put the controller down, Deena noticed the little blemish sort of looked like the yellow button on the game controller that she pressed to shoot at things in some games and swing her sword in others. It was still round and black, but it seemed to have a raised ‘X’ in the middle.
It faded quickly, and Deena decided to keep that to herself.
13
Two men in ill-fitting suits intercepted Pel and Garrett as they got closer to the mayor’s people. “We need two minutes,” the larger of the two said.
Pel started to point to the group they were headed to talk to.
“Just two minutes,” the other man said. He nodded his head toward the mayor. “Those guys aren’t going anywhere.”
“We’ve got…” Garrett began.
“We could be done talking by now.” The men were adamant about Garrett coming with them for a talk and confident that everyone else could wait.
“What can I do for you?” Garrett looked around the men to make sure the mayor wasn’t, in fact, going anywhere.
“Step over here,” the large one pointed to a nearby car and walked over to it. He opened a door and waited for Pel and Garrett to get in.
“Seriously? Is this necessary?” Pel asked.
“Two minutes,” the shorter one said as he opened a back door for them.
In the comfort of their incredibly non-descript sedan, the tall one behind the driver’s seat spoke first. “I’m Agent Rice, this is Agent Rivers. We just want to talk to you about the crime scene.”
“Agents of which agency?” Garrett asked.
“One of the less flashy subdivisions of the Bureau,” Rivers said without missing a beat. “Reports put this event as beginning at 6:13 p.m. That’s about four hours ago.”
“Give or take.” Garrett didn’t look at his watch.
Rice shifted uncomfortably in his seat to get a better look at Garrett who was sitting directly behind him in the back seat of the car. “So, what do we know so far?”
Garrett didn’t like the sound of that. The way the ‘we’ just snuck into the sentence was subtle and was, in Garrett’s experience, a prelude to someone horning in where they didn’t belong. “Unfortunately, not a lot. The explosion took out quite a bit of the evidence. As I’m sure you know, it’ll take quite a while to reconstruct the device for any clues it might give us.” He gave them the general overview that could have been easily gleaned from looking at the scene. Garrett wasn’t about to spill anything to some guys that wouldn’t fully identify themselves.
“ Right. Tell us about the ambulance.” Rivers looked tired to Garrett, but then he supposed that could be the agent’s normal expression.
“Not much to talk about there yet. We’re running the plates and numbers on the ambulance to see where it came from. The company name on the side isn’t from around here, we know that much already. No ID on the victim, but we’re looking into him.” Again, nothing but surface-level stuff.
Rice shifted again, awkwardly pulling a file folder from between the seats. He opened it and handed a picture back to him. “That your guy?”
Garrett saw the man in the photo and cringed a little. It was a picture of the victim, minus the bullet holes. “Yes, that’s our guy.”
“Federal witness in an organized crime case. Tom Jessup. We’ll give you his stats and whatnot.”
“You think he was supposed to be on the bus?”
“That’s a possibility,” Rice said.
“What was he doing roaming around free if he was in danger?” Pel asked.
“How the hell should I know? Wasn’t our case,” Rivers said.
It all fell into place for Garrett. The hit man went to the extreme of bombing an entire bus to make sure the witness didn’t get off. It was overkill, but hits like this often were, just to make a point. Unfortunately, the mark never got on the bus to begin with. “So, this was a mob hit? Great. Are you guys going to take it off my hands?”
“I’m sure someone will come along and help you with that aspect,”
It faded quickly, and Deena decided to keep that to herself.
13
Two men in ill-fitting suits intercepted Pel and Garrett as they got closer to the mayor’s people. “We need two minutes,” the larger of the two said.
Pel started to point to the group they were headed to talk to.
“Just two minutes,” the other man said. He nodded his head toward the mayor. “Those guys aren’t going anywhere.”
“We’ve got…” Garrett began.
“We could be done talking by now.” The men were adamant about Garrett coming with them for a talk and confident that everyone else could wait.
“What can I do for you?” Garrett looked around the men to make sure the mayor wasn’t, in fact, going anywhere.
“Step over here,” the large one pointed to a nearby car and walked over to it. He opened a door and waited for Pel and Garrett to get in.
“Seriously? Is this necessary?” Pel asked.
“Two minutes,” the shorter one said as he opened a back door for them.
In the comfort of their incredibly non-descript sedan, the tall one behind the driver’s seat spoke first. “I’m Agent Rice, this is Agent Rivers. We just want to talk to you about the crime scene.”
“Agents of which agency?” Garrett asked.
“One of the less flashy subdivisions of the Bureau,” Rivers said without missing a beat. “Reports put this event as beginning at 6:13 p.m. That’s about four hours ago.”
“Give or take.” Garrett didn’t look at his watch.
Rice shifted uncomfortably in his seat to get a better look at Garrett who was sitting directly behind him in the back seat of the car. “So, what do we know so far?”
Garrett didn’t like the sound of that. The way the ‘we’ just snuck into the sentence was subtle and was, in Garrett’s experience, a prelude to someone horning in where they didn’t belong. “Unfortunately, not a lot. The explosion took out quite a bit of the evidence. As I’m sure you know, it’ll take quite a while to reconstruct the device for any clues it might give us.” He gave them the general overview that could have been easily gleaned from looking at the scene. Garrett wasn’t about to spill anything to some guys that wouldn’t fully identify themselves.
“ Right. Tell us about the ambulance.” Rivers looked tired to Garrett, but then he supposed that could be the agent’s normal expression.
“Not much to talk about there yet. We’re running the plates and numbers on the ambulance to see where it came from. The company name on the side isn’t from around here, we know that much already. No ID on the victim, but we’re looking into him.” Again, nothing but surface-level stuff.
Rice shifted again, awkwardly pulling a file folder from between the seats. He opened it and handed a picture back to him. “That your guy?”
Garrett saw the man in the photo and cringed a little. It was a picture of the victim, minus the bullet holes. “Yes, that’s our guy.”
“Federal witness in an organized crime case. Tom Jessup. We’ll give you his stats and whatnot.”
“You think he was supposed to be on the bus?”
“That’s a possibility,” Rice said.
“What was he doing roaming around free if he was in danger?” Pel asked.
“How the hell should I know? Wasn’t our case,” Rivers said.
It all fell into place for Garrett. The hit man went to the extreme of bombing an entire bus to make sure the witness didn’t get off. It was overkill, but hits like this often were, just to make a point. Unfortunately, the mark never got on the bus to begin with. “So, this was a mob hit? Great. Are you guys going to take it off my hands?”
“I’m sure someone will come along and help you with that aspect,”
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