by Rick Murcer
Manny kept at him. “Why a task at all, Mike? Why do we have to worry about what’s next? You’re not a killer. You’ve been a good cop. Now this? Are you nuts or just a spoiled little punk who always got his way? Tell me.”
The degree of rage surprised even Manny. But he’d pissed Mike off and that was what he wanted.
Mike grabbed his shirt and backhanded Manny again. His head jerked to the left, as another eyeful of colorful stars came and went. He vaguely noticed Sophie working on her wrist binding. She needed to hurry.
“Because of you, Williams. Because of you. You not only let the women in my life die, but you robbed me of everything else. My happiness, my family, my job, and even my father. He cares for you more than me.”
“Not true, Mike. Not true. You’re suffering from delusions. Come on, man, get your shit together.”
Mike raised his hand again and Manny braced for another strike, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Mike began to laugh. “Almost got me again, Williams. Almost. As much as I like hitting you, it’s time to get to the reason we’re here.”
“The cell phone in my hand controls the power grid running from your throne to the others. Each set of cables is controlled by a number. There is enough voltage running through those cables to fry ten people.”
Mike waved the phone under his nose. “Technology does work, yes? Now I need you to do something for me.”
Manny felt sick. He knew what was next.
Mike put his hand on Manny’s shoulder. “You, Agent Williams, must now pick a number from one to four to get this party rolling.”
“Mike,” he pleaded, “stop this madness. You’re not a killer.”
Standing straight up, Mike exhaled, raising the cell phone. “You also know nothing of my past. I’ve killed before Vegas, before Lansing. A long time ago, someone tried to take what was mine. Lexy became my wife and it didn’t end well for him. Just like it won’t for all of you. But enough of the past you know nothing of.”
“But I do, son, I do.”
The voice coming from the direction of the doors caused everyone in the room to turn in that direction. For the second time in fifteen minutes, Manny’s mind struggled to understand what he was seeing.
Gavin Crosby stood mere feet away, his gun pointed directly at his son.
CHAPTER-62
The two men, father and son, locked eyes, neither moving. The silent communication going on between them welcomed an interpretation, but Manny didn’t think it possible to fully understand what that meant.
He didn’t have to wait long for it to be revealed.
“I don’t know how you found me, Father, but what are you doing here?”
“Technology works, Mike. I agree. And you know why I’m here. I turned Alan Gordon’s murder file over to Chloe, and she figured out that I was hiding something. That I was hiding you,” said Gavin.
His voice was calm. He appeared not to be surprised by what he was seeing. Manny wondered if he knew that Mike was going to snap at some point.
“So you knew I killed him?”
“Yes. Over time, I’d put most of the pieces together. The motorcycle, the lame excuse as to where you were, the way your other friends covered for you, and how Lexy used to tear up when we talked about Alan. I knew they were lying. But the biggest thing was the screwdrivers. I remembered buying you some like that for Christmas the year before. I searched for them in the garage and never found them.”
“Well, well, well. You are a bit of a cop after all. Too bad you were never a dad,” said Mike, his anger showing.
“Maybe not, but I did my best. I regret many things, Mike. I should have put you away after Lexy and your Mom died. I knew what kind of man you could become. But none of that matters now. I’m here to take you home and get you help.”
“Help?” Mike laughed and held the cell phone higher. “You know I can kill all of them with a touch of this phone screen.”
“I heard. I won’t let that happen, son. Just drop the phone and the gun. We can walk out of here alive, all of us.”
“He’s right, Mike. Listen to him,” said Manny softly.
The younger Crosby hesitated and seemed to mull over what he’d heard. For the first time since they’d reached this building, Manny’s hope rose.
It shouldn’t have.
Mike Crosby looked at the floor, lifted his head, and then moved quickly. He raised his gun and fired, hitting Gavin in the thigh. Gavin returned a wild shot as he was going down. Mike ducked as the bullet whizzed over his head, his momentum forcing him to within inches of Manny.
Reaching out with his left leg, he kicked at Mike’s feet and felt Mike’s ankle give way.
He shrieked and the gun flew from his hand as he rumpled to the floor. Unfortunately, Mike still maintained possession of the phone.
Manny tried to kick him again, but he was just out of reach. He strained against the metal bindings on his arms and felt the one on the left give, but not enough. He couldn’t pull his arm through. He needed more time, time he didn’t have.
Mike had recovered.
“You’re all dead,” he screamed. “I’ll fry all of your asses.”
“I don’t think so,” said Sophie.
The next sound Manny heard was the subtle, familiar whisper of a throwing star cutting through the air.
Mike screamed again as the pink star buried deep into his hand, sending the phone flying across the cement floor. The next star hit him in the side of the head, then bounced to the floor. He was dazed, but not out.
Sophie swore. She’d missed by an inch of stopping him in his tracks.
Glancing her way, he saw that she had one hand and one leg free, working on the others. The hard-plastic versions of her stars hidden under each sleeve had not been detected by whatever technology Mike had used to make sure they were unarmed. Dean and Alex began to yell in Mike’s direction hoping to confuse and distract him so that Sophie could finish freeing herself.
No such luck. After a few seconds, he got to his hands and knees, pulled Sophie’s star from his right hand, then scrambled toward the gun located just a few feet away, muttering to himself.
Manny quickly looked in Gavin’s direction and saw his friend struggle to a seated position. He was sitting in a pool of blood that made Josh’s look like a drop. Manny felt his heart sink.
Mike’s bullet must have hit the femoral artery in Gavin’s thigh. He was quickly bleeding out.
“Mike, sto-stop, stop, now,” Gavin’s voice was weak, but it was still his.
Ignoring his father, he reached for the gun, grasped the handle, and began to turn in his dad’s direction.
“MIKE, DON’T!” hollered Manny.
He hesitated, glanced at Manny, then pointed the gun.
The sound of the next shot rumbled through the warehouse. Then all was quiet.
His friend, his pseudo little brother, his would-be killer, blinked twice, and then reached down to his chest. He never made it. Mike Crosby fell over dead, the bullet from Gavin’s gun striking him directly in the heart.
Manny had time to look at Gavin to see him fall back, groaning.
Somewhere, Manny gathered more strength and pulled against the brace with all that he had. It gave completely away from the armrest. In a few seconds he was free, running to Gavin’s side.
His substitute father, the man who had trained him and had him over for all of those meals before he’d married Louise. The one who’d helped him become the man and cop that he was, lay on the cement, pale as his white shirt, eyes closed.
A man should never be in this situation once, let alone twice. He’d watched Louise die in his home, bleeding to death from a stray bullet, and now, in this lonely warehouse thousands of miles from home, he was watching it again.
Gavin’s eyes opened as Manny grasped his hand. They were clear, at least for the moment.
“There’s a letter in my pocket for you and Chloe.”
He sounded so far away.
“We’re get
ting help. Just hold on,” said Manny, tears forcing their way down his cheeks.
“Too late. Just know I’m sorry about . . . about Mike. I should have . . . t-tell Haley Rose—”
His mentor and friend never finished the sentence.
His eyes fluttered shut and Gavin Crosby died.
CHAPTER-63
Chloe’s hand slipped into his as she and Manny stood to the left of the chapel’s small alter. He kissed her then put his hand on the ever-growing baby bump.
“You need to put that girl on a diet,” said Alex.
He laughed as he turned to Alex and Barb standing on the other side of the aisle.
“She’s going to hurt you, you know?” said Manny.
“I am, but I’ll wait for a few more months,” agreed Chloe, her eyes sparkling.
“I could do it now, Uncle Alex,” said Jen, grinning as she and Haley Rose moved up to stand by Chloe.
He laughed. It felt good. It had been too long.
Four months too long.
Gavin and Mike had been gone that long, and he missed them, at least the old Mike. He was still besieged with whys and whats and hows, and he guessed that would always be.
Gavin’s letter and the long text he’d sent Chloe before he died had helped, but Manny was trying to reconcile why Mike had been a killer at such a young age, and why Gavin had hid it. Gavin’s letter spoke of anger within his son. He and Stella had even taken him in for counseling. Mike refused to talk to the therapist, only saying he was fine and wanted to talk to his dad. But Gavin was busy working and building a career, leaving the everyday routine of raising a child to his wife. The last line in his letter said he regretted that now. Mike’s state of mind was his fault, and he was sorry.
The text to Chloe stated that he knew Mike had killed Alan a few years after it happened. His jealousy for Lexy the trigger for killing Alan. But he didn’t see the point in ruining another young man’s life over something that no one could change anyway. Besides, Mike had changed. He wasn’t the same angry kid—and he was his son.
In the end, Gavin had done the right thing by trying to bring Mike in. Manny was sure killing him wasn’t in the plan, but he knew Gavin had been prepared to do what was necessary.
Still, Manny tried to imagine what it was like to pull your weapon and kill your own child.
He glanced at Jen and shivered. Hell on earth.
To top off everything, he had to tell Haley Rose that Gavin had been thinking of her when he died. Her tears were few, but it took her months after the funeral to get out and around. Jen had helped with that. His little girl had been Haley Rose’s rock. Much like she’d been for him.
Help had arrived at the warehouse, and while it had been a tough few days for Josh, he came through the ordeal with flying colors.
That wasn’t the extent of Josh’s next step in life, however. John Dickman, the assistant director, had sent out a special agent to retrieve Josh and bring him back to Quantico. He’d interviewed and tested three main candidates and, much to Josh’s surprise, offered the leader of the BAU the job of assistant director upon Dickman’s retirement. Dickman told Josh that even though his disregard for some rules made him a risk, his other leadership traits, and concern for his staff made him a perfect choice. Dickman also admitted that he’d always done what was necessary and right, ignoring a few regulations along the way himself.
In the end, Josh had turned down the AD job. He told Dickman he wasn’t ready, and if the Bureau wanted to cut him loose, he understood, but he was staying at the BAU for as long as his team wanted him there. End of story. Dickman had laughed and told Josh “maybe next time around” and to keep up the good work. Josh had thanked him, and then went home, kissed his boys, put them into bed, and in his words, made love to his wife all night.
Something had happened because his wife was now pregnant. Maybe the all-night thing wasn’t an exaggeration.
The night Josh had confided all this to the BAU, they all went out for a drink to celebrate. Sophie asked him if he knew what caused that baby-making situation. He told her he was pretty sure but still doing research.
What a night that had been. Dean and Sophie got to make an announcement of their own.
He recalled talking to her the night before.
“Do you remember that night in North Carolina when I said I want to have what you had with Chloe someday?” she’d asked.
“I do. I said you would, right?” She’d nodded. “That day in Las Vegas when I thought I might lose Dean forever was the worst day of my life. I wasn’t just pissed. I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to touch him, talk to him, or hear him say my name again. I sat in that damn chair Mike put me in and made myself a promise that if God got us out, I’d give us a chance.”
“And?”
“And I’m going in for the third time. Besides, I want to have sex with someone who wants me more than I want them, ya know?”
She’d winked. He’d laughed. He did know.
So here they were. Back in Vegas.
Just then, Josh walked into the chapel, hung up his phone, and stood beside Barb and Alex. He smiled at Manny and winked.
He wasn’t sure how Josh was going to handle the fact that Dean and Sophie were going to be on the BAU as a married couple. The Bureau frowned on such things. Something about being against regulations. Josh told his superiors to trust him, that he would figure it out. It looked like, at least for now, he’d done just that.
Life was nothing if not ever-changing, and his boss understood that too.
The next moment, the wedding march blared through the small, powerful speakers.
Sophie, wearing the same short red dress, hat, shoes, and handbag she’d worn in the Egyptian months ago, and Dean, in a red paisley tux with matching driver’s hat and a trimmed beard, walked down the aisle arm in arm, giggling.
Manny was flooded with an abrupt visual of Gavin’s face, smiling. The man would have loved this. Who knew? Maybe he was watching.
They reached the altar, and the man conducting the ceremony, dressed in a white Elvis jumpsuit, began.
“We make this here kind of thing brief in Vegas. I have just three questions, plus the one you want me to ask. Are you ready?”
They nodded in sync.
“Is anyone giving away the bride?”
Manny stepped forward. “Yes. Manny Williams, her family, and her friends from the BAU.”
“That’s a first for me, but thank you, thank you very much.”
Elvis paused. “Okay. Dean, do you love this woman and are you going to take care of her?”
“I do and I will,” he answered, his voice suddenly quiet. “She’s my Princess and the answer to my dreams.”
Manny wasn’t the only one to feel the groom’s elation. Chloe, Jen, Haley Rose, Barb, and Alex had joined him in wiping at tears.
“Sophie, how about you? Do you love this man and will you watch his back?”
“I do and already have,” she said, letting her own tears flow.
“Okay then. Last question. I got to say, we don’t get this one a lot out here.”
The Elvis look-alike glanced down to the sheet of paper in his hand.
“Will you both do your best to honor God with this union?”
“We will,” they answered in unison.
Manny felt his chest rise. Sophie and Dean had come to him and asked him if they thought God would mind since they weren’t exactly believers, but they both believed that not mentioning Him wouldn’t be quite right.
He’d agreed and was pretty sure God was on board as well.
“Okay y’all, get yer behinds out there and celebrate. By the authority given to me by the state of Nevada, you are now man and wife. You can kiss the bride.”
Kiss they did. After a few seconds, Jen started to yell for them to get a room. The laughter rang through the tiny chapel.
“Y’all need to hurry out to your limo or you’re going to get hit with one of those rare rains during a Vegas summer
,” said Elvis.
The group followed Sophie and Dean as they hurried out the door and down the steps, ducking rice and laughing.
They piled into the car as Manny helped Chloe into the fourth door.
He was bending to get into the limo, when he felt something wet on his hand. He looked up into a dark cloud and felt two drops hit his face, and then more.
Elvis had been right. Rain in Vegas was indeed rare.
He smiled.
This time, the Vegas rain was a good omen.
Thank you so much for reading Vegas Rain! I’d love to hear what you think, as always. You can reach me at [email protected] or come visit our website at www.rickmurcer.com
Next up is Caribbean Fire.
After Baby Williams is born, Manny and Chloe head to Cozumel for a long-awaited honeymoon.
Sun, sand, warmth, the Mayan culture, and murder. You won’t want to miss this one.
Due out in late spring…I promise! J
Perfect Sinners, the next Ellen Harper Psycho-thriller is in line after that.
Ellen, Big Harv, Brice, and Bella will all be back for at least one more.
Celtic Fire-The next Manny Williams Thriller is in the works, as well.
Then a project I’ll be doing with another writer, but more on that later.
I have a few more projects in line for next year so e-mail me. I’ll be able to add you to the Newsletter List and keep you apprised on how things are progressing.
Again, thank you all for helping me on this journey. I’m grateful for this writing gig and you’ve all made it possibly. God bless and live like you mean it.
Rick
