Chapter Forty-Three
Kellan
On foot, I follow West Senior and his would-be assassin toward their meeting spot with Mary, where I have no doubt that he plans to fuck her without fucking her. The Russian was easy to turn on West Senior. Everyone hates the man. He cheats everyone he crosses paths with. And when the Russian mob has that opinion of you, you’re pretty fucking low. They want him out of the picture. I don’t know how he pissed them off, but if Caleb doesn’t kill him, they might.
West Senior and Caleb halt abruptly, seeming to exchange sharp words, but it’s a short exchange, and we’re moving forward. Another block. Another. One more to go when we pause at a stoplight, the crowd is bustling, street performs just behind where Senior stands. A homeless person begging for money. A little old man in a torn trench, wearing an oversized hat, steps behind Senior, and unease fills me. Something feels off, and as much as I hate West Senior, my job is to ensure he’s not killed.
I ease forward, closing the space between me and him, when suddenly the old man exaggerates a trip and falls into West Senior. The events go into slow motion. West Senior is shoved in front of a truck, and the end result is brutal. West is hit by an oncoming truck and bounces into a car. Caleb steps into traffic, shouts for someone to call 911, and begins life-saving steps. The old man takes off running.
With Blake in my ear on a mic, I announce, “West is down, hit by a car. I’m going after the guy who pushed him into traffic. I need backup.”
Blake curses. “A block away and on the way. I’m pulling up the camera footage.”
I chase after him, but the fucking crowd is insane, and I’m too slow. By the time I’m at the bottom of the tunnel stairs, he’s nowhere to be found. I eye a bathroom and walk that direction, but there’s no one inside. Once I’m down on the train pick-up ramp, a train is just leaving the tracks. I run up the stairs to the street and report the exit location for Blake to locate on camera and get a man there. But this is going nowhere. The old man is gone. And if I’m right, I’m a witness to the murder of Damion’s father.
“What are my orders, Blake?”
“I’ve called my guy at the FBI. He’s meeting you to take a statement and take control of the scene of the crime. Do you know West’s condition?”
“I’m almost back to the scene,” I say. “Give me about thirty seconds and—” I bring the ambulances into view. The scene is blocked off, but I can see enough of the blood and gore to conclude, “He’s not making it through this.”