“Let me demonstrate,” said Danny, kicking over the pail onto Wizard.
“What the fuck! You can't⦔ Wizard's last words were drowned out by the whoosh of flame when Danny clicked the lighter.
Jack heard the sound of Wizard's screams from the backyard. It wasn't long after the screams stopped that he heard the back door being kicked in.
“Jack! You still alive?” yelled Danny.
“Where the hell were you? I thought you were dead!”
“So did Wizard! For him it was fatal. What's the situation?”
“Sid is upstairs. Don't know if he's armed or not. Got a bad guy in the living room who's got me pinned down. Thumper's got Natasha and Marcie on some boat out back. That's where Wizard was going. Was that you shooting at him?”
“No, I met him when he came back from the boat.”
Jack closed his eyes for a second to clear the tears. He opened them in time to see Booger start to move, then settle down again as they continued to watch each other's reflection.
Jack heard the sound of the sirens coming closer. He glanced upstairs.
I'm not letting you surrender, you bastard!
He started to climb out of the pond and saw Booger crouch in anticipation.
“Jack!” Danny yelled. “They might be okay!”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw Wizard taking potshots into the dock. There was no sign of Thumper!”
Jack fired two shots through the wall and Booger fell back from sight. Machine gun fire erupted toward the ceiling as Jack dived back into the pond.
“Jack! Where are you? What's happening?”
“I'm okay. I'm lying in a fish pond in the foyer! I might have hit the guy in the living room but he's still firing back.”
“That the one with the machine gun?”
“Sure as hell isn't what I have.” Jack checked his weapon and saw that he was out of bullets. He could no longer see Booger's reflection in the mirror. He glanced back at a shotgun that Rolly had dropped near the front door but knew he couldn't reach it without exposing himself to Booger. The sounds of sirens were now augmented by the sound of screeching tires. He heard Sid moving around upstairs.
“Danny! There's two exits to the living room. I got this one covered, you â”
“Got it,” grunted Danny, waving to Jack from where he was kneeling. Jack saw Danny crouched behind a corner in the kitchen, past the second exit to the living room. Jack's expression when he saw Danny's face revealed his shock.
“I'll make it,” said Danny. “Sounds like the cavalry is about to arrive.”
Seconds later, they heard police cars screeching to a halt in the driveway.
“You hear that, Booger?” yelled Jack.
“I hear it.”
“Throw out your gun and give yourself up!”
“Walk away from my bros?” gasped Booger. “Don't think so. Why don't you come in and take it from me?”
Jack heard the car doors opening out front. He thought about Natasha.
If she's deadâ¦
He looked down the hall at Danny peeking around the corner.
“I don't have much time,” yelled Jack.
Danny pointed up to the ceiling and Jack nodded. Danny dropped to his stomach and started to crawl down the hall toward the far exit of the living room.
Jack opened his mouth to scream for Danny to go back, but it would have been too late. He was already completely exposed.
“Booger!” yelled Jack. “You want me to take it from you? Here I come!” He splashed water as he half-climbed from the pond, then sunk close to the floor, waiting for a spray of bullets. None came. Then he heard a thump from the other room.
“Jack!” Danny spoke from the far exit. “You got him. He's slumped in a chair with blood all over his chest. His gun fell on the floor. Don't know if he's dead or not.”
“You cover him,” yelled Jack, while scrambling across the floor and grabbing Rolly's shotgun. He ran up the spiral staircase two steps at a time.
Once upstairs, Jack found himself in a hallway with closed doors leading to two bedrooms, followed by a double set of doors at the end of the hall that led to the master bedroom. He kicked open the first two doors and barged in. Nobody there. He then fired a blast through the door to the master bedroom before bursting through and diving in on his stomach.
Jack held the shotgun close to his body as he rolled on the carpet, searching for his target. Sid was not in sight. He leapt to his feet and burst into a bathroom and then a walk-in closet. A safe in the closet had its door wide open. He stepped through French glass doors leading to a balcony. Sid was on the ground below, clutching a briefcase as he ran toward the dock.
Jack fired a blast from the shotgun, but he was out of range and Sid only ran faster. He looked at a drain spout that ran from the roof and down past the balcony to the ground. Sid had left several dents in the drain spout, but it was still attached to the wall. Jack saw Wizard's rifle lying on the ground below him.
Within seconds, he half-slid and then fell the remaining distance when the drain spout broke loose from the house. He landed on his feet and grabbed
Wizard's rifle. Sid had not yet reached the end of the dock. It would be an easy shot.
“Drop it!” a voice commanded.
Jack looked over and saw a uniformed policeman crouching behind the corner of the house and aiming a pistol at him.
“I'm Jack Taggart! I'm a police officer!”
“I said drop it, asshole! I know who you are! You're under arrest for murder! One more word out of you and you're dead! I mean it! Now drop it!”
Jack reluctantly tossed the rifle aside. He was then instructed to lie face down on the ground. Soon, two more officers joined the first one. Taggart was handcuffed and brought to his feet in time to see Sid roar out of the boathouse in a speedboat. “You're making a big mistake!” he said tersely. “Check with O'Reilly inside!”
“We found O'Reilly lying unconscious in the living room. He's on his way to the hospital. He's still alive, by the way, so we will be talking to him. Did you shoot him? Or was it one of your biker buddies? Maybe the one he nailed in the living room!”
“What the hell are you thinking? It wasn't me! Get down to the dock! My fiancée and a girl by the name of Marcie are there! They could be hurt.”
“Yeah, we heard. Don't know what you did to them, but we will find out!”
Jack was brought around to the front of the house and placed in the back seat of a police car. He saw the hatred in several officers' faces when they looked at him.
What the hell is going on?
He then heard an officer radio CC. Her reply wasn't comforting. “Good! Keep the piece of shit cuffed. I'll be there in a few minutes!”
CC and Charlie Wells arrived and sat in the front seat of the police car to talk to him.
“It's over, Jack. We know,” CC said.
“What the hell are you talking about? Get down to the dock! I think my fiancée and a girl by the name of Marcie are there!”
“I know about Natasha and Marcie,” said CC.
“Then see if they're alive! What the hell is going on?”
“We'll find them. I would like to hear what you have to say.”
“Those morons out there let Sid escape! He's the leak! The one they call The Suit!”
CC turned to Charlie and said, “Get the exhibits from the car while I read him his rights.”
Charlie left and CC began to read Jack his legal rights.
“CC, I know my rights, for God's sake,” replied Jack. “The only lawyer I want is Sid Bishop!”
“Did you kill him, too?” asked CC, glancing at Charlie as he returned with several exhibit bags.
“He took off from here about ten minutes ago in a speedboat.”
“Really? Care to explain this?” said CC, holding up a plastic bag containing a rubber mask of George Bush.
“You found the mask! Where? What⦔
“Same place we found these,” said CC, as she picked up another plastic bag containing dozens of sexually explicit photographs of young girls. “In your apartment!”
“My apartment!” Jack looked out at the police officers. He was no longer confused. “You get a tip this afternoon that they were there?” he asked.
“Our investigation led us there this afternoon.”
Jack thought for a moment, then asked, “You also find my tape recorder under the sofa?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact we did,” said Charlie, holding up another exhibit bag.
“So you admit that this stuff is yours?” CC asked.
“The recorder is mine, CC, not the rest of it. Did you rewind the tape and listen?”
“Haven't had time yet. We will.”
“Do it now ⦠please.”
CC rewound the tape and pushed “play.” Soon the tape played the sound of someone knocking on Jack's apartment door, followed by a key in the lock. The sound of footsteps in the kitchen was heard, followed by a voice saying, “We're alone.”
The sound of furniture being moved was interrupted by a voice saying, “Do you see what this pig listens to? What a fuckin' pussy!”
Another voice said, “Shut up and pass me the screwdriver.” Moments later, the sound of furniture being moved again was followed by receding footsteps and the opening and closing of the apartment door.
“So?” said CC, flicking off the recorder. “What's that all about?”
Jack looked at CC and said, “Keep playing.”
The next noise was Jack coming home, taking a shower, and then phoning several people to tell them he was getting married. CC could only hear Jack's side of the conversation. The second-to-last call caught her interest. It was an incoming call, and she heard Jack say, “What is it, Sid?” Jack later repeated Sid Bishop's address out loud. The last call was Jack calling Danny to say that Sid wanted to meet them both.
“If it actually was Sid who called you,” said CC, “what did he want to meet you about?”
“Some questions about the wiretap application. It was a ruse to kill us. Keep listening.”
The noise of Jack leaving his apartment was followed by his door being opened again.
Wizard's voice commanded, “I'll stand six. Put them in his bedroom someplace. Under the mattress will do.”
Booger's voice was heard saying, “Have you seen these pictures, man? This guy you call The Suit is one sick fuckin' dude!”
“I've seen 'em. Hurry up! The pigs could be here to look for 'em soon!”
CC clicked the tape recorder off and said, “Oh, my God, Jack, I'm so sorry.”
Jack didn't hear her. He put his hands to his face and sobbed when he saw Natasha and Marcie running toward the car.
CC stood beside the car and watched as the three of them hugged, kissed, cried, and slowly regained their composure. The police officer who brought them up from the dock gave CC a quick summary of what had happened to them. Another officer called her on the radio, and she reached in through the open window and retrieved the microphone.
“Crane, here. Go ahead.”
“I'm at Emergency with O'Reilly. He regained consciousness and is being really difficult. Wants to know about Natasha and Marcie.”
“Tell him they're both okay. So is Taggart.”
“Who cares about Taggart?”
“We were set up. Taggart is still one of the good guys. I'll explain later. What is O'Reilly's status?”
“Don't know yet. He's going in for x-rays and a CAT-scan. Looks like he'll lose an eye.”
“Stay with him. Charlie will coordinate security.”
CC passed the microphone to Charlie and said, “Take care of it. The hospital and the Anderson farm until we straighten this mess out!”
Jack said, “CC, please lend me your cell. I'm going to call Susan and pick her up.”
“O'Reilly's wife?”
Jack nodded.
“I need a statement from you. From what I hear, there are bodies strewn all over.”
“I'll give you a statement tomorrow! I'm taking Natasha and Marcie with me right now! We're going to get Susan!”
“Sorry, Jack. You know this can't wait. I'll wait until tomorrow for formal statements from Natasha and Marcie, but I need one from you now.”
“I think I'm in too much shock to remember. Give me a night to recover.”
“Come on, Jack! If you're going to play that game, then you're also in too much shock to be driving! I'll put you in a hospital room under security until you're out of shock!”
Natasha put her hand around Jack's arm and said, “Jack, I need to take Marcie to the hospital. She
is
going into shock.”
Jack looked at Marcie and saw that she was shaking uncontrollably.
“Tell you what,” said CC. “I'll have someone drive Natasha and Marcie to the hospital. Give me a few minutes, then I'll go with you to pick up Susan. We can talk on the way.”
Jack looked at Natasha, who nodded her head in agreement. He kissed them both goodbye and stared after them as they drove out of sight.
“Here's my cell,” said CC. “Call Susan. I'm going to take a quick look around and then we can pick her up.”
A few minutes later CC returned. Jack passed her phone back and said, “Susan insisted on driving herself. She's on her way to the hospital. I want to be there, too.”
He could tell by the look on her face that something was troubling her. “Damn it, CC! Look what we've been through! Come with me to the hospital. I'll give you a statement there!”
“Tell me what happened. Nutshell version.”
Jack quickly told her, then said, “Satisfied? Now let me get to the hospital. Someone can take formal statements from me there!”
“I will,” said CC, taking Jack by the arm and leading him slightly away from everyone else. “You might want to talk to O'Reilly. You know, to see how he's doing.”
“What are you saying? Of course I want to see how he's doing!”
“Listen to me. I've seen the bodies. Everything appears to make sense except for one.”