Sin City Assassin (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 3) (11 page)

Chapter 22:

Blass looked at Marie lying peacefully on the operating table with bandages wrapped around her arm and leg. A glass container next to all the accoutrements recently used by the doctor contained fragmented pieces of a bullet. The doctor had dressed the wound after stitching it. He’d cleaned out and sutured her leg wound too. Marie’s fever was beginning to break as the morphine and antibiotics aggressively attacked the infections from the bullet.

The doctor finished washing his hands and walked over to Blass.

Blass looked at him. “What’s her status?”

“Well, she’s lost a lot of blood, but we’ve handled that. The bullet splintered in her arm. I had to dig around quite a bit to get all the pieces. It’s gonna hurt like hell for awhile.”

“What about her leg?” Blass was hopeful she’d recover fully. He needed her skills, and even though he didn’t want to admit it, he was falling for her.

“Just a graze wound. Cleaned it out and stitched it up. She’ll be able to walk in a few hours.”

Blass rubbed his chin. He was impressed with Marie’s ability and strength. He was aware that she’d killed the undercover agent. The manhunt for her was enormous, and he was certain her work would cause Dix to jump into the investigation with both feet. Blass assumed Dix would have briefed his partner about Marie killing the UC, and every available resource that could be spared would be used on protecting Dix’s partner. Even so, he needed to be killed too, as did Dix.

Blass looked back at the doctor. “What’s the treatment for her now?”

“Lots of rest, antibiotics, and some pain killers. Other than that, she should be okay to move around in a few days.”

“You’re confident you got all of the fragments of the bullet out of her arm?”

The doctor nodded. “Yup. I did some very good work on her arm. Made sure she’d be able to use it again and tried to leave minimal scar tissue.”

Blass smiled. “You’re a good man. I’ll wire the money to your account in an hour. Hang out in Las Vegas in case there’s complications.” He reached into his pocket and threw the doctor a cell phone. “If that rings, you better answer it.”

“Understood.” The doctor left the room and exited the safe house.

Blass stood over Marie and watched her. She began to toss and turn while moaning. He gently stroked her side. “It’s okay baby, you did great. Soon, very soon, we’ll have our revenge.”

Blass had developed a plan to keep Marie in play and lure Dix to him. Once he had Dix, he’d toy with him and make him suffer. When he grew tired of that, he’d slowly kill him. Blass felt this would cement his status in the underworld as the greatest criminal mind in the history of the United States, Canada, and maybe even the whole world.

Chapter 23:

Dix struggled with swallowing all the negativity that surrounded the case. The situation with Petersen, the undercover agent, and the fact his gut told him this ordeal was far from over bothered him tremendously. He sat in a chair with his head hanging low. Dix dialed his old mentor and lifetime friend, Andrew Snead, to see if he had any useful updates.

On the fourth ring Snead answered. “Yes, who’s this?”

Dix already felt better just hearing Snead’s comforting southern voice. “It’s me, Bill, how the heck are you?”

Snead was getting up there in years, almost seventy years old, but he was still full of spunk. “Bill, I already told you, I’m not coming to your retirement party. Why don’t you leave me alone?”

Dix chuckled. “I know, but it won’t matter now anyway.”

“What does that mean?”

“You know what it means. I’m not retiring while this case is on-going,” he replied.

Snead shook his head and whistled. “You mean to tell me you can’t even get retirement right? Have you made any progress?”

Dix filled Snead in with all the recent updates and asked him if he thought there was something he was missing.

“No, sounds like you stirred up quite a bit in a day. Pieces of the puzzle are coming together, but frankly, I think you should protect Petersen, and as soon as the doctors cut him loose, get the hell back home.” Snead sounded grumpy.

“All right already. I just wanted to hear your grumpy voice to get me motivated again.” Dix laughed.

Dix had learned much of what he knew as an investigator from Snead, and he admired him immensely. Each time he was in a bind, Snead helped him out of the situation and often gave Dix invaluable information, which led to numerous successful cases over the last twenty years. He was thankful he’d called Snead once again and hoped he’d be able to do so for many more years.

Dix finished telling Snead the story. “So, that’s about it. Now I’ve got to keep Petersen safe and figure out some type of major criminal operation working between Canada and Las Vegas. It’s got to be big if they’re willing to kill cops to keep it hidden.”

“Seems people kill cops everyday in the U.S.,” Snead remarked. “Anyway, you know any Royal Canadian Mounted Police? You’re gonna need some boots on the ground up there if this is gonna work.”

“Not really, that’s why I asked you for help with that.”

“You did?” asked Snead.

Dix had known for months that Snead was beginning to forget things. Neither of them wanted to admit he had symptoms of someone with dementia. This was not the time for that discussion, so Dix chose to reiterate his need. “Maybe I forgot to ask. Anyway, check to see if you know anyone in Canada, and see if they would let me call them to talk about this case.”

Snead began scanning through his enormous list of contacts to see if any were located in Canada. He thought a moment. “Okay. As usual, keep me posted, and I’ll make some phone calls. If I develop any leads, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, buddy. And thanks for always being there for me.”

Snead wasn’t good with sappy stuff so he hung up instead of replying to Dix.

Dix checked his phone to see if the connection went dead, and realized he probably was being a little too dramatic with Snead.
Man, this case is really getting to me
, he thought.

*******

Dix sat in his car and tried to track down Sergeant Frazier. He hoped Frazier would have some leads for him to chase down.

Frazier answered his phone on the third ring. “Hey Dix, what’s up?”

Dix detected the man seemed a little down still. “Buddy, I’m really sorry about your man. Anything I can do to make things better?” He wanted to help, but he also felt it was better to keep working to find the killer than to stand by and wait for her to strike again.

“Yup, catch the assholes responsible… and make them pay.” Frazier was not a fan of the criminal justice system and he felt the only way to deal with the animals that had killed three of his co-workers was to treat them like savage beasts. He wanted personally to kill them, whether it was with his bullets or bare hands.

Dix nodded. “I’m with you. You want to meet up and get me up to speed? We’ve got a lot of work to do and the clock is ticking. You hear anything about the lady you shot?”

“No. We checked every hospital and veterinary clinic to see if someone came in with bullet wounds, but so far nothing. I’m confident she was hit, saw the blood myself.”

Dix raised an eyebrow and considered Frazier’s statement. “We have any informants who know the location of any safe houses close by?”

Frazier slapped his knee and shook his head for not thinking of it himself. “Dix, you’re brilliant. I know two informants who just may know of a place she could have gone. We’ve always heard of safe houses in our town, even ones that could provide medical attention for the right price. I’m going to make some calls and I’ll call you right back.”

“Sounds good.” He thought about the evidence they had so far. “Can you pick me up so I can look at some of the evidence when you get a chance?”

“Will do, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” answered Frazier.

Dix began picking apart mentally what he’d seen already so far: the keys, cash, identification cards, cell phone, female shooter who was also an assassin, and a connection to Canada. Somewhere in these clues was something he was missing to help further the case. He shook his head and frowned. He wondered if he’d be able to figure it all out before an attempt was made on Petersen’s life. He vowed to push himself harder than he’d ever worked before until the case was closed and Petersen was safe.

Chapter 24:

Marie woke up in a panic, frazzled from a nightmare she’d just had. She looked around the room and remembered she’d been shot. She glanced down as the pain throbbed in her elbow and forearm. The bandage appeared full of blood, but it looked like a professional had wrapped it.
Oh shit
, she thought. Marie instantly assumed she was in a hospital, the last place she wanted to be. She frantically looked around for an exit and noticed the room looked like a hospital room, but more homely. The room had patterned curtains, a love seat, and pictures on the wall. She began to calm down considerably as she realized she was at a safe house, a rather sophisticated one, instead of a hospital. She chuckled trying to remember how exactly she made it to the house.

Bits and pieces of her killing the undercover cop began to filter into her mind. She cursed herself for getting shot, and for being seen by another officer as she made her getaway. Marie wondered if Blass knew the current situation, and whether he’d look at it as a success or a failure. She glanced to her right and saw her personal belongings, her trusty firearm with silencer, a cell phone, and a change of clothes.

Marie pushed herself up and grimaced. Although the pain was high in her arm, she could function. She slowly got dressed and used the bathroom. As she reached for her cell phone to call her lover and boss, Blass slowly walked into the room wearing a robe and a smile.

Marie slightly blushed. “Hey handsome, I was just about to call you.” She noticed Blass had a positive aura about him, and wondered why he was so happy. She also noticed she’d been heavily medicated and could feel the effects working on her body.

“I know, baby.” He motioned to the love chair. “Have a seat, I’m almost done making your breakfast.”

Marie raised an eyebrow. “Hold on, what’s this all about?”
Maybe he’s pleased with my work and he’ll finally let me be a partner
.

Blass had been working on a master plan in his head—one that could cost Marie her life, but allow him to have his way with Bill Dix. But for now, he needed to get Marie off her game a little. He realized earlier he was falling for her, but while she was being worked on, he went back and forth in his head what was more important—her life or capturing Bill Dix.

“Well, one, I’m very impressed with your work on the undercover agent.” He sat down and hugged her. “And two, I’ve decided I need a partner if I’m going to continue to grow.”

Marie’s eyes lit up and she embraced him hard. “Are you shitting me?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Would I lie to you?”

“You better not be! This is great, babe. I’m not going to let you down.” Marie caressed Blass under his robe. She was extremely excited and turned on and wanted to make love to him.

He was aroused and eager to take her as well.

The couple rolled about the safe house floor and made love like animals. Afterwards, they ate a cold breakfast and made love again.

Marie had killed for him and would take a bullet for him. She worked for years to prove her worth and now Blass finally let her into his underworld. It was a dream come true for her and she wore it on her face as she beamed.

Blass, too, was happy, but there was more business to attend to. He looked into her eyes. “You’ve got one down, and one to go. I need Bill Dix’s partner killed. He’s a loose end for us, and I think it will push Dix over the edge. That will hopefully cause him to make a mistake. I’d love to grab one of generation’s greatest detectives and torture him.”

Marie pursed her lips and grunted. “Wait, you want to grab him, not kill him?”

“Of course. Killing him would not be a challenge for you, but I want to grab him, interrogate him, torture him, and then send him in pieces to his family.” Blass paced the room as he said this. He clenched his fists and breathed heavily. It was a side to him Marie had never seen.

“And you think taking out the other cop will lure Dix out?” Marie asked. She wondered what exactly about Dix had made Blass so angry and driven him to destroy him.

“Precisely, babe. I’ve no doubt somewhere along the line either you indirectly, or your two idiot brothers, left something behind for Dix to chew on. I guarantee we are only a few steps ahead of him right now and I would wager he’s protecting his partner now too. I’m going to need you to take out Dix’s partner while I work on kidnapping Dix.” He looked at her matter-of-factly.

Marie shook her head. “No way! You can’t get personally involved. What if you get caught, or worse, Dix or someone else catches or kills you before you’re successful?”

Blass chuckled. “Not going to happen. I like how you’re thinking, but in order for this to work, I’ll need to be involved.” Blass was consumed by Bill Dix. He idolized the man, yet wanted to make him pay for getting involved with his enterprise. He had respect for Dix, but ultimately there wasn’t a cop in the world worth keeping alive in his book.

Marie continued. “What’s your beef with the guy anyway? Let’s just kill him and move on.”

Blass considered Marie’s question. Mostly he just loathed cops and he felt he could really make a name for himself, not just in Canada, but internationally, if he captured the illustrious Bill Dix. “He’s the best of the best on the law side, and I’m the best of the best on the criminal side. It’s a game of chess that excites me to no end. I pull this off, and I’ll go down as the greatest criminal mind in Canada, the United States, maybe even the whole world.” He paused for a second looking out the window. “Plus, did I mention how I just fucking hate cops?”

Marie figured further prodding about the subject wouldn’t do much and decided to let it go. She’d go along with Blass’s plans. “Ok, I’ll get his partner. When do you want this done, and do you have any info on his location yet?” She needed time to recuperate as her recent injuries made it difficult to use her arm and leg fully.  She could fight through it, but it would be much better to heal for a few days before getting into another risky situation.