by Cindy Bell
“What are you talking about?” Hank’s tone sounded more flustered than angry.
“I think you need to get here.” Walt hung up the phone.
“What did he say?” Jo stared into his eyes. “Did he know?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. But I guess we’re going to find out for sure, soon.” He looked back through the window of the building. “I think it’s the best, possibly only, chance to save Eddy and Samantha.”
“It seems like a big chance to take.” She shook her head. “Maybe if we burst in, we could use the element of surprise and get them out.”
“Maybe. Or we could force them to pull the trigger when they weren’t even planning to in the first place. If Hank doesn’t know what Mitch and Riley are up to then he might be able to stop them. At the very least it should buy us some time.”
“Time that they might not have.” She groaned. “What if he arrives and just tells them to take out the witnesses?”
“I don’t know.” Walt wrung his hands nervously. “I can’t be certain of what will happen.”
“I’m calling Brunner. Okay?”
“Yes, okay,” Walt said. “I’m so worried about them, I don’t think we have a choice.”
“I agree.” Jo dialed the number. It wasn’t often that she reached out to law enforcement, after spending so many years behind bars, she preferred to avoid them. When his voicemail picked up, she knew she didn’t want to leave her name behind, but she needed help for Eddy and Samantha. “Detective Brunner, this is Jo, Eddy’s friend. Eddy and Samantha are being held inside of Sunny River Property Investments. We need back-up.” She hung up the phone, then turned to Walt. “Do you think that was a mistake?”
“I don’t know.” He looked back towards the building as a large SUV pulled up to it. “But we’re going to find out if my idea was a mistake first. Let’s get closer.” He led the way across the grass towards the building.
Jo listened closely, but she didn’t hear any sirens in the distance. She wondered how long it would be before Detective Brunner would decide to check his voicemail. All she could do was hope that Walt had been right. She had good reason to believe in him. He usually was right.
Mitch and Riley left Eddy and Samantha alone in the office, but the door remained open, and their harsh voices could be heard.
“Get out of here, I said.” Mitch barked at someone. Samantha guessed that he was trying to minimize their exposure. He wanted as few people there as possible when he killed them. He was smart. She closed her eyes and tried to fight the fear that flooded through her.
“Eddy, I don’t think that we’re going to make it out of here.” She strained her hands against the ropes around her wrists. “I’ve been trying to get this to loosen and it won’t budge.”
“You’re supposed to be the positive one, Sam. Don’t fail me now.” Eddy stretched his fingers out towards her, but their chairs were too far apart to touch. “We’re going to get out of this. We always do. We have good luck.”
“Eddy, how? Even if we had a phone to contact the police, we couldn’t trust that they would come to rescue us. They might be in on all of this.”
“I can’t tell you exactly how. But I know we’re getting out of this. Just try to focus on what life is going to be like once we’re out of here. I mean, Jo is going to owe both of us a lecture, don’t you think? For taking so many risks.”
“Yes, you’re probably right.” Samantha managed a small smile. “And Walt will have a whole list of things we did wrong.” She was suddenly startled as the door to the company slammed open. Through the windows in the office, she saw Hank Greer stride in, his face red, and his eyes wild. He headed straight for Mitch and Riley, who seemed just as surprised to see him.
“What is going on here?” Hank gazed between them, then at Eddy and Samantha in the office. “What have you done?”
“Just calm down.” Mitch patted his dad’s shoulder. “We’ll explain.”
“I knew you would come and help,” Riley said.
“Help with what?” Hank shrugged.
“The problem I have, of course.” Riley shook his head.
“Problem?” Hank looked incredulous. “What are you doing? You need to let them go.”
“No, we won’t.” Riley’s eyes widened in realization as he drew his weapon. “We don’t have to explain ourselves to him. We’re in charge here, Mitch.”
“Have you two lost your minds? Why do you have guns?” Hank’s voice roared through the high ceilings of the building in the same moment that he drew his own weapon. “You’d both better start talking, I’m going to find out what’s happened here one way or the other.”
Eddy braced himself against the chair. He hoped he might be able to tip it over, but the wood was too solid. As he looked over at Samantha he could see the panic in her expression. Hank did seem startled by Mitch and Riley’s actions, but that didn’t mean they were safe.
“Dad, we’re going to be rich!” Mitch stared at his father. “All we have to do is get through tonight and we’ll have more money than we could ever count.”
“You idiot.” Hank took a step back. “How are you going to count money in jail?”
“I thought he would help us.” Riley shook his head. “But now I know he’s never going to be on our side, Mitch. He’d rather see us locked up than help us.”
“You two have gotten yourselves into quite a mess.” Hank sighed. He passed his gaze between them, then locked it on Riley. “Put your gun down.”
“I won’t.”
“You will!” Hank demanded. “Look, you two have made a mess, and I’m going to do my best to help you clean it up. But I can’t do that if you don’t cooperate with me. Riley, put down the gun, and then we’ll see about taking care of all of this.”
“Taking care of?” Samantha mouthed to Eddy.
He nodded, his eyes narrowed, then looked back in the direction of Hank. He wasn’t about to let the boys go down for the crime. Which meant the witnesses would have to be eliminated.
“Put it down, Riley.” Mitch shook his head. “My dad’s going to help us.”
“Not likely.” Riley frowned, but lowered his gun. “I thought he would, but now I don’t think so.”
Hank’s phone beeped. “I better take this.” He walked away as he put his phone to his ear.
The two boys spoke in voices so low that no one else could hear them.
Hank hung up then looked back at Mitch and Riley, his face red with fury. Then he turned away and called someone. He was speaking softly, but he seemed very agitated.
Samantha dug her nails into the rope that bound her wrists, but it was too thick to make any difference.
After Hank hung up he walked back over to Mitch and Riley as he tucked his phone back into his pocket.
“Just what did you think you were doing here?” Hank looked absolutely furious for a second, then he seemed to compose himself.
“We found out about this operation through Orin, you know, we went to school with him. He managed to get us involved if we helped move some of the money through the furniture business. Don’t act like you don’t know anything about it. We saw you accepting cash from the owner of Sunny River.” Riley crossed his arms.
“You saw that, did you?” Hank nodded. “Well, you’re right. I do know about it.” He stepped into the office where Eddy and Samantha were. “Untie them.”
“Untie them? Why?” Mitch argued. “They’re fine where they are for now. We need to work out a plan for what we are going to do with them.”
“Untie them, now.” Hank shot them both a look.
Mitch rushed over and began tugging at the rope around Samantha’s wrists.
“Who did you call?” Riley stepped in front of Hank.
“Untie Eddy.” Hank gave him a light shove. “Remember, how he helped you out years ago? This is how you return the favor?”
“I remember it very clearly. He wouldn’t hesitate to turn us in tonight. They have both seen too muc
h. We don’t have any other options.” Riley looked back at Mitch.
“Hey!” Samantha jumped up out of her chair. “There’s no need for that. We can keep our mouths shut. Can’t we, Eddy?”
“Absolutely.” Eddy strained against the ropes, his heart racing. He had no ability to protect Samantha while he was still tied up. “If you kill us, our friends will come forward with the information they know. They will ruin you. If you let us go, we’ll all keep our mouths shut.”
“Great, now their friends know, too.” Mitch groaned. “I’m not going down for murder, Riley. I never agreed to that.”
“No one is going to kill anyone.” Hank rested his gun against the outside of his thigh and stared at the boys. “Both of you need to leave, now.”
“What?” Riley blinked. “Just leave?”
“Why? What are you going to do?” Mitch frowned.
“I’m going to take care of the problem, that’s what.” Hank tipped his head towards the door. “Leave, now. I won’t ask again.”
Mitch and Riley exchanged troubled looks, then seemed to come to the same decision. As they bolted out through the door, Eddy could hear sirens in the distance. His chest tightened in anticipation of what would happen next. With the pressure of the police approaching, Hank could do anything, but most likely he would want to eliminate them. He rocked forward in his chair and tried to rip his hands free of the ropes. The sirens might not even be for them. How would they know? But that wouldn’t matter to Hank.
Hank looked over at Eddy as the chair scraped against the floor.
“Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself. Samantha, have a seat.” Hank’s head tipped towards the chair she’d recently been imprisoned in, then walked around behind Eddy. With a few tugs he was able to set Eddy’s hands free. Eddy breathed a sigh of relief as the pain in his shoulders eased, but it was short lived, as Hank stood right behind him. “Both of you need to listen to me. We can’t leave the building just yet. I need you to be patient.”
“Just let us go, Hank, I know you want to protect your son, but the best way you can do that is by confessing everything that you’ve been involved in.” Samantha slid to the edge of her chair and gazed up at him.
“There’s nothing for me to confess.” Hank looked hard into her eyes. “I am not your enemy here. Just be patient.”
Chapter 18
Walt grabbed Jo’s hand and pulled her back against the building as two men fled through the front door.
“I think that’s Mitch and Riley.”
“Where are they going?” Jo squinted through the darkness, then gasped as another figure approached the two men.
“Freeze!” The shout that carried through the nearly empty parking lot sent a shiver down her spine. She recognized the voice. It belonged to Detective Brunner. But why had he come alone? Where were the rest of the police?
Detective Brunner kept his gun trained on the two men.
“Get down on your knees.”
“What are you going to do, Brunner?” Mitch demanded. “All you have to do is let us go, and we can make you richer than you could ever dream. Just put down your gun, we’ll leave, and you’ll be a wealthy man.”
“Anything you want.” Riley’s voice shook. “We’ll give it to you.”
“You killed Colin for doing his job.” Brunner kept his gun on them. “You killed him, because you wanted to be rich?”
“We didn’t.” Mitch kept his hands in the air. “I don’t know who did that.”
“No, I know you didn’t, Mitch.” Brunner shifted the gun slightly in Riley’s direction. “Your friend did.”
“Riley?” Mitch looked over at him. “Yeah right, he can’t even throw a proper punch.”
“You did it, didn’t you, Riley? Colin came to you and tried to turn you against Mitch, didn’t he?”
“Keep quiet.” Riley groaned. “You can’t prove any of that.”
“Yes, I can.” Brunner reached into his pocket with his free hand and a panicked voice began to play through the night air. It belonged to Riley.
“Hank, I’m in a big mess. I need your help, please. I’ve just killed Orin. He found out that I killed Colin and he was blackmailing me. He kept asking for more and more money. I don’t know what to do. I killed them. I did it to protect Mitch, to protect both of us. I did it for all of us, but I’m worried I’m about to be caught. Please help me. Call me back.”
“Riley, what did you do?” Mitch gasped out.
“This call was placed about an hour ago. But Hank never called you back, did he, Riley?”
“No. He didn’t.”
“He missed the message and it just came through about ten minutes ago. He saved the recording. He sent it to me. He wanted me to know what you had done.”
“Why would he do that?” Riley shook his head. “I know, he wants all of the money for himself, that’s why he never invited us into all of this. He was going to let us work ourselves to death, while he lived the good life.”
“Riley Thomson, you’re under arrest for murder." Detective Brunner pulled out his handcuffs.
Hank stepped out through the front door of the building and headed straight for Mitch and Riley. Behind him, Samantha and Eddy stepped out.
“Samantha! Eddy!” Jo bolted forward, startling everyone as she jumped out of the shadows. “Are you both okay?”
“We’re okay.” Samantha wrapped her arms around her.
Walt nodded to both of them, his eyes wide with worry as he searched for any injuries they might have.
“The four of you.” Brunner shook his head. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Jo tried to hide behind Eddy as she realized that Hank would probably recognize her.
“Hank, how can you do this to us?” Riley squirmed against the handcuffs the detective placed on him. “Why didn’t you just let us join you?”
“Boys.” Hank shook his head as he gazed at them. “I was never a crooked cop. You should have known that. Everything I’ve made has been through legitimate investments. I’ve been working undercover with a few other cops on this case for a long time. I was poised to take out everyone involved, soon. But it runs deep, lots of criminals involved and a couple of cops. I had no idea that you were part of it. We are working on taking down everyone involved. Unfortunately, now that includes the two of you. You took two people’s lives, Riley. You murdered a good man, a stellar officer, and you are going to pay the price for that. You can’t get away with that.”
Eddy closed his eyes for a moment and savored those words. Colin and Orin would have their justice. A murderer was off the street, and it was a relief to know that Hank and most of the officers on the flash drive were on the right side of the law.
As Hank walked past Jo towards Detective Brunner, he glanced over at her. He took a few more steps then stopped and turned back to her.
“So.” He shook his head and looked directly at Jo. “At least that explains why you broke into my place. You suspected me.”
“You must be mistaken. I didn’t break in.” Jo stood straight and tried to hide the tremor in her voice.
“I don’t think I am.” He took a step closer to her. “I guess it was your lucky day that I didn’t want to draw too much attention and risk blowing the case if you mentioned that money in the drawer.”
“I guess so.” She smiled.
“Just don’t do it again.”
She nodded and he turned away from her.
Jo breathed a sigh of relief as Hank walked away.
As several police cars pulled into the parking lot, Brunner led the four friends to a more well-lit area.
“You should know, Pete Havershed has been picked up. Thanks to your tip, Walt, about the pawn shop, we were able to trace him to a nearby motel. He’s been arrested for possession of weapons. Apparently, he never planned on doing anything to Colin. But he did confess that he was going to use the weapons to threaten the person he is accused of assaulting originally. He claims that the victim had his stuff and money
. The victim and him were meant to split it, but the victim was too greedy. Apparently, Peter originally assaulted the victim while trying to get his money and things back. It is a long-running feud. He also admitted to threatening the witness during the trial. He’ll be going to prison now, that’s for sure.”
“Poor Colin, getting caught up in all of this.” Samantha shook her head.
“Listen, I can understand why the four of you were hesitant to trust me after what you saw on that flash drive. But I hope you feel differently about things now. And Jo, I appreciate that you took a chance on me.” Detective Brunner looked into her eyes. “I don’t know what might have happened here tonight if you hadn’t called Hank, Walt, or if you hadn’t called me, Jo. But I know it wouldn’t have been good. I honestly didn’t even know that Hank and some other cops were involved in the investigation. I’m guessing Colin mustn’t have either. I imagine that they’ve been undercover for so long in the operation. Eddy, I’m sorry for your loss.” He held his hand out to him.
“Thank you, Detective.” Eddy gave his hand a firm shake. “Good job.”
“I try.” He smiled some, then turned back to Hank and the boys, who were surrounded by other officers.
“I never expected Hank to turn out to be innocent in all of this.” Jo stared at the man whose face was illuminated by the flashing lights. “I guess my instincts are getting pretty rusty.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Walt rested his hand on her shoulder. “You knew we could trust Brunner.”
“I hoped.” She cringed. “But it was a gamble.”
“The important thing is that we have each other.” Eddy glanced between all of them. “I mean that. If it weren’t for the two of you, I don’t think we would have made it out of there tonight.”
“What happened to being positive?” Samantha gave him a light jab in the side.
“Okay, I’m positive we wouldn’t have made it out of there. How’s that?”
Samantha laughed as she tossed her arm around his shoulders.
“There have been studies that prove positive thought can have a strong impact on the circumstances of your life. Of course, there have also been studies that prove that positive thought is just a form of brainwashing.”
