as they walked. He had never felt regret about aligning himself with the underworld devils—
until that moment…
The sinister man remo
ved a chair for Leo; he examined the chair before sitting down. Thomas wanted to roll his eyes at Leo’s concern for his obviously over-priced suit, and as if he was reading Thomas’s thoughts, he said,
“This is a William Westmancott suit,” looking up at Thomas with a smug smile.
“I am happy for you.” Thomas removed a chair and sat down too.
“This is Romero Sanchez,” Leo pointed to the sinister man as he sat down next to him. Thomas’ eyes scanned from Leo to Romero and back again.
“Thomas Patrick, our inside man.” He said to Romero, who flashed a smile and stared at Thomas with deadly, piercing dark eyes.
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Thomas sat frozen as he realized he was siting opposite the underworld’s most famous assassin. He had an unmatched success rate.
“The real Grim Reaper…” Thomas’ thoughts slipped out.
He frowned when he heard his own voice. Romero nodded and beamed with pride. Leo chuckled at Thomas’ incredulous expression.
Thomas held out a shaky, bony hand, “N—Nice to meet you, Romero.” Romero scowled, reached out and gave one violent shake. Thomas’ hand thumped against the table when Romero let go.
“You must excuse him, he’s not the formalities type…”
Leo said with amusement.
“Right.” Thomas rubbed his palm. “The safe house is at an abandoned power station in Brooklyn, in an underground facility. It is one of our best facilities, impenetrable.”
“Nothing is impenetrable.” Romero said manner-as-factly.
Thomas lifted an eyebrow. He had been at the Batcave’s underground construction shortly after they had removed the squatter community living in the building.
He remembered being thoroughly impressed with the engineer’s ingenuity.
“If you say so. There are fifty police officers guarding the facility and the witness. Jason Williams has placed them at strategic spots both outside the abandoned building and inside the underground facility.” Thomas sighed and seemed to drift off in deep thought, “Speaking of him…
Kill that asshole, Detective Jason Williams. He will be a hindrance to our success.”
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“They’ll all die for protecting that bitch.” Leo said.
Romero nodded and arose silently, “I’ll get to work, then.”
“What, right now?” Thomas asked, “What’s your plan?
How will you get past fifty officers on your own?”
Leo chuckled and Romero started laughing, “Why don’t you do your job and stay out of mine, eh?” Romero’s confidence put Thomas at ease.
As Leo pressed against the table to stand up, Romero’s hand rested on his shoulder as he sat down again.
“We’re being watched.” He tilted his head to the left.
Leo and Thomas followed his subtle directions. A figure in a black hoody sat hunched over a table, a few feet from them. Romero shifted like a cat getting ready to pounce. The hooded person stood up gently and started walking. Thomas immediately recognized the man’s walk.
“Shit!” He whispered, “That’s Walter Sidney, the lawyer on Mary’s case.”
“Oh, my!” A woman exclaimed in panic, “Is he okay?!
Call an ambulance!”
Thomas stared in confusion at Walter’s limp body lying on the floor as panic broke out in the restaurant. He turned to his two companions.
“Do you still think I won’t get into that facility?” Romero asked smugly as he flashed his concealed gun with an impressive silencer from under his jacket.
Jason let his full weight fall to the couch. He spread his arms out over the backrest and tilted his head backward, 95
eyes closed. He concentrated on inhaling as deeply as possible.
He had received a call from the safe house that morning.
Mary was dead. They found her in the bathtub the night before - apparently she drowned. He had tried phoning Walter a few times to find out what he thought of it, but he didn’t answer his phone.
“You can’t just show up here whenever it pleases you.”
Jason ignored the voice.
“Hey!” He felt a kick against his spread-out feet. He shot up, halting a few inches away from the culprit in a threatening display.
She seemed unimpressed.
“Never do that again.” He warned.
“Or what, huh?” Emerald-green eyes pierced into him.
He stepped back and looked away.
“Where is Emma?”
“Sleeping.”
Jason sighed and clenched his jaw. He fell back into the chair.
“It’s not even noon yet. You’re lying.”
“I’ve told you before, Jason. You can’t see her if you can’t commit to her.” She sat down next to him; he shifted to the side, away from her. She rolled her eyes.
“I won’t allow you to break my daughter’s heart.”
“I’m not trying to break her heart, woman. I’m…”
“Rachel.”
“What?” He said, irritated.
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“My name is Rachel.”
“I…” He lowered his voice, “I know that.”
“Then use it.” She demanded. They stared at each other.
“Hi, Jason!” Emma ran to him and jumped on his lap. He smiled warmly as she gave him a hug.
“Hello, Emma.”
“Where have you been? I thought you forgot about me.”
She gazed at him intently.
“Forget you? Never!”
She giggled.
Jason looked to Rachel. She smiled happily. “I’ve been really busy, that’s all.”
Emma frowned, “Too busy for me?” She asked, now sad.
The question took him aback. He thought about how Catherine had always begged for his time. How he had always been too busy to give a little piece of himself to his own daughter. She had fallen asleep, eagerly awaiting his arrival on countless movie nights… She would never wait for him again. He would never enter the living room to see her sleeping in front of the televi-sion again.
He blinked, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
“No,” He whispered, “I’m not too busy for you.”
He put Emma down and wiped an arm over his face, “I won’t miss another visit, I promise. Will you please forgive me?”
She smiled and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.
“Okay!” She skipped off to her room.
Another tear fell down Jason’s cheek. He closed his eyes.
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Rachel’s touch startled him. She didn’t ask if he was okay, they just sat together in silence.
His phone buzzed.
“Williams.” He grumbled.
Jason let a hand slide through his hair as he listened.
“In the middle of a busy restaurant? How could nobody have seen who did it?”
He stood up and got his car keys out of his trouser pocket, “Yeah, I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and slid his phone away.
“I have to go. A colleague has been murdered.”
“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.” Rachel said concerned.
“I’ll be back soon, okay?”
“Sure. Don’t forget your promise.”
“The only way I won’t, is if I die!” Jason called as he rushed out the door.
As Jason parked his car near the station, he heard a light thud next to him. Then he felt a severe stinging pain in his arm. He reached for his arm and felt moisture from blood rushing out.
The windshield shattered, and he felt a bullet hit his shoulder.
“Aargh!”
Another bullet penetrated his chest, leaving him motion-less. He heard a motorcycle roar loudly as he slipped away.
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“Detective Williams?”
“Mm…” He tried to get away from a sharp, irritating light being flashed in his eyes.
“Detective Williams, can you hear me?”
“W—Where…” He tried to get away from the light, but pain sho
t through every muscle in his body. “Get that thing out of my eyes…”
“Just testing your reflexes. Everything seems perfect.”
“Perfect?” He moaned from pain as he sat up straight, “I don’t feel perfect.”
“Yes, well, you took quite a hit.”
Jason frowned.
“I am Doctor Smith. You were shot three days ago and brought into the emergency room. We had to operate to get the bullets out, and you lost a lot of blood. You were lucky with the one in your chest. It hit no vital organs…
It’s a damn miracle.” She said with a smile while writing something on a clipboard.
“Miracle or curse?” Jason mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“All right, then. I’ll be back to check on you later.”
Thomas stood outside Jason’s room, still fuming over Romero’s failure to eliminate him.
He had given Leo a piece of his mind after he found out Jason was still alive. When Leo suggested sending Romero to the hospital to finish the job, Thomas had put his foot down. He could not risk a mistake there - the 99
place was crawling with officers loyal to Jason. He had told Leo they needed to lie low for a while. Leo reminded Thomas that he would be next if Jason caught wind of him and the organization.
“Jason, what are you doing?”
“Hey, Chief.” Jason said, pulling the last IV needle from his arm, “I need to get out of this place.”
“But you’re not stable yet, son.”
“I’m fine. I need to find the asshole who killed Walter before he hurts anyone else. He killed Mary too. Besides, I’m an open target in this place. He might come for me.”
He buttoned up his shirt.
“Mary drowned in her bathtub.”
Jason paused, “You don’t believe that, do you?”
Thomas stared at him for a moment. “No one is coming for you, there are too many officers here. Why don’t you just rest? You’re not out of the woods yet.” He smiled,
“That’s an order.”
Jason lifted an eyebrow at him, nodding reluctantly.
“You’ll be out of here soon, but not today.” He walked to the door and turned to Jason again, “Maybe you should spend more time at the office. You are Chief Investigator, after all.”
In The Line of Fire Boxset 5 Books in 1 (Thriller Stories To Keep You up all Night) Page 7