vehicle, in the event something happens.”
“But my brother, Jefferson and Margo are here-what about them?”
“Look to your right, Broadnax is alerting them now. They are herding the others to the back of the room. They’ll be all right. Right now, we want to catch Santiago in the act. We have enough information on his activities, but since the shooting of your cousin, Donna Barnes Reardon, and Hamilton, things have moved so fast. Since I knew that he was going to make an attempt on your life, we are in a position to take him down. After you put on the bullet-proof vest I have in my backpack, you and I are going to walk out of the fellowship hall.”
“But what about all those things you said to me on the bus that day?”
“That was an attempt to get information from you. We let Santiago slip through our hands without a trace, but had high hopes that you would lead us to him.”
“That was pretty presumptuous of you because I wanted to be as far away from Santiago as I could possibly be.”
“Knowing how the criminal mind works, we were sure he was going to make some kind of effort to contact you-unfinished business. Now we’ve got to get moving. The plan is that I’ll have the gun drawn to your head, and the police will surround me. We hope to draw Santiago from his hiding place. Put the vest on, and let’s go.”
“And your name?” Angelica asked.
“Agent Walter Hopkins, at your service.”
Edward, Jefferson, and Margo stared at Angelica. Her fear returned as the remaining crowd watched from a distance. She and Agent Hopkins moved toward the main door of the hall, and when they reached it, he stopped.
“Act like you’re afraid but don’t go crazy. I’m not going to hurt you, and the other officers will be holding their guns on me. Drag your feet to make it look realistic-we’ll replace your shoes if we need to.”
Angelica’s face relaxed into a smile. “All I want is my life back.”
“Ready?” Agent Hopkins asked Angelica and the officers nearby. They moved through the door.
54
An ocean of orange, yellow, and a hint of magenta blazed across the sky, offering a panorama equal to that over the Polynesian honeymoon island of Bora Bora. Breathtaking was the sun as it slowly made its ascent due west.
With a gun pointed at her head, she felt like death still lingered near, regardless of the amount of reassurances Agent Hopkins had given her. Out in the open, the commotion began as Agent Hopkins threatened to kill her if the police didn’t back off. She knew this was staged, but her life hung in the balance, and it made her cry out openly. There was no Edward at her side to rescue her if she needed him, and the thought of being the pawn to catch Santiago sickened her more.
Angelica and Agent Hopkins stood on the top step of the hall with police surrounding them.
“Release the woman, now,” blared the voice on the police bullhorn. Agent Hopkins had Angelica by the neck and the gun pointed right at her head. He continued to reassure her under his breath that all was under control.
The standoff was on. Agent Hopkins pointed his gun at the police officers and told them to move back because he was taking this woman hostage. The police would not back down and, for fifteen minutes, Agent Hopkins continued to wave the gun at the officers, who were poised to shoot at any time while he held Angelica tight. Then it happened.
“Kill her. Kill her now, you fool. Kill her or I’ll kill you,” Santiago shouted from across the street. He moved closer and pointed the Glock. “What are you waiting for? You said you were going to take care of it.”
Hopkins pushed Angelica into the sea of officers, who immediately pushed her into a bulletproof patrol car that had been sitting on the side of the church. All of a sudden, gunfire rang out as Santiago pulled the trigger. Twenty members of the SWAT team and Agent Hopkins returned the fire, and Santiago stood still like a robot waiting for its next order, taking a few steps before falling face down on the sidewalk.
Members of the Fayetteville police rushed to the fallen Santiago but dropped to the ground when a round of gunfire cut them off. From the rooftops of neighboring businesses, gunfire poured down until there was no response from the enemy-a deafening silence ensued. The officers who had dropped to the ground slowly picked themselves up from the pavement and went to check on the fallen victims. Soon, the others joined them, and then an announcement was made.
“Three down,” said one of the sharpshooters. “No sign of anyone else.”
Angelica emerged from the car and walked cautiously toward the group of officers. When Agent Hopkins saw her approach, he put out his hand to stop her from coming closer. This wasn’t something she needed to see up close. Her worries were over-Santiago was dead.
The door to the fellowship hall opened, and Lieutenant Broadnax stepped outside. Edward, Jefferson, and Margo were right behind him, all in a hurry to find out what went down. All efforts to restrain the group of people left in the fellowship hall were fruitless as they pushed past Broadnax and spilled outside. A yellow ribbon and a sea of police officers blocked their attempt to proceed beyond a certain point as the police waited for the coroner’s office to scoop the dead from the ground.
“What happened…are you all right?” Edward asked Angelica as he ran to be by her side.
“Edward, it happened so fast. One minute I had a gun pointed at my head, the next minute I was thrown to a bunch of muscle-bound cops, who tucked me away in their patrol car. Then the shooting began, and after a couple of minutes, it was all over. Agent Hopkins saved my life, and to think I believed he was one of the bad guys. He deserves a medal for his undercover work.”
“Good job, Angelica,” Margo said. Margo smiled and went to Angelica and hugged her.
“I needed that, girl. You don’t know. My life flashed before me a hundred times, but I’m glad it’s all over.”
“It’s over for all of us,” Margo responded. “We have you to thank for risking your life to save ours.”
“I’d do it all again,” Angelica laughed. “Well, I hope I don’t have to do it again. If I wasn’t forced to be the sacrificial lamb, I’m not sure I would’ve volunteered.”
Jefferson put his arms around Margo and finally spoke. “I can’t believe it’s all over.”
“From the little Agent Hopkins told me, Santiago probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day. Even though he won’t stand trial, there was enough evidence to convict him of several murders, including Hamilton’s.”
“Yeah, I heard about Hamilton’s cousin. Well, Santiago won’t be around to hurt anyone else,” Jefferson said.
“Look, why don’t we get away from here and go back to our hotel so we can sit down and talk?” Edward said. “We’ll get room service, if you want something to eat.”
Margo glanced at Jefferson and then looked quickly away. She puckered her lips. “Everyone has been through so much today,” Margo began, “and we’ve got to get our house taken care of.”
“This is Saturday, for heaven’s sake,” Angelica said. “You’re not going to get anything done on your house tonight. Come on, Margo. I want to bring you up to speed with what’s happened to me.”
“Well…” Margo began.
“Yeah, a few appetizers and some iced tea might do it for an hour or so,” Jefferson put in. “Help us to unwind from the day. We’re coming.”
“The Fayetteville police would have made Hamilton proud today,” Angelica added as an afterthought. “He lived and breathed that badge.” Before she could say anything else, Agent Hopkins approached.
“Hi, folks, I’m Agent Hopkins. Angelica was a brave woman tonight. I don’t know that I would have trusted me, if I were her.”
“It was a hard sell, but you left me little choice,” Angelica said. “And I’m glad it’s over.”
“Well, you did a fine job. Helping us to apprehend one of the FBI’s Most Wanted was a good thing. One of these days soon, I’ll be able to tell you the whole story leading up to this day.”
“Do you have any idea why Santiago may have killed Donna?”
“I can’t talk about the case, but it may have something to do with Donna kicking you out of her house and not
