The Fifth Justice (Michael Gresham Legal Thrillers Book 10)

by John Ellsworth

  Chloe was too shaken to argue. Instead, she threw open the driver’s door, leaned out, and vomited against the dumpster. It was all she could do not to hyperventilate and pass out. Justin helped her back inside and steadied her down.

  “We need a plan,” he said.

  “I know, I know. Let me think about that.”

  “When you come up with something, let me know. That guy is dead.”

  He turned the car back over to her. Chloe headed for the four-plex. Time to take the groceries home. She’d bought enough for a dozen people. Now to round up those dozen from the motel and put Reno away.

  Justin was through waiting.

  Chapter 51: Chloe Constance

  “How many more are there?” Justin asked from behind the steering wheel of the SUV. The Suburban was long gone since Justin could identify her by it. Instead, Justin had bought an old Ford Bronco with the back seat removed, rusty wheel wells and a rack of old spotlights on top. It fit into the environment in Palatine. Something no one would notice.

  “Only Reno and Niles are at the motel.” Chloe lowered the binoculars to her lap and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. They’d been watching the motel from the strip mall for two days straight, around the clock, only allowing themselves short catnaps for rest. Her body buzzed from lack of sleep, functioning on adrenaline only. She’d barely eaten, and what she had consumed hadn’t been very healthy.

  She rolled her neck and shoulders to release the tension.

  Justin was worried about Chloe. He offered—half-heartedly—an alternative to storming the motel. “Are you sure you don’t want to just go to the police with this?”

  Chloe faced Justin to make her point clear. “No. The police have done nothing for me. Ever. They were never there for me when I needed help. They won’t come. And even if I could convince them to check it out, they’d have to follow the laws, and as a lawyer, I know that’s a long process. Too long. Reno and his minions would be out of here and set up at a new location an hour after the police questioned him.” Chloe shook her head. “No, that won’t do. We might lose him this time.”

  “What about Detective Davidson?”

  When Chloe didn’t answer but placed the binoculars back to her eyes, Justin pushed again. “You know, your own personal detective? Isn’t that what you said at the hospital?”

  Chloe removed the binoculars from her eyes. “Listen, I can do this. We can do this. This fight is personal, Justin. If anyone, you should understand that. That piece of shit Reno has destroyed my life, used and abused me for years. No more. No more!” Chloe yelled and punched the dashboard of the car. “Not me, no other girl or woman. We are saving those girls and taking Reno out.”

  “Okay, okay,” Justin soothed. “I got your six. I want to make sure you’re sure. You know?”

  She must have convinced Justin since he remained quiet after that. It was almost dark, just an arc of gold left on the horizon. The lights of the motel were off as usual. They never turned them on. To most motorists, the motel was out of business, vacant, just another building crumbling in Palatine. But to a specific clientele, it was the perfect spot to drop in and purchase sex.

  Just then, Reno and a slight, Asian fellow exited through the office door. They turned and spoke to Niles, who stood in the doorway, his arms braced against both sides of the jamb. Their exchange lasted only moments, then Reno and the other man left Niles and made their way to a black Yukon SUV with tinted windows. They left the Escalade parked to the side of the office. The SUV bumped up onto the highway, blinker flashing, and set off back toward Palatine. Chloe knew; the departure left Niles there alone with the girls.

  This was her chance. She could feel it in her gut, in the beat of her heart that now forced blood through her veins. Reno always left Niles on watch. Always. Just like he did when he’d kept Chloe captive in the house. Niles was his number one guy.

  “Give me the gun, Justin.”

  They’d had it out. She was going with the gun this time, no more argument. Without hesitation, Justin reached under the seat and handed Chloe the pistol. “You remember how I showed you?”

  Chloe nodded. “Yep, cock it to load.”

  “A slide cock.”

  “Yes, slide it to load the bullet.” Chloe hoped she wouldn’t have to get to that point, but she was determined. She opened the car door and slid the gun in her cargo pants pocket. It stuck out, but it was dark enough out she didn’t worry. She stopped and told Justin, “Just like we planned. Be ready to gun it and get us the hell out of here when I come back with the girls.”

  Justin nodded. “Roger that, boss.”

  Chloe smiled back at him. Now they were getting somewhere.

  Chloe clicked the door closed. She had abandoned the walker two days before and was now forcing herself to walk and even jog. She hustled across the quiet road and, as she went, felt stronger than she had in months.

  There were only distant headlights coming from the south. She waited on the curb until the car passed and then ran hell-bent to the motel office.

  After a big breath, she pounded on the door. “Niles, open up,” she yelled.

  She waited only seconds before pounding this time. A chain rattled, and the door jerked open: Niles standing with one hand on the doorknob. He was in gym pants and an AC/DC T-shirt and didn’t seem surprised at all to see her.

  “I knew you’d be back. You’ve always been a thorn in my side.”

  “Shut up,” she said, pulling the gun from her pocket. “Grab the keys for the rooms and get your ass out here.”

  Niles glanced at the piece and snorted. “You won’t use that.”

  “I won’t, but Justin will.” Justin wasn’t around, but Niles didn’t need to know that. Tonight was all Chloe.

  In the other hand that had been behind the wall, Niles pulled out a joint and took a long pull. “Who the fuck is Justin?”

  “Justin is the man who taught me how to use this gun.”

  Niles shook his head. “Well, fuck.” He was stoned. It relieved her; he would be no problem.

  He stepped back from the door but left it open. In the dim light, she watched as Niles pinched out his joint in an overflowing ashtray and then grabbed a set of keys from a pegboard.

  As he started toward her and came through the door, Chloe walked backward, keeping the gun trained on his stomach. “Say nothing, not one word. Just open the door. And try nothing, Niles.” Chloe motioned with the gun. “Let’s go.”

  Niles rolled his eyes, but he hurried.

  At Room 1, Niles unlocked the door and pushed it open. The TV was on. Trang was in one bed, her aunt in the other. Trang sat up when Niles walked into the room, Chloe right behind him. When she saw Chloe, she called out her name. Trang hugged Chloe, who kept the gun pointed at Niles’ chest. She patted the girl’s back then stepped away and looked her over. Mostly, Trang looked okay, no visible bruises, but skinny as always.

  “Trang,” Chloe addressed her. “You and your aunt are coming with me now.” She knew it was sudden and unexpected but time was of the essence.

  They were in motion in seconds. Trang dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. Her aunt was wearing underwear, so she pulled on sweatpants. “But what about the other girls?” Trang asked.

  “We’re gonna get them, too.” Chloe nudged Niles with the butt of her gun. “Keep your hands out and walk to the bed nearest the bathroom.” Trang’s aunt gave him plenty of space as he walked over to the far side of the bed.

  Trang was standing next to Chloe. “What are you going to do with him?”

  Niles smirked. “Yeah, Chloe, what are you going to do with me? Get this Justin guy to shoot me? I don’t see him.”

  “Oh, he’s here. One shout from me, and he’ll put a bullet in you. Now, throw me the keys.”

  Niles tossed them short of Chloe so she’d have to move, but instead, she motioned with her head for Trang’s aunt to pick them up and at the same moment waggled the gun wildly at Niles, threatening if he interfered.
The aunt grabbed the keys up in a rush as she dashed from the far side of the room to where Chloe and Trang stood. Chloe took them and handed them to Trang.

  Her gun still trained on Niles’ chest, Chloe pulled a set of handcuffs from her pocket. “Take these”—she held them out to Trang’s aunt—“and cuff one of his hands to the bed frame.” She shot a look around the room. Reno must have had all the phones removed. Even better. No room phones meant Niles would be in this room until Reno found him. And what Reno did with him, Chloe didn’t care.

  Trang’s aunt looked at them in confusion, but Trang translated. Then her aunt was in motion, doing as Chloe had instructed.

  As the aunt was setting the handcuff around the metal bed frame, Niles spoke up. “Minh, don’t do it. You and me, we’re friends, right? We had good times together. I made you feel good, didn’t I?”

  “Shut up!” Chloe yelled, but it wasn’t necessary. Minh clicked the cuff closed, stepped back out of his reach, and spat in his face.

  “Now, Minh, come on,” Chloe waved her over.

  They rushed from the room. Chloe pocketed the gun, and at Room 2, Trang opened the door, and in a flurry of Vietnamese, had the one girl yet inside jolted into motion and outside with Minh. She was beautiful, dark shiny hair and fair skin. Chloe guessed they had reserved this one for the high rollers.

  They did the same for the other rooms until they had a group of nine women huddling under the eaves at Room 8. Chloe waited for the highway to clear, no headlights for a distance each way. The girls were whispering in Vietnamese, and a couple were crying, but Chloe soothed them, “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.” Then they all broke into a run for the escape vehicle. They made it across. Chloe tore open the rear tailgate. “Get in, quick!”

  The girls piled in, squishing themselves in close, sitting on each other’s laps. Trang got in the front seat with Chloe. Another girl jumped on Trang’s lap. “Let’s go!” Chloe yelled, slapping the steering wheel. The Bronco flew out of the parking lot onto the street, heading toward the four-plex where these women, these girls that were still only children, could start a new life.

  Chloe let out a war-whoop. She stuffed the gun back under the seat.

  The road markers were slapping by, the girls breaking into laughter and excited talk.

  She’d done it. Tears washed across her eyes.

  At that moment, Justin spoke up. He wanted Reno.

  He wanted Reno now.

  Chapter 52: Chloe Constance

  Chloe was eating at Denny’s. Dr. Gorski was expected to show. But so far, he was missing. It was Friday morning, just after ten o’clock, and they’d just ordered their Grand Slam, hers with orange juice, Maddy’s with chocolate milk.

  “So you got the girls?” Maddy asked.

  Chloe added half and half to her coffee. “Yep, and no thanks to you.”

  “Didn’t think it would work, to be honest.”

  “Well, it did. But there’s still work to do if you want on board.”

  Maddy slurped the rest of her chocolate milk with a straw. “Nah, what could I do for them? Are they okay?” That was the first bit of sympathy Chloe had seen out of Maddy. Maybe she could get her to come around.

  “They’re in my four-plex in Schaumburg, three to an apartment except for Trang and her aunt. They get their own.”

  “What are you going to do with them now?”

  Their breakfasts arrived. The waitress spread food out across the table: eggs, ham, pancakes, potatoes, water glasses, juice, coffee, toast, half-and-half tubs, and butter plates. They were not leaving there hungry.

  The whipped butter on the pancakes mixed with the syrup, melting it over the stack. Heaven right there, Chloe thought and dug in. “Well, I’ll give them some time to just rest. They need to keep a low profile until I can get Reno, so I’ve arranged for Justin to get them groceries every few days. Once the devil is dead, then they can get English lessons from the community college and get a job. Or maybe go back to Vietnam. Whatever they want.”

  Maddy stuffed her mouth with bacon. “I’m not sure if any of us said, but we’re proud of you, Chloe, for what you done. You pulled it off like you said you would.”

  Chloe stopped mid-chew as tears sprung to her eyes. She excused herself to go to the bathroom. The waitress showed her the way when she got a little disoriented and forgot where she was.

  “Right through there, hon,” she told her. “Do you need me to come with you?”

  “No, no, no, I’ll be okay. I’ve been in the hospital, and I’m a little weak, that’s all.”

  “I’ll wait here for you.”

  “Suit yourself, but there’s no need.”

  In the bathroom, she found an empty stall and relieved her bladder. There was pornography scratched into the stall door on her side. For a good time and a great suck call…

  She wiped and then retrieved her jeans from the floor. She hated it when they got down around her ankles in a public restroom. Ugh!

  Then she headed back to the booth.

  Maddy was gone. They had cleared away all plates and drinks.

  She called over the waitress. “Miss, do you know where my friend went?”

  “Who?”

  “The girl I was sitting with.”

  “Hon, there wasn’t anyone with you. You’ve been alone since you came in. You’ve been talking out loud, too. Did you know that, hon? Do you want me to call someone?”

  “I want to see my ticket. There will be two Grand Slams on there.”

  The waitress whipped out her book and flipped back two pages. She smiled and held it out for Chloe to read.

  “Table eight—that’s you. See where it says, one guest? And one Grand Slam. You’ve been here alone all morning, sweetheart.”

  “What time did I come in?”

  “Well, that’s just it. You’ve had my table tied up a good hour now. I think I need to call someone for you.”

  “Call my husband, Andrew Constance.”

  “Do you have his number?”

  “He’s a lawyer here in Chicago. He’s in the book.”

  “Spell that.”

  She spelled her last name.

  It was time for Andrew to help her with Reno. The voices inside were out of control—Maddy and more along with her.

  She couldn’t do it alone anymore.

  Chapter 53: Marcel Rainford

  He was the investigator who refused to stay home, refused to lie around in his condo on doctor’s orders, and refused to give up his search for Reno Rivera. An idea had formed in his mind, an idea involving Chloe and Reno. If Justin Maybe were as violent as they had told Marcel, it was the perfect plan.

  But first he needed to locate Reno.

  Andrew had called that morning, Chloe had called him and was on her way home to Andrew. “She’s changed, Marcel. It’s like having my real wife back again. She actually wants to be with me. There’s just one thing, though. She wants to rid the world of Reno Rivera.”

  “Can’t fault her for that. I think we’re all right there with her.”

  “She gave me the name of a motel outside Palatine where Reno can be found. At first I didn’t believe her, so she took me there. We drove by without stopping. She pointed out his vehicle. I think she’s right; I think he’s there.”

  “Did you see him?”

  “No, but she’s so damn sure. If you’re up to it, maybe a drive by would be good for you to take on. Nothing spectacular. Just the next time you’re out and about, some errand or other, if you drove by.”

  Marcel was way down the road on that. “I can do that, Andrew.”

  “I don’t want you to share with Chloe what you find out, Marcel. She actually wanted me to pull in and let her run inside and shoot the guy. It was everything I could do just to talk her out of that. I’ve never seen Chloe like this.”

  “Maybe you should have let her.”

  “Let her?” said Andrew. “Come again?”

  “Maybe it would be good for her to walk in an
d shoot Reno. It might be very healing.”

  “Now you sound like Dr. Ingram.”

  “Maybe I do,” said Marcel. He didn’t want to say anymore about it, but an idea had been planted.

  Andrew continued, “Now that Chloe was there and made off with his girls, I’m sure he’s moved on. He has to know she‘ll turn him in,” said Andrew. “So it’s probably another dead end. But if you’d take a look at that motel, well, I’d feel better.”

  “I’m on my way,” Marcel had told him.

  And he was. Finding End of Road Motel was simple, requiring only a twenty-minute drive west to Palatine. But finding Reno there—that would take time. It required another stakeout. Marcel shook off his exhaustion. He wanted Reno, and he wasn’t going away. In almost the exact spot where Chloe had watched the motel, now Marcel parked and waited. He pulled the binoculars from his console and put them to his eyes. He dialed in the focus. The only light emanating from the entire motel complex was a bank of lights in the office window. As he waited, he could see someone moving inside. It was too far, and the light was too dim to make an identification. But Marcel wasn’t going anywhere.

  He’d stopped at McDonald’s on the drive west. Now he pulled out a Big Mac with fries and stuffed food. He chewed hungrily, wolfing down his purchase. Thirty minutes later, he did a gut check. All settled. No feeling of losing his cookies. His Chicago GI doctor had been right: in Saint Petersburg Marcel had contract a bug from the drinking water. They had identified Giardia in the lab workup the doctor ordered. With medication and a very bland diet, they had turned the bug out. Now Marcel could eat whatever he fancied. All traces of the infection had vanished.

  But it left him tired. He blinked hard after eating as his stomach warmed and threatened to lull him to sleep. For that he had brought along two bottles of water. He unscrewed a cap and cupped water onto his face. He came more alert times two. Now he was ready for an all-night stakeout.

  If Reno appeared—if Marcel ID’d the guy—he would never escape Marcel’s eyes again.