Warrick

by Dale Mayer

  By then she was shaking. She’d caught a glimpse of Tabitha on the floor, and it wasn’t a pretty sight for anyone to see.

  He led her back out of the building, down to the car. Once inside, he sat and just held her close.

  “Now what do we do?”

  Her voice sounded more frozen than terrified. He’d rather she kicked and screamed and cried than this numbness. “Well, let’s see. We have a killer hunting us. What we have to do is be smart.”

  She stared at him. “What does that mean?”

  “We need a place to go that’s safe. I’m not sure exactly which direction to go. You need to let me think about it for a minute.”

  Just then a vehicle ripped through the parking lot and tore onto the main street ahead of him. Instantly Warrick pulled out in the traffic and chased him.

  “What are you doing?” Penny yelled, buckling up and grabbing for the dash. “Why are you chasing that car?”

  “Did it ever occur to you it might be George?”

  “Did it ever occur to you it might not be? Don’t you wait until you confirm something before you go after somebody like that?”

  “Hell no. A lot of criminals stay at the scene of the crime to watch what happens.”

  “It makes no sense.”

  “Of course it does. He saw you arrive. For all we know, he was coming up Tabitha’s hallway after us, but I called the cops, and he heard them arrive too fast and chose to get away then.”

  She stared at him, dumbstruck at the concept.

  He wasn’t thrilled either, but it was all too possible. If the killer had been there not very long ago, they might have just missed him. If he’d seen them go up or pull in or recognized her vehicle, George may have wanted to return and kill them at the same time.

  For all Warrick knew, George was already on the stairs coming up to Tabitha’s apartment again when he heard the sirens. The fact was, Warrick was following somebody who didn’t want to get caught, and that meant Warrick was interested in who he was. “Do you know anything about George’s family?”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Why?”

  “Call Nina and ask her to find out if he has a brother to go to, a mother to go to, somebody who would give him a bolt hole to hide out in.”

  “Why would anybody do that?” she asked.

  “Because often family doesn’t believe the stories about their own relatives. And then consider that a gun is mighty persuasive.”

  She pulled out her phone, and he listened as she talked to Nina. “Nina says he has a brother who’s a drug addict, but he doesn’t live in this area. He lives down in the skid row section of San Diego.”

  “Get an address if you can,” he said. “I don’t feel like being a sitting duck until this guy finds us.”

  “Do you really think he’ll come after us that fast?”

  “It’s hard to say. If he’s trying to annihilate everybody even remotely associated with Nina, he’s got a lot of targets to choose from.”

  “But you’re thinking we’re at the top of the list.”

  “Or Nina is. In his mind, she could be the betrayer, or she could still be the person he loves. There’s no way to know.”

  “Down on Dondi Street,” she said. “It’s in the commercial area by the docks.”

  He nodded. “I don’t know the area. See if you can bring it up on the city map.”

  “We can’t go down there on our own,” she said.

  He glanced at her. “I’ll have to call for some backup.”

  “We need to call the cops.”

  “Then do so,” he said calmly. “Tell them where we’re headed.”

  It was obvious the vehicle was trying to shake him. Warrick let him get a block ahead and calm down, and then he pulled in behind him again. The driver was getting rattled. He took a left-hand turn, almost causing an accident as he darted through traffic.

  Warrick swore. “Damn it.”

  Then there was a break in the traffic up ahead. He pulled a U-turn and took a right, going after the guy again. It took him a few minutes of wandering the blocks to find him, but he came up behind him again. The guy hit the gas and tore off, getting back onto the main highway. This time he headed in the right direction toward his brother’s.

  Being a naval officer, George could disappear in an awful lot of places. And those were places that, although Warrick was navy himself, he might not know. The trouble was, everybody knew who George was, and everybody was looking for him.

  “The cops aren’t happy. They want you to stop chasing him.”

  “I thought you decided it wasn’t him I was chasing,” Warrick said.

  “Are you trying to piss off the police?”

  He shrugged. “Not necessarily trying to, but I’m not prepared to let this guy go either.”

  “Well, you don’t even know who he is.” She tried to speak in a reasonable tone.

  “If he’d stop, I’d ask him,” Warrick said with a smile.

  Just then the guy up ahead took a quick right and then a quick left. Warrick followed suit. He was determined not to lose him.

  “Maybe you didn’t understand me. The cops ordered us to stop chasing him.”

  Warrick considered it and then discarded it. “Unless the cops are here to take over, I’m not letting go.”

  She groaned. “Are you always this stubborn?”

  “Yes,” he said with a nod. “I think I am.”

  They kept up the chase for another ten minutes until he saw the docks up ahead. The vehicle had slowed. Warrick had let several vehicles get in between them. As he watched, the car headed toward the warehouses on the left side of the dock area.

  “This is definitely not your typical nice neighborhood,” Penny said quietly. “There are prostitutes on the corners, homeless people sitting on the sidewalk.”

  “Yeah, interesting choice for him.”

  “Again you don’t know it’s him.” She was frustrated.

  “Well, if it’s not George, then the cops can’t be upset with me, can they?”

  “Whatever.”

  He kept his eyes peeled as the vehicle pulled up and around the block just a little bit ahead. Warrick killed the lights and drifted into the turn after him. The vehicle was parked halfway down the next block. Warrick gently braked, trying not to move so as to remain undetected. He watched the driver get out, dashing across the street. Once he entered the building there, Warrick drove the car a couple more blocks, then pulled off to the side of the road and parked, killing the engine so no one would see brake lights either.

  He looked at her and said, “Now I’m in a pickle.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “Why?”

  “I want to go after him.”

  “I don’t like the idea of that at all,” she said. “That’s not safe.”

  “I’d be going after him regardless of that issue.” Warrick’s voice was hard. “But I can’t leave you alone. Because, if I lose sight of him, he can backtrack and grab you.”

  She gave him a bland smile. “Then I guess you can’t go after him, can you?”

  He pulled out his phone. “Who were you talking to in the police department?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He wasn’t sure he believed her, but, at the same time, he already had somebody on the phone talking to him. He pulled out the card that the cop had given him earlier in the day and asked for him. The city police and NCIS were working together on any George-related developments.

  Within a few moments the call was transferred over. “Who is this?”

  “I’m the guy who walked into the hospital earlier today and disarmed the gunman.”

  “What do you want?” But the aggression was gone; instead there was just curiosity.

  “I tracked a vehicle from Tabitha’s house, who was Nina’s friend and murdered within the last hour,” Warrick explained. “We’re down at the docks at what appears to be an empty warehouse building a block away from the Willow area, which is where your suspec
t’s brother lives.”

  “You followed him?”

  “I did,” Warrick said baldly. “He took off out of Tabitha’s apartment parking lot as we were leaving. The cops had just arrived. I didn’t know who it was, but, given his behavior, I decided I would give chase.”

  “Exactly where are you?” the officer barked.

  Warrick gave him directions. “The vehicle is parked on the block behind me. I can see it in my rearview mirror.”

  “Don’t move. Keep an eye on that vehicle.”

  Warrick agreed. “Are you coming yourself?”

  “I’m sending black-and-whites first. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Probably in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Good, we’ll be here.” Warrick hung up and turned to look at Penny, who was staring at him.

  “How come they didn’t talk to me like that?” she protested.

  He grinned. “There’s a language. And you don’t speak it.”

  “What language?”

  He chuckled. “A language between protectors.” And that’s all he said.

  Chapter 6

  Two cruisers pulled up behind them in half the expected time. Several men exited and swarmed the vehicle they’d tracked. Penny watched in the rearview mirror. Several of the men then disappeared to search the neighborhood, and one man walked toward them. Warrick opened the door and stepped out.

  Penny huddled in her corner, content to listen to the men go over the recent chase. The cops were less than pleased, and Warrick wasn’t giving an inch.

  “Did you see George leave the vehicle?”

  “Yes, he crossed the street, but I haven’t seen him since.”

  “We’ve got the vehicle but are searching for him in the area. It’s best if you leave now.”

  “And if we don’t want to?” Warrick challenged. “He’s the asshole who killed Tabitha and the two officers. And he’s after Penny here.”

  “Penny?”

  Warrick motioned to the interior of the car. She sighed as the officer bent and stared at her. She gave him a half-hearted smile.

  Warrick leaned down beside the cop. “He’ll need to ask you a few questions. Come out for a moment.”

  Opening the door, she stepped out and walked around to Warrick’s side. He tucked her up close. She couldn’t help leaning in closer to absorb some of his strength. To the officer standing in front of her, a frown on his face, she asked, “What do you want to know?”

  Penny answered all the questions fired at her. To think she was going through a second event like this in such a short time period was a living nightmare.

  “No, I don’t have a clue where he might have gone.” She’d seen enough to know her nightmares were just beginning.

  “Do you know if he has any close friends nearby? A place where he might lay low? We already know about his brother. Do you know anyone else close to him?”

  “No, I didn’t know him that well. You’d have to ask Nina. I can’t believe he killed two cops and Tabitha. She was completely innocent.” She looked over at Warrick, tears never far from her eyes. “This will destroy Nina.”

  “Nina needs to get better, and she needs to find another place to live a long way away from here,” Warrick said seriously. “Even when they catch her ex-fiancé”—he let out a heavy sigh—“it’ll be hard for her to deal with the guilt.”

  Penny nodded. She stood taller, her arms hugging her chest. She was chilled through and through. More cruisers arrived as a large-scale manhunt began. She thought it was somewhere around two in the morning already. She understood that Warrick had been okay to wait until all the local people had been interviewed, but the police had taken the information she’d given and then asked her to stay so they could ask her some more questions later.

  But now she was chilled and tired. She was heading back into the shock zone, and all she wanted to do was go home, curl up with a heating pad and cry. It was too unbelievable. She looked up at Warrick. “Can we leave now?”

  Warrick glanced at the cop.

  The cop nodded, handed them both cards and said, “Let us know if you think of anything else.”

  “It won’t be tonight,” she said, stifling a yawn. “I’m too exhausted to do anything but sleep.”

  Warrick walked her back to her car. His gait was not normal. Then again, he’d been on that damn foot all the time he should have been resting with his leg up.

  “You’ll be held back from working yet another week if you don’t get off that leg,” she warned him. She automatically went to the driver’s side. Inside, she reached a hand out for the keys.

  He handed them to her. “I know.”

  She drove slowly toward her apartment. The roads were empty. There was an eerie silence to the world around her. “Is he coming after me next?”

  “I wouldn’t be at all surprised,” Warrick said.

  “So shouldn’t we go straight to a hotel now?”

  “I just had a better idea. We’re going on base.”

  She shot him a startled look. “We are?”

  He nodded. “A friend of mine has an apartment there. He had to go back East. His father had a heart attack. We’ll stay at his place. Take a left there.”

  “I could use clothes.”

  “Tomorrow. We’re too tired for anything else.”

  She thought about that for a moment, then realized he was right. Tomorrow. It was already tomorrow, dammit. She took the corner and drove back toward the base. They remained silent until she pulled up to the security checkpoint. She rolled down the windows on both sides, explaining who they were.

  Warrick handed over his ID and gave the address for where they were heading. The men nodded, wrote down their names and lifted the bar.

  She drove through, then said, “I didn’t expect to get through that fast.”

  “I sent Mason a text, asking him to clear it for us.”

  “Oh.” She should have thought of that, and she would have if her brain wasn’t so fuzzy.

  Following his directions, she ended up outside an apartment building. “Is this personnel housing?”

  “It sure is. Singles, usually men,” he said with a smile. They walked inside the front door, and he led her to the elevators. “My buddy, Morgan, lives on the top floor.”

  “How will you get in?”

  “Mason again. He has Morgan’s keys. He came in and unlocked it for us and left the key on the counter.” Sure enough, the apartment was unlocked. Warrick stepped in front of her, making sure she waited at the entrance, did a quick search of the apartment, came back and nodded. He led her inside, locked the door behind him, picked up the spare key sitting on the counter and pocketed it.

  He took one look at the couch and sighed. “I’ll take the couch. At least this one is big enough for me to lie down on.”

  She walked through to the small bedroom and saw a huge bed. “Forget it, Warrick. The bed is way too big for just me. We’ll both sleep here. At least we can get some real sleep.” She took off her shoes, dropped her sweater on the chair. “Or do what you want. I’m too damn tired to even argue.” She kicked out of her jeans, folded them and placed them on the chair, pulled her T-shirt over her head, then went to the bathroom, came back out shortly and crawled under the covers.

  All the while he stood in the doorway to the bedroom and watched her.

  She gave him a half wave. “Just take care of yourself, and both of us will reconvene in the morning.” And she closed her eyes.

  The trouble was, she couldn’t quite relax until he decided what he would do regarding his sleeping arrangements. She heard him in the bathroom; then the bed sagged as he sat on the other side. She heard rustling movements, as if he was undressing, then clips, and she realized he was taking off the hard plastic walking casing around his plaster cast. With that, he stood, managed to get his jeans off and then lay down on the bed.

  “Get under the covers,” she said. “You have to have a good night’s sleep too, or you’ll never heal.” She could feel his h
esitation.

  Then he stood back up, pulled the blankets down and slid under the sheet.

  She smiled. “Good. Sleep.” She heard his muttered goodnight back to her, and then she let her eyes drift closed.

  When she woke the next morning, bright sunshine streamed into the room. She could hear birds chirping and even dogs barking outside. She lay here for a long moment, remembering exactly where she was, only to envision the scene at Tabitha’s place.

  Dry-eyed after shedding so many tears last night, she could still feel the burn as they wanted to tear up with all the injustices in the world. She’d had such a wonderful evening on the beach and for it to end with Tabitha’s murder was too much. She thought about how the families of the two cops must be having the worst day of their lives. How damn unfair. George had a lot to answer for.

  She sighed and shifted in the bed. And then remembered Warrick was supposed to be here with her. She rolled over onto her back and frowned. “Of course you’re not here.” After another moment she sat up and made her way to the bathroom. After using the facilities, she did a quick wash, longing for a shower, but, even more than that, a change of clothes. She did the best she could to braid her hair so it was a little neater. She opened the bedroom door and smelled coffee. She dressed quickly in the same clothes she’d worn last night and grabbed her sweater, putting it on too. She remade the bed the best she could, mentally noting she needed to thank the man whose apartment it was.

  She walked into the kitchen to find Warrick sitting down, a cup of coffee beside him, his fingers busy texting on his phone.

  He looked up and smiled at her. “How are you doing?”

  She shrugged, then plunked her butt down on a kitchen chair. “I’m doing as well as I can. I slept decently.”

  He nodded. “Ditto.”

  She stared at him for a moment. “Any news?” she asked hopefully.

  He shook his head. “If you’re asking if they found George, the answer is no.”

  She sighed. “Of course not.” She glanced around the apartment. “As much as I appreciate your friend lending us this space to get some rest, I’m not sure what our next step is,” she admitted.