Chapter 14 #2
That comment told Di the port authority agent on duty was likely dirty. Were there others too? She still wasn’t convinced Ray Bond and Jeff Schnor weren’t culpable. Not that either of the narcotics officers were there at the warehouse.
“Okay.” Lupo didn’t go far enough for her peace of mind. He pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call. After listening for a long moment, he glanced at Buck. “Still no answer.”
Buck swore again, glaring at her and Jarek as if this was all their fault. Then he gestured to Lupo. “Go. Get down to the pier and get my stuff.”
“Me?” Lupo glanced nervously at them. “What if they’ve done something to Yank? The place might be crawling with cops.”
“Don’t be a fool. Go!” Buck reached out to give Lupo a little shove. “And be quick about it. I need that product before I can deal with disposing these two. We don’t have all night. The buyers are waiting.”
Di almost smiled at the accuracy of Lupo’s voiced concern.
Although there was no guarantee the cops were still at the scene of the crime.
She mentally prepared herself to attack Buck.
It wouldn’t be easy, especially since she knew Buck wouldn’t hesitate to sic the dog on them, but once Lupo was gone, they had to take the risk.
One less gun to worry about was a point in their favor.
Besides, she didn’t have a choice. Jarek had gotten caught in this web of danger because of her. She silently promised to do whatever was necessary, even sacrificing her own life to save Jarek’s.
And despite her lack of knowledge about God and faith, she found herself praying that God would spare Jarek’s life.
Let Thy will be done. Amen.
Hearing Di admit to killing her stepfather had shocked him, but Jarek knew full well there was a good reason for her actions. He could only imagine what awful things the guy had done to warrant her seeking to end his life.
And listening to the truth made him realize why she’d insisted she’d never become a cop. It wasn’t because she wasn’t skilled enough to handle the job. It was because of the desperate actions she’d taken to survive.
Di had lived on the streets since she was sixteen. And after listening to how Buck had described Di’s mother, he understood why Di had no relationship with the woman. A mother should protect her children.
Not abandon them for her own selfish needs.
He knew that was exactly what Di’s mother must have done. Easy to imagine how she’d turned a blind eye to the abuse, sexual or physical. Maybe both. He hated thinking about what Di must have suffered, but Di’s troubled past wasn’t his priority.
Getting them out of there was.
Jarek had found a bent nail on the floor behind them and had been using it to spring the lock on the cuffs. He was impressed to know Di had gotten her wrists free too.
Any moment now, she’d make her move. He needed to be ready to do his part.
Jarek felt the latch give on the cuffs and silently thanked God for watching over them.
He slipped his wrists free of the metal braces, then glanced around the warehouse.
There was a crowbar lying across the top of a crate several feet away.
It wasn’t as close as he’d like, but it was the only weapon available that he could see.
They were unarmed, and Buck not only had the gun, but he had the dog that would attack on command.
The crowbar didn’t come close to evening the odds, but he wanted Di to have it.
He nudged her, trying to subtly point it out to her, but her gaze was locked on Buck.
A chill snaked down his spine. He had a bad feeling she was going to throw herself at him. He wanted to warn her that Buck wouldn’t hesitate to kill her once and for all.
“Go!” Buck snapped at Lupo who still hadn’t left the warehouse, despite his boss’s order. “Get moving! And don’t come back without my product.”
Lupo glanced warily at him, then slinked away. Jarek hoped that maybe the gang member would realize getting Buck’s product was futile and to take the opportunity to escape while he could.
“Tell me, Buck, are you a child sex offender like your father?” Di’s question seemed to strike Buck squarely between the eyes, rendering him momentarily speechless.
And that’s when Di did some sort of handspring move, vaulting from a sitting position to her feet. Jarek didn’t hesitate to spring up as well, lunging toward the side stack of crates where he’d seen the crowbar.
Buck screamed in rage at Di’s rushing attack.
A gunshot rang out with deafening loudness.
For a moment, his heart nearly stopped in his chest. In his peripheral vision, he saw Di and Buck wrestling for the gun.
Di was holding her own, but Buck had her by a good seventy-five pounds, not to mention having the guard dog at his side.
Jarek didn’t allow himself to think the worst. Grabbing the crowbar, he spun and quickly advanced to the spot where Di and Buck struggled for the gun.
Rocco growled low in his throat, but surprisingly, he didn’t lunge toward him or Di.
He considered it a minor miracle that Buck had seemed to have forgotten the dog, his attention remaining focused on fighting to keep Di from grabbing his gun.
Buck had allowed their confrontation to become personal, rather than thinking it through like the businessman he’d claimed to be.
Knowing Buck could order the dog to attack at any moment, he swung the crowbar like a bat, striking Buck’s knees with a solid thunk.
Buck cried out in pain as his shattered kneecap buckled. When the man fell, Di wrenched the gun free and turned to aim toward the menacing dog.
“Hold on, Di, don’t shoot unless the dog attacks you.” Jarek fell on top of Buck, pressing the crowbar across his throat. He jammed his knee into Buck’s abdomen for added measure. “Make a sound and I’ll kill you.”
Buck stared up at him with frank hatred. Jarek added a bit of pressure against the crowbar lying across his throat. Buck’s eyes widened with fear, and he used his hands to try pulling the bar free.
“Don’t,” Jarek barked. He eased back on the pressure, allowing Buck to take a breath. “I’m giving you a chance to live through this. But if you order that dog to attack, Di will shoot the animal, and I’ll kill you.”
Rocco’s growls continued, as if the dog understood something was wrong but didn’t understand why he wasn’t given the command to attack.
To his credit, Buck didn’t so much as glance toward his dog.
Jarek hated to admit the canine was well trained.
And he really hoped they wouldn’t be forced to kill the animal.
It wasn’t the dog’s fault he was owned by a drug trafficker.
“Here, boy.” Di pulled the half-crushed protein bar from her pocket and tossed it gently toward Rocco. The dog caught the bar and lowered himself to the ground, eagerly gobbling his treat as if he hadn’t eaten recently. “Good boy, Rocco. Good boy.”
Jarek couldn’t believe it when the dog continued eating without making another sound.
“I’ll get the handcuffs.” Di took a few steps backward, keeping a wary eye on the dog as she bent and scooped the cuffs that had been used on him from the floor. Then she made her way over to Jarek.
“Thanks.” He slapped the handcuff over one of Buck’s wrists, then glanced at her. “Position yourself on the other side, Di. That way you can shoot Buck and the dog without difficulty if he doesn’t listen.”
“Got it. But I think Rocco is okay now.” She did as he suggested. Buck’s angry gaze followed her. Jarek knew the guy was upset that she’d gotten the upper hand.
It was never easy for men like Buck to be bested by a woman half their size and weight. And in this case, Buck’s anger was personal.
“Hey, look at me.” Jarek waited for Buck’s gaze to shift from Di to him.
“If you order the dog to attack, she’ll kill you without hesitation.
Don’t think she’ll go easy on you because she’s a woman.
You should have done your research before sending so many of your men out to kill her.
” He eased up on the crowbar, testing the water.
“Di was trained by the army. She’s more than capable of putting an end to this right now. ”
Buck didn’t nod in agreement, but as Jarek lifted the crowbar from the man’s neck, he didn’t say anything either. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Jarek eased away, flipped Buck onto his abdomen, then cuffed his wrists behind his back.
“We need a gag,” Jarek told Di. “There must be something in here we can use.”
“I’ll watch over Buck.” She continued shifting her gaze between her stepbrother and Rocco. The dog looked downright tame after devouring his snack. “I’ll cover them while you take care of the search.”
He sensed Di wasn’t willing to give up the weapon. And really, he couldn’t blame her. Not after everything he’d learned.
Jarek needed to call for backup, but he didn’t want to do that until he was convinced Buck was no longer a threat. He rose, setting the crowbar aside before moving among the crates, looking for something he could use.
A roll of packing tape caught his eye. He grabbed it and returned to where Buck was lying cuffed on the floor. The packing tape wasn’t necessarily strong enough to bind wrists, but it would work as a gag.
He wrapped the tape over Buck’s mouth and around his head. At some level, he was concerned about how compliant Buck was. He’d expected more from a man who’d threatened to feed him and Di to the fish.
“Okay, I’m calling for backup.” He didn’t have his phone, Lupo had taken it. “Do you still have your phone?”
“No.” Di gestured to Buck. “Use his.”
He bent over Buck and pulled his phone free and dialed 911. Before the call was picked up by the dispatcher, he heard a banging outside the warehouse door.
“Open up! Police!”
Jarek shoved the phone into his pocket and moved toward the door.
Reaching down, he found the handle and swung it up, expecting to see his fellow officers, Calvin Wynn and Tyler Parker.
They’d been at the loading dock, and he imagined they’d come to investigate the Davos Delivery warehouse.
Maybe they’d even run into Lupo who’d folded like a deck of cards under pressure.
But it was narcotics officer Ray Bond who stood on the other side. “Brooks?” Ray looked just as surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”
“Arresting Buck for drug trafficking.” Jarek was glad to see the narcotics officer. He gestured to where Di stood holding her weapon on Buck and his dog. “Did you know he was in charge of the drugs coming into the city?”
“Ah, no, I didn’t. I heard the gunshot and came to investigate.” Ray stepped inside the warehouse, his gaze sweeping the scene. When his gaze landed on the dog, Jarek got the distinct impression that Bond recognized the animal. He was about to warn Di, but he was a split second too late.
Bond pulled his weapon, aiming it directly at Jarek’s chest. “Move back and don’t say a word. Di, you need to drop that weapon.”
No! Ray Bond was dirty! Jarek didn’t look toward Di as his mind grappled with the truth staring him in the face. Di had been right all along. There had been someone on the inside working against them.
This was how they’d been found at every turn.
No wonder Buck had been so confident in his ability to continue his drug business. And it also explained why Buck had gone along with being handcuffed without putting up a fight. He’d been biding his time because he’d known all along that Ray Bond would be showing up to save the day.
And he and Di had walked right into the trap.
“I knew there was a reason I didn’t want to date you,” Di said in a scathing tone. “You’re scum, just like my stepbrother here.”
“Stepbrother?” Ray’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well, well. Isn’t that interesting? Apparently, Buck has been keeping secrets from me.”
“Yeah, you should know his mission to kill me was personal,” Di said. “There’s no love lost between us, right, Buck?”
Buck made a grunting noise from behind the tape.
“Toss your gun, Di,” Ray repeated. There was no sign of Jeff Schnor, and Jarek wasn’t sure if that meant Ray was the only dirty cop involved or if his partner was keeping watch outside.
Bond casually reached up to close the garage door behind him.
It slammed to the ground with a thud. “You should have dated me, Di,” Ray added, his eyes narrowing with anger.
“I could have saved your life. Now you’ll have to die with your pal Brooks. ”
Jarek turned his torso away from Bond. He wished he hadn’t left the crowbar on the crate not far from Di.
It was too far for him to grab it. Then he remembered the phone he’d used to call dispatch was still in his pocket.
Had the call gone through? He hoped and prayed it had and that the dispatcher was listening to what was being said right now.
If the call had gotten disconnected, they were in deep trouble. Even if he could try to stall for time, he was concerned a legitimate police response wouldn’t arrive in time.
All he could do now was pray for strength and guidance to escape the new threat.