Chapter 13 #2
“Agreed.” She lowered the binoculars and quickly stepped into the street. Cargo Shorts #2 was already inside the warehouse, so she hurried across the street and down a block to get a better look.
Jarek was hot on her heels. They ducked into another recessed doorway, and she quickly raised the binoculars to see inside the warehouse. The interior was still dark; Cargo Shorts #2 hadn’t flipped on any lights.
Reaching up to the top of the binoculars, she turned the switch that activated the night vision lenses.
Now she could easily watch as Cargo Shorts #2 walked between stacks of boxes.
She zeroed in on the boxes, not surprised to see the red-and-white checkered Liquid Gold Coffee and Tea logo on each of the containers.
Had the pallet of boxes been moved from the port authority dock already? She couldn’t tell by looking.
Then the lights abruptly turned on, blinding her. She jerked the binocs away, blinking to regain her vision.
“What’s wrong?” Jarek asked.
“My fault.” She struggled to bring Jarek’s face into focus. “I had the night vision lenses in place when he flipped on the lights.”
“Not good. Here, let me take a look.” He held out his hand for the binocs.
She passed them over since she couldn’t see anyway.
She willed her vision to clear as Jarek watched the warehouse.
“I’m getting the impression Cargo Shorts #2 is waiting for someone else.
He’s hanging out by one of the stacks of boxes, watching the street nervously. ”
“That’s good for us.” She blinked her eyes and silently prayed her vision cleared soon. “Maybe Pablo Hernandez will show up. We can get photos of him and Cargo Shorts #2 for your DEA buddy.”
“Yeah.” Jarek was silent for several long moments. It seemed like forever before she was able to see clearly again. She wanted to snatch the binocs back to take over but forced herself to be patient. “Hey, I think someone’s coming.”
“Do you think I could take a look at the newcomer?” She blinked again, grateful she could see.
“Just a sec. Let me make sure he’s the one Cargo Shorts #2 is waiting for.
” Another seemingly endless moment later, he said, “Okay, for sure this guy is going into the warehouse. It’s strange, though, he doesn’t look like a gangbanger.
He’s a white guy in his mid- to late-thirties. And he has a large dog with him.”
“That is strange.” She’d fully expected Pablo Hernandez to be the one in charge. “Do you think he was on one of the boats we saw earlier?”
“He doesn’t look familiar to me.” Jarek finally handed her the binoculars. “See what you think.”
She lifted the binoculars to her eyes and focused them on the warehouse.
The man Jarek had mentioned stood with his back to her.
At his side, there was a large black and brown dog.
She wasn’t an expert on breeds, but this animal was huge and looked like a cane corso.
She loved animals but sensed this was a dog she did not want to tangle with.
The two men started to argue. Straining to listen, she continued watching the newcomer, wishing he’d turn enough that she could get a good look at his face.
The argument was about the product that wasn’t yet in the warehouse. Di assumed the assailant she’d taken out was supposed to have done the delivery. As she wondered about how to use that to her advantage, the man turned.
Eddie Ross? Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. No, it couldn’t be. She’d killed her stepfather. Then she realized exactly who he was. Eddie Ross Junior. Also known as Buck.
Her stepbrother.
Di swayed, placing a hand on the brick wall of the doorway to steady herself. Di was never woozy, so Jarek was immediately concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you dizzy? Is your head injury worse?”
“No.” Her voice was so soft he could barely hear her. She thrust the binoculars at him, then dragged a shaky hand through her hair. Another display of nerves he’d never seen from her. “I know the new guy. He goes by Buck. Last I knew of him, he lived in Brooklyn.”
“You know him?” For some reason, that shocked him. “How? Did you meet him back when you infiltrated the gang?” Another thought hit. “Is he that boyfriend you mentioned?”
“No.” She didn’t look at him, but her expression was full of shock intermixed with dread. “I—need to think about this. I shouldn’t be so surprised to discover Buck is involved in the drug business, but I hadn’t anticipated this.”
Di’s uncertainty was worrisome. She was always in charge, never backing down from any challenge. He reached out to grasp her arm. To his surprise, she leaned against him as if needing strength. “We’ll get him.”
“Yeah.”
Jarek turned to look back at the warehouse. He wished he knew if Buck had outstanding warrants so he could flash his badge and arrest him. Why had he left the laptop in the rental house? He should have brought it along.
Maybe he could arrest him without worrying about outstanding warrants. They knew drugs were in the coffee boxes. Granted, that was knowledge that had been gained from an illegal search at the port authority.
Was the argument about the missing product enough probable cause to arrest both men? He hesitated, weighing his chances on convincing the upper brass.
A low growling sound caught his attention. Even without the binoculars, he could see the dog’s large block head had turned toward them. Had the canine heard them whispering? Or caught their scent? Either way, it was not good.
“We need to get out of here,” he whispered.
Too late. The large black dog began to bark, drawing his owner’s attention.
“Split up,” Di hissed, then abruptly sprinted out of the doorway, heading south. That left him to head north, although leaving her side went against every one of his instincts.
“Rocco, get them!” a harsh voice commanded.
Jarek knew Buck had given the dog the command to give chase. If the black dog came after him, Di might have enough time to get away and to call for backup.
Then he realized that Buck ordering his dog, Rocco, to attack was all the probable cause he needed.
He abruptly stopped, turned, and pulled his weapon in a swift move. He half expected the dog to be on him, but the dog had gone after Di instead. He was about to announce that he was a police officer when the dog, with Buck’s help, grabbed Di. Buck spun her around, threw back his head, and laughed.
The deep guffawing sound caught Jarek off guard. Why was grabbing Di so funny? And why hadn’t she pulled her weapon?
“You need to drop the gun!” To Jarek’s horror, Buck held Di mostly in front of him so that they were facing each other.
There was a solid thirty yards between them, maybe more, but he didn’t dare risk firing off a shot.
Not when he could see that Buck held his weapon pressed against the side of Di’s temple. “Right now!”
Dropping his weapon was the last thing he wanted, and he kicked himself for not handling this better. Instead of splitting up and running, he should have gone on offense, facing the dog head-on and threating to kill the beast if Buck didn’t toss down his gun.
Now it was too late. Cargo Shorts #2 stepped out of the warehouse, holding his gun trained on Jarek.
Two weapons to his one. There was no way he could win this showdown.
“Last chance,” Buck said. “Trust me, watching Dina bleed out in the street would be the highlight of my night.”
“Okay.” Jarek believed him. The fact that Di was so upset about seeing Buck indicated there was more than a little history between them. A secret that might get them both killed. “Okay, you win. I’m tossing my weapon.” Jarek made a show of throwing his gun behind him.
“Get into the warehouse.” Buck pushed Di forward as he spoke. Di’s apologetic and resigned gaze bored into Jarek’s. “Be nice and keep following orders or I’ll feed Dina to Rocco for a late-night snack.”
Cargo Shorts #2 laughed nervously at Buck’s pathetic joke. Clearly, Buck was the guy in charge of this drug-smuggling operation.
Rocco the dog stayed close to Buck’s side as the guy pushed Di toward the warehouse. There was nothing Jarek could do but go along with the plan. Taking a deep calming breath, he entered the building, portraying every ounce of confidence he possessed.
He and Di were trained soldiers. They could handle this. If there was an opportunity to escape, they’d take advantage of it.
The moment they were all inside the warehouse, Cargo Shorts #2 reached up to pull the garage door down to hide them from view. Even if a police cruiser went by, there was no way his fellow officers would see them.
“How do you and Di, er, Dina know each other?” Jarek asked.
Buck made another guffawing sound. Even Rocco looked surprised, glancing up at his owner with a curious gaze. “Dina, I’m so disappointed in you. Why didn’t you tell your boyfriend about our dad?”
Di remained silent, her expression stoic.
Jarek tried to send her a reassuring look, but she avoided eye contact.
Even worse, there was a darkness in her eyes that made him worry even more.
Buck had to be a part of the past she’d held back from him.
Then he remembered Edward J. Ross’s obituary.
His son, Edward Ross Junior. Buck? Had to be.
Di looked as if she were hanging on by a thread. He silently prayed he and Di would make it out of this without being hurt too badly. Especially Di.
The thought of Buck sexually assaulting her made him feel sick to his stomach. He wouldn’t put anything past her creepy stepbrother. The guy and his fierce dog were capable of anything.
“Put handcuffs on him,” Buck told Cargo Shorts #2. “Then we’ll use the second pair on my lovely sister.”
“Stepsister.” Di finally broke her silence. “There’s no blood bond between us, Buckaroo.”
The nickname caused Buck to shove her to the floor in a fit of anger. Di must have anticipated the move because she didn’t hit the ground too hard. Instead, she tucked and rolled, putting a little distance between them.
Buck raised his weapon, and for a horrible moment, Jarek feared he would shoot her right then and there.
Rocco growled low in his throat as if he wanted nothing more than to attack Di. Di didn’t pay any attention to the dog. She calmly stared up at Buck, waiting for his next move. Jarek hated feeling helpless as he watched the interaction between them.
After what seemed like an eternity, Buck lowered his weapon. “Get those cuffs, Lupo!” Buck snapped. “Now!”
Lupo, a.k.a. Cargo Shorts #2, wrenched Jarek’s hands behind his back. He tried to tuck his thumb into his palm while being cuffed, but Buck must have noticed the move.
“Stop it! Don’t play games.” Buck’s voice was hard as granite. “I won’t hesitate to shoot you and Dina right now, then tossing your bodies into the Hudson River later. You’re proving to be more trouble than you’re worth.”
“I’m not playing a game, but you are.” Jarek held Buck’s gaze as he felt the hard metal bracelets encircle his wrists.
He resented being bound like a common criminal but didn’t let his emotions show.
“You should know that I’m a cop. Killing me is only going to bring the wrath of the entire Newburgh police department down on your head.
A smart businessman like you should know better.
Why don’t you let us both go before that happens? ”
“I don’t care who you are.” Buck didn’t appear concerned with the threat.
Jarek braced himself for hearing him admit that one of his fellow officers was dirty, but all Buck said was “I can always move my business somewhere else. There are plenty of places where I can find guys like Lupo here to help me move product from one location to the next. No matter what happens, my business won’t suffer. It’s all about supply and demand.”
“Your business?” Di echoed. “We know about the drugs of course, but does that mean you’re the owner of Liquid Gold Coffee and Tea?”
“No, I think he owns Davos Delivery.” Jarek could tell he’d nailed it by the flash in Buck’s eyes.
“Yeah, I own Davos. Why are you surprised?” Buck glared at his stepsister. He swore loudly, then gestured with his gun. “Stand up. You’re next to be handcuffed.”
“Oh goody.” Di pushed herself to her feet and reluctantly held her wrists behind her back.
Lupo stepped forward and slapped the metal bracelets around her narrow wrists.
Di didn’t seem to care about being cuffed, her gaze was laser focused on her stepbrother.
There was no mistaking the animosity shimmering between them.
Despite the way Buck grinned like a maniac, reveling in how he’d captured them both.
To make matters worse, the dog at his side licked his chops, ready to attack again the moment Buck gave the command.
Their chances of escaping Buck, Rocco, and Lupo looked slim. Especially if there were other gangbangers on the way. Or even in the vicinity.
A wave of regret hit Jarek hard. This fiasco was his fault.
And for the second time in a matter of hours, he realized his poor judgment in coming here without a better plan or backup would likely get them killed.