BackTrek (9 page)

He surveyed the scene in an instant. He saw a
body, apparently male, face down on the pavement between the SUV
and the sports car next to it. Towards the front of the passageway
between the two vehicles, a tall man stood behind a woman who
continued to fight for her life. The tall man, dressed in a dark
coat, had his arm wrapped around her waist. Jack noticed his hand
was gloved, and became even more distressed as he saw that he also
had a handgun, equipped with a silencer, in his other gloved hand.
He did not seem to have seen Jack yet. The young lady struggled,
and began to scream

“Now we can’t have any of that.” The tall man
said quietly as he began to raise his weapon towards her head.

“Freeze! Move another inch and I’ll take off
the top of your head!” Jack said as he intervened in the horror
that unfolded before his eyes. The woman began to scream even
louder, as she fought desperately to break the hold that the killer
had on her.

“Oh my.” The tall man exclaimed quietly. “We
can’t have any of that either.” As Jack puzzled over the assailants
cool demeanor, suddenly the killer launched the girl towards him.
Jack feared that the force of her collision with him would make his
gun go off, so he quickly began to move it to his right when
suddenly he heard the sound of the tall man’s silenced gun fire
again. In mid-flight, the girl arched backwards, and then slammed
into Jack. He was knocked to the ground, as his gun clattered away
on the asphalt. The girl was dead when she landed on top of Jack.
Her killer attempted to run past them. Jack shot his arm out and
caught him by the foot. This grab threw the tall man off balance
and he tripped. As the killer braced himself for the fall, his
weapon too clattered to the ground. Jack rolled and freed himself
from the entangled arms of the now dead girl. He lunged for the
killer, only to be met with a shoe to the face. The man was not as
dazed as Jack had thought. As Jack shook his head to bring his
vision together again, he realized that the killer now scrambled
after his gun, and if he reached it, that he would kill him. Jack
lunged again. This time he grabbed the man around both legs, and
immediately he began to kick as he tried to free himself. While
Jack held tight, and tried not to receive another kick to the face,
the man’s fist slammed into the side of his head. A bright flash of
light behind Jack’s eyes went off, and momentarily stunned him
enough that his grasp slipped. His assailant kicked free and
escaped.

As the killer got to his feet, and stooped
his tall frame over to pick up his weapon, Jack realized that his
only hope for immediate survival would be escape. He quickly rolled
underneath the SUV. He belly crawled as he went, and moved further
towards the front of the vehicle when he suddenly heard the
killer’s silenced weapon fire twice in succession, and then heard
the bullets ricochet off of the asphalt beside him, and then off of
the under carriage of the SUV. Jack slumped, and fell still as he
stopped breathing. A few seconds passed with nothing but silence,
and then, in the distance, sirens could be heard. Suddenly
footsteps echoed under the SUV, as the killer left his position at
the rear of the SUV and began to walk away. Seconds passed as the
footsteps grew softer and softer. Finally Jack breathed a sigh of
relief, and began to breathe normally again. He rolled from under
the SUV and emerged beside where the girl had fallen. He quickly
felt her neck for a pulse, and as expected, found none. He reached
to her companion who still lay face down on the asphalt. Jack
rolled him to one side, and once he saw the small nine millimeter
size hole placed neatly in his forehead, let him fall back onto the
pavement. He scurried after his gun that still lay on the ground
where it had fallen, and with weapon in hand he leaned his back
against the rear of the SUV. This time, he thought, if he found
himself in another confrontation, he would shoot on site.

Jack took a deep breath and then launched
himself out into the open. He landed in a semi crouch with his
weapon drawn. As he surveyed the parking lot, he saw no sign of his
assailant, and no sign of where he had gone. As he started to relax
a bit, he glanced towards where he had parked his own car, near the
dumpster at the other end of the lot. He surmised that the only
escape from the parking lot aside from the front exit was an alley
that led behind the restaurant, and quickly headed in that
direction. As he neared the alley he saw the tall man at the other
end and called for him to stop. The dark figure slowed, then
hesitated, before it suddenly turned and fired a silenced shot
which ricocheted off of the pavement just inches from where Jack
stood. As Jack raised his weapon to return fire, the shadow at the
end of the alley disappeared to the left. Jack began to run down
the alley. He hoped to catch him before he made it back around to
the street. All he needed was one clean shot.

As he neared the end of the alley, he slowed
and readied himself to lunge around the corner. As he began to
bring his gun up, to be ready to fire if the opportunity presented
itself, he was startled from behind.

“He got away.” The voice said matter of
factly Jack fought his instincts to keep from accidentally shooting
the man as he stood on the opposite side of the alley in the
shadows.

“You saw him go by?” Jack asked. He kept his
weapon raised, not yet ready to ease his guard. He was uneasy that
this mysterious man had seen the killer run by but had not made his
existence known until now. Jack was worried that maybe the killer
was not alone, and that this man may in fact be his accomplice.

“He’s gone.” The man said, as Jack kept his
eye on him and eased cautiously to the edge of the alley to peer
around the corner. “Jack.” The man said. Jack suddenly lost all
interest in the original suspect, but now wanted to know how this
man in the shadows could have known his name.

“Who are you?” Jack asked.

“Who I am is not important. Not as important
as a lot of other things in your life.” The man answered
cryptically.

“How do you know my name?”

“I know you, Jack. But I know more than just
that. I know things. Lot’s of things.”

“Like what?” Jack asked as he considered
bagging this fruitcake and taking him downtown instead of the
killer.

“I know Ted.”

“Ted? You mean Ted Truman? That
son-of-a-bitch put you up to this? You’re stalking me?" Jack fired
back in anger. His pulse quickened at the mere thought of such an
intrusion by his old betrayer.

“No. But I know Ted. And I also know that he
can help you. He can help you to solve problems. Problems so big
that losing the murderer that you were chasing will seem
insignificant. Listen to him, Jack.” The man in the shadows said as
he began to walk towards the end of the alley.

“Wait! Where do you think you’re going?” Jack
asked as he began to approach the man. Suddenly as the shadows
began to recede from the man’s face, Jack could see the rough
outline of his features. “I know you!” He said as he searched his
mind feverishly for a match to the figure that he saw.

“Better than you can ever realize.” The man
said as he continued to walk away.

“Detective King! Are you okay?” A uniformed
officer had approached from the parking lot area, and Jack turned
to face him and wave that he was okay. When he turned back the man
was gone, and as he walked around the edge of the alley, there was
no one in the adjacent alleyway. The mystery man was gone. As was
the killer.

“Any idea who we’re looking for?” The
uniformed officer asked, as red and blue flashes of light pulsed
down from the parking area.

“Huh?” Jack was still distracted by the
conversation with the unknown man, and had to grasp reality to
bring himself back. He engaged the safety on his gun and holstered
it before he answered the officer.

“Tall guy. Caucasian male. Probably six-five
or six-six. About two-hundred pounds and around thirty-eight. Bald,
no distinguishing marks, no facial hair. And he’s wearing a black
coat, black pants, black shoes.”

“Not a bad description, sir.” The officer
said as he began to relay the information over his radio. Jack
turned back to where the stranger had disappeared, and then headed
back towards the parking lot. At first he walked slowly, as he
contemplated what the stranger had told him, and then as his
thoughts turned to Tracey and the kids, he picked up his pace. As
he rounded the beginning of the alley and entered the parking lot,
his heart sank. Tracey’s car was gone. He had missed her.

“Detective King.” The watch captain
approached.

“Sergeant Terry! They still let you out?”
Jack asked, as a bit of a smile swept into his expression.

“Only for good behavior. I tell you, it’s a
good thing your wife called us, otherwise we’d still be waiting to
hear from you.”

“Tracey called?”

“Yeah. That’s what dispatch said. She heard a
lady scream as she and your kids were leaving, and felt like we
ought to know about it. Where were you? The bathroom?”

“No...I was running late. You know how it
is.” Jack said.

“Don’t I. I’m on wife number three.” Terry
answered as another patrolman walked up and asked him a question.
Jack thought about what Terry had said and wished that somehow he
had been able to at least speak to Tracey if nothing else. He
nodded to the Sergeant and told him that he would write a report in
the morning, but for now he was headed home.

“Maybe she’ll forgive you, Jack.” Terry
said.

“Maybe. But I’m not taking any bets.” Jack
responded with a slight smile still on his face, though his heart
had sunk deeper by the minute. This was another chance that he had
blown. Tracey was right, he thought, maybe he couldn’t be the man
he used to be. Jack knew that nothing in the world would have
stopped him from trying to stop the killer. Those actions were
ingrained so deep within him that it wasn’t even a question of if
he could control them or not. It was more a question of if he could
live with them. Or even more to the point, if Tracey could live
with them.

As Jack made his way back to his car, he
stopped to give another uniformed officer a brief statement. Then
as he sat in his car he thought back to what the mysterious man had
said. He wondered how the man knew his name, and even more strange,
how he knew Ted. Why should he trust Ted. He had. A long time ago,
and all it had gotten him was a career change, and the desperate
inability to trust anyone.

Jack pulled out of the parking lot and
thought that first he would go straight to talk to Tracey, but the
more he thought about it, the more he realized that would be the
worst thing that he could do. She was still mad, he was sure. A
little time to cool down wouldn’t hurt anything, he thought as he
headed for his apartment. He would give her some time to relax, and
then he would call and explain. He just hoped that she would even
talk to him. She could forgive him later.

Smith was pissed. His coat was dirty. He had
a scrape from the asphalt on the fleshy part of his palm, and it
burned like crazy. He removed his torn glove, brushed at the little
black bits of stone in the wound, and winced at the discomfort.
Those bastards had almost gotten the best of him. Who did that
fucker think he was, he thought as he rumbled along in the back of
the cab. He was headed to the train station where, he would exit
the cab, pay the fare, and head to the parking garage to grab a
vehicle. But for now, he just fumed. He would have to closely check
his gun, and the attached silencer to make sure there was no damage
that would impede its ability to fire correctly and accurately. He
had cringed when he had heard it clatter across the pavement. He
desperately hoped its beautiful blued finish was not scraped and
marred. He may have had a close call or two through the years, he
thought, but never had he actually had to fight his way to freedom.
He rolled back over the recent events in his mind.

He had received the email that contained the
payment verification from his latest job, and as a little treat for
a job well done, had taken a stroll a few blocks past the bus
station and the parking garage, where as expected, he had soon been
propositioned by a crackhead skank that posed as a lady of the
night. He had been all smiles as she had led him down the alley,
and behind the dumpster. It had been all he could do not to laugh,
when she had lifted up her dirty and tattered skirt, and had been
barely able to keep her balance as she had leaned back against the
cement wall. Even with the gloves on his hands, he wouldn’t dare
have touched her, much less have had sex with her. That was the
last thing on his mind as he had looked at her, half naked, as she
had begged him to get on with it.

“Time is money, Honey.” She had said. His
smiled had broadened, as he did. Get on with it, that is. There had
been that sudden sparkle of the glare of the street lights as it
had flashed from his switch blade. He had swung it in a great arc,
and had watched with amusement as the thin crimson line had
appeared across her neck. He had broken into a laugh as the skin
split and the blood had gushed forth. Her eyes had been slow to
respond, as though she truly had not realized what had happened.
But even as her life force had drained down the front of her
blouse, and she had begun to try to scream, she had still held up
her skirt. He remembered how the air had bubbled and frothed from
the wound, as the light in her eyes had dimmed, and then she had
slowly and quietly slid down the wall. He had stood there for a
moment and embraced the rush of the moment, the knife held calmly
at his side. Then his mood had turned dark. She was just a fucking
whore, he had thought. Just like his sister. That bitch.