Delta Stevens 1: Taken by Storm (22 page)

The other two cops hit the floor and covered their heads.

“Jesus! She’s wacko!” Owens yelled, still covering his face.

“H a d n ’t you heard that I already killed one man tonight, you dumb-a s s ?”

Larson screamed in pain and writhed on the ground.

Several doors on the floor opened, and seeing cops, people quickly closed up again.

“Owens, you take the two bags of dope. Chambliss, you pick your friend up and carry him down the stairs.” The two men did not move. “Do it!” Bending down, keeping her eyes on them, Delta picked up the three weapons.

Both men immediately turned to the ordered task, and in less than a minute, they were inside Megan’s room.

“Put him on the bed,” Delta ordered.

“He’s got to get to a hospital, man. He’ll bleed to death.”

“He’ll do no such thing,” Delta retorted, still holding the shotgun at the two men. “I’ve seen pin pricks bleed more.

He’ll live. Cuff him to the bedpost.”

Owens did as he was told.

“Now, cuff yourselves around the incinerator.” Delta watched carefully as the two men did this. When they were through, she ordered them to wrap their legs around each other. When they had done this, she tore off some tape she’d used to tape on Taggart’s wire, and placed a strip of tape over all three of their mouths.

“There. Tell me, is Williams expecting to hear from you?”

Both men nodded. Larson only continued to writhe on the bed.

“Will he come here if he thinks the dope is missing?”

The two men looked at each other and shrugged.

Delta picked up the phone and walked over to Owens.

“You tell him that you’re through and that if he wants the dope, he’ll have to pick it up himself. Do you understand?”

Owens nodded.

“And do you understand that I’ll blow your brains all over the room if you say anything else?”

Owens nodded again.

“Your fate is in your own hands. Saving Williams’s ass isn’t worth it.” Laying the shotgun down, Delta pulled her sidearm and rested the end on Owens’s temple. Delta could feel her heart racing as the beads of sweat dripped slowly down her back.

After ripping the tape off his mouth, Delta put the phone to Owens’s ear and listened as he did exactly what she told him.

“Good boy.”

“Let me go, Stevens, please. I have a wife and two kids.”

“You should have thought about them before.” Delta replaced the tape on his mouth. Turning to leave, Delta stopped before she opened the door. “Someone should be here in a few hours to release you, so don’t go anywhere.”

Delta untied the knot to the duffel bags and began pulling several pre-wrapped bags of dope from the duffel.

All three packages still had evidence tags on them. No wonder Williams was moving this dope so fast. It had not yet been repackaged. It was more than she had hoped for.

Now, she had six prisoners, three bags of dope, conversations on tape, and one more fish to net before this was all over.

Picking up the phone, Delta called Connie.

“I’m at the white queen’s,” Delta said in their prearranged chess code.

“Thank God, I’ve been going out of my mind here. You okay?”

“Yep. How’s your end?”

Connie punched a message into Eddie that would go straight into Bear’s computer. “It’s a madhouse around here.

Something about a dead man in a warehouse and four missing cops. You sure know how to create a stir. Go.”

“White knight to black bishop.” Delta heard Connie punch in more information.

“Black king to white queen, in less than five.” Connie responded. This meant that the Captain, the black king, was just now leaving the office and probably heading for the hotel.

“White bishop also to white queen in five. White knight must be clear.”

Delta nodded. The white bishop was Bear. He, too, would be heading for the vicinity of the hotel.

“Will do. And white rook?”

“White rook to recall black pawns. After that, white knight is solo.”

Delta nodded again. Connie, the white rook, her favorite piece, was going to dispatch and have them reroute any cops who were anywhere around the hotel. She did not want any interference to keep the final move from happening. That was Connie’s job. This would leave Delta, Williams, and Bear for the showdown.

“Thanks. See you in a bit.”

“You’d better.”

Grabbing one of the duffel bags, Delta headed for the back entrance. This was where the timing element was critical. Delta figured she had about one minute to operate before he returned to his car, empty-handed and angry. She could not afford a mistake here.

As Williams pulled up, Delta smiled. Even better than she had hoped. He had driven his own vehicle. This couldn’t be sweeter. The second he entered the hotel, Delta hoisted the duffel over her shoulder, zipped behind cars, until she came to his.

Pulling out her jimmy, she had the trunk unlocked in seconds. Popping open the trunk, Delta heaved the dope in and tossed in three stray, well-tagged packages. One of the packages landed on a piece of yellow paper that Delta picked up. It was Williams’s asthma prescription. Staring at the piece of paper, Delta crammed it into her pocket and continued her work.

After dropping in all the dope, Delta found the wires to the taillight and pulled them out. Bear would then pull Williams over because of a malfunctioning taillight. Instead of issuing a fix-it ticket, Bear would mention to Williams that it was probably just a loose wire and have Williams open the trunk. Not knowing that there was almost one hundred pounds of already-seized dope in the back of his car, Williams would do as Bear asked. The thought of the look on his face when he discovered the dope in his car made Delta smile. She would love to be there.

Delta had just enough time to close the trunk and scoot behind two parked cars before Williams pushed through the door. He appeared both angry and confused. His dope was gone, his officers were missing, and he hadn’t a clue as to what to do to save his ass.

The whole idea brought tears of anger to Delta’s eyes.

It would only be a minute before Bear pulled him over. After that, Bear would take him to the county jail, where it was a matter of hours before the others raced to their lawyers to begin plea bargaining. Rats may jump a sinking ship, but they’d step all over each other to be the first ones off.

Delta counted on this.

When Delta returned to Connie’s place, Gina, Megan, and the dogs sat huddled on the sidewalk, still watching over the three men in back. As soon as Delta was out of the car, Megan ran to her.

“Did we do it? Is it over?”

Delta nodded. “Just about.”

Gina and the dogs joined them. “Did we get him?”

“I’d say, right about now, he’s being hauled off to the county jail with about a hundred pounds of evidence dope He’s got an awful lot of explaining to do.”

Gina, too, hugged Delta.

“These guys haven’t given you any problems?”

Gina laughed. “They haven’t moved.”

“Did they talk?”

Both Megan and Gina nodded. “A lot.”

“Good.”

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

“Watch.” Delta opened up the back door and motioned for Patterson to get out.

“No way, Stevens. I ain’t lettin’those hounds take a bite outta me.”

“Get out, you moron. I’m not going to sic the dogs on you. It’s over. Williams has confessed the entire thing.”

“You’re Iying.”

“Am I?”

The three men slowly got out of the car, keeping a wary eye on the two growling dogs.

“I’m going to unlock Taggart’s cuffs and let him unlock yours. I have no more need of you.“ Delta stepped up to Taggart and ripped his mike off his chest. Then she leaned over into the front and pulled out the recorder. “Before you go running to your lawyers, I think you should go to room 102 at the Red Carpet and free your buddies.”

The cops exchanged glances, but said nothing, as Delta pressed a handcuff key into Taggart’s hand.

“Oh, and call an ambulance for Larson. I had to shoot him.”

Taggart swore under his breath as he unlocked the other two.

“You’re crazy.”

Delta shrugged. “Maybe I am. But I’m alive and I’m free, which is more than you’ll be in the next twenty-four hours.”

“You don’t expect us to believe you actually have Williams in custody?”

“I really couldn’t give a shit what you believe. The game is over and you’ve lost. If I were you, I’d be trying to figure a way of shortening my sentence.”

Taggart took a step toward Delta. Cagney and Tasha bared long white fangs and jerked at the leather leash.

“Now don’t try anything fellas, these dogs don’t seem to like you too well.” Delta smiled as the two dogs growled menacingly. The leather strap pulled taut, Gina stepped closer to the men, who instantly backed off.

“ O k a y, okay, ease the dogs off.”

Tossing Taggart the keys to the unit, Delta stepped next to Gina and the dogs.

“You can’t know how much we’d love to let these dogs loose on you, but I’ve got other plans. I’ll see you all burn in court. Now get the hell out of here.”

The three men jumped into the patrol car as Cagney and Tasha pulled harder on the heavy leather leash. “There’s one thing that’s been bugging the shit out of me all night long, Stevens,” Taggart said, rolling down the window of the car.

“What’s that?”

“I heard three shots in the warehouse. There was one, and then a long pause, and then two right after each other. Did you shoot him three times?”

Suddenly, Delta looked down at her chest. There were no bloodstains at all. Only a small, round hole in her left chest pocket. “Actually, Taggart, he shot me once. Now go.”

As the car sped off, Delta turned to find Gina and Megan staring in disbelief.

“You’ve been shot?” Megan asked slowly, moving closer to Delta.

Still looking at the hole, Delta’s eyes welled up with tears. Putting her index finger into the hole, Delta knew, even before she felt it, the reason there was no blood and no wound. With her finger in the hole, Delta closed her eyes.

“Honey, are you okay?” Gina asked, stepping up to Delta and laying her hand on Delta’s shoulder. “You were shot, weren’t you?”

Delta nodded. Looking up from the hole and seeing a blur, Delta nodded again. “Yes, Gina, I was. It was a perfect shot by a .357 Magnum practically at point blank range. It should have gone right through my heart.”

Megan quickly sat on the ground. “Oh my God.”

Squatting next to Megan, Delta ran her hand through Megan’s hair. “But it didn’t. Didn’t even scratch me.” Helping Megan to her feet, Delta pulled both women to her and hugged them tightly.

Reaching into her left chest pocket, Delta withdrew Miles’s badge and held it out for them to see.

“I’ve been carrying it around with me since he died.” Delta turned it over and examined it. Right in the middle of the badge was a huge dent made by the bullet meant for her heart.

“This is what the bullet hit.”

For a long, quiet moment, the three women stood, sharing a secret silence. For a deep, metaphysical second, all three women felt a presence surrounding them, loving them, showing them that the spirit never really dies; that love goes on even when the shell from which it came is gone. In that quiet moment under the streetlight and clouded skies, Delta understood the true power of love and friendship.

Still staring down at dented badge number 342, Delta cried.

The next morning, Delta walked into the District Attorney’s office, evidence in hand. District Attorney Alexandria Pendleton stood up from behind her huge desk as Delta was escorted in by the receptionist.

“I understand you have some information regarding last night’s arrest of your Captain.”

D.A. Pendleton had long auburn hair that swirled past her shoulders, delicately stroking the teal silk blouse she was wearing. Delta extended her hand out and shook her strong grip. Her gray-green eyes locked onto Delta, as if examining her. Her perfume, like her presence, was strong.

“Yes, I do.” Delta laid a manilla folder on the desk and sat down in the brown leather chair opposite the District Attorney’s.

“Is there anything in there I can use?”

“Are you asking if it was illegally obtained?”

The D.A. smiled. “Something like that. I’ve spent all morning on the phone. Apparently there are a lot of people at the station who believe he was set up. What do you think?”

Delta did not blink. “I think the evidence speaks for itself.”

“Not necessarily. I want you to speak for it. Because if I find out that you or your colleagues so much as thought about setting him up, I’ll have your badge. Do you read me?”

Delta nodded, not taking her eyes off the penetrating gaze of the