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Post by Webster on May 31, 2018 0:45:06 GMT -5
Chapter 16
Traffic along the Hollywood Freeway was crawling at a standstill towards downtown. The laws of traffic being what they were in Velo City, this meant that the outbound lanes were wide-open - something Kelsey Little used to full advantage. Aided by a siren and a mobile sidelight bar on the top of her Audi R8 LMS, she easily got the vehicle up to ninety on the highway. Threading her way through the sparse traffic, her hands were ice-white from gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Where are we headed?" Abby Hearns yelled over the siren. "I'm taking you to the cesium; I already told you that!" "What do you mean?" "That was Joe Suiter from the M.E.'s office I was talking to earlier," Kelsey yelled back. "They just took someone to St. Joe's who may have been exposed to the cesium."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Abby said, dialing a number on her iPhone 4s. Kelsey started to say something but held back; the truth was she wanted to get a head start up there before the federal circus got there. As Abby dialed her number, she reached over and cut the siren off. "What'd you do that for?" "I need to be able to speak, alright?"
Taking her foot off the throttle, Kelsey brought the R8 down to around 80 to be safe. As she did, she could hear Hearns talking. "..tell Brinnan and Davies to head for St. Joseph's ASAP! I also need you to get a NEST containment squad over there right now! We have a possible exposure case that may lead us to the cesium. I'll be there in three minutes."
That last bit caught Kelsey by surprise. "Three?!?" "Impress me!"
Pinning the throttle to the firewall, Kelsey gunned the Audi back up to above ninety. She turned the siren & lights back on as they flew past Silver Lake on their way to the hospital. Two minutes later, she eased off the gas and pulled the Audi onto surface streets, cutting the siren off but leaving the sidebar lights flashing.
Meeting them in the E.R., Suiter gave them a heads-up on the exposure case and led them to one of the E.R. bays, where a hospital security guard stood. Acknowledging the security man, Little and Hearns pulled the curtain aside and stepped in.
What greeted them was nothing short of horrible. Alone in the partition was a Hispanic individual, lying underneath a clear plastic tent, numerous IVs' and other lines snaking to-and-fro into his arms and legs. His clothes had been removed and a towel placed over his private areas but they could see what looked like thermal burns all over his stomach and abdomen. His left hand showed similar burns along the fingers - purplish-red burns that seemed to appear gangrenous.
"Where's everybody, Abby?" Little asked, fear snaking into her voice. "Be careful, Kelsey," Hearns said cautiously. "He appears unconscious so let's talk to the doctors' first."
Pointing to the burns, Kelsey asked, "Is that from cesium exposure, Abby?" "Depends on the exposure but yeah, that's possible. Jesus...guy must've been sitting on the stuff for it to be that bad."
Stepping back through the partition, Abby dialed the same number as before, her voice now tinged with excitement. "It's legit. We have an exposure case here. Get everybody down here now!" Asked who it was, she replied, "That we don't know yet; I'll let you know as soon as we find out."
As she hung up, she looked over at Kelsey. "Radiation team will be here in ten minutes. I'll direct it from the command post here." Before Kelsey could say anything, a doctor in blue surgical scrubs walked over and introduced himself as Dr. Kemp. For several minutes he told them what had happened, what had been done and what the likely prognosis was. "Odds are, he," nodding towards the man in the partition, "ain't gonna make it in the end. We'll do everything we can, ladies, but you can go ahead and start investigating his death now if you want."
As they stood there, fixed on the doctor's words, Abby saw a nearby clipboard and read from it. "They got his ID as Alfonso Riarte, forty-seven, no fixed address. That's all they had." Pulling out her phone once again, she called the previous number and gave them the ID for them to check on.
As she did that, Little looked for Dr. Kemp, pulling him aside. "Where's his clothes?" she asked. "Where did you put them?" "His clothes and possessions were all taken from him when he got here." "Did anyone look at them?" "Probably not 'cause of exposure concerns. Check with the nursing station."
Heading over to the nurses' station, Little asked one of them where the exposure patient's clothing and possessions had been taken. "Hospital protocol is for anything exposed to possible radiological sources to be placed in a medical waste bag and taken to the incinerator." Before she could finish, Little asked her where the incinerator was. Rather than tell her, she called the security guard over and asked him to escort Little to the incinerator.
After alerting Hearns about where she was headed, Little and the security guard walked over to a nearby stairway and walked down to the hospital basement. Turning down a hallway, they soon arrived at what looked like the hospital's engineering spaces. "Incinerator room's next door on the left, ma'am," the guard said, holding the maintenance door open for Little.
When she got to the incinerator room, Little opened the door and walked in, seeing the waste bag Dr. Kemp referred to earlier. Taking a portable rad counter out, she waved it over Rialte's possessions. No alarm. Letting her breath out, she dumped the contents out and waved the monitor over them a second time; still nothing.
Rialte's clothes had been cut off of him with scissors. They consisted of jeans, a denim work shirt, a drak-colored t-shirt, work boots and a brimmed cap. Next to one of the boots was a wallet; opening it, Little quickly searched for any form of identification. As she did that, she saw a keychain with a Toyota insignia on it. She now knew there was a vehicle somewhere in the equation that might hold clues to the case at hand.
Setting the wallet and keychain aside, Little got out her cell and dialed Hearns' number. She answered almost immediately. "Yes?" "Abby, it's Kelsey. I just checked Rialte's clothes and possessions. No exposure from them." "Darn. We ran his name through the watch lists that DHS have; no hits anywhere." "He could be an illegal, Abby. In his wallet was a Mexican Consular card but no California DL or CBP green card. I think our guy's a transient but how could he come into contact with the cesium, though?" "Who knows? Listen, I gotta' go, Kelsey. My team just arrived here."
Grabbing a small wastebasket bag, Little threw the wallet and keychain in it. Exiting the incinerator room, she called the county's Communications Dispatch Center. When the CDC duty officer answered, Little asked him to patch her through to the Velo City Fire Department's dispatcher, specifically whoever sent the dispatch call for Alfonso Rialte that had brought him to St. Joe's.
"Let's see...call came in at ten-oh-four from a pay phone, corner of Lankershim and Cahuenga. Caller said there was a man lying unconscious in the parking lot of an Quick Copies print shop, 927 Cahuenga Boulevard. City fire and EMT units were sent from City Station 54, response time six minutes, seventeen seconds, Lieutenant."
As she walked back up the stairway, Little kept running the address in her head when all of a sudden she had a stunning thought. Everything in this case - from the Mulholland overlook, to the Mills residence, to Wassam al-Araki's house and now this exposure case - everything could fit on a single Thomas Brothers map page. Most homicide cases roamed the book, Kelsey remembered from experience. This one was staying in the neighborhood.
As she made it back to the ER, Little began looking around for Hearns. She noticed that the ER, which had been crowded, was now empty except for several people in hazmat suits, likely the NEST team Hearns had spoken about on the way there. Spotting Hearns at the nursing station, Little took the wallet and keychain out of the waste bag and joined Hearns.
"These were the only things of interest on Rialte," Little said. "How's our victim doing?" "You can add him to the body count," Hearns said, deflated. "Doctors just called him a few minutes ago. Unlike Mills, FBI will take jurisdiction over what happened to Rialte." "Do you think he was involved, Abby?" "Don't know. You?" "I don't think so, but I know this. Alfonso Rialte drove a Toyota. And I'd bet my R8 out there in the ambulance bay that when we find the Toyota, we'll find the cesium."
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Post by Webster on May 31, 2018 0:45:21 GMT -5
Chapter 17
Kelsey Little knew that the laws of traffic would be against them as her and Agent Hearns traveled back through the Cahuenga Pass, so as they left St. Joseph's Kelsey opted to stay on surface streets, taking Highland Avenue up through the pass. On the way to where Rialte had been picked up, she filled Hearns in what was going through her mind.
"According to dispatch, the call for Rialte came in from a pay phone, corner of Lankershim and Cahuenga. Man lying in a print shop parking lot. I'm betting the guy's Toyota is still in the immediate area. If it is, odds are the cesium could be there. The mystery's going to be why he had it." "Then the question is, why did he have it in his pocket?" "I'm betting Rialte didn't know what it was, Abby. Maybe it's not what we think it is." "But where's the connection, Kelsey? How does he tie in with el-Fayed and Hamzi? Was he a runner for them or --" "We don't know that, Abby. For all we know, Rialte's another misdirection, a piece of red cesium for all of us to bite at. I'm betting he ain't though."
After several minutes, they finally got onto Cahuenga and tore, hellbent for leather, up the highway towards Lankershim Boulevard. As they got closer they spotted the Quick Copies print shop. "There's where the 911 call was made at," Little said. "Now all we got to do is find a Toyota nearby or else we'll be here all day." "You get a plate, a description, anything?" "No, no and ... no."
As they passed the shop, Little eased her Audi into an alleyway; as she slowed she caught sight of a small white pickup with a camper shell on the back in front of a large brown Dumpster. "Is that a Toyota over there?" Kelsey asked.
Looking over with a set of binos', Hearns said, "Yeah, that's a Toyota...is that the one Rialte was driving?" "Only one way to find out," Kelsey replied, stopping the Audi halfway down the alleyway. Before she got out of the Audi she cautioned Hearns, "Let's be sure that's the vehicle in question first before we call anyone."
Walking towards the truck, the two approached cautiously, guns drawn but down by their sides. As they got closer they noticed the back lid of the camper was raised. Reaching it, Little raised it fully open. Leaning in close, Little looked inside but couldn't see anything. Turning to Hearns, she said, "Grab the MagLite and bring the radiation counter."
When Hearns returned with both, Little turned the MagLite on and quickly scanned the interior while Hearns used the counter to check for radiation sources. Almost immediately they both saw the cesium carrier, the pig, in the middle of the truck bed. "There's our carrier," Kelsey said. "Okay...where's the cesium?" Hearns asked. "Good question," Kelsey replied, walking to the driver's side door. "Hang on," Hearns said. "Let me call this in first."
As Hearns got on her cell to call in the discovery of the cesium carrier, Little thought about where Rialte might've put the cesium itself. Before opening the driver's door to the Toyota, she did a quick view of the interior. There was a partially-eaten burrito on the center console; in the passenger seat was a camera sitting on top of a small briefcase.
Motioning for the monitor, Little opened the door after noticing it was unlocked. She could almost picture Rialte as he was dying from radiation poisoning, abandoning his belongings and vehicle, stumbling out of the alley towards the print shop. She reached in with the monitor. Nothing. Placing it on her belt, she got out a pair of latex gloves from her jacket and put them on.
Leaning back into the truck, she reached over the console and picked up the camera. It was a GoPro digital; Kelsey remembered that one of the things Forensics ahd found at the Mills residence was a camera lens, a GoPro lens to be precise. She was certain that the camera had been used to take the photos of Alison Mills they had seen earlier. Putting it down, she began looking around when she noticed a rolled-up poster on the floorboard. Reaching down to get it, she saw a brown bag underneath it and got a hold of it. Opening it, she reached inside and saw a handgun inside. Pulling it out of the bag, she looked at it closely. It was a Smith & Wesson .22 and from the faint residue of gunpowder coming from it, it had been used recently.
"I think we got the murder weapon," Kelsey said. Hearing no response from Hearns, Little got out of the vehicle and set the apparent murder weapon on the roof of the truck, on top of the rolled-up poster. Getting back in the seat, she thought she had heard some clicking noises from inside the vehicle. "You hear that?" Little asked. "Yeah, you have your counter on?" Hearns asked. "Yeah, I--" Little froze; her radiation counter was facing the center console. Stopping for a moment, she leaned over and opened the console.
She froze, staring at its' contents. Inside the center console was a cup holder and a bunch of steel bullet-shaped capsules. Waving the monitor over it, it erupted with a fury of sound and noise that would've woke the dead from their sleep. Jumping out of the truck, Little slammed the door shut. Hearns came running over to where Little was. "Kelsey, what's wrong?"
"Cesium's in the center compartment. There was a burrito, half-eaten, on top. Rialte must've been eating right off of it before he fell ill." She touched her right hip, near where Rialte was burned by radiation. Where her hand was had been nearest to the console. Hearns stared at her for a long time before saying anything. "Are you all right, Kelsey?"
Little grimly laughed. "Ask me in about twenty years, Abigail." Hearns hesitated before saying, "You should still be checked out." "What are they going to do? I wasn't exposed for very long unlike our friend Rialte who probably didn't know what it was and rode around for God only knows how long before he got sick."
They walked back to the rear of her Audi. Opening the trunk, Little got out a liter bottle of water she kept for long surveillances. Taking a long pull from it, she couldn't help but wonder if she too was falling ill from cesium exposure. She felt as though something was happening but she couldn't decide if it was just an emotional response to what had happened or if something really was happening. She thought about what the ER doctor had said about Rialte and wondered if she was headed for a steel table somewhere in her future.
She suddenly thought of her husband, getting a vision of him as she had walked out the door this morning on her way to the overlook. She cursed loudly.
"Kelsey, you okay, girl?" "Yeah," Kelsey said, taking another swig from the water bottle. "I'm fine." "Good. I spoke to Agent Langer about your exposure. He says based on the short time you were exposed it shouldn't be a problem but you should still get checked out soon."
Closing the bottle of water, Little began looking down both ends of the alleyway they were in. She noticed that it ran for several blocks in both directions all the way down to Barham and that there were numerous dumpsters, all lined up for pickup by city garbage crews.
It then hit her, like a bolt of lightning. The rolled-up poster, the gun, the cesium carrier...everything. Just as she had told Knight and Mahne earlier, there was always a transfer. She had found the transfer. "Son of a bitch, Abby!" "What?" "Our guy, Rialte...he was a scavenger, a scrapper." Pointing to the numerous dumpsters, Kelsey continued. "Its' collection day. Every Dumpster's rolled to the curb and ready for pickup. Rialte's a scavenger, going through dumpsters and knew when the collections would be....and so did our killers, Abby!"
Pointing down the alley, Kelsey elaborated. "This alley, it goes all the way to Barham Avenue. Barham goes up to Lake Hollywood. Lake Hollywood goes up to the overlook. This murder never left the map page." "What about el-Fayed and Hamzi? Are you saying they just left the cesium in a dumpster?!?"
Hearing sirens in the distance, Little went on. "I'm saying we're back to looking at this as a homicide now, not as a missing cesium case. Besides, the cesium was a misdirection, a red herring. Whoever killed John Mills wanted us to look for the cesium first, solve the murder second, if at all." "In other words..." "el-Fayed and Hamzi were never near the cesium. They never were involved in this."
She walked over to the truck and grabbed the poster. Handing it to Hearns, Little said, "Rialte found this in the dumpster along with everything else." As she said that, several cars pulled into the alleyway. Little could see one of the agents getting out of the vehicles was Bill Alexander.
"Okay, so what does it mean?" Hearns asked. Suddenly, Little's knees buckled underneath her and she fell to the ground, throwing her arms out towards Hearns. "Little!" she said, grabbing hold of Little.
"Umm..I'm not feeling too good," Little said shakily. "I think I be...can you take me to my car?"
Putting Little's arm around her shoulders, Hearns helped her friend towards her Audi R8. "Where are the keys?" Hearns asked. Little pulled the keys from a pants pocket as Alexander got over to them.
"Abigail, what's wrong? What is it?" "Kelsey got exposed. The cesium's in the center console of that Toyota back there. Be careful, Bill. I'm going to take Kelsey to the hospital." "Alright," Alexander said. "Call me when you get there."
Little and Hearns kept walking towards Little's Audi. "Hang on, girl," Hearns said to Little. "Hang on, you hear me? Stay with me and we'll get you taken care of."
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Post by Webster on May 31, 2018 0:45:36 GMT -5
Chapter 18
The car jerked away as Hearns floored it out of the alley and back onto Cahuenga. "I'm going back to St. Joseph's Hospital, have them take a look at you. You just hang on there, Kelsey!" "Forget the hospital, Abby; I'm fine," Little replied. "Let's go back to the Mills residence." "What?!?" "Never mind the hospital, I'll get checked out later. Just go back to the Mills' residence and pronto!"
Slipping into the inner lane of Cahuenga Boulevard, Hearns floored the throttle and flipped the sirens and sidelights. "What's going on? What was that spell back there--" "That was to get you away from the others so I could talk to you. Alone. So I could check out this theory of mine and see if it could drive." "Check what out? Thanks, Kelsey. You realize what you just did? I thought I was helping you...now Alexander or one of the others will take the credit for finding the cesium. That was my crime scene back there, not yours!" "Don't fret, girl," Kelsey said, sitting up and reaching back for the rolled-up poster. "You can still take the credit for finding the cesium. You just might not want it, though."
Opening the poster up, Kelsey pointed to one of the yoga poses. "Look at one of the poses in particular," she said, pointing to one. Abby looked over for a moment before asking, "And your point is?" "Alison Mills does a lot of yoga. I could tell by the exercise mats in that alcove gym of theirs at the residence." "I noticed them also. And?" "Remember a discoloration on one of the walls, where it looked like something had been removed?" "Yeah, I remember." "Well, if I'm right, this poster should fit in that space. If it does, then hear out my theory on what's going on. If it doesn't, then you can take me to St. Joe's. Not before, though."
Hearns digested this for a moment before replying, "So, what are you saying, that Alison Mills conspired with known terrorists? That she had her husband killed so that they could get the cesium," all the while turning back and heading up towards Lake Hollywood. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but here goes. So, lay it out for me, Kelsey." "What I'm saying is that Alison Mills is involved but not with terrorists. The fact we found the cesium where we did proves that. Like you said, why would el-Fayed and Hamzi throw the cesium away? Once you answer that, then it should become clear that this wasn't a heist, it was a homicide, a straight-up murder. And that pose I was pointing to, take another glance at it, Abby. Tell me what it reminds you of."
Hearns glanced at the pose in question, dhanurasana, or the rocking bow. On the poster, the woman displayed had her arms behind her back, holding her ankles and creating the impression her body was rocking like a bow. It also looked as though the woman was hog-tied, minus restraints.
Before Hearns could say anything, they had arrived at the Mills residence. Both of them got out of the Audi and Little continued. "When we go inside, we'll see if this poster matches that space where the discoloration is. If it does, that means she was involved with whoever killed her husband. They took it 'cause they didn't anyone to see it and possibly find a connection between them." "That's a stretch, Kelsey." "Not when you see the forest where that particular tree was in, Abby." "Which you can see, of course." "You have a key to get inside?" "Yeah, right here," Abby said, unlocking the front door. "But she still gave us the name Moby. There's no conceivable way she could've known he was in this country. And on the overlook...your own witness says he heard the shooter call out to Allah before pulling the trigger--" "Bear with me, Abby, will ya'? Just put the poster in that space on the wall. If it matches, then hear me out, alright? If it doesn't then I'll drop my theory on the whole thing, okay?"
Taking the poster from Abby's outstretched hand, Little walked over to the alcove space where the Mills' had their small exercise space. Walking to where the discoloration was on the wall, she rolled out the poster and placed it on the wall. It matched, right down to where the tape used to place it on the wall had been removed from the poster. This confirmed to both of them that it was the same poster Alfonso Rialte had removed from that dumpster behind the print shop earlier. "Alright, Kelsey. I'll bite. Let's go back to the living room and you can lay out your theory on just what happened."
After they walked back to the living room, Kelsey laid out her theory on what had happened, pointing out several inconsistencies in the evidence...the poster, the cesium being in the dumpster, the misdirections pointing at Wassam al-Araki and at el-Fayed and Hamzi, the whole ball of wax. "Now, when you guys found out about Moby and his friend, did you guys go public with the info?" "No, we didn't. We kept it in-house, within the task force." "But you did notify anyone who could be at risk?" "Yeah," Hearns said. "Including John Mills. But still, Kelsey, Alison Mills said she overheard them mention the name Moby--" "There, you said she overheard them say that but think about it for a moment. What are the odds that she would've heard that name in reference to a terrorist your bureau didn't mention to the public was inside the United States? I'll tell you the odds, my friend...they don't exist." "So, you're saying she heard them from....who?"
"I'm getting to that," Little said. "Now, let's say it was someone within your task force. It had to be someone who had access to the info on Moby and the info on possible radiological threats within the country. Now, you said earlier that the FBI had briefed anyone who could be at risk a while back and that John Mills was one of those briefed. Who briefed him specifically?" "That's easy. Me and...no way, Kelsey. No way--" "Think a moment. You and your partner brief Dr. Mills and his wife about what's going on, the threats to radiological supplies and so forth. The partner takes an interest in the wife, but can't be outfront about it 'cause of the husband-" "Hang on, Kelsey, are you saying that--" "Let me finish, Abby. You and your partner, Bill Alexander, come out here to talk to them. Alexander takes a liking to Alison; they meet for coffee or for a quickie here and there. It builds over time and gets to where they have to decide the next step, where they go from there. Her leaving the husband or getting rid of him, one of the other. Either reason's good enough for most murders and with the husband's financial stakes, that provides motive right there, Abby. And that is what this case is about. It's not about terrorism, it's not about the missing cesium. It's about two of the oldest motives in the world, sex and money."
As Kelsey spoke, Abby continued shaking her head furiously. "Wait a second. I know Bill Alexander, known him for a few years now, Kelsey. He's married, with a wife and three adorable kids. He's what they call stable, boring and not interested--" "Hey, trust me, Abby, a woman like Alison Mills, most every man would be interested in. Even the boring ones."
Abby stood her ground. "Now listen, Kelsey. You're wrong about Bill Alexander, alright? Before today, he'd never heard of or met Alison Mills. He's been with the task force for three years but we've never been partners til' the beginning of this year."
Little was jolted by this bit of news. She'd assumed that Alexander and Hearns had been partners for a long time. "Go on, Abby." "Every twelve months or so, everyone in the West Coast TTF is assigned a new partner. That's been the routine since its' formation just after Sept. 11th. It's supposed to promote better team coordination or something like that. Bill's been my partner since January of this year." "Then who was your partner last year, Abby?" "Kelsey, my partner last year was Mike Clifton."
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Post by Webster on May 31, 2018 0:45:51 GMT -5
Chapter 19
Kelsey Little laughed at the news, but inside was shocked at the fact that she'd already encountered John Mills' killer twice, once at the house and then downtown. She was also shocked at the news that Alison Mills' partner in murder was Abby Hearns' former partner, Mike Clifton. "Wait, Clifton? Clifton?!? I had the killer handcuffed in this house just about five hours ago!"
Abby Hearns looked mortified at the thought that the Mills' murder was both an inside job and that her former partner was involved.
"You see how this shakes out, Abby?" Kelsey finished. "While we're still looking for Moby and his friend, Clifton and Alison can go on about their lives, secure in the knowledge that we're chasing ghosts." "And if we ever catch el-Fayed and Hamzi, Kelsey? They could deny this whole thing until Osama bin Laden's body floats to the top of the Indian Ocean and no one would believe them. That's what's so damned ingenious here...they'd be framed for a crime they never committed." "And it would've worked had Alfonso Rialte didn't go to that Dumpster. He doesn't go there, we would still be chasing Moby and Company." "So, what do we now, Kelsey?"
Little mused on that thought. "Prisoner's Dilemma. Put Clifton and Alison in separate rooms, hit them both with what we know and see who bites for a deal first. Odds are it'll be Alison who bites first. She'll break and probably give up Clifton, try to pin everything on him." "I agree. Clifton, for all his strengths', ain't that smart to begin with--"
Before she could finish, her cell buzzed. Moving away for a moment, she answered. "Yes?" Leaning over to Kelsey, she said, "It's Bill." "Ask him where Clifton is."
Hearns answered the call and filled Alexander in on what was happening and all, casually steering the conversation towards Clifton. "Bill, where's Mike Clifton? I wanted to talk to him about the altercation between him and Kelsey earlier today? I didn't like him attack--"
Kelsey watched her as Alexander told her where Clifton was. Her eyes lit up like saucers and Kelsey knew something was amiss. "When was that?"
She listened to Alexander some more then spoke. "Listen, I gotta' go, they're getting ready to release Kelsey from the ER. I'll call back as soon as I'm clear."
Hanging up, she wheeled around to Kelsey. "That's the second time I've lied to Bill today. He'll hate me for it." "What did he tell you?" "He said there's about twenty agents at that dumpster where the Toyota was at, the one the cesium was found in. Pretty much everyone came out from the downtown office to pitch in. Clifton volunteered to go pick up Jimmy Mendall, your witness, from the Beverly Hostel. No one had gotten around to that because of the radiation exposure at St. Joe's." "Did Clifton go alone?" "That's what Bill said." "When was this?" "'Bout thirty minutes ago."
Kelsey started bounding towards the door, Hearns right behind her. "Your friend Clifton's going to kill Mendall!" "I'm right behind you, girl." Hearns said as they ran to the Audi.
Little drove as they left the house. On the way there, Little got on the speakerphone to the watch commander at Hollywood Division and told him to send two patrol units to the hostel Code 3 to pick up the witness if he was there. Then she got dialed the hostel's front desk. "Hello?" "Danny? It's Lieutenant Little. I spoke to you this morning." "Yeah, what's up?" "I need you to do me a favor-" "Shoot, go ahead." "Has anyone checked in our Justin Matthews?" "Not since you and your colleagues left him here earlier." "Good. I need you to tell him to stay in his room; patrol units from Hollywood are headed there right now. I have reason to believe his life's in danger and he needs to stay in his room. Don't let anyone go up to see him, you hear me?" "I hear you, Lieutenant." As the speakerphone cut off, Little continued to drive towards the hostel when she thought, if Clifton left the cesium recovery a half-hour ago, he should already be at the hostel now...unless...
As they passed under the Cahuenga Tunnel, Kelsey floored the accelerator as hard as she could, then threw the Audi into a Texas U-turn across three lanes of traffic in front of oncoming traffic. Punching the throttle, the Audi fishtailed a second then began rocketing down Highland Avenue back towards Downtown. Meanwhile, Abby looked over at Little, her face ashen-white with fear. "What the hell are you doing, girl?" "Heading back downtown! The hostel's another misdirection, Abby. Who's the bigger threat, Mendall or Alison?" "The bigger--" "Alison's the bigger threat, Abby," Kelsey said, flicking the lights and sirens on so that traffic would clear in front of them. "With everyone out at the recovery site, now's his chance to get Alison out of the task force offices."
Traffic was moving pretty well, clearing a way for them as they rocketed towards downtown. Abby started dialing the task force numbers, getting more frustrated after each attempt. "I can't get a hold of anyone down there! There's usually at least one or two people there!" "Where the task force located at?" "The Million Dollar Theatre. Broadway and Third."
Turning off the siren, Little dialed a number on the speakerphone. Seconds later, Detective Knight's voice came over the speaker. "Taz, where are you and Reign?" "At One Parker. Forensics just got--" "Taz, you and Reign drop whatever you're doing and meet me at the Million Dollar Theatre, Broadway and Third. You know where it is?" "Yeah, we know, Lt." "Then get there Code 3, Taz. Right now." She turned the speakerphone off and turned the siren on once again.
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Post by Webster on May 31, 2018 0:46:05 GMT -5
Chapter 20
After an eternity in traffic, Little gunned the engine and turned onto Broadway in downtown. Killing the siren, she began slowing as they approached the offices' of the FBI's West Coast Terrorism Task Force, just three blocks ahead.
In its' heyday, the Million Dollar Theatre was part of a large and burgeoning Broadway District where Hollywood showcased its' premieres' in grand style. Although that era had long been eclipsed once the movie studios headed to Burbank, Century City and Hollywood itself, there was a renaissance taking root there and the theatre had once again begun showing top-budget movie premieres', while above the threatre was a 13-story office building which had been built into the back-end of the theatre.
"Good place for a supposed secret unit to have its' offices," Kelsey deadpanned as they drove past the theatre towards Third Street.
Hearns didn't respond, continuing in a vain effort to reach someone at the office. Finally she slapped the headrest in frustration. "I can't reach anyone, not even our secretary. She's usually the last to leave the office and almost always takes her lunch there." "Where's your offices located at?" "Eighth floor. We share the central part of it with ATF and DEA agents but it's our floor," Hearns replied, emphasizing the 'our' part. "There's a lounge area with two flat-screens, and some smaller rooms. My guess is that Alison's in one of those rooms." "How many agents are in the TTF?" "Twenty-seven, split between there and the federal building. But there's gotta' be someone up there; it's against task force policy to leave anyone alone there."
Turning onto Third, Kelsey stopped the Audi and both her and Hearns got out. Taz Knight and Klint Mahne, Kelsey's detectives, were already there, their vehicle parked next to a Ford Crown Vic that was likely an FBI vehicle. "Hey, guys," Kelsey said. "Either of you see Clifton?" "Who?" Mahne asked. "Agent Clifton, FBI. The guy I put on the floor this morning at the Mills residence." "Oh, the one Taz told me about," Mahne said. "No, we haven't." "It's his car," Hearns said, joining the others. "Taz, Reign, this is Abby Hearns, FBI. Abby, Taz Knight and Klint Mahne." The three shook hands.
"Well, if he's not here, he's up there," Little said. "How many stairwells in this building, Abby?" "Five," Hearns replied. "But he'll use this one, since it's in front of his car," pointing to a set of double-beige doors that they walked over to. "What's going on, Lt.?" Taz asked. "Clifton's our killer," Little said. "He's up--" "What? Clifton? The guy you cuffed up this morning--" "Yeah, same one. No time for twenty questions, so listen. Clifton's the shooter and he's up there along with Alison Mills. Both of them were involved in John Mills' murder and we need to arrest both of them as quickly as possible, alright? Now Hearns and I are going to go up and get them; I need both you and Reign to watch the exit here. If Maxwell comes out these doors, take him down, you hear me? Take him down!" "Got it, Lt." "Get patrol units down here Code 3, the minute we head up, alright." "Understood, boss," Taz said, opening the door to his Challenger and grabbing a rover. As he did, Kelsey put her around his head. "Stay frosty, Taz, alright?"
Both Little and Hearns began walking towards the theatre's main entrance. Striding through the lobby, they walked over to the elevator. Entering almost as soon as they pressed the button, Hearns used a key card to access the eighth floor. Sensing Little was deep in thought, Hearns looked over at her. "Now what?" Hearns asked. "This thing have a bell, a buzzer to announce our arrival?" Little asked her. "Yeah, a bell whenever you reach the floor," Hearns said. "Oh, brilliant," Little said. "We'll be sitting ducks."
Little reached back and pulled her Kimber Custom TLE out of her holster and charged a round; Hearns did likewise with her Sig-Sauer P228. Little pushed Hearns to one side of the elevator while she took the other side. She raised her pistol as the elevator reached eight and a small bell rang, announcing its' presence. The doors opened, exposing Little first. Nothing.
Hearns pointed to the left, indicating that their offices were in that direction. Little got into a combat shooter stance and bolted from the elevator, ready to confront whoever was there. Again, nothing. Hearns followed suit and the pair started moving down the hallway, Little to the left, Hearns just behind and to the right. Slowly, they made their way to the task force offices, a den of loft-style cubicle offices with a central space.
As they moved further in, Little saw what looked like a man sitting at an office desk, his head back and his eyes open, the front of his shirt seemingly covered with a crimson bib. But Little knew it was blood covering the man, who'd been shot several times in the chest.
Pointing over to the man, Little motioned to Hearns, who continued to follow her into the main office. Just as they rounded the corner into the office, they saw Alison Mills sitting along a wall, facing them. Little crouched beside her. Alison's eyes were open but dead. A pictol was on the floor between her legs and the wall above her was splayed with blood and brain matter.
Standing up, Little surveyed the room, understanding what it looked like. To the outside person, it would appear like Mills had taken the agent's gun, shot him to death and then turned the gun on herself. No note, no reason or explanation, but under the circumstances it was the best Clifton could come up with in what little time he had to set it up.
Little turned to Hearns, who had lowered her pistol down beside her. "He's still here, Abby," Little said. "Stay alert."
As she began to walk over to the warren of smaller task force offices, she saw movement behind a set of electrical racks. Raising her service piece, she scanned the area behind the racks, looking for something. Suddenly, Clifton made a break for the stairwell, his weapon pointed back at them. "Clifton," Little yelled. "Stop!"
Clifton began firing at them as he reached the stairwell. The window behind Little shattered and she could feel glass spraying behind her. Both her and Hearns returned fire but Clifton was already headed down the stairs.
"Abby?" Little called out. "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm okay," Hearns yelled back. "Where does that stairwell exit at?" "Down to where his car was at!"
Little ran over to where the staircase was, Hearns right behind her. Getting her Blackberry out, she got on the rover to Knight and Mahne. Knight answered as she began running down the stairs. "Clifton's on his way down to you guys!"
Switching off the rover, Little could hear Clifton's steps a few floors down and feared she was already too far behind him.
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Post by Webster on May 31, 2018 0:46:20 GMT -5
Chapter 21
Little covered the stairwells as fast as she could, running down them two and three steps at a time; she could hear Hearns following her as she proceeded down. Then she heard the sound of Clifton slamming through the exit doors at the bottom of the stiarwell, followed by the sounds of shots. There were so many in rapid succession that Kelsey couldn't make out who was firing.
Fifteen seconds later she hit the doors, running through them and exiting out onto the sidewalk. Turning, she saw Knight leaning against his car, Mahne wrapping a bandage around his upper left arm. Both were holding their weapons in the air and there was a thick acrid smell around. A red rose of blood was in full bloom around Knight's left shoulder. Traffic was stopped in both directions and passersby were scrambling for safety.
"Both Mahne and I shot him," Knight yelled. "He went up that way," pointing towards Third and the nearby Third St. Tunnel. Stepping close to them, Little could see patrol units arriving but they were too late. Kelsey and Abby would have to get Clifton themselves. "Alright, Klint," Little said, motioning for Mahne to listen, "get the patrol units to seal off this street." Leaning closer, she added, "both of you did good, you hear me? Help will be with you in a minute, okay?"
Knight nodded as Mahne yelled over to the patrol units down the street. Little turned back to Hearns, who had emerged from the stairwell, a smidge of blood on her face. "This way," Little said, pointing up Third. "Clifton's hit."
They began heading up Third in an overwatch formation, picking up Clifton's trail almost immediately. By the looks of it, Clifton was losing a lot of blood, making it easy to track him. When they got to the corner of Third and Hill, though, there was no blood on the sidewalk, causing them to lose the trail. Looking around, Little couldn't see where Clifton had gone until she saw a commotion coming from the Grand Central Market. "That way," Kelsey yelled over to Hearns.
They ran quickly towards the market. Picking up the blood trail again, they started inside. Grand Central Market was a two-story building similar to the Fairfax Farmers' Market but with more food and produce places inside. There was a strong smell of coffee and food emanating from inside that wafted through every part of the market. It was crowded and noisy and made it hard for Little to track Clifton.
Suddenly, there were shouts from directly ahead and three shots were fired in the air, causing an immediate stampede towards the exits. Seeing they would get crushed by the onslaught, Little grabbed Hearns by the waist and got both of them behind a broad concrete pillar, letting the stampede pass by without getting caught in it.
The market now emptied of people, Little looked around but couldn't see Clifton anywhere. Then she picked up movement near a cold case that fronted into a butcher shop. Looking again, Little could see Clifton's face; the man was on the ground, his back against one of the butcher cases.
"He's up in that butcher case," Kelsey whispered to Hearns. "Go to the right and down that aisle over there. You'll come up along his right." "What about you, Kelsey?" "I'll head straight on towards him." "We could wait for backup." "No time. We take him down now. Ready?" "Wait. Let's switch. You go down the right side and I'll come up at him."
Little knew it was a better plan because Hearns knew Clifton. It also meant Hearns would be in greater danger than Little would be. "You sure?" "Yeah, Kelsey." "Alright, then. Let's go."
They separated and began approaching Clifton's location. Quickly heading down a concessionary aisle, Little got into position flanking Clifton to the right and allowing her to see Hearns move in towards Clifton. Getting to within thirty feet of Clifton, Little could see he was hurt badly, his shirt soaked through with blood. Then she heard Hearns' voice, her Texas twang in full effect. "Mike? Mike? It's me, Abby Hearns. Let me get some help in here."
Looking around the corner, Little could see Hearns standing out in the open, her gun down by her side as Clifton spoke. "There's no help, Abigail. It's too late for me." "No it's not," Hearns replied. "Now give it up, Clifton. You're surrounded." Looking over, Little could see that Clifton had a clean shot at Hearns if he wanted to take it, even though there were several angled glass cases between them.
"C'mon, Michael," Hearns said, "Give it up. Don't end it this way." "Got no choice," Clifton said, coughing deeply. "Son of a bitch, those bastards got me good," coughing deeply again.
"Mike, let me come in there," Hearns said. "I want to help, okay?" "No, you come in and I'll--" Clifton's words were lost as he took several potshots at both Hearns and Little, more to annoy them than to wound them. Lowering his weapon, Clifton started laughing, his laughter racked with pain and deep with what sounded like blood in his lungs. "I think I just killed a ribeye," he said weakly. "It was...it was all her, Abby. Alison, she wanted him dead. I just wanted her, you know? That's all, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She wanted him dead and I couldn't do anything..."
Little stepped in closer, but Clifton hadn't yet noticed her. She moved in closer as Clifton spoke. "Abby?" "Yes, Mike?" Abby said. "Tell them...tell them I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all this." "Mike," Abby replied, "you can tell them yourself."
As Little watched, Clifton brought his pistol up and placed the muzzle under his chin, pulling the trigger without hesitating. The impact snapped his head back and sent a spray of blood up along the case door. The gun dropped onto the concrete floor and he slumped onto the door, lying very much as Alison Mills had back at the task force offices.
Hearns came around the corner and stood next to Little as they both looked at the dead agent. Neither said anything. Little looked at her Rolex; it was past one in the afternoon. The case, from start to conclusion, had taken about twelve hours. The final tally was six dead, one from radiation poisoning, along with one wounded.
Then there was herself. Little couldn't help but wonder if she would be part of the tally by the time it was all over. She felt alright but then again, so had Alfonso Rialte when he was exposed to the cesium. She looked over at Hearns, who had a smear of blood running down her cheek. "Tell you what," Little said to her. "Let's both get checked out, shall we?"
Hearns looked over and smiled sadly. "Throw in the Bobbsey Twins outside and you got a deal."
Leaving Hearns inside with Clifton, Little began walking back towards the Million Dollar Theatre to check on her charges. As she was walking over there, she could see patrol units arriving at the market to secure the scene and block traffic. She felt it best to let them secure the crime scene inside and at the theatre.
When she got back to the theatre, Knight was sitting in the back of an ambulance, holding his arm as one of the EMTs' worked on him. "How ya' doing, Taz?" Little asked. "One bullet caught me in the upper arm, a second in the left shoulder," Knight said, grimacing. "Klint caught one in the forearm--" "It was nothing, Lt.," Mahne said, holding up a bandaged right forearm, "just a flesh wound." "Well, get it checked out anyway," Little said, sitting down on the bumper of her Audi. "What happened in there, Lt.?" Knight asked.
Little explained everything that had occurred and told them that Clifton had killed himself as both her and Hearns had closed in on him. "Hell of a way to go, boss," Mahne said. "Cornered like that and all."
Little nodded, her thoughts carrying her away from downtown, down the streets and up the hills back towards the overlook, where the last thing John Mills saw on this earth were the lights of the city spread before him in a shimmering image. It probably looked to Mills as if it were the lights of heaven.
But Little thought it didn't really matter whether you died cornered in a butcher shop or on an overlook glimpsing the lights of heaven. None of that mattered, she thought. In the end, we all have a date with the Grim Reaper, a date we all will face someday. Some are closer to it than others, some fight with all their being while others never see it coming but they all face death in the end.
The thing is to fight it, Little thought to herself, fight it with everything you can. Always fight...always fight.
One of the EMT's called over to Little. "We're heading to USC, Lieutenant." "Alright," she replied to the EMT before saying to Knight as he climbed in the back of the ambulance, "I'll meet you there in a little while, okay?", turning back around as a patrol sergeant walked over towards her. It never ends, she quietly said to herself before taking her jacket off and briefing the sergeant on what had happened.
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