Sure enough, there was a fire alarm pull-station next to the doorway. Glancing around, Ray saw no one was looking and pulled the fire alarm. The music and strobe lights on the dance floor cut out automatically as the fire system’s lights and sirens kicked on. Ray ducked into the doorway as patrons began making for the exits. Ascending the stairs, he ran into the waiting room outside Salducci’s office. The boss emerged from his office holding a pistol by his side.
“What the fuck’s going on?” Salducci asked, moving toward Burnside. “Are we under attack?”
“Fire alarm,” Burnside said, as he walked casually toward the mob boss as if he was only there delivering news.
As he neared Salducci, Burnside lifted his arm and lunged ahead like an enraged bull. Ray’s muscular forearm connected hard with the soft flesh of the boss’s neck. Salducci tried to raise his gun, but it was too late. He went down hard. Ray grabbed the stunned boss by the shirt collar and dragged him into his office. He pulled Salducci over to the desk and struck him in the temple with a closed fist to make sure he was out. The boss groaned as he collapsed on the floor.
As Ray exited the office, he reached down for the grenade on his belt. Unclipping it, he walked toward the stairwell. Reaching the stairwell, he pulled the pin and tossed the grenade, over-handed, into the Mob Boss’s office. He went down the stairs, two-at-a-time as a thunderous, ear-piercing blast exploded above him.
Reaching the bar area, Burnside glanced over his shoulder and saw a fireball blast out from the office window overlooking the dance floor. He made it to the restaurant as the inferno spread and consumed the bar. By now, all the patrons and staff had been evacuated. Burnside cut through the restaurant and went out an emergency exit leading to a side alley. He could hear people on the sidewalk screaming as he skirted around a dumpster and made his way toward the alley’s opening.
Ray encountered a screaming, panicking mob of people running away from the Club as he stepped onto the sidewalk. He joined the crowd and moved with the flow toward the parking garage. Sirens wailed in the distance.
Ray ducked into the stairwell as he reached the parking garage. He ascended to the third level and searched for Alicia’s SUV. He spotted it quickly because it had its lights on. Alicia saw him too and drove toward him. Tires screeched as she pulled alongside him. Ray opened the passenger door and got in.
“What happened?” Alicia asked.
“I’ll tell you later. We have to leave,” Ray said.
Alicia took his word for it and descended the ramp toward the entrance. Rather than wait for the guard to raise the gate, she drove through it. Ray heard wood cracking as the SUV smashed the gate off its hinges. Alicia deftly avoided running over several panicked pedestrians and pulled onto the street.
Glancing over his shoulder, Ray saw flames and smoke erupting from the Club. Two fire engines with flashing lights were parked in the street shooting water into the inferno with little effect. The streets looked like a riot was in progress as throngs of people ran away from the Club. Alicia maneuvered expertly through the remnants of late night traffic as she headed toward the highway.
Chapter 60
Fortune’s Fool No Longer
“Alicia, I need you to make a stop before we go to the highway,” Burnside said.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea with the Mob after you?” Alicia asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Babe, there’s fifty-eight grand in a suitcase under the bed in my apartment.”
“I guess that’s a good enough reason.”
Alicia parked in front of Ray’s apartment building and kept the engine running while he ran inside. While he was in the apartment, he also grabbed some bottled waters and snacks for the road.
Burnside returned to the car and threw the briefcase packed with money in the back seat.
“It will come in handy while we’re on the run,” Ray said.
“I’m sure,” Alicia said, raising her left eyebrow.
When they reached the highway, Ray and Alicia headed South. Ray cracked the passenger’s window and lit a cigarette.
“I didn’t know you smoked,” Alicia said, frowning.
“This is my last one and then I’m done,” Ray said, smiling at her.
“Good, because I don’t date smokers,” Alicia said, returning his smile.
They drove through the night and Alicia stopped at a Bank of America the next morning to empty thirty grand from her bank account. They picked up breakfast at a drive-through and Ray took over behind the wheel. Alicia put the passenger seat back and fell asleep as Ray drove farther South. While she was sleeping, Ray cracked the window and lit another cigarette.
Burnside thought about how easy it was to get lost in a big city like LA after escaping from prison. Miami was like the LA of the South. There were white-sanded beaches and the weather was warm year-round. It wouldn’t be easy living on the run, but Ray had plenty of practice doing it. They had about eighty grand, which could be used to purchase new identities and even start up a business. If they became desperate, he could try to make some underworld connections in Miami.
Ray hated to resort to crime to survive, but it was better than going back to prison or getting whacked by the New York mob. He figured if worse came to worse, it would take a few years to build up a reputation in the Miami underworld and then he could go legit. He hoped that Alicia would be patient and stay with him until that time, but if not, there was one thing he was always good at; adapting to new situations. One way or the other, he would make it.
When they reached Miami, they stayed in a hotel on the beach. Ray kept track of the news on television. The attempted assassination of the NYC police lieutenant and his family made nationwide news. The complete destruction of the Palladin Club and the demise of the NYC Mob Boss during the same night also made it to the nationwide press. Police were hard-pressed to find a connection between the two events. For several weeks, the nation was focused on the crime problem in NYC before it faded into obscurity again. In response to his near-death experience, the NYC police lieutenant stepped up his Internal Affairs investigation into the connection between NYC cops and the New York Mob.
After relaxing on the beach for a week with Alicia, Ray bought a pre-paid, disposable cell phone and made a call to NYC. He dialed the NYC police department and asked to be transferred to the lieutenant. The dispatcher balked at first until Ray gave her information that only a person present at the attempted assassination of the lieutenant would know. Ray was transferred to a sergeant and he gave her the same info as the dispatcher. Finally, he was connected with the lieutenant.
“Lieutenant Campion,” the ex-Marine answered.
“You’re welcome,” Burnside said.
“Excuse me?” the Lieutenant asked.
“I said, you’re welcome,” Burnside repeated. “I’m the guy who took care of your four problems for you last week. Don’t tell me you forgot about the four Mob guys who tried to whack you and your entire family.”
“No, I haven’t forgotten,” Campion replied. “Who am I talking to?”
“LT, you wouldn’t believe me of I told you.”
“Try me.”
“Actually, I used to work for you. My name is Ray Burnside.”
“Ray Burnside? The cop who got sent away for fifteen years?”
“I see my reputation has preceded me, but the reality is I was set up. Some bad cops in your department set me up when they thought I was going to expose them. Those same cops are also connected to the NYC Mob. The former boss, Salducci, ordered a hit on you when you didn’t show any inclination to back off from your Internal Affairs investigation.”
“That’s some interesting information,” Campion said. “How do I know you are who you say you are?”
Burnside gave the Lieutenant a condensed history of what he had been up to since being convicted of trafficking cocaine. Ray provided Campion with details about the prison riot at the maximum-security facility that only an insider would know. He also desc
ribed his escape from the medium-security California facility and the subsequent work he did for the Mob to survive. This brought him to his connection with Salducci and his recent assassination assignment.
“Okay, so you are who you say you are,” Campion said. “Why don’t you turn yourself in and I’ll start an investigation into your false charges.”
“Sorry, LT, but that’s not going to happen. I can’t take the risk of you guys fucking up the investigation again and sending me back to prison. No offense.”
“Then, why are you calling me?”
“I’m calling to let you know that you’re on the right track with your investigation of the Strike Team; Pierce, Devlin, and the rest of the team are neck-deep in the Mob sewer. I’m sure if you dig deep enough into their financial records, you’ll find some interesting anomalies. I saw Devlin meeting with Salducci in his office at the club on the day of the attempted hit.”
“Ray, I appreciate the information you’re relaying to me, but I would strongly encourage you to return to New York and turn yourself in. I promise you’ll be treated fairly.”
“LT, you’re a good man and I don’t doubt that you would try do your best, but you’ll have to forgive me for not trusting the system a second time. It was a pleasure talking to you and I wish you the best of luck in indicting the corrupt scum that sent me to prison.”
“Ray, wait-”
Ray switched off the phone and crushed it under his heel on the sidewalk. He lit a cigarette as he made his way back to the hotel on the beach. Alicia was there waiting for him.
So far, things were going well for them in Miami. For five grand, they bought fake identities, which included fake social security numbers, on the black market. Alicia had already used her false information to obtain a local bartending gig and was earning a steady paycheck. Tomorrow, he was going to apply to be a personal trainer at the Miami Golds Gym, which he joined the day after arriving in town. Ray hoped that he and Alicia would survive and eventually prosper on their modest incomes. The last thing he wanted to do was return to a life of crime.
Author Bio
Shawn Davis grew up in the small town of Holliston, Massachusetts. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Salem State University, and he works as a police officer in a small New England town. Shawn also worked as a police lieutenant at a New England College for eleven years. Shawn's background in law enforcement lends authenticity to his action-packed thrillers.
Shawn is also the co-author of the real-life WW II adventure, Never Surrender, with his Great Uncle and protagonist of the story, Earl Anderson. Never Surrender describes Earl's intriguing adventures fighting the Japanese in the Philippines and surviving for three and a half years as a POW in Yokohama, Japan. Shawn also co-authored the Sci-Fi Thriller, American Insurrection, with his childhood friend, Robert Moore. American Insurrection is an action-packed, futuristic adventure story about a violent rebellion in the future United States. Shawn also authored the edgy horror thriller, Blood Kiss, which details the reign of terror of a coven of female vampires at a small New England college. Finally, he authored the gritty crime thriller, Diary of a Serial Killer, which is told from the perspective of a violent psychopath.
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