Black Brick - Part Three Read online

  There was an obvious answer, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to believe that yet or not.

  Shannon came to the balcony and was careful to not touch me as she leaned against the railing.

  “If I see Payne,” she said, “I’m going to kill him.”

  I made a noncommittal sound.

  “There is such a thing as justice.”

  “Isn't the point of justice to make a public example of the offender so that any tempted to do the same thing will think twice about it? Where is your public example? Who will learn the lesson that you are trying to teach?”

  “Martinez,” Shannon said. “And then I'll kill him too.”

  “I'd rather Martinez walk away then you kill him.”

  “Payne tortured me on his orders,” Shannon said. “You wouldn’t kill him in my position?”

  “Only if it's operationally expedient.”

  “But Martinez and Payne are beyond the law, if we don't punish them, who will?”

  “He kidnapped Vargo today in front of the whole world. Do you think they will just forget about it?”

  Shannon's voice became cold. “Sometimes you make me very angry.”

  We stood in silence, the several inches between us feeling like a canyon. My phone rang. Beltran. I answered.

  “We're in position,” I said.

  “Excellent,” Beltran said. “We're moving in and will be on the fifth floor in ten minutes, be prepared if Martinez takes the fire escape. Don't fire unless it’s absolutely necessary and you'd better not lay down any killing shots.”

  “Understood.”

  “Make sure to remind Shannon.”

  I grunted and disconnected.

  “They moving?” Shannon asked.

  “Yeah. Beltran says no kill shots.” I retrieved my M1A, loaded the magazine and chambered a round. I pulled a chair to the balcony and sat. Shannon pulled her chair next to mine, put her rifle on the patio deck and pulled out a pair of binoculars.

  I noticed movement through a window on the fifth floor near the spot Beltran had told us earlier to keep an eye on so I brought my rifle up and looked through the scope. Both people had their backs to me but one looked like Martinez and the other Vargo.

  Shifting my scope, I moved my attention to Martinez and waited for him to turn around. Despite my words to Shannon, now that I had Martinez in my scope, I wasn't sure if I could let him walk away. Below me was the man that had caused Shannon the worst pain of her life and made her break up with me.

  When I realized that I was applying pressure to the trigger, I relaxed. If I confirmed it was Martinez, I’d make that decision, but not until then. Several minutes went by and the man I thought was Martinez turned to the side, giving me the view I needed to confirm his identity.

  I exhaled. It was indeed Martinez.

  “Give me the gun Jake,” Shannon said.

  “Why?” I asked without looking up. “Use your rifle.” The crosshairs of my scope were on Martinez’s head. I touched the trigger, still undecided but almost willing my finger to make the decision for me.

  “I didn’t want it to be this way,” Shannon said poking something in my side. That caught my attention. I turned.

  Shannon had been poking me with a gun. Cherry and Tom were behind her, both of whom had pistols trained on me.

  “What’s this about?” I demanded.

  “Just following orders,” Shannon said.

  “Everybody relax,” I said. With my rifle barrel poked through the metal rails of the balcony and my pistols in my pockets, my only option was to try and talk my way out of this. “What’s going on?”

  In answer, Tom whacked me in the head with his pistol and ripped the rifle from my hands at the same time a gunshot rang out from above. Shannon glanced toward the direction of the shot but looked back. The lack of emotion indicated she’d been expecting it. The others had reacted similarly.

  They were setting me up. My team and my ex-girlfriend.

  The window I’d been staring at through my scope a few moments before was shattered and I couldn’t tell if it was Vargo or Martinez who’d been shot because neither was in view.

  I lunged for Tom, but Cherry and Shannon were there before I could do any damage and they restrained me. I suffered another hit to the back of my head and this time things became a blur.

  * * *

  I opened my eyes to the sounds of sirens. My head hurt and when I touched it, my hand came away bloody. Bits of hazy memory came back until I remembered that Tom had hit me.

  Then, like an avalanche, I remembered everything at once.

  I sat up too quickly and became dizzy, making me afraid I would black out again. Taking several deep breaths, I looked around and recognized the balcony of the hotel; it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes since I’d lost consciousness. My rifle lay beside me and Shannon and the others were gone.

  Crawling, I approached the steel bars of the balcony and looked down at the emergency workers on the fifth floor of the office building. Through the window, I could make out a body on a gurney; the face wasn’t visible, but by the suit the corpse was wearing, my guess was that the victim was Vargo.

  First Bruce Andrews and now Lane Vargo. It wasn’t safe to be an executive for Diggon Corporation. I picked up my rifle and entered the hotel room, detaching the magazine; I saw that it was still full.

  I was halfway through breaking down the rifle, when I thought to check the serial number. I couldn’t quite say what made me do it, but I chalked it up to healthy paranoia. It hadn’t been removed. I slowly let out my breath.

  Black Brick’s normal procedure was to remove anything that could identify a weapon. Beltran insisted on it. The serial number was always filed off. I was sure it could be traced to an address that would have more incriminating evidence on me. I must have woken up earlier than they planned; otherwise I’d have arisen to the police pounding on my hotel room door.

  I finished stowing the rifle in the suitcase and left the room. Several minutes later, I found the stairs and left the building.

  BLACK BRICK

  PART FOUR

  Coming April 7, 2015.

  Author’s Note

  If you have enjoyed this episode, please leave a quick review and tell your friends. Also, if you would like to receive notifications about the sequel to this episode, other upcoming works, sneak peeks, and other extras, go to dandeckerbooks.com and sign up for my newsletter.

  About the Author

  Dan Decker lives in Utah with his wife. He has a law degree and spends as much time as he can outdoors. You can learn more about upcoming novels at dandeckerbooks.com.