Green Light (Sam Archer 7) (42 page)

She already had a new identity for herself and she’d handle
Henderson and Tully later, wasting them on the road once they were
out of the State. The cops knew their names which meant she had to
get rid of them; they’d served their purpose and were now a
liability. If she let them live, at some point they could figure
out she was actually former
Prizraki,
heavily involved in the
deaths of their father and grandfather and she couldn’t allow that
to happen.

Tossing
the empty container of bleach to one side, Karen slammed the door
and checked her watch.

It was
time.

On 9
^th
Avenue, the Latino gang member lowered his weapon and stared
in confusion at the driver of the crashed Ford.

Rather
than the blond NYPD detective he was expecting to see, instead
there was a red-haired woman sitting behind the wheel, leaning back
in the seat and away from the airbag, blood trickling down her face
from a cut to the side of her head.

‘
Wrong guess, asshole,’ she said, smiling faintly.

Enraged,
the gang member raised his gun again, aiming it at her
head.

‘
Drop the weapon!’
a voice suddenly
bellowed from behind him.

The man
whirled around, his weapon still up, giving Shepherd no choice but
to fire.

The
gunman took two rounds to the chest, knocking him back against the
vehicle before he fell to the ground. As two other officers quickly
detained the other gunmen, Shepherd and Hendricks moved forward
quickly, seeing April inside the shot-up car. Shepherd opened the
door, catching her as she toppled out sideways. Grunting with pain
from his wounded arm as he lowered her to the ground, he looked up
at Hendricks, who was peering inside the car.

‘
Anything?’

Hendricks shook his head, staring at the empty seats, no sign
of Archer.

‘
Where the hell is he?’

FIFTY

At the
East-side docks, Karen was impatiently checking her watch when
Henderson’s and Tully’s van finally pulled into the yard. Swinging
right, it drew to a halt directly in front of her with the lights
on full beam. Shielding her eyes with her forearm, Karen caught a
brief glimpse of the driver, who was wearing a black Yankees cap
with the peak pulled down and thick green coat;
Henderson.

She
walked over to the newly-arrived vehicle and pulled open the
sliding door, lifting out a large container of bleach and
unscrewing the cap. As she started to splash the contents inside
the van, she heard the driver’s door close on the other side,
followed by footsteps as he walked round the front of the
vehicle.

However,
with the stink of bleach filling the air, Karen suddenly froze, the
container still in her hand.

She
turned slowly.

Wearing
Henderson’s coat, the baseball cap tossed to the ground, Archer was
standing there, his pistol aimed at her head.

‘
Your two boys aren’t gonna make it,’ he said. ‘Henderson’s
taking a nap and Tully’s having a bath.’

She
didn’t waste time with a reply, her face expressionless as she
stared at the cop, her brain racing as she computed this completely
unexpected development.

Looking
through his sights, Archer stared back, seeing a very different
woman from the one he’d left behind in her apartment two days ago.
Gone was the cowed and grieving mother.

This
woman looked to be exactly what she was, a hard-faced
killer.

‘
Turn around,’ Archer said.

Karen
didn’t move; he cocked the hammer.

‘
Last chance.’

Moving
slowly, she turned around until she had her back to him.

‘
Lift up the back of your shirt.’

She did,
revealing an elaborate white rose pattern just above her
waistband.

‘
That’s a
Suki
tattoo,’ he said.

She
turned back around. ‘Very good.’

‘
Henderson had an identical one. So did Tully, on his chest. I
checked. Just in time.’

‘
You got me.’

‘
But you’re not
Suki
. You’re
Prizraki.
That tattoo is
bullshit.
’

Her eyes
narrowed.

‘
OCCB told us the New York
Prizraki
had only lost one major
figure in the past two years; their head of trafficking. Two months
after he’s replaced, Brooklyn South picked up some unusual
activity; apparently members of the gang had started to disappear.
I’m guessing Henderson, Tully and Lister’s handiwork. Those tattoos
confirmed they’re members of the rival gang;
Suki.’

‘
Why the hell would they take on the
Prizraki
?’

‘
Payback. We were told the Pittsburgh
Suki
were wiped off the map ten years
ago. According to a bartender who turned informant, their leader
was killed by a woman in a South-Side nightclub; she was blonde,
late twenties or early thirties, worked as a waitress and
had
Suki
tattoos.
I think that woman was you.’

Karen
stayed silent.

‘
According to this bartender, the
Suki
leader’s sons were killed that
night but his grandchildren all disappeared; Mikhail, Seva and
Ninochka. Michael, Seb and Nina.’

He fixed
her gaze.

‘
Henderson, Tully and Lister.’

Karen
snorted. ‘They have different surnames.’

‘
Which they probably adopted to avoid being identified for who
they really were. The
Suki
have been persecuted for decades. But that’s why
the three grandchildren suddenly appeared in San Diego after being
born and raised in Pittsburgh. That’s why they’re here
now.’

‘
So how do you get to them apparently killing men in New
York?’

‘
Because the man who was responsible for what happened to them
is right here. He ran the show in Pittsburgh; he was the guy
brought in to take over the
Prizraki
operation here when the
original boss was killed.’

Karen
didn’t reply for a moment. ‘So where do I fit in to all
this?’

‘
You ran April and Leann’s escort service. Goya and Santiago
worked for you. They were probably running it but April told us the
whole operation suddenly changed at the beginning of this year, the
exact same time that you moved here with Leann. But you didn’t come
here to escape an abusive husband, did you? Instead, you came here
to find and kill him.’

‘
There’s no proof of that.’

‘
OCCB sent us a picture of the
Prizraki
boss in Little Odessa;
Bashev. He and Leann had identical eyes; it was obvious. They had
to be related, which meant she was probably his kid. And your
husband. But I’m guessing you’re not her mother.’

She
stayed silent.

‘
Anyway, we found Henderson, Tully and Lister had a history of
targeting successful prostitution rings and taking them over,
killing the people who’d originally run them. Goya and Santiago
worked for you, which made you the head and therefore a target. I
can guess the only reason they spared you was because they saw your
tattoos. They couldn’t kill a fellow
Suki
; they had no idea you’re
actually
Prizraki
,
the woman who killed their grandfather. If they had, you wouldn’t
have lasted five minutes. You both had a common enemy, so you
struck up an alliance; you bullshitted them, claiming you were on
their side, and used them against your old crew.’

‘
Why would I want to put moves against my own crew,
dumbass?’

‘
The Thieves Law, that’s why. I heard about it, a code of
honour that Russian Mafia live by. A detective from Brooklyn South
gave us a few examples and one stuck in my head. A true
vor
can’t have a family,
isn’t that right?’

Karen
stayed silent.’

‘
So if Bashev was inducted, he’d have to get rid of his family.
We haven’t found any evidence that Bashev showed any interest in
Leann; if she worked as an escort, he probably didn’t give a shit
about her. She didn’t need to die. However, you were his wife so
you did. Despite the fact that you killed the head of the
Pittsburgh
Suki
,
the
Prizraki
betrayed you in the end.’

‘
You still haven’t told me why you think I’m one of them. This
is all guesswork.’

‘
When I came to see you, you dropped that cup on the floor,
remember? But you made no attempt to pick it up. You didn’t even
react when you dropped it. Because the code you live by as
Prizraki
forbids you
picking anything up from the floor, doesn’t it? Seems crazy to me
but Detective Massaro says you guys live and die by that stuff. But
apparently
Sukis
don’t live by the same rules, being outcasts and all. Am I
getting close? I think so.’

Her lips
thinned but she didn’t reply.

‘
Your husband’s not a drunk, and he’s not back in Pennsylvania.
He’s here in New York
.
You’re here for the same reason as Henderson, Tully and
Lister; revenge.’

‘
He buried me alive in a coffin. I’m supposed to let that
pass?’

‘
What about the men who disappeared? All these
Prizraki
?’

‘
To humiliate him first and scare the shit out of that son of a
bitch, to have him watch his entire faction disappear around him
before he joined them, last of all. I wanted him to
suffer.’

‘
What about the escorts? And Vargas? Did they deserve to die
too?’

‘
I had my reasons. And your girlfriend was just a
bonus.’

‘
You had something on Royston too, didn’t you?’ Archer
continued, refusing to be goaded. ‘You needed more time to finish
off the
Prizraki
and told him to delay the investigation. That’s why he ran
interference from day one. That’s why our homes received a visit
tonight.’

‘
Real shame you’re never getting your girl back,’ Karen replied
quietly, staring him in the eyes. ‘What was her name;
Alice?’

Archer
didn’t take his eyes off her. ‘It wasn’t a coincidence I got
arrested when I came to see you either. You must have messaged
Royston and told him I was there. You told him to get me into
Rikers and make sure I didn’t leave.’

‘
Yet you survived,’ Karen said. ‘You’re just like me,
Detective. We’re both survivors. So put that gun down and let’s
talk about it.’

‘
You’re done.’

She
smiled. ‘You have no idea how many times people have tried to kill
me. But I’m still here. Just like you.’

‘
I’m nothing like you.’

The
moment he finished speaking there was a racking sound a foot from
his head, a shotgun being pumped.

He
froze, then quickly glanced to his right.

Royston.

Looking
back at Karen, Archer saw her smile.

‘
Well now look at this,’ Karen said, Archer’s advantage of a
few seconds ago gone. ‘I was wrong, Detective. You and I aren’t
alike after all.’

‘
You stupid bitch,’ Royston said, not taking his shotgun off
Archer as he addressed Karen. ‘I’m not here just for him. I’m here
for both of you.’

He’d
barely finished speaking when Karen suddenly moved, throwing the
container of bleach towards Royston and taking him by surprise.
Pulling his aim off Archer, the lieutenant swung the Mossberg and
fired but Karen had already darted behind the van as the shell
destroyed a trash can just beyond where she’d been
standing.

Archer
immediately snapped his elbow back into Royston’s face as the
Lieutenant racked the pump. With a silenced pistol she pulled from
her jacket, Karen fired, aiming at Archer, her biggest threat, but
he was already moving and she missed, hitting Royston in the leg
instead. Shouting in pain, the Lieutenant fell back but before
Archer could grab the shotgun from him, Royston turned it on
him.

Exposed,
Archer threw himself behind a concrete bollard in the middle of the
yard, the only cover available, but the shot never came.

Snapping
out, Archer went to fire but hesitated when he saw Royston had
ducked for cover behind another bollard.

Just as
a grenade rolled to a stop fifteen feet from Archer.

It
exploded a beat later, blowing Archer off his feet and back onto
the concrete, leaving him lying in a limp heap.

Seeing
the blond detective go down, Royston rose from his cover and racked
the pump to finish him off but then heard the screech of tyres
behind him, a fast-moving car pulling into the yard. Turning, he
fired, blowing out a front tyre on the Bureau Ford. As the car
skewed to a halt, Royston fired again at the front windshield then
racked the pump; ignoring Archer, who he could see was either dead
or unconscious, he turned and looked for his tormentor, Karen
Casey. Realising there was only one place she could be, he limped
forward into the warehouse.