THE ALTER: A Psychological Crime Thriller (6 page)

"It's not that complicated, Miss Reynolds. You and I have more in common than you’re willing to admit.”

“You and I have nothing in common,” Ava objected.

“Well we all do what we have to do," he said pointing his head towards a table beside Bret's body.

She approached cautiously, getting a better view of his remains as she did. The table displayed a firearm and some of Bret's personal effects, but one in particular caught her attention and she picked it up.

"Turn it on," he suggested.

Ava reached for Bret's phone and as the screen lit up, her mouth opened.

"Like the home screen? Cute little girl. She looks a lot like her mother, but she has her father's eyes," he said with a villainous grin. Ava was horrified. She slammed the phone back on the table and stomped towards him waving her gun and issuing a series of threats.

"See?" he reasoned. "Now tell me, is there anything you would not do to protect your daughter? I’m the least of your worries by the way. Turns out that ‘father of the year’ here threatened to blackmail the mayor using evidence he claims he safely stashed away. Something tells me that the mayor knows just where to look for it.”

Ava knees weakened and she found herself sitting on the floor and weeping uncontrollably. "This is exactly what I was afraid of. When I first came to the precinct Bret and I got involved. I was swept away by his confidence and charisma. When Merissa was born I never begged him anything except that he set himself straight so no harm would ever come to her. But he was too greedy. That's why I've hated him ever since," she explained.

Suddenly, beams of light pierced the crevices of the building from the outside while the faint sound of vehicles and voices followed. Ava composed herself and rushed towards a partially sealed window for a view. She could see about a half dozen men exiting trucks with what appeared to be high powered weapons. She quickly moved away from the window to escape notice and hastened back towards him.

“Someone’s coming.  Big men with big guns,” she said frantically, but he sat in the corner with an incredibly unconcerned look. “Who are they?” she asked.

He looked at her with a hint of exited anticipation and replied, “Alverez.”

CHAPTER TEN

Ava paced the floor in panic, checking her gun and scouting her brain for ideas while he watched her in quiet amusement. She knew her firepower was no match for the syndicate, but she wouldn’t go down without a fight. The syndicate’s was notorious and their methods cruel, but she would rather die in a hail of bullets than being subjected to the sadistic methods that it was known for.

She looked at him sitting calmly with his hands still cuffed behind him. “You set me up!” she said angrily, pointing the gun at his face.

“Don’t take it personally. They’re just here to kill me,” he said casually.

“What? How did they know where to find us?” she asked.

“Well, I basically told them where I was going to be,” he said.

“You’re crazy,” she whispered, shaking her head. She went back to the window for a quick look, but the men had already disappeared into the building.

“Focus, Miss Reynolds. There’s only one way you can come out alive. I’m sure Alverez would rather kill me himself and gave orders for them to take me in alive,” he said. “You wanna live? You have to do exactly as I say.”

“Do as you say? You just tried to kill me,” she scolded as brainstormed for a more sure approach. The sound of footsteps could be heard getting closer and closer. Flashlight beams penetrated the floor of the empty stairwell a few feet away. Ava grew desperate while he looked at her waiting for her to decide. She had no choice and he could sense her desperation.

“Remove your jacket, throw your gun on the floor towards the doorway, and lie face down on the ground,” he suggested and she quickly complied. They could hear the heavy boots marching towards the room and Ava closed her eyes and put her arms behind her head as she tensed in anticipation.

There was a suspenseful silence and her heart beat heavily while she panted. Suddenly, the men charged through the doorway waving guns and shouting. Ava felt the cold, heavy nozzle of a gun on the back of her head and she clenched her teeth waiting for a shot to go off. Ryan sat in the corner with his hands handcuffed behind him and lasers targeting his head and chest.

Not long after, the gunmen quieted and two of them walked up to Bret’s body for a close inspection. They conversed in Spanish with Bret’s name being among the few words that Ryan and Ava could recognize. They seemed to have some amount of admiration for his killer’s work. After searching the room, they pulled them to their feet and hauled them out and into one of the vehicles outside.

“This is so cliché,” Ryan protested as the men pulled cloth bags over their heads and drove away.

The men spoke very little and when they did it was in Spanish. Ava’s heart pounded as they drove. She could hear the acoustics change as the vehicle drove in the open, then onto roads where the sound reflected off the nearby walls. She could hear the wheels as they left the asphalt and ventured onto unpaved roads and splashed into small puddles that the rain had left.

After several nerve racking minutes, they stopped and the men escorted them into some kind of building with their heads still bagged. They wondered what kind of dungeon they were being taken to, but were quite surprised when the men stopped and seated them into chairs and removed the bags from their heads.

Mateo Alverez sat around a dinner table before them slicing through a chunk of roast beef with a glass of red wine beside his plate. The room screamed luxury and flaunted the lavish lifestyle that a kingpin like Alverez was accustomed to.

“Welcome. So glad you could join us,” Alverez greeted in a serious but polite tone. Ava looked at Ryan, but he kept his gaze fixed on Alverez. “Hungry?” Alverez inquired then motioned to his men. Dishes containing roast beef, baked potato and vegetables appeared before them along with two crystal wine glasses and silverware. As one of the men poured the glasses full, another freed their hands.

“Nice to see you again, detective,” Alverez said. Ryan remained silent, but stared at him in a most penetrating way. Alverez paused and leaned forward looking into Ryan’s eyes then erupted in laughter. “I’ll be damned,” he said. “No wonder Williams was scared to death of you.” Ava looked curiously at them both.

“Anyway, I believe in honor and respect towards all men, especially my enemies. And while I would have preferred to punish your partner myself, I am grateful. But you must also pay for your sins,” he said.

“Fair is fair,” Ryan agreed, speaking up for the first time. Ava looked at him in disbelief. These words would have seemed suicidal coming from anyone else, but from Ryan, they were a lure into his web of meticulously planned surprises.

“I like this guy!” Alverez laughed. “I’d probably enjoy having a psychopath like you around, but you did kill my son.” Alverez’s smile left his face. “Then you gave him a fiery grave. I know why you turned up at the last minute that morning.”

“You, young lady…” Alverez said turning to Ava. He wiped his mouth and got up from his chair. “You haven’t behaved very well either.” He pulled a gun from the holster of one of the men beside him and stepped towards her. Ava trembled as he pointed the gun towards her and fired a shot. Her hands covered her head, but as she removed them, one of Alverez’ men who stood behind her fell to the ground with a gunshot wound to the forehead.

“Well don’t act so surprised, Miss Reynolds. I knew he was your snitched. For a while I wondered how you always seemed to be one step ahead.”

Ava whimpered and began to perspire while Ryan rested his head back in the chair and closed his eyes. She was horrified by the violence, but appalled by his composure. Despite this, she could not help but notice that something was out of place. She looked on the table before Ryan and realized that a piece of the silverware had suddenly gone missing.

“Well, if you’re not going to accept my hospitality then we might as well get going,” Alverez said. His men pulled them up from their seats and led them away behind the syndicate leader. They trailed through a passageway and exited at the front where a black Bentley motorcar awaited them. Alverez protested the choice of vehicle. He would have preferred a more rugged choice for the expedition. Nevertheless, it was among his favorite possessions so he quickly compromised.

They stepped out into the light drizzle and entered the car. Alverez and the driver sat in the front while another one of his oversized henchmen guarded Ava and Ryan in the back.

“Where are you taking us?” Ava asked.

“To my fun house,” Alverez answered with a sinister look. He noted her worried expression and consoled, “Don’t worry, young lady. I’ll see to it that you get a quick and painless end. But as for your friend here, I’m going to tear him apart limb by limb and feed him to my Rottweilers.”

The wiper swept across the windshield and Ryan began to hum the melody of
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.
Ava looked at him. He had her in constant amazement and was a far cry from the pusillanimous Ryan she knew.

“Take it from me, worrying gets you nowhere,” he explained in a very care free tone and she wondered even more.

He resumed his humming and Alverez became irate. “Stop humming that silly song,” he demanded and Ryan desisted.

The car cut through the narrow, dark road. It was nowhere Ryan or Ava recognized. They looked around in the darkness outside and all they could see were the outlines of trees on both sides. No one spoke. They shook a little as the car made its way along the uneven wet surface. Alverez eyed them through the rear view mirror whenever visibility allowed. Ava looked straight ahead while Ryan leaned back on the headrest with his eyes closed.

After several minutes of turbulence, he leaned forward and said, “I’m feeling a little nauseous.”

“That’s called ‘fear’, detective” Alverez suggested.

“No,” Ryan insisted, “I’m pretty sure it’s…” Before he could finish his sentence, a shower of vomit spewed from his mouth.

“Christ!” Alverez protested. “Not in my car. Pull over and take him outside.”

The car suddenly stopped and the man in the back seat pulled Ryan out, dragged him a few feet away from the car, and threw him onto the wet ground. Concerned, Ava attempted to look, but the windows were heavily tinted and the area was pitch black. She could hear him cough until it subsided. From the inside they could see that the rain was coming down a little heavier and the automatic wipers once again swayed. The driver found himself humming a few bars of the contagious
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
and Alverez gave him a threatening look, forcing his rendition to an end.

It then became obvious that Ryan and his guard had been away for an unexpectedly long time and that the outside had grown too quiet. Alverez rolled his window halfway down and called out for his man but, there was no response.

“I’ll go look, boss,” the driver volunteered, pulling his gun.

“No, you watch the girl,” he insisted as he grabbed the gun from his hand. Alverez exited and closed the door.

The driver looked around at Ava and smiled suggestively. “Looks like it’s just you and me, baby.”

Alverez wandered through the dark with the gun pointed in front of him. He circled the car then walked further and further away, calling out his missing henchman’s name, but there was no answer. All he could hear was the rain. A conspicuous object rested on the dark landscape and he walked over to it. Before him on the ground was the body of his henchman with a steak knife protruding from the side of his neck. His gun was missing.

Suddenly he heard a gunshot in the direction of the car. He turned around, but his search had cost him line of sight of the vehicle, so he hurried back towards it. As he approached within a few feet, he could see his driver lying motionless on the ground. He pulled the door open only to see Ava sitting around the steering wheel as if ready to take off.

“You think I’m some kind of idiot,” he said in a menacing voice as he poked her head with the gun.

“Well, not just any kind of idiot,” a voice behind him said. As he turned, another gunshot exploded and Alverez fell to the ground dead.

Ryan threw the gun on the ground beside him and walked around to the passenger side of the car. He entered and looked at Ava who seemed overwhelmed by a concoction of emotions. She felt relieved, but horrified by the violence, and amazed at how Ryan had pulled off such an escape.

“You just killed Mateo Alverez,” she said as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened. “Every man in the syndicate will be looking for us.”

“Well I certainly hope so,” he said with a smirk. “But as you can see here, one of his men shot the driver then used the same gun to shoot the boss right after Alverez defended himself with his steak knife. The disloyalty is appalling.”

Ava stared at him, still in awe at his evil but meticulous and fascinating character. Without delay, they drove away.

After a long drive they stopped on the hillside overlooking the city. There seemed only a few miles between them and the landmarks that towered into the dark, bleaky sky. The rain had subsided and it was breaking dawn with just enough glow behind the clouds.

“Now I see why Alverez loves this car so much,” Ryan said. He then turned to Ava and gave her directions back to the city along with instructions to stay out of his way.

Ava reflected on all that she now knew and felt fearful of all that she still did not know about him. Her frustration mounted as she realized how much she was still in the dark. But there was one more thing that she needed to know.

“So what’s going to happen to Ryan? I know you’ll protect him, but will you let him have his life back?”

He could see her genuine concern and that she was as protective of Ryan as he was, except with less drastic methods. “Ryan comes from a dark place, but he deserves to return to a better world. I’m going to make sure of that.”

Ava looked deep into his eyes, searching for the softer person beneath. “Can he hear me now? He heard me when you were…choking me, and he came out.”

He answered, “I’ve always kept him in the dark when I needed to. Now his emotions are growing stronger and more demanding. He can hear you now and he wants to come out, but I can’t let him. Not yet.”

Ava leaned closer and searched even deeper into his eyes. She reached out her hand, hesitated then touched his cheek with a gentle stroke. His still eyes moved slightly and he grabbed her hand and flung it away from him. “I said, not yet,” he scolded, then jumped out of the car.

He whistled in amazement as he threw the car trunk open and located a hidden compartment containing high powered weapons and explosives. Alverez obviously wanted to be ready for any confrontation. Ava was by then staring into the miniature armory and shaking her head in wonder. Ryan helped himself to a few items, filling his coat pockets and a small bag that he had retrieved. He swung it over his shoulder, then retrieved a phone from his pocket and dialed.               “Hey. Yea, we’re good. I have to go,” he said. He hung up the phone and threw it over the hillside.

Ava looked at him in wonder. She was getting weary of surprises and wondered at the scope of his character. “Who were you talking to?” she asked, but he ignored her, busying himself with his luggage. “Who are you working for- the CIA, FBI?” she persisted, grabbing on to his bag.

“Don’t ask questions,” he said sharply. He pointed her directions back to the precinct as they overlooked the city from their elevated vantage point. Then he turned and started walking away.