Hell's Corner

CHAPTER 93

Six hours later Stone and Chapman had moved to an empty building across the street. Filthy mattresses and dirty syringes signaled this for a “prick palace” for addicts, although it didn’t look like anyone had been there in a while. They’d entered through a rear door and settled themselves in for however long this would take. Stone opened his rucksack and handed Chapman a bottle of water, an apple and a hunk of hard bread.

“You know how to show a girl a good time, I’ll give you that,” was her only comment as she started in on her “meal.”

A bit later Stone’s attention was engaged when the front door of the building opposite them opened and Ming and another man came out, walked down the street and turned left. He immediately relayed this to Finn.

“You want me to follow them?” Finn asked.

“No. At this hour of the night they’re probably going for something to eat. They’ve been in there all day. You think you can get a peek inside one of the windows? If our intel is right, there should be ten others in there plus Friedman. But I’d like to get a more accurate head count.”

“The place is mostly dark, but I’ve got a Gen Four NV scope with me.”

“Be careful, Harry. These guys know what they’re doing.”

“Roger that.”

Twenty minutes later Finn reported back. “Got two sentries on the first floor, southwest corner. Assuming cocked and locked though no visible weapons. The others must be on the upper floors. That’s the best I can do with the scope.”

Knox got on the phone. “Hey, Oliver, what would you say if I could get my hands on a TI?”

“A thermal imager? How?”

“I know people here. Hell, I should have brought one with me.”

“How fast can you get it?”

“One hour.”

“Do it.”

Within one hour two things happened. Knox returned with his thermal imager, and Ming and his colleague came back and went inside the building. They were carrying large bags of what looked to be fast food.

Two minutes later Knox buzzed Stone.

Knox said, “Okay, I just hit the building as best I could. This device is rated for penetration of most construction materials, so brick, rebar and concrete block are no problem.”

“How many are you seeing?”

“I’ve got six images, all with SBAs,” said Knox, referring to soft body armor. “It blocks the thermal signal so it stands out pretty prominently.”

Stone looked perplexed. “Just six? You’re sure?”

“Wait a sec. Okay, now I see it, third floor I’ve got a thermal with no SBA.”

“Gender?”

“From the silhouette looks to be female.”

“Friedman.”

“Probably. But I’ve never met the lady. No way to do a positive ID from the TI anyway.”

“Thanks, Joe, you and Harry sit tight.” He looked at Chapman.

She said, “Okay, we have the players lined up, site locked down. Do we go in shooting or do we call in official reinforcements?”

“Some reason you keep harping on that theme?”

“I could say I was concerned we’ll all get shot. Well, I am concerned about that. But I’m more worried that some of us will be tempted to do things that we might officially regret later. Well, I’m worried that one of us will be tempted.” She looked at him expectantly.

“You can leave right now. No one’s stopping you.”

“It wasn’t an ultimatum on my part, merely a passive comment.”

“I don’t get you sometimes.”

“Just sometimes? I’m disappointed.”

“How many weapons do you have?”

“My Walther and a Glock. Four extra clips. You?”

“Enough.”

“A shotgun, MP-5 or TEC-9 would be nice in close-quarters combat.”

“Let’s hope the other guys don’t think that way.”

“You know they’ll be loaded.”

“Maybe, maybe not. You can’t exactly walk through the city with an arsenal without getting some attention from the NYPD.”

“Maybe they stashed it there earlier.”

“Maybe they did.”

“We can still call in backup.”

“We don’t even know if Friedman is in there for certain.”

“But at least six bad guys are. In a building they’re not supposed to be in.”

“Well, for all we know they leased the space and have every right to be there. And in case you’ve forgotten, we’re not supposed to be here either. Joe and Harry are doing me a favor. And I’m unofficial. You’re the only one with a badge and it has the queen on it. It would take about six months to explain it all to the boys in blue and we’d probably stay in lockup that whole time.”

“Well, the ‘queen’ has revoked my authority but I see your dilemma. So what do we do now?”

“I expect they believe a zig is coming.”

“So we zag?”

“We zag.”

Stone picked up his phone. “Get ready,” he told Knox. “We go in one hour.”

The zag did not exactly go according to plan. In fact it did not come close to going according to plan. The first indication was that neither the front nor rear doors were locked. Finn and Knox collapsed the rear entry and Stone and Chapman the front entrance at two a.m. precisely. The guards stationed there were asleep. Guns pointed at their heads woke them, but they took their time about it. By the time Stone’s team hit the top floors the four other men were up and stretching.

The second indication of their plan being unsuccessful was that none of the men even had their guns in their hands. The last clue was that the woman on the third floor wasn’t Friedman. She was older by about twenty years and appeared to be drunk. At least they couldn’t wake her. She snored on.

Thoroughly frustrated, Stone let his anger get the better of him. He grabbed Ming by the neck and slammed him up against the wall. “Care to tell me where Friedman is?”

Ming’s smile was both deliberate and superior. He replied coolly, “She anticipated your visit.”

Stone slowly released the man. Ming looked around at the other three, their guns pointed at him and his team. The woman snored loudly in the corner on an old cot.

“She anticipated me? Me specifically?”

Ming nodded. “John Carr,” he said. He pointed at Stone. “That is you. She gave us your picture. Even though you are disguised. The eyes give you away.”

Stone glanced at Finn, then Knox and finally Chapman before bringing his gaze back to Ming.

“Why all this?” asked Stone.

“She pays us big to come here, stay in an old building, walk around, be seen. No fighting. Easiest gig I’ve ever been on.”

Stone swore under his breath. He’d been played again.

Ming interpreted his look and his smile deepened. “She tells me you are smart. That you will not believe she has gone on the train to Miami.” He paused and added, “A desert island?”

“Opposite,” said Stone.

“Right,” replied Ming. “When we go on a job it is usually with more cover. This job, I buy lunch with my own credit card, because she tells me to.”

Another red flag that I missed because I wanted her so badly. She used every instinct I had against myself.

“To what purpose?” said Stone.

“A distraction.”

Stone thought, Two teams. Asian and Russian. I thought they were for the inner and outer walls. The fallback contingency. But they weren’t. Ming was the distraction. So during the distraction what was the other team doing?

Stone’s heart began to sink.

So obvious. Now so obvious.

He steadied himself and asked, “Where did she take them?”

Chapman blurted out, “Who?”

Stone never took his eyes off Ming. “Where did she take my friends?”

Ming clapped his hands together. “You are good. She said you would probably figure it out.”

“Where?” Stone edged closer to the man and leveled his pistol against Ming’s forehead. “Tell me. Now.”

Ming’s smile was still there but behind it was a small trace of concern.

“Do you have the guts to pull that trigger, in front of all these people?”

Stone slowly pulled the hammer back on his weapon. “You’ll find out in three seconds.” When two seconds had passed, his finger began to descend to the trigger. “When I touch it, there’s no going back. You’re dead.”

Ming blurted out, “She says to where it all began for you and the Triple Six. And that is where it will end. That’s all she says. She says you will know what it means.”

Chapman exclaimed, “Oliver, do you know what he’s talking about?”

Stone slowly removed the muzzle from Ming’s forehead. “Yes, unfortunately I do.”

Murder Mountain. To where it all began. For me.

And now where it will all end.