by Dale Mayer
Just then his phone rang. He stepped closer to the door for a bit of privacy.
“You didn’t have to kill him,” The middleman said to Badger.
“I didn’t.” Badger quickly explained. Then there was silence on the other end.
Badger didn’t know who this middleman was, but, if Badger wanted to procure more information, this go-to guy had to know that the informants were safe from Badger.
“Did you see the shooter?” the middleman asked Badger.
“No. I wish I had. It was dark out. I’m not even sure the cops know about it yet.”
“Maybe that’s for the best. He was living pretty well underground for a long time.”
“I still need more information.”
The man snorted. “Not if you leave a trail of dead bodies.”
He knew the man was about to hang up, so Badger cried out, “Wait …”
“What?”
“There’s money in it for you too.”
“I’m not up for bullets in the back.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with it. Obviously somebody knew he was meeting me.”
“That could only come from you.”
Badger shook his head. He knew the informant himself could’ve told somebody and so could this guy on the phone. But information brokers would be putting their own lives on the line if they didn’t keep secrets. “He gave me a recording.”
“Good. At least you got something out of the deal.” The man’s voice was full of disgust. “But I’m not sure anybody else will be too helpful.”
“That’s not true. People always like to talk.”
“I don’t know where else to get anything for you. I’ll have to think about it carefully.”
“Good. Think about it. Just know I didn’t have anything to do with this. And, if somebody is tying up loose ends, we need to catch him too.”
“Good luck with that.” And the phone went dead.
Badger glanced at everyone sitting on both beds, now staring at him. He shrugged and put away his phone. “He’s not sure he’ll help out anymore.”
“Why not?” Kat asked. “You didn’t shoot that man.”
“No, but it means somebody else out there knows what I’m after. Knows these bread crumbs will lead us to the truth. And that’s something they’ll try to stop.”
She slowly got up off the bed and walked toward Badger. “So, I’m asking again, where do we go from here? Can you find out anything else while we’re here? Because that was a hell of a long trip for a five-minute meeting.”
“That happens sometimes.” But still, he did have a few other things he could do. “Maybe the guys will take you to the vet’s tomorrow. I think I’ll do some research.”
“What kind of research?”
He glanced down at her and smiled. “What’s the matter? You worried about me?” he teased.
She put her hands on her hips. “I have a vested interest in your leg.”
He leaned closer and whispered, “Only my leg?” And watched in delight as color rolled wildly up her cheeks.
She shot him a disgusted look, turned and walked away.
He glanced down at his watch. “It’s late. Let’s regroup in the morning.”
With that, he escorted the other men out. They talked in the hallway for a few moments, decided that nobody needed to stay on watch because there was no personal danger. They would reconvene at six in the morning.
When he stepped back into the room and locked the door behind him, she was in the bathroom. He opened his case and took out his shaving gear. His mind was still full of what had happened earlier.
If there’d been anything he could have done to have stopped it …
Had the murder been planned, and Badger was an incidental witness? What were the chances the killer knew Badger would meet with this guy? Had the informant told somebody? Did he have a partner? Somebody who would steal the money? But, in that case, why not shoot Badger instead of the informant? Something about that whole deal just stank.
He stripped down to his boxers and waited for her to come out of the bathroom. In the meantime, he brought up his laptop and entered some data. He knew Stone would be willing to help. But he might need a little more information. Badger made a phone call to the informant’s apartment manager, caught the night clerk and asked for the identity of the man in the apartment with that number.
“Why do you want to know?” the bored guy at the end of the phone asked.
“I think he lost his wallet,” Badger said in a quiet voice. “I wanted to return it to him.”
“If he lost his wallet, then his ID is in there.”
“Yeah, but there’s a couple IDs. I need to know which one is the real one.”
“That’s funny. He would have a bunch of IDs. That guy is a drug addict and an alcoholic. He was former navy, retired—apparently out of life.”
“Name?” he prompted.
“Ben. Ben Chambers.”
The phone went dead with a click. It was late where Badger was, but it wasn’t late in the US. He dialed Mason. When a woman’s voice answered, he said, “Tesla? It’s Badger.”
“Badger? Where are you?”
“I’m in England. I’m kind of in a spot. Any chance I can talk to Mason?”
“He’s right here. Hold on.”
“Badger, what’s up? And how are you doing these days? I haven’t heard from you in a long time.”
“Yeah, there’s a reason for that. I need information on former navy personnel.”
“What kind of information?” Mason asked cautiously. “And do I know the name?”
“He’s the one who changed the orders that rerouted the truck I was in that blew up. He took the intel from a Corporal Shipley. Only when he went to check into the information after the fact, he found out there was no Corporal Shipley.”
“What?”
Badger could almost see Mason sitting down, a shocked look on his face. “Yeah.” And he filled him in on what he’d learned so far.
“And he was shot right in front of you?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure where to go from here.”
There was silence for a long moment, then Mason said, “I can see if Ben Chambers or Corporal Shipley are in the system. I may not be able to get any more information than that.”
“I’d appreciate it if you could do that much. The information I’ve just found out does confirm we were directed onto that road with the antitank mines. That means it was a deliberate attempt to sabotage the run. Seven people injured and one dead, Mason. How is that even acceptable to not have anybody looking into it?”
“From the brass’s point of view, there isn’t enough to go with. But you know, if you find evidence, then they’ll back you up.”
Badger could hear Tesla in the background talking.
“Tesla says Ben Chambers left the navy two years ago. No reason given. Medical was normal and performance was average.”
Shit. “So maybe because of this incident he guilted out.”
“Maybe. Remember though this is all evidence. Once we get to the bottom of it all, the brass will have to look into this.”
“I’m not even sure I know that anymore. I hope so. But I have to find the evidence first. I do have a recording …”
“Can you send it me to?”
“I can. Do you have any equipment that can work with it?”
Mason laughed. “I’m sure Tesla would be on that in a heartbeat.”
In the background Badger could hear Tesla call out, “Sounds like new toys for me to play with. I’m always happy to help out. You know that.”
Badger smiled. “I’d appreciate it if she would. I’m downloading the audio file onto my laptop now. I’ll send you the secure transcription.”
“I will get back to you if anything’s there. And you stay safe. Just because the informant took the hit, doesn’t mean there isn’t a second bullet for you. You never actually showed up again for him to target, did you?”
�
�No. I booked it out of there, went out the back and disappeared down the street. We never saw the shooter leave the building either.”
“Okay, this can go both ways. So you make sure you watch your back as well.”
“Will do.” He ended the call at the same time Kat came out of the bathroom.
She smiled. “The bathroom is all yours.”
He smiled back, his fingers busy on the keyboard. “As soon as I transfer this audio file.” As he hit Send, her scent drifted across his nose. He lifted his head and said, “Wow, I don’t know what you just used, whether it’s on your hair or your face or what, but it’s nice.”
She blushed. “It’s my night cream.”
He studied her face and shrugged. “I’m a guy, and I don’t know anything about that stuff, but, from here, it has a lovely scent.” He let his gaze drift over her long body, now in some kind of a camisole and shorts, and saw her own prosthetic. An ivory-colored piece, both feminine looking and functional. It was beautiful, and her shorts hugged the curves of her thighs and wrapped lovingly around her buttocks. He could feel his body tighten in response.
He slapped the laptop closed, swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got up. He swore as his leg shifted underneath him. He reached for the wall to stabilize himself. And then without looking at her, headed to the bathroom with his shaving gear. That was one thing about not spending nights with women. They didn’t have to see his weaknesses at times when he couldn’t hide them. He carefully took off the prosthetic and unwrapped the cotton layer. And winced. His leg was not happy.
He stared at the puffy flesh in dismay. He’d been doing his damnedest to not let anyone know how bad it was. Kat would have a fit if she found out. Just let me get through this, and let us get home, everybody safe and sound, and then I’ll go back to crutches for a few days. Give this leg the break it needs.
He studied the stump, wondering if it was even possible to do what she said with the steel implants used in cats. And whether his doctors would okay it. Experimental surgery was never their way. Malpractice suits being the headache they were, often doctors were afraid to go out of their comfort zone. Badger would have to talk to the orthopedic surgeon and see what he had to say. Badger had looked online about the veterinarian she’d talked about, had watched several other videos of what he did. At least it was enough to give Badger a rudimentary understanding of what she wished they could do for him. And Badger agreed it would be great. But the type of spikes they were putting in those animals were small, whereas, to hold him in place, those would have to be fairly substantial. Still, it was something to contemplate.
But not now. He had shit to do first.
Chapter 11
Kat woke up the next morning to voices at the door. She bolted upright to see Badger fully dressed, talking to someone outside in the hall. She checked her watch, seeing it was 6:10. Surprisingly she’d fallen asleep right away while Badger was in the shower. She had wanted to ask him about his leg, but he was stubborn, and the junkyard dog was always sitting at the edge whenever she came close to the subject.
She brushed her hair off her face and called out, “I’m awake. You don’t need to be quiet.”
Badger turned around to look at her. “Do you mind if they come in?”
She shook her head, shifted so she leaned against the headboard and pulled her sheet up across her chest. When Erick came in with a cup of coffee for her, she beamed. “Wow, this is special treatment. I can’t remember the last time I got coffee in bed.”
The guys shook their heads. “You’re sleeping with the wrong man then,” Erick said with a grin and a nod toward the bed Badger had obviously slept in.
She smiled up at him. “No, I don’t think so. Just so you know, we’re not sleeping together.” She accepted the cup of coffee from him, placing it on the night table beside her. “So what did you guys find out?”
Talon gave her an innocent look. “What makes you think we were looking for anything?”
She snorted. “Of course you were. You wanted to make sure Badger wasn’t shot and to catch the guy who shot the informant.”
Talon shrugged. “I went back to the apartment building. The police crime scene tape was up, so they have obviously found the body. I didn’t try to go in. None of the neighbors seem to know anything. Or, if they do, they’re not talking.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “Were you expecting anyone to talk to at this hour? Won’t they be pissed off at being woken up?”
“Some were just coming home from working the night shift,” he said with a smirk. As if the nature of that work was questionable.
“In which case they probably don’t even know what happened yet. What about the guy at the desk or the manager or the maintenance guy?”
“Checked with whoever I could find. Nobody knows anything.”
“I, on the other hand,” Erick said, “contacted my buddy at the police station. He said the information was slammed shut. He wanted to know how I knew about it.”
“What did you say?” Badger asked, a frown creasing his forehead.
“I told him that we’d been in the pub, and we heard something weird, but we didn’t see anything.”
She stared at him and laughed. “So, give him a little bit of the truth to keep him happy, just not enough to make him question it.”
He nodded, giving her that knowing smile. “Exactly.”
They were seated at the back of the hotel restaurant, finishing their late breakfast. Badger wanted to cut Kat loose for the day so he could go to the apartment building and the room the shooter had to have been in. He knew there was a good chance the cops would be on-site. But there was also a good chance they’d already moved on. He doubted a drug-addicted, washed-out guy like his informant would garner a whole lot of police investigation hours. Sure, they did their job, but it was an area with a high crime rate. Unless they got any decent leads, there was no way to close the case.
Not only was Kat not having anything to do with his idea, neither were the guys.
Talon was being most adamant. “We stick together.”
Badger glared at him. “Why now? We’ve always gone off in teams of one or two, gathering intel before.”
Talon shrugged. “But we currently have somebody we’re protecting at the same time.”
“Exactly. No way I want to add her into the mix,” Badger said. “She’s already got enough headaches. This could put her in more danger.”
“So we don’t mix the two,” Talon said. “Let me go. Nobody here knows me. Nobody back home from her situation knows me. I’ll scope out the apartment. You take her to the vet clinic she wants to go to.”
Badger fought it, but the voice of reason finally prevailed. As a last parting shot, he said, “What about your logic that we needed to stick together?”
“That was to stop you from going off on your own,” Talon said with a big grin.
Badger checked his watch. “We’ll check in on the hour.” He glanced at Kat. “How long until your meeting?”
“It’s at eleven. He doesn’t have much time to spare. If I had longer, I’d probably stay and watch as he did surgeries. But I’m not sure that invitation is in the offing.”
The men nodded. Talon said, “I have my own set of wheels, so we’ll see how it goes.”
He went to stand, and Cade stood with him. Talon looked at him in surprise. Cade just gave him a blank look back. Badger smirked. “Two at a time.”
Talon shrugged, as if not caring either way, and walked out. Badger turned to Erick and Kat. “It’s about an hour’s drive once we get out of the city, maybe a little more. And at least fifteen minutes to get out of the city.”
She nodded. “In that case, I have time for another cup of coffee.”
He motioned for the waitress who came over with the coffeepot. She refilled everyone’s cups.
Once she was out of earshot, Kat said in a low tone, “Will they be okay?”
Badger nodded. “Chances are they’ll be back
here before we’re even gone.”
She gave him a frown that made him smile. She asked him, “Is there anything you can do that’s effective while we’re here?”
He shrugged. “We’re looking for another informant. People are analyzing the audio file. The names in question are being researched. It’s all going on in the background. That doesn’t mean there’s anything in particular we can do about it yet.”
“Before we head out, I want to check in with Jim.”
He nodded. “In that case, as soon as you’re done with your coffee, we’ll go back up to the hotel room, and you can use the landline there.”
She thought about that. “No, it’s the wrong time for Jim. I’ll wait until this afternoon. Do we have time for more coffee?”
He glanced at his watch. “Well, if we don’t linger, you’ll be fine.” He watched as she dumped extra cream into her coffee and drank it down in several big gulps. “I didn’t mean you had to inhale it.”
She grinned. “I’d inject it if I could.”
With Erick laughing out loud, the three made their way back to their rooms. As they approached Kat and Badger’s room, Badger held up a hand. Erick slid against the wall, coming up to the side of the door. Badger motioned Kat behind him flat against the wall and whispered, “The door is open.”
He heard her sucked-in breath but didn’t have time to reassure her. Inside they could hear someone moving around.
Erick motioned with three fingers, dropped one, then another, and casually walked inside. “Hey, what are you doing in here?”
With a sharp word to Kat to “Stay here,” Badger raced inside after him.
Erick was in the middle of a fight with a small wiry man. Badger wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, put him in a chokehold, tossed him on the bed and thrust his knee into the center of his shoulder blades. With a look at Erick, he said, “Get Kat in here.”
But Kat was already at the door, slamming it shut. “Kat, stay here. Kat, come in. I do have a brain, you know? I can understand when it’s dangerous and when I need to get the hell out of the hallway because you guys are making a ruckus in the room.”
