Runaway Justice (David Adams)

by Chad Zunker

  “My husband,” she said, noticing his stares.

  He turned to her. “You’re married?”

  “Not anymore. He died.”

  “Damn, Jess. I’m sorry. What happened?”

  “He was killed in the line of duty. Jeff and his partner were breaking up a heated exchange between two sidewalk crazies near the Capitol building. It got physical. One of them somehow got ahold of Jeff’s partner’s gun and discharged a bullet. My husband died instantly. We’d just celebrated our one-year anniversary.”

  David put two and two together. Two sidewalk crazies? She must’ve meant two erratic homeless guys. Which would account for her current disdain for that community.

  “I don’t know what to say, Jess. I can’t even—”

  She cut him off. “I’m fine, really. It was three years ago.” She quickly changed the subject. “You think Keith would let me review all of the facility’s security footage from yesterday?”

  “Probably. I’ll definitely ask him.”

  “I’ll go over there ASAP and see if I can spot anything unusual.”

  THIRTEEN

  As expected, Harry Zegers showed up at David’s office right as the sun was rising on the city. David’s cell phone had been buzzing incessantly for the past thirty minutes. All calls he’d ignored. If Zegers wanted to curse him out, David was going to make the man at least go to a lot of effort to do it.

  David was at his desk reviewing a file for another client when the pounding on the main office door rattled the walls. David made his way through the entry room, unlocked the door, and pulled it slightly back. Zegers was standing there scowling at him, along with one of his other agents.

  “Good morning, Harry,” David said. “Farley, is it?”

  Zegers got right to it. “You really screwed this up, didn’t you, David? You just had to play your lawyer games with me, and now we’ve all got a big mess on our hands. You’re lucky that kid didn’t hurt anyone.”

  “A normal person usually offers a ‘good morning’ in return.”

  Zegers ignored his quip. “Parker Barnes is clearly neck-deep in this whole damn thing, and now he’s gone. Poof! Disappeared! Because of you!”

  “You act like I drove the getaway car.”

  “Did you?”

  David sighed. “Do you want to come inside, Harry? Or just stand there yelling at me from the hallway?”

  David stepped out of the way and allowed both agents into the entry room. Farley immediately began sniffing around and poking his head into the other three rooms of the office suite.

  “Do you really think Parker is hiding out here?” David asked Zegers.

  Zegers crossed his arms. “We’ll leave no stone unturned.”

  “Well, unless you have a search warrant, keep your crony in check.”

  Zegers gave Farley a subtle nod, and the younger agent settled back into the entry room while also glaring at David.

  “Look, I don’t know why he took off,” David explained. “But that doesn’t mean he’s ‘neck-deep,’ as you say. The kid may just be a runner, which was how he ended up out on the streets in the first place.”

  “So you haven’t heard from him?”

  David was unsure how to answer that. On one hand, he wanted to find Parker and make sure he was safe. So any information he handed over might help with that. On the other hand, he didn’t trust Zegers and his crew to handle Parker with the appropriate care right now. He felt caught between a rock and a hard place.

  “You know I can’t divulge privileged client information.”

  Zegers cursed. “Where is he?”

  “I have no idea. I wish I did. I don’t want the kid on the streets.”

  “Neither do I but probably for different reasons. Just so you know, that kid is now a full-on suspect. I don’t care if he’s twelve years old. We will hunt him down and treat him as if he’s armed and dangerous.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Zegers grabbed his phone from his pocket, pulled something up on the screen, and showed it to David. “This is a photo of the shirt Parker was wearing the night in question. You see that circular stain right there on the front? It’s blood. And it’s not the kid’s blood. The blood is a match for the dead guy in the park. I’d say that’s ‘neck-deep,’ pal.”

  David felt punched in the gut with this news. It confirmed that Parker really had been at the scene of the crime the other night. “Where did you get the shirt?”

  “You think we’re small-town cops here, David? We’ve been out there investigating. We found Parker’s backpack near where he got picked up for theft. By the way, it matches the backpack worn by the kid in the security video—the kid you claimed was not your client.”

  “I never said it wasn’t my client. I said it was ambiguous.”

  “Well, it sure as hell isn’t ambiguous anymore. The kid was there that night. Whether he was actually involved with the death, we still don’t know yet—thanks to you. But we will certainly now pursue him as if he may have pulled the trigger himself.”

  “You need to settle down, Harry. He is still just a scared kid.”

  “Not in my eyes. I may have viewed him that way yesterday, if you’d allowed me to talk with him. But not anymore.”

  David felt a surge of panic push through him. The thought of a swarm of FBI agents out there hunting Parker down in the streets like a criminal scared the hell out of him. Maybe Zegers was right. Maybe he should have pushed harder yesterday to get Parker to tell him the truth about the scene in the video. Now the boy was in even more danger. Parker might get badly injured out there trying to run—or even worse.

  “I’ll do my best to help,” David genuinely offered.

  “You bet your ass you will,” Zegers sneered. “Because if I find out that you’re somehow aiding a suspect, I’ll throw your ass in jail for obstruction of justice. And I’ll take great pleasure in doing it.”

  As if the tension in the office wasn’t already thick enough, Jess showed up at that moment. She walked inside the office with her workbag in one hand and a small white sack in the other.

  Everyone turned to stare at her.

  “Looks like I’m late to the party,” she said. She held up the white sack. “But I brought doughnuts, if that helps.”

  “Jess?” Zegers said, clearly surprised to see her.

  She gave him a curt grin. “Oh, hey, Harry. How’re you?”

  “What are you doing here?”

  Instead of just telling him the truth, Jess walked over to where David stood, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then turned back to Zegers. “Bringing my boyfriend breakfast. What about you?”

  David watched as Zegers’s whole face flushed red. The agent didn’t respond to Jess; instead, he turned his attention back to David.

  “I mean it, David. If you find out where that kid is hiding, you’d better pick up the phone and call me ASAP—or else I’ll have your ass.”

  “Duly noted.”

  Zegers frowned at Jess and then stormed out with Farley on his heels.

  Shutting the door behind them, David turned to Jess. “Was that really necessary? That guy already wants to rip my head off.”

  She shrugged. “I could tell he had you in a corner. I didn’t like it.”

  David shook his head, smiled. “You really have doughnuts in there?”

  She handed him the bag. “Help yourself.”

  “Thanks. I’m starving.”

  He pulled out a glazed doughnut and took a big bite.

  “So, what did the blowhard have to say for himself?” Jess asked.

  “He’s now treating Parker like a suspect. They apparently found blood on the shirt Parker was wearing that night that matches the victim.”

  “Uh-oh. That’s not good.”

  “No, it’s not. Did you find out anything?”

  Jess had been with Keith for the past couple of hours, searching through all of the facility security camera footage from yesterday.

&nbs
p; “First off, Parker called you from a cell phone that he’d borrowed from a nineteen-year-old clerk named Lewis at a twenty-four-hour convenience store only four blocks away from the facility. The guy said a kid came into the store, claimed he was lost, needed to call his parents to come pick him up, and asked if he could borrow a phone. So the guy let him use his cell phone. He said the kid made a quick call in the corner of the store, gave him the phone back, real polite and all, and then left the store.”

  David finished off the doughnut. “Someone provoked him to make a run for it. You could tell he felt bad about it. He kept repeating how sorry he was in the voice mail.”

  “Agreed. And I think I found that someone.” She pulled an iPad out of her black leather bag. “I tried to follow Parker’s actions from the moment you left him there at the facility. As Keith told you, he was with Parker for most of the day. But not for all of it. This is footage of the courtyard when all the kids were outside running around and playing yesterday afternoon.”

  They huddled over the iPad together. The camera view was from the corner of the building. In the immediate foreground was the playground with the swing sets, climbing bars, and slides. The basketball court could be seen at a distance in the far-right corner of the screen. A grassy area was in the far-left corner of the screen leading up to the security fence.

  Jess pointed at the screen. “That’s Parker standing over there in the corner by the fence. Watch what happens next.”

  David squinted at the screen. For a moment, Parker was just standing there all by himself and kind of staring out toward the street. Then something seemed to get his attention. He turned, tilted his head, and took a couple of small steps forward to within a few feet of the fence. Suddenly, he visibly stiffened and stayed perfectly still.

  “There,” Jess said. “Look at this guy on the other side.”

  David leaned in farther. A guy with a goatee wearing a jean jacket stepped forward and stood directly across the fence from Parker. He looked like he was saying something, but Parker wasn’t responding to him. Then the guy pulled his jacket back for a moment.

  “What’s the guy doing?” David asked.

  “I don’t know. I can’t tell.”

  A couple of other boys kicked a soccer ball into the corner next to Parker. The man quickly closed his jacket and moved away from the fence. At this point, Parker began to take slow steps backward, almost tripping himself up because he wouldn’t stop staring at the guy. David could tell Parker was all tensed up about whatever had just happened.

  Jess pointed at the screen again. “The guy makes some kind of hand gesture right here. And then points at Parker.”

  David watched as Parker then turned and ran really fast through the courtyard until he was out of view of the camera. David took the iPad, slid the video bar back, and watched the guy in the jacket closely again.

  “That wasn’t just any hand motion,” David suggested.

  “What was it?”

  David formed his own fingers into a gun and showed her. “It was a finger gun like this. He aims it at Parker and pulls the trigger.”

  He rewound the video and showed her.

  “You’re right,” Jess agreed.

  They exchanged worried looks.

  David felt a chill crawl down his back. “Which means he probably had a real gun hidden beneath the jacket.”

  FOURTEEN

  At first, Richie Maylor thought the pounding he was hearing was only in his throbbing head. After all, he’d drunk himself silly last night with his buddy Manny and wasn’t even sure how he’d made it back to his crappy trailer. More pounding. Was it coming from construction next door? The old guy who owned the adjacent property was building some kind of big warehouse. Richie had been hearing construction rigs lately making a lot of banging. It often started before daylight. Which was as annoying as hell, considering Richie usually slept well past noon.

  Richie tried to stir but couldn’t will himself to move just yet. He was lying face-first on the dirty linoleum floor in the narrow kitchen of his trailer while still wearing his jeans, cowboy boots, and jacket. He must’ve passed out before ever getting back to bed. His head was hurting so much, he could barely open his eyes. Had he done more than just drinking last night? He couldn’t remember. Manny and his two older brothers always had their hands on the best new street drugs.

  The pounding finally stopped. Thank God, Richie thought, closing his eyes to go back to sleep. Then a loud gunshot suddenly rang out behind him, exploding part of his trailer somewhere, and scared the hell out of him. He flipped over, squinted back at the door, which had swung wide-open. Daylight was now pouring inside and blinding him. Although his vision was still blurry, Richie saw a shadow of a figure step into the trailer and move toward him. What the hell was going on? Had this guy just shot his way into his trailer? Richie tried to reach around and feel for his gun at his back. The guy met this movement with a swift kick to Richie’s gut. Richie gasped for breath and curled up in pain.

  “Don’t bother, you idiot. Just get yourself up.”

  Richie immediately recognized the gravelly voice. His boss had come to pay him a visit at home—which was never a good sign. Trying to catch his breath, Richie pushed himself up from the floor. First to his knees and then gradually to his wobbly feet. His head was swirling, but he knew he had to somehow pull it together. Why was his boss here? He steadied himself with a hand on a filthy kitchen counter overrun with crumpled beer cans and paper plates covered with dried-out old food. His boss was wearing one of his usual fancy suits with no tie and expensive black dress shoes.

  Richie licked his dry lips. “Hey, boss. What, uh . . . what’s going on?”

  “We got a big problem. The boy disappeared.”

  Richie tried to make sense of that. “Disapp . . . what do you mean? He’s over at that children’s home.”

  “Not anymore. He busted out of that joint last night, you moron. You should’ve put a bullet in him when you had the chance.”

  “I couldn’t just shoot him in broad daylight. In front of all those other kids. Right? So I just tried to scare him enough to keep his mouth shut until I could get closer to him somehow. That place was locked up tight. I didn’t know he could make a run for it.”

  “Well, you were wrong. He did.”

  The gun his boss had used to shoot open his trailer door was still clutched in his right hand. Was he there to kill him? Again, Richie wondered where he’d put his own damn gun. It was not at his back.

  As if reading his mind, his boss said, “I’m not here to shoot you. Yet. I’m giving you one last chance to find that kid, and silence him. But this time, you have to put a bullet in him, Richie. I don’t care if it’s in broad daylight. I don’t care if you’re sitting in a crowded church next to your mother. You take that kid out without hesitation. You understand me?”

  Richie nodded, again relieved. “I will. I promise.”

  His boss took a look around the trailer. “This place is absolutely disgusting. You should be ashamed to live like this.”

  “I’ll get it cleaned up, I swear.”

  His boss headed back toward the door.

  Richie reluctantly stopped him. “Hey, boss, I could use some help on this thing. It’s a big city, you know.”

  His boss turned around, bunched up his face. “Then get some damn help.”

  “Well, it’s just . . . I’m a little short on cash right now.”

  Richie remembered now how he’d gambled away the last $200 in his pocket last night playing cards with Manny and his two older brothers. He’d had two pairs—queens and jacks—but then Manny’s brother Carlos got the flush. They damn near came to fists over it.

  Staring at him with narrowed eyes, Richie’s boss looked like he might have changed his mind about shooting him. Instead, he spit on the floor, took a big wad of cash out of his pocket, and tossed it onto the tattered carpet in front of Richie.

  “Just so you know, Richie. When I do have you killed, it wo
n’t be with a bullet. That’s too quick and easy. No, you’ll die real slow. We’ll take one piece of you at a time. It’ll last all day. You’ll get to feel every bit of it. Maybe we’ll go get your mom and sister, too. It’ll be a family affair.”

  FIFTEEN

  By midmorning, David had managed to round up his boys from the Camp and gather them in the entry room of his office. He needed all the help he could get if he was going to somehow find Parker before the FBI did. That was no small task. Zegers acted like he was hitting the streets with fifty agents. David had four homeless guys on his investigative team. But these men were like his family. And he really needed his family right now.

  Doc stood in one corner, arms crossed, glasses on, looking very much like the stately history teacher he had once been in life. Larue sat at the round table finishing off the glazed doughnuts Jess had brought. A young man of twenty-one with hair in cornrows, Larue wore baggy jeans and a black Miami Heat sweatshirt hoodie. Born to a crack-addicted mother, Larue had been saved from the streets by Benny two years ago. The kid was a music savant who, without having ever taken a formal lesson, had managed to get himself a steady gig playing the piano over at Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar. Shifty sat next to him. A small and thin seventysomething man with wisps of bright-white hair sticking out over both ears, Shifty was a former truck driver who had been David’s original tour guide when he’d first visited the Camp last year. Shifty never stopped smiling, even with half his teeth missing. Curly leaned against the wall wearing his usual denim jacket, jeans, and work boots. In his forties with a mop of brown hair, Curly was great with a tool belt and could fix just about anything. David regularly had him in the office to repair broken doors, replace wooden floor slits, build shelving units, and do other assorted projects.

  David stood in the center of the room. “Doc, thanks again for driving around and picking everyone up. I appreciate you guys coming here.”

  “You bet,” Doc said.

  “Some of you have already said hello, but I wanted to more formally introduce Jess Raven.” David turned and motioned toward Jess, who sat in a chair in the far corner. “Jess is a professional investigator who is here this week to assist me. I feel very fortunate to have her valuable services at such a critical time. She’s already been a huge help.”