by Mike Ryan
“But you’re not a cop, are you? I heard you talking about the police on the phone. About how you couldn’t go there.”
“No, I’m not a cop.”
“Are you a bad guy?”
Lamb leaned his head back as he looked through the windshield, thrown for a loop by the question. He wasn’t used to talking about things like this, especially to children. “No, I’m not a bad guy. This isn’t like the movies where a guy just does bad things all the time. I’m a regular person. Have I done some bad things in my life? Yes. Just like everybody else. We all do good and bad things in our life. You just have to make sure at the end of the day that the good outweighs the bad.”
“So why can’t you go to the police?”
“Something happened to me a while ago. I made a mistake and that’s something I’ll have to deal with eventually.”
“Why did these people do this to my family?”
Lamb put his hand over his face and rubbed the sides of his mouth as he thought of the best way to explain it to her. He didn’t want to come out and say that her father was a criminal who was cheating his partners. But he still wanted to stay truthful at the same time.
“Your father knew a bunch of bad people... real bad people. And they weren’t happy with some of the things he did.”
“Like what?” Brooke asked.
“I don’t know all the details,” Lamb answered with a shake of his head.
As Lamb finished eating, he kept thinking about what Garner said to him. The more he thought about it, the more he agreed. He had to get rid of Brooke as soon as possible. He couldn’t just drive around all day with her, not having a clear destination in mind. Eventually, he’d stop somewhere and someone would be waiting or recognize him. He had to get her to the police somehow, and then figure out how he was going to escape himself. He took another look at his passenger before coming to a final decision. Though he still wasn’t sure how he was going to work it, and it had some dangers, mostly to him, he figured it was the only way.
He took out his phone and connected to the internet, looking for the phone number of the local FBI field office. After finding the number for the Tampa office, Lamb took a deep breath, making sure it was really what he wanted to do. After a brief pause, he dialed the number, someone answering almost immediately.
“I’d like to speak to Special Agent Dunn, please.”
“Can I ask who’s calling?” the voice asked.
“Uhh, just a source. I have some information for her.”
“Wait one moment.”
Lamb closed his eyes for a few seconds as he waited. His hands felt sweaty as he anticipated how the conversation would go. He couldn’t believe he was here, waiting to talk to the agent who nearly caught him. Not even in a nightmare could he have dreamed up this scenario. It seemed like forever before Dunn answered the phone, though it was actually only two minutes.
“Special Agent Dunn here.”
Lamb cleared his throat as he heard her voice. He wanted to say something, but he just couldn’t do it. Not as he was thinking of the last time they faced off.
“Hello?” she asked.
Lamb held the phone away from his face and coughed, not sure how to begin the conversation. “Uhh, yeah, I, uhh, have some information for you.”
“OK. What is it?”
“Do you happen to be working the Swanson case?” Lamb asked.
“Swanson case? No, I don’t know what you’re referring to. What’s that?”
“Lawrence Swanson and his wife were killed in their home about an hour ago.”
“OK, and how do you know this?”
“I was there.”
“You were there. You did it?”
“No. I tried to prevent it. You’ll find six bodies in the house. The Swansons are outside in the pool. There are four more inside the house. Those four are my handiwork. Happened after the fact.”
“OK? And what happened with them?” Dunn asked.
As she was listening, she wrote down on a piece of paper what she was hearing and handed it off to someone to verify the information.
“They were coming for the Swansons’ daughter,” Lamb said. “I stopped it.”
“And where is this daughter now?”
“She’s with me.”
“And just who are you?”
“You don’t recognize my voice yet?”
Dunn didn’t reply as she tried to replay in her mind all the different voices she’d heard over the years. “No, I don’t. Have we met before?”
“Yeah. A while ago. You were the closest anyone ever came to nabbing me. It was sheer luck I found my way out of that place.”
As she closely listened to the man’s voice, Dunn started getting a better picture in her head of the man on the other end of the phone. She remembered that voice. It was the one that haunted her. The one she let slip away. Ever since that day she had Lamb cornered, she kept kicking herself for not being the one to bring the famous hit man to justice.
“Did you forget our encounter?” Lamb asked.
“I have not,” she said, remembering it vividly. “You’re Eric Lamb.”
“So, you do remember.”
“How could I forget? So, what’s this about?”
“I already told you.”
“You shot all those people and you’re calling me to rub it in?”
“No. I told you. I was trying to help.”
“Yeah, right,” Dunn said, not believing a word of it. “You were trying to help prevent people from being killed? I know who you are, I know your history, I’ve dealt with you before. I know what you’re about. Do you really believe I’m gonna buy whatever it is you’re selling?”
“Why else do you think I’d call? Just to taunt you?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“OK, I know we’ve got a little bit of a history, but this isn’t about you and me. I’m trying to do something good here.”
“Oh really? Why?”
Lamb got out of the car and closed the door, not wanting Brooke to hear the rest of the conversation. He leaned his back against the rear driver side door as he talked, still keeping a close eye at the activity going on around him.
“I told you. The girl is with me.”
“Why? What do you want with her?” Dunn asked, still not sure what to make of the story she was hearing.
“I don’t want anything with her. I’m trying to save her.”
“What’s your connection to all of this? How do you know these people?”
“I don’t know them.”
“So, you were just cruising through the area and heard a commotion and decided to go investigate?”
Lamb sighed, frustrated that he wasn’t being taken seriously. He understood her hesitation, but it still stung nonetheless.
“Did you do the shooting?” Dunn asked.
“Not the initial one.”
Another agent came back to Dunn’s desk, handing her confirmation of what Lamb was telling her. At least the parts they could confirm. The police were already on the scene, and the presence of six dead bodies in the house was confirmed. But that didn’t mean she believed Lamb’s story, that he was there to help and wound up saving a girl. That didn’t sound like the man she’d investigated before. Didn’t sound like anything that she knew about him.
“If you’re telling me you didn’t do this, then you need to shoot straight with me and level,” Dunn said.
“That’s what I’m doing.”
“Then you need to tell me exactly what happened and what you were doing there to begin with.”
“The Swanson family had a hit out on them. Not only the parents, but their daughter too.”
“How old is she?”
“Eleven.”
“Go on.”
“I was initially contracted to do the job,” Lamb said. “When I found out they wanted the girl eliminated, I balked and walked away from it.”
Dunn was a little surprised at the revelation, as sh
e didn’t think that Lamb would ever walk away from a job. She assumed everything was about money to him. She definitely didn’t think that he had a heart. At least not big enough to save someone else from danger.
“So, if you walked away from the job, why are you here?” Dunn asked.
“Because I… I’ve done a lot of things in my life. As you know, some of them haven’t been good. But one thing I’ve never done is kill a child. I just don’t think that’s right. There’s a lot of gray moral boundaries in this business, in life in general, but that shouldn’t be one of them. Sometimes there’s just right and there’s wrong. Seems to me this is one of those times.”
“So, you’re trying to tell me you’re the hero in this?”
“I’m just telling you how it is.”
“Tell me what happened?”
“I showed up at the Swanson house this morning to warn them about what was happening.”
“They didn’t believe you?”
“They did after a few minutes. I always carry proof with me of any job I’m associated with,” Lamb said. “It didn’t take much convincing.”
“So, you were there when this all went down?”
“I was talking to them out by their pool, telling them we had to go. A couple shots rang out and they both wound up dead in the pool.”
“And then?”
“I went inside to get the girl. Before we could get out of there, three men came in through the front, and then one more eventually in the back. The one from the back could’ve been the original shooter, I’m not real sure about that though.”
“Where are you right now?” Dunn asked.
“On the road.”
“Where specifically?”
“I’m not gonna tell you that right now. I don’t want to wind up in a jail cell either.”
“Well, are these people after you or the girl?”
“Both. The girl because she was part of the original assignment. Me because I got in the way.”
“What exactly do you want from me? Why are you calling?”
“Because I wanna give you the girl. Her name is Brooke. I can protect her for now, but I know I can only do that for so long. These people are gonna keep coming, for her and for me. I can’t do what needs to be done if I have her tagging along. It’s not safe for her.”
“They won’t stop until you’re both in the ground,” Dunn said, knowing how the game worked.
“Maybe I can get out of this, maybe I can’t. If this doesn’t work out for me, I’m OK with it. I made my peace before I started this. But I can’t take chances with her life. I need to get her to safety. There’s not many people that I trust, so I figured I’d get her into law enforcement’s hands.”
“Why are you calling me about this?”
“Because I know you.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know what you’re about,” Lamb said. “I know you’re about doing the right thing. I need to hand this girl over to someone before something happens.”
“And you chose me.”
“I know I can trust you.”
“Why not just turn her over to the police?”
“Because I also don’t want to be arrested.”
“And you think I won’t arrest you?”
“Not if we make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” Dunn asked.
“Well, I could just drop her somewhere and have her wait for someone to rescue her, but I don’t wanna do that. I wanna deliver her to someone personally. If you agree not to try and take me in, I’ll meet you somewhere.”
Dunn sighed, then kept silent for about twenty seconds as she thought about his offer. “And if I agree?”
“Then we have a deal and I’ll hand her over to you. I know you’ll do what needs to be done from there.”
“And you don’t think I’ll try to trap you?”
“I think you’re smart enough to realize that I’m not some regular slob who’s doing this for the first time. I’m not just gonna wait somewhere for ten agents to surround me. You know I’ll be watching. And if something funny happens, you know I won’t try again. You’ve got one shot at this and one shot only. I would hope that saving the life of a child is more important to you than taking me in.”
Dunn couldn’t believe what she was about to say. She always wanted one more crack at Lamb. She hoped that one day circumstances would lead to their paths crossing again. And this time, she wouldn’t allow him to escape. She’d make sure of that. But here they were again, talking like regular people, agreeing to a deal like they weren’t on opposite sides. He was right, though, as much as it pained her to admit it. She wasn’t an agent who was interested in getting what she wanted at all costs, regardless of who was in the way, or what collateral damage it caused. If there was an innocent child’s life in danger, that was her first priority, even if it meant letting Lamb slip through her fingers again.
“OK,” Dunn finally said. “I’ll agree to your deal. I’ll meet you, I’ll take the girl, then we both go our separate ways.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Where and when?”
“Not sure yet,” Lamb said. “I have to pick out a secure spot first. I’ll call you back when I find one.”
“Just don’t make it too long. If everything you’ve told me is true, the longer you wait, the easier it will be for them to find you.”
“I know it. I’ll call you back in an hour.”
“OK.”
“You have a direct number I can reach you?”
Dunn gave Lamb her cell phone number, though she had a few more concerns. “This better not be some type of trick,” she warned.
“Trick? Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. Payback for almost catching you or something.”
“I don’t begrudge people for doing their job,” Lamb said, reassuring her. “I’ve never harbored any ill feeling towards you. You’ve never done a thing to me. Whatever happened before, it is what it is. It’s just how things go.”
8
Right after getting off the phone with Lamb, Dunn tried to find out as much as she could about what was going on. Though she tended to believe the story he told her, she still wanted to find out for herself and get confirmation of it. She contacted another agent who worked in the organized crime unit to see if they had a better handle on the situation.
“Hey Fred, it’s Stacy.”
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Not much. I have something going on here and it may be related to something you guys have. Just wanted to see what you know.”
“OK. Shoot.”
“I just heard from someone about Lawrence Swanson and his wife being murdered. He’s apparently in organized crime. Have you heard anything about that?” Dunn asked.
“Swanson? Yeah, we know him. We actually have someone at the house now. We were called in immediately.”
“Any details yet?”
“Uhh, not too much yet. They’re still looking the scene over. It’ll take a while, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Anything you can tell me yet? I just need to try and confirm this guy’s story,” Dunn said.
“Well, all I really know so far is they found six bodies. Four in the house, two outside in the pool.”
“The Swansons were found in the pool?”
“Yeah. How’d you guess?”
“Just a hunch. Is their daughter missing?”
“Daughter? Didn’t know they had one. Could be. I don’t know yet. Like I said, it’s really early in the process. If they have one and she’s not there, she could be at friends or family or something,” the agent said.
“Yeah, possible.”
“Does this person of yours know something about this?”
“He could. I’m in the process now of checking the facts to determine everything,” Dunn said.
“Well, would this person talk to me?”
“No. He’s very skittish. He’ll deal with me or
no one.”
“I understand.”
“Did you guys hear of any rumblings in the past couple weeks of Swanson being targeted or anything?” Dunn asked.
“Not of him specifically. We heard rumors of someone high up in the food chain possibly getting offed, but there was never a name put to it, and nothing we could ever substantiate.”
“Why would they do this to Swanson? Any idea yet?”
“Not yet. If I had to guess, it’d be that he was doing some business on the side that they didn’t like. Assuming that it was an inside job.”
“And the Swansons’ daughter. She’s eleven, I think. If she’s not there, is she still a target or is it now considered finished with her parents being eliminated?” Dunn asked.
“Well, that’s a tough one to say right now. It really depends on the contract. Depending on what they were worried about to begin with, it might end here. If they’re concerned about the daughter possibly knowing something that they don’t want revealed, then she’s still a target.”
“That’s what my source told me.”
“Like I said, it really depends. I know of cases where the kids are left alone, and I know of cases where the kids go down with their parents.”
“What’s your guess on this one? Any way you’d lean?”
“Knowing who Swanson works for, my guess is they’d take out the entire family and be done with it.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
“You seem to have a good feel of what’s going on here, Stacy. Anything you’d like to share?”
Dunn sighed, wanting to tell everything she knew, but also not wanting to reveal too much. If she told the whole story, she didn’t want it getting out and feel pressure to apprehend Lamb. Not that she owed anything to him, or was worried about keeping her word to him, but she didn’t want to jeopardize Brooke’s safety. She knew Lamb would be on the lookout for additional agents and would leave at the first sign of trouble. If her superiors got word of her meeting with him, she thought it possible they might order her to take others with her and set up some type of trap for him.
“Like I said, I’m still in the process of verifying everything,” Dunn said. “But I have a contact who says he knows what’s going on there.”
