Bitter Black Kiss (29 page)

“I need more than that," Brody argued.

“I can’t spare any more than that. Some might not want to work with you.”

Brody chose to ignore the last bit. “Give me four who are trustworthy.”

Glaser nodded. “I’ll try.” He turned his attention to Nicole. “If we’re successful, you’ll need to testify.”

“Of course. I want to put an end to this.” She gripped Brody’s hand even tighter.

Molly was beside her in an instant, her arm around her friend’s shoulders.

Glaser stared at Brody. “We’ve got some things to talk about after this is finished.”

Brody allowed a single nod. He knew Glaser would need some verification on the things Vasquez had just admitted to. He’d have to somehow prove that he was innocent of the things he’d been framed for.

“Meet us at the station at eleven thirty. Everything will be ready.” Glaser clapped him on the shoulder.

“Stone got to Vasquez. We don’t know who else he has in his pocket. Let’s keep it as quiet as possible," Brody suggested.

Glaser moved past them. Once he was out of sight, Brody pulled Nicole into a hug. One arm wrapped around her waist. His free hand cupped the back of her head. She was trembling.

“Are you okay?”

Molly’s eyes were full of concern. “What’s wrong?”

Nicole swiped at the tears forming in her eyes. “I’m just so angry. Sean does whatever he wants and gets away with it. He’ll probably find a way to slither out of this mess too.”

Molly placed a hand on Nicole’s back and looked up at Brody. “You didn’t know he was an evil person, Nicky. It’s not your fault. You had no idea he gave you BST instead of wolfsbane.”

Nicole ducked her head against Brody’s chest and hid her face. He knew Nicole experienced some residual effects from all that Stone had done. He tightened his arms around her. He thought he might squeeze the air right out of her, but couldn’t quell the desire to hold onto her.

Molly’s face went through a number of expressions. She collapsed into a nearby seat.

Nicole trembled against him, but didn’t lift her head. Her voice was muffled against his shirt. “I’m okay. I promise.”

“Nicky?” He tilted her chin up with careful fingers. It was a chore to remain calm. “I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never let anyone else hurt you either.”

From inside Vasquez’s room, a shrill alarm went off. The policeman at the end of the hall sprinted away in search of a white coat.

Brody tore away from Nicole and jerked the door open. Vasquez was limp on the bed, the machines screamed all around her.

“Get out of the way!”

A doctor in blue scrubs raced down the corridor. A nurse and a policeman were fast on his heels.

Brody moved out of the way to allow the procession to pass. Vasquez’s door banged closed and the hallway was quiet again.

Nicole and Molly stood at his side. Both looped their arms around his waist and waited to hear Vasquez's fate.

Minutes seemed to drag on forever. Finally, the doctor stepped from the room. Brody heard him speak to one of the approaching nurses.

“She didn’t make it.”

Chapter Thirty-three

“See anything?” a static voice asked from the compact walkie-talkie clipped to the hip of the detective crouched beside Brody. One borrowed cop watched pier thirteen’s ruins for any movement. The other two, Park and Estrada, were perched next to Brody on a lifeguard tower that overlooked pier fourteen.

Chief Glaser had decided to come at the last moment. He and another detective were up the hill, halfway between the two. This bust was too important for him to sit out.

Brody snatched the binoculars from the duffel bag lying at his feet and scanned the water’s edge. Their stretch of sand was vacant. He shook his head.

“Negative,” Detective Park grunted into the device.

Brody scanned the beach again. Where was Stone? The punctual businessman was more than five minutes late.

Glaser’s voice came over the talkie. “We’ll give him ten more minutes.”

Park cast a sideways glance at Brody. “Maybe he’s a no show.”

“Maybe he knows we’re here,” Estrada suggested.

“He’ll come.” The hope in his voice dwindled. He had no assurances. Worry niggled at the back of his mind. Had Stone found a way to slip away, yet again? Maybe he'd gotten cold feet with everything that had happened.

An Escalade navigated the sandy hills and its headlights slashed the darkness. Brody and Park looked at each other then ducked low to keep from being seen.

“That’s him.” Brody wanted to shift, to change into his more powerful form.

Park snatched the walkie-talkie. “We have movement.”

“Nothing here. Hold on. Someone’s coming.” Erikson was at the other pier. His static-filled voice was hard to make out. “Never mind, it’s just a dog.”

Unease stretched through him. He snatched the communicator from Park. “Dog or a wolf?”

“I don’t know,” was the exasperated answer.

Stone must have shifted and that worried him. Erikson might be in grave danger. “Look again.”

“Big white wolf?” the detective answered.

Estrada gripped his arm and motioned toward their beach. Brody peeked over the lookout’s window.

Tony swung his legs from the car and cast a suspicious glance around.

“Keep an eye on Stone.” Disappointment gnawed at him. Stone had separated himself from this. He’d known none of these cops could identify him in wolf form. Perhaps Stone had known they’d be there and had sent Tony on a fool’s errand.

“What?” Erikson’s confused voice asked.

“Stone’s car is parked in his drive.” Glaser’s voice crackled over the airwaves. “It appears he’s gone to bed.”

“Damn it.” He should have counted on this. He should have known there would be a snag to his perfect plan. He snatched the walkie again. “Stone is the white wolf.”

“Can he hear or smell us?” Park’s thick brows knit to resemble two caterpillars kissing.

Estrada motioned toward their beach and Tony. “He’s one too, isn’t he?”

“That’s why I chose this lookout. The breeze blowing off the water will mask our scent,” Brody whispered.

Another pair of headlights swept across the sand. A dark Suburban bounced across the beach toward Tony. The car stopped yards from him and he readjusted the arm in the sling. Brody was willing to bet he had a gun tucked inside.

Brody brought the talkie back to his lips. “We’ve got more company. I need Erikson over here. Chief, you and Jackson keep an eye on that wolf.”

There was some debate about this and Park grabbed the device from Brody’s fingers. Glaser’s voice boomed over the little box. “Just do it, Erikson. Get over there. Now.”

Park glanced at Brody. “Remember, you’re a civilian. You have to stay back.”

Brody laid the binoculars aside with a smirk. “Sure. If Tony or the others change, do you want me to just stand back and watch while they tear you apart?”

Estrada’s face drained of color. He blinked and clutched at the forgotten binoculars in his hand. “Chief said you weren’t supposed to get involved.”

“Sure. Whatever.”

A black man in a dingy white shirt and jeans hopped out of the Suburban. He greeted Tony with a handshake. Two more men, both in similar attire got out of the vehicle. They stood aside and shot wary glances at the burly bodyguard.

Tony didn’t notice their apprehension. Instead, he gestured toward their trunk. Brody tried to read their lips, but found it impossible at this distance. The black man nodded and jangled his keys. Tony popped the trunk of his car. The first nondescript box was tucked inside.

Park gripped the walkie-talkie. “We’re moving in.”

 “We got him,” Estrada whispered to Brody. “Stay here.”

The detectives slipped their service weapons from their holsters and tore across the shabby wooden structure. Brody launched himself out the window and hit the sand. Estrada and his partner hadn’t even cleared the last stair.

“Freeze!” Park charged down the beach. "You're under arrest!"

“Hands on your head!” Erikson shouted as he moved down the hill. “Get on the ground!”

The driver whipped a gun up and took aim at Park and Estrada. Park discharged his weapon, a sharp crack reverberated off the waves. Blood blossomed across the front of the man’s shirt. His body crumpled then lay sprawled in the sand, no longer a threat.

Tony’s face shimmered with the threat of change. His good hand pulled a pistol from the sling and fired. He dove for the other side of his car.

“I’m hit!” Estrada screeched. He fell to his knees and gripped his wounded shoulder. The sharp tang of blood reached Brody and it hadn’t even seeped through the cop’s fingers yet.

“Drop the gun, Tony!” Brody crouched between the two cars. His own weapon was in his hand. He didn’t expect to use it unless he got a clear shot.

Tony popped up over the hood to squeeze off a couple rounds. One struck the sand next to Estrada the other sailed high. The injured detective curled into a defensive position in hopes of avoiding being hit again.

Erikson crouched behind the lookout tower, his pistol aimed at the other drug dealers. He and Park were shouting for them to put their hands on their head and get on the ground.

Two of the men flopped on their bellies and linked their fingers. They were no strangers to being arrested.

Brody ducked down to peer beneath the car. He spotted Tony’s feet toward the end where he crouched. He duck walked toward the front, eager to catch Tony off guard. The next time he popped up to take a shot, Brody planned to nail him.

The roar of adrenaline forced his pulse to thrum in his ears. He crouched, ready with gun drawn and watched for Tony’s next movement.

Jackson’s voice crackled over the din of men yelling and waves crashing. “The wolf is headed in your direction.”

The sand crunched nearby and Brody was dismayed to discover that Tony had already reached the end of the car. Tony fired off two more rounds. Park and Erikson returned fire, but didn’t have any luck.

“Where are you?” Tony roared.

Brody stayed low to avoid being seen. He scrabbled in the sand and took aim at Tony’s left leg.

He waited, all his senses honed in on Tony’s scuffed brown dress shoes. They moved toward the front of the car again. He was crouched just out of Jackson and Park’s range.

Brody’s arm stretched beneath the car. His grip on the gun was steady and his finger rested on the trigger.

"Wolf!" one of the others cried.

“There you are,” Tony growled.

The loafers stopped and Brody squeezed the trigger. A deafening sound resounded beneath the car and Tony’s left leg twisted beneath him. The bodyguard fell against the sand onto his back. Blood seeped from his shredded pant leg.

Tony lurched into a sitting position and brought the pistol around. Already Brody had scrambled up, but stopped. Tony’s expression was one of fear. He was not looking at Brody, but beneath the car.

Stone was up on the hill, not yet close enough to trigger too much concern.

Tony’s sharp intake of breath brought his attention back to him. Already on hands and knees, Brody scanned the underside of the vehicle. The blink of a tiny red light about midway up the car’s belly caught his attention. A coiled wire hung loosely from a metal box and ran toward the trunk.

Tony made a feeble noise of shock then pushed himself backward with his good leg. He’d dropped the weapon and was now using his good hand to propel himself away from the car.

“Bomb!” Brody scrambled around the front of the Suburban and ran toward the lifeguard lookout. He snagged Estrada’s shirt collar and dragged the heavier man toward safety. Park didn’t have to be told twice. He turned and ran back up the beach, a few steps behind Brody. Erikson, on the other hand, stood with a confused expression on his face. He was more concerned about the white wolf that sat on the dune behind them.

Tony’s car exploded in a shower of fire and twisted steel. Shards of glass and pieces of molten metal rained down on them. The night sky was lit a violent orange. Erikson’s charred and broken body landed a few yards away. The smell of burnt flesh twisted Brody’s gut. What was left of Erikson’s clothes was scorched and smoldering.

Beside him, Park shouted into his walkie-talkie for help. Estrada lay across Brody’s legs. Tears slipped from his eyes. He was bleeding heavily and going into shock. Someone, he assumed Glaser, barked questions out of the black box clipped to Estrada’s belt. The ringing in Brody’s ears kept him from hearing the entire conversation.

In fact, everything including the roar of flames sounded dull and far away. Stone had won…again. All the evidence had been blown to bits.

He extracted himself from Estrada’s body. Stone had vanished from the hill. He scanned the immediate area, but caught no sign of the white wolf. Though he despised Tony, he was shocked that Stone had sacrificed him.

A car pulled to a stop at the top of the hill, just feet from where Stone had sat. Glaser and Jackson tumbled from the car and made their way down the steep incline.

Glaser shouted orders while the others scrambled to carry them out. “Where’s the wolf?”

Brody had no idea. He searched for Tony’s body instead. There was no way he could have survived the blast. He’d been closest to the car when it had exploded.

He ran haphazard across the sand in search of remains. He found the delivery men. Their bodies were mangled. The two who had dropped to the sand were injured but alive. Pieces of the car lay across one and the other had been pelted with glass. Park helped Brody drag them away from the crackling flames.

Sirens rounded the curve of the beach. Two ambulances and a fire truck screeched to a halt above them. Four black and white cruisers followed. Men poured down the hill while a couple of the uniformed cops blocked off the road that led to and from the beach.

Brody moved forward, ignoring the men who yelled and ran past him. His sensitive nose twitched in recognition a few yards away from the twisted, burning mess. The lower half of Tony’s leg lay on the sand. It was shoeless and mangled. It had twisted from the limb. The open end was charred and smelled of burnt meat.

Glaser was at his side in a moment. “The other car didn’t burn completely and there are still boxes inside. You did it, Brody. You stopped the shipment.”

Glaser made his way back toward his men. Brody turned to watch him go, a frown on his face. This was just part of his goal. He wanted Sean Stone behind bars. That wasn’t exactly true. Brody would prefer him dead.

“Tony!” he roared in frustration. “Where the hell are you?”

An anguished moan answered. Brody crashed to his knees beside the broken man. His body was crispy and coated with ash. Brody was afraid to touch him for fear he would disintegrate.

Park called out to him, questioning his location. The others voiced their confusion about his whereabouts.

Tony gripped his arm and some of the flesh came away from his fingers. Disgust boiled within Brody, but he did not pull away. Tony’s eye rolled in its socket. He spoke and it sounded like a drunk’s slurred words. “Sean did this?”

Numbness washed over Brody. Stone had sacrificed someone close to him to save his own ass. He’d pointed the blame in Tony’s direction and would let him be the fall guy. “He sold you out, man. Worse, he planned it so you’d die.”