“How can I help?”
“You and Lauren can start emptying out that metal supply cabinet. We’ll never be able to move it if it’s still full of copier paper.”
“We’ll get right on it.”
Gail called over her shoulder as Kate and Lauren began empting the cabinet.
“Who is Will Mercer?”
“Will Mercer was an enforcer for the Philly mob. I killed Mercer in a gun battle when I was still a cop.”
“And those men are his sons?”
“They certainly resemble him, especially the shorter one.”
“Then they came here to kill you?”
“Yes, Gail, and I’m so sorry for bringing this to your doorstep.”
“It’s not your fault, Kate,” Gail said. She and Velma had completed their task, causing Ian and Robby to be blind to what they were doing. “All right, let’s get out of here.”
“What could they be doing in there?” Robby asked. “Why cover the windows like that?”
“You can ask them all about it once we get in there.”
“How? That’s a solid steel door and the rounds ricocheted off the lock.”
“We need brute force,” Ian said, as he looked around. When his eyes fell on an old metal desk in a corner of the room, he smiled.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Jeffrey Walker’s destination was Lafayette Street in Chinatown, where he drove up to a corrugated metal garage door. After blowing the Mercedes’ horn, the door rose up and he drove inside. Rayne double-parked, and they followed on foot. The building was stout, gray, and made of brick. The sign above a locked door said Quality Manufacturing.
“It’s got to be a chop shop,” Pruitt said. “And there could be hidden cameras.”
“You’re right. Let’s go back and wait in the car, besides, I don’t need to have my vehicle towed away.”
Thirty minutes later the locked door they had been standing in front of popped open and three men walked out. Two of the men were Chinese, but the one in the middle was Jeffrey Walker. Walker looked as if he had received a beating. There was a lump over one eye and he appeared to have trouble taking steps, as the two men supported him as they walked along.
They stopped at a gray van, slid the side door open, and guided Jeffrey inside. One of the men followed through the side door while the other one climbed behind the driver’s seat.
Rayne placed her car in gear. “Can you make out that plate number?”
“Yeah, should I call the cops?”
“Not yet, Pruitt. The kid’s mom is paying us to keep the cops out of this, let’s see if we can do that.”
“That might be easier said than done.”
“I know, but we’re being paid to do a job, not make excuses.”
“Yes, boss.”
Rayne smiled. “I’m not your boss, I’m your partner.”
“Are you really, or are you going to keep pretending like last night never happened?”
“Ask me out on a date.”
“We were on a date last night.”
“That wasn’t a date. Ask me out.”
“Will you go out with me?”
“Where to?”
“Um, a fancy restaurant.”
“It doesn’t have to be fancy, just so long as it’s not Vinnie’s Pub.”
“Ah, the lovely Cindy.”
“You’re not helping your case, Pruitt.”
“I was kidding. So do we have a date?”
“Pick me up at eight.”
“I won’t be able to wait that long, make it seven.”
Rayne laughed. “Seven it is.”
After talking to Chris on the phone, Jake had been thinking things over. His mother would have locked herself and others inside her office if given the chance, which meant she was safe. After that, the intruders, whoever they were, would have to flee the building or attempt to break inside the office. Chris and Sammy hadn’t seen anyone come downstairs, so that meant that his mother was still under attack.
The staircase! Jake thought, as he recalled a childhood memory of exploring the building with Chris.
Jake’s mother had worked in that building off and on since she was a young teen. She knew it as well as anyone and would remember the hidden staircase. Jake had been planning to join Chris and Sammy in the building’s lobby, but a new idea had formed. When he reached his destination, he would head straight to the rear door leading to the basement and work his way up to his mother’s office. He only prayed he would not arrive too late.
“They’re trying to break in,” Velma said. She had been helping Kate and Gail move aside the empty supply cabinet when a crash came at the office door.
“That door has a steel core with a reinforced lock. It won’t be easy to get through,” Gail said.
Once the cabinet was out of the way, the women found themselves looking at a wood door with chipped brown paint. The door handle was a round metal knob. When Velma went to turn it, it wouldn’t budge.
“Could it be locked on the other side?” she asked.
“I don’t think so,” Gail said, “but the knob might have rusted tight over the years while the door might have swelled shut too. I doubt anyone has opened this door in decades.”
Another crash came at the office door. It shook under the onslaught, but the door stayed closed.
“What could they be using as a battering ram?” Kate asked.
“Whatever it is,” Velma said. “It’s got some heft.”
Outside the office, Ian and Robby were shoving back an old green metal desk. The desk was over six feet long and weighed about two-hundred pounds. Once they had the steel beast about twenty feet from the door, they moved to the other side of it.
“We push again on the count of three, and this time we need to get more momentum,” Ian said. “All right, on three. One, two…”
“Three!” Gail said, as she shoved as hard as she could on the door leading to the tunnel. Velma and Lauren pushed alongside of her, while Kate was using a screwdriver to widen the gap their previous efforts had made. The door gave a loud creak and a moment later it popped open, causing Gail and Velma to stumble inside the passageway and stand on the narrow landing.
Before they could celebrate their success, they were shaken by another impact at the door behind them. When they looked that way, they saw that the metal door had bent open at its middle. An eye appeared in the crack. It was Ian looking in.
“There’s another door inside, Robby. We have to get in there before they make it out.”
The eye moved away to be replaced by the barrel of Ian’s gun. Due to the angle, he had a line on the second doorway, but the crack was too narrow.
If he fired, the slug might catch an edge of the small crevice and come back at him. Ian withdrew the gun and backed away. Then, he and Robby shoved the desk back again, as they readied another assault on the door.
“Do any of you have a flashlight app on your phones?” Gail asked.
“I don’t,” Kate said.
“My phone is back at my desk,” Lauren said.
“Along with mine,” Velma said. “I put it down for a moment and then all hell broke loose.”
“We’ll have to make do with the light from Kate’s screen,” Gail said. “Watch your step everyone, these stairs haven’t been used in a long time.”
Kate led the way down what was a narrow staircase with her phone giving out scarce light, as a tremendous racket came from behind them at the office door. Moments later, another crash was heard, followed by words that quickened their steps.
“We’re in!”
The Mercer brothers were coming.
Chapter Forty
Rayne and Pruitt followed the gray van out of Manhattan and into Queens. As the ride continued, the scenery grew familiar.
“Are they going where I think they’re going?” Pruitt asked Rayne.
“It looks like they’re taking Jeffrey back home.”
“All right, but why?”
; “I can’t imagine,” Rayne said.
“Oh crap, I can, and you’re not going to like it.”
“What?”
“These gangs, these Chinese triads, they’re ruthless, right?”
“I guess, but I know they’re supposed to live by an honor code of some kind.”
“What if they’re taking the kid home because they’re going to kill him and his mom?”
Rayne’s face grew pale. “Call the police, Pruitt.”
“Too late, we’re here, and damn it, Mrs. Walker is right outside. They could start blasting away at any second.”
Rayne parked across the street and two houses down from the Walker home as the van pulled into Mrs. Walker’s driveway.
Pruitt took out his gun, then felt Rayne’s hand on his arm.
“Be careful,” she said, then kissed him.
“I’ve got a lot to live for,” Pruitt said, as across the street, the driver stepped out of the van.
Chris and Sammy Sloan had delayed going upstairs until either Jake or the police showed. They also knew that there was a possibility that the shooters would come back down to the lobby. When none of those events happened, Sammy headed toward the stairs.
“You keep waiting if you want, Chris, but I’m going on up.”
“We’ll both go,” Chris said, as the sound of sirens could be heard off in the distance.
“At least we’ll soon have backup,” Sammy said.
They moved up quick, but quiet, with Sammy in the lead, but as they reached the second floor, Christopher moved ahead to reach out and open the door.
He eased it open a crack and listened. After hearing nothing more than the gurgle of a water cooler, he moved inside with his gun leading the way. That’s when they saw Garth lying in a puddle of blood by the elevators.
Christopher went to him as Sammy watched for movement.
“Garth is alive, but his pulse is weak,” Chris whispered.
“Look,” Sammy whispered back. He was pointing at the office door.
Both men rushed forward with knees slightly bent and their guns held out in front of them. When the figure behind the desk sat up, they nearly shot her.
“Who are you?” Chris asked.
It was Hannah. Robby’s shot had struck her just above the temple. A sixteenth of an inch to the left and he would have missed her, the same small distance to the right would have earned her a date with the morgue. There was another wound on Hannah’s upper right thigh. That came as a result of being struck a glancing blow by one of the slugs that had bounced off the bulletproof glass of the office.
Hannah was too dazed to answer Chris, and after letting out a moan, she collapsed to the carpet again.
Sammy and Chris climbed over the metal desk and into the office. When he saw the door sitting open in the wall, Chris knew what it meant.
“They’re headed for the basement by using the old staircase. Jake and I explored it once when we were kids.”
The sound of a shot echoed up from the opening, it was followed by a short scream.
“No!” Chris said. “We can’t be too late.”
Chris and Sammy rushed into the blackness and headed blindly down the stairs, as a second shot rang out.
“I don’t get it,” Pruitt said.
“Me either,” Rayne said.
They had been readying themselves for a gun battle with two Chinese triad members when something odd occurred.
After stepping out of the side door of the van with one of the Chinese men, Jeffrey Walker shook the man’s hand. When the driver came around, the gesture was repeated. Afterward, the men climbed back into the van and drove away.
Mrs. Walker rushed over to her son and began fussing over the lump above his eye. Afterward, she led Jeffrey into the house.
“They beat him up then give him a free ride home?” Pruitt said.
Rayne put her gun back in her purse.
“Let’s go see what all this is about.”
Pruitt holstered his gun, shook his head in confusion, and followed Rayne across the street.
Despite not being able to see more than a dim glow coming from below him, Robby had fired a shot toward the sound of the women’s footfalls. The bullet had passed over the heads of the women and ricocheted uselessly off the stairway’s brick walls.
The sound had startled Gail and she lost her footing. She let out a short scream as she felt herself falling forward, but Lauren had reached out and grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. Robby’s second shot struck a metal pipe inches above Kate Jordan’s head, then went careening rearward toward him.
“Don’t fire!” Ian said to his brother. “That damn round just whizzed back past my ear.”
“We’re coming, ladies,” Robby said in a threatening voice. He’d been hoping to elicit screams of fright, but he was disappointed.
The women didn’t fear him, but they respected what his gun could do. The truth was, if Velma hadn’t left her weapon upstairs in the detective agency, things would be very different.
“Yes!” Kate said, as the light from her phone revealed a second doorway. It was the door that lead to the basement. Fearing it would be stuck shut like the other door, she gave it a hard tug. It opened so easily that Kate nearly struck herself in the face with it.
After holding the door open, Kate motioned for the others to move through and into the basement. They were in a gray dimly-lit corridor, but at the end of it was a ray of light, a sign above a door marked EXIT. Once through that door they would be at the rear of the building and could run down a narrow alley to the street.
“Hurry!” Gail said. Although the oldest of the group, Gail was a regular jogger. She was keeping up with Velma and Lauren, while Kate followed from two paces behind.
They were ten feet from the door when they heard the sounds behind them and knew that the Mercer brothers had caught up to them.
As the brothers were bringing up their weapons, the outside door opened, and Jake Caliber stepped in. Jake held a set of keys in one hand and a gun in the other. Jake moved in front of his mother and began firing, as Ian got off one wild round.
Still coming down the stairs in darkness, Chris took the shots to mean the worst had occurred. His knees nearly buckled from despair. When he and Sammy emerged from the stairway they saw Jake pointing a gun their way. He was walking toward the prone and bleeding bodies of Ian and Robby Mercer.
“Is anyone hurt?” Jake asked.
“No, Jake,” Gail said. “Thanks to you.”
Chris and Sammy broke out in relieved laughter as Velma and Lauren came running toward them while smiling. Lauren fell into Chris’s arms, as Velma melded herself into Sammy’s embrace.
“Thank God, you’re all right,” Sammy said to Velma, as Chris spoke similar words to Lauren. When the two women realized what they had done, they separated from their partners, then looked about in a lost fashion while searching for words to explain their actions.
They needed no words; their reaction had spoken volumes about their true feelings.
“I think these two will live,” Jake said. “Is there anyone else?”
“No one else,” Gail responded after a slight hesitation. She had been surprised by what she had just witnessed between her son and Lauren, and Sammy and Velma.
A bright light illuminated the wooden staircase as a voice called out.
“Jake? It’s Tommy Delaney.”
“It’s all clear, Tommy.”
Lieutenant Delaney exited the staircase with two police officers. Three other cops joined them moments later, having come through the same alley Jake had used.
Delaney looked down at the Mercer brothers, who were both moaning from the pain of their wounds. Ian had suffered a chest wound along with a through and through near his left ribs.
Robby had also been wounded in the chest, but the damage done to his mouth by the paperweight looked worse than the gunshot wound. His face was swollen and two of his front teeth were jagged stumps.
�
��How come you always get to have all the fun, Jake?”
“Hey, Tommy?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re a father. What’s the secret to putting together a crib?”
Delaney smiled. “I let my wife handle it. She’s a whiz with that stuff.”
Paramedics arrived on the scene and Delaney began herding everyone outside.
Chapter Forty-One
“So those guys don’t belong to a Chinese triad?” Pruitt asked Jeffrey Walker.
Jeffrey laughed. “No dude, those guys work for my dad.”
Rayne and Pruitt were settled on a love seat in Rosemary Walker’s living room, along with Mrs. Walker and Jeffrey. Jeffrey sat across from them on a sofa with his mother beside him. He was holding an icepack to the lump on his head.
“If they didn’t beat you up, then how did you get that goose egg on your forehead?”
“I slipped on some grease inside the machine shop and banged my head against a tool chest. I said I was all right, but my dad wanted me to go get checked out at the emergency room. When the dizziness passed, I decided to just come home.”
“Why didn’t you tell your mother that you were working for your father?” Rayne asked.
Jeffrey glanced at his mother.
“Mom hates him. I thought she’d make me quit.”
“I don’t hate your father, Jeffrey. I’ll never live in the same house with that man again, but I don’t hate him.”
“You’re saying I can keep the job?”
“Yes, but do try to be more careful at work.”
“I will, and I like being on the second shift. I get to sleep late.”
Pruitt held up a hand.
“What about the car we saw you steal?”
Jeffrey lowered the icepack and glared at Pruitt.
“I didn’t steal a car. What are you talking about?”
Caliber Detective Agency Box Set 3 Page 18
