Twisted: Nick Stryker Series, Book Two The Shallow End Gals

by Vicki Graybosch

  He got dressed and told his guard to be sure the car was ready at two. He wanted it cleaned and waxed, and he wanted an extra car to follow him to the meeting. He needed to look worthy of his new appointment.

  * * *

  Chad drove while Kamber tried to learn how to use the toolbox feature at the top of the GPS app. The last instruction Kamber had given him was to go southeast about one inch. Chad was ready to stop the car and scream. Finally after much trial and error she figured out how to feed in a road map so they had street names and mileage marks.

  “You don’t have to get so emotional.” Kamber smiled as she scolded Chad.

  Chad glanced at the map on Kamber’s phone. “Wait! That’s a rough area. Maybe we should call the cops now, so they can get there first.” Chad imagined any number of terrifying things that could happen to them in that neighborhood. Nick had specifically told him to never go near there. He could tell by Kamber’s expression he wasn’t going to change her mind.

  Kamber thought about it a minute and said, “Maybe when we get closer it can give us an actual address. Then we can call the cops, okay?”

  They rode in silence occasionally pointing to unpleasant surroundings. Chad swore he heard a gunshot. Kamber said it was a car backfiring. Chad kept driving. His head swiveled as he tried to take in everything around them. Finally he asked, “How close are we?”

  Kamber pushed her phone over to his face. “Real close.” The map suddenly changed to a zoom view with a pulsating dot. Under the dot it said 225 feet.

  Kamber pointed, “Pull over to the curb across the street and we can walk. It says 225 feet; I bet it’s that little blue house there.”

  Chad looked at the house she was pointing at. It was little more than a chicken coop with house numbers. “You said we’d call the cops. We don’t even know if this chip is Lacey. It could be somebody Nick has been watching. A bad guy. Maybe the chip is showing on our app by mistake.”

  Kamber started to tear up. “Then where is Lacey? This has to be her chip. Remember the footprint on my blanket? It’s my fault she’s gone! I’m the one that left the window open. We might not have time for the cops to get here.”

  Chad parked and Kamber reached for the door handle. Chad whispered, “Wait. We can’t just knock on the door.”

  “I wasn’t planning on knocking. Whoever took Lacey is probably in there. What if he’s hurting her? We have to get closer, Chad.”

  * * *

  Billow jerked awake. His doctor had told him that his snoring or dreams kept waking him. They had tried to get him to use some crazy machine for breathing at night, but he refused. Tonight he figured he was just too excited to sleep.

  He was still in bed when his phone rang. “Yeah.”

  “I thought I’d let you know the cops are all over Brookfield. I’m on my way to O’Hare. You’ve got less than an hour; I have your ticket. I suggest you get here before they find your alias.” The line went dead.

  There was no way Billow was going to leave town before he took care of Nick. Everything was ready, he had Lacey, and all he had to do was contact Nick to get the game started. He quickly threw a few items in his suitcase and walked it out to his van. When he came back in he stopped in front of the closet door. He wondered if he should check on Lacey.

  Lacey had heard him moving around. She had heard him leave and then return. She knew he was standing just outside of the door. She sat silent, praying that he would walk away.

  Billow decided she was probably fine and still drugged out. He needed to make contact with Nick. He would either be at home or on a case at this time of night. He might even be at Brookfield. Billow grabbed his van keys and decided to drive to Nick’s condo.

  Kamber and Chad had slid down in their seats when Billow had brought the suitcase out to the van. Now they watched as he pulled away and drove down the street. His red taillights disappeared at the corner.

  Chad looked at Kamber, “It’s now or never.”

  They quickly ran over to the small house and peeked in the windows. They couldn’t see anything through the filthy glass. Kamber twisted the knob on the front door. “It’s locked.”

  Chad sighed, “Well, yeah.” He pulled a charge card from his wallet and slid it past the lock. The door popped open.

  Kamber whispered, “You’re pretty good at that.”

  Chad shrugged, “I used to lock myself out a lot.”

  Once in the small dark living room, Kamber whispered, “Lacey? Lacey are you here?” The GPS screen indicated that they were standing right on her.

  Chad frowned and raised his voice. “Lacey, are you here?”

  “I’m here! In the closet!”

  Chad and Kamber ran to the chest of drawers and pushed it to the side. Chad picked the lock and Lacey stumbled into Kamber’s arms. All three of them were crying.

  Lacey grabbed Kamber’s shoulders. “Are you okay? I was so afraid he had taken you both, too.”

  Kamber wiped her tears. “We’re fine! Let’s get out of here before he comes back.”

  Lacey stopped, “Wait. Let’s push that chest back so he thinks I’m still here.”

  Chad pushed the large chest of drawers back in front of the closet door and looked at Lacey closer. “We’re taking you to a hospital.”

  * * *

  Frankie hesitated before he tossed his pistol into the Chicago River. It was like killing an old friend. He was forced to do that too, in his lifetime. A massacre at Dominick’s estate and the killing of Joey Lacastra was going to bring a lot of heat to anyone associated with the Westside crew. That included him. In the morning he would go to the storage unit and get the pistol that was there. There was no history on that gun and he had properly registered it.

  The black water of the river swallowed the pistol without making a sound. Frankie walked over to a bench and rested his knees. The bright colored lights of the city danced on the water’s surface and brought a flood of memories to Frankie’s mind. It seemed he remembered the old days better than this morning. He heard a noise behind him and twisted to see.

  A young woman bundled in a winter coat and scarf walked behind him and sat at the far end of the bench. Frankie’s breathing returned to normal and he wiped his nose with his hankie. He glanced down at the woman who seemed to be lost in thought.

  She must have sensed him looking and said, “Life is certainly a puzzle, isn’t it?”

  Normally Frankie would have just grunted and left. There was something mysterious about this pretty lady sitting on a park bench in the middle of the night. It reminded him of an old movie.

  Frankie answered, “I worked on a puzzle for two months before I figured out two pieces were missing.”

  The lady chuckled. “You’re wiser than you know. I’m sure I’m missing pieces right now.”

  Comforting strangers and spewing words of wisdom were not phrases anyone would use to describe Frankie. He chuckled to himself that some stranger had called him wise.

  The woman asked him, “Do you think things happen for a reason?”

  Frankie looked at the bright lights on the water and envisioned his pistol on the river bed.

  “Reason has nothing to do with it.”

  Frankie became curious.

  “What are you doing out alone at this time of night? There are killers all over this city.”

  The woman sat up straighter. “Oh, I know that! My husband was shot dead two days ago. Right in our home, on his birthday! My kids are with their grandparents and I’m trying to understand why I’m not grieving. Maybe something’s wrong with me.”

  Frankie said, “Maybe something was wrong with him.”

  Frankie stood to leave. “You really should go home.”

  The woman stood to leave also. “You’re right. Thank you for listening to me.” She walked over and gave Frankie a hug.

  Frankie remembered the last time he was hugged. He was six years old.

  “My name is Karen.”

  “Frankie.”

  F
rankie watched her get in her car and drive off. He never gave his name to strangers, why had he done it now? He never listened to people blab about their problems. Old age was changing him, he didn’t like it.

  He liked the hug.

  * * *

  Agent Phillips grabbed a cup of coffee from the refreshment table the facility had set up for the officers. He walked to where Nick, Jen, Wayne and Sam were digging through a table full of files with Tyler, Renee and Ryan. Phillips noticed a short stack near Nick.

  Nick nodded as Phillips joined them and handed his files over. “We’re still trying to identify ‘one’ of the Dr. Elmhurst’s.”

  Phillips smiled, “How many Dr. Elmhurst’s are there?”

  Nick answered, “The real one is dead in the crematorium, there’s one that is really a psychopathic killer that we helped escape, and one we haven’t identified that paid Cummings the cash.”

  Phillips opened the top file of the pile Nick had given him. Jake Billow.

  Nick said, “He’s been using the alias of Dr. John Bates for the last month. The real Dr. Bates is probably in the crematorium. I haven’t had time to get over there yet.” Nick lowered his voice to a whisper, “You done at the estate?”

  Phillips nodded. “Dom’s not there.” Phillips signaled for another agent to come over and then said, “We got a tip. You can cross Joey Lacastra off your list. He was hit by Frankie Mullen tonight.”

  Nick shrugged, “Who’s Frankie Mullen?”

  Phillips answered, “An old retired hit man of Dom’s.”

  Jen and Nick exchanged glances.

  Renee and Ryan yelled from the end of the table. “Here he is! This is him, Dr. Elmhurst.”

  Nick grabbed the file and read the bio. “This is the same bio for the real Dr. Elmhurst, but the picture is different. This doesn’t help at all.”

  Phillips handed the file to his agent and said, “Run this picture through the system.” He looked at Nick. “We’ll figure out who he is. I see Billow is causing grief tonight, too.” Nick knew that Phillips was referring to the 10-24’s.

  Nick’s phone rang. He knew it was Control because they were on a level two case. The Control operator said, “I have a Miss Lacey Star that provided the emergency code. May I patch her through?”

  Nick glanced at Jen, “Yes.”

  Lacey didn’t want to alarm Nick, but she didn’t want him to hear she had been kidnapped without knowing she was okay. She knew when she heard his voice she would want to cry. She forced her voice to sound steady. “Nick, I’m fine. Perfectly fine. I don’t want you to freak out, but I’m at a hospital with Kamber and Chad.”

  Nick stood, “What happened to Kamber?”

  Lacey answered, “Nothing. I was kidnapped this evening but I’m fine now. I wouldn’t lie to you. Kamber and Chad found me because I had that extra chip in my pocket.”

  Nick asked “What hospital?”

  Nick’s heart was pounding. He looked at Phillips, “My girlfriend was kidnapped tonight. She escaped and is at the hospital.”

  Jen couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  Phillips stood, “Go. Take Jen, we’ve got this.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Milo’s driver pulled into the grand estate of the Outfit boss. Everyone, including Milo, was frisked and relieved of their weapons. Two Outfit guards accompanied each guest into a large conference room. Milo realized the meeting had been going on for some time. Obviously he was meant to be the last to arrive. He surmised the Outfit boss wanted to pave the way for his announcement of the merger of the Northside and Westside crews.

  The Outfit boss rose and clasped Milo’s hands in greeting. The others around the table nodded. Each crew boss was accompanied by their consigliere (attorney/advisor) and at least two guards. Milo noticed that Dom’s underboss was there. Milo guessed that everyone wanted to make sure he understood the merger decision. A seat had been left open at the far end of the table and one near the Outfit boss.

  The Outfit boss motioned for Milo to sit next to him. Milo tried to hide his excitement as he took the seat and waited for the meeting to resume.

  The Outfit boss stated, “We’ve been discussing the unprecedented growth in our businesses in the last few years due to the Fed’s concentration on terrorism. We’ll be honoring our newest associates at next month’s regular meeting. I am pleased to report that we have doubled the number of associates that work for us in the last six months.”

  A brief round of applause instantly stopped when the boss indicated he was ready to speak again. “It’s not like the old days, is it boys? Now we have energy companies, cyber teams, international arms partners, and of course, the old standbys of sex and gambling. The longer we remain low key, the longer the government will assume we’re dying off.”

  The boss turned to look at Milo. “I understand you have some ideas for increasing profits you wish to talk about?”

  Milo was confused. He hadn’t asked to address the meeting.

  The Outfit boss continued, “Two months ago you said that you had a profit increasing proposal for my review.”

  Milo remembered. When he first decided he wanted to take over the Westside crew he had formed an argument demonstrating the benefits of a merger. It must be that the boss wanted the proposal made to the entire outfit. Milo spoke for 15 minutes straight about the benefits of a merger between the Northside crew and the Westside crew. He speckled his proposal frequently with sincere regrets regarding the attack on Dom’s estate, but pointed out it demonstrated that Dom had lost control.

  When Milo finished the mob boss said, “I have a few questions regarding your vision of this merger. What would be Dom’s role?”

  Milo was confused. “I don’t understand.”

  Dominick entered the room from a side door and took a seat at the other end of the table. He nodded at Milo. While listening to Milo, Dom had decided there was enough evidence of Milo’s greed to accuse Milo of the attack at his estate. Dom had already insinuated Milo was responsible to the Outfit boss earlier.

  Dom spoke, “You looked surprised, Milo. Your man missed one; me. You need not worry about punishing him. I’ve taken care of that.”

  Milo leaned forward and banged the table with his fist. “I had nothing to do with the attack at your estate. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The Outfit boss said, “Dom called me earlier this week with serious concerns about you, Milo. He had verified a plan you had with Anthony Jarrett to set Dom up for a hit.”

  Milo was scared. He couldn’t figure out how Dom could have found out about the plan so soon. “That’s a lie.”

  The Outfit boss motioned his guard at the door. The guard left and returned with Anthony Jarrett being carried by two goons. He was barely alive, his face barely recognizable. Anthony looked around the room through the one eye that could see anything and landed on the Outfit boss.

  The boss asked him, “Anthony, were you promised a reward for delivering Dom for a hit?”

  Anthony looked like he was going to puke. Finally he tried to straighten his posture and answered, “Yes.”

  “Who promised you this reward?”

  Anthony pointed at Milo.

  “Thank you, Anthony.”

  The Outfit boss motioned for them to take Anthony away. Milo’s number two man walked through the door Dom had used and stood. The Outfit boss motioned for him to come take Milo’s seat.

  Milo looked at the faces around the table for what he knew was the last time. Like he always said, there’s only one way to leave the mob.

  * * *

  Jen would have preferred to be the one driving but she trusted Nick. She had already reminded him that Lacey had said she was fine. “If you don’t calm down, you’re going to scare Lacey. We’ll get him. He’s making all kinds of mistakes, he can’t shoot anymore, and he never was a good fighter.”

  Nick glanced over to Jen. “You think it was Billow, too.”

  Jen said, “It was Billow. Every cop in Chic
ago is looking for him already. Who knows what that screwed up head of his is thinking?”

  Jen said, “I’m going to call John. He left 12 messages with Control.”

  Nick listened to Jen comfort John about what she had been doing for the last 30 plus hours. He realized that neither of them had been home to sleep since early Tuesday morning and that was only for a few hours.

  Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s emergency room staff directed Nick and Jen to Lacey.

  Nick walked in the room, sat on Lacey’s bed and hugged her. Jen, Kamber and Chad turned to give them privacy. Nick finally let her loose and looked at her head bandage. He kissed her tenderly and then hugged her again.

  Lacey patted his back, “I’m fine. Really. They’re going to let me out of here shortly.”

  Nick kissed Lacey again and squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry. He’s after me.”

  Lacey winked, “Then he has a big problem.”

  Nick took a deep breath and stood. He hugged both Kamber and Chad. “I don’t know what to say. You risked your lives and saved Lacey. I’m so grateful you weren’t hurt.”

  Seeing Lacey, Kamber and Chad okay relieved Nick enough to focus on Billow again.

  Nick began pacing. “Tell me everything.”

  * * *

  Marcus Newberry marveled at the bright lights of the city and the congestion of the traffic. After spending ten years in various institutions even the styles of the cars amazed him. He wondered where all of those people were going in the middle of the night. He had only walked a couple of blocks from the police station when he decided to sit on a step and rest. He still didn’t have his strength back. It was cold. He wasn’t dressed properly and he was hungry. He suddenly realized he had no money either. He would need to form a plan if he were to survive.

  A man walked down the sidewalk toward him. Marcus stiffened. He was in no condition to fight someone and he knew it. Suddenly he was vulnerable again, a victim.

  The man stopped when he reached Marcus and said, “You don’t look like you belong on the street.”