Shooting Star

by Bradley Wright

  “It was the black SUV,” Claudia said. “Whoever killed Clint must have been the guy leaving when we came in.”

  “He’s got Lexi and Taylor.” Lawson looked back toward the end of the slip. “You sure Lexi’s phone didn’t move?”

  Claudia checked her phone where she had been tracking Lexi’s phone. “It’s still here.”

  “Who the hell is she?” Cassie groaned. “I leave you for five minutes and you replace me?”

  “It’s Frank’s partner. Long story. Don’t get up.” As he was walking toward the water, he said to Claudia, “Go get ahead of this with the police. Make sure we can get out of here.”

  “On it.”

  Lawson stopped. “Did you happen to get the license plate on that SUV?”

  “I did. And I’ve already got some people running it and trying to track it down.”

  Lawson nodded, then jogged down to the end of the boat slip. He sent up some silent prayers to Lauren, asking her to watch over their daughter since he clearly couldn’t do it himself. Amidst the blood, shell casings, and a couple dead men floating in the water, he noticed Lexi’s pink cell phone case at the edge of the slip. He walked over and picked it up. He hit the button that brought up her lock screen, and hovering above a picture of Lexi and her mother were the two missed calls he’d placed to her on the drive there.

  The good news was that he didn’t find her dead there on that dock.

  The bad news was she had fallen once again into the hands of some men who meant to do her harm. And it was all because of him. Of all the places he could have moved his daughter to keep her safe, he had to choose Los Angeles. And the past he’d been doing everything possible to forget just kept returning to drag him back to hell.

  Lawson didn’t know who was driving that black Tahoe that had his daughter inside it. And he didn’t know who that man worked for. But if he could just get his daughter back one more time, he and Lexi were going to disappear from these situations forever. No matter how far he had to run.

  And the minute she was safe, every person who had said even so much as a “hello” to the people responsible for this were going to disappear too. Forever.

  38

  Claudia was able to walk Lawson and Cassie right by the police. FBI credentials tend to have those types of benefits. Her people had also found out whom the black SUV was registered to: the Los Angeles Police Department. It was easy to track because it was fitted with the LoJack recovery system, and they could watch every turn the Tahoe took. Lawson could see that it was driving on the 10 Freeway, heading back to Los Angeles. He could also see, in his mind’s eye, his baby girl in the back, scared to death.

  “Can’t you go any faster?” Lawson said to Claudia from the backseat.

  “I’m going a hundred miles per hour, Lawson. There isn’t much more I can do. We’re going to find them. Just hang on.”

  Lawson said to Cassie, “You should have gone with the police. Let them take you to a hospital.”

  “I’m fine. Just a headache. Let’s just get to Lexi.”

  “I can’t believe Taylor was working for Victoria.” Lawson stared out the window. “I can’t believe she could do this to Lexi. She just didn’t seem the type.”

  “I don’t think she is the type,” Cassie said.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “I talked to her on the phone when those men were after them. She was doing everything she could to get Lexi out of there.”

  “But she is the reason Lexi was in trouble to begin with.”

  “I know, and I’m telling you she made a mistake. She was being blackmailed and she let them convince her that no one would get hurt. She didn’t even know Lexi would be involved.”

  “And you believe her? Why? Because you like her movies?”

  “No, Lawson, because I heard her on that phone call. She was desperate. She would have done anything to make it right. I’m not saying she was innocent in this. I’m just saying she tried to save Lexi before they got to her.”

  Lawson shook his head and looked back out the window. The chain of events that had led to where they were was staggering. He was going absolutely crazy waiting in that car. Nowhere to go, nothing he could do. All the adrenaline from earlier was still lingering and it was driving him nuts. He felt a hand on his knee.

  “Would you please stop?” Cassie said. “You’re shaking the entire truck.”

  Claudia said, “The SUV isn’t moving.”

  “Already?” Lawson perked up. “They haven’t had enough time to get to LA.”

  “Well, it’s stopped, and we’re not far from it. I know how this sounds, but it looks like it’s stopped right in the middle of the freeway.”

  Lawson’s stomach dropped. That couldn’t be good news.

  He pulled out the phone that Frank had given him. He had felt it vibrating almost continuously out on the docks. When he looked at it, he saw fourteen missed calls from Frank. Without thinking, he tapped on the missed call and dialed Frank back.

  “Lawson, you’d better—”

  “Stop talking.” Lawson cut him off. “Right now my daughter is in the back of an LAPD SUV, with one of your men. You’d better tell him to let her out right now, or I will come for you until you’re dead. I won’t stop until then.”

  “It’s not my man. All of the men I sent for Taylor and Lexi are dead. You’re telling me it isn’t you in that SUV?”

  Lawson was once again blindsided. If Frank was right, and it wasn’t his man with Lexi, there was only one other possibility.

  “How do you know all of your men are dead?”

  “The police on the scene reported back about the massacre you just left. I don’t have to tell you that if it isn’t you in that SUV, and it isn’t one of my men, that it is absolutely one of Martin Sloan’s.”

  No, he didn’t have to tell Lawson that. The realization should have hit him the moment Sloan shot Hector with such ease. Lawson clearly had been out of the detective game for far too long. His instincts were completely shot. There wasn’t just one person responsible for this mess; it was everyone he had ever suspected. All of them working a different agenda, but all of them working against him. Lawson understood in that moment that they hadn’t just wanted him to help them get what they wanted. All of them—Sloan, Frank, and apparently Victoria Marshall too—they all wanted to use Lawson as a scapegoat. They had been planning all along that once Lawson got someone what they wanted, he would take the fall. Just like ten years ago. But it wasn’t ten years ago. And he wasn’t going to be anyone’s patsy, and he wasn’t going to lose his daughter either.

  “Am I coming in clear, Frank?”

  “What?”

  “I just want to make sure you can hear what I’m about to say, loud and clear.”

  “I hear you.”

  “I’m not sure what resources you have left at your disposal, Frank. But you’d better call them in. All of them. Because you’re going to need every last one of them to keep me from getting to you. And it still won’t be enough. I’ll see you soon, you son of a bitch. And I’ll be the last thing you ever see.”

  Lawson ended the call. Before anyone in the car had a chance to react to Lawson’s threat, Claudia swerved out to the shoulder to avoid the traffic standstill.

  “What the hell is going on?” Cassie said. She was craning her neck to see the wall of cars through the windshield.

  “Lawson, we are right on top of the SUV now,” Claudia said. “I’m afraid it may have something to do with this traffic jam.”

  A second later the wall of cars to his left gave way to a wide open space in the freeway. In that space was a black SUV turned upside down right in the middle lane. Claudia drove up close to the overturned Tahoe. Lawson could see Taylor on all fours, halfway out of the back door, her upper body reaching back inside, feverishly pulling on something. Panic rushed through Lawson’s body.

  He jumped out of the truck and ran over to Taylor. He smelled gasoline and he could hear his baby girl screaming.
He grabbed Taylor by her hips and pulled her out of the way so hard that she went flailing onto the concrete several feet behind him. He dove to the ground and crawled inside. Lexi was hanging upside down, trying to get her seatbelt undone.

  “Daddy!” she screamed. Tears were running down her frightened face. They were mixed with blood coming from somewhere on her head.

  Lawson reached in and pressed the release button on the seatbelt. But it was jammed. Maybe he was just that strong or maybe it was the adrenaline, but when he pulled on the seatbelt insert, it snapped right out of the buckle and Lexi fell into his arms. He pulled her from the Tahoe and walked over to the truck. Lexi threw her arms around his neck. The greatest feeling in the world.

  “I’m sorry!” Taylor shouted. But Lawson just walked right by her. He didn’t even look her way.

  Cassie opened the back door of the pickup truck, and Lawson sat Lexi inside.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay, Dad.”

  “You’re sure?” He wiped some blood from her forehead and the tears from her cheeks. “You’re bleeding.”

  “I’m sure. I’m okay. Is Taylor okay?”

  His daughter clearly didn’t know that Taylor was responsible for this. But he knew it wouldn’t have mattered if she did. She would still want to know if Taylor was fine. Lawson looked back over his shoulder at Taylor. She was bloody and crying, and somehow Lawson wanted to know, too, if she was okay. He looked back at Lexi and wiped away the next round of tears.

  “She saved us, Dad. The guy driving us said we were both dead, and Taylor saved us. She jumped on him and got the gun away from him. The gun went off and she screamed, but she got it from him and she shot him when he tried to get it back. That’s why we wrecked. Make sure she’s okay, please.”

  Lawson looked back over his shoulder just in time to watch Taylor collapse to the pavement. Cassie and Claudia rushed over to her.

  “Dad!” Lexi shouted.

  Sirens were on their way in the distance. The trail of cars stretched back a mile at that point, and a lot of them were laying on their horns, not concerned at all with who was hurt but only with why they couldn’t pass. Some were even driving around the Tahoe on the far end. But Lawson didn’t see or hear any of it. His daughter was safe. And he had to make sure she stayed that way.

  “Dad, let me go see if she’s okay.”

  More tears. Lawson nodded and let her walk over to them. Lawson pulled his Sig Sauer and stalked back toward the upside-down Tahoe. There was nothing he could do for Taylor that the three of them couldn’t. His mind had already shifted to what was next. Whom would he go after first? And finding out who this driver was and who’d hired him was a great place to start.

  39

  The man hanging from his seatbelt in the driver’s seat of the overturned Tahoe was dead. He was Hispanic, judging by the color of his skin and the name on his driver’s license—Diego Acevedo. His name meant nothing to Lawson. Before turning back to help with Taylor, Lawson tossed both of the phones Frank had given him inside the SUV. He didn’t need them, and he didn’t want Frank tracking him with them either. Or with the truck, which also meant they needed a new car. He grabbed the phone lying on the interior roof just above the dead man’s head. The last calls or texts this guy made would most certainly have been to whoever wanted to kidnap Lexi. Taylor may have not only saved Lexi but also inadvertently provided the key for Lawson’s next move.

  Before he could check the numbers on the phone, Cassie came running up to him. Police cars and ambulances were also pulling up.

  “Lawson, Taylor’s been shot.”

  Lawson couldn’t put his finger on the feeling he had. Or why he had it. Taylor had put his daughter in grave danger, yet he still wanted to get her help. Maybe it was the fact that she took a bullet trying to save Lexi. Or was she just trying to save herself? He was confused on every level, but one thing was clear: even though he didn’t want to, he cared about Taylor.

  “Dad! Come here! Taylor’s awake and she wants to tell you something!”

  Lawson looked at Cassie. Cassie knew what he wanted without having to say anything. She went to find them a new ride while he went to see Taylor. When he got over to her, they had removed the zip-up she had on, and her tank top was red with blood from the gunshot wound in her stomach.

  He took a knee beside her. “Save your energy. You’re going to be okay.”

  “I’m sorry,” she managed. “I’m sorry I—”

  “Like I said, save your energy. If all you want to do is apologize, just keep it to yourself for now. Lexi’s okay, that’s all that matters to me. I’m going to get the paramedics over here.”

  Lawson started to stand, but she caught his arm. Her voice was hoarse. “I am sorry, but that’s not the only thing I need to say.”

  Lawson leaned down to hear her. The bustle of the traffic was growing more impatient, and the police had yet to kill their sirens. Not to mention the news helicopter that was now hovering above the freeway.

  “The man in the truck—”

  “Don’t worry, he’s dead.”

  Taylor shook her head. “No, not that . . . I know him.”

  That piqued Lawson’s interest. When he glanced up, the paramedics were opening the back of the ambulance. He figured he’d save some time, so he scooped Taylor up into his arms.

  She took a deep breath and continued. “He’s the guy. The guy who shot me in your driveway.”

  Lawson was walking her over to the ambulance. “But you said you had a bag over your face. That you never saw him.”

  She shook her head again and winced in pain. “It’s his voice. I’m telling you, it was him.”

  Lawson nodded. “I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  “You have to believe me.” Taylor paused to wince again and grabbed at her side. “I had no idea Victoria meant to do so much harm. I was stupid and desperate . . .”

  Again she stopped, the pain overtaking her.

  “Just get better. I’ll handle the rest.”

  Lawson laid her on the gurney, and Lexi came running up, grabbing Taylor’s hand. “You’ll be okay, Taylor. You saved my life.”

  The paramedics wheeled Taylor up into the back of the ambulance. Lexi ran over to Lawson and threw her arms around him. He watched as Cassie and Claudia spoke to the police, trying to relay what happened.

  “Do you think she’s going to be okay?” Lexi asked. Her bright blue eyes sparkled in the late afternoon sun. Tears welled around them.

  “I’m not sure, sweetheart.”

  Lexi buried her head in Lawson’s chest. Once again his social cues were off. His daughter only needed a comforting statement from her father, but instead he increased her worry. He squeezed her and ushered her over to the oncoming Cassie and Claudia.

  Cassie pointed to Claudia. “It’s a good thing we’ve got her here. Otherwise, we’d be on our way to jail.”

  Claudia nodded. “I have a car. We need to get out of here. There’s no telling what Frank might do next. We have to find him.”

  Lawson shook his head. “We have to find out who Diego Acevedo worked for.”

  “Who?” Cassie said.

  “Diego Acevedo?” Claudia was surprised. “Martin Sloan’s number one enforcer? Why?”

  Lawson thumbed over his shoulder. “He’s the dead guy hanging from the seatbelt. What the hell is going on, Claudia?”

  “We have a file on him a mile long. Frank had an entire schedule surrounding what Diego was up to and who he was dealing with.”

  Lawson said to Cassie, “Taylor said he was the one who shot her in my driveway.”

  “What?” Claudia shaded her eyes from the sun. “Taylor Lockhart was shot in your driveway? What the—”

  “I’ll fill you in on the drive to Sloan’s office.” Then to Cassie: “If Diego works for Sloan, then Sloan had to be the one to set me up by having Taylor shot near my house. But Victoria claimed she was the one responsible for Taylor being involved—”

>   Cassie said, “And Taylor confirmed that when I first spoke to her, when she was trying to lose Frank’s men in Malibu. Somebody is lying.”

  “No shit, Sherlock.” Lawson quipped. “They all can’t be working together. We have to find out who is either being blackmailed, lying, or both.”

  “Well, that ought to be easy,” Cassie said, her sarcasm in full force. “Most people are really up-front about that kind of information.”

  Lawson looked at Claudia. “Any chance Frank has a special stash of files?”

  “I’d say there’s a good chance.”

  “Any idea where?”

  Claudia took a moment to think about it. “Now that you mention it, maybe. But it won’t be easy to get to because he always has it with him.”

  “You mean his phone?” Cassie said.

  “No,” Lawson said. “He’s old-school, remember?”

  “He’s right,” Claudia said. “He keeps a notebook. One of those with folders as section dividers. Never lets it out of his sight.”

  “Then that’s where we start.”

  “Lawson, he just tried to kidnap your daughter,” Cassie said. “You think he’s going to hand you a notebook?”

  “No.” Lawson smirked. “But I can be very persuasive.”

  40

  On the way to FBI headquarters in Los Angeles, where Claudia found out Frank and his notebook were currently positioned, Lawson filled in Claudia on any missing details about the past few days. Cassie chimed in as well. Lawson couldn’t tell you what Cassie said after a certain point. He began spinning all the details in his own mind.

  He started really piecing it together considering what happened at the marina. If it were really Frank’s guys who had shown up in the Tahoe, which Claudia had confirmed was registered to LAPD, but then it was Sloan’s enforcer driving it when it crashed, that meant that Sloan’s enforcer took out all of Frank’s dirty cops at the marina. In Lawson’s mind that proved Frank and Sloan weren’t working together.

  And so did Claudia’s earlier comment that Frank would do anything to take Sloan down. Not to mention the fact that Sloan had Frank nearly beaten to death, embarrassing him with the FBI. That made it even more unlikely the two would ever be on the same side. It seemed there’s nothing Frank wouldn’t do, including breaking the law, to give Sloan some payback.