The Reluctant Warrior (Warriors Series Book 2) (25 page)

Broker aimed two fingers at his eyes and reversed those fingers at Pizaka first and then Chang, in the classic B-movie gesture. ‘No? I thought we would have parted with you doing this. Isn’t it in the Suave Detective Handbook?’

He glanced casually to his right when he stepped out of the interview room, closely followed by the two. There was a bunch of people milling around several feet away, and something about them caught his attention. He gazed sharply and then recognized Hamm accompanied by a smartly dressed middle-aged man, his lawyer.

Broker stepped across to them, ignoring the sharp breath Pizaka drew behind him and Chang’s whispered, ‘Don’t.’

‘Had some trouble, Dieter?’

Hamm’s lawyer leaned in and whispered something, and Hamm’s bunched shoulders relaxed, his eyes watching Broker like a cobra’s.

‘That rate card…’

Hamm lunged toward Broker, his hands reaching out, and Chang and Pizaka hurled themselves between the two, and that wasn’t enough. Hamm came to inches from Broker’s face and whispered, ‘You’re a dead man walking.’

Pizaka twisted his face back at Broker. ‘Get outta here.’ If he had heard Hamm’s comment, he ignored it.

Broker looked at Hamm and grinned even wider, feeling light and carefree and utterly dangerous. ‘Listen to your lawyer, Hamm. Don’t do or say anything stupid. Scheafer wouldn’t like it. As it is, I’m sure he’s not very happy with your incompetence.’

Hamm stilled, the surging force in him stopping and subsiding, and the two looked at each other, and the others became inconsequential. The spell broke as Hamm turned and walked away, his lawyer trotting fast to keep up with him.

Broker walked outside, things coming back into focus, the murmur of voices growing louder, and when he reached outside, he paused to let life normalize. He could have crushed Hamm’s larynx and left him dead in seconds. Crushing Hamm wasn’t the objective.

Taking a deep breath, allowing it to run through him and calm down the motor neurons and synapses, he dialed a number. ‘Meet me at Rocka’s.’

Pressure, relentless pressure. That was the objective.

He drove out, knowing that three other vehicles would fall in behind him.

A fourth vehicle detached itself from the rest of New York and followed them.

The Watcher.

‘Why?’ Elaine Rocka glared angrily at them.

They had grouped in two Tahoes and reached her home before she had returned from work, and had waited for her return. Her Subaru eased into the driveway an hour later, but rather than going inside, she strode – walking was not for the Elaine Rockas of the world – down the sidewalk and returned half an hour later with Shawn and Lisa. Lisa was holding her hand and skipping beside her, narrating her day, while Shawn followed more thoughtfully. Boys had their standards. They didn’t walk abreast with girls, even if they were their sisters.

They had waited for another half an hour, and then Broker had knocked on her door and braced himself. She had flung open the door, made a sound of disgust, crossed her arms and waited, her dogs ever watchful behind her.

Broker had outwaited her, and they had finally been admitted to her living room, but not before she had sent the kids to their rooms.

‘Why?’ she repeated, scraping her chair back angrily. ‘You got the answers you wanted. Why are you back?’

‘Shattner’s absence has to be reported to the police,’ Broker replied patiently. ‘Ma’am, we fully understand your wish to shield the children, but a missing person report has to be filed.’

Her face turned red. ‘That is none of your business. You came to find the relationship with your dead friend; you got all that we knew. Why don’t you disappear and let us get on with our lives?’

‘Ma’am, this became our business the day we got Shawn’s call–’

‘Screw your business,’ Elaine Rocka shouted, glanced around her, and lowered her voice. ‘Just go.’

Broker sensed Chloe’s gaze on him and looked at her and nodded briefly at her expression. He walked out of the living room without a word, the other men following him.

‘Think she’ll go for it?’ Roger asked after a while.

‘If Chloe can’t persuade her, none of us can,’ growled Broker, his calm exterior breaking to reveal his impatience. ‘He’s been missing for months now, for crissakes. Surely she understands that at the very least she’s got to lodge it with the NYPD.’

Roger didn’t answer, and Broker turned to glare at him, and then his glare dissolved.

Lisa had her face scrunched against the window and was drawing circles on the glass; Bwana was drawing smileys in them, making Lisa giggle. He traded glances with Roger and Bear and firmed his shoulders resolutely and turned back inside just as the door opened.

‘We’re going in half an hour,’ Chloe announced, ‘as soon as she gets the kids ready.’

‘How did you manage that?’

‘That’s between women.’ Chloe smiled and then answered seriously, ‘She doesn’t have a lot of choice. We could have gone directly to the police, and then she would have been in deeper trouble; the Office of Children and Family Services could get involved.’

A tornado burst out the front door and glared at them. ‘We’re ready,’ Elaine Rocka said through clenched teeth, and then her face relaxed as the kids came through the door. Bear pulled the door shut behind them after an abrupt nod from her.

Bear opened their Tahoe’s door with a flourish and bowed deeply as Lisa and Elaine climbed in. ‘Milady.’ He gestured grandly at Chloe, indicating she join them in the rear.

Chloe nudged Lisa. ‘He’s never opened doors for me before. Stick around with us, honey, and maybe we’ll get him to shave that beard.’ Lisa giggled when Bear caught her eye in the mirror and winked at her.

After dropping the dogs off at friends of hers, Broker led them to a safe house, the setting sun bathing Triborough Bridge in gold, time standing still momentarily for nature’s work.

Far behind them, but keeping them in view, Tony pressed his earbud. ‘On the move.’

‘Roger,’ came back another voice belonging to a stringy man driving a compact a couple of car lengths behind Tony. Their job was to keep the lead vehicles free of tails, or warn them of any.

At One Police Plaza – Chang had wanted to meet them there once Broker had called him – Pizaka led them to an empty office, empty save for Chang. He shut the door after Bwana, Roger, and Shawn joined them, and crossed the desk to join Chang.

Pizaka and Chang were professional and ran through Elaine Rocka’s statement, disappeared for a few minutes –
Checking on the school, Elaine Rocka’s manager and the garage
, Broker surmised – and returned with an air of finality, indicating the interview was nearly over.

When their aunt led the children away, Broker lingered back. ‘You know the garage Shattner worked in was 5Clubs run? It was Brooklyn’s epicenter of crime. I’m sure you guys were keeping tabs on it.’

Chang’s sleepy expression didn’t change, and Pizaka had his game face on.

Broker shrugged. ‘Just saying. Shattner kept a journal, we just learnt. Wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be hot.’ He cut himself short when Pizaka and Chang looked over his shoulder; he glanced back and saw Shawn looking at him curiously through the half-open door.

An hour later, Elaine Rocka’s stony visage was still the same, though her stiff shoulders had relaxed fractionally. It was hard to relax when Lisa frequently blew the shiny whistle she had hanging around her neck. ‘Lee said I should use it if I’m in trouble, and they’ll come with their sirens.’ Lee. Detective Chang and her were besties now. Her friends at school would be so J.

Broker got sucked into meetings with other cops, intel that he’d passed helping their cases, and it was several hours before they could head out of the building.

‘Broker, why did you say that? Dad didn’t leave anything with us.’ Shawn glanced up at him.

‘I know, son, but I want them to work hard in finding your dad, and I’m dangling a carrot for them.’

Shawn nodded, unconvinced ‘Do you think…?’

‘I have dad’s key,’ Lisa said.

Broker stopped so abruptly that Bwana, a couple of steps behind him, ran into him. He knelt down. ‘Say what, honey?’

‘Dad kept his secret stuff in his locker. He gave me the key and said I should not give it to anyone.’

‘You’re lying. Dad always told me everything. He gave me his phone. He would have told me about his locker,’ Shawn said angrily. He had always been the custodian of his dad’s secrets, and it looked like now he wasn’t.

Lisa’s lower lip trembled, and her eyes filled. ‘It’s true. He gave it to me when he took us out of school. He made me pinky swear and stuck it inside my school bag.’ She brushed away a tear with her face and ran to the comforting embrace of her aunt. Elaine Rocka glared at them.
See what you’ve done.

Bwana knelt beside Shawn, dwarfing him even then. ‘Do you trust your dad?’

Shawn nodded wordlessly, his eyes betraying his hurt. ‘Then you should accept that this doesn’t mean he didn’t think you couldn’t keep a secret. He had a good reason for this.’ He kept looking at Shawn till the boy nodded again, slowly and reluctantly.

Bwana patted him on his shoulder and rose. He knew a lot about trust and faith. They didn’t need to speak about it; it was just there, like sunlight and air.

Lisa had fallen asleep, the rush of traffic lulling her, when Elaine Rocka finally broke her silence. ‘Do you think he has anything in the locker?’

Broker shrugged silently, the thought was uppermost in all their minds. ‘We won’t know unless we–’

‘DOWN.’

‘DOWN.’

His window exploded.

Chapter 31

Eric, driving the compact, had flagged the bike to Tony, who in turn had relayed it to Bwana and Broker.

Broker had kept an eye out for it and had spotted it as it came in the range of his mirror, just as Bwana’s, ‘Watch your seven,’ came over his earbud.

A few blocks later, the bike was still tailing him and evasive action was called for, when the bike sped up and came alongside, the figure all in black straightened a right arm, and Broker shouted, ‘DOWN.’

Broker stomped the brake, hard, and swerved
into
the bike. The bike wobbled, not expecting the maneuver, straightened, and the bullet flew wide, puncturing Broker’s window, puncturing Bear’s window, disappearing in the darkness, its lethal flight in vain. Rubber howled and burned in protest, but listened to its master, and the Tahoe came to a stop, nose across the lane divider, shutting down both lanes.

‘Clear,’ said Bear, crouching down in the well in the front, legs braced for impact, left hand steady on the steering in case Broker was hit, right holding his Glock.

‘Clear,’ said Chloe, lying on top of Elaine Rocka, who in turn was lying on Lisa, who was prone on the floor.

‘All clear, he’s gone,’ came Roger’s voice softly, something in his voice saying anyone approaching them now had better approach slowly, carefully
and peacefully
.

Broker looked in the mirror and saw them parked two car lengths down, both of them on the running rails; one had his gun trained behind, the other had the front covered.

He inspected his window, a round hole in it surrounded by spidery cracks, the exit on Bear’s side similar, the holes large.
Large caliber. Shooting like this is iffy; deflection, angles, speeds all play hell. Gunman probably thought of pumping several shots to make at least some count but didn’t get an opportunity.

New York blew in through the holed windows, horns baying, drivers cursing, fingers sticking up in the air as the traffic bent and straightened around them. Some of them slowed; drivers rolled down their windows to swear at Broker, saw something in his face, and sped on to home and a beer.

The first of the NYPD cruisers came and then another and another, and the night became flashing red and blue.

Chang and Pizaka came. They checked on Rocka and the kids, who had moved to the second Tahoe. Lisa had gotten over her fear and was drinking it all in,
Millie would die when she heard
; Shawn kept looking around him, then at Bwana and Roger, and kept pulling on his serious face, but it fell and the grin came back on, it was all one big thrill for him. Elaine Rocka opened her eyes just once to look at Pizaka and say simply, ‘This is why,’ and closed her eyes and shut them all out.

‘Got a description?’ Pizaka asked Broker as he looked over the vehicle. Bear, removing shards of glass from Broker’s face, glanced in Pizaka’s direction and answered, ‘Black. All black and hooded.’

‘We didn’t ask his name,’ Bear added, sarcasm dripping.

Pizaka was as immaculate as ever, not a hair out of place, the crease sharper than a Jimmy Lile blade.
He must have cloned himself
.

‘Number plate?’

Roger recited a number, not that it would do much good. It would be a throwaway, and the bike was probably already in some scrap heap somewhere. ‘One of the sergeants said he would put a BOLO out.’ Roger nodded in the direction of the police who were the first to the scene.

The detectives kept quiet. Broker and his companions knew how the system worked, how investigations such as these worked. Seven out of ten times, a hit-and-run such as this was never tracked down, not if false plates were being used, there was no workable description, and no credible witnesses or camera footage.

Broker patted his face with a wet tissue gently and inspected the tissue in the light. No glass. Satisfied, he asked the two detectives, ‘This guy, Shattner. Was he one of yours?’

Both shook their heads simultaneously.

Chang said, ‘We don’t have anyone inside with that name. Heck, we don’t have anyone inside the gang. Tried it a few times, and lost a few good guys. First time we heard his name was today. We ran him through the system when you guys left, and got arrests for dealing – unlicensed firearms, narcotics – that sort of thing. Strictly small time, and this was soon after his release from the army. After that, nothing. We haven’t heard back from the FBI yet, if they have anything on him. We requested his army file, but that’ll take time. You got anything to tell us?’