Beyond the Call of Duty (14 page)

“It could, depending upon who the Traegers have to defend them and who we get as a judge, but that’s all for later. We’re going to have to get an indictment first as well as a warrant for their arrests. You’ll also be testifying in front of a grand jury.” He waved his hand in front of his face as if none of that was any big deal. “That’s for another visit. This one is just for us to get to know each other and come to an understanding.”

“What kind of understanding?” Gabe asked. He walked past the man and into his office, watching as Lexi followed him in.

“Well,” Ronald began, “I want you to know I don’t plan on letting up on this case. I think we have a good chance of getting the Traegers out of Monroe City and locked up. They made a huge mistake with leaving you alive, one I’m a bit surprised they made. I always thought Waylon Traeger was a smart man.” He waved them to the chairs in front of his desk before offering coffee and other refreshments.

“You got very lucky, Mr. Elliott. Lexi here is a pro, and one of the best I’ve seen in the business. She’ll take good care of you. You won’t have any problems if you listen to her.”

“She’s been very helpful,” Gabe answered, though he still didn’t look Lexi’s way. “So this is going to take months, and during all that time I’m supposed to do exactly what I’m told. For months,” he stressed the word.

“It will go by fast, Gabe. Never worry. This isn’t the first time we’ve done this, though I can’t help but hope it will be the last. Monroe City is a nice town, and it would be nice to clear the riff-raff out for good.”

Ronald glanced at Lexi, though she didn’t say a word, only sitting back in her seat, her gaze going from Gabe, to the door, to Ronald’s office. “We do have one small matter to discuss, Gabe. That is the matter of Teri Milner. From what we’ve been able to find out here, Ms. Milner has worked for the Blandon’s for a little over a year. About six months of that time has been spent as his mistress. Is that about right?”

“More or less,” Gabe said softly. He still felt hurt from finding out Teri set this whole thing up to help Caleb Traeger and was now his fiancée. “She always seemed pretty happy with him.”

“Money and sex, Gabe. Oh, and don’t forget power. It’s a huge draw for those that don’t have it. To me it looks like Teri Milner was doing what she thought she had to do to become top dog.” Ronald picked up the cup of coffee off his desk and took a small sip. “That doesn’t mean we won’t take her down if we can get enough evidence. What do you know about her?”

“Tony always treated her good,” Gabe said softly, feeling the lump of hurt making it hard to talk, “and she was always good to me. She kidded around and didn’t take no crap from anyone, Tony included. I just don’t understand this. I talked to her less than an hour before all this happened. She told me she was happy where she was. She said she didn’t want to marry or take care of kids, and she was happy with her relationship with Tony, even when he had to leave her to go home to his wife. If you were going to ask me about one person I didn’t think would do this, it would be her.”

“Money, sex and power, Gabe, like I said.” Ronald shook his head. “We dumped your phones. The call she made to you...she was at Caleb’s apartment when she called. She was setting you up; you and Tony and his family. I know it’s hard to believe, but those are the facts. Can you think of anything else that would make her turn on the Blandons the way she did?”

“No.” He looked up at Ronald, but could feel the heat of Lexi’s gaze on him. He managed to not look at her, but it was close.

“Okay.” Ronald flipped over a lawyer’s yellow pad of paper and picked up his pen. “Can you tell me in your own words what happened that night?”

Gabe ran through it, speaking almost dispassionately. He stopped at the point where one of Traeger’s men shot him, bending forward and dropping his face into his cupped hands. “I heard them die,” he said hoarsely. “I heard every fucking shot, and there wasn’t anything I could do to help them.”

“Of course not. No one expects you to have done anything but what you did. I’m sure you did everything you could.”

“It wasn’t good enough,” Gabe growled. “Are we almost done here?”

“Sitting up has to be hard on you. It amazes me you are doing as well as you are this quickly. We’ll make another appointment for next week when you should be stronger.”

* * * *

Lexi rose and went to the office door, opening it just a crack to check the waiting room. It was empty, but for Luke and Molly, and they both looked up when she pushed the door open. She waved Gabe through, doing her best to ignore the leering look Ronald was giving her.

Setting up another appointment with his secretary took little time, and she sent Luke and Molly to check the hallways. If she was Traeger, this would be the time she’d choose to strike, especially since Gabe was still injured and couldn’t move as he normally would.

Molly opened the door, nodding to Lexi, and led Gabe toward the elevator Luke was holding open for them. They pushed him to the back of the car, shielding him with their bodies as the doors slid closed, and started down toward the SUV.

“That went smoothly,” Molly commented, hating the quiet in the car.

“Molly...” Lexi and Luke groaned together.

“What? I just said it went smoothly, not that it was going to stay smooth.”

Lexi grabbed Gabe’s arm, pushing him into the corner behind the buttons and behind her body. “Molly just jinxed us,” she said softly, watching as Luke and Molly hugged the other corner. “If I die...” she growled at the girl.

“I know.” Molly sighed. “You’re going to haunt me.”

“You’ll never get laid again,” Lexi said with a grin.

Lexi pulled her weapon out of its holster, holding it down in front of her with both hands. She felt the shift of the elevator as it began to stop, and nudged Gabe even further into the corner. “Anything happens, you get down and stay down, got me?”

“Yeah,” Gabe said. “I’d feel better if I had a piece.”

“Uh huh,” Molly said. “Wits don’t get pieces. They tend to shoot those that protect them before they shoot a threat.”

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open slowly. The three marshals looked out into the wide garage. There was no one there. Lexi moved slowly through the door, moving her eyes every which way to be sure there was no threat, and then motioned for Gabe, Luke and Molly to follow her.

Molly was laughing at something Luke said when suddenly there was an explosion and a flash of fire, and a round hole erupted in the middle of her forehead. She hit the ground, her body limp, her eyes still open, dead.

Molly had been walking in front of Gabe, so with her gone, he was exposed. He dropped into a crouch and bent to run as Lexi grabbed his jacket, hauling him with her. Luke crouched close to Molly, reaching out to feel for a pulse.

“She’s gone, Luke! Move your ass!”

It took Lexi’s harsh voice to get him moving. He pressed against a car just as the window above his head blew out. “Where the fuck is he?” he shouted back at Lexi.

“Next floor! He’s on the curved ramp! Get Gabe to the SUV and out of here. I’m at a better angle.” She watched as Luke made it toward them. “Go with him!” She growled when Gabe seemed about to protest. “Go! This is my job! Don’t make it harder for me!”

She watched for just a second as Luke and Gabe ran to the next row of cars. They were only four cars from the SUV, but their sniper was not a patient man. She could hear his footsteps as he tried to move to a better place to bag his target. Lifting up just high enough to see over the car next to her, she caught sight of his back and lifted her gun, firing one bullet.

The sniper grunted as her bullet struck true, and he fell face forward, landing on the railing on the ramp. Lexi heard car doors slam and the SUV start, the wheels squealing on the pavement as Luke broke all speed limits leaving the garage. She was alone.

Moving slowly and stealthily, she made her way over to the sniper. If anyone had been with him, they were long gone, and so was his gun. She flipped him to his stomach, using her cell to capture his image before calling Jack.

Jack handled it better than she thought he would. He was in the second car, after the first cop car showed up. Two more cops and a coroner’s van pulled up soon after that.

“Where’s Gabe?” Jack said when he came upon her sitting next to Molly’s body.

“Luke took him in the SUV. SOP would have him going back to the safe house, but with this?” She nodded at Molly’s body, wiping at her eyes.

“They were close?” he asked, his hand touching her shoulder.

“Do you remember when I started working for you, Jack?”

“Yeah.” A smile lit his gruff face for a moment. “The only woman I allowed as close to me as you were was my wife.”

“That’s what Luke and Molly were like, Jack. Luke’s got to be hurting.” She sniffed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her coat.

“Call him, Lexi. Let’s make sure they’re both safe.”

She nodded, watching as the coroner and his assistant came over and folded Molly’s hands across her chest, laying out the body bag and carefully lifting her into it. They zipped it up as another man brought a gurney over to cart the body back to the van.

She got out her cell phone, hitting the speed-dial key. The phone rang twice before Gabe answered. “Yeah?”

“Gabe? Where’s Luke? Why are you answering his phone?”

He didn’t answer, and then she heard Luke’s voice, sounding full of tears across the distance. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. She’s dead, isn’t she, Lexi?”

She sank down to the pavement, ignoring Jack and the cops, focusing on Luke. “Yeah, Luke, she is. I’m so sorry.”

She heard Luke sob and sigh, staying quiet while he tried to pull himself together. “The sniper?”

“Dead. His partners bugged out.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“No, Luke. I’ve never seen him before. He has to be working for Traeger.”

“We’ll come back and get you, Lexi,” Luke said, hanging up before she could say anything else. She folded up her phone, lowering her arm slowly, and stared at the black body bag that held her friend and co-worker. She rose only when Jack called her name, and she turned to look at him.

“You’ve got to suck this up, Alexandra. You’ve got a witness in trouble and need to be strong.”

“I know,” she snapped. “Trust me, I know.”

“Then situation report!”

She glared at him as she told him Luke was coming back for her. Gabe was safe. She knew her words were clipped and concise, almost cold. The emotion only showed when Luke pulled up beside her, Gabe in the front seat next to him.

“I’ll expect your report in the morning, Lexi.” Jack said abruptly. She nodded, opening the door to the back seat and sliding in.

Luke didn’t move for a moment; he just stared in the direction of the blood smear where Molly had fallen, then he put the SUV into gear and pulled away.

Lexi sat in the back seat looking at the moving traffic around her, but her thoughts were far away. She was remembering Molly, her first day on the job, transferring in from the FBI. She’d taken some retraining, but Lexi hadn’t minded. She’d also been unfailingly cheerful and helpful, willing to do what needed to be done no matter the cost.

Losing Molly was doing something not much else could possibly do to her; it was making her feel her mortality. When they pulled into the driveway and the garage, Lexi felt a thrill of fear. Molly had been one of the best, and for her to be gunned down the way she was; well, it got to her.

Luke walked into the kitchen and sank down into a chair at the table. Lexi made coffee and poured him a cup and sat down next to him. She put her hand out to clutch his shoulder.

“She had to say it. She had to fucking jinx herself, Lexi. Why her? Why couldn’t it have been me?” He pushed the coffee away and sank his head down to rest on his folded hands, a sob shaking his shoulders. “It should have been me,” he cried.

“What do you think Molly would say to you if she heard you talking like that, Luke?”

He didn’t speak, so she reached out and pushed up his forehead up and looked into his red-rimmed eyes. “You know, as well as I do, she’d kick your ass at those words. She loved you, Luke. You’ve got to stay strong for her.”

“She’s dead, Lexi. Nothing I say or do is going to matter much now.” He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small blue box. As soon as she saw it, she knew what it was. “I was going to ask her after shift today. We were going to have dinner...and...and...”

“You were going to ask her to marry you,” Lexi finished for him. She reached out, rubbing her fingers against the tears on his face. “She’d have said yes, Luke. She loved you so much.”

“I loved her too.” He wiped the rest of the tears away. “You’re right. If she saw me crying, she’d have kicked my ass, hard.”

“Yep.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Why don’t you go home? Gerald and Joe will be here in an hour. I can handle things until them. Go home, hug your son.”

“Do you want me to call Molly’s dad?”

“No, that’s my job, Luke. It’s okay, I can do it.” She nodded as he turned and headed toward the door. When it shut behind him, Gabe poked his head into the kitchen. “Was that Luke?”