Dead Shot by Jack Patterson (adventure books to read .TXT) 📕

door slam. He ditched his morning coffee routine. Gold needed no adrenaline rush; panic and fear made coffee seem like a calming agent. After waiting up late into the night to hear word on the capture of the two reporters, Gold had fallen asleep in his chair.

Gold dialed Yukon’s cell number, hoping to get something he hadn’t received all night – an answer. The call went straight to voice mail. Gold hung up, realizing that his most trusted ally had vanished and had no intention of ever calling him back. He then called Sheriff Jones to get an update.

“Sheriff, got any news for me?”

“Well, we’re still searching for—”

“Still searching? You haven’t found those two yet? They’re just simpleton reporters! You should have brought them in a long time ago. Put a $250,000 reward out on them – that’ll get you some help!”

“Now, Mayor, just calm down. We’ve got some good men out there. They just need a little bit of time. We’re tracking everything we can to locate them. Those two will make a mistake soon enough.”

“You just remember, Sheriff, that if I go down, you’re going down with me.”

“No need for idle threats. We’ve had close calls before. Once we catch them, there won’t be any corroborating evidence. You do have their equipment, right?”

“Got it right here. It was the only thing Yukon did right last night.”

“Well, just sit tight. I’ll call you when we’ve apprehended them. My men have been out looking all night. They’ll find them.”

Gold hung up and threw his phone into his chair, running his hands through his hair.

This should’ve been over a long time ago! How did it come to this?

He sat back down, wondering if he might need to begin getting his flight bag together. The thought of running made him ill. He had grown to love his wife and kids. He never expected the ultimate cover for his past life of crime to become such a burden in his new ventures. But they were. And it made him more patient than he would’ve been in the past.

Twelve more hours and then I’m out of here.

It was time for Gold to head to the office, act normal, do his job.

***

Mercer sat in his patrol car 15 minutes north of Statenville. He was tired and needed a nap. His eyes were almost asleep when another communication from dispatch woke him up again. Based on the nature of the message, Mercer knew Gold was crawling all over the Sheriff – it was more motivation talk to find Cal and Kelly.

Mercer was growing tired of this. He decided to call Cal again.

***

“I’m sorry, but we just can’t run your story,” Dave Youngman told the two reporters sitting across from him.

Cal sighed and slumped. Without the protection of the press, life was going to get complicated – if there was even a life to return to in Statenville. But he decided not to let the news defeat him.

“Is there anything else we can get that would improve the chances of you running this story?” Cal asked.

“Yeah, there has to be something,” Kelly added.

“Well, a confession would be nice,” said Youngman, smiling. “Seriously, other than that, we need something besides your anonymous sources. I only trust you because Guy told me to trust you – but if you can’t even tell me who your anonymous sources are, I’m going to have a hard time defending you if we get questioned about it. Get me something that proves that you’re not just two crazy conspiracy theorists. Prove the conspiracy.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Cal said, standing up to leave. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Youngman.”

Cal took two strides toward the door to show himself out. Kelly followed.

“Call me if you get something else, Cal,” Youngman said. “I do think you’ve got the makings of a great story – but you’re just not there yet.”

Cal turned toward Youngman and nodded. He thought the most dangerous part of this adventure was over. But apparently, there was still work to do, still a criminal to take down – and he and Kelly only had each other.

Chapter 62

When Cal’s phone rang, he didn’t recognize the number. As he walked out of the lobby doors of The Tribune office, he thought about not answering it for a moment, fearing that some government agency might be trying to track him right now. But the curiosity was too much for him.

“Hello?”

“Cal, is that you?”

“Yes – who is this?”

“It’s Mercer from the Statenville Sheriff’s Department. Don’t hang up – just hear me out.”

“OK, make it quick, but I’ve done nothing wrong and I’m not coming in to face some trumped up charges.”

“Well, that’s kind of why I’m calling. I want to help you.”

“I’m listening.”

“OK, I know that Mayor Gold was trying to kill you and Kelly last night. Is she with you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s important. I need both of you to help me catch Gold.”

“Catch Gold? You? What for?”

“Well, Cal, I’m not exactly who I appear to be. I’m actually in deep cover with Buddy Walker, God rest his soul.”

“What? Walker’s dead?”

“Yeah, the body count is getting unusually high around here – and you know Gold wanted to add you to that number, right?”

“Yeah, so get to your point. I’m losing patience here.”

“OK, listen. I know you’re trying to write a story on all of this, but I want to help you win a Pulitzer.”

Cal laughed. “OK, that’d be nice, but I’m willing to settle for something unusual for my clips file.”

“How about Gold confessing to murder?”

“Murder? Who did he kill?”

“Walker, for starters. But he also killed someone else you know...”

Cal’s heart stopped. There was only one person – other than the woman he was standing next to – that would’ve motivated him to risk his life to catch Gold. Then Mercer uttered his name.

“Guy Thompson.”

Cal dropped to the ground. The phone fell out of his hand, too, spinning on the concrete below with the same speed as his racing mind.

How