I managed a nod and rushed out of the room, holding my hand over my nose and breathing through my mouth. In the hall, I glanced his way. “Is my partner going to be okay? Are there harmful chemicals in that vat or is it just… you know… poop?”
“He’ll be fine. We have protocols in place for something like this.” He was thinking that they’d never had to use them before today, but at least they had procedures to follow. It should be enough to keep my partner’s exposure to the harmful bacteria at a minimum.
Eww… my stomach roiled, and I clenched my teeth to keep the nausea away.
The worker led me to a break room with a comfortable couch along one side of the wall. It didn’t smell bad in here, and the windows looked out over a nice lawn area with shade trees and flowers.
“Please have a seat. We’ll have your partner back to you in no time.”
“Okay… thanks. Uh… the guy with him needs to come with us as well. We’re arresting him, so don’t let him go.”
The man’s brows rose, but he nodded and left. I turned my gaze out the window and took a couple of deep breaths to get under control. Still… just thinking about Dimples falling into a vat full of raw sewage sent shudders through me.
Luckily, I only had to wait about half an hour before the door opened, and Dimples stepped inside. He wore white coveralls with slippers on his feet. His face was drawn, and he carried a large, plastic bag containing his clothes, along with a smaller bag holding his phone, wallet, and gun. With his hair poking up in all directions, and his skin a little pink, he looked like he’d been through a car wash.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Totally humiliated, he didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m fine. I’ve got Jinx. Let’s go. ”
“Okay.”
I followed Dimples into the hall where another worker stood beside Jinx, who was wearing handcuffs and a smirk. Dimples took Jinx’s arm and led him out of the building. After stuffing Jinx in the backseat, Dimples opened the trunk and threw his dirty clothing inside, but kept the bag with his personal items with him.
He came back around and got in the car. I settled down in the passenger seat and wrinkled my nose. Even though they’d both been detoxed, the smell was still pretty bad. “Did they spray you guys with something?”
“Yes.” Dimples glanced my way. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone at the precinct what happened.”
I raised a brow. “Uh… but… don’t we need to put it in a report or something?”
A low growl escaped from his throat, and I picked up his humiliation that he’d fallen in a tank of shit. The guys would never let him forget it. If I valued our partnership at all, I would keep it to myself.
“Oh… right. Sure. Of course. I won’t tell a soul, but how are you going to explain your nice, white coveralls?”
He had another set of clothes in his locker. He’d change as soon as we got there.
“But what about him?” I motioned toward Jinx.
“You can put him in a room. Just wait for me there.”
“Okay.” I didn’t want to point out that plenty of officers would know something was up with the way Jinx was dressed… and the way he smelled was bound to draw attention. Even if Dimples changed his clothes, someone would probably see him in his white coveralls. “I won’t say a word, but if someone figures it out, don’t blame me.”
Dimples responded by flattening his lips, and giving me a terse nod. After parking at the station, we parted ways, and I managed to get Jinx into an interrogation room. Several minutes later, Dimples joined us.
After taking one look at Jinx, Dimples motioned me out into the hall. Even though he’d changed, he hadn’t planned on needing shoes, so he didn’t have any. He’d managed to find a pair in a lost-and-found crate, close to his size, so that worked.
He’d turned in his gun for a replacement, but kept his wallet and badge, even though they were both a little soggy. Still, he couldn’t seem to get the smell out of his nose, and it was killing him.
“Feeling any better?”
“Don’t mention it… literally. Don’t.”
I swallowed down a chuckle. “I’ll try. But you have to admit—” He lifted his index finger to threaten me, and my eyes widened. “Okay. You got it, partner.”
He shook his head and pursed his lips, thinking that, of all the horrible things he’d been through, this was probably the worst. “Let’s get back to Jinx. What did you pick up? We don’t really have a witness, so what was that all about?” Dimples worried that we could even hold this guy since we didn’t have any solid evidence against him.
“I know, but he thought that the only way we could possibly know he’d killed Troy was because we had a witness, so I went with it.” I explained everything Jinx had been thinking about Troy, his debt, and that Troy had threatened to expose Jinx and the whole vigilante group.
“Wait… so Troy actually threatened to expose them?”
I shrugged. “I guess. Jinx was thinking he’d have to kill the witness, or Redman would kill him first.”
Dimples rubbed his chin. “We might be able to work with that.”
“How?”
“We make him a deal. If we can get him to turn on Redman, we could put a stop to their whole operation. Let me give Grizzo a call. He’s been working with vice, and I think they’ve been watching The Punishers. It would be a real accomplishment for us if we could take them down.”
I hadn’t seen Grizzo for a while, and I didn’t want to see him now. Not long ago, he’d found out about my ties to Uncle Joey, but he hadn’t pursued it because I’d handed the ringleaders of a drug operation to him on a silver platter. Seeing me, he was sure to remember all that, and I’d be on his radar again.
Dimples put the call through to Grizzo, and the man came right up. He hadn’t expected to see me, but, after we explained what we had, he forgot all about my ties to organized crime.
“Do you know what this means?” His eyes widened. “We’ve been trying to get Redman off the streets for months. He’s the biggest gun runner in the city. Do you think this guy you’ve got will cooperate?”
Dimples nodded. “If he thinks we’ve got him dead to rights on the murder charge, he might, especially if we convince him we have a witness.”
Grizzo could hardly believe his luck. “Let’s see what we can do. Why don’t you and Shelby go talk to him, and I’ll watch from the observation room. When he’s ready to make a deal, I’ll come in.”
I followed Dimples into the interrogation room and picked up pretty fast that Jinx had decided he wasn’t talking to us without a lawyer. That might be bad, but, since I’d pick up everything from his mind, he didn’t need to say a word. I just didn’t like having Grizzo watching me, but there was nothing for it now.
Dimples picked up right where I’d left off at the sewage treatment plant, telling Jinx that we had an eye witness who put him at the scene of the crime. “You’re going down for murder in the first degree, and that doesn’t even count the body in the crematorium.”
Jinx flinched. If we’d found out about Ryan Cox, he was done for. Redman would never trust him again, no matter what he said or did.
“We know it was Ryan Cox, so you might as well stop pretending.” At his gasp, I leaned forward. “But today’s your lucky day. Detective Harris has a deal for you. It’s a way out, where you don’t end up dead. I’d consider it if I were you.”
Jinx focused on me, his eyes big and his mind blown. “This makes no sense. How could you know?”
I sat back in my chair. “Like I said, we have a witness. You’re going down no matter what. In fact, it might be just what Redman wanted.” I shrugged. “It almost seems like he set you up to take the fall.”
Jinx’s brows drew together. How could that be? Would Redman really do that? His lips twisted with the answer. If Redman had known, or even suspected, that Jinx had taken a few jobs of his own, it was a definite possibility. In fact, it was the only thing that made sen
se. Redman must have set him up because he wanted the competition eliminated.
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” I continued. “So the question remains; do you want to take Redman down? You know you can. He’s the bigger fish we’re after, and now’s your only chance to do it. So do you want the deal or not?”
“Fine. I’ll take the deal. What do you want to know?”
His eagerness took Dimples by surprise. Wow… I really was a miracle worker. Dimples shrugged, trying to keep a straight face so Jinx wouldn’t know how excited he was. “We need something on Redman.”
Jinx’s face turned gray. Double-crossing Redman was a big risk, but what choice did he have? At least this way, he might get out of this alive, and he’d get revenge on the lying bastard.
“I might have something I can offer you, but you have to make it worth my while.” He was thinking about the shipment of guns that was coming in today. If he gave us the place and time, Redman would go down for sure.
“Is it about a gun shipment happening today? That would certainly do the trick.”
Jinx blinked. “How… how did you know?”
I shrugged. “That’s not for me to say. But if you give us the place and time, I’m sure we could cut you a deal.” I turned to the mirror. “Right, Grizzo?”
A few seconds later, the door flew open, and Grizzo stepped in. He was thinking that I’d blown this case wide open. If he could catch Redman red-handed during a gun deal, it would be huge.
He glanced at Jinx and introduced himself. “I’m a specialist with the vice squad, and I’m here to make you a deal.”
Jinx and Grizzo bargained for several long moments before Jinx finally agreed to a lesser sentence in return for his cooperation. “But you’d better hurry.” Jinx glanced at the clock. “The deal’s going down in an hour.”
Both Dimples and Grizzo swore in their minds, thinking it wasn’t enough time. Jinx told them where the exchange was taking place, and Grizzo left to mobilize a swat team.
Dimples motioned me out of the room, and Jinx protested. “Hey. What about me?”
“If this all works out, you’ll get your deal.” Dimples told an officer to process Jinx’s arrest, and we hurried to Grizzo’s office.
Grizzo was on the phone, but Dimples spoke as soon as he hung up. “Shelby and I will head over there now to see what we’re up against. I’ll radio what we see, and you can get into place. We’ll let you know when the guns arrive, and then we can storm the warehouse.”
“Sounds good.” Grizzo nodded. “Go.”
As we left Grizzo’s office, Dimples caught my gaze. “I know I’m asking a lot after everything you’ve been through, but I’d like you to come, just in case you can pick up anything.” He raised a hand to cut off my protest. “But you can stay in the car when it all goes down. You won’t be in any danger, I promise. Will that work?”
How could I turn him down when he looked at me with those big, brown, puppy-dog eyes? “All right, I can do that.” Since I was his partner, I should be going with him, but just the thought of being involved in a shoot-out was enough to give me heartburn.
We stopped at his desk on the way out. He pulled out a handgun, checked the chamber, and grabbed a clip of bullets, stuffing them into his jacket pocket. He didn’t want to leave me defenseless, even if I was just staying in the car.
“That’s for me?”
“Yes. Don’t argue.”
My brows rose. Did he just say that out loud? Of course, he knew how I felt about guns, especially considering that I’d avoided going to the gun range for weeks. But I was better now. Geez.
We climbed into his car and pulled out of the parking lot. As we drove along, a terrible smell wafted through the entire car, and I wrinkled my nose. “Are your clothes still in the trunk?”
“Damn.” Dimples shook his head. He’d been hoping they were salvageable, but now he knew that was out of the question. The smell got worse, even with the air conditioning on high. He finally pulled into a store parking lot and followed a side alley to the back to find a dumpster.
Taking the bag from his trunk, he threw it in the dumpster and got back in the car. As we continued, the smell subsided, but didn’t completely disappear. Since he’d thrown out his bag of clothes, did that mean it was him? It wasn’t too bad, so I swallowed and pressed my lips together, deciding not to say anything.
We drove to a part of town that had seen better days. A few small businesses fronted the street, alongside a collection of others that had been abandoned. The building we needed was part of an old car dealership, with a service center in the back corner where the exchange would take place.
Dimples pulled to the curb on a side street that gave us a partial view of the service center. A metal, roll-up garage door fronted the street, and we watched it closely. Dimples radioed in our position and told everyone to stay clear until we had a visual on the shipment.
While we waited, Dimples handed me the gun and clip. “You should load that, just in case you need it.”
I frowned, but did as he asked, making sure I had the safety on before setting it on the floor by my feet. I also rolled down my window for some fresh air. Now that we were here, my stomach clenched with nerves. Even though the smell wasn’t too bad at the moment, I didn’t want to risk throwing up.
“This is happening so quickly. Will Grizzo have enough back-up to go in?”
“Yes. There are usually enough police officers to come in at a moment’s notice on something like this, even if the SWAT team is unavailable. We’ll be fine.”
Just minutes later, a black SUV pulled up to the garage door. A man jumped out and rolled up the metal door to the service center. While he waited for the SUV to drive inside, he glanced up and down the street. After the car drove in, he took another cautious glance before stepping inside and pulling the metal door back down.
With my window rolled down, I had picked up the man’s thoughts about the guns in the back of the SUV, and that Redman better have the money ready, since he didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary. I also picked up his eagerness for a job coming up, but I lost the rest when the door closed. “It’s them. He was thinking about the guns in the SUV.”
Dimples spoke into his radio. “It’s a go. The guns have arrived. All units close in.”
Several police cars pulled up, and Dimples left me in the car to join the other officers. As they took up their positions in front of the service center, I recognized Dante Mitchell as part of the SWAT team. He must have volunteered to help. With hand signals, they coordinated the attack. Counting down, one of the team members pulled the garage door open, and they charged inside.
The yelling and shooting started, sending shivers down my spine. I automatically grabbed the gun by my feet and held it carefully, just in case. More gunfire sounded, but I couldn’t tell what was going on from here.
On the side of the building, close to my position, a man toppled out of a window. He struggled to his feet and took off at a run. I grabbed the radio. “A man just left the building. I’m in pursuit.”
I jumped out of the car, just as he rounded the corner and came toward me. Pointing my gun at him, I yelled. “Stop right there! Get your hands in the air.”
He skidded to a stop, but, instead of raising his hands, he turned and ran back the way he’d come. Shocked, I swore and ran after him. He dodged around a couple of parked cars and then headed toward an empty parking lot. I followed him, not sure what I was doing. I didn’t want to shoot him, but I didn’t want him to get away, either.
At the end of the parking lot, he ran around a corner, and I lost sight of him. I slowed before stepping around the corner and found him at the end of an alley. He tried to climb up the tall, brick wall that blocked his way, but he wasn’t having any luck.
This time, I remembered to flip off the safety and raised my gun in his direction. “Get your hands in the air and turn around.”
He whipped around, and his face slackened in surprise. Dipping his
hand into his pocket, he pulled out a gun and took a shot at me.
Luckily, I knew he was going to shoot before he did, and I managed to duck behind a steel container. He fired a couple more shots and began to stalk toward me. Knowing I was a sitting duck, I popped up, pointing the barrel in his direction. I squeezed off a shot, but, since I’d scrunched my eyes shut, it didn’t come close to hitting him.
Keeping my eyes open this time, I fired a couple more shots, but my aim didn’t get any better, and time was running out.
He took another shot at me, and I ducked down. With his footsteps coming closer, I began to panic. I took another shot at him and managed to slip around the corner, just as a bullet from his gun hit the ground where I’d been.
Apparently, I couldn’t hit the side of a barn, so running back to the car seemed like my best option. Hearing the man’s footsteps approaching, I took off running. As I ran across the parking lot, I realized I had no cover out here in the open, so I picked up the pace.
A figure in black came running toward me, and I recognized Dante. From his mind, I picked up his horror that the man had come out of the alley and was raising his gun to shoot me in the back. With a startled breath, I dropped to the ground and rolled to the side, leaving Dante with a clear line of fire.
The guns went off, one right after the other. I cringed, but felt no pain and waited for another shot. Hearing nothing, I cautiously raised my head. Dante sprinted toward me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing back toward the other guy, I found him crumpled and unmoving on the ground.
“Are you okay?” Dante reached my side and knelt down, letting his gaze rove over me for any signs of blood.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you all right?”
“Me? Yes. Of course.” He couldn’t understand why I was asking him that. He had a rifle, and that guy was aiming for me, not him. “How did you know?”
“I saw you with the rifle earlier… when you went into the garage.”
His brow creased. What was I talking about? “No… I mean him.” He pointed toward the gang member.
“Oh… you mean… how did I know to duck?” At his raised brow, I continued. “Uh… my premonitions. Plus, you looked scared. I mean… not that you ever look scared… but maybe concerned? You know…for me?”
High Stakes Crime: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Shelby Nichols Adventure Book 15) Page 25
