Chapter 21
Suds
A couple days after my record-setting ramble, I push Bannerman’s bell and he opens almost immediately.
“Please come in.” His dark office brightens as he twists the chandelier’s dimmer. Other than the half-filled lowball glass sitting beside his laptop, nothing has changed from the night Sam and I found bitcoin in his safe.
“Sit.” He motions me to a bentwood chair, and I shake my head, no.
“Until I better understand the threat, I should remain standing, sir.” Strolling to the window, I peek between the wooden shutters.
When I glance back into the room, his hand quivers as he lifts his drink. “So, how does this work?”
The shaking makes me wonder if he suffers from more than a case of nerves. “Well, sir. Let’s start with the basics. Have you had death threats? Been followed? I don’t mean to be invasive, but the more I know why you want a bodyguard, the better I can assess the risks and take precautions.”
The spiel comes easily. I should feel guilty for scaring a federal judge, but I don’t. I fought overseas for democracy, and no one should be above the law.
Bent forward, with both palms on his desk, my suspect eases into a leather chair. “Last night, a hitman came here, into my home.”
“Not very likely, sir. If it was a professional, you’d be lying on a slab in the morgue.” I still can’t believe Sam’s friend agreed to help. The man is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, dressed in black leather.
I drop a bullet, it clatters to the floor, and as his gaze drift down, I empty the contents of a small vial into his drink. Squatting, I pocket the ammo, worried he might’ve seen my sleight-of-hand, but he seems oblivious to his surroundings. The drug I gave him is fast-acting. Soon, he’ll be singing like a canary.
“The police think I was hallucinating but believe me, the assassin was real. He told me I was only going to get this one warning.” As his bloodshot eyes stare vacantly into space. My spidey-senses start to tingle. If he doesn’t say something incriminating soon, I’ll have to leave and try again, later.
“Warning about what, sir?”
Sweating profusely, the judge loosens his tie. “A recent case…”
“I thought once a verdict was rendered, there’s nothin’ much anyone else can do.” I pace to the back garden window, wishing I had backup.
“There’s always more appeals, son.”
Returning to his office, I reach to my inside pocket, and retrieve a small spiral notebook. “Mind sharing? Which case worries you most?”
“The land use deal. The pipeline was going straight through their ancestor’s…” Across the street, a gray Dodge Hellcat squeals to a stop and four armed men pile out.Shit.This was not part of today’s plan.
“Go.” I half-shove, half-carry the judge up one flight of stairs, surprised to exit in a kitchen. “Is there a full bath on this floor.”
He slides back a panel revealing an antique clawfoot tub.
“Lie flat, head down, and don’t move until I say so.” With him secure, I dial nine-one-one. “Shots fired.”
I rattle off the address, hang up, and regret not involving Slate. Picturing Sam bringing up Mikey without me twists my gut. Hell, the odds aren’t great, but I’ve survived worse. Resolve set, pistol in hand, and crawling on my belly, I reach the sliding glass window overlooking the garden. Two intruders with vests and semi-automatics race toward the building. The others shout in the stairwell.
Fuck.I tip over the kitchen table and shoot the first asshole right between the eyes. The other falls back while cursing up a storm.
Eventually he stops the crybaby bullshit and calls out. “We’re not after you. Leave and we’ll let you live.”
The motherfucker must think I’m an idiot. “I appreciate your kind offer but I think we both agree I’m already a dead man walkin’. So, before you kill me, could y’all satisfy my curiosity? Why Bannerman? What’d he do?”
The bass voice chuckles. “Consider him a loose end.”
Damn. Sam was right. Too bad her timing was a mite off.“Did you hear him, Judge? How about you clear your conscience before you meet your maker?” I figure he must be pissing his pants. If he doesn’t talk now, he probably never will.
“If you get me out of this, I’ll pay you five hundred grand.” Under other circumstances, his panicked voice would give me great pleasure. However, I’m kind of busy trying to save my neck to appreciate his groveling.
“What the fuck did you do?” I fire several rounds at the two entering the sliding glass window at the back of the house.
