by Mark Hazard
Corus aimed it at the door.
A scraping sound came from the door, as Andy struggled to open it with one hand despite carrying wood. Finally, the door popped open. Andy took two steps before he looked up and froze. The door stood open behind him, gaping like Andy’s mouth. He stammered at words that wouldn’t come.
“Get on your knees,” Corus said low and slow. “Put your hands behind your head.” He couldn’t keep his emotion from filtering into his voice. His throat felt full of gravel. “Now.”
Andy took a half step backward. “Mr. Corus, I…I…I can explain.”
“Get down, or I will put you down.”
“No you don’t understand. I was tricked into coming here. This place was Kirilov’s. He—”
“Andy, shut the fuck up and get on the ground.”
“No you don’t understand. It’s a trap. They set this up.”
“Enough of your act. I see through it. Now get on the ground or I will shoot you.”
The surprise and fear in Andy’s face lessened as he took a slow, deliberate breath. “Okay. Alright, Inspector. I’ll do as you say. I’m putting the wood down now.”
Andy bent at the waist and lowered the wood. Then he shot up and threw the firewood. Split logs came careening through the air, crashing off the ceiling, the wood stove and Corus himself. He got off a clumsy shot. By the time the last log hit the ground, Andy was already out the door running.
The AR-15 by the door was gone.
FORTY-NINE
Corus turned right out of the door to see Garvey sprinting into the forest. Corus ran after him, around the big spruce and over a fallen log, muttering curses at himself. He wasn’t in the best shape of his life, but he was sure he could run down a forty-something bank auditor.
He tried to control his breathing. He didn’t just have to catch Andy, he had to deal with him when he did. He cleared his mind and let his instincts decide his way. He darted between trees like water finding the path of least resistance. Twigs and branches scraped at his face and arms.
Andy was only thirty feet ahead. Corus increased his pace, but thought better of it. This would be life or death. It didn’t have to be done quickly, he just had to be the one standing at the end. So he conserved his energy and tried to think.
Andy knew the area and would use that against Corus. However, for Andy to fire effectively he’d have to stop and turn. That would afford Corus the same chance.
They ran through a forested strip between two large open clearings. Andy hadn’t increased his speed. It was tempting to run up on him, but the closer he got, the more dangerous both men were to each other. Though Corus was technically the hunter, in reality, this was a tiring but effective stalemate. He had sixteen shots left in his Glock. He didn’t want to waste any of them. He thought about phoning Jim for back up, but he didn’t know how to describe where they were. Andy whirled around.
Snap.
Bits of bark ricocheted off Corus’ head and clothes. He hadn’t been shot at in over a decade, but the sound of a bullet breaking the sound barrier near his head was unforgettable. Deeply rooted instinct made his legs go limp and he landed on his left side, opposite of where the bullet had hit a tree. He rolled prone and trained his sights forward, but a fallen log obscured much of his field of view. He searched for blue fleece or blond hair. The cold wet of the slushy snow seeped through his coat and shirt.
Corus let four foggy breaths gather in front of him, before he belly crawled forward to a spot under the fallen log. He peered beneath it, through a bit of grass. Movement caught his eye, the suppressor at the end of the barrel. Andy stood behind a large fir.
Corus aimed, but didn’t have much of a shot.
“You hit?” Andy called out.
Corus aimed for the bit of black on the ground that he saw sticking out from behind the tree and fired. Andy didn’t cry out, but he went to one knee. Corus didn’t know if he’d hurt him or merely grazed his shoe. Then the silence was broken by the pounding of feet on the forest floor. Corus vaulted over the log and ran at an angle to be harder to hit in case Andy was tricking him.
He caught a flash of blue and sprinted after it. After another fifty yards, Andy ran out into a clearing. By the time Corus had reached it, Andy was five feet from a barn door. Corus fired on the run, and veered left away from the door. He took up a position at the northeast corner, then realized Andy might have seen him make the crossing, so he ran to the southeast corner of the barn and dashed again to the southwest corner. Andy had ducked into the door, moving this direction. He couldn’t be more than thirty feet from Andy, wherever he was inside. Corus peered through a high window, half expecting the glass to explode. Andy knelt behind stacks of hay alternating his aim from the barn door to the east window and back again. He adjusted his position and winced.
Maybe Corus had clipped him in the heel.
They both waited for a long moment, Corus watching Andy look this way and that for any sign of him. Corus would have fired, but the window was too high for him to aim through. He decided to wait and use his advantage when Andy made a move.
Andy stood carefully and Corus pulled his head back from the window. After a moment, he put his eye to the bottom corner of the pane again.
Andy crept toward the door, paused a moment, then darted his head out and back in. Then he turned toward Corus’ side of the opening and craned his head out and back in again. Feeling reasonably safe, he leveled his rifle and spun out the door to his left. Corus backed up around the southeast corner and waited. He aimed just shy of the edge where he expected Andy to do his next head-check. The instant Corus saw blonde, he pulled the trigger, but missed low. The muzzle of the AR-15 came around the corner and Andy fired off three quick shots. Corus ducked behind the corner and winced as wood splinters flew from the barn.
“You’re outgunned, Corus!” Andy shouted.
“Come out with your hands up,” Corus shouted back.
Three more shots rang out, and again splinters of wood spat into the air. Corus ducked away.
“Not gonna happen,” Andy called out.
“So you haven’t shot a gun in ten years huh?”
“Really? That’s the lie that you wanna complain about right now?”
“Put down your weapon,” Corus said. “I called in the cavalry.”
“Ha! You call me a liar! There’s no cell service here.”
“Why did you kill Miles?”
For a silent moment, Corus wondered if Andy was on the move.
“He didn’t respect the threat.”
“What threat?” Corus yelled back.
“My threat. He thought he could do it his way.”
“He wasn’t the mastermind, was he? Nor Badcocke. You were.”
“Corus, if you could see my face right now, you’d see annoyed eye rolling.”
“Was it killing you all this time, not to get credit?”
“In a way, yeah,” Andy called out. “I’m big enough to admit that.”
“We just gonna stand here all day until my backup arrives?”
“We’re gonna stand here long enough until I figure out how to shoot you. I’ve outsmarted you for almost a year. I can do it one last time.”
Two more shots rang out. Wood splintered again along with a metal clang inside the barn.
Corus hit the ground. Andy had tried to fire right through the walls. Some rusty old tool hanging on the wall might have just saved his life.
“There’s nowhere to run Andy,” Corus said, leaning up on an elbow.
“There’s always a place to run. Ask Andre.”
“Kirilov?”
“That’s him.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t trifle myself with such details.”
“Did he work for you?”
“No. He is the Russian liaison. I was honest about that.”
“How did you meet? How did you start this arrangement?”
“Well, aren’t you full of questions?”
&n
bsp; “You telling me you don’t want to brag about it? Not what your dad would say.”
“Ed can take his opinions and shove ‘em up his ass.”
“Why the kids Andy?”
There was a silence. “It’s not like I wanted to. He didn’t respect the threat. He was going to blab.”
“So you punished them, for what? They didn’t do anything? Carrie neither.”
“You just don’t get it, do you?” Andy asked. “When a man makes a threat and he doesn’t back it up, he isn’t a man. When a man blatantly disrespects a threat, time and time again, well, that man better hide his children, at least from me.”
“How did you know to go to Skokim Pass?”
“Miles thought he was smarter than me. Ha! You should have seen the look on his face when I came through that door. Respect the threat, Corus. Walk away now and I won’t kill you too.”
“How’s that foot feeling?”
“Stings is all. Nice shot though.”
“Thanks. I was under that log.”
“Alright. So you got a gun. I got a gun and there’s twenty odd feet of barn between us. How do you want to do this? I’m getting a little bored.”
“I got one last question,” Corus said.
“Go ahead.”
“Do you think of yourself as evil?”
“Is the lion evil because he eats the gazelle? Sounds like the natural order of things, Inspector.”
“Order? You think that is order?”
“I see I’ve hit a nerve. Call it what you want, but one thing is certain. The strong survive, and great men color outside the lines. I got a question for you. How’d you figure out about the laundering? There’s no way you could have known that at the time.”
Corus paused. “Broke in after hours and got into your system. Pretty simple stuff, smart guy.”
“Coloring outside the lines yourself, I see,” Andy said.
“So, here’s the way I figure it, Andy. “You’re the one who has to run. So run.”
“How’s about a head start?”
“What do I get in return?” Corus asked.
“Three Mississippi gets you the names of the people I laundered for.”
“Already have them.”
“Fine. How I met Andre.”
“Okay. Deal.”
Andy paused a second before speaking. “I actually set it all up before I had a client, Oversight Management, the overseas accounts. I figured since my dad was always going on about the dirty Russians, they might be the kind of people who needed my services. So while doing audits at a branch in Kirkland, I see a very Russian sounding name with a lot of money in their account. Long story short, that’s how I met Andre. One day I brought him over to the bank to talk about a new investment. Then he introduced me to Barsukov. Anyhow. There you go.”
“Wait. I’ll give you three more Mississippis if you tell me one last thing.”
“Okay…”
“Did Kirilov shoot David Griffin?”
There was a long silence. Then Andy spoke. “No.”
“How did it go down then?”
“The kid jumped up off the bed after I shot the mom. I shot the other boy because he was closer. Then I went to shoot the standing boy and my weapon jammed. I pulled the .45 out of the back of Kirilov’s pants and put the little shit down. Kirilov was holding the food boxes the entire time. I chambered rounds individually to finish them off.”
“Thanks for your candor.”
“Start counting.”
“One Mississippi!” Corus yelled. He turned back and ran along the east wall.
“Two Mississippi!”
Corus saw the back of Andy through a window as he passed the barn door and disappeared back in the direction they’d come from.
“Three Mississippi!”
Corus had to beat him back to the cabin.
“Four Mississ—”
BANG!
A shot rang out. Corus darted around the northeast corner with his pistol up. Andy lay on the slush-covered grass thirty yards away, halfway from the barn to the forest. Corus advanced, his pistol trained on him. When he got near enough, he kicked the AR-15 away and stood above him. Andy lay face up, eyes searching the sky. His heels dug into the ground as a spasm gripped his body. He coughed and a trickle of blood oozed from the side of his mouth.
“I told you the cavalry was coming,” Corus whispered as he knelt beside Andy. “Looks like somebody didn’t respect the threat.”
“Help… me,” Andy moaned and coughed again.
Corus tipped him on his left side and examined the gaping exit wound below his right shoulder blade.
“You’re lung shot.”
“Gotta… help me.” Andy’s mouth hung agape as his torso shuddered up and down.
“The strong survive. Remember?”
Rosen walked up holding what Corus recognized to be Jim’s 30-06 hunting rifle. “We heard the shot from the road.” Rosen hefted Jim’s rifle. “I was faster on foot. Sorry it took me so long.”
“Perfect timing,” Corus said. “Andy, this is Deputy Abe Rosen. We lied. He doesn’t really know much about banking.”
“Should I call this in?” Rosen asked.
“No cell service,” Corus said.
“Is he gonna make it?”
“Always a chance. We could put pressure on the exit wound and keep his lung from filling up and drowning him in his own blood.”
“You gotta help me. Do something.” Andy gargled. His words sounded pitiful.
“No, Andy.”
Andy looked at Corus with crazed blue eyes. “Oh God… Oh God.”
Andy coughed and shuddered again, sputtering blood. His chest heaved up and down. Raindrops started falling again. They mixed with the blood and rolled pink streaks down the sides of his head. Red crept from beneath Andy Garvey and spread in the slush around him.
Corus stood and watched him finish dying.
FIFTY
The first thing Corus noticed about Sheriff’s Honchak’s office was that the ficus had been removed and replaced with a small, indoor shrub.
“Sorry about vomiting in the plant, sir.”
Sheriff Honchak invited them to sit again and then took his own seat. His long, placid face as usual betrayed nothing of his feelings toward Corus and the recent events.
“Better than on the floor, I suppose.” Honchak rested forward on his elbows and interlaced his fingers. He touched them to his mustache and gave a slight nod. This was a common posture for Honchak, which only highlighted the uncommon manner in which he was dressed. He sat before them in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Corus could almost hear Chu’s complaints telepathically.
Well, if he didn’t put on his uniform this morning, then why did I have to?
“Gentlemen, I watched most of your debriefing yesterday and caught up on the rest via transcripts.”
Honchak picked up a paper and put his glasses back on. “But I have here a complication to an already complicated mess.”
Chu shot a disquieted glance to Corus who tried to take a silent breath.
“Detective Pineda and Deputy Inspectors Prangnathong and Charles have lodged human resources complaints against you.”
“I see.”
“You are accused of saying some highly inflammatory, racist things, Inspector.”
“Sir, let me stop you right there.”
“Excuse me, Inspector?” Sheriff Honchak’s tone was severe.
“If you want to fire me for doing a bad job, then so be it. But if you plan to let me go because of the baseless accusations of those shitheads, then don’t bother, because I’ve had it with the infighting and lies.”
Corus took the badge from his belt. He placed it heavily on the edge of Sheriff Honchak’s desk, his hand resting atop it. Corus leaned forward. “If the lies of those morons are what you want, then that’s what you’ll have, but I will not deign to so much as hear them, let alone respond to them.”
Corus paused, willing the Sheriff t
o stop him.
He didn’t.
“I’ve been through a dark time,” Corus continued. “The case was a mess. I know. I take full responsibility. Fire me if you must. Because hell, let’s just say it. I may never be the detective I was.”
Corus paused, letting his assertions hang in the air.
“But I care,” Corus said. “I still give a shit about this job. Those men are just pathetic wastes of space.”
“The incident in the parking lot?” The Sheriff asked delicately. One eyebrow cocked upward.
Corus was somewhat taken aback. “Oh, that,” he paused. He sat up and left the badge on the desk. “Yeah. I totally did that.”
Sheriff Honchak leaned back and folded his hands across his stomach. “Put your badge away Deputy Inspector.”
Chu took a deep breath. Corus kept his eyes facing forward.
Sheriff Honchak opened a drawer and removed three small black boxes and three picture frames.
“Stand up gentlemen.”
They did, and Sheriff Honchak came around the desk.
“Lieutenant Albert Chu, you are hereby commended for outstanding service in the investigation and apprehension of a dangerous suspect.” Sheriff Honchak removed a small medal from the black box and pinned it to Chu’s chest. The sheriff handed Chu the framed commendation and shook his hand.
The sheriff stepped before Corus. “Deputy Inspector Corus, you are hereby commended for outstanding service in the investigation and apprehension of a dangerous suspect.”
The sheriff pinned a medal to his coat.
“You are also hereby commended for valor in the face of mortal danger.”
Another medal.
Sheriff Honchak shook Corus’s hand.
The sheriff walked back to his chair, and hey all sat.
“Now gentlemen, I need you to take off those medals and put them back in their boxes.”
Corus and Chu exchanged a confused glance, but obeyed.
The Sheriff took them and put them back into a drawer, along with the framed commendations.
Sheriff Honchak looked from side to side, considering something. “I fully intend on your receiving these with pomp and circumstance someday. But the reason I’m not doing that now is that there are things… things I’ve told almost no one about. Things that trouble me a great deal.”
