“Monroe?” Alvera said to the man. “Detective Monroe is injured?”
“Yes, he’s my neighbor, he was just shot in the knee not five minutes ago by a man wearing a mask; I explained all this to the 911 operator.”
Alvera turned toward Jake with accusing eyes.
“Was this your brother or your grandfather’s handiwork?”
“Neither of them; my brother is still miles from here and my grandfather is keeping an eye on Dawkins.”
A patrol car arrived moments later, followed by an ambulance, Jake and Alvera headed back towards Manhattan with lights and siren going.
“I hope that information is solid, Caliber, but I don’t like the way it was acquired.”
“I thought we were Jake and Lena now.”
Alvera sent him a smile.
“I’m already seeing someone.”
“So am I, and I swear to you that I don’t know who was behind that mask.”
“But you could guess, right?”
Jake said nothing to that and took out his phone to call his grandfather.
CHAPTER 16
The old man put away his phone after speaking with Jake, and later, when Dawkins made the left turn on 2nd Avenue and onto 45th Street, the old man knew the info was solid.
After making the turn, Dawkins pulled up to an underground parking structure with a sign above it that said it was closed for repairs. Dawkins blew his horn loudly several times and the wide metal door rose up on its tracks as chains and gears rattled loudly, then a man came out and he and Dawkins spoke.
The old man parked his car in front of a fire hydrant and made a call.
***
O’Reilly double-parked Jake’s car and she and Hector met the old man near a cigar store. Hector had an awed look on his face as he shook the old man’s hand.
“You saved the President, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t vote for him.”
“What do you need us to do?” O’Reilly said.
“Dawkins just drove down into that underground garage there and we think that Gail’s inside. I need you and Hector to take out the man standing guard at the gate and then keep watch in case any more of his men show up.”
O’Reilly took Hector by the hand.
“This won’t take but a minute.”
***
Gannon watched the street with nervous eyes.
He normally didn’t second guess Dawkins but his decision to kill the Caliber woman had turned into a first-class screw-up.
So the woman saw their faces for a second as she jogged along through the woods, so what? Now, Javier was dead, Ariana was wounded, and the Calibers and the cops were sniffing around. While all this was going on, he would soon have to drive Tate’s body somewhere and bury it. What a day.
The sound of the woman’s shrill voice startled him and he smiled as he watched her and the big man walking towards him. The man towered over the woman who was cute as could be, but man oh man what a mouth she had. Gannon doubted that the big man ever got a word in edgewise, and as they drew closer, the giant looked at him pleadingly.
Gannon was just about to send him a sympathetic smile when the woman spun around and kicked him in the groin.
The sudden attack bent Gannon forward and he felt the man’s giant hand slip under his shirt and find the gun clipped to his belt.
***
When the old man approached them, Hector had an arm wrapped around Gannon’s shoulders as if they were the best of friends, but if one were to look carefully, they could tell that the big man was all but squeezing the life out of Gannon.
O’Reilly held up a key ring.
“This one fits the lock on the gate controls, but as soon as that gate goes up, Dawkins will hear it for sure.”
The old man stared at Gannon.
“Where’s my daughter?”
Gannon tried to speak but couldn’t, and Jake noticed that he was turning blue.
“I don’t think he can breathe, Hector; you need to loosen up a bit.”
Hector relaxed his arm a little and Gannon took several deep breaths before finally speaking.
“Dawkins is keeping Gail Caliber alive for insurance... against you, but he’s going to kill Tate for helping her and turning on him.”
“Is there another way in there besides this gate?”
“Yeah, the side door in the alley, use the blue key.”
“Who’s down there?”
“Just Dawkins, but Tate and the woman are chained to a pipe, and hey, Caliber, I’m just a flunky. I’ve had nothing to do with taking your daughter-in-law or killing that Rayne Carver girl.”
“Rayne survived, and you’re the D.A.’s problem now. O’Reilly, you and Hector stay here and wait for Jakey. I’ll go handle this Dawkins punk.”
O’Reilly bit at her bottom lip as concern showed on her face.
“Let me help, sir.”
The old man stared back at her.
“Dawkins threatened my daughter’s life, he’s mine and mine alone.”
O’Reilly handed him the keys.
“I hear you, and be careful.”
***
Gail stared defiantly at Dawkins as he explained to her how much trouble she had caused him.
They were underground and far back from the entrance where a wall had collapsed and needed to be repaired. Both Gail and Tate were handcuffed to a thick chain that was wrapped around a drainage pipe and secured with a padlock.
“You tried to have me killed, and for what, because I witnessed a payoff? I didn’t even know what I had seen,” Gail said.
“I had no way of knowing that, and if I had known who you were I would have been doubly suspicious of you.”
“Well now that you know who I am you should turn yourself in and beg for mercy, otherwise you’ll have to deal with Jake Caliber.”
“That old man doesn’t worry me, but your son Jake made a threat, said he would kill me if he found out I was behind what happened to you.”
“My son doesn’t make idle threats, and neither does his grandfather. They’ll find me soon. I know they will.”
Tate spoke up, but weakly, as the still untreated wound to his arm had sapped the strength from him.
“Let Gail go and do what you want with me, Dawkins.”
“Hey, Tate.”
Tate stared at him. “What?”
“This is for Javier.”
Dawkins fired into Tate’s midsection from only a few feet away. Tate cried out in pain and slumped to his knees, only to then fall back against the pile of debris from the collapsed wall. He gasped out in agony as blood began leaking from his stomach.
Gail let out a scream of incoherent rage and lashed out at Dawkins as she strained at her restraints. The fingernails of her left hand raked across the craggy face leaving deep and bloody gouge marks.
Dawkins hissed from the pain and retreated backwards, then, he holstered his gun and gingerly explored his wounds with his fingers. When both hands came away wet and sticky with blood, he cursed at Gail vehemently and charged at her. She tried to fight him off, but within seconds, he had his hands around her throat and was strangling her.
***
At the sound of the shot, the old man quickened his pace along the dark, curving lane of the parking garage.
He heard Gail scream in rage just before she came into view, and then he watched, horrified, as Dawkins attacked her.
“Dawkins!”
The man didn’t respond, as his rage towards Gail consumed him.
The old man fired a shot that hit Dawkins in the leg and he released Gail and staggered back.
When he went for his gun, Jake shouted a warning.
“Don’t do it!”
No sooner had Dawkins’ gun cleared the holster then the old man shot Dawkins twice in the chest; Dawkins fell to the ground, gun clattering away, and lay on his back gasping for air with both lungs collapsed.
The old man took Gail in his arms and hugged her.
> “Are you all right, Daughter?”
Gail swallowed once as her hand touched her tender neck, which was reddened from irritation and the blood transfer from Dawkins’ hands.
“I knew that you would find me,” she said in a croaking voice.
Footsteps approached and the old man raised his gun, but lowered it when he saw Jake arrive with Detective Alvera.
Jake freed his mother with the help of Gannon’s keys, and swept her up in his arms as he kissed her on the cheek.
Alvera checked on Tate’s condition.
“He’s losing a lot of blood, but there’s an ambulance on the way.”
Jake released his mother and walked over to stare down at Dawkins, who was gasping pitifully.
“It looks like my grandfather kept my promise for me; you’re drowning in your own blood.”
Dawkins’ hand went up beseechingly, but then fell to the concrete floor. A final gasp and he was dead.
Gail got down amid the rubble and cradled Tate’s head in her lap.
“You hold on Jim and you’ll make it, and don’t worry about your daughter; I’ll see to it that she gets that operation.”
Tate nodded at her; he was too weak and wracked by pain to respond by speaking.
The sound of the gate going up greeted everyone’s ears and an ambulance sped down the ramp, with O’Reilly and Hector following behind on foot.
“I sent Gannon off in a patrol car,” O’Reilly said, and then she smiled at Jake. “I see you got your ma back.”
“With your help, thank you.”
Alvera read a text from her phone.
“Ariana Bahena is at Metropolitan Hospital with a gunshot wound. She told them that someone attempted to mug her. Officer O’Reilly, would you like to ride along while I go talk to her?”
“Hell yeah.”
O’Reilly motioned for Hector to lean over, and when he complied, she planted a long kiss on his lips.
“We still on for tomorrow night?”
Hector grinned.
“Absolutely.”
“Pick me up at eight, big boy.”
When Tate was loaded onto the ambulance, Gail rode along.
As he and the old man watched the flashing lights fade into the distance, Jake cocked his head.
“I think Mother likes that Tate too much, after all, he is a dirty cop.”
“He saved her life, Jakey; that counts for a hell of a lot in my book.”
“Yeah, Granddad, there is that.”
Lieutenant Tom Delaney arrived on the scene just as the detectives were finishing taking statements, and Jake whisked him down the alleyway to talk in private.
“How come you didn’t get back to me before, Tommy? You know I needed Monroe’s address.”
Delaney sent him an apologetic look.
“The station has been a madhouse all day, I’m sorry that I couldn’t have been more help.”
Jake looked around to make sure that no one else was nearby. He leaned in toward Delaney and whispered.
“I hear that was some job you did on Monroe’s knee, masked man.”
Delaney jerked his head up.
“How did you know it was me?”
“Because I know you, brother, and badge or no badge, you do what’s right.”
“I figured he wouldn’t talk without being forced to, and I didn’t want to see you get into trouble.”
“I owe you, Tommy.”
Delaney shook his head.
“Your mom was like a second mother to me as we were growing up, so you don’t owe me a thing.”
The two men began walking back towards the street.
“What were you going to do if Monroe still wouldn’t talk after you blasted him?”
“Whatever it took,” Delaney said.
“Amen to that.”
EPILOGUE
WEEKS LATER
Gail Caliber entered a drab visitors’ room at the Rikers Island correction center, and after a lengthy wait, Jim Tate was escorted in by a guard and joined her at the table.
“One hour,” the guard said, before walking just out of earshot.
Tate smiled at her.
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I thought about writing, but then I thought I owed you more than a letter.”
“You don’t owe me, Gail.”
“You look well.”
“There’s still some pain, but I’m recovering from the shooting.”
“That Dawkins was an animal.”
Tate stared at her, and smiled.
“My lawyer says that I have you to thank for my light sentence.”
Gail winced as she looked around.
“I would think that serving 90 days in a place like this would feel like an eternity.”
“After all I’ve done, only being charged with leaving the scene of a crime is a blessing.”
“Still, you’ve lost your job and now you’ll have a record.”
Tate’s face became solemn, but a moment later, he brightened.
“Um, my daughter’s operation went well.”
“That’s great to hear, Jim, but have you spoken to her?”
“I did, and I was even allowed to see her in the hospital before I began serving my sentence, but my daughter, Becca, her IQ is such that she really wouldn’t understand what went on. I mean she’s able to function in society, and even has a job and her own place in a group home, but she doesn’t know that I’m serving time. I’ll never tell her. I wouldn’t want her to think less of me.”
“You love her a great deal, don’t you?”
“I love her more than anything, and I’m proud of her, of what she’s overcome in her life.”
“I can see the pride in your eyes when you speak of her,” Gail said, and it was followed by an awkward silence.
Tate cleared his throat.
“I intend to pay you back someday for your generosity, but I really have no way of knowing when that will be.”
Gail started to reach across the table to take Tate’s hand, but then remembered that the rules of the visiting room prohibited it.
“We’re even Jim, if anything I owe you for saving me from Javier Bahena.”
“That woman that died, Rayne, was she a good friend of yours?”
Gail looked startled before realizing what Tate meant.
“Oh, Rayne didn’t die, that old anchor of yours actually saved her life by catching in a rock crevice as she fell.”
Tate grinned.
“That’s fantastic!”
“My youngest son, Christopher, he saved her by climbing down the side of the cliff without any ropes. Thank God I wasn’t there to see it; I would have died from worry just watching it.”
“So, both your sons are in the family business?”
Gail sighed.
“Yes, unfortunately, although I must admit that they could do worse than emulate their grandfather.”
“I saw the way you two greeted each other. You love that old man a great deal, don’t you?”
“Yes, although we have had our battles over the years.”
Tate leaned back in his seat.
“Tell me more about your family.”
“Oh, you don’t want to hear about all that.”
“I want to know more about you Gail. I want to get to know you.”
Gail blushed slightly.
“I’d like to get to know you better too, Jim.”
And despite realizing that it would elicit a warning from the guard, they reached across the table and took each other’s hand.
***
Gail returned to the office late that afternoon for a meeting that was being held in the old man’s office.
Before going upstairs, she stopped into her own office on the second floor, where a friend was waiting for her.
“Maggie, oh God, it’s so good to see you in person, and tell me, how was your flight?”
Maggie Keegan smiled at Gail with a toothy grin and the two women hugged. Maggie was a
tall woman, sixty years old, and a brunette whose hair was streak with silver strands. Her mature figure was still shapely and she looked younger than her years.
After engaging in small talk for a few minutes, Maggie closed the office door and lowered her voice.
“When I agreed to take the position here as your chief insurance investigator I thought the position was empty, but from what I understand Rayne Carver still holds it.”
Gail grinned at her.
“That will all be explained at the meeting, and work isn’t the only reason that I asked you to move to New York.”
“And what’s the other reason?” Maggie asked.
Gail grinned.
“I missed having you around; I missed my best friend.”
“I missed you too, Gail, and L.A. wasn’t the same without you.”
Gail glanced up at the wall clock.
“It’s time for the meeting.”
After Kelli greeted them, all three women filed into the main office of The Caliber Detective Agency and Gail introduced Maggie to Velma, Rayne—whose left arm was in a sling—and also Jake and his grandfather.
The old man looked Maggie over with an appreciative gaze as he shook her hand, and Maggie smiled back at him.
“It’s an honor to meet you in person, Mr. Caliber.”
“Can the honor stuff, Maggie, and call me Jake.”
“All right then, Jake,” Maggie said.
The meeting began, and when Gail announced that Maggie would be the new head insurance investigator, Rayne got a worried look on her face.
“Mrs. Caliber?”
“Yes Rayne?”
“Ma’am, I know that I’ve been sidelined because of my shoulder injury, but I assure you that I’ll be back to a hundred percent in no time, and able to resume my duties.”
Gail looked over at the old man.
“Do you want to tell her, or should I?”
“I’ll take it,” the old man said, and rose from behind his desk to offer Rayne his hand.
“Sir?” Rayne said as she shook it.
“Welcome to the Agency, doll; the job is yours if you want it.”
Rayne’s face lit up.
“You mean, work up here with you and Chris? On Red Cases?”
“On Red Cases, like a real P.I. should.”
Rayne let out a laugh and hugged him with her one good arm, as over on the sofa, Velma sighed inaudibly.
Caliber Detective Agency Box Set 2 Page 7
