Black 01 - Black Rain (25 page)

I look at Tracy with disgust. She seems to take pleasure in tormenting me ever since I dumped her and married Sierra. A scorned lover can be relentless. I try to think back to what attracted me to her. I never should have gotten mixed up with her.

I growl at them, “My name is Detective Joe Johnson and I have no comment. Please stay clear of the area or I’ll have to arrest you.” They both take a step back.

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Tracy has labeled me a
killer
on national television, and I make a mental note to make her pay. I call Commissioner Wayne for backup as other officers arrive. I give them orders to secure the crime scene, then walk to the back of the crowd to meet with Mo-Mo, Pretty Kevin and Little Tiny.

The crowd parts as I walk amongst them. It must be the don’t-fuck-with-me look on my face.

“Kevin, what’s up? Where’s Agent Duvall, and what happened to the other men?”

“Well, how you doing, too, Joe? Damn, dude, we all shot up and shit and all you can do is start asking for details like we don’t matter,” Pretty Kevin complains.

“Kevin, I’m sorry, brother, but I’m just making sure that everyone is okay. What happened to Chase and the others?”

Little Tiny limps over to me rubbing the back of his neck. He’s bleeding from a gunshot wound to the leg.

“Joe, Agent Duvall took after Agent Chase and we haven’t heard from her. Those fools we were after didn’t know Kansas City too well. They ended up crashing into Brush Creek. The police fished them out of the water. They’re in custody, but the big guy named Brutus got away.”

Mo-Mo comes up holding his arm, which is also bleeding. “Dude, if we’re here to save Chase, why would she run? Agent Duvall set out after her going north on Southwest Trafficway. This shit doesn’t make no sense. If something happens to Epiphany, Joe, I don’t know what I will do.”

Pretty Kevin is holding his side, which is bleeding, as well. “Joe, something don’t smell right about your
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girl, dude. Why she running, man? We all shot up behind that bitch and she runs. What’s up?”

“Fellas, I honestly don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Y’all get some medical attention. Kevin, call Vernon and let him know what’s up. I’m going to the Hyatt Regency. That’s the only place Agent Chase could be headed.” My senses are going off. Could Chase have been playing me the whole time? I keep the thought in the back of my mind.

“Joe, you going in alone, that’s not smart, man, you don’t know what you headed into,” Little Tiny complains.

“Look, you guys are in no shape to help me right now, and time is of the essence. If Chase has turned bad, she’ll be trying to get out of town as quickly as possible. These dudes had access to a lot of money. I’m quite sure Chase knows all about where that money is. If she has Agent Duvall, I need to get there soon. Dread was working for somebody and Agent Duvall is in grave danger.”

“Fuck that, Joe, I’m going, man,” Mo-Mo insists.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “I’ll bring her back.

You’ll bleed to death if you don’t get that looked at.

You’ll only slow me down, Mo-Mo.

“I’m out of here. Little Tiny, let Commissioner Wayne know what’s going on when he arrives.”

I run through the crowd, dodging people trying to get a glimpse of me and touching on me, I jump on my Harley and race through the crowded downtown area of Crown Center. I dial my cell phone and make a call to a lady friend in Jefferson City about my hunch regard-ing who is behind Dread’s black ring of dirty cops.

I park my bike in the circle drive of the vast hotel. At the front desk I show my badge and ask for a pass key
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for Dread Cattanno’s suite. The hotel manager asks if I need house security. I explain to him to call and get any guests on that floor off immediately. I explain what’s going on, then take the elevator to the Presidential Suite.

I find the door partially ajar and walk in. When I get through the foyer, I find Agent Duvall tied and gagged, sitting on the couch with Agent Cheryl Chase sitting in a chair, her thick legs crossed casually with her gun pointed at me as she puts papers into her blue travel bag.

“Going somewhere, Chase?” I ask as I aim my gun at her. She looks at me and smiles, putting her gun away.

“Yes, I am. When I got here Dread’s accomplice made me a deal I could not refuse. You could come with me, Joe. You know I have always loved you. We can travel to different countries and see the world!” She stands, holding the blue bag close to her. Her eyes sparkle and her smile is wide and inviting.

“And what do I do about my family that I love? Just forget about them, my job and my friends? You want me to throw all that away? I can’t do that. I love Sierra.

She’s the woman I need, and she’s my soul mate. I like you a lot, Chase. You’ve been through so much. Don’t throw your career away like this. Too many people have died over this case,” I reason.

“Joe, you have everything—family and friends. I don’t have that. I’ve given so much of myself to the Bureau that I can’t get back. It’s time to think of me now.

Dread has over one hundred and fifty million dollars in untraceable money in different foreign accounts. I have all the account numbers and dummy names he has them under. All that can be ours, Joe,” she pleads.

I don’t even blink. Money is not worth my family nor
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my friends that have been wounded and have died for her. “Not interested. I’m not going anywhere with you, Chase. I’m surprised you’d ask. You know where I stand. I’m here to help you, but not like that. Why do you have Agent Duvall tied up?”

“I’m saving her life, Joe. I’m sorry you’re not coming with me. I’m going to miss you,” she says as she zips her bag.

I let my gun down for a split second and look at her, confused. Surely Chase has not played me. As much as we’ve been through, it numbs me. I see the bedroom door open, but my reaction is delayed by the confusion in my head. He comes out of the bedroom and shoots me in the shoulder. He gets my gun from me and tosses it in the corner.

“Yes, you fucking idiot, you should have listened to her and left when you had the chance!” he yells as spittle flies from his mouth.

“No! You said you wouldn’t hurt him. You promised!” Chase yells as she runs over to me. She pulls her gun on Missouri Governor Tom Brush and checks my shoulder.

The governor has held a grudge against Pretty Kevin for pimping his stepdaughter, Courtney Roberts. Kevin never realized that the woman was kin to Governor Brush until after she was kidnapped, raped and killed by the Missouri River Serial Killer. We also learned the horrible family secret that Governor Brush had impreg-nated his stepdaughter. Pretty Kevin now raises the four-year-old child he has named Timmy as his own. The governor knows that we’re friends and his grudge has spilled over onto me, as well.

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“Well, I lied.” He snaps as he steps closer to me.

Governor Brush is a medium-built man with blond hair, small eyes and a square chin. His pale skin is flushed now. “You and that pimp friend of yours are a big pain in the ass, Detective. He got my daughter killed, and you guys tried to ruin my life. I had to work too hard to persuade Mayor Peterson to put you on this case so you could be my eyes for me. That man will do anything for a vote. This is a political year and the mayor is on shaky ground in the community. So I put fifty thousand dollars in his campaign fund via a business associate and he gave me whatever I wanted.”

The governor chuckles, “I know you called my wife in Jefferson City. I have a top-notch staff that’s paid for their loyalty. She thinks she’s going to divorce me, but I’ve worked too hard to put this black ring of cops together. I’ve made too many sacrifices and too much cash for either of you to come in and ruin it for me by exposing me to the good people of the state of Missouri.

But I promise you, when I finish with you I’m killing her ass, and your pimp friend, Pretty Kevin, too.”

Chase cocks her gun and steps closer to him. “So, you think I’m just going to let you get away with this, right?”

“Agent, you’re not in a position to do anything about it now, are you?”

Two of the governor’s men come in from the bedroom with their guns aimed at Chase. “Agent Chase, if you’re leaving, you better leave now. My jet is waiting at the Downtown Municipal Airport to fly you out of the country.

Call me as we discussed, once you’re in the air.You’ve got forty-five minutes to make it there, so you’d best be on your way. Make no mistake, bitch, if you double-cross me
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with my money, I’ll personally hunt you down like a dog and kill you slow,” he threatens, pointing his finger at her.

I lie on the floor bleeding from the shoulder and Agent Duvall sits on the couch, her head down, the picture of hopelessness.

“Boys, get her out of here!” The governor screams.

Agent Chase jerks from the men’s grasp, kneels down and kisses me on the cheek. She whispers in my ear, “Joe, I love you and I’ll make this up to you, I promise. I’ve been through so much, you couldn’t imagine. I’ll send help. If you ever change your mind about me, I’m yours. Bye, my darling.”

She never looks back. She walks out with the accounts and money from Dread’s dirty transactions, and leaves us to die. I guess it was all about the money.

Money changes people, and God only knows what-all Dread put her through, but I would never have thought she would turn on me. I try to buy some time in hopes that she will at least alert someone to our situation.

“So, Governor Asshole, how much money did you make in this little scheme of yours, you sinister prick?”

Governor Brush rushes over to me and strikes me in the face. “You respect my authority, Johnson,” he orders as I burst out laughing. “What’s so fucking funny, Detective?”

I look him in the eyes, smiling. “You hit like a little bitch,” I say, laughing again.

He stands over me. “Well, if you think I hit like a bitch, let’s see if I shoot like a bitch,” he snarls as he shoots me in the thigh.

I grimace. “So, you still haven’t answered my question.” I tear off part of my shirt and wrap it around my thigh, which bleeds profusely.

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Governor Brush walks over and sits across from Agent Duvall, who jumps. The governor laughs as he rubs and pats her thigh. He turns to face me. “Well, to answer your question, Detective, let’s just say, if I let Agent Chase leave with one hundred and fifty million, my take has been measurably more. Like, nine hundred million, more. “I don’t have a problem telling you this, because when Agent Chase calls me safely in the air from my jet, you will be history, and your lovely cur-vaceous chocolate friend will be, too. I hope you didn’t get too attached to Agent Chase, because after she de-posits my money into my account she will be killed, as well. I’ll have it all. I don’t like loose ends.”

He rubs Agent Duvall’s ample breasts, winks at her and checks his watch. He licks his thin lips. “I’ve never had sex with an FBI agent before. After I get this phone call, my dear, I plan to make that dream come true. I’m good—just ask my stepdaughter.” He snaps his fingers and chuckles. “That’s right you can’t, because Joe’s pimp friend got her killed.” He kneels and starts to rubs higher on Agent Duvall’s thigh as he holds the gun to her chest.

She stares at him as though she wants to kill him.

I pull myself up against the chair, and try to get comfortable and think of a way to stop this and a way to de-fend myself and Agent Duvall, who is seated directly across from me on the couch. Governor Brush keeps his gaze on me and tilts his curly blond head to warn me not to try anything stupid.

“How did you recruit your men, Governor?” He stops his advances and turns his attention to me as I’d planned.

“It was very simple. Being the governor, I knew how much the state received from the seizure of drugs and
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property from law enforcement each year. It’s in the billions. I knew that if I could get the right lawmen behind me and pay them handsomely, we could funnel millions of tax-free untraceable money, and who would be the wiser?”

“But you had to have an inside man, right?”

He shrugged arrogantly. “I just needed an enforcer who could front for me. That’s where Dread came in. He had been investigated twice by Internal Affairs for shady dealings and had beat both cases. I knew he wasn’t stupid and would go for the money. The other men had gambling debts, sick children, materialistic wives, drug habits and girlfriends. After a bust we’d tempt them with ten thousand dollars. If they took the bait, they were part of the club. It was very easy and grew faster than we thought. We are in five states and four more were about to come on, until you started to become a nuisance.”

“So what did FBI Agent James have to do with it?”

I questioned.

“I had to make sure I knew if you guys were on to us or not. That’s why I made sure he had the finances to pay for the investigation. Agent Chase was getting too close. By paying the finances, I was kept abreast of what was going on. I had the best of both worlds. Dread was falling for Chase and beginning to do crazy things.

The fool would have given her my name sooner or later.

Agent James had no clue I was the head of the black ring. It was his job to keep me abreast of the investigation. You know how much of a by-the-book fucking bastard he is. That’s exactly what I needed from that prune.” The governor’s cell phone rings.

“Well, Detective, I guess our conversation comes to
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an end.” He arrogantly winks as he answers and places the cell on speaker phone.

An engine hums in the background. Chase says,

“Governor Brush, I’m on the plane, but it’s not your plane. I was able to persuade another pilot to get me out of the country for forty thousand dollars. Your pilot is still waiting for me at the municipal airport. I called the police to have him picked up, so you can’t use the plane and your two goons are dead in your limousine in the parking lot at the airport. They should have checked me for additional weapons. I always carry at least three at all times. I took the liberty of taking your bank accounts out of your duffel bags in the bedroom, so your nine hundred million is mine, too. So I suggest you get out of there as soon as possible with your stupid ass,” she says, laughing into the phone.