“How could you kill your own son?” Leo spat the words out as if they tasted horrible in his mouth.
“That was actually an accident. I was trying to shake some sense into the boy, tell him to stop crying over his mother’s little beating, but he wouldn’t shut up. So I put my hand over his mouth… and nose. I may have gone overboard.” Pace shrugged. “How did you work it out anyway? I know I’m not on the kid’s birth certificate. I paid Renee a lot for that.”
“You have Hemochromatosis, so did Jordan. The disease didn’t come from his mother so it had to come from his father. Kale White doesn’t have it either so that left his paternity a mystery. All these times you’ve donated blood and gone on and on about your contribution to the community, when you’ve only been doing it to ease the symptoms of your disease.”
“Ah, well done, Detective. I may have underestimated you. I kept a good eye on you but it seems I should have been looking harder. Perhaps I should have taken care of you earlier.”
Leo wasn’t going to be intimidated. “Renee was blackmailing you about your prescription drug addiction too, wasn’t she? She was going to cut you off if you didn’t leave her alone. Did you know she went to the D.A. to tell her all your secrets?”
Pace faltered for just a moment before he hid it. “She was threatening to. I figured she would sooner or later. She wasn’t exactly reliable. I couldn’t stand that bitch.”
“After she lost Jordan, she was prepared to do anything to be rid of you. You couldn’t have her running around with nothing to lose, could you?”
“I always knew she had to go, it was only a matter of time,” Pace answered coolly. “I would have done it sooner if she wasn’t so handy to have around. As long as she supplied me with what I needed, I let her live. She actually tried to get me clean once, naive bitch. She never could understand why I enjoyed the rush of the drugs, the euphoria. It’s like nothing else.”
“So you got Master Lou to kill her and make it look like a suicide. Her son’s death and her job – all things that you caused – were the perfect excuse for her to give up.”
“Genius, wasn’t it?”
“And you paid Turner to take the fall for your son’s murder, leading the investigation as far away from you as possible.”
Pace laughed. “Well I certainly wasn’t going to take the blame for it. Renee got what she deserved, pure and simple. She should never have had him in the first place. I told her not to. If I regret anything, it’s the three weeks I spent with her five years ago. I should have just hired a hooker.”
Leo chanced a glance at Lou, he was standing in the corner watching. At least his gun wasn’t in his hand. That would give him a few extra seconds.
“Oh, don’t think you’re getting out of here alive,” Pace sneered, seeing the cogs in Leo’s head working on a plan. “Nobody is going to know about this little business and then the file for the whole White debacle is going to disappear. That’s how this case is going to end.”
“Let us go,” Amelia yelled, unable to stay quiet any longer. She suddenly had an overwhelming urgency to get out of there. She couldn’t take sitting in the cold metal seat for a moment longer. It took all her restraint to stay seated. “There’s evidence everywhere, you’re not going to get away with this.”
“Your girlfriend’s a little spitfire, isn’t she? Pity she’s not smart enough to keep her nose out of other people’s business.”
“Leave her alone,” Leo warned. “Your beef is with me, not her.”
Pace took the few steps to stand immediately in front of Leo. He pulled his gun, a Glock seventeen, out of his holster and caressed it like a puppy. “You’re right, my beef is with you. That’s why I’m going to kill you first. Then I will kill her and then my friend Lou over there will burn this whole place down. I’ll issue a press release about the tragedy and then we’ll all live happily ever after. Well, everyone except you two anyway.”
“You really think your plan will work?” Leo knew the answer already, the commissioner of the entire police force had the power to make anything go away. And no-one would dare question him.
“I know my plan will work, I’ve been thinking about it long and hard. You know, you should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you for what?”
“I gave you the opportunity to drop the case,” Pace said innocently, like he should get an award for it. “I brought you back from suspension so you could move on and how do you repay me? You keep your girlfriend investigating. You have no-one to blame but yourself.”
“Just like Renee?”
Pace nodded. “Just like Renee.”
He raised the gun, positioning it over Leo’s heart. One pull of the trigger and the vital organ would be obliterated. The way it was pounding in his chest, Leo was surprised it didn’t shake loose the bullet by itself.
While Pace stood there, his finger on the trigger getting ready to end the detective’s life, he never took his eyes from Leo’s. He wanted to look him in the eye, let him know who was the boss, the better man, the one brave enough to go through with their promises. He enjoyed it almost as much as Master Lou.
Suddenly Leo kicked Pace’s legs, knocking them right from underneath him. He fell forward, unable to stop himself from the sudden movement.
“Amelia, now!” Leo shouted as he pushed Pace backwards and shook off the rest of the ropes.
She didn’t need to be told twice. Amelia freed herself from the ropes and ran toward the steps. Just like she was told, she didn’t look back or hesitate.
“Get her,” Pace yelled at Master Lou as he composed himself. He took off after Amelia, gun securely in his hand again.
Leo struggled to get free of Pace as they fought. He threw a punch as hard as he could, trying to knock the man out. With his hands still in the zip tie, he couldn’t get the momentum he needed. Pace fought back even harder, his gun barrel colliding with the side of Leo’s head.
He saw stars for a moment, staggering with the impact. Doubled over, Leo waited for Pace to land his next blow and gripped him around the waist, throwing him backwards on the ground as he lost his balance.
Pace kicked against Leo’s stomach, sending him reeling back. He landed against the wall, refusing to crumble to the floor. With his hands tied, if he was to fall, he would never be able to get up again. Pace would take the opportunity to shoot him.
“Come on, that’s all you’ve got?” Pace goaded him. “Your girlfriend would give a better fight than you.”
“Leave her out of it,” Leo growled, gasping to regain his breath before charging at him again. He swung to the right, managing to land a blow in Pace’s ribs. It only managed to knock the wind out of him.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Pace threatened. He stood up straight, positioning his gun with a steely determination to end it on his terms. Just the way he liked it.
Moments later, the gun went off. The sound echoing through the large, empty building.
CHAPTER 27
In the darkness of the night, Amelia heard the gunshot as it punctuated the silence. She had promised not to stop for anything, but the suddenness of the noise and the ramifications of what it could mean made her falter.
But she couldn’t afford the hesitation. She hadn’t heard Lou’s heavy footsteps for some time, yet she couldn’t trust her hearing. He could still be hot on her trail and she knew it. With every corner she turned, she thought for sure he was right behind her still.
She didn’t get a very good look at the street as she arrived with the fake police officer earlier that day. All she knew was that there were plenty of industrial buildings around and they were probably all closed for the day now. She didn’t even know what time it was. The darkness said it was night, but it could have been seven, eight, midnight, or any time in the early hours of the morning. All she knew was she had to keep going, despite the heavy pain in her bruised ribs.
It was difficult running with her hands still bound together, she never realized how hard it
would be until she had to do it. Never before did she know how useful her arms were by her side as they helped to balance her. She would never take them for granted again.
Amelia started to hear cars. They weren’t coming from behind, nor in front. They were coming from the distance. She remembered the main road that ran to the highway and connected the suburb on the outskirts of the industrial area to the rest of the city. Finding other human beings was going to be the only way out of the mess she was in.
Cutting across a parking lot belonging to a factory, Amelia hoped the risk of being exposed in the open would be worth the end result of finding help. She ran as quickly as she could, ignoring all the muscles in her body that said to stop for a rest. Her heart ached to know Leo was okay almost as much as the rest of her.
She was faced with a fence at the edge of the lot. With no choice except to go over the top, she reached as high as possible and tried to grip as hard as she could before hauling her legs over. The zip ties dug painfully into her skin like they might rip her to shreds. Her bruised ribs sent pain shooting through her chest. Nothing but adrenaline got her up.
Crashing with a thud on the other side, Amelia found the road. She stood by the side as headlights approached. She waved frantically, trying to get the driver to stop for her. It continued without even slowing.
“Hey! I need help,” she called out to the next car. It had to swerve to miss her but it didn’t stop. “Idiot! I need help!”
The next six cars did the same. Finally, a motorcyclist came to a halt for her. The driver took off his helmet. For just a moment, Amelia was certain it was Lou. She started backing away, fearing all her efforts had been for nothing.
“Hey, you’re hurt. It’s okay,” the man tried to assure her. He left his motorbike to approach. “Do you need an ambulance or the police or something?”
Amelia saw him as if for the first time. He wasn’t Lou, she had never seen him before. The tears started welling in her eyes from relief. “I need help. I need your phone.”
He nodded, reaching into his pocket and handing over his cell phone. “Here you go.”
She took it with her still bound hands and called the police, refusing to speak with anyone except Constable Shawshank. She sobbed out her location and begged him to hurry. Every moment that ticked by could have been fatal for Leo.
Out of the corner of her eye, there was movement. It didn’t register in her mind until she felt the strong arms clamp around her. Amelia was picked up and dragged backwards.
“Hey!” The motorcyclist cried out at the sight. His orders to let her go fell on deaf ears. Lou wasn’t listening to either of them, no matter how Amelia struggled in his grip.
“You come any closer and I’ll shoot you both,” Lou threatened, holding his gun to Amelia’s head. The motorcyclist took a few steps backwards, leaning against his bike and ready for a quick getaway if needed. He didn’t want to leave the girl but didn’t want to die that night either.
“The police are on their way,” Amelia gasped, trying hard to breathe with the vise-like grip of his arms around her chest. There was no wriggling her way out of the grip, Lou was making sure of it.
He chuckled in response. “The police don’t scare me. They’ll probably help me kill you.”
Amelia prayed there would be a truth to his lie but there wasn’t. She got the feeling Leo would have thought the same thing, hence the reason he was specific about speaking with Constable Shawshank. He obviously trusted the officer more than the others. She didn’t know what else he had uncovered besides Commissioner Pace being behind everything, she could only guess about the guilt of the others.
“Let me go,” she grumbled, sinking her fingernails into his arm. She wanted to cause him pain and it was the only thing she could think of that might make him release her.
“Stop doing that or I’ll shoot you,” Lou said as he started pulling her toward the tree line. On the other side was a park that separated the highway from the road. Once lost in there, it was unlikely they would ever be found.
Amelia looked at the motorcyclist, silently pleading for his help. She knew he couldn’t do anything but he was her only hope. If she let Lou drag her into the park, she wasn’t going to come out alive.
He stood there, staring back. The conflict and confusion was apparent in his eyes. He wanted to do something but was at a loss as to what to do. One wrong step and they would both be dead. All he was doing was driving home innocently from work. Being in a gun battle was not what he expected.
They locked eyes for what seemed like a lifetime. Neither able to do anything to help the other. Amelia watched him get further away as Lou dragged her deeper into the park. It wouldn’t be long before he disappeared entirely.
Suddenly, in the distance, the wail of police sirens rung out. Amelia heard it, unfortunately so did Lou. He fastened his pace as they grew louder. Despite his earlier threat about the police being on his side, it seemed he still didn’t want to take his chances. His goal was to disappear into the park with his hostage and come out on the other side alone. He knew he could do it, he just needed to be quick about it.
“Help! Help!” Amelia started yelling, refusing to go quietly. The police might not be able to see her, but she wanted to make sure they could hear her. It was the only weapon she had left.
“Shut up!” Lou sneered back. With his gun in one hand and his other around her, he didn’t have a third hand to clamp over her mouth. He wished he did though.
The sirens stopped. Amelia’s heart sank, had they gone? Were they headed for someone else’s emergency? Had she even heard them in the first place? She continued yelling anyway, despite the burning in her throat and chest.
Lou spun her around, needing to see where he was going instead of walking backwards. He needed to put some distance between himself and the road. He lowered the gun from Amelia’s head and started jogging at a steady pace – as fast as he could while holding her.
Amelia kicked her feet, pointed her toes, struggled in his arm. She was trying to do anything she possibly could to get free. And make it difficult for him to get anywhere fast. The further they went from the road, the chances of her survival diminished. Her mind was screaming at her the entire way.
“Stop, police!” The deep male voice came from behind, as did the footsteps.
Amelia momentarily felt relieved. It only lasted a second as she realized Lou wasn’t listening. Nor was he slowing down. He continued to run, even as the warnings came from all around to stop.
She could make out at least four different voices shouting the commands. As Lou continued to ignore them, they grew more urgent.
They reached an embankment where the park started the descent down to the highway. Lou didn’t hesitate to start the steep climb downwards.
He stumbled, catching his footing at the very last moment and steadying himself. With Amelia attached to his chest, he was front heavy. His center of gravity was off, making it nearly impossible to continue. The realization hit him.
Lou stopped and spun around, his arm snapping the gun back to Amelia’s head. She could feel the pressure on her scalp. Never before in her life had she been so scared.
She got her first look at the police. There were five male officers, all standing with their guns pointed at them. Amelia recognized Shawshank at the front, relieved for some good news.
“Come any closer and I will put a bullet through her brain,” Lou threatened. Nobody thought he was bluffing. Amelia knew for sure he wasn’t.
Shawshank remained steady, keeping his gun leveled. “There is no way out of this, we have you surrounded. Let her go so I don’t have to shoot you.”
“You don’t seem to understand, I am the one in charge here, not you. This is how it’s going to go, you’re going to let me pass and I will let you all live.”
“Not going to happen.” Shawshank shook his head. “There is only one way this is going to go and it ends in you letting the woman go and then surrendering to us.”
> Lou laughed, a strong and powerful chuckle. It unnerved some of the less experienced officers. Amelia felt his hot breath on her neck, it made her cringe. She tried to keep the tears from welling in her eyes but couldn’t hold them back, no matter how hard she focused. She wanted to be as far away from the horrible man as possible, she wanted it all to be over, and she wanted Pace to rot in hell.
A shot rang out, piercing the silence lingering between them. She felt the wake of the bullet. For a moment, she was certain she had been shot. She winced, wondering when her life would end.
But it didn’t. Instead, she felt the arm around her slacken and fall away. She looked down in disbelief as Lou lay by her feet. He had a bullet wound to his forehead, right between his open, staring eyes. He wasn’t moving.
Shawshank ran for her as Amelia started to slump to the ground herself. Her shaky legs no longer wanted to hold her up and her body refused to make them.
Still, there was something more important. “Leo, you need to get to him,” she said in the clearest voice she could muster. She didn’t know if she was going to pass out and didn’t want to do it without sending help.
“Leo, where is he?” Shawshank gripped her tightly, trying to keep her up and awake.
“He’s at the old bakery in the industrial estate. He needs help. Commissioner Pace shot him. You can’t trust him with anything, he killed Jordan and Renee White.”
“What?”
“Go, please, he’s hurt,” Amelia urged. He didn’t have to understand her to go help Leo. She needed them to go more than anything else.
Shawshank waited only a moment longer before barking orders. “Simmons, take this woman and make sure she isn’t injured. Maddox, take care of the body. Williams and Holt, you’re with me. We need to go.”
She felt a new set of arms comforting her, those belonging to Officer Simmons, she presumed. She watched as the police hurried back their car and disappeared through the trees. The remaining officer knelt down beside Lou and checked for a pulse – not that it was necessary.
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