Shit!
The pain pulsates through my body as I force myself to my feet, my mouth fills with the coppery taste of blood. I don’t want to imagine what my face looks like right now. I jump overboard and land on the dock. Just when I begin running, the boat explodes into a cloud of debris. The shockwave sends me sailing through the air and into the drink. I turn and see there is nothing left, but floating junk.
So much for evidence.
I swim to the nearby beach and crawl out of the water. My face throbs in pain. I reach in the back of my mouth and pull out a tooth he knocked loose.
Too bad the tooth fairy is bullshit extra cash would be nice.
I sigh in frustration. Goddamn, prick gave me the slip again. On the bright side, I got to go to the beach and get sand in my ass now, I’m bathing in the sun.
A shadow blocks the sun. “You okay, Lobos?”
“Yeah, I got my ass kicked and blown up, and Drake got away again. But it’s cool, I got a day at the beach out of it.”
He extends his hand, helping me to my feet. “Lobos, don’t beat yourself up. You want the medics to take a look at you?”
“No, I think I’m gonna be fine. I’ve had harder knocks to the head.”
“Either way, you need a medic to look at those bruises and cuts.”
I stuff my hands in my wet pockets. “So, have any idea where he got off to?”
“No idea. But the city is locked down, so he’s got nowhere to go.”
“Under normal circumstances, that would bring me comfort, but it doesn’t. He’s Special Forces I know that for a fact now. And he says he didn’t kill the children someone else did.”
He scoffs. “You believed him?”
“Sir, he has never killed children or used guns on his victims. I believe his little groupie went too far at the Sadir house.”
He shakes his head in disbelief. “Great, so we got two sick fucks running around the city.”
“It would appear so.”
He scoffs. “Nah. Come on, what if Drake just changed his methods. Like you said Psychopaths get bored.”
I place my hand on my hips. “Frank, I saw Drake’s passports all for different countries and with different names on them. What more proof do you need? Face it somebody is working with him. I stumble a bit as I try to walk. Whoa, damn equilibrium is a bit off. “Anyway, APB or not, he won’t stop. SAS commandos are skilled at infiltration and evasion. He will be a ghost among us.”
He rubs his forehead and sighs. “Goddamn it. I miss the Aztec Killer.”
“Yeah, we need to check around for people who’s been busted for creating phony passports.”
“I’ll put Ingrid on this she has some contacts from her Robbery division days that could probably help us. So you’re welcome to head on home and rest. You might as well, Drake is in the wind, and the blood results haven’t come back yet, and we are still waiting on ballistics to confirm your theory of Drake having a partner.”
“Hmm, think I will go home, At least for a break anyway. Get out of these wet clothes,” I say. After the medics patch me up, I leave the scene and head home.
Chapter 11
My cat with sleek black fur and yellow eyes comes bouncing into the room, greeting me and pulling on my pants leg. “What’s up, girl. Hungry?” She replies with high pitched meow as I scratch her behind the ears. I dump a can of food into her bowl, and she buries her face in it growling as she laps up her food.
I enter my bedroom, tossing my coat on the bed, my badge, and my gun. I peel off my wet clothes and step into the shower, and when the warm water hits me, I let out a sigh of relief, but the sense of relief is an illusion. The fact of it is, there’s still a brutal killer at large, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I’m in over my head. I still can’t believe I let the son of a bitch get the drop on me again and kick my ass and blow me up. A shower and a nap are what I need.
Staring at my blood swirling down the drain, I am reminded of Iraq. My convoy was ambushed by dirty Special Forces operatives dressed like insurgents. They took out our lead vehicle with an RPG me and the group of soldiers poured out of the trucks. A vicious gunfight unleashed. Half my fellow officers were killed, all of the suspects died. However, those guys were just hired guns; the real criminals slipped through the raindrops. I was given the Silver Star and a Purple Heart. After that, I was ordered to forget the case. I suspected someone high up in the chain of command was involved in the smuggling of heroin
