I met his eyes. They gleamed with excitement. I realized then he got off on violence. And knew I was in big trouble.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THE ELEVATOR DINGED and to my relief, King was distracted. He must not have been expecting anyone.
When the doors slid open I stifled my gasp.
Mayor Evans. He drew back when he saw me. My cheek throbbed. Blood dripped down my nose onto my lap. My eye was nearly swollen shut. I’m sure it wasn’t pretty. The mayor’s gray hair looked greasy, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his shirt had a stain on it. Things apparently hadn’t been going well for him the past few days, either.
“Why is she here?”
“Not your concern,” King waved his hand at me.
“It is my concern.”
“Not anymore. You made it my concern.” King busied himself wiping some of my blood off his knuckles.
The mayor looked dismayed. I noticed he refused to look over at Sasha.
“This has got to stop,” the mayor said, wincing.
“I told you to stay away. Let me handle this. You’ll get what you want.”
“You need to let her go.” The mayor finally glanced over at Sasha. “I’m getting pressured. The editor at the campus newspaper called me to ask about her. He called me. He knows something.”
Go Baumann! I didn’t care what anyone said—the press still had power. And these two men knew it. And were afraid. While they were distracted I got another finger in and was now very close to loosening the knot binding my wrists behind my back. The effort was making me strain and make faces so I was relieved at the distraction and that nobody was paying any attention to me.
“I’ll let her go as soon as she tells me where her laptop is and who else knows about her story.”
“She didn’t tell anyone,” I said. “Not even her editor. If you’re editor knew, he would have held it over you to get her back. Trust me.” Both men turned to me. I stopped fiddling with the knot so they wouldn’t suspect I was nearly free.
“That makes it a lot easier,” King nodded at the two men with guns who shifted forward. “You just spent your last poker chip. We have no use for either one of you anymore.”
The men had raised their guns and I spoke in a rush. I sounded plugged up from my bloody —and possibly—broken nose. “But I found her story. I found her laptop.”
Sasha shot me a startled glance. I hoped she would go with it.
King held up a palm and both men lowered their guns.
“It is a damn good story,” I said. “It pretty much lays out everything you both have done. It contains campaign finance reports and the names of the people in those barrels on the other floor. I emailed it this morning to every media outlet in the Bay Area. Along with a note that I was heading over here to get Sasha.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Most of them should be getting into the office right about now and reading their emails.”
“You’re bluffing.” King’s voice sounded confident, but there was something in his eyes that betrayed him. Maybe he was worried.
“Am I?” I raised an eyebrow. “As I said, the story lays out in great detail how the mayor is under your control. How your shell companies have profited the mayor’s coffers: his personal finances, along with his campaign finances. In return, the mayor has agreed to be at your beck and call when he is re-elected. To be your puppet, so to speak.
“Isn’t that right, Sasha?”
She nodded with wide eyes.
I paused. King narrowed his eyes at me.
“But the real meat of her story. The thing that’s going to win her the Pulitzer is that she found out that in your efforts to help the mayor get re-elected, your crew of turdwads decided to clean-up the city. Except your idea of cleaning is a whole hell of a lot different than most of the world. You’re starting with the homeless people of color and probably moving on from there.”
The mayor was green. “I didn’t know any of this.”
“Bullshit.” The word was so quiet I almost didn’t hear it. It was the first time Sasha had spoken.
“At first, I didn’t know. And when I found out I told him to stop. But he won’t.” The mayor glared at King, one of his bushy gray eyebrows lowered. “I never agreed to this ...” he sputtered. “To murder.”
King gave a slight shrug. “We’re just giving you want you wanted. You wanted results. You didn’t dictate how we would go about getting those results.”
“This is unacceptable. That’s why I came here.” The mayor shot me a glance to see if I was buying it, I bet. “To put a stop to this.”
Two could play that game.
“If that’s true, then tell Mr. King to let Sasha and me go.” I was so close to untying the knot. I tried not to look at my gun on top of the filing cabinet. If I broke free and darted for it, I might be able to beat King to it.
Evans frowned. “I can’t. If what you say is true, and the media has the story, I’m done for. I can’t pretend to go on like normal. They’re on to me.” He wrung his hands. He turned to King. “You need to get me out of here. Out of town. Out of the country. You owe me that at least.”
King pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t owe you anything. I’ve paid in full.”
My efforts to wiggle free of the knot hit a snag. Something was still too tight.
“You have to help me,” the mayor said to King. “I need to leave town immediately. I have all my money tied up in an offshore account. I can access it in a week, but I need to leave town now before they arrest me. I will make it worth your while.” He put his head in his hands. “I wish this would all go away.”
He turned to me. “It’s your fault. If you hadn’t sent the story to the media, we could let you go. We could go on.” He shot a glance at King.
I narrowed my eyes. “Do you mean that? That we could walk out of here like nothing? Me and Sasha?”
Boy, this guy was dumb. He would let us go if we promised to not tell on him? He nodded. Barely.
“I was bluffing,” I said.
The mayor shot a glance at me. “What?”
“You heard me. I made all that up about sending it to the papers and letting people know I was coming over here. I only said it so you’d keep us alive. Now you can let us go. I promise not to say anything. I bet Sasha agrees that it’s worth our lives to keep that story buried forever.”
She stared at me for a second, but then said, “Yes, of course.”
King shook his head. “This is absurd. Of course, they are going to say something. How can you be so stupid, Evans?”
My question exactly.
The mayor turned to me with a confused look on his face.
“I was bluffing. Honest,” I said.
King was moving toward me and I didn’t like the look in his eyes. I had to sound more convincing. “But, it’s not going to be that easy. Sasha is trying to make it as a journalist. You have to promise to feed her scoops every once in a while. To keep her in the loop so she gets the dirt before anyone else. And, you need to stop killing people.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” The mayor was so eager for an escape plan out of the shit storm he was in, that he would believe anything I said. It was too rich.
King was at my side then. “Enough of this nonsense. She’s playing you, you ignorant fool. You are possibly the stupidest man I’ve ever met.” He shot a glance at the mayor and then turned back to me, rubbing his finger on my cheek and then grabbing my mouth so hard it hurt.
With his back to the mayor, he continued to speak to him, but his eyes raked over me. “You have no say in it, anymore. You lost that. You will do as we say.” He punctuated his words by drawing back and slapping me. I glowered and he smiled. “And you will sit back and shut up while we do what we need to do.”
The blast of the gun, two quick shots, was deafening.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS Sasha, but when King turned, I could see the two gunmen on the floor with b
ullets in their foreheads. The mayor stood above them, legs spread, arm extended with my gun in his shaking hands. His hair mussed so it stood up on one side.
“You won’t be telling me what to do anymore,” The mayor said. He pointed the gun at King.
At the same moment, I finally loosened the ropes enough to wiggle free.
With King focused on the gun pointing at his forehead, he didn’t notice me. I was up in one fluid motion and charged him. I had my hands up in fists and my leg swung around and up and caught him in the side, in the kidney, right when he turned toward me.
It didn’t seem to budge him. I spun around as he grabbed for me and his fingers closed around air. Instantly I regretted attacking him. I should have let the mayor keep him at gunpoint. But there was something about the way King was inching closer to the mayor that pretty much convinced me the mayor’s control of the gun was short-lived.
I lunged for King again, and tried to flip him over me as I’d practiced a million times with Kato. But this time, I got a punch to the neck that sent me spinning back and re-evaluating my plan. Keeping my hands in front of me and staying on the balls of my feet, I kept my eyes glued on his hands and feet, trying to predict his next move.
He charged, coming in faster than any man his size should be able to move. I ducked and spun, tucking myself under his arm and using his own force to tug his shoulder down. He stumbled and I dropped limp and out of his grip. Then immediately I stood up straight and yanked his head down. He bent at the waist and I pummeled the back of his neck about four times and then jerked my knee against his face.
I heard something crack and saw blood drip onto the floor. Without waiting for him to stand up, I darted toward the mayor. On my way, I leaned down and scooped up one of the semi-automatics. When I got to the mayor, who was standing there wide mouthed, I yanked the gun out of his hand.
He stared at me with relief until I poked the gun into his nose. “Don’t even breathe.” Behind him I saw King creeping closer.
“Back up, King. I happen to know this Barrett M82 is capable of sending rounds right through the mayor’s fat head and into yours like slicing butter.”
I drew back slowly.
“Both of you, over in the corner.” I didn’t take my eyes off them, but in my peripheral vision I searched for a way to keep them secured. There was nothing. The guns were all I had. Just as I thought that, King lunged forward and I shot him in the leg with my handgun. The boom of the gun was deafening in the small space. He crumpled to the ground. “Next one is right between the eyes.” I gestured with the semi-automatic. “With this big boy.”
I gestured to the wall. “Scoot back to where you were. Now.”
I needed to free Sasha and get the hell out of there. I spoke to her without taking my eyes off King and the mayor, who were now backed up against the red brick wall.
“Sasha, if I toss you the key will you be able to unlock your ankle?”
“Yes.”
I fished it out of my back pocket and backed toward her as far as I could without putting the row of filing cabinets between me and the two men. King was grimacing, holding his leg and glaring at me. He scooted back and then stood, using the wall to help him stand.
I leaned back and tossed the key toward Sasha.
“Did I come close?”
“No.”
Damn.
I heard her give a huff, straining. “Wait. I think I can get it.”
I waited.
“Got it.”
“Let me know when you are done.” King stared at me, making me nervous. I’d just shot him and he was looking at me like he had the upper hand. It worried me.
I heard metal against metal. “I’m out.” Her voice trembled with excitement.
“Go to the elevator and press the down button. We’re getting out of here.”
The elevator dinged behind me.
“Get in and punch the button for the first floor.”
“Okay.” Her voice was trembling.
I backed toward the elevator, keeping my gun trained on King, who was fiddling with something behind his back.
“Hands in front of you. Now.”
But he was already behind the mayor. His arm was wrapped around the mayor’s neck and he pressed something that looked like a shard of glass to the mayor’s jugular. A tiny red gash appeared.
“Hit the close door button now,” I commanded.
“I’ll kill him,” King said.
That was his play?
I stepped into the elevator as the doors whooshed closed. I turned toward Sasha. “You okay?”
She looked like she was holding back tears, but she nodded.
“It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now.” I tried to make my voice sound convincing and then just decided to change the subject. “Where is your laptop anyway?”
“In a locker at the BART station. My source told me I was in danger. He said I shouldn’t go into San Francisco at all. That they were after me. That I was being followed so I ditched them long enough to hide it.”
I gave her an admiring glance. “Damn, you’re good.”
She beamed, but then grew somber. “He warned me and I think he paid with his life.”
“Why do you think that?”
“That’s why they took me from the protest instead of having me meet them later. They said they’d been suspicious of him and saw his texts to me. I think they did something to him.” Tears filled her eyes.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”
She looked relieved for a minute, but I thought about how there were more barrels with bodies than people missing. At least ones I knew about.
“Who’s your source?”
She looked uncomfortable shifting from foot to foot and not meeting my eyes.
“Never mind,” I said, waving my hand. “Baumann told me all about you guys protecting your sources and going to jail and all that stuff.”
She gave a small smile. “You talked to Baumann?”
Just then the elevator stopped, the doors opening on the first floor. I moved Sasha behind me and stuck my head out into the darkness, listening. When I didn’t hear anything, I gestured for Sasha to follow me. I couldn’t waste time trying to find out how to open the big garage door so I’d have to make a break for the window I’d come in.
As we stepped into the garage, which felt twenty degrees cooler, I spotted the light coming from the window. I grabbed Sasha’s hand and yanked her as we ran, hoping there was nothing in the dark that would trip us. But this time, with dawn breaking, I could see faintly and it looked like a clear path. When we reached the window, which was about five feet off the ground, I crouched and cupped my hands together.
“Use this for your foot and then grab ahold of my back to pull yourself up.”
“Okay.” She sounded scared. A sound made me freeze. I listened in the darkness, but nothing stirred. We needed to get out of there and fast.
Sasha put her foot into my cupped and interlaced palms. A tiny sob escaped her. “I can’t.”
“You can. I promise you. You can.”
“I’m so weak.” I heard a sound again and my adrenaline spiked.
“Now, Sasha. Now. I’ll lift you. Go now.”
For a second, she wobbled and I was worried she’d topple over, but then I felt her other foot on my back and I shot up, sending her propelling toward the window. “Grab the window sill.”
“I got it.” I felt her weight leave my body at the same time I felt hot breath on my neck.
“Run, Sasha! Run!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I DUCKED BUT IT WAS too late. An arm yanked me back. I felt something cold and sharp on my neck. I tried to ignore it as Sasha’s feet pounded the pavement and then disappeared from my view. Go, Sasha. Run like hell.
A rough cheek pressed against mine and I caught the faint whiff of blood and something like what I imagined death would smell like.
“You will pay for my leg.” The voice rumbled in my ear.
I could feel his excitement pressed against me. I remembered the glimmer in his eyes upstairs when he slapped me. I’d been right. He did get off on violence.
“Where’s the mayor?” I tried to sound nonchalant.
“Dead.”
I somehow had already known the answer.
King drew back, keeping his arm on my neck, and walked backward, pulling me with him. He panted a little in pain. I must’ve really fucked up his leg. I could feel his breath on the back of my head, ruffling my hair. He obviously didn’t know it wasn’t in his best interest to have his face that close to my thick skull.
I wrenched my head backward, smashing it into his face at the same time I kicked behind me and landed a blow to his knee. I felt shearing pain on my face as I did so, but managed to twist free.
I darted toward the staircase, which was a faintly lighter structure in the dark. The last thing I wanted to do was stay in this nightmare building, but I needed to get away from him and the stairs were the easiest way.
I scaled the first flight and stood at the top of the stairs legs spread, hands in fists before me, eyes straining to see him in the darkness below. As soon as he hit the stairs, I’d hear him. As I learned earlier, it was impossible to be quiet on the stairs.
The screech of the garage door opening made me jump. I paused for a second, unsure what to do. Did I run? As the light poured in from outside, inch by inch as the garage door rose, I searched the vast floor below for any sign of King. When the sound of the garage door quieted, I heard the distant wail of sirens. A police car pulled into the garage space, triggering overhead lights.
The police car skidded to a halt and James flew out of the driver’s side door, gun drawn.
“King’s down there somewhere. He can’t have escape,” I shouted.
But there was no sign of him. I leaned over searching the floor below, turning in a circle from my platform on the top of the stairs. The garage was empty. King was gone. The elevator. That’s when I saw it directly under me. He must have taken the elevator and the sound had been muffled by the garage door opening.
Gia Santella Crime Thriller Boxed Set: Books 1-3 (Gia Santella Crime Thrillers) Page 30
