Within minutes, the Fayetteville police arrived.
“Police, anybody home? Police.”
Jefferson and Margo stayed hidden under the dining room table. Even though they heard the sirens, they couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t the enemy attempting to pull them from their hiding place so they could finish them off. The police called out again.
“In here,” Jefferson shouted, making the decision to crawl from under the table.
“Are you all right?” the officer asked as he moved into the dining room, looking out of the undraped window to see if any perpetrators were hiding.
“We are now,” Jefferson offered. “My wife and I were eating dinner when all of a sudden we heard what sounded like firecrackers and then broken glass hitting the floor. Whoever it was used a semi-automatic. It lasted for no more than ten seconds, but it was the scariest ten seconds. We’re grateful that we weren’t killed.”
“Let’s move from this room. Even though I didn’t see anyone outside, we can’t be certain no one is hiding out back. I’m going to draw the blinds so that the inside of your house won’t be so exposed.”
Margo broke down. She was frightened out of her skin and held onto Jefferson for dear life. Her body began to shake, and she began to cry out loud.
Jefferson held Margo in his arms. “I’m going to protect you, baby. Please don’t cry. The police are going to get whoever did this to us.”
“Do you have any idea who might have done this?” the officer asked, ignoring Margo.
“I can make an assumption,” Jefferson replied. “I didn’t see anyone, so I can’t back my theory with proof. If at all possible, I’d like to speak with Captain Petrowski in Homicide. He needs to be made aware of this because it lines up with my theory.”
“I’m calling him now,” the officer stated. “I suggest you good people find somewhere else to sleep tonight. You’ll also need to board up your house to keep the curious and the robbers out.”
“After I talk with the Captain, I’ll take care of that,” Jefferson replied.
“Some of my men will be walking around outside and inside to see if they can find any clues as to who did this. Don’t touch anything in the living room until we’ve finished in there.”
“You don’t have to worry about us. We want whoever did this to be caught posthaste.” He turned to Margo. “I need to call Edward and Angelica to warn them about what happened.”
“If she hadn’t brought her narrow behind back to Fayetteville, this wouldn’t have happened,” Margo said as the tears continued to roll. She laid her head on Jefferson’s chest, still sobbing. “Why us? Why us, Lord?”
He speed dialed Edward’s number, and he answered on the first ring. “Edward, our house was hit tonight.”
“Hit, what do you mean?” Edward asked.
“Someone tried to kill us-shot a round of fire power into our house, shattering our living room window. I’m sure it’s the work of Santiago or someone close to him. If we had been in the living room, it would have been messy.”
“Jesus, Jefferson. That lunatic Santiago is playing for keeps.”
“It scared us to death, got Margo half out of her wits. Angelica needs to know right away.”
“I don’t want to upset her right now. Hopefully, this can keep until Hamilton’s funeral. I have reinforcement, if I need it.”
“I think it’s important that she knows what she’s up against, Edward, so she can be on guard. That’s all I’m saying,” Jefferson admonished. “After I speak with Petrowski, Margo and I are headed to a hotel. I thought about skipping the funeral Saturday, but with Hamilton being an ex-cop, Santiago wouldn’t dare show up there with a church full of police officers.”
“You’re right. Let me know if you hear anything else,” Edward said, his voice strained. “I can’t believe it’s come to this. The feds should have nailed Santiago a long time ago.”
“I guess the war wasn’t big enough. Talk with you later, man. Petrowski just arrived.”
“Later.”
“Who was that on the phone, Edward?” Angelica asked, sitting up in the bed.
“It was Jefferson. He wanted to know if we made it back to the hotel safely.”
“Seems kind of odd, don’t you think?”
“Why would it seem odd?” Edward asked, looking at Angelica strangely.
“Because he was in such a rush to be with his wife. And from the sound of it, you and I getting back to the hotel all right was the last thing on his mind. Tell the truth, Edward. What’s up? What didn’t you want to upset me with now?”
“Somebody tried to kill Jefferson tonight.”
“Oh my God!” Angelica cried, grabbing the sides of her face in disbelief. “Is he all right?”
“Whoever it was shot several rounds into the house but, thank God, Jefferson and Margo were in another room.”
“Edward, I’m scared. I don’t feel safe here anymore. What if someone comes here and tries the same thing?”
“Calm down, Angelica.” Edward reached for his briefcase and opened it. “If anyone tries to come through that door, they will have me to reckon with.” He brandished the revolver, checking the safety. “They’ll have to kill me first.”
49
“Good evening, Mr. Myles.”
“Captain Petrowski.”
Captain Petrowski shook Jefferson’s hand. “Good to see you on the other side of the law.”
Jefferson dropped Petrowski’s hand and motioned for him to have a seat. He dismissed Petrowski’s little innuendo about his tour of duty in prison because he had more important things on his mind. “Any word about Santiago, Captain? My gut feelings tell me this is his work.”
Formalities out of the way, Captain Petrowski shared with Jefferson most of what he knew.
“We have questioned several inmates at the prison who might have witnessed Hamilton’s murder. We still have not come up with anything concrete. The Highway Patrol has been sweeping Interstate 95 for the last two or three days, but our dragnets haven’t netted anything yet. We’ve got the city pretty well surrounded, with double duty the day of the funeral.
“We’ve received word from New York that suggests Santiago could very well be tied to the murder of a well- known photographer by the name of Donna Barnes Reardon. Coincidentally, she is the cousin of Hamilton Barnes.”
“I wasn’t aware of that,” Jefferson said thoughtfully, wondering why Angelica hadn’t mentioned it to him. Brushing his curiosity aside, Jefferson looked at the Captain. “When did this happen?”
“A month ago,” Captain Petrowski responded.
When was Angelica going to tell him? She’d been sleeping with Santiago for some time, and surely she had to have known about Hamilton’s cousin. He balled his hand into a fist and slapped it into his other, pissed that he had to hear this bit of news from the Captain.
“Is there something wrong?” Captain Petrowski asked, noting Jefferson’s agitated state.
“Wrong? Santiago is a madman, and I’m afraid he’ll do whatever he has to do to eliminate Angelica Barnes and me. I’m frustrated because he’s still running around when he should have been in prison years ago.” Petrowski looked away because he wanted Santiago more than anybody and hated that he had slipped through his fingers. “And to see my wife paralyzed with fear when those shots were fired into my house tonight…hell, I’ll admit I’m scared.”
“Wherever you choose to go tonight-I’m sure you won’t be staying at your house-we will have security for you.”
Without knocking, a police officer that had been outside gathering evidence rushed into the house.
