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

could this happen? This is my fault. He was the only one protecting me.

Only the ambient sounds of Fourth Street were being transmitted back to Mercer.

“What’s wrong, Cal?” Kelly asked, kneeling beside him and placing her hand on his back. “What happened?”

Cal looked down and shook his head. “They killed Guy.”

Kelly began sobbing. Cal finally released some tears, too. They shared a short embrace and wiped back their tears.

“Kelly, we’ve got to nail Gold. He can’t get away with this.”

She nodded. “Whatever we need to do, I’m in.”

Cal had almost forgotten about Mercer until he heard a voice coming from his phone, which was now a foot away on the sidewalk.

“Cal? Cal? You there?”

Cal slowly picked up the phone.

“I’m here.”

“Listen, Cal. I’m really sorry for your loss. I know Guy was a great man and a good newspaper editor.”

“He was an amazing man – and I’m not going to let his death be for naught. How do we get Gold to confess to murder?”

“OK, great. Well, I was thinking that I could bring you two in so he wouldn’t suspect anything. Then, I would call him over and you could have a private moment with him, get him to tell you he did it. Then I would turn around and arrest him and we’d all get what we wanted.”

“Why are you doing this, Mercer?”

“Well, I like you, Cal. And I like Kelly. And I really liked Walker, my partner. I wouldn’t want his name to be tarnished forever. What he did was wrong, lacing those drugs that ended up killing those boys. But he was just trying to do the right thing. I wouldn’t want his relatives to think he was a killer instead of a man who fought for justice.”

“Fair enough. Sounds like a good plan. You’ll have to come get us. We’ll be at the FBI offices in Salt Lake City.”

“I’m on my way. I’ll call you in two hours when I get there.”

Cal hung up and exhaled. He was tired. And angry. And broken. His mentor was murdered all because Cal couldn’t stop with this story. Guilt crept over him. Cal started crying again.

“It’s all my fault,” Cal said, trying to regain his composure.

Kelly teared up again as well. “No, it’s not, Cal. You can’t blame yourself for what one monster did to Guy. He chose to help us. We lost a good friend today, but let’s think of him as a man who sacrificed his life for the truth to be known – and let’s figure out a way to survive and tell this story so we can properly honor him.”

Cal nodded. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand and got up. He would have to put the full gamut of his emotions on hold. He needed to talk with Mr. Youngman.

Chapter 63

“Do you think this will work?” Kelly asked Cal.

“I hope so,” he said. “It’s the best idea that has come to me.”

Cal and Kelly went over their own plan as they waited for Mercer to arrive. They trusted him. What other motivation could he have? But Cal was growing up fast. His cub status as a reporter was transitioning to veteran with every twist and turn during his efforts to gather everything he needed to write an accurate story. Cal hoped he was right about Mercer, but he couldn’t ignore any inklings that said otherwise. Hopefully, his precautionary measures would be enough, should it come to that.

Cal’s heart remained heavy, even as he stole a few glances at Kelly. She was beautiful and he wanted to think about a future with her – but he couldn’t. The grief over losing his mentor was too strong, the wound too fresh. Once he did justice for Guy, maybe he could dream of a future with Ms. Mendoza. But for now, there was only one thing he had space in his mind for – catching Gold and telling a story that was so unbelievable Cal scarcely believed it himself. But he knew it was real. People he knew were dead, and he had escaped with his life – so far.

Mercer finally arrived, pulling his squad car to the edge of the designated street curb so Cal and Kelly could get in. They both climbed into the backseat.

***

The two-hour drive back to Statenville was rather uneventful, except for the speed at which it was made. Mercer again offered his condolences to Cal and Kelly over Guy’s death. Then Mercer began going over the plan, making sure everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to do.

Mercer explained how he had easily won the trust of Mayor Gold, who became excited when he heard Mercer had captured the pair thanks to a random tip from Salt Lake City. That was far from the truth, but Cal didn’t mind. Cal loathed lying and preferred Mercer to do such dirty work. In a short time, Cal knew he was going to have to deceive Gold. But he was confident he could pull it off. This was for Guy.

Ten minutes outside of Statenville, Mercer decided to talk through their plan once more. Cal and Kelly went through it and knew exactly how everything was going to play out. Mercer told them they were both ready. Kelly reached over and squeezed Cal’s leg just above his knee.

“You can do this,” she said.

“I know I can. I’m going to make Guy proud.”

Cal and Kelly both began growing nervous, even though they knew everything they were supposed to do. Cal tried to crack his knuckles, which he found more difficult since he was wearing handcuffs. He took a deep breath in an attempt to remain calm.

Suddenly, Mercer locked all the doors and jerked the steering wheel, making a sharp right turn away from Statenville. The plan had changed.

***

Mercer’s plan changed hadn’t changed that suddenly. It only changed when he realized that Cal and Kelly knew everything – and there weren’t going to be any heroes in their story. This was unfortunate for Cal and