The Justice Game

92

Rafael Johansen flicked open the switchblade and held the edge of the blade next to Kelly’s ankle. “They say that slitting the Achilles tendon is the most painful thing that can happen to a human being,” Rafael said, businesslike. “That tendon is like an incredibly strong piece of elastic, connecting the foot to the calf muscle. When it’s snapped, the calf muscles just pull the whole ligament in and curl it up toward the knee. The foot just kind of dangles at the end of the leg, held loosely in place by skin and the bone socket.”

Jason saw the look of terror on Kelly’s face, sweat covering her forehead, her eyes wide with a combination of fear and rage. She caught Jason’s eye and gave a small but defiant shake of the head. Then she squirmed and kicked with all her might.

Rafael jerked her back into place and pinned her shoulders and upper body to the floor. “Try that again, and I’ll cut your face instead.”

Jason cursed at Rafael and promised to say whatever the man wanted. “If you hurt her, so help me…”

Rafael laughed again. “So help you what? You going to give me another stirring legal argument? Maybe talk me to death?”

“You win,” Jason said. “Give me my phone.”

Rafael grinned. “Nope. It doesn’t work quite that way. Instead, we’ll want you to speak into this little digital recorder that Tony has. Once you get the message right, we’ll make the phone call and use the recorder to leave the message. Takes away the margin for error, wouldn’t you say?”

Jason knew Rafael would somehow make sure the cops found Kelly’s cell phone and Jason’s BlackBerry. Or maybe he was counting on the fact that Justice Inc. monitored Jason’s calls, that the FBI would find recordings of those calls when they executed their search warrant. Either way, Jason would be establishing a perfect cover for these men.

Tony stood in front of Jason and took out the recorder. He pointed his gun at Jason’s knee. “It’s not quite the same as slitting the Achilles tendon, but having a kneecap blown out hurts a little, too. Let’s make sure we get the message right the first time.”

“It’s very simple,” Rafael called out. “Just tell her to meet you and Andrew Lassiter at First Landing State Park. Plans have changed. Come immediately.”

Jason stared at the recorder, feeling incredibly helpless. Either way, he was going to die. Did he have enough guts not to go along with the cover-up?

Kelly answered the question for him. Without warning, she kicked again and rolled away from Johansen. She tried to stand but with her ankles taped fell back on her side. Rafael reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back toward him. “Feisty,” he said, waving the blade in front of her face. “It’s a shame to ruin such a pretty face.”

He flicked the knife toward her just as Jason heard the blast of a gun and watched Rafael’s arm jerk backward, away from Kelly, the knife flying from his hand. The shot distracted Tony, and Jason lurched into him, head-butting the big man and forcing him backward.

Another series of shots rang out, three of them, so close together they sounded almost like one explosion. The bullets ripped into Rafael, and he collapsed backward in a heap.

From behind Jason, a fraction of a second later, another series of bullets flew, exploding into the head and chest of Tony. He was dead before he hit the floor.

As quickly as it had started, it was over.

Jason hardly dared breathe. “Are there any more?” Melissa Davids shouted from the entrance to Jason’s left.

“I think we’re done,” Case McAllister said, limping up from behind Jason. He grabbed the flashlight and, along with Melissa, did a quick search of the theater, guns drawn as they went from row to row like a couple of trained detectives.

When they finished, Case came down to help Jason, who had buckled to the floor.

“You all right?” Case asked.

“Not really.”

Melissa knelt next to Kelly, using Johansen’s knife to cut the duct tape from around Kelly’s ankles. Next, with the gentleness of a mother, Melissa peeled off the duct tape holding Kelly’s gag.

“Thank God,” Kelly said, her face a mixture of relief and tears. She leaned into Melissa Davids, her hands still cuffed behind her back. Melissa held her for a moment.

Jason watched the women as Case searched through the pockets of the dead men for the handcuff keys.

“I’m not sure how much we were planning on charging for those GPS options on our guns,” Case said over his shoulder. “But whatever it was, we oughta double it.”

A few minutes later, after Case had unlocked the handcuffs, the SWAT team burst through the theater doors. “Hands on your heads! Freeze!”

“That’s it. Now take two steps back away from your guns.”

“Glad you guys could join the party,” Melissa Davids said.