DEAD MAN'S JUSTICE - A Place of Evil (Stone & McLeish Thriller Series of Stories Book 2) (16 page)

Chapter 37

Chang managed to keep Bloom in view, he got pretty close, which was safe because Bloom had no idea who Chang was or what he looked like. He kept a running commentary through the mic for Shadow who was cruising less than a block behind and waiting for the moment to pick Chang up.

Bloom looked around nervously every now and then, half expecting Stone to have given chase, but he was sure he’d lost them some way behind. He gripped the handle of the attaché case as if his life depended on it. He felt sure people could see into the case and at the money inside. They couldn't, it just felt that way.

For a split second Chang thought he had lost Bloom and hadn’t noticed that he had turned left down a ramp into an underground car park. He raced ahead scurrying between the pedestrians, almost knocking them over, and then caught sight of the parking sign jutting out from the brick wall a few feet above is head.

He hadn’t put two and two together yet.

He scoured the sidewalk ahead and across to the other side also, he was out of breath and began to feel a little panicky. Then the realization struck him like a lightning bolt and he drew in his breath. He turned quickly to look down the ramp to the car park and saw the back of Bloom’s overcoat and he stood to pay for his parking ticket.

‘BOSS,’ he lifted his arm up and shouted to Shadow down his sleeve.

‘Yeah Chang?’

‘He go to his car, in car park, you see the sign? Just pass coffee shop?’

Shadow floored the Lincoln and dodged between a few cars and saw the green STARBUCKS COFFEE sign above the store first followed by the parking sign. He pulled over sharply cutting up a yellow taxi, ignored the lesson in Punjabi swear words, and doubled parked, Chang ran round the hood and slid into the front seat.

‘Nice work Chang.’

The out ramp was ten yards away, Shadow realized that he had no idea what car Bloom was driving, he figured he had a minute or two, no more. He called Rachel. She picked up after two rings, there was no time for chat, he simply asked what car Bloom had and she told Shadow he had a silver Mercedes SLS coupe.

The first car to come up the ramp was a Chevy Camaro, the streetlights reflected off the glass and Shadow could not make out the driver. He was real glad he had called Rachel.

The next car was Bloom’s car. He saw the grille first with the trademark Mercedes emblem and as the car swung into the street he saw the plate. LAWMAN.

It was Bloom.

Bloom allowed himself to relax a little, there was no sign of Stone or Mac and he could see the attaché case lying safely on the backseat.

Shadow couldn't afford to let too many cars get between his Lincoln and the Mercedes, Bloom would have no idea he was being tailed so he pushed hard and stayed right behind, narrowly running a few red lights as they headed up 11th St.

‘Should have asked Rachel where he lives, guess he’s going home with the money,’ said Shadow.

Shadow had an idea. At the next set of lights he would gamble on Bloom having left his passenger side door unlocked and would sneak out fast and jump in beside him before the lights changed.

‘Chang, follow my lead, I’m gonna get in his vehicle and lead him to a quiet side street, follow us close and block his car in when we stop. You got it?’

‘Yes Boss.’

Two minutes later they were in luck, the lights up ahead turned red and Bloom’s car was five back from the front. Shadow got out, ran around the side and before Bloom knew what had hit him; he had a passenger who had a gun trained on his temple.

The lights changed and Bloom froze.

‘DRIVE.’ The sight of the gun pointing at his temple seemed to paralyze his whole body. ‘DRIVE.’ Shadow shouted even louder and clicked the gun. Bloom knew he was serious; the guy filled the front seat and looked twice the size of him so he gave no backchat. Chang slid into the driver’s seat in the
Lincoln and followed them closely behind.

‘Now. Bloom. Do exactly as I tell you and we’ll have no problems.’ Shadow cocked his head sideways and saw the case on the backseat. ‘Is that what I think it is?’

‘How do you know my name...who are you? What do you want?’

‘Take the next left down 47th and the last road on the right , 5th St., bit’s a dead end.’

Bloom did as he was told and turned off the main road.

‘Is that my money?’ Shadow repeated, adding a little essential detail.

Bloom’s hands were sweating, he almost lost grip of the wheel. His mind was racing, the barrel of the gun waving around to his right didn’t fog out his sharp Lawyer’s brain completely and the penny dropped. ‘Oh my god, you're Shadow, you're the one that...’

‘That what? Wise guy.’

‘You shot Guy Randall.’

‘And I was kind of hoping you might represent me one day, I’ve heard bad things about you, just the kind of Lawyer I need.’

‘There’s...there’s nothing in the case, I didn’t get it, they wouldn't let me...’

‘Nice try Bloom. Now stop jerking around. Take the next left and don’t try anything.’

They continued along the dark street and Bloom saw that the road finished about a hundred yards ahead. He saw the last turning on the right. ‘Here?’

‘Yeah. Make a right.’

As soon as the car had straightened out a set of headlights flashed around the corner also.

‘See the car in the rear view?’ Bloom was so nervous he hadn’t checked, he took a quick look and noticed the road was empty except for one set of headlights about fifty yards behind. They were in some dark and lonely back streets near Hunter’s Point, there were ob sites on one side of the road and graffiti ridden walls on the other. ‘There’s a guy in that car, he’s armed and he’s dangerous, hell, he’s dangerous period. Pull over there and give me the keys.’

The street was dimly lit. Bloom turned off the engine and handed the keys to Shadow.

‘I told you the case is...’

‘Get out of the car,’ ordered Shadow.

‘W...What are you going to do?’

Shadow said nothing. 

Chang was already out of the Lincoln and was at the driver’s side waiting for Bloom to get out with his Glock aimed at the door. He had a black hold all in his other hand.

Shadow stepped around and pushed Bloom up against a wall. Bloom instinctively held his hands up high. They were shaking so hard it looked like he was waving.

‘Chang, get the case from the backseat.’

He opened the door and brought the case down to the ground to empty the money into the hold all.

‘Boss. We need combination.’

Shadow raised his gun even higher from Bloom’s chest level to his forehead. ‘Just how quick do you want to go Bloom?’

Bloom’s defiant streak got the better of him and he tried to stall them. He said he was collecting the money for Rachel and only she had the combination.’

Shadow wasn’t amused. The name Rachel just served to make him more impatient. He fired a shot six inches to the left of Blooms head.

‘Okay. Okay...’ Bloom’s defiance trickled away, like the trickle down the inside of his leg. ‘1776...it’s 1776.’

Original, thought Shadow.

Chang flicked the numbered dials around till he had the numbers in place and the catches flipped up. He swiftly swapped the bills into the hold all. Bloom’s plans were in ruins, the money was gone, he had nothing to bargain with. He knew their names and faces; he suddenly realized they would kill him to cover their tracks. His last gasp effort was to say he’d represent them for free. He reached inside his coat for his card.

That was a mistake.

Shadow thought he was going for a gun.

He shot Bloom at point blank range but Bloom twisted away to avoid it. He took the bullet in the left side of his chest and slumped to the floor. Shadow thought about putting one in his head but reckoned he was gone anyway.

‘It’s taken two months and two dead bodies but we finally got the money back. Let’s get out of here,’ Shadow said to Chang. He didn’t need telling twice.

Chang threw the hold
all into the back of the Lincoln and they sped off into the night.

Chapter 38

Stone’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket, he clawed it out and was shocked to see who was calling. Mac was at the wheel, they were on their way back to McCarren Park, Stone told him to slow down.

‘Bloom?’

Bloom was trying to speak into the phone, somehow he’d managed to find Stone’s number, he knew he would help him he was that kind of guy. Blood was oozing from his side and he was slipping in and out of consciousness. He didn’t feel a thing as he hit the floor, he was out cold, but now he was seeing lights and felt a searing pain in his chest. He couldn't move his legs. Bloom gurgled as he spoke and knew he didn’t have long.

‘Bloom is that you?’ Stone repeated. He could hear something and had to strain to pick out his words.

‘I’ve been...shot...’ Bloom faded away for a few seconds.

Mac parked up and cut the engine.

‘Where are you Bloom? He’s in trouble..’ Stone said to Mac. ‘...says he’s been shot. He can’t be far away it’s only ten minutes since...’

Bloom came round again and tried to give directions to the street where he was laying dying. ‘An old building, graffiti.’ He had to pause after every few words. ‘Off 47th, I can see...’

Bloom blackness and pain.

‘He’s telling me where he is, something about warehouses, he sounds in a bad way.’

Bloom could hear Stone talking, like he was far away and yet he was right there in his ear. He couldn't respond, the words wouldn't come, each breath felt like his lungs were full of broken glass.

‘Tell me what you see Bloom, look around.’

To move a muscle caused him excruciating pain, he managed to turn his head and stretched his eyes to look down the street and saw a bridge.

‘I see a bridge...’ Those were the last words he spoke. Bloom dropped the phone, it clattered on the ground. Stone heard a groan and then nothing more.

Stone racked his brain. Mac wasn’t as familiar with New York as Stone was so he couldn't help much, he continued to drive back to the street over Pulaski Bridge, where they’d just come from. ‘The bank’s on a one way street.’ He figured someone must have followed him from the bank. No more than ten to fifteen minutes had elapsed since they left and the traffic was heavy. ‘It’s been what? Fifteen minutes tops,’ Stone started to talk aloud. ‘He could either have turned off to the left or the right, somewhere quiet. The last thing he said was he could see the bridge.’

‘That would have to be the Queensboro, and if he could see it then they must have turned left,’ said Mac. Mac had great spatial awareness that came from navigating through enemy territory at night without radio contact with just a map and reference points marked on it to guide him to a target.

‘Yeah, it would be getting close to the river and there are warehouses down there,’ Stone agreed.

Mac pushed it as fast as he could through the evening rush. They passed the bank on their left and after another five minutes along the same road Mac hung a left saying he had a hunch. The side road had become much less busy and after a hundred yards or so there were only offices and studio type buildings and almost all were all dark now that the time was after five.

‘If I’ve got this figured right Brad, down one of the side roads on the right you will see the bridge at the end so keep your eyes peeled,’ said Mac. He drove hastily, he knew that every second was precious if they were to get to Bloom in time but slowed a little each time they approached a crossing.

Stone’s eyes never left the target and after two side roads he shouted ‘S-T-O-P. Look 5th St, it must be here.’

Mac hit the brakes, they skidded along but Mac kept the speed up and he yanked the handbrake and the Taurus did a one eighty turn nearly siding the cars parked at the side of the road. He threw the Ford into the street and they saw the Queensboro Bridge in the distance.

‘It’s got to be this one mate, got to be.’

‘There’s a reason someone chose this road, look how quiet it is. There...ahead,’ Stone shouted.

‘What?’ Mac was driving and concentrating so much he didn’t see the silver Mercedes salon parked diagonally on the left side outside an old warehouse. The door of the Mercedes was still open and at the side lying on the ground with the lid still up, was the empty attaché case.

Mac slowed down as they approached the car and at the same time they both saw a dark shape, someone lying prone on the ground. Mac pulled up sharp and Stone got out first and knelt down beside Bloom’s body.

From force of habit Mac looked all around the car and the surrounding area as he got out, you don’t want to walk into an ambush, he thought. There was one building a little way down the road with a light on in an upstairs room. Mac thought he saw someone at the window, he couldn't make out if it was a man or a woman but whoever it was moved away when he looked up.

Bloom was lying in a pool of blood, and was bleeding from his mouth. He had blood on his hand that was right next to his cell phone just a few inches away on the cold sidewalk.

Stone put a finger on the side of Bloom’s neck, he couldn't feel a pulse, he looked up at Mac standing on the other side of the body. He shook his head.

‘He’s gone?’

Stone stood back up, ‘Yeah. Murdered for the money, it’s got Shadow’s prints all over it.’

They heard a siren in the distance and turned to look back up the road, nothing unusual in this city, but seconds later a black and white came into view. Its blue, red and white flashing lights lit up the dark buildings as it screamed towards them.

‘We’ve got company buddy. Who called them?’

Mac nodded in the direction of the bright
ly lit window across the street. ‘I've got a good idea,’ said Mac.

Stone and Mac stood still next to Bloom’s body. There was nothing they could do, it looked bad but Stone quickly sifted through the events since leaving the bank to make sure that they had an alibi, and was satisfied that the cell phone call log would put them somewhere else at the time of the shooting.

Two officers alighted gingerly from the squad car and used their open doors as cover until they’d secured the scene. They rested one arm on top of the door with the other bracing their gun hands.

The shorter, stockier of the two cops ordered them to, ‘Step towards the back wall and raise your hands, NOW.’

Stone and Mac complied and they turned their heads away slightly from the glare of the spotlight that the driver had trained on them.

The other cop, a taller, skinnier cop about the same size as Mac approached them slowly and looked down at the body, all the time keeping his gun pointed right at them.

‘Is he dead?’ he asked.

‘Yeah. His name’s Bloom, he’s a lawyer, we know him,’ said Stone. As he had his hands raised Stone noticed that he had blood on the cuff of his white shirt and his grey overcoat also. Mac saw him looking at it.

‘That’s nothing mate, we just got here.’

The cop grew agitated.

‘Hey, no talking, you’s just answer the questions.’

‘Look. We came to see if we could help him...’ began Mac, he was going to have his say.

‘I said no talking Mister...’

‘How you gonna know what happened if we don’t tell you. He was dead when we got here a few minutes ago. He called us...’

‘I’m warning you wise ass, what’s your name?’

‘Well it’s not wise ass okay. It’s Ewen McLeish, but you can call me Mac.’ Mac’s disrespect for authority was legendary; it nearly had him busted out of the army on more than one occasion. When he’d done wrong, he would admit it, when he knew he was right, his belligerence knew no bounds.

‘Officer, my name is Brad Stone. We’ll do what we can to help you but Mac is right, the guy called us and we got over here as fast as we could. He was dead when we got here.’

The big cop, Officer Buzzetti, told them to turn around and to put their hands against the wall and to spread their legs. He frisked them both and found nothing.

Officer Ortiz stayed back at the vehicle and radioed through their names to run a check which was standard procedure. He was told to wait while they checked so he rejoined Buzzetti near the body.

‘I’m running a check. CSI should be here anytime now.’ Ortiz said to Buzzetti. Ortiz then checked around the Mercedes looking for anything unusual and made a note of the plate number and the empty attaché case lying open on the ground.

‘What’s this?’ he asked.

Stone looked at Mac, they made a telepathic agreement to keep schtum and both said ‘No idea.’

Ortiz recorded their response but it was obvious from his facial contortions that he didn’t believe a word they said.  Buzzetti walked around the body, he’d put his gun away and was hitting the sides of his chest in an attempt to feel warmer. The temperature was dropping fast and the windshields were beginning to frost over. Stone and Mac were pacing on the spot at the cold beneath their feet from the ground.

‘So. Let me get this straight. You know who the guy is. You say you got here and he was dead. You stashed the gun when you saw us...’

‘Nice try officer. We’re not saying anything more ‘til we get a new lawyer,’ said Stone.

‘Yeah? Why d’ya need a new one wise guy?’

‘Cos you're looking at the old one.’

Ortiz looked down at Bloom on the ground and had trouble thinking of a snappy answer.  He was saved when the precinct called him back on the radio. He strode across to the vehicle and told Buzetti to keep an eye on them. He picked up the mic and all he said was ‘Ortiz here...yeah,...Oh yeah? Yeah...over and out.’

CSI arrived right on cue with three back up officers in a van behind them to secure the scene. They poured out of the vehicle and began to erect posts and stretch incident tape around the vicinity of the body and car. One minute later an ambulance turned up and reversed up to the yellow barrier tape.

Ortiz took his gun back out and addressed Stone and Mac in an authoritative tone. Buzzetti backed him up.

‘Mr. Bradley Stone. Seems you're still under suspicion for murder of a ...’ he checked his pad, ‘Guy Randall, we’re taking you in, and McLeish, given the present circumstances finding you with a dead body and no satisfactory explanation, we're taking you in as well.’

Mac couldn’t let the moment pass, ‘
You
wouldn't know a satisfactory explanation if it...’

‘Do as the Officer says McLeish, get in the car,’ snapped Buzzetti.

Mac felt a push on his shoulder and squared up to Buzzetti, their eyes were level, neither budged nor flinched; Buzzetti put his hand on his weapon. Made no difference to Mac, in a different situation Mac would not have hesitated to drop him.

‘Mac!!!’ He heard Stone’s desperate call from the other side of the car to defuse the situation.

Mac sensibly had second thoughts and slid into the car.