Chapter Twenty
The Police Station
Late Into
The Night
W ell, well, well, wasn’t this quite the conundrum? When the cops busted through the doors at the dead woman’s home, and found her and Remmy there, they made sure to bust her chops.
Oh, and they enjoyed every second of it too. It was one hell of a spectacle.
They took her badge.
Her gun.
And they cuffed her.
In fact, she was still in cuffs sitting in the interrogation room. Now, don’t get her wrong. She loved being in cuffs, but not for any of these assholes.
This was a dog and pony show, and she was being made an example with a bunch of cops who didn’t like a woman having more power than them.
Well, they should enjoy it because Elizabeth was known for a few things.
Her ability to solve shit.
Her pettiness.
Oh, and her memory.
Each one of these ‘cops’, and she used the term loosely, were now memorized, and at some time, they’d cross paths.
Bet.
On.
It.
Then, she’d have the final laugh.
Patience was a virtue, and she was the most virtuous bitch around.
Alongside her for this ride of fun was Remington Bowman, and he, too, was not amused by any of this.
Only, for different reasons.
Anonymity was key to his survival, and this was anything but keeping his face hidden.
To add insult to injury, they were escorted into the police station, despite her telling them who she was, when she knew they were well aware.
Honestly, this screamed Thomas Bernard getting a little revenge.
As they brought her into a room, Remmington with her, they sat them down.
And interrogated them.
Only, the whole time, she said only one thing.
“Please contact my boss, Axelle Maverick, the Director of the FBI.”
And they didn’t.
They asked her why she was there.
They asked her why she was with three mutilated bodies.
They busted her balls, threatening to release information to the media.
Oh, heads were going to roll.
BET.
ON.
IT.
First and foremost, she and Remington weren’t covered in blood, and they should have realized that they couldn’t possibly be the killers.
That they didn’t told her this was a stunt to bust her balls. There was no way they thought she had killed three people, and was absolutely spotless.
No.
Freaking.
Way.
When they asked her again why she did it, she stared at the detective sitting there.
“You realize you’re holding a Fed, and an actual Fed, on homicide charges when the victims were cut into pieces and bled everywhere. We are pristine. We were working something and showed up there. The male victim is tied to an FBI situation.”
The cop was being a cunt.
“Prove it.”
Only, she couldn’t do that. How was she supposed to tell them about The Hunters, this mess, and the fact that they were eyeballs deep in a huge ass scandal?
The military was tied to The BlackStone Group , and so were some power players in DC.
This had to be handled on the DL.
Carefully.
“All you have to do, Elizabeth, is explain why you’re here, and if it doesn’t make you look like you did this…”
She sighed.
“Again, clean and no blood on me. How could I cut apart a child, and kill two people and be spotless?”
He shrugged.
“You’re the pro at crime scenes. You tell me.”
Yeah, this cop was just busting her balls. She knew they could hold her there twenty-four hours, or charge them. They couldn’t make this stick.
Remington, beside her, was saying nothing.
Not.
At.
All.
He couldn’t blow his cover in NOLA, and as far as the people here knew, he was the ex-FBI Deputy Director, and nothing more.
The detective kept up his bullshit, and the whole time, she knew they were burning time.
Time they didn’t have.
Oh, when Ivan got wind of this…
He was going to shit his little britches and say one thing.
‘I told you so.’
God, she hated when he was right.
Before the detective could say anything more, there was a knock on the door.
When he opened it, that’s when he saw his boss.
“Commissioner!” the detective said, staring at him in disbelief.
Oh, Elizabeth knew what got the man out of his bed at that time of the night.
Her boss.
Call it a hunch.
“What the bloody hell is going on?” the commissioner asked, staring at Elizabeth.
She gave him a little finger wave as she was wearing handcuffs. There was about to be a bruhaha and she was going to make popcorn and enjoy the show.
“We received a call about a domestic coming from the address where we found these two, and when we went in, they were standing over three victims.”
The commissioner stared at her.
“So you think she killed them? That the second top cop in the country is a serial killer?”
Elizabeth said nothing.
Why?
This detective…oh, his ass was grass.
She knew he was busting her balls, and she got that. Elizabeth had a lot of cops that despised her. This was par for the course.
This was about him being irritated that the FBI got to the scene first, and that it was her.
There was no way he was dumb enough to buy that she was a killer.
Oh, she was.
And so was Remington, but they didn’t do this job.
The commissioner sighed.
“So you opted to bust the Deputy Director of the FBI’s balls because you didn’t like seeing her there?” he asked.
The detective flushed red.
Elizabeth dug the hole deeper.
“I tried to explain, but your detective thinks that two people, who are clean, massacred three living beings and they caught us red handed. Do you train your detectives, or do they try to lock up innocent people all of the time? I hope the media doesn’t hear about this…”
She let that hang there.
“Uncuff them,” he hissed.
The detective did, and the whole time, he was bright red.
She hoped he didn’t have a cardiac episode.
The last thing she wanted to do was give him mouth-to-mouth.
The commissioner tried to calm the situation down.
“Your boss called. Axelle Maverick is on her way here. She’s about to kick all of our asses because of this stunt, so I’m so sorry,” he offered.
She shrugged.
“I don’t blame you, Commissioner.”
He kept talking.
“Our homicide captain quit earlier, and the troops are losing their nut, apparently. It won’t happen again,” he said, staring at his detective. “The director wasn’t lying. She’s working something for the FBI, so apologize to her.”
The cop stood there.
“Apologize to her now.”
He choked out the words.
“I’m sorry.”
She smiled.
“Listen, I get it. You wanted to bust my balls and show your dominance. Next time, just piss on the crime scene and say it’s yours. This was unnecessary.”
It really was.
When she was uncuffed, she smiled at the commissioner sweetly.
“Thanks for coming down here. I hope your detectives don’t make you do that often.”
Oh, someone was in trouble.
That was for sure.
The commissioner glared at his detective for this stunt. If the Director of the FBI was coming there, that meant she was up his ass, and the media would hear about it.
“Again, Director, we’re sorry.”
She was going to use that to her advantage.
“It’s okay. No harm done. I’ll have my people take over that scene. Can you retract your cops? We were trying to do this low key, and already, being dragged in here in handcuffs…”
He didn’t make her finish.
“It’s yours, and the city police officers are just holding it until the FBI can get there.”
That worked for her.
As Elizabeth began walking out, the commissioner followed.
“Can you tell us what’s going on?” he asked.
She made something up.
FAST.
“There’s a serial killer moving from state to state, and Mr. Bowman here worked the case years ago. That’s why we’re both here. Those were the sixth, seventh, and eighth victims. If more pop up, we might have to get you to let us have those too,” she admitted, setting this up so they could have some leverage here.
He just shook her hand.
“Call me if there’s a problem. I really am sorry that you had to deal with this.”
Oh, she was accustomed to it.
Some men hated to see a woman kicking ass and taking names.
When she bid him goodbye, she thought she was in the clear as they exited the building.
That was anything but the case.
Why?
Toadstool was waiting outside, being anything but a fungi.
“Oh, Jesus, here we go,” she stated.
He headed her way.
“Are you insane?”
She shrugged.
“Yeah, why?”
It caught him off-guard.
“I can’t with you,” he stated. “You know better.”
Elizabeth just laughed.
“My dude, I got roused by the cops, not shot at by a sniper. This was the best-case scenario. Remington and I are fine.”
“I need a nose job,” Remington said. “To change my face.”
She looked over at him.
“My dude, you’re insane. That cop couldn’t figure out that we didn’t kill those people. Do you think he’s smart enough to rub those two braincells together to remember what you look like?”
Ehhh, maybe she was right.
“Just get me back to that scene,” she stated. “We need to see if there’s a crypto key there, and I need to get the victims removed.”
He walked her to the vehicle.
“You’re smelly,” she said, when he opened the door for her.
He rolled his eyes.
“Well, that happens when I’m in the swamp and you refuse to behave.”
She wasn’t sure how his stink was her fault, but whatever.
“I hope you have some clothes to change into, or some cologne. You smell like you fucked a frog.”
He stared at her.
“Who hurt you?”
She snorted.
The question was…
Who didn’t?
* * * Hunters * * *
Charlie Hancock’s
Baby Momma’s Crib
Midnight
Thursday
When they rolled up, the cops holding the scene hauled ass out of there. They cared less about the dead people inside, and more about having to tangle with her.
Or maybe it was Ivan’s stench.
It was bad.
Yeah, she was glad she wasn’t a Marine. That foulness was beyond her limit.
As the last of the patrol rolled away, then, and only then, did Boone and Rogue walk out of the shadows.
That told her all she needed to know about how well the cops had secured that scene.
Two mercenaries had been sitting a few feet from the crime, and they never knew they were there.
“Good to see you got sprung,” Rogue said.
Ivan pointed at him.
“You were supposed to protect her!”
He laughed.
“Uh, she won’t get shot on sight. I’m a thief in this town. I’ll go to the chair.”
Yeah, he kind of had a point.
She was like a cat with a thousand lives.
“Jesus. Why do you smell like a toxic waste spill,” Boone asked, as Ivan stood there.
“He’s molting,” she said, not missing a beat. “He sheds his skin every full moon.”
Ivan actually laughed.
“I didn’t have time to change,” he stated. “I came right from the swamp.”
Yeah, well, he should have changed.
Really.
Heading back into the house, Elizabeth was grateful that the neighbors were all asleep, because they were going to be nosey.
That was the last thing she needed.
As she stood over the dead victims, her heart broke for the woman and the child. They were innocent in this, and their lives were cut short because of a man chose to draw trouble to them.
“I have agents heading here to gather the bodies, and ship them back to the FBI building. We’ll make the notifies and handle this,” she stated.
“You guys search for anything tied to that crypto code, but I’m going to bet he doesn’t have it. He let his child be killed, and that tells me he likely never had the code.”
They agreed there.
The whole time, they ransacked the place, looking where the mercenaries hadn’t, and after ten minutes, they came up with one conclusion.
It definitely wasn’t there.
That meant it was only one last place.
“Let’s head out,” she said. “The agents will get in here quietly, and claim the bodies. We don’t need a crime scene. It’ll only get more focus.”
On that, they all agreed.
As they headed out, they went to their vehicles, and Elizabeth was stuck with riding with Ivan.
And that was her punishment for getting in trouble.
Why?
She had to breathe in his swamp ass.
Just eww.
* * * Hunters * * *
Poe Seville’s Home
Same Time
Finally, Von Donore was getting somewhere. They had a drone with the ability to seek out heat sources.
It had cost a ton, but he was going to get that crypto key one way or another.
The people could play nice.
Or they could be made an example.
Right now, what he knew was someone had killed his people, and he wanted to get to the bottom of where the hell Hemmingway stashed his code.
ASAP.
The bottom line was that NO ONE stole from him.
NO.
ONE.
As he stood there, he watched the drone go up, and his mercenaries were ready.
“Find them. Then, bring them to me. I want to know where the doctor is hiding this code.”
“Do you want us to kill the Marine?” the one soldier asked.
He laughed.
“If he’ll cooperate, so be it. If he won’t…”
And that said it all.
There was more blood to be spilled.
To find this money.
* * * Hunters * * *
Thursday
One A.M.
Area Fifty-Two
After finally arriving at the bunker, they were ready to go over everything that they had.
And it wasn’t much.
They were leaning heavily into Merry on this one. She was the one driving the intel bus.
Hopefully, not off the cliff.
As Ivan went to go shower and change, they knew they needed to find Von Donore first and foremost.
The key could wait.
The government wasted so much money each year anyway, what was another fifty million.
It was already considered gone at that point.
Maura was having some tea.
“Merry, say you have something,” she said. “Because we didn’t get anything significant out of Clint Rust, other than what the hell went down.”
Elizabeth was curious.
“I had my com off. So I didn’t hear what you learned.”
She filled her in.
When she was done, she was thinking about the information, and how she hadn’t heard back from her source in England yet.
When Maura finished, Elizabeth was in agreement.
“We need to find him. This is leading us in circles. Almost everyone on that platoon list is dead.”
Jagger corrected her.
“They are actually all dead. If the dude you found at that woman’s home, with their dead child is Charlie Hancock, the list is kicked. That means everyone who could have the crypto key is out of commission.”
They were still waiting to see about the Duke and Dutchess of Gordon, and how they fit into this.
“Merry?”
She smiled.
“I think I have him. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I believe I’ve pinpointed the building. It’s in the warehouse district.”
They knew it well.
They blew up a ship there when dealing with chaos coming into the port.
“I traced it back to a shell company, and here’s the owner,” she said.
Pulling up a picture, she showed them a face.
“This is Patrick Levy.”
They had never heard that name before tied to this particular case. Was he someone new they needed to find?
“Uh, and can we have something more?” Elizabeth asked.
Only, immediately, Maura got it.
“He changed his face?” she asked, clearly seeing something they weren’t.
Merry shook her head.
“No, it’s AI altered. Right, MATE?” she asked.
Zen appeared beside them, and she was dressed like a hooker.
And no one asked a single question.
Why?
It was better not to know. Their AI was a complex creature.
“I ran it digitally and was able to alter it back,” she admitted, strutting around in her heels and hooker gear.
On the screen, the picture changed, and it was subtle, but it revealed the real face.
“I don’t get it,” Jagger said.
Merry pulled up the website for The BlackStone Group . On the one page was the man in charge.
It was the same face.
“That’s not Von Donore,” Maura said, pointing to the altered face on their website. “That is,” she admitted, pointing at the un AI’d face that MATE fixed.
“That has to be it,” Jagger said. “They bought the building under a fake name, and using a fake face. They are trying to keep their stockholders anonymous!”
Yes, yes, they absolutely were.
The BlackStone Group was notorious for using shell companies to keep their stockholders and principle investors secret.
Well, that would change.
Once they took it apart.
“We found them, and it’s in a non-descript building. It’s the tallest one in the warehouse district, on the water, but it has no markings.”
MATE pulled it up, and the schematics appeared.
“This should help you. Don’t ask where I got it. The CIA gets bitchy,” she stated.
Elizabeth laughed.
“If that ain’t the truth,” she admitted.
Maura stared at the building, already trying to navigate how to get inside.
“We can breech it, but we need to make sure he’s in it. There’s no point accessing the building unless we have confirmation.”
MATE went there.
“There is a helicopter pad on the roof. I’m going to say he’s not there. It’s not currently at the location.”
Elizabeth was curious.
“Is he even in town?” she asked. “Do we have anything that has confirmation that he was here at some point?”
The system began running, and no one said a word. It didn’t take long, and on the screen, about twenty pictures appeared.
“These are traffic cameras all over the city. He’s here,” MATE said. “Here he is getting coffee a few hours ago before he headed in the direction of that building. It’s a safe bet that he was there.”
Maura needed more than ‘a safe bet’ to risk their lives and this operation.
“Prove it,” she said.
The challenge was accepted, and MATE got down to work.
The system went dark, and Merry sat back. It appeared that MATE was doing her thing.
They watched as code flashed across the screen.
“What’s she doing?” Zayn whispered.
Rogue shared.
“She’s hacking something.”
MATE appeared behind them and leaned over their shoulders as they sat on the couch.
“She is.”
They both jumped, and Maura laughed.
“It’s not funny!” Zayn said. “She’s getting smarter, and she’s going to kill us all.”
MATE disappeared again, and they only heard her voice.
“I won’t kill my mother,” she stated.
Elizabeth waved.
“Hi. I’m the mother, it’s me.”
Maura laughed because Zayn looked ready to run for it, as usual.
When the system chimed, MATE showed back up, and she was dressed like Elizabeth this time.
Only, she had on all red.
“And here you go,” she stated.
They saw camera footage that showed that MATE had accessed the inside of the building. They saw the footage, and they saw Von Donore showing up, and then fast-forwarding to hours ago when he took off.
“He’s in the city,” MATE said. “He got a call and rushed out. I can’t hack that. I’d need to clone his phone.”
This was still good.
“Thank you, Zen,” Elizabeth said. “You did a good job, and so did you, Merry.”
Merry shrugged.
“I have the smartest AI known to mankind. How could I not kick ass with MATE?”
That was a good question.
“MATE see if you can locate the helicopter. Hack whatever you have to hack.”
“Gotcha, Mom.”
Zayn stared at her.
“Doesn’t that freak you the fuck out?” he asked, genuinely confused how it wouldn’t.
Elizabeth shrugged.
“MATE? No. Technically, I am her mother. Chris designed her using my aptitude testing, my voice, and my mannerisms. That’s our one biological child together, so to speak. Using biologically loosely. She was conceived with his company and my brain.”
Yeah, Zayn didn’t like it.
Not.
At.
All.
Maura needed to talk it out, so she did.
“We know that Hemmingway had the key, and that his parents were likely killed. That we got out of the mercenaries.”
Elizabeth pulled out her phone.
“I’ll call my source back,” she said.
MATE stopped her.
“Actually, it’s on the news. It just hit the wire in England. It’s early morning there.”
She found a station, and turned it on.
On the screen, there were two pictures of deceased victims to a shooting.
Uh-oh.
A shooting in the UK?
That wasn’t common.
Not.
At.
All.
Together, they all watched and listened to the guy deliver the news.
‘This morning, the bodies of the Duke and Dutchess of Gordon were found in their stable. Inside the house, the staff were also killed in what looks to be a hired hit.’
Oh, fuckity.
They now had confirmation.
Only, Elizabeth was staring at the man.
“Why does he look familiar?” Elizabeth asked, as Ivan walked back into the room, freshly showered. “How do I know him?”
She was damn good with faces, and she was sure she’d seen him before.
Jagger and Maura thought the same thing.
“We know him, don’t we?” she asked.
But from where?
They kept listening.
‘The family, their only remaining heir, will be notified, and the title of Duke will be transferred to him when he arrives in the country.’
“Okay, that said it all. We need to figure out who the remaining heir is,” she stated.
“Run the family, Merry,” Maura stated.
As she was doing that, Zayn had turned on his phone to search something online.
That’s when he saw a message waiting for him in his texts.
So he opened it.
“Uh-oh.”
The second he said that, everyone looked over.
“I got a text hours ago, guys, from Gamble. My phone has been off since we were heading into the swamp. I didn’t turn it on until now.”
They were confused.
“What did he say?”
He showed them.
“Oh, shit,” Maura said, as Elizabeth had MATE put it up on the screen.
Gamble didn’t have a phone, and it wasn’t his number. His phone was with his things in his room until his treatment was over on Monday.
The second Elizabeth read it, she had that feeling.
“Merry…”
She gasped.
“Uh, the Duke and Dutchess had two children. Hemmingway Seville, and Poe Seville.”
Well, fuckity.
Now, Elizabeth, Jagger, and Maura knew where they’d seen the Duke before.
In.
His.
Son.
“Poe Seville is related to Hemmingway Seville?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we have made that connection a little earlier?”
It was a legit question.
Merry was honest.
“I was told to focus on the living soldiers on the list. I didn’t focus on the others. We knew Hemmingway was the deceased pilot. I never searched him.”
Yeah…
They’d all missed this one.
“The picture only had all of the first names on it,” Jinx admitted. “We didn’t ask his last name since he was killed in Afghanistan.”
This was bad.
They knew where Von Donore took off to get to so goddamn fast.
Poe’s home.
“He’s in trouble,” Jagger said.
There was a problem.
“We have to get there, but it’s on the other side of New Orleans ,” Dakota admitted. “It’ll take an hour to get there.”
She knew how to cut down the time.
“I’ll head into the warehouse district and watch the building,” she said. “I’ll take Ivan, Raphael, and Gunny. You guys take the helicopter on the roof and get to Gamble. If we have any chance of saving Gamble and Poe, we’re going to have to haul ass and divide up.”
Elizabeth was right, so they scrambled.
They made a big mistake not digging into ALL OF the dead soldier’s lives.
And truthfully, they hoped Gamble and Poe didn’t pay with their lives.