The Assassin's Trail (6 page)

Kansas City, MO

Monday morning

After the furious activities of the weekend and the lateness of the prior evening, Kruger opened his eyes and stared at the digital clock by his bed, 9:59 a.m. “Haven’t done that in a long time,” he mumbled to himself.

Stephanie was curled up at his side with her back to him, her steady and rhythmic breathing a calming force to his sudden alertness. Had he heard something, or was it a dream? Probably a dream. His sleeping patterns had been so irregular of late, he was amazed he had actually slept till mid-morning.

He gently pushed the sheets aside, got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. He pulled on his boxers and went to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. The sun was already past the balcony overhang as he opened the patio door and stood by the rail looking down on the Plaza traffic. The day was going to be warm. A good day to be with Stephanie and start figuring out their new life together as husband and wife, or wife and husband, whichever, he didn’t care, just as long as they were together.

When the coffee was done, he went back to the bedroom to check on Stephanie. She was stirring, so he sat down on the bed to watch her. Last night, after the passion of making love, they lay together making plans. He had not realized until their conversation how relieved he was to be retiring at the end of June. The constant traveling, long periods away from her, a frustrating bureaucracy within the agency, and the realization his job was no longer challenging—all this merged into a sudden realization of his own weariness. In the past five years, he had solved several high profile cases. But recently, he had not felt challenged.

Why? Was it because he was bored, or was it due to loneliness? He went back into the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee, one with a little Sweet N Low and one with half ‘n half for Stephanie. Taking the cups back to the bedroom, he set hers down on her nightstand. She stirred and opened one eye. With a slight grin on her face, she said, “I don’t suppose you know what time it is, do you?”

“I do.”

“You said that Saturday.” She grinned.

“Yes I did.”

“Well? Are you going to enlighten me about the time, or do I have to guess?”

“Guess.”

“Seven-thirty?”

“Nope.”

“Eight.”

“Nope.”

“Sean, don’t tease me, it can’t be past eight.”

“It’s exactly ten-forty. You slept in.”

Stephanie groaned, rose up to look at the digital clock, then fell back to her pillow. “I was supposed to get my hair cut at eight-thirty. Guess that didn’t happen.”

“Nope, guess it didn’t.”

“Can you say anything besides ‘nope’ this morning?”

“Yes. I love...”

He didn’t finish. The explosion rattled the windows of the condo. It intensified as the concussion and dust cloud reached the balcony and swirled into the condo through an open sliding door.

“What the hell...” was all Kruger could say as he reached first for a pair of jeans, then tennis shoes, a polo shirt, badge, cell phone, and gun.

He was out the door before Stephanie could say anything. When he got to the street, he stopped, clipped his badge to his belt and tried to determine the direction he needed to go. Sounds were echoing off buildings and masking their true direction; he saw a reflection of flickering light and took off running.

He ran down 47th Street to Pennsylvania, turned right and saw the chaos two blocks to the south. Heading that way, he reached the corner at 48th and witnessed pure bedlam. As he turned, he saw the tangled metal of what was once a limousine in front of O’Dowd’s Little Dublin. Body parts were strewn on the sidewalk and street, while individuals with blood streaming from their face sat on the sidewalk dazed. A woman screamed as she cradled a young infant in her arms. An elderly man held a similarly aged woman in his arms, stroking her face and trying to keep her calm. Trees in front of O’Dowd’s were smoldering as first responders started to arrive. The scene reminded him of a terrorist bombing in Bagdad he had helped investigate a few years after the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

Kruger’s trained eye went to the burning limousine. The right side was a twisted tangle of metal and melted plastic. The roof line was sheared and angled perpendicular to the body. He positioned himself to see if there were any survivors; what met his sight told him the answer. The interior of the limousine contained two bodies in the rear portion, both charred beyond recognition. He had seen this type of destructive power before, but it was always military in nature. He made a mental note to make sure explosive residue was tested. His guess would be C4.

A fire truck screeched to a halt next to the shattered limousine. Several firemen leapt to the ground with fire extinguisher and started spraying the burning car. Kruger backed off and let them do their job. He walked back to O’Dowd’s and went in through the shattered glass of the front lobby. The scene was grim. A young lady, with whom he had flirted on several occasions, lay unmoving on the floor. He bent down, felt her neck and did not find what he was searching for. Her unfocused eyes stared at the ceiling, confirming her condition. The tables and chairs next to the front window had been thrown back into the interior and shattered. Apparently the only person in the front of the building had been the hostess. Lucky her.

He headed to the rear of the restaurant to see if he could assist any of the injured. There had been few customers at this hour, but he found two he knew.

Neil Ross and Frank Bonner were in the back of the restaurant on the floor, covered with debris from the ceiling and broken tables and chairs. Neil had a bad gash on his forehead, and Frank Bonner stared blankly, a large shard of glass protruding from his half-severed neck. Kruger bent down to check on Neil. There was a pulse, although weak.

“Neil… Neil… Can you hear me?”

With a raspy voice, barely above a whisper, Neil Ross said, “What happened?”

“Don’t move, you’ve been in an accident. Help will be here shortly.”

Neil opened his eyes and stared at Kruger. At first not recognizing him, the older man finally nodded. “Sean, is that you?”

“Yes, sir, don’t move until the EMTs get here.”

“Where’s Frank?”

Kruger noticed several first responders moving toward them and said, “I’ve got a severe laceration on the upper forehead here, probably a concussion.”

The EMTs nodded and pointed to Frank Bonner. “What about that one?”

Kruger shook his head. The fireman understood and knelt down next to Kruger.

Neil said, “Sean, where’s Frank?” with a note of desperation in his voice.

Kruger had to tell him something. “Neil, Frank’s hurt, they’re working on him right now.”

“How bad, Sean?”

Kruger gave him a slight smile, but said nothing.

“We were supposed to meet Fernando Guevara here at ten-thirty. He…” Neil closed his eyes and seemed to lose consciousness.

The EMT gently shook him. “Sir, don’t go to sleep, I need you alert. Stay with me, sir.” He shook him again and Neil opened his eyes. Tears formed and slid down his dust covered face.

Kruger thought about what he had just heard. Fernando Guevara was meeting them here. More than likely one of the bodies in the limo outside was him. He shook his head. Rich guy number three.

Later, after he watched Neil being loaded into an ambulance, he surveyed the area. He was surprised to see Franklin Dollar, the Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City FBI Office, talking to several men in FBI windbreakers. He wanted to go back to his apartment, but thought he needed to get Dollar the information about Guevara. As he approached the group of FBI agents, Dollar noticed him and waved him over.

“Kruger, what the hell are you doing here?”

Kruger glared at Dollar and said “I live about five blocks from here. Heard the explosion and thought I could help.”

Dollar nodded, “Did you see anything?”

“No, it was pure chaos when I arrived. The limo appears to have taken the greatest force of the explosion.” Kruger pointed to the now smoldering car and then pointed at the damaged front of Dublin's. “Two dead in the restaurant, with at least half a dozen injured, some critically.”

Dollar turned back to his men and said, “Start looking for anyone who saw the explosion. Everyone knows the drill.” Both men nodded and took off in different directions. Dollar turned back to Kruger. “I know you and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we need to work together on this as a team. Are you on board?”

Kruger stared at Dollar, trying to determine his motive, but finally stuck his hand out and said, “Yeah, I'm on board. This was too close to my home not to be.”

Both men shook, understanding they had a truce for the moment.

Kruger pointed to the limousine and said, “I can give you a pretty good guess on one of the victims in the limo.”

Dollar looked at the destroyed vehicle. “Who?”

“Fernando Guevara, CEO of Whiterock Equities. He was meeting two gentlemen here at the restaurant. Looks like someone knew he was going to be here.”

“How do you know?” Franklin looked at Kruger with skepticism.

“Because my wife’s boss was the one he was meeting and they just put him in an ambulance. That’s how I know.”

“You said two.”

“Yeah, the other one didn't make it. Look, I was at a crime scene in Washington a week ago that may be related.”

“How?”

“Two other high profile businessmen were killed in Washington, D.C. Guevara fits the profile, but this is an extreme way of killing him. The others were executed, one with a close range double tap, and the other with a rifle from long range.”

Franklin looked at Kruger, sighed and said, “Go home, clean up, and be in my office this afternoon at 4 p.m. I’ll arrange a conference call with Washington.”

Kruger glanced at his watch, but it wasn’t there. He had left the condo so fast, he’d forgotten it. Walking west on 48th Street, heading back to their condo, he saw Stephanie helping several women sitting next to a building. She had apparently followed Kruger after he rushed out of the condo. As he got closer, she saw him and rushed into his arms.

“Sean, thank God you’re okay. I was so worried.”

“I'm fine, Stef, what are you doing here?”

“When you bolted out of the apartment, I started hearing the sirens and thought I needed to go and help in some way. I found several people wondering around in a daze, so I got them to sit down until the EMTs arrived. Where’ve you been?”

“The explosion was in front of O’Dowd’s. It's bad, Stef, really bad. Neil and Frank were there waiting for Guevara. Neil is on his way to the hospital.” He paused for a second, “Frank... I’m sorry. Frank didn't make it.”

Stephanie looked at him with terror in her eyes and then buried her face in his chest. He could feel her sobbing. Taking her hand, he started walking back to the condo. Halfway back he thought of something. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number in Washington, D.C. The call was answered immediately, “Lab, Luke Riley speaking.”

“Luke, it’s Kruger.”

“Hey, Sean, I haven't run that picture yet. Hope that’s okay, your email said it wasn't urgent.”

“Yeah, I know, Luke. About thirty minutes ago, it jumped to Urgent High Priority. There's been an explosion here in KC, and the guy in the photo may be someone of interest.”

There was silence on the phone, and then Luke said, “It's on CNN right now. Looks bad.”

“It is, Luke. I know of at least four dead, and the total may climb before the day is over.”

“Okay, Sean, I'll run it right now. Is this official or what?”

“Luke, I hate to ask you this, but I would prefer you keep it between you and me for now. If this person is not involved, I'm the only one who will catch the heat.”

“That's why everybody likes you, Sean. You watch out for us backroom guys. Not too many agents do that anymore.”

“I appreciate the kind words, Luke, but I just need to know as much about this guy as I can. He may have just killed a friend of mine.”

“Understood. I'll email the results as soon as I have something, okay?”

“Works for me, Luke, thanks.” Kruger ended the call just as he and Stephanie reached their condo.

When they were inside, Stephanie turned to him and said, “What photo?”

Kruger crossed the room, pulled the sliding glass doors shut, closed the blinds, turned to Stephanie, and said, “There was somebody following Guevara yesterday. He had a listening device in his ear. Probably eavesdropping on Guevara's conversations. He may be involved with this, or maybe not. I took several pictures of him with my phone and sent them to the lab in Washington. That was the lab tech, a good man, and if the software can find him, Luke will do it.”

Stephanie nodded. “How bad was Neil?”

“Not sure, but it might be a good idea for you to head over to the hospital to check on him. I have to be on a conference call at the KC office at four. I’m not sure how long it will take either. Plus, if I get a response from our guy in Washington, I might have to take a quick trip to Springfield.”