CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Shit, she was trying to tell him something. He looked at Adam to see if he had any clue, but he was busy looking at the map they had spread out between them, searching frantically.
“Honey, have—”
“All right, you know she’s okay. Enough of the bullshit. Be at the lakefront park in front of the Conner building at ten o’clock tonight. Just sit on a bench and wait,” Manuel instructed.
“Yeah. I got it. Then you pop me from some building nearby because you don’t have the balls to face me yourself. How do I know you won’t hurt Maggie?”
“You’ll have to take my word for it. The one thing I will guarantee you is that if you don’t show up, I will kill her and take my time with it. She’s a pretty little thing, eh? Be a shame to waste such a nice piece of ass.”
“Don’t do it, Mi—ahh!” Mitch heard a slap and then Maggie’s whimper. His blood boiled. Those assholes would pay for that. In blood.
“I’ll be there,” he ground out before hanging up.
“Fuck, Adam. What was all that about?” His heart was pounding. He was relieved she was alive but furious they had hurt her. He had to figure this out and fast.
“Well, I’m thinking she’s trying to tell us something with the cuss words since she rarely swears. Maybe she meant First Ave is one of the cross streets, but the fuckity shit? What’s that?”
He looked down at the red circle on the map, waiting for the answer to jump out at him, which it did a minute later.
“Fifty-Sixth? Could that be it? Fifty-Sixth and First Ave? That’s in our zone!”
Adam checked the map where Mitch was pointing.
“I think you’re right. It’s really the only thing that makes sense. Okay, let’s call in SWAT to take care of whatever’s waiting for you at the Conner building, and you and I will go get Maggie!”
Mitch closed his eyes and sighed. “You don’t have to go with me. Jenny and the boys need you, and I can’t make any promises on how this will turn out. I’m already scared shitless they’ll kill Maggie no matter what I do, and I can’t live with any more blood on my hands. Hers or yours.”
“Speaking of Jenny,” Adam said. “This might not be the best time to tell you, but I’ve asked her to marry me. She said yes.”
He took a minute to process the news. Adam waited silently.
“That’s great, man. Really. I mean it. All the more reason for you to stay.” Mitch stood and started down the hall, leaving Adam at the table.
Dressed head to toe in black, Mitch strapped one loaded weapon to his ankle and put another in a shoulder holster under his sweatshirt.
He filled his cargo pockets with extra magazines, two knives, and a can of pepper spray.
Finally, he wrote the code to his safe on a Post-it Note and stuck it to his nightstand.
Everything needed to handle his affairs could be found there.
When he returned to the kitchen, it was empty. Better this way. Adam was a friend, but they’d only known each other for a short time, and Mitch didn’t expect him to put his life on the line for him.
He made a quick call to the LT and headed out. It was just past nine o’clock. His only priority was to save Maggie, and there was only one sure way to do that.
***
“Think he’ll show?” Jose was trying to make conversation, but Jaime preferred to work in silence and didn’t respond. Jose didn’t let that stop him. “He’d be an idiot if he did. Just to save some chick? And he has to know Manuel will kill her anyway.”
Jaime was here to take care of the police officer. He was one of three men Manuel’s uncle had sent and was flown in for this assignment because he was the best at a long shot. This knucklehead Manuel had forced him to bring along was driving him crazy.
“Dude, shut the hell up. We’re not here to shoot the shit and become BFFs. I’ve got a job to do, and I prefer to do it in silence,” Jaime said after he’d had enough.
Jose rolled his eyes but stayed quiet.
Jaime was sitting on the window ledge, rifle in hand. The room was dark, but the streetlights made it easy to see the street below. He stiffened. Holy shit. He didn’t think the schmuck would show either, but sure as shit, there he was.
The man below walked slowly, knowing full well what was about to happen. It wasn’t quite ten, but Jaime was sure the boss wouldn’t mind if he finished up early. He crouched into position and waited.
The man on the street was wearing a black NYPD baseball cap.
He glanced up at the building, sat on the bench, and gave them the finger.
Jaime chuckled. And then executed a perfect headshot.
The man on the bench slumped over and was still.
They called Manuel to tell him it was done and then began to pack up. It seemed so anticlimactic.
“Police! Freeze!” Several SWAT officers stormed the room, guns drawn.
Jaime and Jose put their hands up slowly.
“You’re a little late, guys,” Jaime drawled.
He’d been busted before, but never in America.
Somehow, he didn’t think buying his way out of trouble was as easy here.
“My man Jose here already shot your friend.” He didn’t plan to spend the rest of his life in an American jail.
“What? You asshole!” Jose sputtered. “He’s lying. He shot MacDonald.”
“Fuck. Check it out, Edwards.”
Edwards walked over to the window, looked down, and nodded. “He’s down. Call a bus.”
Another officer went to look, and Jaime used the distraction to pull a weapon from the waistband of his pants. Jose watched and followed suit, attempting to pull his gun.
Shots rang out, and both men went down in a hail of gunfire.
When the bullets stopped flying, and the scene was secured, the SWAT team leader called the LT.
“The whole thing was fucked up, LT. We got stuck behind a multicar accident and had to leave the damned SWAT vehicle in the middle of the fucking road. We ran the last half mile and arrived late. We got two dead perps and a dead civilian. Powell’s on the ground and confirmed that.”
“You sure it’s not MacDonald?” The LT didn’t think Mitch was suicidal, but he’d been having a rough go, and anything was possible.
“I haven’t been down to the street yet, but I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Leave two guys to secure the scene, and the rest of you get your asses over to Fifty-Sixth and First Ave. Once you arrive, just wait. I’ll let you know when I have more details.”
“Will do, boss.”
***
Once in the vicinity, Mitch had the cab driver let him out and began walking like he was out for an evening stroll.
Approaching Fifty-Sixth and First, he realized he still had a huge problem.
There was a building on each corner. How the fuck was he supposed to know which one she was in?
Goddammit. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
While scoping out the buildings, attempting to figure out which one to try first, a dark figure approached him from the alley.
“She’s in the brown one.” Adam tipped his head toward the building kitty-corner from where they were standing.
“Shit. You trying to get shot sneaking up on me like that?” Mitch pulled his hand out of his sweatshirt, leaving the gun holstered. “How do you know? And what are you doing here?”
“She left the tracker with the homeless dude over there. When I asked him about a pretty brunette, he knew exactly who I meant. Said he watched her go into that building. Pretty fucking genius, eh?”
“Seriously. I told her the thing didn’t work very well around concrete, so it was smart of her to leave it outside.” He was impressed Maggie was staying levelheaded enough to leave clues for them.
“I ran home to gear up and when I came back, watched you get into a cab and fucking leave me. Should have waited. I was faster than the taxi.” Adam winked.
“You’re crazy. You know that? God.”
“I know. I called SWAT on the way over here. After you gave them the location Manuel gave you, they did a quick analysis and think they know which building a sniper would use. They’re en route now, and once they finish up there, they’ll head over here.
I let them know which building she’s in, but I don’t think we should wait to go in. ”
“Agreed. Once Manuel knows I didn’t show up for target practice, who knows what he’ll do.”
They made their way to the brown building, with no one in sight except the homeless man, and it looked like he’d dozed off. Once inside, they quickly and silently began clearing rooms.
***
“So, he just walked right up and let you shoot him?” Manuel seemed surprised. “I didn’t think it would be that easy…you’re sure he’s dead? No cops, huh? Well, all right then, come on back, and we’ll celebrate.”
Maggie’s tears fell freely. Mitch was dead.
She could tell from the one-sided conversation and the glee in Manuel’s voice what had happened.
He’d shown up and let himself be shot. She couldn’t fathom it and thought she might be going into shock.
Her heart felt like it was splitting right down the middle.
What was he thinking? He had to know Manuel wouldn’t just let her walk away. Why would he do that?
The clues. She didn’t give them enough to find her, so he must have thought showing up at the park was the only option.
It was all her fault. She should have told them before going to the store.
They could have come up with a plan. She should have given better clues as to where they were keeping her. Dammit!
After celebrating with a big swig from a Jack Daniels bottle, Manuel sauntered over to her, gun in hand.
“Hey, sweetheart. Don’t cry. I can make you feel better.” He traced her cheekbone with the barrel of the gun. “You and I are going to have a good time tonight.” The tears fell harder. Mitch was dead, and she would be raped and then, in all likelihood, killed tonight.
She hung her head, defeated. There was only one option left.
It was a long shot and would probably only serve to get her killed faster, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.
She tried inconspicuously to reach into her front pocket.
Having her hands tied made it difficult, but at least they were in front of her, and she finally got was she was after.
A loud bang made her look up. The door flew open, and there he was. Alive! She gave a cry of relief. “Oh my God.”
“On the ground, assholes,” Mitch yelled, his gun pointed at Manuel’s chest. Adam was right beside him, pointing his gun at Manuel’s buddy.
“What the…? You’re supposed to be dead!” Manuel sputtered in disbelief. Rather than drop to the floor as commanded, he pointed his gun at her head and said, “I don’t think so. Stand up, darlin’.” He positioned her in front of him, using her as a shield.
“Coward,” Mitch taunted. “Hiding behind a woman? What a pussy!” At the same time, he gave Maggie the slightest of nods and then motioned with his eyes to his right. She nodded back, indicating that she understood. The next thirty seconds played out in slow motion.
Maggie used the pocketknife to slice the arm around her neck. She pushed hard and cut deep. Manuel screamed, and his instinctive reaction to push her away proved fatal. As she dove to the floor, Mitch fired twice, hitting Manuel in the chest.
Manuel’s eyes, wide with disbelief, quickly narrowed in anger as he raised his gun to shoot. He managed to pull the trigger on his way down, firing off a wild, random shot, before hitting the ground, dead.
Mitch was hit and thrown back, hitting the door behind him and sliding to the floor. Maggie screamed as Adam shot the other man, who had pulled a weapon and was taking aim at him. Adam then turned his gun back to Manuel, who lay motionless. He ran over and kicked the gun out of his hand.
Satisfied he was dead, Adam reached to help Maggie up and wrapped her in his arms. She took a split second of comfort and then ran to Mitch. She could hear running, yelling, and gunshots in the hallway. The police had arrived and were rounding up the rest of Manuel’s gang.
“Oh God, Mitch.” She was crying in earnest, running her tied-up hands over his body, trying to find a wound. She had just realized there was no blood when suddenly, he coughed. “Adam, he’s alive!”
He knelt and knocked on Mitch’s chest. The thumping sound made it obvious he was wearing a bulletproof vest. He was coming to, groaning, and cussing up a storm.
“Shit, that hurts,” he growled.
“It’s a damn good thing you wore that. I was going to kick your ass if you hadn’t.” Adam grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him to the other side of the room, commanding Maggie to follow him.
“The last thing we need is to get shot by our own SWAT team,” he explained. “Thank God those other idiots were on a different floor and couldn’t get here quickly. This could have gone very differently,” Adam said, still on edge.
“Manuel?” Mitch looked around.
“Dead. Nice shot.” Adam moved out of the way so Mitch could see Manuel’s body on the ground.
He heaved a sigh of relief.