Goddess of Justice by Dwayne Clayden (mobi ebook reader TXT) 📕

“Those are the only two options?”

“Yes.”

“At home you always lock it up?”

“Yes.”

Sadie leaned toward Brad. “So, on your hip or in a safe.”

“Yes.”

“At work, it is only on your hip?”

Brad rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

Sadie pressed, “Never in your desk?”

Brad slammed his palms on the steering wheel. “No. Sadie, let this go.”

“A little late to turn yourself in. Griffin is still pissed he let you walk away.”

“He’ll get over that,” Brad said.

“You hope.”

Brad leaned into the steering wheel. “I take the heroin and make the trade. Heroin and me, for Michael.”

“Are you serious?” Sadie gasped. “He’ll kill you and Michael and have four kilos of heroin. That’s your plan.”

“If I deliver the drugs, then I’ll always know where they are. I can rescue Michael and arrest the sick bastard.”

“The killer or killers will take the drugs, kill you, and then kill Michael. That’s a stupid plan.”

“It’s the one I’m working on. I have no intention of getting killed.”

“It won’t be as simple as setting the heroin on a park bench, and when they grab it, you make the arrest. Whoever has Michael will make you run around the city until they know you’re alone, then they’ll still have Michael, but also have you and the drugs.”

“I won’t be alone. I’ll have TSU close by.”

“Oh, brilliant plan. Bet the kidnapper never figured you’d get your buddies to back you up.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Sadie snorted. “You have no idea what you’ll be walking into. Maybe one guy, maybe five or ten. Archer confiscated your guns.”

“They took the ones they knew about. The present from Annie for Sissy was two guns and ammunition. I’m using my older TSU Hi-Power and a CZ75, I uh, had as a spare.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “The kidnappers search you and take your guns. Then a strip search, beat the shit out of you, then kill you. They’ll have the heroin and Michael is no longer needed. He dies. They never find your bodies. But we know they got the heroin because we see more overdoses and additional heroin deaths.” She rubbed her eye and rested her head against the window. “Did I miss anything?”

Brad cocked his head to the side. “That covers it. Except in my version I come out with Michael and the heroin, and the killer is dead.”

“You live in a dream world. Or have a death wish.”

Brad dropped Sadie back at the TV station and swung out onto Banff Coach Road, heading east. He’d been frustrated with Sadie’s questions about his gun. It was a part of him. He’d be lost without it. In fact, when he went out without the gun, he felt a part of him was missing. He couldn’t think of a time he’d ever forgotten his gun for work, or any moment when he realized he’d set it down. It wasn’t like a wallet or car keys. He always knew where his gun was.

Sadie was right, though. Ballistics on his gun was enough to convict him. Twenty-five to life for the pimp and his bodyguard, the three asshats at the tattoo parlor, and who knew how many more murders they’d attribute to him.

He followed Bow Trail past Shaganappi Golf Course toward downtown. The kidnapping didn’t fit into the other crimes—all murders, though Vinnie Bevan was barely hanging on. Was he wrong? Was this simply a crime wave? Unrelated crimes, murders and an abduction. Was he creating conspiracy theories where there weren’t any? Nope. Most of the crimes were linked to him. No one else.

The evidence pointed to him. Sure, some of it was circumstantial—except for his gun. Last year he had the new Hi-Power fine-tuned to his specifications by a gunsmith. He’d also had the barrel replaced since he’d fired thousands of rounds through the original barrel. That was the one time it had been out of his control.

He still spent a lot of time at the range and fired thousands of rounds each year. An hour at the range would be soothing. At the range—

His head jerked to his rearview mirror as a siren sounded. An unmarked police vehicle had pulled in behind him. Shit. Traffic cop. Brad’s initial reaction was to hit the gas and flee. That might work in his Trans Am. Not a chance in the truck. He pounded his palms on the steering wheel and pulled to the curb. He rolled down his window and waited. Eyes ahead, he hoped it was merely a traffic violation for the expired plates. However, once he gave his driver’s license, backup would be called. He’d be surrounded and arrested. He was sitting in his truck in his last few moments of freedom.

The crunch of boots in the snow approached his door. Brad glanced over his shoulder. His eyes widened. He knew who the killer was.

Sadie shook the snow off her red parka and stomped her feet. Her toes were frozen. Was it too much to ask that the truck had heat? The world appeared upside down. A decent cop was being hunted for murders she didn’t believe he committed. She had the inside scoop on the story of the decade, and she didn’t report it. She glanced out the door at the retreating truck. One man against the world. Then a dark van passed in front of the entrance doors and followed Brad out of the TV station’s exit. Oh, shit.

It wasn’t a marked police van, but something about it shouted cops. Had the cops figured out about her and Brad? Was it the Internal Affairs detectives?

Brad always said there was no such thing as coincidences. She had no way to contact him. Even if she could, it would be too late. There was one chance. She raced down the hall to her office.

Chapter Sixty-Four

Finally, Dice’s patience paid off. Sadie Andrus sprinted out of the TV station and into an old truck. The vehicle pulled away from the curb.

Dice let the truck get several blocks ahead and then followed. Instead of