Chapter 14
Gunner drove straight home, unpacked and put his clothes in the laundry, and went to the kitchen.
The toast he’d eaten at Holly’s had just been an appetizer, so he poured himself a bowl of cereal and took it to the table to eat, then decided to check messages while he ate.
The first message he saw was from his bank.
It finally happened! The lottery money had been deposited into his new account this morning.
That was weeks earlier than he’d expected, but he wasn’t going to complain.
The first thing he did was sit down and make a phone call to the financial advisor his lawyer had set him up with. After a few minutes on the phone, he knew exactly what to do and when to do it.
But now that that had happened, he also accepted someone in the bank would leak the name, and he wanted to get to the precinct and tell them first. He already had his official resignation written and printed out, so he was taking that with him.
He strapped on his gun, clipped his badge to his belt, and settled the black hat on his head as he headed for the garage.
After forty minutes and bypassing two wrecks on the Loop, he was pulling into the parking lot. He got the bulletproof vest out of the trunk and took everything inside with him.
Samuels’s replacement turned out to be Lieutenant Greg Rance, an early riser who was already in the office.
Detectives were straggling in two and three at a time when Gunner walked in. Cliff was already at his desk, and Frankie Adams waved at him from across the room.
Gunner pointed at his hair with a questioning look.
“Passionate purple!” she shouted.
He gave her a thumbs-up, and their interchange got everyone else’s attention. At that point, they began gathering around him, teasing him about being able to duck, and glad to see him back.
Cliff got up smiling. “Man, am I ever glad to see you. We all heard about Dixon. I guess the heat is off on you now.”
“Hard to say. Samuels thinks it is. I had a text from him, but that was before his heart attack. That must have scared the shit out of all of you.”
Cliff nodded. “Frankie and I started CPR and then switched out with two more and kept at it until the ambulance arrived. I don’t want to have to do that again.”
“He’s doing good,” Gunner said. “I went to see him yesterday. He was in there on his own. FYI… If you were with him at the hospital when they brought him in, he doesn’t remember that.
He thinks he’s been there on his own. He said his daughter was due in yesterday afternoon, so I guess he’s not alone now. ”
The detectives who’d gathered all stared at each other with a mixture of surprise and guilt. “We did go! At least ten or twelve of us… Everyone who wasn’t out on a case. Thanks for letting us know. We’ll check in on him today.”
At that point, Tom Rowdy walked in carrying a Starbucks coffee and a half-eaten Danish.
“Kingston! As I live and breathe! Good to see you still ticking,” Rowdy said.
Before Gunner could comment, he heard footsteps coming up behind him and turned around. Seeing this man’s face was the last omen Gunner needed to know he was doing the right thing. He disliked the man intensely, and that man felt the same.
“Lieutenant Rance. You must be the boss’s sub,” Gunner drawled.
Rance glared. They’d gone through the police academy together and had struck sparks off each other from the start.
“Kingston. We’re busy here. State your business.”
Before he could answer, there was a shuffling at the door. As everyone turned to look, a half-dozen men in black suits walked in, paused to look over the room, then headed straight for Tom Rowdy.
Gunner saw them and stepped back. Ah shit. His name was on that list.
“Thomas Lee Rowdy?”
Rowdy nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”
The man flashed his badge. “Special Agent Ed Hanley. We have a warrant for your arrest. Charges include passing privileged information to Burgess Dixon in return for numerous monetary payments. Said information resulted in giving up the location of one of our safe houses, and the deaths of four FBI agents and the death of a material witness in the Burgess Dixon trial. You are also being charged with abetting in the hit and run of Dan Helford, also known as Yankee Dan, and abetting in the bounty that was issued for Gunner Kingston.”
Rowdy had turned every shade of red before he turned an ashy pale.
“I didn’t… Uh… You have to be mistaken; I would never…”
“Burgess Dixon’s suicide letter was, in fact, a list with the names and contact info of all of his informants, and your name is on it.
We have time, place, and details of the offshore bank where you’re stashing the payouts you have received.
They coincide with the crimes we have mentioned, and all of the solid evidence we need to prove it. ”
Greg Rance was in shock, as were the other detectives. The only one of them who didn’t seem surprised was Gunner. As the Feds were taking Rowdy away, Greg Rance turned on Gunner.
“You knew? Was it you who gave him up?”
Gunner blinked. “Gave him up? What the fuck’s wrong with you?
Burgess Dixon gave him up—gave up all his informants.
If I’d known, I would have already beaten the shit out of him for trying to get me killed.
However, I did suspect there was a dirty cop in this department, as everyone here can attest. I said it often enough.
The first one I suspected was my partner, Cliff, for acting so damn weird after we brought Yankee Dan in to get his statement.
But I didn’t say a damn thing. Not even when the old man was killed in a hit and run.
Then I began wondering how Lieutenant Samuels had the knowledge to tell me that it was safe for me to come back to Dallas because the hit had been called off.
But I didn’t call him out, either. I never saw this coming until I talked to Samuels yesterday, and he mentioned it was Rowdy who told him the hit was off and I would be safe to come back.
There was no way to know that unless that someone had gotten the info straight from Dixon. ”
Rance’s face flushed with anger. “But—”
“But nothing,” Gunner said. “Yesterday, I also learned that one of the special agents who died in that safe house was Tom Rowdy’s brother-in-law. Even then, I could not wrap my head around a man low enough to sell out his sister’s husband for a wad of dough.”
“It’s pretty convenient to just happen to be here when they come to get him,” Rance said.
Gunner took a paper from his inside pocket.
“I didn’t come to see a rat dragged out of hiding.
I came here to submit my resignation. Witnessing this was icing on the cake.
Getting to watch the bastard who nearly got me killed get what was coming to him is the cherry on top.
” He slapped his resignation on the desk, took off his weapon and holster, dropped the bulletproof vest at his feet, and unclipped his badge.
“Being targeted and hunted like a dog because some worthless piece of shit liked money more than God puts a whole new spin on a man’s viewpoint of who he wants to work with.
And you, standing there like the asshole you are, wanting to tar me with some kind of guilt just because you don’t like me, says absolutely everything about your lack of honor and morals.
I’m outta here. And just FYI…to all of you.
If Andy Samuels does return to work, it might be in your best interests to make peace with him about the visitations. ”
Rance’s face was purple with unspent rage, but he could not deny a word of it.
Before Gunner could leave, Cliff grabbed his arm.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was such an ass. I’m sorry I lost your trust.”
Gunner shrugged. “It’s over.”
“But where are you going? If you’re not a cop, what are you going to do?” Cliff asked.
“I’m going to get my lady and live happily ever after, and I don’t have to do a damn thing I don’t want to do for the rest of my life, because I’m the one who won the Mega Millions lottery, and the payoff money just landed in my bank this morning. Before any of you ask, the answer is no.”
He walked out, leaving the detectives shocked about the money and staring at Greg Rance in disbelief.
“What the hell, Boss? Defending the thin blue line is one thing, but you sure missed the point. A detective from our department just got hauled off by the FBI, charging him with abetting in six murders, and the attempted murder of one of our own, and you’re ragging on Gunner?
Why? Because the hit man missed? That’s cold,” Frankie Adams said and walked away.
Rance gathered up all of Gunner’s gear and went into the office.
Cliff followed him in. “Sir.”
“What the hell do you want?” Rance muttered.
“Just wanted you to know that I’ll be making sure Kingston’s official resignation does not get buried.
We don’t care what you thought about him, but he was my partner.
He saved my life twice. And if you do anything to demean his name in his personal file, I will make sure you don’t get away with it. ”
“I could ruin you for this insubordination,” Rance said.
Cliff held up his phone. “But you won’t, because I just recorded this conversation.” He looked down at his phone as he began sending a text. “And I sent it to the captain’s phone.”
Rance’s eyes widened. “But I had no intention of doing any such thing.”
Cliff shrugged. “Well, now he knows anyway,” he said and walked out, then threw out a question to the crowd. “What’s the payout on seven hundred and eighty million dollars?”
“I’d guess something over four hundred and fifty million,” someone said.
“Damn,” Cliff said. “Just damn.”
* * *
Gunner exited the building and didn’t look back. Without the weight of responsibility that came with a badge and gun, he felt like he was floating.