The World in Reverse (38 page)

Ferris could barely repress his smile.  He looked out of the glass at the people running and screaming, police shoving the masses away from the doors and shook his head.  The entire city was falling apart and the hottest story was still him.  He couldn’t have planned it better.

“I was attacked today by an officer who o
bviously is out of his league when it comes to the Baby Boys investigation.  I have been encouraging the community to come together and share any possible leads in an effort to help the police department, who has obviously dropped the ball not only on this case but also on keeping the people of this city safe.  He was enraged about not only that but my own desire to get to the bottom of the Agosto’s case.  Seeking revenge, he stabbed me in my hand and shot me in the knee.”

“Shouldn’t you be recovering right now i
nstead of out here at the memorial?” she asked, loving every minute of the prime time interview.

“I have always put this city first.  I have pushed for better schools, better pay of our government workers, better upkeep of our community centers and better care for our elderly.  The Baby Boys case has been a major priority in my life because some of the children were once students at my afterschool and preschool programs.  When I found this out, it just broke my heart to know what had happened to them.  The parents deserve answers and justice.” He moved closer to the mic.  “And you know this all is a reflection of our city leade
rship.  The mayor has not done a good job of leading our departments or our efforts to keep our citizens safe.”

“So what do you suggest that we do?” she asked, seeing other reporters come up to join in the discussion.

Ferris relished in the attention. He waited for the two other reporters to get in position first.  With all the lights on him, he looked into the cameras and spoke to the people. “I’m going to run for mayor in the upcoming election, because I know I have what it takes to lead our city out this despair that we’ve been knee deep in for many years.”

Amway watched from across the room in disgust.  He knew it.  This entire show was about Ferris getting what he wanted.  Mayor Thompson watched on as well.  Stepping closer to Amway, he leaned into his ear.  “Get him out of here,” he said, nostrils flaring. 

Deputy Director Magnelli having watched from afar as the entire situation unfolded saw the golden opportunity that he was waiting for. “Stay here,” he told Collin, who stood beside him. He made his way over to the mayor and Amway.  “We’ve got TACT guys who can move these people out of the general area.  The unmarks are parked down in the garage.  I say that we start to get them in cars and get them to their homes out of this mess.”

The mayor couldn’t agree more.  “He’s right.  We should get them out of the area.”

Amway didn’t agree. “The safest place for them is in here,” he said, looking on outside at the grounds covered in tear gas and smoke.  The police were pushing hard against the crowds and slowly they began to disperse.

Mayor Thompson looked over at Ferris, still talking to the cameras.  “We have enough officers in here to drive the council and co
mmissioners to safety.  We need to do that,” he urged, voice straining.

“I’ll have to agree with him,” Magnelli said, turning his back to Ferris.  “We have to do something. They shouldn’t just be here like sitting ducks.”

Amway paused.  Everything in him told him that this was wrong, however, he had the mayor at his back urging otherwise.

“Fine, but I don’t want you anywhere near Ferris, especially after that stunt earlier today that Johnson pulled.  You just take a car and get you and Collin to safety.  Take the rest of the day to just get some rest and be with your family.  You’re on leave; you shouldn’t be working.”  Amway looked at Magnelli’s tired eyes and felt sorrow for him.  “Get some rest.”

Magnelli nodded. “I appreciate it.  I will,” he said, signaling for Collin.  “But first, I’ll make sure the men know what to do.”

“We are truly sorry for your loss,” Mayor Thompson said, offering his hand.  “We’ll do everything in our power not only solve this crime, but also to comfort your family.”

“I appreciate it mayor,” Magnelli said humbly.  He looked over at Ferris and rolled his eyes.  “It’s nice to know that some people here actually give a damn.”

When the officers got word, they quickly began to take the public officials down to the garage in shifts. Loading them up, they quickly exited the gate and headed out into the streets with escorts to get them to safety. 

When it was time to escort Ferris, an officer in tactical gear walked up to him and offered his hand.  “Hello sir. I’m Cory Hamilton.  I’ll be escorting you to your hotel.”

Ferris shook his hand.  “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Cory said, straitening up. “I voted for you in the last election. You’re over my district.  I was a campaign volunteer.”

“You don’t say,” Ferris said as Cory pushed his wheelchair through the packed lobby to the elevators. “Well, I hope to have your support in my run for mayor next year.”  The elevator buzzed and opened. 

“Count on it,” Cory said, nodding towards Magnelli as he pushed him inside.  When they got inside the elevator, Cory carefully pulled Ferris’ brown leather coach bag off the side of his chair and gave it to the officer standing beside him.

“I just don’t see why we didn’t wait longer to be escorted out.  The streets have to be packed.” Ferris huffed. “Just another poorly laid out plan by Amway and Thompson.”

“Hey, I just do what I’m told,” Cory said as the door opened. “But hey,  I promise to get you to your destination safely.  With the firepower that we’re carrying, it would take an army to pry you out of our possession.”

Ferris laughed.  “Well, that’s comforting.”

Cory and two other officers led him to a Black SUV parked near the back of the garage.  Loading him in the back of the truck carefully, they put his wheelchair in the trunk area and then prepared to head out into the traffic.   In the long processional of cars and bike police, they entered onto Main Street and headed south in the bumper to bumper traffic. 

Ferris frowned. “I’m at the Marriott,” he said, looking out of the window. “Why are we going this way?”

“Someone would like to see you first,” Cory explained. 

“Who? What is this?” Ferris said, looking for his bag.

The officer sitting beside him raised the bag up and snatched it away.  Opening the bag, he fished out Ferris’s phone and passed it to the officer in the front passenger seat.

“Who are you?” Ferris asked, trying to sit up. 

Nicola turned around in the seat and smiled. “No introduction is really needed is it?” he asked with a devious grin.

“Agosto?” Ferris said in shock.  “What…” He went for the door, but the man beside him pulled a weapon.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Agosto said, turning back around.  “You might as well just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“I’ll have you all arrested!” Ferris protested.

Pulling out a syringe, the officer beside him grabbed the struggling man by his arm and stuck him in his neck.  Feeling dizzy instantly, Ferris flung his head back on the seat and passed out.

“Check mate,” Agosto said, smiling at Cory. 

32

It took nearly an hour for Cory and Nicola to get out of the heavy bumper-to-bumper traffic of downtown Memphis after the riots began.  Blue lights lit up the district; officers chased on foot after troublemakers; riot police locked down entire blocks and pushed traffic away from the streets; families grabbed their children and strollers and bolted back to their cars; pepper spray fogged the littered streets and complete and utter chaos took over what unbelievably, the business district of the city had been set ablaze and firefighters were working to put out many historic buildings that were attacked. 

The men drove with their blue lights on and siren blaring for most of the way to their dest
ination, moving through traffic easily and unnoticed with their dark tinted windows.  Every radio station in the city was advising listeners not to go out in the streets.  Every television station recapped the event and did live shots of the on-going struggle to get the city back under control.  Many local analysts on site at the studios said that the riots could have been worse; the injuries could have been more if only Director Amway had not been ready. 

Nicola listened carefully to the reports, wai
ting for reports that Councilman Ferris had been lost or abducted during the chaos, but no one had noticed yet…or didn’t care.

He looked back at the man still unconscious and felt the sudden overwhelming desire to shoot him.

“Not yet,” he said aloud.

“Not yet, what?” Cory asked.  He looked back at Ferris also.  “Oh, him.”

Nicola rested back in his seat and looked at his watch. “We’re behind schedule.”

“Yeah, well no one was counting on a fuc
king riot.”  Cory turned off the expressway onto Highway 64 and headed towards Eads, not far from Cane’s horse range.

“Where are we going?” Agosto asked.

“One of the Medlov safe houses,” Cory said, turning off his lights and siren.  “We’re meeting Gabriel there.”

Nicola had to ask, although he promised himself that he would not.  “Tell me som
ething.”

Cory’s stomach tightened.  “Sure.  What?”

“Why did you do it? I mean, you were a good cop. Why did you turn?” Nicola needed an answer for his own resolve, although he didn’t feel as though Cory was obligated to answer. 

“My mom,” Cory answered with little guilt in his voice.  “She was dying and I couldn’t afford the care.  Plus, my cover got blown. So, I made a choice to keep my life, save my mot
her’s and make some money to take care of us both.”

Nicola couldn’t think of a more noble a
nswer, but he still felt betrayed.  He had trained Cory, brought him up, watched over him and vouched for him for years. To know that he was reporting back to Dmitry Medlov and his men the entire time felt like the ultimate slap in his face. 

“I guess that I can understand,” Nicola fina
lly said.  He instantly saw Cory relax more.  “But how did you deal with it…I mean…knowing that you were a mole?”

Cory turned up his lips.  “It’s still hard,” he said with a frown.  “This is never who you intend on being.”

Crossing over into the unincorporated county, the worry of getting Councilman Ferris out of the reach of the MPD became a null factor.  The department had no jurisdiction in the county, and the sheriff’s department wouldn’t likely pull over a government vehicle that wasn’t breaking any laws. They were nearly home free.

“So what’s in this stash house?” Nicola asked, unsure of what to expect.

“Weapons…” Cory corrected himself. “Big ass weapons.  The kind that you don’t sell to street thugs or small time gangsters.”

Nicola was intrigued. “So all this time, he really has been operating within the city?”

Cory smiled. “Dude, get off the job.”

Nicola raised his hands. “Hey, I just want to know.  This is my life’s work just thrown away.  It would be nice to at least have the puzzles put together for me.”

The officer in the back wasn’t so sure that that was a good idea.  He cleared his throat and kicked Cory’s chair.

Nicola looked back at him.  “You don’t agree?”

“I don’t want to piss the Medlov’s off,” the cop said, shrugging his shoulders.  “Why don’t you just ask them?”

Cory chuckled. “Do us a favor and ask G
abriel. He’ll be there when we arrive if nothing has change. If he’s comfortable telling you, then you’ll find out, but Maurice is right.  There is too much to lose by saying too much too soon.”

Agosto nodded.  He could appreciate that.  After all, someone had to be loyal to something.   And after only a day, he wasn’t exactly one of the boys yet.

Pulling into an upper middle class community of contemporary two-story homes and luxury cars, Cory turned down the quiet dark, dizzying lanes until he arrived at their location.  It was a cozy southern-style, two-story home with red brick and white shutters in the middle of a cul-de-sac with a well-cared-for lawn, expensive exterior lighting, sprinklers running, and nice tall fencing to prohibit anyone from seeing the backyard.  In no way did the house stick out; instead it set the tone for the street, appearing inviting and non-threatening. 

Nicola had to give it to the man.  Dmitry was smart.  He put everything in plain view and let them all run over themselves looking for his product.  There was no telling how many homes just like this one were in the county under different names, and the selling of just one shipment of guns paid for the house several times over.  It was a
win-win
for him and a big
fuck you
to law enforcement. 

Cory pulled into the double garage and closed it after him.  Quickly Maurice jumped out to help get the councilman inside. 

“Is this place safe?” Nicola asked, looking around the garage at the organized yard tools and holiday decorations.  He stepped out of the truck and closed the door.  The sound echoed in the small space as well as their voices.

“It’s got a big basement, one of the only ones in the subdivision.  No one will hear a thing,” Cory said, walking around to Nicola’s side to help with Ferris’ limp body. He put on his leather gloves and tied them down at the wrist. There was no way that he wanted to touch the pedophile with is bare hands unless he was choking him to death.  “Hey Maury, give him another shot will you? I don’t want him waking up in the middle of this.”

***

In the master bedroom of the stash house, the sound of a woman’s erotic, sexual moans spilled out beyond the confines of the room into the hallway and down the quiet corridor, ech
oing through the hollow rooms like a throbbing pulse.  As the men entered the kitchen with Ferris’ body, Cory and Maurice snickered to each other, while Nicola locked the door behind him. 

“The alarm code is 4545,” Cory said, dro
pping Ferris on the tile floor.  He rose up and stretched his arms. “The fucker is heavy.”

“No shit,” Maurice said, going to the stai
nless still refrigerator to get a beer.  “I need a cold one before we tote his ass down to the basement.”

The woman screamed again.

Nicola walked to the doorway and looked through the house. There were at least six bodyguards who stared back at him, all carrying weapons and wearing suits.  He turned back without saying a word to them.   “Who is that?” he asked Cory as the strange woman made a low throaty noise and said something vulgar and inviting. 

“Heidi and Gabriel,” Cory answered before Maurice could.  He looked at his watch.  “He should be done in a minute.”

“It takes longer and longer each time.  Are they falling for each other?” Maurice asked.  He looked through the refrigerator for something to eat.  “It would be beneficial for her, at least, if they did.”

“He’s not stupid.  It’s easy ass man. That’s all,” Cory said, rolling his arms.

Nicola walked back to Ferris’ body, bent down, picked him up and threw him over his broad shoulder.  “Where do you want him?” he asked, annoyed by the sound of the woman.  He had to get away from it.  It made him miss Ivy even more.  He should have been home right then making love to his wife and playing with his kids not lugging around kidnapped politicians and working for international organized crime rings.

Cory could see Nicola’s aggravation and felt for him. “I’ll walk you down,” he said, twisting the top off of his beer.  “Do you want one?”

“Sure,” Nicola said with a huff.  “It’s fucking boiling outside, even with the sun down.”

Maurice walked to the window and looked out as more cars pulled up.  “The guys are here. Looks like everyone accept Magnelli.”

Nicola nodded. “Good.  Then we can get started soon.”

Cory led Nicola to the basement adjacent to the kitchen. Flipping on the light, they descen
ded down a long stairwell to a full basement.  One side of it was stacked with crates full of ammunition; the other side was an authentic electric chair with worn leather straps under an unforgiving halogen light.  Nicola placed Ferris in the chair and Cory helped strap him in.  When they were done, they looked at the man, sweating, leg wrapped, hand covered in dirty gauze and felt no remorse.

“How long will he be out?” Nicola asked.

“No more than an hour,” Cory said, pulling the tripod and camera out of the corner.  “You said you wanted a full confession on tape, right?”

“Yeah,” Nicola said, hearing footsteps b
ehind him.  He looked over at the stairs to see Gabriel, standing shirtless with only his jeans on.  He walked over to them, still glistening from sex and stared at Ferris.

“So this is what all the trouble is over, huh?  Doesn’t look like much.” He popped open his beer.  “Then again, pedophiles never do.”

“He’ll be up in a hour,” Cory said again.

“Do you have something to bring him to quicker,” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah, if you want,” Cory said, ready to go back upstairs.  He had seen what was done down in this basement and it gave him the creeps, but if anyone had it coming, this guy did.  

“What parts of the puzzle are we missing before we start?” Gabriel asked Nicola. He wanted to get it over with as much as they did. 

“Magnelli and his son.  They are supposed to be on the way.”  Nicola looked down at his watch.  “Hey did you get me that phone?”

Gabriel pulled an iPhone from his back pocket.  “Yep,” he said, extending his hand to Nicola.  “It’s not traceable.  You can talk as long as you want to the wife.”

“I’ve got something that I need her to do.”  Plus, he missed her voice. He wouldn’t wait to talk to her, to know that she was fine and to let her know the same about him.  She had to be worried out of her mind.  He had told her to call her folks as soon as she got to Miami to let them know that she and the kids were safe, but he had given her strict instructions not to mention how they got there, who brought them or anything at all about the Medlov family.  He was certain that she understood and that he could trust her to keep their secret. 

“Do you guys need me right now? If not, I’m going back upstairs and grab something to eat,” Cory said, walking towards the staircase.  He could hear the men talking upstairs among themselves. 

“No, you’re good,” Gabriel said, looking at Nicola.  “But you, I do need to speak to.”

Nicola raised a brow. “I’m all ears.”

Cory excused himself on that note, and the men were left alone. 

Gabriel having been an agent way before he was a crime boss wanted to see where the man’s head was.  In fact, it was imperative considering everything that he had seen.  It would be Agosto’s death for sure, and he felt responsible for telling him so.

Gabriel grabbed a seat across from Ferris and sipped his beer.  “Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked, green eyes narrowed.  The bright light shun down on his large muscular form and black as night hair. 

“Yes,” Nicola answered flatly. 

“It’s just that you’ve been a cop for as long as you’ve been a grown man.  How are you going to deal with this once it’s all over and you’ve gotten your man?”

Nicola answered truthfully. “I haven’t planned that far ahead yet.”

“When I came here to this…world…I knew that I didn’t belong.  And I expected a hard transition, but the incentive was that I was gaining a family more important than the one that I was losing.  And by family I mean the men that I served with.”

“I know what you mean,” Nicola said, si
tting down opposite Gabriel and Ferris.  “You’ve never had children have you?”

“No,” Gabriel answered proudly. “Lately, I’ve been thinking that I don’t really need them considering my line of work.  It only holds me down, makes me more vulnerable.” He thought about the botched kidnapping of Dmitry’s daughter Anya only months before and felt the goose bumps form on his arms again.  He could never tell anyone but that experience had changed his life permanently. For that matter, it had changed Anatoly’s as well.  “But I do know what it means to nearly lose someone you love.  So, I get why you are here, I just want you to understand that why you are here to day may not be enough of a reason for you to stay co
mmitted tomorrow.  The only thing about the Medlov family is that you don’t have a choice.  Once you are in, you are in.”