“Word from who? Franks?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Jacobs replied. “Anyway, I went over there, found a bunch of bodies. That’s all there is to it, really.”
“So what are you saying? Mallette lured Ames there, then killed him?”
“That’s what I think. Can’t prove it, though. Not unless he left some kind of evidence behind.”
“That’s unlikely,” Buchanan said. “I’ll get a team over there right away. Send me the address.”
“I will. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say where this tip came from.”
“You know me… I never do. I guess you’re happy about this development, though, huh?”
“I’m not sure happy is the right word. I’m glad I don’t have to worry about him anymore. Happy… I’ll be happy when all this is over and it’s a distant memory.”
“Hopefully, soon, right?”
“Hopefully,” Jacobs said. “Still one more guy to go to make that happen.”
“Well, maybe I can tie him into this Ames thing and put him back in prison. This time for life.”
“I doubt Mallette’s sloppy enough to leave evidence that he was there. It’s not what I want, anyway. Mallette in prison is still a dangerous man. You know that. There’s only one way to stop him for good. And we both know what that is.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Wishful thinking, I guess. All right, let me get to that warehouse. Send me the address.”
“Will do.”
After Jacobs hung up, he quickly sent a text to Buchanan. Then he put his phone down next to him.
“So what’s next?” Thrower asked. “Obviously Mallette’s last on the list, but how are we gonna find him now.”
“I’ll tell you what, we better find him before he finds us,” Franks replied.
Jacobs nodded. “The next time we hear anything about Mallette being somewhere, we’re gonna have to assume that it’s a trap. Especially after this. I’m sure he’ll try this again for us.”
“No doubt. He’ll see if he can pull it off twice in a row.”
“So we gotta be smarter,” Thrower said. “We gotta find him first.”
“Yeah,” Jacobs said. “How is the question.”
“I’ll tell you how,” Franks said. “The lawyer. He holds the key.”
“I’m still not sure he’ll know anything.”
Franks grinned. “One sure way of finding out. I think maybe a little visit is in order to Mr. Andrew Berry.”
Jacobs looked at Thrower, who was also nodding. “I agree,” Thrower said. “I don’t know if the guy has any answers. But we also don’t need him to give us the keys to the entire castle. Just the front door.”
Jacobs agreed. Berry had to be their next target. “I guess we should start making plans to meet him, then.”
“Just need to figure out the time and place.”
“I know the time,” Franks said. “You guys can figure out the place. But I know the time.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
9
Jacobs and Thrower were sitting in their car outside the residence of Mallette’s lawyer, Andrew Berry. As they waited for the right moment to make their move, Thrower looked down at his notes.
“Just took possession of the place last week. Paid in cash.”
“Nice,” Jacobs said. “Guess Mallette’s money still goes pretty far.”
“Probably one of the perks of getting him out.”
“How much did it go for?”
“Seven fifty.”
Jacobs whistled. “That’s a pretty good chunk of change to just hand over.”
“Looks like Mallette’s not as bad off as his public financial records indicate.”
Jacobs shook his head. “No way. The guy’s not an idiot. Before he got sent up, he probably set up fifty shell corporations to hide his money in. That way it could accumulate while he was inside, even as his organization was crumbling.”
Thrower glanced at the back seat, seeing a familiar face wasn’t there. “You sure it was a good idea to leave Gunner behind?”
“If he’s got cameras set up, there’s no way to get Gunner in there unnoticed.”
“Does it matter, though? He’s gonna know it’s us.”
Jacobs looked at the fence surrounding the property. It’d be tough to get Gunner over that. The front was iron, and the sides and back were a tall concrete fence. They weren’t going to be able to lift Gunner over it. They’d barely be able to get over it themselves.
The hope was that with Jacobs and Thrower dressed in all black, including hoods, if there were cameras, they’d be able to blend in with the night, and hopefully avoid being picked up. Gunner likely wouldn’t be able to avoid it. At least that was the thinking behind it.
It was just about midnight, and the lights in Berry’s new house finally went out. Now it was time for Jacobs and Thrower to spring into action.
“Looks like it’s go-time,” Thrower said.
“Let’s go.”
They put their hoods on and got out of the car. Each house in that neighborhood had a little bit of land to it, so the houses weren’t right on top of each other. It allowed Jacobs and Thrower to work without worrying about being spotted by a neighbor. They sprinted over to the side of the concrete fence, towards the back of the property. They brought a small ladder with them that would allow them to climb over the top of the fence without a problem.
Thrower went over first, then Jacobs, who pulled the ladder up with them, bringing it over the fence so they could also get out easier. Just in case they had to leave in a hurry, they didn’t want to waste time fumbling up the fence.
Once they were in the backyard, they kept the ladder on the ground, touching the fence. Jacobs and Thrower knelt on one knee, surveying the property in front of them.
“Hope this guy doesn’t have guard dogs,” Thrower said.
Jacobs raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t something he’d really considered. “He just moved in last week. Not enough time to get a dog and train him.”
“Who said it has to be trained? Or maybe he already had one.”
“Let’s just go with that he doesn’t have one.”
“But what if he does? I prefer not to shoot animals if I can help it.”
Jacobs shrugged. “I dunno. If you see something charging at you,
