Hard Case: Boxed Set Books 1,2 & 3 (John Harding Books)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “As a matter of fact, I do. We were simply setting up a pattern. I figured they’d move on her in a day or two. They surprised us, me in particular.” Clint pulled the dart from Montoya’s neck, holding it up for the two FBI agents to see. “The dart explains a lot about how they’ve managed to pull these rapes off. God only knows how Lynn managed to remain conscious.”

  Labrie held up a bag for Clint to drop the dart in. An ambulance arrived on scene. Two EMT’s rushed over to Montoya. Dostiene backed away, letting them check her vital signs before loading her on a stretcher. Dostiene took out his .45 automatic out, popped the clip, and cleared the chamber, placing all parts in the bag Reeves held out for him.

  “Can you two take over here? I promised Lynn I’d stay with her until she woke again.”

  Reeves nodded. “Go on. I’ll need a statement when you can put one together.”

  “You bet.” Dostiene started to follow the EMT’s, but Reeves grabbed his arm.

  “This looks real good, Clint. Is that Montoya’s knife still in the guy?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Okay… go on ahead. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Nine: Aftermath and an Airport Incursion

  Reeves waited until the ambulance with Montoya and Dostiene left the scene before trading knowing looks with his partner. “I sure hope you find the dart gun on that poor dimwit growing the handle of a knife out of his chest.”

  Labrie went over with gloved hands and carefully felt through clothing. She found the oversized dart gun inside the corpse’s jacket. “It’s here, but we better wait for our buddies with the LVPD to get here with their famous CSI unit.”

  Reeves grinned. “Yeah, that would be interesting. I have no doubt these are the two responsible, although as usual we were a couple steps behind Dostiene. He’ll have to clue us in on how he knew there were two. The cops will love this. The rapes and mutilations end. There won’t be any expensive trials, and the tourist business goes back to normal.”

  The approaching sirens caused Labrie to pat the clothing back into place and retreat over next to her partner. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

  Reeves stared at Labrie for a moment. “You mean that these two never had a prayer?”

  “Nope,” Labrie replied. “I’m thinking I’d like those Harvard serial killers to end up the same way.”

  “I have no problem with that. There are some people who just need killing. I’ll tell you something else I’m thinking - Dostiene has met his match.”

  Labrie glanced over at the body with a pool of blood under his groin, and the handle of a deadly Balisong knife sticking out of his chest. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Did you really suspect Clint shot her with the dart himself to set this all up?”

  “Let’s leave it at I’m glad you found the dart gun on the perp. With the amount of blood and brain matter all over the guy, I’m sure some of it got on the gun, and there won’t be any doubt Montoya was hit by the dart before the shooting.”

  “Well, like you said, the PD is going to love us, and the mayor will want to give us a key to the city.”

  “I can’t wait to read Clint’s report.”

  “That makes two of us, partner,” Labrie replied as they met with the arriving police officers.

  * * *

  When Lynn woke up, Dostiene patted her hand he held in both of his. “Hey, baby, how do you feel?”

  Montoya smiled at him, a tired upswing of her lips. “I’m fine… just a little out of it. It wasn’t a dream. We got the bastards, Clint. Didn’t we?”

  “Oh yeah. They screwed me up hitting you that quick. It’s just like I thought though. No Snow White could have held them up long enough for me to get there. You were incredible.”

  “Thank you. It’s nice to be appreciated. When can I get the hell out of here?”

  “The doctor said I could take you back to the hotel whenever you felt up to it. I bought you a robe. Your dress was a mess.”

  “Help me up, and get that robe on me. How long has Tonto been alone?”

  “He’ll be fine.” Clint helped Lynn into her new robe after he called for the nurse and a taxi. She arrived with a wheel chair. Fifteen minutes later, Dostiene helped Lynn into the back of a Lincoln Town Car taxi.

  At the Stratosphere, Clint walked her up to the Oasis Suite. It being Las Vegas, they hardly drew a second look. Once Clint had Montoya in bed, he went to get Tonto for a walk. He jogged with him for a couple of miles, the cooling desert air therapeutic for both man and dog. Clint didn’t bother playing blind man’s bluff anymore. He stopped in at the desk with Tonto to show his FBI credentials to the night manager with Royal Kershner on his nametag, explaining about the investigation and ending to the rapists’ case.

  “We’ll be staying a while until Agent Montoya and I clear things up.” Clint put ten one hundred dollar bills on his desk. “Something on account in case you get worried about Tonto, Mr. Kershner.”

  “Thank you. That’s very generous. Enjoy your stay.” He handed Dostiene one of his cards. “If you need anything, call me.”

  “I will, but we’ll be mostly vacationing now that the case is closed. Thank you.”

  After walking Tonto up to his room, Dostiene made sure he had treats and water before joining Lynn. She was breathing easy, so Clint stripped to his boxers and simply slid in next to her. He fell asleep easily. After getting five hours sleep, Clint made coffee in the little hotel coffee maker, and left a note for Lynn he was going to run Tonto around. She was sitting up when he returned. The Jacuzzi tub was full.

  “Good morning, partner,” Lynn greeted him. “I have to get one of those dart guns. That’s the best sleep I’ve had in ages.”

  Clint sat on the bed next to her. “No headache or anything?”

  “Nope. Just this weird craving to jump your bones and then jump into the Jacuzzi.”

  “Sounds good to me. Are you sure you feel well enough to fool around?”

  Montoya moved over Dostiene with a moan of pleasure. “I feel a hell of a lot better than our two recently deceased rapists. That was a joke about me not being ready for action, right?”

  “Yeah, but not a very funny one, baby. You are definitely ready.”

  * * *

  My entourage and I are waiting at baggage claim when my new i-thingy goes off. It’s face-time with Denny. See, this is what happens when some new gimmick hits. Even crusty old government clowns like Strobert start panting over it like a dog in heat. I answer it with my hand in front of the screen.

  “What the hell?” Denny starts chuckling.

  “Talk to the hand.”

  “Get that catcher’s mitt out of the way, John. You’ll never believe what went down last night. Clint hit town with psycho-girl, and the two of them cancelled out the rapists their first night in. When I say cancelled, I mean with attitude.”

  I removed my hand and stepped over to a less crowded spot. “Damn. Those two are like a Reaper Drone. Gee, no long investigations, no read them their rights, court trials, or sob stories, huh?”

  “One took a .45 hollow point dead center head, and the other wasn’t so lucky. Psycho-girl overcame a drug dart to make a large incision into the other one’s dick, followed by a plunge into his black heart. They’re over at the Stratosphere. I think she’s going to work out real fine.”

  “That’s an understatement. Maybe it would be wise for you to stop calling her names, before she decides to adjust your attitude. Since they fixed up their cover job, has our preferred opportunity arrived yet?”

  “Not until tomorrow. Take a day to get settled in, while my new recruits handle fallout and paperwork. I’ll call the moment I have confirmation on touchdown. What do you have to take care of for the fight?”

  “Check-in, weigh-in, media crapolla,” I blurted out for him. In other words, I’ll be in the public eye, which means Dostiene and Montoya will be staying far away from me. I’m the distraction over the next few days, even if I see our main target. �
��At least Clint will have extra time to concentrate on a plan. I’ll do my best to be a pain for the Slayer and his crew to deal with.”

  “Don’t do anything to bust this deal up. I hear Dixon got out of the hospital finally.”

  “Who cares?”

  Denny gets a chuckle at that. “Just so they have plenty of security at those weigh-ins. I don’t want the ‘Slayer’ to get too excited and start something that messes with our time frame. I need this fight to go on schedule. If you lost the fight, our boy would probably go on a three day bender to celebrate. What’s chances of that?”

  Denny living dangerously. Who knew? “I hope you meant if he actually wins, right?”

  Denny smiles. “Of course, John. What did you think I meant. I was just asking for your professional opinion about the ‘Slayer’s’ chances. I take it you don’t think much of his winning, so I’ll have to make sure Clint has his girlfriend apprised of the time limits. She’ll have up until fight night to work her magic. I’m glad you came in a full week early. I bet you’re going to like the Mandalay Bay. Did you really bring everyone and their immediate families?”

  “We made a bundle on the Dixon fight. I decided to keep the troops happy, so I closed up shop for a week. Samira came to Sin City with Jafar. It will be a kick seeing those two wander around this place. Jafar’s a little jaded, having already been in Dubai, but Samira has never been in a Las Vegas. We all know it’s a working holiday. I’ll have enough guys tracking, with Jafar coordinating from hack central at the Mandalay, that we will know everything going on to the minute. The kid worked the last two weeks installing worms throughout every casino on the strip. With the street and light cams, your friend won’t be able to sneeze without us knowing about it.”

  “You’re keeping Samira’s rather dangerous status in mind, right? There will be a lot of old country, Middle Eastern goons in town for the fight. I don’t want anything to happen to our star speaker.”

  I looked at Denny with the disdain he deserved, hoping the i-thingy conveyed my feelings. Jafar was like my younger brother, and I’d been looking out for Samira since she was a kid. Lucas and Casey adopted Jafar. He sets up their sound systems, repairs and maintains all their computers, and has learned to maintain everything on The Sea Wolf. In fact, he’s the only one allowed on The Sea Wolf. We aren’t the girl scouts. We have a very good threat matrix. It won’t be a haphazard attack from some old school Muslim wanker we have to worry about.

  “I see in your face I’ve stepped in it,” Denny volunteers without prompting. “I have to mention this stuff. I’m the bad guy. Where’s Samira’s dog?”

  “With Jafar’s parents. They love Haji and Samira. Jafar’s old man is back to work and long on the wagon. I think they’re figuring on grandkids in short order. Do you need a meet up with all the players somewhere out of the city?”

  Denny nodded. “Maybe. Do you think a place like Sam’s Town would be far enough off the beaten path? I like their bar area.”

  “Yeah, I like that place. I’ll be training every day, but it would be better to do a meeting late at night somewhere anyway. Let me know.” I spot Al on her way over. “I think it’s time to go, Denny. I’m still working on a secondary plan B if A doesn’t work out. It will be better knowing for sure where our buddy’s staying.”

  “You’ll know when I do. I’m thinking it would be better if Jafar just hacks their final plans after check in. They have his check in plans very well hidden.”

  Al gives me the come on motion. “I have to go. I’ll be training starting at 6AM.”

  “I’ll call you then,” Denny acknowledges and disconnects.

  I’m getting as excited about all these long range plans as Denny. If some stuffed shirt pussy politician ever gets wind of our West Coast band of brothers, they’ll probably call in a drone strike on us. I admit I’m frothing at the mouth to run over and tell Lucas and Casey about what Clint and his girl already did, but it’ll have to wait. I see all the wives and girlfriends are directing the baggage claim, led by the instigator, my wife Lora. Al grabs my hand.

  “You better get over there, Dark Lord. A guy’s been hitting on Mom, and I think Mr. Blake is getting ready to make a scene.”

  “Looking as good as your Mom does today, she deserves to be hit on. Don’t worry about Mr. Blake. He won’t mess with anyone unless they get insulting. Did you like the plane ride?”

  Alice looks up at me as we walk, and shrugs. “I thought the landing was kind of rough.”

  “I agree. It felt like the pilot forgot to put the wheels down.” I pointed at the suit being very attentive with Lora, who was laughing at something he was saying. “It looks like your Mom’s having fun, Al. Is that the guy?”

  “Yeah. I don’t like him.”

  I spot my whole crew. They’re big, mean looking, and dangerous as an avalanche. Devon Constantine and Jesse Brown are my corner crew along with Jafar and Tommy. They have their wives with them. Lucas and Casey are smiling at me with their significant others hanging on their arms. Tommy and his wife have corralled two baggage people with carts, and were having them brought over. Jafar and Samira watched the baggage carrousel anxiously, because I know my young friend is worried about all the electronics gear he’s brought along.

  “Let’s go over by Lucas and Casey, Al. That guy’s not bothering your Mom. You can help me pick out the bags to unload so Tommy doesn’t start yellin’ at me in the airport. They’re the ones with big purple ID bows on them.”

  Al resists my light tug for a moment, watching her Mom still sharing laughs with the suit, and then allows me to pull her along with me. “Aren’t you jealous, John?”

  That stopped me, as I saw Lucas and Casey edging nearer, having heard what Al said. “Why should I be, Al. Your Mom picked me in spite of all my faults. What? You think she’s going to dump me in favor of some silver tongued devil stranger in an airport? Consider this too, young lady. What could I do about it if she did?”

  Al met my questioning glance with her ‘are you kidding me’ look. “You could Gronk him.”

  That set Lucas, Casey, and the Dark Lord into a laughing binge.

  “Yeah, DL,” Casey directed. “Go Gronk that sucker.”

  Lucas is still trying to get his breath. “It…it’s the right thing to do, DL. Gronk him.”

  I immediately switched into Dark Lord voice. “The Dark Lord does not Gronk hapless strangers.”

  By then Tommy and his wife Rachel arrive to hear the Gronking orders. Rachel’s laughing, but Tommy of course is scowling. “I told you to leave the Dark Lord in Oakland this trip! Who are you supposed to Gronk anyway?”

  I gestured toward Lora, and her suitor. “Al thinks I’m getting dumped in favor of the suit over there serenading Lora. She wants me to Gronk him.”

  Tommy smiles and puts a comforting hand on Alice’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Al. Your Mom would never give up bossing around all us serfs to be with some new guy. Do you know something we don’t? Is your Mom finally getting tired of this Neanderthal?”

  Alice giggled, and of course the rest of our audience got a big yuck out of that, including the wives. Al looks up at me though. “I don’t want to move, DL.”

  That silenced everyone, including me. I looked over at Lora and the guy still yakking away, trying to figure out what about the guy would worry Alice. Granted, I am a Neanderthal in a lot of ways, but Lora spent a lot of time training me. It wasn’t likely she would want to get a new puppy. I look back around at my friends and everyone’s staring at me.

  “What did you do, John?” Rachel demands, which gets a smile on Tommy’s face.

  “What? I didn’t do anything.” It kind of surprises me when my good looking wife gets some attention, and suddenly I’m chopped liver.

  I notice then that Lora is heading our way with the guy keeping pace.

  “Damn,” Lucas remarks. “I think Al’s right. That guy’s really hitting on her.”

  “Told you,” Al states, yanking on my wrist. “Gronk
him.”

  “Ah… no.”

  Lora arrives next to us a moment later. She even seems surprised the guy is still with her. The suit looks around at us all with a curious look. He’s a couple inches over six feet, clean shaven, and looks a little like Jafar’s older brother. Lora gestures at him politely.

  “This is Neal Halabi. He is in the city for the fight too,” Lora announces. “Neal, this is my husband, John Harding, my daughter Alice, and our coworkers.”

  I shake hands with him, noting that at least he doesn’t give me a dead flounder handshake. “I’m glad to meet you.”

  “You are the John Harding fighting ‘The Syrian Slayer’, are you not?”

  I’m not sure if the Dark Lord has a spidey sense, but if I did, it’s tingling. Maybe I should have Gronked him. “Yep. That would be me.”

  “I have a message for you, Mr. Harding.” Neal smiled at me like we were friends. “May I give it to you in private, please?”

  “Sure, Mr. Halabi. We can talk over here.” I gesture at the side of the baggage claim area. I meet eyes with Lucas and Casey. They immediately fan out. Jafar is already face-timing with Denny. Lora directs the baggage handling to my unhappy cohorts without Government Inc credentials.

  When we get over next to the wall, I put on my attentive look of curiosity. “Is this okay, Neal?”

  The cunning gaze of the predator leaks out slowly across my companion’s features. “This is very good. You will lose to ‘The Syrian Slayer’, Mr. Harding. A large amount of money will be transferred to you after the fight.”

  I look surprised. “Why in the world would I do that?”

  Then it gets deadly. Neal drops all pretense. He’s a killer and he thinks I’m impressed. “If you do not lose, you will lose anyway, Mr. Harding. You have a lovely family. Sometimes these sporting events go beyond normal parameters. Let us handle this in a strictly business manner.”

  I Gronked him. It was a short right hand to the temple, and baby, it was all business. I caught up Neal as if we were old buddies, embracing an old friendship. Casey and Lucas were at my side immediately as we laughed and escorted our inebriated friend along. Tommy’s scowl turned serious. He hustled bags, family, and appreciative attendants to handle everything. I motioned Jafar to stay with Tommy. The fun went out for Devon and Jesse as they astutely recognized trouble and acted accordingly. I did catch a small all knowing smile from my good as blood kin Alice. She aced me and knew it. My God, that’s embarrassing.