Promised Box Set

by James Kipling

  Fear gripped him. His heart pounded in his chest and his breathing was shallow. Was he dying? He did not want to die. He couldn’t die.

  Images of his family flashed through his mind as he tried to cling to consciousness. There was so much left for him to do. He wanted to see his girls grow up. He wanted to grow old with his wife. He was fighting for his relationship with her. Love was a powerful thing, but darkness was trying to surround and suffocated him, and it seemed to be winning. He tried to think, to talk, and to get up. But he found he could not do any of these things and finally he lost consciousness once more.

  Chapter 22

  Waking with a start, Chelsea looked around her. She was in a small room all by herself. Then she remembered what had happened. Dean had put a cloth over her nose and she had passed out. It must have been chloroform. But why had he done that, and why bring her here?

  Her mind ran through all the possibilities, and only one of them made sense. He was the dirty cop Pierce kept insisting was among them, and she had fallen right into his hands. But why kidnap her and bring her to this place? It seemed as if something else was going on.

  She got up and felt dizzy for a moment. Clutching the small table beside the bed, she managed to steady herself. She had to get away from this place, wherever it was. Her eyes darted around the room and that was when she saw it… a gun lying on the dresser.

  Curious, she walked over to examine it.

  As she reached for the gun she saw a note under it. Picking it up, she read:

  Chelsea,

  I am so sorry for my actions and I know nothing I do now can change what I did in the past. You were the reason I transferred to Homicide—to keep tabs on you and what you were doing, in case you became a threat. But after knowing you, I cannot go through with the other part of the bargain. Take the flash drive I put into your pocket and use it as you see fit.

  I just want to tell you that you’re an amazing person and that you have changed me for the better. Now I will die a better person. I love you, Chelsea. Be safe.

  Dean

  PS. I suggest you stay low for a few days until things work themselves out. You are safe here and I have bought enough food to last you for at least a week. Look in the closet—there are a few things in there I think you should put on. Trust me on this one.

  Re-reading the note, Chelsea felt as if she had stepped into a nightmare. She didn’t know what to believe. She had trusted him with all her heart, but had let her guard down to the wrong person. Anger filled her breast and she felt like such a fool. Of course, now that she thought of it, there were several telltale signs. He constantly asked probing questions, he hardly ever let her out of his sight, and was always wanting to know what she was thinking or feeling.

  How could she have been so stupid? The thought of how he had conveniently offered up his apartment for her, and what happened there made her burn with shame. He had it all planned and she—a cop who should have known better—had walked right into the trap. His solicitous caring was nothing but a mask to cover his real intentions.

  But then, why had he saved her when he could have killed her? This didn’t make sense. She thrust her hand into her pocket and felt the flash drive that he said would be there.

  She looked around to see if there was a computer in the place. She pulled out the desk drawer and saw a laptop which she took out and booted up. Then she inserted the flash drive and sat down. Several files appeared, and it seemed as if Dean had been gathering a mass of information over the years. She skimmed through the different folders until she saw one with her name on it. She clicked on it and it led her to a video.

  She watched, fascinated and with bated breath, as things began to fall into place. When the video ended, she knew exactly where she had to go and what she had to do. She was not only going after De Leon, a dead man, but also his partner Enrique Galvez. She knew who he was because she had seen him many times while she was growing up. Only, she never knew him for the monster he was.

  She was all fired up to go, then remembered to look in the closet. There was a thick pair of denim jeans, a long sleeve blue shirt, a leather jacket, and a bullet proof vest, which reminded her of what she was about to do.

  She quickly got dressed, and grabbing the gun and some extra ammunition she found in the drawer she headed for the door. She saw a key lying on the table and took that too. It might come in handy or it would not have been left there. As she stepped outside, she knew it was the right thing to do. Parked in the front yard was a sleek black Ninja motorcycle with a helmet hanging over the handle bar.

  Dean had thought of everything. This made her even more confused about him, especially as she pondered the contents of the letter. It sounded as if he was trying to save her at his own expense. A wave of tenderness for him swept over her, almost as powerful as the anger she had felt only moments ago.

  As she mounted the bike, she had to admit that there were things she still did not understand, but that would have to wait. If what Dean said was true, then both of them were in danger. She had no time to waste, for there was a deadline to meet.

  She gunned the engine into life and set off down the road as if she was being chased by demons.

  Chapter 23

  Walking through the cemetery, Dean remembered the ploy he was going to use to get Chelsea to come here with him. This was where he was due to hand her over, as their idea was to kill her in front of the tombstones of her parents. These guys really had a macabre sense of humor, now that he thought of it.

  But instead, he was coming here alone, without her, to face whoever they might be sending. His chances of escaping with his life were almost nil, but he had prepared himself for the encounter as best he knew how, and one thing he knew—he was not going down without a fight. That was why he made sure to get there with some time to spare.

  The Prestons’ were buried under a huge oak tree, their tombstones large and adjoining. They were big enough for a fully grown man to hide behind. Dean chose his position carefully. He crouched down behind the tombstone and waited, gun at the ready. He had no idea from what direction the hit man would be coming.

  An owl hooted somewhere overhead, the rustling of birds roosting in the tree broke the silence, and a dog howled in the distance. Dean waited patiently and his mind was filled with thoughts of Chelsea and what her fate would be if she failed in her endeavor. The two of them seemed doomed as he waited, perhaps to meet his own demise. If he got out of this alive—and De Leon and his partner were still free—he would be forever on the run, with no place to hide. But it was worth a try.

  He heard a twig snap and looked out from his hiding place to see the silhouette of a man standing before the tombstones. He made a bird call which was the signal, and Dean returned the same.

  “Bring her out.”

  Dean froze as he recognized the familiar voice of Detective Parker from the Homicide department.

  Startled, Dean asked, “Is that really you, Parker?”

  “I thought you were told never to use names,” he replied.

  So, Robert Parker was the dirty cop in the department. He was the one feeding their every move to the drug lords. He had always kept a low profile and outwardly showed little interest in the activities at the office. As a senior member, he had access to a lot of important information.

  “Where is she?”

  Dean paused for a moment. If he told him that he had changed his mind, it meant instant death. He had to come up with something else.

  “I took care of her myself.”

  “Do you expect me to believe that?”

  “It’s not a matter of believing me, it’s the truth. I couldn’t get her to come with me, so I had to do it myself.”

  “You’re lying, and you know it. I have orders to get her and to get rid of you if you fail. Furthermore, I cannot let you live because you now know who I am.”

  “But before you kill me, wouldn’t you want some evidence of her death to
take back to your boss?”

  “Evidence?”

  “ Yes, I have it right here, wrapped in this piece of cloth.”

  Parker hesitated for a moment and Dean threw something that landed at his feet with a thud. He bent down to see what it was, and at that very moment Dean came out firing. Parker returned fire, and Dean felt a burning sensation in his arms as he fell backwards onto the grass.

  Chapter 24

  Dodging in between cars on the highway, Chelsea could not help but feel powerful as the bike engine roared loudly under her. The fire for revenge had been re-kindled and burned more brightly now that she was on her way to settle the score at last. The words that Isaac had said to her when she visited him in the prison sprang to mind. The pure and innocent little girl that her mother loved so much was now truly gone and would never come back.

  Surprisingly, tears sprang to her eyes, but she dismissed them. As she sped down the open road, she knew there was always the option of calling in the police to deal with the matter. But she dismissed the idea very quickly. What had they done in the ten years they had the file? Nothing. And who had ever been able to bring a serious charge against De Leon and make it stick? Nobody. So what was the use of handing it over to the police? Furthermore, the records officially listed De Leon as dead. It was very strange how a ghost could have such power over the living.

  Her mind was made up… there was no turning back. The sign indicated the desert turn was coming up. She slowed a bit to make sure she didn’t miss it. She thought it was very smart to hide away in the desert where thousands of caves and other such hiding places existed. One could easily disappear there and not be found for weeks, months or years. This was exactly what De Leon did.

  According to the video, her two enemies were holed up in a large cave that they had literally turned into an underground home, with all the comforts required. There were several smaller caves, and within these caves, hundreds of pounds of drugs were stored and distributed via a network of tunnels running from Mexico to the United States. Setting up such a complex and extensive system had taken years, but they had somehow managed to do it.

  Chelsea travelled a few miles off the main highway until she came to an unmarked trail. Here she hid her bike under some shrubs. She would need it on her way out. She was being optimistic, perhaps overly so, and she knew it.

  She checked her gun, and the spare ammunition, then made sure her bullet-proof vest was fastened properly. It could make the difference between life and death. For a moment, a thought flashed through her head, suppose it was a trap and Dean had set her up?

  She shook off the thought. She had come too far to turn back now. Today was the day… she would find out one way or the other.

  She visualized the rough map that Dean had drawn and started walking. Her eyes scanned the surroundings for anything out of the ordinary. She kept telling herself that everything was going to be all right, and that she could do this even though she was alone.

  She heard the rumble of thunder overhead suggesting rain, but she ignored it. Rain or shine, she was going in. With her right hand hovering over her gun, she was ready for anything that might turn up. Then she saw it—the boulder looking somewhat like a grizzly bear raised up on its hind feet—as Dean had mentioned in the video. It blended in with the mountain perfectly and served as a marker to the entrance of the network of caves. Her heart quickened as her adrenaline began to rise.

  As she got closer, she heard voices but she couldn’t understand what they were saying. She never learned Spanish in school and now really wished she had. Dropping low to the ground, she saw two men walking towards the boulder. They looked like guards with sub-machine guns slung over their shoulders. She looked down at her gun and knew it was no match to theirs.

  Not to be daunted, she came up with an idea. It was still thundering overhead, each round preceded by bright flashes of lightning. She waited while it thundered a few more times, allowing her to figure out the pattern of the thunder. The next time the lightning flashed she waited timing it carefully, then fired twice, killing the two men. The loud crash of thunder masked the sound of the shots, so no one within earshot heard the gun fire.

  She quickly moved forward and managed to haul the bodies to one side, throwing some bushes over them. She hid their weapons and approached the entrance to the caves. The boulder was huge but after searching found a lever; when she pressed it, the boulder shifted and she was able to squeeze through the narrow passage.

  There was enough light for her to see and get her bearings. She found herself in an entrance hall of sorts, with several passages forking off into different directions. In the video, Dean had told her to take the fifth one on the left, so she began walking and counting them off. She pressed herself to the wall so she couldn’t readily be seen by anyone who might turn up unexpectedly.

  The fifth tunnel was narrower than the one she had come from and she crept along it cautiously. She listened carefully for any sound, but all was silent. No one seemed to be there, but she knew she was in the right place. Moving into the corner closest to the entrance she stayed there and waited—without know exactly what she was waiting for.

  Chapter 25

  The hours stretched endlessly as Emma sat in the waiting room, doing just that— waiting. Pierce had been whisked off to surgery over two hours ago and she didn’t have all the details, none really, only that he had an accident while on duty and was badly hurt. On hearing the news, she hurried back to town. The twins were still with her brother where she knew they would be safe.

  Her tears were interspersed with questions. Why did this have to happen to him? He was a wonderful husband and father—loyal, caring, everything you could ever want. Now his life was hanging in the balance. She knew when you married a cop, this was part of the territory, but she always hoped it would not happen to her.

  Her head ached, her mind was in chaos and she felt powerless to do anything. She felt as if she was going crazy. She heard footsteps coming toward her.

  “Mrs. Carson…”

  It was one of the surgeons she had met earlier. His face was serious and her heart skipped several beats as she got up and faced him.

  “First, I must tell you that your husband is going to live.”

  She let out a long sigh of relief. But there was more to come, she could tell. This was looking like it was following the ‘first the good news, then the bad news’ pattern.

  “But?”

  “However, he had extensive trauma to his spinal cord and there is a chance he may never be able to walk again.”

  There was a sharp intake of breath as the news hit her like a punch to the stomach and her knees nearly buckled.

  Weakly she asked, “Does he know this, doctor?”

  “No, because we weren’t sure until we went in.”

  “When can I see him?’

  “Soon. He is being moved to the ICU and should be waking up soon.”

  “Thank you,” she said, as he walked away.

  Trembling, she sat down to absorb the news. She couldn’t begin to imagine Pierce not being able to walk. She was relieved that he was alive, yet saddened by the thought of him being limited in that way. More importantly, how would he take the news? Pierce was a proud and fiercely independent man. To be disabled and dependent would hurt him terribly.

  An hour later, Emma entered the ICU to find her husband hooked up to several machines. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be asleep. She pulled up a seat and gently intertwined her fingers with his. A few minutes later, he opened his eyes.

  He looked at her tenderly and she could see he looked somewhat scared. He attempted to cover up his feelings, but was not successful.

  “Em,” he whispered.

  “I’m here. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve been run over by a steam roller.”

  “Well, if it’s any comfort to you, the doctor says you’ll make it.”

  For a moment there was
silence between them. Emma worried over how he was going to react when he learned of the possibility he wouldn’t walk again.

  He squeezed her hand, “Em,” he said, in a voice thick with emotion. “I can’t feel my legs.”

  She got up and kissed him on the forehead while still holding his hand. “I know, the doctors told me. There was some sort of injury to your spine and it—they say you might not walk again.”

  She saw the light die in his eyes and she couldn’t keep back the tears any longer. After a while, she tried to console him.

  “I will love you no matter what happens to you. You are still my wonderful husband and father to our beautiful children. Together we will get through this.”

  “I am not a whole man anymore,” he lamented.

  “Yes, you are, Pierce! Even if you can never walk again, it will make no difference. I love you for what is inside. You have a good heart. You are everything to me and our daughters.”

  Pierce only nodded but did not speak. He was thinking about everything that had happened concerning this case. A case that started out like a regular homicide, but had expanded into something much larger and deadlier than any of them could have imagined. One death had become many, and Chelsea’s past was somehow mixed up with it. While she seemed to be a target for the killers, the poison had now spread to his own private life.

  Then he thought about his colleagues who were on the search of the building with him. He looked at his wife who seemed to be able to read his mind.

  “Everyone else got out of the building all right,” she informed him.

  She noticed that he still had that worried look on his face. Something was still bothering him.

  “Want to share it?” she asked.

  He shook his head and fell silent. How could he begin to explain Chelsea’s need for revenge and his tacit agreement that she personally go after De Leon? He wondered what she and Dean were up to, and hoped they were safe. He also wondered about the replacement officers that would be assigned to take over the case while he was on leave.