Blood Week

by J. D. Martin

  Wrapping the torn fabric around my arm, I cinched the knot tight with my teeth. “Any man going through what I did could easily end up like me.”

  “No, they really wouldn’t. People die all the time and their next of kin don’t start killing people! And I’ve read your file, it says your parents died in an automobile accident.”

  “BECAUSE THE ASSH-“, I paused to calm myself. “With the right connections and a bit of money, paper records can be doctored. It’s not so easy today now that everything is on computers, but the past were simpler times. The truth is that Douglas and Erica Saint—my parents—were killed when a man tried to steal their car.”

  “How were you able to alter all the police and medical records that would have been connected to something like that?”

  “Tenacity, but that is not what we’re here to talk about, are we? You know as well as I do that everyone that I’ve killed deserved it. The badge couldn’t touch them, but I could.”

  “You mean by killing them.”

  I pulled myself to my feet to meet Delgado’s determined gaze. “You have to admit that my solution does result in a city that doesn’t have to live in fear. All you have to do is watch the news. Have you heard a public outcry to stop me? While I may not be publicly endorsed, few try to stop me.” I could see my words registering with Marcus, but the grinding of his teeth didn’t seem to have him swaying in my favor.

  “Our badge is meant to show our devotion to the law,” he said. “Good intentions don’t negate murder.”

  “Ex malo bonum.”

  “No, there is no good out of this evil. You can’t try to put a positive spin on killing. It doesn’t matter that you only prey on the wicked. Alex, you must understand this.”

  “I can see how you might think that, but I can’t sit in silence while criminals skirt the law.”

  “Don’t you see the hypocrisy in that statement? You can’t let criminals skirt that law? That’s exactly what you’re doing!”

  The point stabbed me like another knife through my arm. I bit my lip and thought of Amy. This past week had me thinking about her more and more. It was easy to tell myself that I was doing the right thing when I didn’t have a family to worry about, but lately she’d become important to me. On the night I thought I could have died, she was the only person that I’d wanted to see. After all I’d been through, being with her made me feel safe and loved like I used to when I was a kid.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Marcus. “You don’t seem to be believing in what you’re saying.”

  “You’re wrong there; I fully endorse my actions. I believe that this needs to be done, but I know that everything ends at some point. I’m just not sure it’s me that should be doing it anymore.”

  “Then let me take you in. Let’s put a stop to all of this tonight. No more death.”

  “Qui tacet consentire videtur,” I whispered.

  “He who is silent is taken to agree? You said that earlier.” Marcus glanced at Tyrell’s body that was bleeding on the dirt a few yards away before looking back at me. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s something my dad used to say. He was a lawyer and he felt that if you had the ability to make a change and didn’t, then you were culpable to what happened. That’s why I do this. If I don’t and these people hurt someone else, then my hands are just as dirty as theirs.”

  “It’s not a perfect system, Alex, but it’s the only one we’ve got.”

  “Don’t give me that not-a-perfect-system bullshit. My father dealt with that constantly. I can’t remember how many times he’d come home feeling regret over some prick that got off because of our imperfect system.”

  “Is that why you tag everyone as guilty?”

  “Reus? Yeah. The courts failed in delivering the verdict, so I make it a part of them. They die knowing that justice is being served.”

  Marcus pressed for more information as he used me to connect the dots. “Who is helping you with this? I don’t see how you could alter government records and keep the precinct off your scent alone.”

  I checked my field dressing to make sure the bandage was holding and ignored his question. “I thought I’d throw you guys off and maybe retire when I took care of Peter. I even dressed him in the clothes I’d worn the night I took out Big King so the implications might stick. I knew it was a long shot since I’d used a scalpel and he had a hunting knife, but it was worth a shot. It might have even been believed if I hadn’t been caught fleeing the scene.”

  “So that was you then?” I nodded. “But why the sudden change of heart and urge to retire?”

  “I thought you wanted me to stop? Now you question why I’d stop?”

  “Alex, I’m just trying to get the whole story. You talk of retirement, and yet you killed two more people tonight.”

  “Tonight wasn’t planned,” I said, scratching my head. “I was just out for a cruise and saw everything unraveling for Ally and her guy. You remember Ally, right?”

  “Yeah, she was the waitress the other night.”

  “Exactly, and I couldn’t let something happen to them. So, I decided to do something about it.”

  “You’re a police officer; you could have simply arrested them! Your testimony would have locked them behind bars.”

  “True,” I said, looking at the body on the ground as I thought back on my decisions. “I guess I’ve been at this long enough that the badge isn’t the first thing to cross my mind when I see a crime.”

  “Well, you’re going to regret that because this area is flooded with cops by now. You’ve got no way out. I hate that our partnership is ending like this, but you made the decisions that led us here. Alex, you’re under arrest.”

  “I can respect that, Marcus, but do you know what I learned before I killed the man that took my parents from me?” I took a step towards Marcus and turned my shoulder towards him as he shook his head. “Always have an exit strategy.”

  In one swift motion, I pulled a retractable baton from a strap on my thigh and swung it around to strike Marcus in the forehead. His hands held the side of his face as he hit the ground and tried to look up at me through eyes that would be seeing stars. I leaned down next to him so he could hear my words clearly, “I’m sorry I had to do that, but I’m not going to jail for what is right. And before you chase after me, you should know that I found out your secret. I know about the cash payments and the real reason you moved to Kansas City. Just know that the secret is safe with me as long as you don’t pursue me.”

  His eyes flickered as sheer terror flashed through his eyes before being replaced with rage. “I’ll stop you,” he whispered as he tried to steady the world that was spinning all around him. “I’m done being threatened by assholes trying to force me to do what they want. I will stop you.”

  I guess that backfired, but I wasn’t going to stick around while he reasserted his dominance. “Take care of your family and just forget about me.” I sprinted up the hill that led back to Grand Avenue as Marcus screamed at me. I heard him tripping across the rocks as his sense began to clear and he attempted to pursue. I knew I didn’t have much time until he was back at full capacity, so I put as much space between him and myself as I could. Just before I rounded the warehouse building, I realized he’d reacquired his gun and ammo as a loud bang followed with small chips ricocheting off the brick building as I passed. I guess my attempt to dissuade him from coming after me had the opposite effect.

  I ran past the silos in the gravel-covered courtyard as Marcus reached the top of the hill and continued after me. To avoid all the cops that would be just past the transformers at the end of the clearing, I ran away from the flashing lights of the cruisers and cut through an alley nearby. After winding my way through it, I exploded into the City Market and glanced behind me to see Marcus still on my tail.

  I didn’t want to risk another physical altercation as I ran through the market square. When I heard him crash into and trip over a trashcan I’d passed at the end of the a
lley, I assumed the blow to the head was still affecting his vision. My bike was parked where I’d left it at the end of the lot and I leapt onto it without slowing. With Marcus still running and me sitting still on the motorcycle, the space between us was getting smaller by the second. Slipping on my earpiece, I inserted my key and revved the engine as I popped the clutch. The tires screeched as they spun rapidly before spitting me out onto the street in a trail of white smoke.

  I thought I would lose him, but he spotted a stroke of luck pull into view as I was leaving. He flagged down the passing squad car and commandeered the vehicle after flashing his badge. Marcus threw the transmission into gear and floored the accelerator to follow me as I sped south on Grand.

  With his black-and-white inching up on me in my side mirror, I sent a boost of power to the engine to pick up speed. Delgado followed suit as he attempted to match my acceleration as I weaved the Hayabusa through traffic. Not wanting to lose me, Marcus called in the chase on the radio for assistance. “Officer in pursuit of suspect south on Grand. Request immediate assistance. Suspect on motorcycle is Detective Alexander Saint. Repeat…Alex Saint is the Blood Week Murderer.”

  Hearing the call through the earpiece I put on back in the parking lot, I through a curveball in Delgado’s plan as I slammed hard on the brakes at E 5th Street. My rear tire lifted off the pavement with the inertia of my speed for a second before I mashed the throttle again to swing the bike 180 degrees. I pulled a wheelie with my sudden burst of speed as I flew past Marcus in the opposite direction. I saw the anger on his face as our eyes met in the second that he narrowly avoided colliding with me going the wrong way. Tires screeched as he stomped his own brakes and cranked the wheel to correct his course and come after me.

  “Suspect now heading north on Grand,” said Marcus’ voice over the radio. “I need the vehicles on 1st to set up a roadblock immediately.”

  Picking up speed, we passed E 3rd where Grand veered off to the right and I nearly laid the bike down when I hit an oil slick. Recovering after a slide, there was a slight wiggle before I was able to steady the rocket between my legs and throttle up again. The powerful engine echoed off the buildings as I thundered by in a blur.

  Quickly approaching the roadblock starting to form ahead of me, I saw the fork in the road ahead. Going left would leave you on Grand while off to the right was E 1st Street. The tines of this fork were bent with one option going up an incline and the other down towards the train tracks.

  As I sped towards the cars blocking Grand, I could see they were still attempting to get E 1st covered. A familiar voice came over my radio, which told me that the other detectives were on the scene. “Marcus, I’m pulling out in front of 1st to force him up Grand,” said Bronson who was already pulling into the street when I spotted him.

  The people trying to stop me had assumed there were only two options. Door number one would slam me into the side of Bronson’s vehicle and that would lead to massive injury or death at the speed I was going. Door number two would have me stopped by a roadblock roughly thirty yards past the fork. I decided to go with a third option.

  Chapter 35

  Everything that came into the light over the past few weeks had built to this moment. I guess I always knew that my side business wouldn’t last forever, but it had never occurred to me how it might come to an end. Something caused me to slip up on the details. An argument could be made that the monkey wrench was the unforeseen and impromptu introduction to Peter Davidson. No amount of planning could have prepared me for the dumb luck he experienced when trying to frame me for things I’d already done.

  While that may have played a part, I don’t think that was the first domino in fate’s design. Despair from the loss of my parents left me feeling empty, and I filled that void with vengeance. It made me feel complete for a time, but it was slowly replaced when the despair began to be replaced with happiness and contentment. I began to love someone for the first time since I was a boy, and those emotions created a world where I no longer needed the vigilante.

  I was still going through the motions, but it hadn’t occurred to me that I was pretending until Peter broke into my home. He was the catalyst for the realization that I wasn’t empty anymore. My feelings for Amy were deeper than I could have imagined. I think I may have been fighting it subconsciously by continuing my affairs with other women like Kathryn as a means to avoid accepting it. Thanks to whatever drove Peter to come after me, I couldn’t pretend anymore.

  Sadly, this doesn’t mean that I completely threw in the towel. I couldn’t stand back and watch a pair of young lovebirds be harmed, and for that reason I had a decision to make. With the engine screaming between my legs as I raced towards the fork in the road that had both escape routes blocked, Marcus thought he had me as he pursued in the squad car behind me. He was wrong.

  Taking a left at the fork, Bronson watched me fly past him up Grand towards the black and whites waiting further up the road. I pictured Marcus smiling as I was forced to stop, but I was going to have to disappoint him. Thirty feet up the fork, I angled the bike towards the barrier between 1st and Grand. Racing straight for the point where the roads split with one going down the hill towards the railroad tracks and the other up over the bridge, I pulled hard on the throttle. My front tire rose off the ground just as the tires hit the barrier that ran up the edge of the dividing wall.

  As soon as I hit, the bike sailed over Bronson’s vehicle blocking the lower street and fell fifteen feet to land safely behind it. The Hayabusa wobbled slightly with the sudden stop when it hit the pavement. I stuck my legs out over the street to steady it like a tightrope walker with his long stick. After it had stabilized, I looked up the road just in time to see Marcus’ car screeching to a stop to avoid wrecking into the wall. It was the last thing I saw before speeding off uninhibited.

  Throwing it in reverse, Marcus backed up while shouting through the window at Bronson to move his car. Mashing the pedal and speeding past Bronson with barely an inch on either side of his vehicle, Delgado cursed at what happened. Fucking Evel Knievel wasn’t going to get away from him without a fight. But after twenty minutes of driving in circles, he had to admit that the stuntman was gone.

  Back at Grand, Marcus parked the borrowed patrol car and walked towards the huddle of detectives discussing the crazy stunt Alex used to get away. He was agonizing over what Alex knew, and what he could do to keep the truth from coming out. Could he really know why he came to Kansas City? The questions only fueled the fire of Delgado’s desire to catch him.

  “You should have seen him fly over the fucking car,” Bronson said to Pinick.

  “Must have been nuts, but are we sure it’s Alex?”

  “I’m sure,” said Marcus. “I watched him kill someone in the gully over there before getting into a scuffle where I saw his face. It’s him.”

  “How do you think we should proceed?”

  “For starters, put a call into the bank to freeze his accounts and put a trace on his credit cards. We need to track him down. Edward, I’ll need you to take care of alerting the airports. I’ve already called in the BOLO on all highways leading out of the city.”

  While Bronson stepped away to call the banks, Pinick asked, “Do you really think he’ll try to fly out? Don’t you think he’s smarter than that? He has an exact copy of our playbook. He knows everything we’re going to do.”

  “I know, but we’re still doing this one by the book. These tactics are used for a reason. They get results…but it doesn’t hurt to hope we’ll get lucky.” The sun started to peak over the horizon as Pinick pulled out his phone to work the airport angle, but Marcus knew that KCI would be a dead end. He squinted at the new light painting the sky orange and tried to think were Alex would go.

  The city I loved was no longer a safe place for me, so I initiated escape protocols I had in place. Walking through the gym, one of the trainers asked if he could help me with a program. I shook my head as I went directly into the locker room and found
the door marked 117. I pulled a brass key from my pocket and popped the lock to get to the large duffel inside. Carrying it to an empty corner, I unzipped it and checked the contents before quickly sealing it back up and tossing it over my shoulder as I left.

  Cinching the bag tightly to my back, I threw my leg over the motorcycle and started the engine. Looking up, I watched the sun rise steadily into the morning sky and decided to marvel at it for a moment. I realized that this could be the last time I saw a sunrise over Kansas City, so I wanted to remember it. But eventually I had to leave and sent a mental goodbye to the city that had been my home for so long. After putting on my spare helmet, I rolled the bike out of the spot and sped off with the sun on my back.

  “Marcus, we have a problem,” said Bronson. “It’s all gone; his bank accounts were emptied two days ago.”

  “How the hell could he have known to do that? There was no way for him to know all this was about to happen.” He ran his fingers through his hair and screamed in frustration.

  Leaving him with his thoughts, Bronson walked over to his partner who stood on the other side of the lot. “What do you think of all this?” he asked.

  “All what?” asked Pinick. “You mean how the man we’ve worked with for years was a secret vigilante? How he was smart enough to evade the entire police force? Or how a part of me is happy we didn’t catch him?”

  “Well, all of that I guess. It’s kind of nice to know he’s out there.”

  With the detectives carrying on, they hadn’t noticed the woman walk up to them. “Are you sure you want people hearing that?”

  Both turned to see their superior standing beside them. “Captain Hawthorne,” stuttered Bronson. “I only meant that he…well…”

  “At ease, Richard. We’ll skip the reprimands. You’re free to think whatever you like. Just fill me in on where we stand with finding Saint.”