From behind a wall divider, a gruff voice called out.
“Who’s there?”
“This is Detective Alvera; I’m looking for Mr. Bill Dawkins.”
Dawkins emerged smiling from behind the screen, his long dark hair looking incongruous as it hung about his craggy face.
“Detective, what’s this about?”
“I’m sorry to inform you that your employee, Mr. Javier Bahena, was killed this morning.”
Dawkins nodded sadly.
“Yes, so I heard, his sister and I are dating.”
“Do you have any information regarding the death of Mr. Bahena, or of the disappearance of Gail Caliber?”
Dawkins sent her a blank look.
“Who’s Gail Caliber?”
Jake stepped close to Dawkins, so close that Dawkins leaned back slightly in response.
“She’s my mother, Dawkins.”
Dawkins swallowed as Jake’s stare intensified.
“I don’t know anything about what’s happened to her.”
Jake sneered.
“You’re not fooling us. This so-called business of yours is little more than a front; you got the smell of crook all over you.”
Dawkins regained his composure. After clearing his throat, he began counting off on his fingers.
“I’m a legitimate businessman, I own parking garages, laundromats, food trucks, and I pay taxes on all of it.”
“Those are all cash businesses too; and I’d guess that’s how you launder your real income, which probably comes from drugs or heists, am I right?”
Dawkins’ eyes portrayed his shock at Jake’s insight, a shock that was replaced by anger.
“That’s it! If you want me to answer any more questions, Detective, then contact my lawyer, but right now I want both of you to leave.”
Alvera sighed and headed for the door, “Come on, Jake,” but Jake leaned in until his face was an inch from Dawkins’ sweaty visage.
“If I find out you had anything to do with my mother’s disappearance I will kill you.”
Dawkins staggered back and pointed at the door.
“Get out!”
As they rode down in the elevator together, Alvera looked at Jake sideways.
“Threatening to kill a man, that was your idea of being good?”
Jake turned his head and stared at her.
“That wasn’t a threat; it was a promise.”
***
In his office, Dawkins slid back into his chair behind a wooden desk and made a phone call to his man, Gannon.
“I think these Calibers could be trouble, maybe we’ll keep the woman alive for insurance against them, at least until after the heist on Saturday, but once we make the score, we’ll kill her and head out of the city.”
“Does Ariana know that you want to keep the woman alive?”
“No, and I can’t reach her, her phone goes to voicemail, but I already sent back-up and they should get there about the same time that she does.”
“Who did you send?”
Dawkins grinned.
“Someone Tate won’t even see coming.”
***
Rayne drove along a twisty, single lane road as she tried to keep Ariana’s car in sight without being spotted.
As she emerged from a final curve, she could see ahead for over a mile and knew that Ariana must have turned off onto a side road, the first of which was only a few hundred yards ahead.
Rayne made the turn onto the gravel road and crept along while scanning ahead.
Just as she was considering turning around, she spotted Ariana’s Mercedes parked at a fork in the road that led off to two narrow dirt tracks barely big enough for a vehicle. Rayne studied the scene and took note that the front wheels of Ariana’s car were turned slightly to the right.
After verifying that the car was empty, Rayne sent off a text to Chris, informing him of her location, and then she headed down the right hand lane. When she spotted the fresh shoeprints mixed in among an accompanying set of tire prints, she knew that she had chosen the right path, and quickened her pace.
***
Jim Tate escorted Gail from the cabin with a worried, but determined, look on his face.
They had talked over his options and Tate had come to see that seeking Jake Caliber’s help was his best move, even though he knew that it likely meant the end of his career as a cop, and possibly worse.
Tate studied Gail’s face.
“Did you really mean what you said, that you’ll pay for my daughter’s medical care?”
“I mean it, and I also promise to help you too. You’re not a criminal, Jim; you just made a bad choice while under great stress.”
“I’ll pay you back someday. I don’t know how or when, but I’ll pay you back.”
“That’s not important right now, but the sooner I return to my family the better it will be for both of us.”
Tate looked down and saw that Gail was still lugging around the anchor.
“I think it’s past time that I freed you from that thing, hmm?”
He reached into his pocket to take out his keys and that’s when the bullet passed through his right arm.
Gail let out a scream and ducked down behind Tate’s Yukon.
Tate barely managed to free the gun on his hip with his damaged right arm and switched it over to his left to fire.
When he spotted Ariana taking cover behind a tree, he knew that Dawkins had tracked them down.
Gail blanched at Tate’s wound.
“Who’s shooting at us?”
“Her name is Ariana; she’s one of Dawkins’ people.”
“We need to get in the car and get out of here.”
Tate had dropped the keys when he was shot and they were kicked beneath the car as they took cover. As he got down on his left side and reached for them, Ariana opened up with a barrage of gunfire that flattened the tires on the driver’s side and shattered several windows.
Gail cried out as a million bits of glass cascaded over her and Tate.
“Good Lord!”
Tate abandoned the keys and returned fire, but Ariana ducked behind a tree.
Gail headed for the cabin but Tate shouted a warning.
“No! She wants us dead and she might be crazy enough to burn the cabin down around us, and besides, the door is locked. Our best bet is to head for the trees and lose her in the woods, I know the forest and she doesn’t.”
Gail held up the anchor.
“I can’t run with this.”
Tate switched the gun to his right hand and gripped the fifteen-pound anchor in his left as if it weighed nothing.
“I’ll carry it.”
“Can you shoot with your injured arm?”
“No, I can barely hold the gun, but we’ll be running not fighting, and besides, I’m nearly out of ammo.”
Ariana fired again, but then cursed, and when Tate peeked over at her, he saw that the slide on her gun was in the locked back position, indicating that the weapon was empty.
“Now Gail! Run!”
As Ariana fumbled at putting in a fresh clip, Tate and Gail headed into the trees. So thick was the patch of forest that they were lost from sight in seconds.
With her gun reloaded, Ariana went in pursuit.
CHAPTER 12
At the sound of the first shot, Rayne quickened her pace and headed towards the gun battle. She arrived at the cabin to find spent shells, a car impaired by bullet holes and a disturbing amount of blood.
It wasn’t until she heard Ariana thrashing about through the foliage that she realized the battle had turned into a chase through the woods. As she ran into the forest, her thumb worked feverishly at her phone as she quickly sent off a seven-word text to Chris.
In the woods near the cabin, hurry!
***
Chris read the text and slammed the palm of his hand against the steering wheel in frustration.
He and Velma were miles behind Rayne and he didn’t dare drive faster than
he already was, because getting a speeding ticket would only slow them down more.
Velma made a face as she read the text.
“She’s not much on detail, is she?”
“Actually she is, up until that post her texts weren’t so succinct, which makes me think there’s real trouble.”
Chris mashed down the pedal and the car accelerated.
“Screw it! If we run into a cop he can just follow us to the scene, and the knot in my gut is telling me that we might need him.”
***
Ariana smiled, as once again, she spotted drops of blood among the leaves.
Tate might know the woods surrounding his cabin better than she did, but his wounded arm was leaving behind a trail that made it impossible for him to hide.
The cop was climbing higher, probably hoping to crest the hills and reach one of the small towns on the other side.
Ariana increased her pace, certain that she would catch her prey before it escaped, and to hell with what Dawkins wanted, she would kill Tate herself.
***
Gail forced Tate to take shelter behind a wide tree as she attempted to use one of the sleeves of her jogging outfit to staunch the bleeding in his arm.
“We don’t have time for this,” Tate said.
“You can’t just keep bleeding the way you are, and besides, it’s leaving a trail.”
“I hadn’t realized that, but it’s something we can use to our advantage. I’ll leave blood in strategic places and lure her towards the cliff up ahead on the right, and then we’ll double back and come up behind her.”
“It sounds good, but we’d better hurry, I don’t think she’s too far behind us.”
Tate hefted the anchor aloft with his good arm and they began running again, and as they ran, he transferred blood onto foliage leading up to the cliff.
It was a good plan, but it had been implemented too late, and when they turned from the edge of the cliff to double back, Ariana walked towards them with her gun aimed right at them.
***
Rayne also followed the blood trail, but when Ariana’s voice rose up from ahead, along with the deep voice of a man, she abandoned it in favor of following their conversation.
When she grew closer, she knew she had to slow her pace or be detected approaching. As she crept nearer, she heard noises coming from behind her, back in the direction of the cabin. It sounded like a car door slamming and she smiled at the sound.
It sounds like Chris made it here, good; I can use the back-up.
With her gun leading the way, Rayne moved towards the voices and prepared for a showdown.
***
Back in Manhattan, the old man rubbed his chin in thought as he spoke to Jake on the phone. He was with Kelli in the reception area and Jake had just filled him in about his conversation with Dawkins.
“You stay there and keep an eye on him, Jakey, and if he moves, follow him.”
“All right, but what about Chris and Velma, have they uncovered anything yet?”
“They’re running down a lead that Rayne Carver came up with, with any luck they’ll find your mother.”
“Rayne used to be involved with Bahena, but I think she’s clean of this. From everything I’ve learned, she cut ties with him years ago.”
“Yeah, I think she’s on our side for sure, and if her hunch is right, Chris may be coming home with your mother.”
“Put Kelli on, will you, I want to hear her voice.”
“She’s right here, hold on.”
The old man passed the phone to Kelli, and as she spoke to his grandson, he paced about, while thinking. When Kelli ended the call, the old man grabbed his trench coat and fedora and headed for the elevator.
“I’m going to keep watch with Jakey; I want to get a look at this Dawkins character.”
Kelli called to him to wait as she grabbed something from a drawer on her desk.
“Take your cell phone again, in case we need to get in touch.”
Jake looked at the device with distaste.
“I don’t need that thing. I’ll be with Jakey in less than twenty minutes.”
Kelli continued to hold it out to him.
“Please sir, it would make me feel better to know that I can reach you at any moment, and it did come in handy this morning when you used it to report Mrs. Caliber missing, didn’t it?”
Jake took it from her.
“Okay kid, you win, and I guess it’s time I got used to carrying it wherever I go. God knows you can’t find a damn phone booth anywhere anymore.”
Kelli, who has owned a cell phone since she was a child, tilted her head at him in inquiry.
“What’s a phone booth?”
Jake sighed with a sadness that only the very old know, and gave her a wistful smile.
***
Ariana grinned as Tate tossed his gun away as she demanded.
“Ariana, I’m begging you, let Mrs. Caliber go.”
“You murdered my brother you prick, and you expect me to show mercy to this bitch?”
Tate moved in front of Gail in an effort to protect her as Ariana took aim at them.
“Drop it!”
Ariana whirled around at the sound of Rayne’s voice and Rayne shot her in the side, the bullet grazing her. The gun tumbled from Ariana’s grip and she curled up into the fetal position, moaning as if in great pain.
Rayne gathered up Ariana’s gun and joined Gail and Tate.
Gail smiled at her and told her to lower her gun, which was pointed at Tate.
“Detective Tate’s a friend,” Gail said.
Rayne hugged her.
“Chris is on his way, how are you?”
“I’m good, and I knew that someone would find me.”
“We’ve all been looking ever since Mr. Caliber went by your home to check on you.” Rayne said, as she found the right key on her ring and unlocked the handcuff from Gail’s wrist.
A sound came from behind and Rayne turned, expecting to see Chris. What she saw instead was the flash of a gun as a bullet ripped into her flesh.
Rayne was struck in the left shoulder and the impact made her stumble backwards. She teetered for the briefest of moments and then fell backwards off the cliff and towards the rocky landscape over a hundred feet below. Her scream echoed in the air until its abrupt and violent ending.
Gail turned from the cliff; her face streaked with blood from Rayne’s wound.
As rage replaced the look of horror on her face, she charged at the man holding the gun, but was held back by Tate.
“Don’t Gail, or he’ll kill you too.”
“Who the hell are you, you bastard! Are you Dawkins?”
“He’s not Dawkins,” Tate said. “He’s someone I thought I could trust, my partner, Detective Robert Monroe.”
Monroe sighed.
“You screwed up, Jimmy, and now you and the lady are going to die.”
CHAPTER 13
Ariana sat up while clutching her side with a hand that was wet with blood.
When her eyes focused on Detective Monroe, she nodded at him and gazed around.
“Where’s that puta that shot me?”
“Dead, I wounded her and sent her falling over the cliff.”
Ariana made it to her feet, while wincing from the pain.
“The bullet that hit me bounced off a rib, it’s broken.”
“We’ll get you to a doctor, but Dawkins wants these two back in the city.”
“Yes, but only so he can kill them. Why not let me do it?”
“The Calibers are sniffing around, so Dawkins thinks he might need the woman as a bargaining chip, as for Jimmy here, I think he’s really looking forward to killing him himself.”
Gail took a step back towards the edge of the cliff and Monroe shouted for her to stop.
Gail turned to him, her eyes wet with tears.
“Maybe the fall didn’t kill her; Rayne could still be alive down there.”
Tate caressed her cheek.
&nb
sp; “I’m sorry Gail, she’s gone, it’s a long drop and there’s nothing down there but rocks.”
Gail’s sobbing increased and Tate took her in his arms.
“We’ve got no time for this,” Monroe said, he was a tall man in his forties, with thinning brown hair and a mustache. “Dawkins wants them back in the city as soon as possible, and the gunshots might have been heard by someone.”
Tate released Gail and charged at him, but Monroe was quicker and hit him on his wounded arm with the butt of his gun. Tate howled in pain and fell to his knees.
Ariana removed a knife from her pocket and took Gail by the arm.
“Bring your partner along, Monroe, and if he tries anything again I’ll slice this woman’s face open.”
Monroe leaned over and spoke to Tate.
“You heard her, Jimmy, now on your feet.”
“I thought you were my friend, Bob.”
“I was; it’s why I pointed Dawkins your way, to help you get money for your daughter. It’s not my fault that you’re too stupid to make it work out.”
“I couldn’t just let him kill her. I couldn’t.”
Monroe shrugged.
“And so now you both die and there’s no one left to take care of your daughter. You should have just let things be, Jimmy. Now get up.”
The foursome made their way back through the woods and Monroe cuffed Gail and Tate together, while wrapping the chain of the handcuffs around a bracket at the base of the fold-down rear seats.
Ariana’s broken rib was obviously causing her pain, and she hissed through her teeth as she climbed into Monroe’s car.
“Are you going to be okay to drive?” Monroe asked.
“Yeah, and besides, I can’t just leave my ride parked out here.”
When they reached Ariana’s car, she got out and leaned in the window.
“I’m going back to the city and find a hospital. I’ll tell them that someone tried to mug me, they should believe it.”
“All right, and tell Dawkins I want extra for cleaning up this mess and killing that girl.”
“What happens when the cops dig your bullet out of her?”
“Nothing, the gun is a throwaway. I’ll toss it down a sewer somewhere.”
Caliber Detective Agency Box Set 2 Page 5
