Suffer II (22 page)

“You don’t see it, do you?” asked Chief, leaning back and finishing his drink.

“See what?”

“Ask Abby to show you a picture of her when she was twenty. She and Emily could be twins.”

Grey and Abby talked for hours after the others went to bed. He did his best to soften the blow about the conversation he had on the boat with Chief. Abby didn’t want to leave her sister, but understood why they wanted her to be as far away from Boudreaux as possible. Grey extended his morning run to give her and Chief some alone time on the deck.

“Good morning, Chief,” said Abby, wrapping her hands around a warm mug. “A little chilly out here.”

“Not as chilly as I was last night,” said Chief, looking up at her and smiling. “Sit with me for a minute, pretty lady? I owe you an apology.”

“No, you don’t,” said Abby, taking a seat next to him on the glider. “I owe you one.”

“We’ll call it a stalemate then,” said Chief, putting his arm around her to keep her warm. “You’re different than the rest of us, Abby. You still have a sweetness about you. Me and Grey, we lost that a long time ago.”

“No, you haven’t,” said Abby. “I can still see it. Grey and I talked last night. I’ll be going home soon. You’re right, I don’t belong here. You guys can’t do your jobs if you’re worried about me all the time.”

“We worry about all of you, sweetie,” said Chief. “Trust me on that one.”

“It’s hard thinking about leaving her,” said Abby. “Things are so different between us now. She’s all about business, and she never talks about Caleb or Paul anymore. Did you hear her accuse Brad of murdering Emily’s son?”

“Yeah,” said Chief, giving her a squeeze. “None of us missed that.”

“I know why she needs to do this,” said Abby. “I just don’t like the thought of her doing it.”

“You’ll never understand why,” said Chief. “Just like I don’t. Grey doesn’t either. We’re all doing this for different reasons. Are you sure you know why Kate’s here?”

“To help the people who feel helpless,” said Abby.

“Not even close.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you trust me, Abby?”

“Of course I do.”

“What I’m about to tell you is going to be a hard pill to swallow,” said Chief. “I’m not being mean. I’m just being honest, okay?”

“Okay,” said Abby, sitting up. “Tell me, please.”

“Things are different between you and your sister because she needs things to be distant,” said Chief. “Kate is here because she can’t kill Diego again. What keeps her going is the thought of being a nightmare for monsters like him.”

“You’re telling me that she needs to kill?”

“No,” said Chief. “I’m telling you that she has no problem doing it when it needs to be done. You and Kate are never going to have the same relationship you had before she was attacked. Everything changed that day, Abby. Everything.”

“Then what kind of relationship are we supposed to have?”

“She loves you and always will,” said Chief. “That’s never going to change. But if you’re looking to try to get her back to the sweet, kind, gentle, loving sister you knew before, you’re going to fail. Bottom line, you’re going to fail.

“Diego killed that Kate. You need to build a new relationship with the new Kate. The Kate that needs to find those people who can’t help themselves. But also the Kate who is willing to end a life that needs to be ended. You need to accept that she is a killer, Abby. Just like we are.”

“Please don’t hold back, Chief,” said Abby, sitting back in the glider and pulling back her hair.

“If she didn’t have this drive,” said Chief, “this passion for making things right for other people, where do you think she’d be right now?”

“I don’t like thinking about that,” said Abby.

“If she didn’t have this, she wouldn’t have a reason to live,” said Chief. “You need to come to terms with that.”

“I have,” said Abby, exhaling. “I swear to you, I have. Forgive me if I’m having a slight issue with my sister needing to drown and stab people to keep her sanity.”

“Hey,” said Chief, patting Abby’s leg. “I’m here with her. So is Grey. We understand and we’re still right here with her. Don’t try to figure all of this out today. Give it some time, Abby.”

“Take care of her,” said Abby, standing. “Finish this and get her back home where she’s safe. That’s all I ask.”

“You know I will.”

Chief sat outside and finished his coffee. He worried that his tough love approach with Abby would cause tension between him, Grey, and Kate. He put those thoughts aside when Grey returned from his run and asked him to join the team inside.

“How are my boys doing this morning?” asked Kate, greeting them with a smile.

“Doing better now that the gear has arrived,” said Evan. “Getting inside the house is going to be a lot easier now.”

“You’ve already lost me, kid,” said Chief, pulling up a chair next to him.

“Sorry,” said Evan. “Kate asked me a couple of days ago if I could get you guys inside of Bullet’s house undetected. I said I believed I could, but I’d need a few things. Those things are here.”

“We’re going to add insult to injury,” said Kate. “Evan is going to send an anonymous message to Bullet. We’re going to tell him where to find Brad.”

“And Eddie and a few swamp thugs will go with him,” said Grey, “leaving the house more vulnerable.”

“Bingo,” said Evan.

“Two steps ahead, Kate,” said Chief, earning a smile.

“According to Brad, a drug shipment came in a few days ago,” said Kate. “It’ll be two weeks before the next. You’re going to take it.”

“Finding his brother dead and his drugs missing is going to send him over the edge,” said Grey. “Are we ready for that?”

“We are,” said Kate. “Brad also told us he’s not worried about cops raiding the house. Bullet is more worried about rival dealers trying to take his stash. He keeps everything at the house. Evan, you’re up.”

“Everything,” said Evan. “Drugs, cash, weapons, and digital recorders that would put him and Judge Hall away for life.”

“He still has Emily’s recorders?” asked Grey.

“Again, according to Brad, he does,” said Evan. “Well, copies of the recordings. The digital recorders use micro SD cards. He made copies before he turned them over to Judge Hall. Brad said Bullet was using them as a bargaining chip in case she ever thought about ending their arrangement.”

“We know where they are in the house?” asked Chief.

“We do,” said Evan. “Pull up a chair, boys. You’re going to love this part.”

Evan opened a padded container and pulled out a device the size of a shoe box. He screwed a six-inch antenna into the top of it and handed it to Chief. He held it like an uncle being handed a baby for the first time. Evan smiled and pulled up a new screen on the monitor.

“You’re looking at a 3D rendering of this house,” said Evan. “I got the blueprints from the county database. This includes all conversions and upgrades as of this year.”

“Is this where I come in?” asked Kate.

“It is,” said Evan. “Our cell phones can’t be traced or accessed remotely. Unless they have access and can reprogram a Russian military satellite, nobody can track us. Kate has a cell phone exactly like Bullet’s. I chose it for effect. Go ahead and turn it on, Kate.”

“Okay,” said Kate. “It’s on.”

“Chief,” said Evan, “there’s a power switch on the side of that thing. Turn it on.”

“I see a light,” said Chief, grinning at his accomplishment.

“Well done,” said Evan. “There’s a red and green button next to the power switch. Hit the green button. Kate, move to the stairs, please.”

They both complied. A few moments later, a red dot appeared on the screen. It was overlaid onto the 3D blueprints of the house. The dot was at the bottom of the stairs.

“Go on up,” said Evan.

Kate started walking up the stairs. Chief looked at her and then looked at the screen. The dot was moving up the stairs with her.

“As long as that phone is turned on,” said Evan, “we can track her anywhere in the house.”

“That works with any phone?” asked Grey.

“Any phone, radio, GPS, or even a pager,” said Evan. “Anything that emits a radio signal can be tracked by that thing. You just have to get it close. It has an effective range of fifty yards, but we could probably push it to seventy-five. It has a transmitter as well, so I can watch whoever is moving inside Bullet’s house from here. I’ll be able to tell you if they’re taking a shit or a shower.”

“That’s very James Bond,” said Chief. “What if they don’t have a cell phone or they leave it on a table while they move around?”

“You’re more technologically savvy than you think, Chief,” said Evan. “Those are about the only chinks in the armor. If they don’t have a phone or radio, we can’t see them.”

“We wouldn’t want it to be too easy,” said Grey, patting Evan on the shoulder. “That’s why we have guns. Great work, buddy.”

“There’s more James Bond stuff,” said Evan.

“Lay it on us,” said Chief.

“Like I said, he’s more worried about being robbed than being served a search warrant,” said Evan. “He does all his deals in the garage that he converted into a den. To get inside the main house, you have to go through a solid steel door with biometric locks.”

“Lost me,” said Chief.

“Okay,” said Evan, grinning. “Every door on the perimeter of the house is solid steel. A SWAT team would have to rip out the entire door frame with trucks and chains to get inside. Once they got inside, they’d find another steel door upstairs in Bullet’s room.”

“Okay, I get that part,” said Chief. “What about the bio shit? What is that?”

“The bio shit is high tech, but old tech,” said Evan. “All of the steel doors are unlocked by fingerprints. Lucky for us, they’re just scanned.”

“Dumb it down further, son,” said Chief.

“I can help with this part,” said Grey. “There’s a keypad at each door. They can either punch in a code or place their finger on a pad. A scanner, like what’s inside a copy machine, takes a picture of their fingerprint and matches it with the database. If it recognizes the fingerprint, the door unlocks.”

“Exactly,” said Evan.

“So we need their fingers?” asked Chief.

“Nope,” said Evan. “Already have them. All of them.”

“From their prior arrest records,” said Grey.

“Yes, sir,” said Evan. “We have all three brothers’ fingerprints from their county records. That will give us access to the house, his room, and the large gun safe in his closet. That’s where you’ll find the drugs, the money, and the recordings.”

“You said there were cameras on the outside and an alarm system,” said Chief. “How do we defeat those?”

“Not a problem,” said Evan. “I already have access to the system. I’ll throw static images on their screens while I’m watching them live on mine. I’ll be able to direct you away from them.

“I’ve been watching them for a few weeks now. On any given day, there are two guys walking the property outside and two inside. His brothers spend most of their time in the den handling drug transactions. From what I can tell, only he and his brothers can gain access to the main house.”

“We’ll need to move fast,” said Grey. “Once he verifies that Brad is dead, he’s going to call in the cavalry. We need to be long gone before reinforcements show up.”

“Agreed,” said Chief. “Our lives are in your hands, Evan. Can you handle this?”

“I’ll be in your ear every step of the way, Chief,” said Evan. “I’ll get you through it.”

“I know you will, son.”

“We’ll send Bullet the message at sunset,” said Grey. “Chief and I will already be in position. As soon as that boat pulls out, we’ll go in.”

“That turd is about to have the worst night of his life,” said Chief.

Your brother is rotting in the cabin where you took Emily. One down, two to go.

The anonymous text message sent Bullet, Eddie, and two associates flying out of the back door and down to the boat. Before Bullet left, he called in additional men to the house. Chief and Grey had less time than they expected.

When Bullet took the three men with him, it left his home more vulnerable. Grey could see one thug outside and estimated there were at least two remaining inside. Evan hacked into the security system and uploaded a static photo to each of the outside cameras. The video monitor being watched from inside Bullet’s den showed everything was secure on the perimeter.

Evan was watching the man patrolling the property. As soon as he was on the opposite side of the house, he gave Grey the signal that the path was clear to the door they would use to gain access. He tapped Chief on the shoulder, and the two men lowered their night vision goggles and sprang from their concealed position in the woods. Evan could see them moving towards the house on his screen, but the men inside couldn’t on theirs.

Chief activated the black box and slid it underneath the shrubs that ran along the front of the house. He then returned to the side door where Grey was waiting. Seconds later, Evan’s voice was in their ear buds.

“
Two in the den and not moving. One outside moving down to the dock. All clear inside the main house.”

Grey keyed his radio twice to let Evan know that they received the message. He then pulled out his phone and plugged in an accessory cord. On the other end of the cord was a thin, black piece of film the size of a postage stamp. He pressed it into the biometric fingerprint lock. After a green light blinked, the lock disengaged and Grey pushed open the door. With guns drawn, they entered the side door of the house.

Grey and Chief had memorized the layout from blueprints Evan retrieved from parish records. Before they entered, Evan activated the GPS locator in their cell phones. Back at the rental house, the bad guys showed up as red dots and the good guys as green.

“
Clear to the stairs.”

They moved in silence to the stairs that would take them up to Bullet’s room. After verifying there was nobody on the first floor, they eased up to the second. All four rooms had steel security doors, but Brad told him Bullet’s was the last on the right. Grey defeated the lock and they entered the room.

He easily found the five foot gun safe in the large walk-in closet. He inspected the area around the safe for hidden trip wires or motion sensors. When none were found, he made a silent wish and placed the film on the pad. Both men cringed when the heavy locks disengaged.

“
All good,”
said Evan, hearing the bolts release over the radio “
One person just walked out of the den, but he’s in no rush. Looks like he’s on his way down to the dock for a smoke break. Still all clear inside.”

Grey and Chief exhaled as they swung open the door. They smiled at each other after seeing the stacks of cash, drugs, four pistols, and three automatic rifles. Chief opened his duffel bag, and Grey started filling it with the loot. Another silent wish was granted when he opened a drawer and found two digital recorders and several micro SD cards.

They were in and out in five minutes. As Grey closed the last door behind him, he saw two sets of headlights coming down the long dirt driveway. He motioned for Chief to head for the safety of the woods while he retrieved the black box from the shrubs. Chief was in good shape for a man his age, but Grey was much faster. As the cars parked in front of the house, he had already disappeared behind the tree line.

*****

Bullet opened the door to the shack and shined his flashlight into the corner. Eddie was securing the boat when he heard a low moan turn into an anguished roar. He rushed inside to find Bullet on his knees holding Brad. Eddie moved in, put his arms around his brothers, and cried.

They stayed in a huddled mass for several minutes. Bullet was rocking back and forth as he held Brad’s head. Between sobs, Eddie could hear him whispering in their dead brother’s ear.

“Bring him to the boat,” said Bullet, standing and wiping away tears.

“I ain’t got no cuff key,” said Eddie.

“There’s a saw in the toolbox in the pantry,” said Bullet.

“You want me to cut his hands off?” asked Eddie, looking up at his brother.

“No, you dumb fuck,” said Bullet, slapping him in the head. “Cut the goddamned post.”

“Oh,” said Eddie. “Yeah, the post.”

“Did you ever tell anyone we brought Emily here?” asked Bullet.

“Not a soul,” said Eddie.

“Then it had to be the sheriff and that bitch from Miami,” said Bullet. “They must’ve made Brad talk by torturing him or something.”

“How did the sheriff know Brad was coming for him?” asked Eddie. “The boys with him didn’t even know where they was going.”

“Because it was a set-up from the get go,” said Bullet. “The sheriff is on to the judge. He made sure she knew where he was going and when he’d be there. He told her he was going alone, but they was just waiting for them.”

“Don’t make sense the sheriff killing him like this,” said Eddie. “He’s a law man. Why didn’t he just arrest him?”

“He ain’t a law man on this one,” said Bullet. “That’s gonna work out better for us.”

“How’s that?”

“Because when we kill the sheriff, his fucking family, and those assholes from Miami, ain’t nobody gonna come looking for us. Everything will go back to normal like it never happened. The judge will make sure of that.”

“What if she’s in on it?” asked Eddie.

“She ain’t.”

“But what if?” asked Eddie. “Maybe she’s trying to get rid of us for what we did to that girl.”

“She ain’t,” said Bullet. “Naw, all this is about something else. Nobody gave a shit about that junkie whore.”

*****

  As soon as Grey and Chief returned to the rental house, Evan reactivated Bullet’s security system, relinquished his control, and removed the static images from the cameras. Chief was emptying the duffel bag as Evan was loading the SD cards into his computer. Grey came out of the kitchen and handed Chief a bottle of water.

“You did well out there, Chief,” said Grey. “If you’ve lost a step, I didn’t see it tonight.”

“I turned a box on,” said Chief. “Didn’t really take a whole lot of effort to shove it under a bush, but thank you for the compliment. I’ll take ‘em whenever I can get ‘em.”

“You still move like a cat,” said Grey.

“Holy shit,” said Evan, getting everyone’s attention. “I think we just won the lottery.”

“What is it?” asked Kate, walking up behind him.

“Looks like Bullet used Emily’s tactics,” said Evan. “I found the recordings that got her killed, but there’s a lot more after. The last one is from Wednesday.”

“Last Wednesday?” asked Grey.

“Yep.”

“Play it,” said Kate.

Evan disconnected his headphones and turned up the volume. Chief started shaking his head and laughing when the recording ended. It was Judge Hall ordering Bullet to kill Sheriff Lewis.

“It can’t be that easy,” said Chief.

“I think it’s poetic,” said Abby. “Everything we need to bring down Judge Hall is on Emily’s recorders that Bullet used. She’ll be disgraced and spend the rest of her life in prison because of those tapes.”

“Speaking of prison,” said Chief, holding up large bags of heroin and cocaine, “what’s the plan for these? Should I start flushing or snorting?”

“Hide half of it in the house,” said Kate, laughing. “Put the other half and one of Bullet’s guns in a backpack. We’ll be needing it soon.”

“Abby,” said Kate, reading an incoming message on her phone. “The plane will be here in the morning.”

“I’m packed and ready,” said Abby. “Will you take me to the airport?”

“We both will,” said Grey. “Nobody travels alone anymore.”

“Do you think Bullet will do anything tonight?” asked Abby.

“I doubt it,” said Grey. “He won’t make a move like that without clearing it with the judge. He’ll need her help. I expect him to reach out to her tonight.”

“Even if he does try and pull something, I’ll know long before he gets here,” said Evan. “I’m tracking most of his guys now as well. An alarm will sound if they get within two miles of us.”

“Chief,” said Kate, “we need to get some sleep tonight. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

*****

When Bullet returned home, he and Eddie put Brad in the back of a truck after shrouding him in sheets. They planned on taking him to their mother the next day. They’d let her decide what they should do with the body.

Most of the reinforcements had already arrived. Bullet stationed four men outside with shotguns and rifles and four inside with handguns. If the same killers decided to try and take him and Eddie, they’d be in for a fight.

Bullet and Eddie entered the main house and went straight to the gun safe. He wanted to make sure everyone guarding his home was well armed, had plenty of ammunition, and inhaled enough cocaine to keep their senses sharp. When he opened the door to the safe, there was only one item inside. It was a photo of Emily.

“It’s all gone,” said Bullet, picking up the photo.

“What’s that?” asked Eddie, standing just outside of the closet.

“We’ve been robbed,” said Bullet, stumbling back and dropping the photo.

“What the fuck!” said Eddie, stepping into the closet. “How the fuck did they get in here?”

Without saying a word, Bullet walked out of his room and headed back to the den. Eddie followed. Bullet took a moment to scan the room before he found the face he was looking for. He reached down and picked up a baseball bat leaning against the wall.

As the man he left in charge looked up at him from his seat, Bullet swung for the fences. Blood and teeth flew across the room as the other men scattered to get out of range. Swing after swing, Bullet unleashed all of his anger until he couldn’t raise his arms.

He dropped the bat and turned around. Everyone in the room was staring at him. Nobody moved a muscle.

“My brother was murdered,” said Bullet, wiping blood off of his face. “While I was out there looking for him, somebody walked into my home, went into my room, stole all my shit, and then walked right the fuck out.”

“We was here the entire time, Bullet,” said Chris. “Nobody went inside the house. I swear to God, they didn’t. We didn’t see nobody.”

“You’re my cousin,” said Bullet, taking a step towards Chris. “I ain’t supposed to kill family, but I will if you don’t shut the fuck up.”

“Hey, Bullet,” said Eddie, looking at a computer screen. “They went in through the side door.”

“Who?” asked Bullet.

“That’s where it gets weird,” said Eddie. “It says you did.”