In The Line of Fire Boxset 5 Books in 1 (Thriller Stories To Keep You up all Night)

by Rhiley McCabe

  A silence followed.

  “Badrick?”

  “It’s won’t be cheap, mon. It’s high risk. If my boys die, I want to send money to their families.”

  “Money has never been a problem, you know that. Can you do it? Or should I call my Cuban man instead?”

  72

  Badrick laughed, “That Cuban will be dead before he sets foot outside his hideout! He owes me, and I will make his life hell until he pays. An eye for an eye, mon…

  No, I will do it.”

  Badrick had an insatiable vendetta against cops. They had killed his younger brother a few years back because they thought he was carrying a concealed weapon. They shot him without investigating the situation.

  “Good. Be ready to strike at a moment’s notice.”

  Leo hung up and headed to the shower. As the water rushed over his body, he hit the marble wall with his fist.

  Carlos Rodrigues… Arrogant, hot-head! I knew your uncontrolled ambitions would lead to trouble.

  He remembered laughing when he heard about Thompson Federico’s downfall. He thought Thompson was the stupidest man alive for allowing his empire to crumble through his own fingers… Yet, there he was: the great Leo Martinez’s empire was about to go under the rails, too. Like Thompson, he had not been paying close enough attention.

  If he couldn’t get control of the situation, The Syndicate would eradicate and replace him. As if he never existed.

  The Syndicate was an organization for the most influential men. Its tentacles reached every country on earth -

  political leaders made up most of its membership.

  Being approached by them was the goal of every underworld leader… They had recruited Leo because he was both powerful and resourceful.

  Unlike some politicians, people like Leo had to prove their worth if they wanted in. The honest politicians were simply dragged in, threatened and silenced if they 73

  messed up. The other lot, the majority, were strategically placed in offices all over the world.

  Leo’s predecessor made a simple mistake that put certain members’ identities at risk. But The Syndicate had killed for far less, too.

  74

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Is everyone here?” Jason grumbled.

  His colleagues noticed the ‘new’ Jason before he had officially returned for duty. After Catherine’s death, he had infrequently visited the station and whenever someone tried to have a conversation with him, he’d snap for the most trivial matters. They had made peace with the new normal. Now, whenever he flared up, they ignored it. To them, he was still one of the best. They would rather accept his personality change than see him leave the force.

  “Yes, sir.” Everyone was armed for battle: bulletproof vests on and assault rifles fully loaded.

  “You all know the drill,” Jason said flatly, “our goal is to get the witch… I mean the witness across town to the safe house.”

  The police officers scattered into three unmarked, black Hummer H1s and moved out.

  75

  Jason put a call through to the police headquarters where Walter and Thomas were coordinating the operation.

  “The operation is in motion.”

  “Good.” Walter replied, “Stay on course; and remember, the witness is our top priority.”

  “Yeah, I heard you the first time.” Jason snapped and hung up.

  Jason stood still outside the car for a moment. He fanta-sized about killing Mary right there. He would have enough time to get away and disappear forever…

  Get a hold of yourself, Jason! Killing Mary won’t make the murderer disappear. He’s still out there, dumbass.

  He inhaled and reached for the door handle. He climbed in and adjusted the rearview mirror so he could look Mary in the eyes. When she noticed he was looking at her, she looked away immediately and turned her face to look outside the window. Jason started the car and drove off.

  “Excuse me,” Thomas cleared his throat and stood up, “I need to use the restroom.”

  Walter eyed Thomas. He was unshaved and had dark circles under his eyes. The blood was draining from his face again. “Having trouble sleeping, Chief?”

  “Mm?” Thomas turned to Walter with one hand on the doorknob. “Oh, yeah… A bit of insomnia, nothing serious.” Thomas tried to nod reassuringly and left.

  Walter swung his chair around and stared ahead of him.

  Despite feeling uneasy about what Jason would do, he had trust in the man’s integrity. He was more concerned 76

  about Thomas. Life had taught him that defeating enemies from the outside was easy. Enemies from within, not so much.

  “Leo, it’s time. They’re moving the target as we speak.”

  “Calm down, man.” Leo said with irritation, “I can hear you trembling. What the hell must your colleagues be thinking?”

  “What? Nobody suspects me.” Thomas adjusted his tone, “I’ll text you the route.”

  “Good, cause I don’t want to waste money sending someone after you next.” Leo hung up.

  Thomas rubbed his wet palm against his pants and texted Leo. The phone fell as he left the toilet cubicle. An officer picked it up and held it out to him.

  “Chief.”

  “Uh…” Thomas snatched the phone, “Get out of here!”

  The officer frowned and skulked off. Thomas washed his face, getting water all over his shirt. When he stood up straight, he barely recognized himself. He’d aged ten years in just a few days.

  “Didn’t I tell you to be ready at a moment’s notice?! This is my third call!”

  “Hush, mon…”

  “What did you just say to me?”

  “Sorry, I said sorry. In my language…”

  77

  “Badrick! I don’t have time for this! It’s happening right now, you’d better be ready.”

  “Send me the coordinates, mon.”

  “I’m doing it now.”

  “Leo, I need the cash straight after. I will have to lie low for some time after engaging with the police.”

  “Fine. Just get it done.” Leo hung up.

  Badrick smiled as he read the coordinates, slipped the phone into his trouser pocket and turned to his gang of twenty. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them in excitement. His gang started laughing.

  “Let’s go!” Badrick said. They yelled ecstatically and scurried into two Iveco’s and a modified Ford Hilux with a machine gun attached to it. Leo had given him the go-ahead to use any means necessary to kill the woman, and he had always wanted to kill some police officers brutally.

  Forty minutes later, Badrick took out his phone to call Leo and tell him he had sent the wrong coordinates. As it rang, his man on the back of the Hilux started yelling and hit the roof a few times. Badrick looked up and saw the three Hummers cruise by them. He dropped the phone and grabbed his AK-47.

  “This is going to be a fun night.” He gave a nod to the driver, and they fell in a few cars behind the Hummers.

  The man outside continued yelling excitedly as the two Ivecos followed suite.

  Sergeant Bernard watched as the Hilux slid into the road.

  He was in charge of the operation - in charge of allowing 78

  fifteen honorable men to lose their lives. He sighed as he recalled Walter Sidney’s words earlier that evening.

  “The three Hummers will be a decoy.” He had said.

  “We’re expecting a hit from Carlos’ men. Hopefully, it’s nothing. But we must be prepared for anything. The witness’ safety is top priority.” He said as if a dirty cop’s life carried more weight than theirs…

  “You said we shouldn’t fill the Chief in on this one?”

  Jason had challenged him.

  “He need not know until she is in the safe house.” Walter said, irritated, giving Jason a dangerous stare over his readers. He pulled Jason to one side and, from the looks of it, they had a heated argument.

  “I don’t like this.” Bernard voiced up when Walter
and Jason had returned to the team. “Are we really risking fifteen officers’ lives for Mary Scott?”

  “I don’t like it either!” Walter snapped, “Do you have a better idea, Bernard?”

  Jason had wanted to say something, but Walter gave him a dangerously eerie look, “I warned you, Detective Williams. Say one thing. Just one!” Jason turned around and started pacing at a distance. Officers stared at him.

  “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to question you.” Bernard said to Walter, who gave him a slight smile and waved it off.

  He didn’t have a better plan, other than saying Mary deserved to rot in jail. If he had been in charge, immunity agreements wouldn’t even exist. There would be no bureaucratic gray areas… He knew Jason felt exactly the same way. He and Jason shared a frustrated glance.

  79

  The right-hand side mirror shattered. Bernard instinctively ducked and readied his assault rifle.

  “We are being attacked!” Sergeant Davies, a brilliant shooter, yelled over the radio from the last Hummer.

  Bullets rained past the convoy. They shot the last Hummer full of holes, its rear window burst into pieces and an officer got a bullet in the neck. Bernard heard Davies yell as he fired shots through the broken window.

  The driver got shot in the chest and head; the Hummer suddenly swerved off the road, hit a ditch and exploded.

  The Hilux drove past the exploding vehicle and Badrick cursed at it. The gunman fired a few shots with the machine gun for good measure. Davies had shot and killed a few of Badrick’s men before the Hummer went off the road.

  “We are taking heavy hits! I repeat, we are taking heavy hits!” Bernard shouted into his radio to the headquarters.

  Walter sat wide-eyed with his chin resting on his palm as he heard gunshots being fired and men yelling in desper-ation. He turned to Thomas, who looked much better than earlier. He smiled and nodded at Walter, unconcerned about what was happening to those officers.

  Walter clenched his jaw. Now he was certain Thomas was working with whomever had ordered the hit on the officers. But he’d have to wait, he had no evidence.

  “We’re sending backup.” Sidney said, “Hold them off for a bit, help is coming.”

  An officer was shooting at one of the Ivecos from the second Hummer when the Hilux overtook it suddenly.

  The Hummer rocked as bullets from the machine gun pierced into it. The driver’s head all but exploded, turning his seat to a hideous image of blood and shattered bones. The officer who had been shooting at the 80

  Iveco took a hit to the chest, but his bulletproof vest saved him. Badrick’s man let the machine gun loose; the shots lifted the Hummer. It somersaulted vividly and burst into flames when it finally hit the ground. Car parts flew in every direction.

  Badrick bellowed with laughter as the Hummer burned.

  “Well done!” He shouted to his man handling the machine gun.

  “Shit! Assholes! We need to take out that machine gun now!” Bernard exclaimed as he aimed his gun at the Hilux. The remaining officers started shooting too.

  Suddenly, the machine gun died down.

  “AAAH! They shot my hand!” Badrick’s man yelled.

  Bernard aimed again, and the man’s face dissolved into a gory mess.

  “NO!” Badrick fired at the Hummer. “You will pay for that!”

  The Hilux slowed down and allowed one of the Ivecos to overtake them. Badrick opened the door and struggled to the machine gun attached to the back of the truck. He kicked his dead man’s body away and watched it hit the tar as he positioned himself behind the gun.

  “Hit it!” He yelled to the driver, and they sped up with powerful momentum.

  As the Hilux driver readied to overtake the Iveco, an officer shot a bullet into the Iveco’s right tyre. The driver lost control, and the van swerved violently; the Hilux had to fall back to avoid being rammed by it. The Iveco suddenly shot into the air and exploded into pieces as it made contact with the ground. No one survived.

  Badrick shouted in rage like a madman. He took hold of the machine gun and aimed at the Hummer.

  81

  Bernard stared at the Hilux. He knew they had nowhere to escape. There was nothing to protect them from that machine gun.

  “We’ll go out fighting like men!” The remaining officers yelled bravely and continued shooting at the Hilux.

  Badrick opened fire, obliterating everything in his path.

  The Hummer rocked and swerved from side to side. The Bernard and his team took cover as best they could. A bullet pierced through the driver’s neck. His head hit the steering wheel. The Hummer rammed into the side curb, rolling over from the impact.

  Badrick and his remaining men yelled triumphantly.

  They came to a standstill a few meters from the Hummer.

  They sat silently for a few minutes.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  The driver started the Hilux and started driving.

  “Whoa!” Badrick shouted suddenly.

  Bernard struggled out of the Hummer, blood all over his face and body. He stood up for a few seconds before dropping to his knees. He looked up and locked eyes with Badrick, who opened fire again.

  Bernard’s body rocked and jerked at the bullets flew into his body.

  “Badrick, I was getting worried…” Leo sounded amused.

  “It’s done. You should have seen it, it was like fire-works… Boom!”

  82

  “Well done, as always. I’ll meet you with the cash. You know where.”

  “See you later, mon.”

  “I can’t believe we just lost fifteen men.” Thomas said sadly.

  Walter was fuming inside. He wanted to confront Thomas. But he knew it was crucial not to make stupid moves before he had evidence.

  “It’s part of the job. They knew what they signed up for.”

  He tried not to sound too bothered.

  Thomas nodded and stood up, looking like a refreshed man, “I’ll go write up the paperwork of tonight’s operation.”

  The office phone rang. Sidney picked it up and deliber-ately switched it to loud speaker.

  “The witness it safe.”

  Thomas’ eyes widened when he heard Jason’s voice. He looked to Sidney with bewilderment, who lifted an eyebrow at him.

  “Well done, Detective Williams.”

  “Is my team okay?”

  Sidney sighed. Before he could answer, Jason had hung up.

  “He just lost his kid, and now this…” Sidney said sympathetically as he rubbed his forehead.

  “Wasn’t Jason supposed to be with that convoy?”

  Thomas wanted to know, “I thought they all died out there.” He couldn’t hide his disappointment.

  83

  “Ah, yes, about that…” Walter smirked, “Last-minute changes, Chief. See, we had this idea.” He paused delib-erately.

  “Yes? What idea?!”

  “We thought it would be safer to use the convoy as a decoy. You know, in case something happened. Mary was working for a high-profile criminal, and she probably has more than a few targets on her back.”

  Thomas’ face turned red as his anger grew. They had played him.

  “Jason took her to the safe house in an unsuspecting vehicle after the convoy had left.”

  “Why did you keep this from me?” Thomas couldn’t hide his anger.

  “Like I said, Chief, it was a last-minute change. There was no time to tell you.” Walter shrugged his shoulders.

  “But you could have told me when you got here! We had been sitting in this room for well over an hour, almost two!”

  “I guess I forgot. Apologies, Chief. We did well though, right? I mean, if we hadn’t done it, we’d have sixteen dead cops and a dead witness.”

  Thomas stared at Walter incredulously. Walter smiled at him.

  “Right. I’ll leave the rest to you, then.” Thomas said in a more composed tone and walked out.

  Walter watched Thomas until
he disappeared from sight.

  I’ve got you… Now I just need the evidence. You won’t get away, Thomas Patrick.

  84

  “What is it?!”

  “Why do I have this so-called emergency phone if I can’t reach you?” Thomas snapped at Leo.

  “Mister Patrick, I ain’t your daddy.” There was giggling in the background. Thomas could hear Leo was in a pleasant mood.

  “The witness is alive.”

  “That’s impossible!”

  “Oh, baby… Calm down.” A woman’s voice sounded close to the phone.

  “Get out! Get out now!” Thomas heard scurrying steps and doors opening and closing.

  “What do you mean she is alive?!”

  “The convoy was a decoy; a trap. They suspected an attack.” Thomas answered in a trembling voice. Shivers ran down his spine as he remembered Leo threatening him earlier.

  “You idiot! I told you to get a hold of yourself or they would suspect you!”

  “It—It’s not like that, Leo. They made last-minute changes.”

  “You had one job to do, just one; give me the location of the girl and I would take care of it.”

  “I just found out.” Thomas breathed, “I can still get you the location of the safe house.” He quickly said to redeem himself. “I will get it to you soon.”

  “You do that, Mister Patrick. I’m waiting.” Leo snapped and hung up.

  Leo threw on a loose robe to cover his body and paced, trying to figure out what his next move would be. He 85

  snapped his fingers victoriously as a thought came to mind. He didn’t need an army to attack the police’s safe house. He just needed one man.

  He picked up his phone and plumbed down on his Poltrona Frau Kennedee sofa.

  “What?”

  “This is Leo Martinez. I need your help.”

  86

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Jason sat in his car outside the police station and stared at the black clouds through his windscreen. It was a cold, wet and windy day. He closed his eyes and sweet, painful memories of Catherine filled his mind. He smiled, feeling like himself again.

  Growling thunder pulled him back to reality.

  He opened his eyes and stared at the clouds again, wondering how he had even made it through months without his beautiful baby girl. He thought about her mother and tried to recall the pain he had felt when she died. But he couldn’t. The pain of his daughter’s death consumed every part of him.