Irrevocable Trust (Sasha McCandless Legal Thriller Book 6) (32 page)

“
Good. Are you okay?
”

“
Yeah, man. I
’
m fine.
”
Pat called from his spot against the wall.

Sasha closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, tears shimmered, waiting to fall.
“
I can
’
t believe he
’
s getting away again.
”

Leo nearly choked on the force of her desperation.

“
I
’
ll go after him,
”
he said, even though they both knew Bricker was long gone.

She just nodded.

He holstered his gun and sprinted down the narrow alley.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sasha watched Connelly disappear from view then turned to Pat.

“
Thank you. You saved our lives.
”

He ducked his head, red-faced.
“
That guy was Bricker? He killed the kid
’
s mom?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
I never would have helped him
…”
he trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

“
You didn
’
t know.
”

He shuffled his feet.
“
Yeah, I really didn
’
t. Listen, I gotta take off before the cops get here. There might be an old bench warrant for public drunkenness kicking around in the system.
”

She opened her mouth to argue, to try to convince him to stay, but Cole spoke first.

“
Good luck to you, sir.
”

Pat touched his forehead in a salute and then ambled out of the alley.

Cole glared up at her.

“
Why did you stop me?
”

“
If you shot him, you
’
d carry guilt with you for the rest of your life.
”

He shook his head and tried to shove her off, but she held him tight.

“
No, I wouldn
’
t. I
’
d be doing the world a favor. And honoring my mom.
”

“
Look at me.
”
She waited until he met her eyes.
“
Your mother would
not
want you to
‘
honor
’
her in that way. You aren
’
t like him, Cole. You
’
re better than this.
”

A raw sob broke in his throat and his chest heaved.

“
You were going to shoot him,
”
he said.

She blew out a long breath.
“
That
’
s different. You
—
we
—
were in imminent danger.
”
She reached over and smoothed down his sweaty hair.

He jerked away.

“
I
’
m fine,
”
he said stiffly. His cheeks flamed red.

She didn
’
t know what else to say, so she helped him to his feet and they stood in uncomfortable silence waiting for the police to arrive.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Leo ran until his throat burned, and then he ran some more. He knew he was on a fool
’
s errand, but he couldn
’
t shake the memory of the resignation in Sasha
’
s eyes. Maybe he
’
d get lucky and stumble across Bricker.

His heart was still jumping erratically in chest, just as it had been ever since he
’
d turned the corner into the alley and seen Bricker bearing down on Sasha and Cole with a gun trained on them. He no longer wanted to capture Bricker. He just wanted to kill him.

When he reached the river, he stopped and stared across the water at the still and ghostly steel mills hulking along the opposite bank. Bricker could be anywhere by now
—
in an abandoned warehouse, under a bridge, on a bus out of town.

He clenched his teeth together to trap the scream of frustration building in his diaphragm.

Now what? Go back to Sasha and tell her he
’
d failed to protect her once again?

He still woke up most nights, sweating and panicked, dreaming about the aborted raid Bricker had launched against them at their wedding. He needed to put a stop to this. Now.

His cell phone bleated.

He wanted to ignore it, but it was Hank. Hank might have information for him.

“
What?
”
he answered.

“
I
’
m at the scene. I need you to come back.
”

Two questions fought for primacy. He asked them both.
“
Why? Where are the kids?
”

“
Will
’
s with them. He
’
s moved them to Caroline
’
s house for now.
”

“
Jeez, Hank
—
his secretary? Involve even more civilians, what could go wrong?
”
he snapped.

There was a long pause.

“
I
’
m going to ignore your tone, Leo. I know you
’
re worried, but you can
’
t afford to get emotional. Now get your ass back here. Your wife has an idea.
”

“
Keep her out of this from here on out, Hank.
”

Hank
’
s laughter rang in his ear.

“
Tell you what, if you think you can sideline her, be my guest. But, here in reality world, she
’
s the one with the best plan anyone
’
s come up with yet. So if you want to come with us when we use Pulaski as a lure to trap Bricker, you better light a fire under your butt. We
’
re heading out to Monroeville as soon as we work out the details with the locals.
”

“
Hank, no.
”

“
Twenty minutes, Leo. Tick tock.
”

Hank ended the call.

Leo wasted a few precious seconds cursing his headstrong wife before changing directions and running back toward the city skyline, double time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“
Yes, I am.
”

“
Sasha, no, you
’
re not.
”

They stared at each other, nostrils flaring, hands on their hips. She had to crane her neck to bore into his eyes with her own, but otherwise they were mirror images. She was sure they looked for all the world like a stereotypical, bickering married couple, but she didn
’
t care. The stakes were too high to care.

“
Connelly, we don
’
t have time for this. Hank said I can come. Detective Markham said I can come. I
’
m
coming
with you.
”

Connelly did that twitchy face muscle thing and glared at the local law enforcement representative whom Hank had strong-armed into agreeing to his plan.

Finally, he exhaled shakily.
“
Fine. But you
’
re wearing a vest.
”

“
Fine, I will. And so will you.
”

Bulletproof vest? Sure, sign her up. She didn
’
t want to die. She just wanted to be there when they nailed Bricker.

His steely eyes softened.

“
Okay. I just
—
you worried me today in that alley.
”

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Her anger melted, replaced by something much gooier.

She smiled but told herself to stay focused.

Pat had confirmed that Bricker had threatened to kill Pulaski just before Sasha revealed herself in the alley. Deprived of his chance to kill her; threatened by his son; and wounded by Connelly, it stood to reason that Bricker would try to soothe his rage with some good, old-fashioned vengeance.

Monroeville
’
s understaffed and overextended municipal police department had agreed to sit on Pulaski until they got there, but the clock was ticking. The chief had made it clear that he couldn
’
t authorize overtime
—
not for what amounted to a glorified babysitting job.

Sasha gave Hank a thumb
’
s up signal, and he turned to the detective and started relaying final instructions.

Minutes later, they were in the back seat of a black and white, rumbling over potholes and weaving through Wilkinsburg traffic, speeding toward the William Penn Highway and Pulaski
’
s Miracle Mile strip mall office.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Bricker leaned his head back against the greasy bus window and breathed through the pain in his arm. He
’
d had a narrow escape in the alleyway, and he needed to get someplace where he could rest and recover. Then he
’
d put a bullet in Pulaski and move on to McCandless and her husband.

As the bus jostled and bumped its way out of the city, his thoughts turned to Clay. A small piece of him was proud that the boy had the stones to confront him. But that sort of paternal sentiment could easily get him killed. The next time he saw Clay, if there was a next time, he
’
d shoot him as soon as he got the chance.

Right now, though, he had to get to a safe, secluded place. Luckily, he had scouted one days earlier. After he
’
d called Pulaski on Wednesday, it occurred to him that he needed to get a handle on the lawyer
’
s whereabouts, just in case.

So he
’
d waited until nightfall and then taken the bus to Monroeville, out to the old Miracle Mile shopping center. From there, he
’
d circled the area around Pulaski
’
s office, searching for a good location for an ambush.

He
’
d been surprised to find an excellent spot. It was dark, quiet, and would afford him concealment. The authorities would never think to look for him there.

He had enough water and rations to last forty-eight hours before he had to move on. But he didn
’
t expect he
’
d need to be there anywhere near that long.

He closed his eyes and conserved his strength for the coming battle.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

The officer assigned to stay with Pulaski did so until they arrived but not a second longer. As the squad car circled the parking lot and slowed to a stop, the officer inside Pulaski
’
s office was already saying her goodbyes. She was on her way out through the rear door as Sasha, Connelly, and Hank were headed in. They stopped, surrounded by dumpsters, to thank the woman.

“
No thanks needed. But that guy
’
s a piece of work. I might just let whoever
’
s after him kill him. No great loss.
”

She waved a hand back toward the building and laughed.

Sasha suspected the officer
’
s dark humor hinted at her true feelings about Pulaski.

“
You know lawyers,
”
she said, giving the woman a sympathetic smile.

She wondered if Pulaski worked at being so unlikeable or if it came naturally.