Chapter 28
?
Anderson admired Pamela’s bravery, yet he knew how quickly a gunman could flip.
Maybe she knew it too because she suddenly shut up.
Then he realized that she had been studying the fireplace before dropping her gaze.
The fireplace caught his attention now too because what if the money was there?
He couldn’t have any of that money getting out or his brother-in-law going free.
Not now, not when so much was still going wrong in his world.
Drugs would never be a good answer, and Tim’s addiction sure as hell wouldn’t let Tim off the hook for what he’d done.
Anderson caught sight of Leland just outside the front window and knew they would have to coordinate this carefully.
Catching sight of him again through the window, Leland held out three fingers, even as Anderson himself started a countdown.
Three, two—and Anderson stepped into the living room and announced, “If I’d realized there was company, I might have been here sooner.” Anderson walked over and picked up one of the babies and gave her a big cuddle. She laughed and giggled.
The gunman stared at him. “Who the hell are you?”
“This piece of shit’s brother-in-law, and you?” he asked, as he turned to face him, gazing at the gun, then nodding. “Right, you must be Dingo’s right-hand man.”
The man paled. “You’re not supposed to say that name.”
“Maybe not,” he said, “but you’re the one who broke into this house, pulled a gun, and are endangering my nieces, so I hope you have a better answer than that as to why the hell you’re here.
And, if it has to do with this piece of shit’s piss-poor attempt to steal drugs and sell them out from under you, that has nothing to do with us. ”
“Yes, but we need the money back, and we don’t have it because he took it.”
“I get that,” Anderson stated, with a calmness that unnerved the gunman. “However, you can be sure he wasn’t in the mood for sharing with anyone around here.”
“You really don’t have much of a fan club,” the gunman noted, glaring at Tim.
“He sure doesn’t. You do know what he did to my sister, right? He nearly got her killed, leaving these babies without a mother.”
“Yeah, he’s not my favorite person because of that either. Not cool in my book.”
“That also tells you that he can’t be trusted, so it’s safe to assume that most of what comes out of his mouth is of no value,” Anderson shared, his gaze on the gunman.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s of value or not,” he replied, staring at him. “I need to get that money.”
“I don’t have it. Nobody here has it. My poor sister never had it, but you guys already put her in the hospital, so what more do you want me to say?”
“Look, it wasn’t personal, man, and I wasn’t involved in that.”
“Might not have been personal to you, but I take it personally,” he declared, taking a step toward him.
The gunman lifted the gun. “If you don’t want those babies to be missing an uncle as well as a mother, you better not take another step forward.”
“Let me ask you one question, and I’ll let you decide what to do with that.”
“What?” he barked.
“You want the money and nothing else, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then the only person to shoot is the one in front of you.”
“I can’t shoot him. He has the money.”
“This guy is a wimp. It won’t take much torture to get him to squeal. Shoot him in the leg. Kick him in the gut, like your buddies did to my sister. If you’re not convinced, then get out. I can’t let you terrorize my family.”
“You can shoot her,” Tim suggested, pointing to Pamela.
“She’s just a nanny,” Anderson stated, with a smile. “So, she’s replaceable.”
She turned to him and asked, “Did you just say that?”
“Yeah, I just said that,” he snapped, his tone hard.
Tim snorted. “You seem to think you’re somebody special. I feel as if I know you somehow, but I can’t place you though.”
“You don’t know me,” Pamela declared, “because I would never make the mistake of hanging out with a low-level criminal like you with a drug addiction.”
He just glared at her.
“Did I mention that your girlfriend isn’t too thrilled, now that she knows about your wife and all these babies you failed to mention?”
“Whatever. I’ll just get a new one.”
“Right, and unfortunately there are women the world over who will end up going with you even though you’re a piece of shit,” she explained.
“Mostly because they want to believe that somehow they can miraculously change you. And that need to believe will get them caught up in your slimy business, again and again, until they get sick of it, but, hey, you can just get another.” She feared nothing and what she just said made sense, but her nervousness was speaking now.
Anderson smiled at her as he walked over, handed off one of Lisas, whispering, “It’ll be okay.”
“What did you say to her?” the gunman asked, glaring at him.
“I said, It’ll be okay.”
“I thought she’s just a nanny.” The gunman smirked. “I don’t want to shoot anybody, but I will if it gets us out of here to find the money.”
“I don’t have it, so what do you expect me to do?” Anderson asked, as he walked closer.
The gunman stood up. “If you don’t fucking take care of this, I’ll take care of you.” Then he turned the gun to Tim. “And maybe him.”
“Go ahead, please shoot him,” Pamela cried out in delight.
The gunman stared at her, then looked back at Timothy, who had paled and was looking far less confident than when he’d first walked in.
“Man, you really don’t have any love here, do you?
But then again, you don’t deserve love, do you?
” He just nodded at Tim, turned back to Anderson, only to come up against his fist. Not only that, but then suddenly Leland appeared.
With the gunman down, and the weapon out of his way, Leland tied him up quickly, while Anderson made sure that Tim didn’t go anywhere.
“You have to let me go now,” Tim yelled.
“No, I don’t. I absolutely do not.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand totally. I understand you threw my sister and your children under the bus, and I understand that you’re trying to get away from these guys,” he shared, “but I don’t give a shit about you and what you want because that’s not happening.
” He quickly phoned Detective Colt and asked, “So, did you let him out, or did somebody else?”
“Somebody else,” he grumbled.
“Care to share how and why?”
“I’ll have to check into it. Why?”
“Because he brought a gunman to my sister’s house, where my sister’s babies were in danger. We have now disarmed him, and my brother-in-law is here in my custody.”
“What the hell? Are you fucking with me?”
“I am dead serious.”
“What’s he looking for?”
“What do you think?”
“The money?”
“Yeah, they’re here for the money. So, if you want to come without the cop who let Tim out to begin with …”
First came silence, and then Colt replied, “Yeah, he’s got something to answer for right about now.”
“No kidding,” Anderson snapped, “because you guys don’t really need the bad publicity, but I’ll make damn sure you get it if he ever works in that department again.”
“Hey, hey, hey, easy on the threats.”
“No, I won’t ease up, and I can assure you it’s not some random threat. You better head over here with at least four other people, and we’ll do a little public announcement to ensure that this is on the up-and-up and out of the shadows.”
“Hey, he’s not necessarily one of us, you know?”
“Maybe not, but I can’t take the chance of somebody else letting this piece of shit brother-in-law off the hook, and, seeing how fucked up Tim is, he’s bound to waltz right back in here with another gunman, and I will never let that happen ever again.”
“I didn’t touch her! You’ve got no right to hold me!” Timothy cried out.
“Is that him in the background?” Detective Colt asked.
“Yeah, it sure is, so you better come before I lose my patience.” And, with that, he ended that call to make a few other phone calls. He looked over at Leland and asked, “Did you get a hold of that journalist?”
“Sure did. They broke both his kneecaps a year or so ago, and he’s been pining for some revenge.”
“He can get it today,” Anderson declared, and, twenty minutes later, they had a mess of vehicles parked out front. The detectives raced up the steps, and hot on their heels was the journalist.
Detective Colt held up a hand. “Oh no, no press. This is not turning into a media circus, or I swear I’ll arrest all of you for obstructing justice.”
Anderson interrupted, “Oh, he’s coming all right, and you can’t do a thing about it. One bad cop already let this piece of shit out of jail, right under your nose, and we’re not doing this again.”
And right there on live TV, Anderson handed over his brother-in-law, making sure that it was very clear as to what this man had done against his children and his wife, a woman who even now was still suffering and trying to recover in the hospital.
He also handed over the man who had held them all at gunpoint, representing the very organization that had beat the crap out of his sister, then watched as they both were taken away in police cars.
The detective glared the whole time as Anderson presented evidence on camera as to Tim’s criminal activities, how he was involved in stealing from the Dingo drug cartel.
The others with Colt had masked their emotions, but their discomfort was all too clear.
“You didn’t have to turn it into a shit show. ”
“Hey, your department is the shit show,” he countered, then left it at that.
Detective Colt groaned. “My boss will rip me for this one.”
“Maybe you should have turned in the guy who’s been leaking information and doing favors for the very people you should be trying to put away,” Anderson suggested.
“I’m not here to clean up your department, as I’ve got plenty of issues in my own world to keep me busy.
However, if your captain is also a piece of crap—”