In The Line of Fire Boxset 5 Books in 1 (Thriller Stories To Keep You up all Night)

by Rhiley McCabe

  Tate enjoyed the show for a bit before he turned around and got his phone out. He pressed a few times and brought the phone to his ear. He inhaled blissfully as the phone rang.

  Brr… Brr…

  His body jerked with fright, and he immediately dropped the phone—stepping on it in bewilderment. He swung around to see where the shot had come from, but all he could see was Philo and Philip’s bodies on the ground.

  Another shot went off. Tate could hear Ruiz’s body drop to the ground behind him. He dashed for the car, but slammed into the ground, his body skiing over the dirt for a few feet.

  “AARGH,” He rolled on his back and grabbed his shattered, bloody ankle.

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  CHAPTER FIVE

  “W e need to follow them!” Beatrice said, slamming the laptop shut.

  “Careful…” Romero protested.

  She didn’t even hear him. She flew up from the sofa and started pacing, “If they catch up with Leo, they’ll kill him.”

  “Good riddance.” Romero said.

  “She’s right,” Jason said and stood up, “He’s a credible witness.”

  “The information on that flash drive is enough!” Romero complained, “Can’t you use that?”

  “Sure. But having someone from the inside will make it a solid case. Without Leo’s testimony, they’ll just through it out as a slanderous attempt and inconclusive evidence.”

  “You’d better get going then, detective. You know the way out.”

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  “What? Romero, he’s hurt! We need your help.” Beatrice scolded.

  Romero rolled his eyes and looked the other way.

  “Please,” she tried with a gentle tone.

  “Call it in.”

  “You said that Tate was one of them!” Jason reminded him, “He’ll just cover it up.”

  Romero looked up at Beatrice. In that moment, he wished he’d never joined the underworld. He should’ve been a decent man—one worthy of a woman like her. He sighed, wondering how she would react if she knew he killed her brother. The thought of breaking her heart was unbearable. An unfamiliar pain welled up inside him—

  one he hadn’t experienced since his mother was killed in front of him when he was a boy.

  “Follow me.” He grumbled and led them to the underground parking.

  As they drove, Jason looked at the breaking dawn in the distance. Catherine loved this time of the morning. She always begged him to wake her up so she could see the sunrise. He was never there to do it. Not even once.

  “Slow down,” he said, noticing broken glass and debris on the road. “They must be nearby.”

  “We might be too late.” Romero said.

  “We’ll see.”

  Beatrice sat in silence in the back. Romero glanced at her in the rearview mirror now and then. He sighed.

  “Will you ever tell her?” Jason asked. Romero didn’t answer.

  “Whoa!” Jason exclaimed when Romero came to a sudden standstill. “Thanks for the…”

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  “Over there!” Romero pointed to a crashed car a few yards into the sparsely vegetated field off the road. There was another car parked nearby.

  Romero drove closer and parked on the roadside. “Stay here,” he said to Beatrice and got out.

  “He’s right. Please stay.” Jason said and got out too.

  Romero walked to the back and took out an assault rifle.

  He grabbed a pistol and showed it to Jason, “Can you handle it?”

  “Yeah, give it here.” Jason said as he approached.

  They silently moved closer. Two men here standing a few feet away from Tate, who walked away from another man beating someone on the ground. Tate revealed a phone from his pocket and held it up against his ear.

  Jason clenched his jaw and shook his head in disgust.

  “Do it.” He said to Romero.

  After shooting Tate, they rushed over. Romero threw his rifle to the side and kneeled next to Leo. He bent down low to check if he was breathing.

  Tate sat against his car, holding on to his ankle. Jason approached him.

  “Tate Mike…”

  Tate laughed and spat at Jason, “Screw you!” He hissed before cringing.

  Jason smirked, “You are under arrest for conspiring with a criminal organization. You have the right to…”

  “Shut the hell up, Williams!”

  “Whatever…” Jason said. He walked over and hit him over the head.

  “Is he alive?” Beatrice’s voice came from behind.

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  Romero sprang up and Jason stared at her incredulously.

  “What?”

  “We told you to stay in the damn car!” Jason scolded and went to stand next to her.

  “Yeah, but…” She shrugged her shoulders.

  “You’re a badass.” Romero said with a smile.

  She smiled back, “Well, I…”

  Beatrice yelped with fear as Romero hunched to the ground. He groaned and held on to his knee. He looked up at Jason with anger, who was pointing the pistol he had given him earlier, in his direction.

  “Jason! Jason, please…” Beatrice tried.

  “Stay out of it.” He warned and walked over to Romero.

  Beatrice followed.

  Romero eyed the pistol in Jason’s left hand. He knew Jason’s dominant hand was no good. He could easily overpower him. But in a way, he felt like he deserved death. He’d rather die than see Beatrice find out he killed her brother. He sat down.

  “Jerome Drive, June seventh…” Jason said.

  “What about it?”

  “Were you on contract that day?”

  “Yes.” Romero looked him straight in the eye.

  Jason put his finger on the trigger.

  “Jason, please, just…”

  “I told you to stay out of it!” He barked at Beatrice. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared helplessly at Romero.

  “But I got distracted.” Romero added quietly.

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  “By what?”

  “I was supposed to take out some journalist who had uncovered information about your boss there,” Romero looked at Tate, who was still unconscious.

  “I saw two familiar faces putting on masks and heading to a nearby house, I felt uneasy.”

  “Who were they?”

  “Amateurs… Two of Thomas Federico’s boys.”

  Jason stared at him blankly. He remembered the footage Beatrice had sent him. His hand started shaking.

  “What happened?”

  “I kept an eye on the house until they burst out of there; they were arguing. Snape, one of them, wasn’t wearing his mask anymore. They kept on arguing for a few moments and headed to their van.” Romero seemed to disappear in thought.

  “Then what?!”

  He looked up at Jason, “What’s it to you?”

  His question angered Jason. He steadied his hand and pressed the trigger again.

  Tears fell down Beatrice’s eyes, “Please tell him what happened next, Rom…” she pleaded.

  “Something didn’t feel right about the episode. I crossed the street and entered the house. There was a young woman rocking a little girl in her arms, blood all over them. I told her I wouldn’t hurt her and that I could take them to the hospital. She just nodded. I took the girl from her and helped her to her feet; she had a gunshot wound in her stomach. The girl…”

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  Jason’s hand dropped to his side. Tears rolled gently down his face.

  “Look man, I’d never hurt a kid. They’re innocent… It’s just wrong.”

  “But you’ve killed innocent people. Don’t you think that’s being a hypocrite?” Jason asked, his anger subsiding.

  “Maybe…” Romero looked at Beatrice, who was staring at Jason, “But even a hypocrite draws the line somewhere.”

  Jason stared at him, “You’re the one who took my daughter to the hospital?”

  Romero frowned, “She was your daughter? I�
�” He sighed and looked to the ground, “I dropped the young woman and the girl… your daughter, off at the emergency room and told her not to tell anyone how they got there. That’s the last time I saw them.”

  Jason kneeled. Beatrice kneeled next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, unsure what to do next, so he stood up and paced slowly. He looked to the east and noticed that it would be light soon.

  “You should know I took care of them, for what it’s worth.” Romero said, “Snape, he confessed that they wen’t on a killing spree after Federico’s death. They found out about the cop who had arrested him. I had no idea it was you…” He cleared his throat, “He, uh… said that Vic, the other guy, got anxious when they found the woman and the little girl in the house, and… one thing led to another. After he told me what had happened, he gave me the other guy’s address. I killed Snape and then hunted down Vic a few weeks later. Your kid was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, man…”

  Jason screamed until he exhausted himself.

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  Tears streamed down Beatrice’s face as she watched him.

  Romero stared at her, pained at what he had done to her, to so many other people… In that moment, he realized she was a treasure he could never have.

  “Why?! It had nothing to do with you!” Jason screamed in painful frustration.

  Romero looked up—sincere, “I told you, it’s wrong to hurt a child. They had to pay. All of us have to pay for the things we’ve done…” He bowed his head, ready to accept his fate.

  Jason looked away. The light in the far horizon caught his eye. He straightened his back and walked toward Romero, but he halter where Romero had dropped his rifle and picked it up. He checked the cartridge. Beatrice looked on in horror.

  “He had a daughter, too, you know…” Romero added, eying the gun, “Federico, he’d never approve of his boys killing a little girl. At least I can say that about the asshole…”

  “Yeah, I know… He was a hypocrite, just like you.” He looked to the horizon again. “Beatrice, come here.”

  She approached him cautiously. He gave her something and whispered in her ear.

  She stood back, bewildered at first. Then she lit up and threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Thank you. Thank you, Jason.”

  He blushed, “Now get out of here. I’ll be in touch.”

  “Okay…” she breathed, wiping her tears away.

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  EPILOGUE

  “But how does a wolf blow a whole house over?”

  Emma’s forehead creased, “He can’t do this,” She puckered her lips, filled her cheeks with air and blew as hard as she could.

  Jason tried to keep a serious composure.

  “How?” She asked, annoyed.

  “I, I… Um…”

  “Emma, you’ll be late for school.” Rachel said gently as she peeked in through the study door. She lifted an eyebrow at Jason, who looked somewhat dumbstruck.

  “But…”

  “No buts. Come on.” Rachel asserted her authority as only a mother could.

  Emma let out a short sigh and turned to Jason. She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. When she got to the door, she swung around.

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  “We’ll continue this conversation later!”

  After Emma disappeared, Rachel and he shared a brief smile. He opened his mouth, but his buzzing phone on the desk stole his attention. He sighed and looked at Rachel apologetically. She shook her head and smiled, then walked away.

  “Williams.” Jason answered. He stood up and walked to the kitchen as he listened intently. Rachel put a mug of steaming black coffee in his hand. He smiled at her as she went about her business.

  “Yeah, I know. We never found him at the site.” The coffee’s aroma filled his nostrils as he listened.

  “No, he’s confused. It was Carlos Rodrigues. He’s the one we’re still looking for… Mm… Romero? Never heard of him… Yeah… I’ll contact the witness and ask her about it… Yeah, okay, bye.” He slipped the phone into his pocket.

  “What was that about?” Rachel asked.

  Jason leaned over the table to reach for a rusk, “Apparently, Tate Mike is insisting that there was a man with Beatrice and me the day I arrested him.” He dunked the rusk in his coffee, “I told them he must be thinking about Rodrigues, who was definitely there that day, but he’s still missing.” He took a bite, “Mmm… This is so good,”

  he mumbled.

  Rachel folded her arms, “How did you and Beatrice get out of her house, anyway?”

  Jason took a sip of coffee and smiled at her before putting the rest of the rusk in his mouth. She lifted an eyebrow as he munched.

  “We got lucky, is all…” He said and finished his coffee.

  “Ah, that was good… Thank you.”

  240

  “It’s early, where are you off to?” She asked as he grabbed his car keys.

  “We have a few things to finalize at the office before the trial starts; talk about how we’re going to handle the prominent individuals we arrested, and so on.” He rolled his eyes.

  If it were up to him, he’d give them all a public trial to make an example of them. But the state wanted it handled ‘diplomatically.’

  “Are they cutting a deal with Shawn Donald?”

  “Of course they are. There’s no justice without politics, apparently…”

  “And Tate, Leo Martinez?”

  “If Leo keeps his word to testify about all his dealings with The Syndicate, we’ll put him in the Witness Protection Program. Tate… He’s refusing to talk at the moment, so time will tell.” He checked his wristwatch, “Oh, I have a meeting with Thomas Patrick’s wife to find out if she’s heard anything from him, too.”

  “It’s been six months; she’s probably protecting him.”

  “We’ll find out, eventually,” Jason said—unphased.

  “And later, I have a date with Beatrice.”

  “Mm… Say hi to your girlfriend for me.”

  Jason smiled affectionately and stepped closer to her,

  “Are you jealous?”

  Emerald eyes looked up at him, boring into his heart and soul, “I have nothing to be jealous of, Detective Williams.”

  “No, you don’t… Missus Williams.”

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Rhiley McCabe is an emerging fiction author and the creator of the nail-biting thriller series, “In The Line of Fire”.

  He specializes in the thriller, crime and suspense genres; his work promises to have you at the edge of your seat from start to finish.

  Rhiley lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland with his wife and five children. They often take trips to other countries during summer months. The inspiration for his stories come from the many places he visits and the people he gets to meet on these trips.

  Visit this link for exclusive bonus content and updates on the “In The Line of Fire” series.

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