A Shot In The Night (John Harper Series Book 2) (29 page)

The gunman limped away from the car he was going to
use and down the street.  His escape plan was completely hindered by the
meddling of John Harper.  The detective was becoming a problem and if it
weren't for the fact that any further delay would have meant possible capture
then he would have beaten Harper to death.

Now he was left limping away without his escape
vehicle as well.  The shot that hit his leg was really nothing more than a
graze but it still hurt and was slowing him.  The real pain was in his
shoulder.  Turning down a darkened alleyway between two rows of houses, he
gingerly took the bag off his back.  There was a lot less ordinance in there
compared to when he had started the day.  Inside he had a small first aid kit
but there was only a roll of bandages that could help him.  During all his
preparation he had reluctantly admitted to himself that he could get shot or
injured and was cursing the fact he had not equipped the bag with more medical
supplies.  What he did have was a small tub of sugar which he covered his wound
with after unzipping his jacket and hooded sweater.  It hurt but would help
with the healing process.  He needed to stitch the bullet wound but did not
have the time at the moment, so merely stuffed the bandages to the holes to
slow the bleeding.  Luckily the bullet had not hit any major arteries and had
passed straight through him but he was losing blood and if there was another
altercation his strength would not necessarily carry him through.

The gash on his leg he held together before gluing
it together with strong adhesive.  He hoped it would hold as he stood up. 
Removing the last of his supplies from the bag and putting them on his person,
he hobbled out into the night and towards his end destination as a light
snowfall began.  There was still hope that his final plan could succeed even
with the setback of being wounded.

His plan always had him moving on to the Elsworth
estate and the council flats there.  The city council had been removing the
eyesores on the landscape for years but the two ugly tower blocks still
remained in the area.  The 'Seasonal Shooter' could see them in the near
distance and hoped that the police were following him.  He could not hear the
helicopter which seemed to still be hovering around the police station but the
optics on the vehicle should be enough to track him.  Even if they were not
then the trail of blood from his wounds would give them a clear direction.  The
chopper was probably wary of staying close since he had fired and managed to
hit the bottom of the aerial vehicle twice with bullets before he had had to
leave his sniper’s perch earlier.

Still it was an acceleration of what he wanted to do
and he rested the blame squarely on John Harper.  He had estimated that he
could stay in the house another five minutes before leaving.  The intention was
to set fire to the house and make it look like something had gone wrong on his
end.  The male owner was positioned near his rifle and if any clothing survived
the fire then the investigators would see the camouflage and hopefully further
convince themselves that the man was the shooter.  Of course it was a fanciful
ruse that some detective would surely decipher.  If they then followed the
footprints he was going to leave deep in the garden soil then it would not take
much to follow his trail out towards the Elsworth Towers.

Originally it would be when he arrived there and set
himself that he would make an anonymous phone call off another disposable
mobile phone saying that there was someone carrying a gun going into Oak Tower
which was the more well known of the two blocks of council housing the other
being Maple Terrace.  All of the housing in that area was named after trees
since it used to be the location of a small wood when Elsworth was a mere
village on the outskirts of the city.  That sense of history was lost on the
residents.

Oak Tower was were the Elsworth Warriors gang
primarily lived and was not somewhere that the police usually ventured.  No
crimes were ever reported in the building which made it a haven for people on
the run from the police.

Getting inside however was the difficulty.  Although
there were no guards per se everyone who approached the entrance was watched
and if you entered and were not recognised then usually it resulted in a polite
request to leave
unless you had business there or occasionally a brutal beating which ensured
you never made the mistake of going in there again.

The
gunman had no worries about a beating and as he crossed the streets to the
building he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his plan coming to fruition.  A
smile even crossed his face underneath the mask as he thought about the
possibility of Harper following him into the tower block.  If his safety was
guaranteed in the flat then the detective's was forfeit and after seeing the
man fight him so valiantly before he had no doubt that Harper would bravely
chase him wherever he went.  However bravery was often for the uninformed and
tonight that could cost John Harper his life.

After leaving the warmth of the home that was on
fire and removing my coat I was left shivering as I tracked the gunman's trail
on the cold winter streets.  The sun had set and the streetlights had flickered
on, bathing the roads in orange light.  Even in the dark shadows cast by the
artificial light I could make out the bloodstains from the injured murderer.

It wasn't long till I found the discarded rucksack
of my prey.  One of the straps had a large hole in it which had come from a
bullet fired by myself and was completely soaked in blood.  Inside there were
loose bullets and nothing much else.  Next to the bag on the floor was a first
aid kit which had been ripped open; most of its contents were covered in red
fingerprints including a tube of superglue.

I was impressed with the quick thinking of the man
to heal his wounds.  However if he was having to do it now then he was probably
in a bad way which meant hopefully he wouldn't put up too much of a fight the
next time around.

One of the things that surprised me was that if he
was so clever then why stop to try and
minimise
his wounds here?  He
had shown no remorse for breaking into innocent people's houses so he could
have got off the streets and there would be little I could do to follow him as
long as he was quiet and didn’t do too much damage.  I was getting the feeling
that I was being lured into another trap.  The problem was that I was
continuing to chase a man that could already be set up to take another shot at
me.  Why he hadn't done so already was something I worried about as I
occasionally caught sight of a blood smear.

A few of them confirmed in my opinion that he was
leading me along as they were hand prints on car windows.  Snow had begun
falling and the light dusting of white on the ground showed footprints and
droplets of blood well enough and since the streets were deserted it was safe
to think that they were from the gunman.  That and I knew what type of shoe
tread was on the sole.  No, to me the hand marks were not the sign of someone
falling down or resting but a clear clue to follow the man.

Before I even saw the flats of the Elsworth Towers I
knew that would be my destination.  It was notorious in the area and somewhere
I knew I would not be welcome.  Even with the protection afforded to me by Big
Saul, something that I was aware that was tenuous at best after my faux pas in
accusing Tony of the shootings, I did not feel overly confident of going in
there and coming out in one piece.  That was even taking into account that I
was armed.

I knew it was the domain of Kai Nelson and he, as
Saul had said, wasn't the best of people to trust with honouring agreements
such as the one I had made.  In fact I got the distinct feeling that the man
would like nothing better than to shoot me dead on sight and blame the gunman.

Still if the 'Seasonal Shooter' thought that the
prospect of being mortally wounded would stop me from arresting him then he was
sorely mistaken.  Rolling my shoulders and straightening my torn suit jacket, I
walked purposefully towards the main entrance of what I could see was Oak
Tower, as the one next to it named Pine did not had a blood smeared hand print
on the door.

Before I went in I made a call on the police radio,
“Suspect gunman has been seen entering the Oak Tower on the Elsworth Woods
estate.  Request immediate backup and armed response,” I switched off the radio
once more and dialed Spencer on my phone, “Spencer, I’m sure you are aware of
that call I just made on the radio.  Just pass it along the line that it is
legitimate.”

“What’s going on, Harper?”

“The gunman is out of the house and wounded.  I’m
sure he still has some weapons on his person.”

“Harper, you do realize how dangerous it is
following anyone into those towers?  The gang police it themselves.”

Rubbing my eyes with my left thumb and middle finger
I answered, “Don’t worry about me, just get me some back up down here.  I think
the gunman intends to end some more lives tonight.  Remember Spencer, don’t
call me I’ll call you.”

Opening the wire mesh glass doors I was hit by a
sudden wave of warmth and smells.    Many homes all cooking at the same time
lead to an odd mix of aromas that made me feel quite nauseous especially since
there was also the overriding smell of urine coming from one corner of the
entrance hall.

The building surprised me; I expected more damage or
graffiti but the entrance hall was relatively clean and, apart from that one
corner, didn’t appear to be mistreated too much.  There were the obligatory
gang tags with spray paint on the walls covering what was once an off lime
green and the elevator doors looked more like a work of art than defacement.

I walked in and took a deep breath through my mouth
and let it out.  If I had been wearing a tie I would have straightened it as I
composed myself for the work ahead.  There were two elevator doors in front of
me and two doors leading to stairs either side of them.  There was no evidence
visible from the doorway to indicate which way the shooter had gone.

Walking deeper into the complex, the left elevator
door opened with a chime.  Instinctively my hand went to the pistol at the
small of my back however the large woman who stepped out seemed no threat as
she bustled past me.  I smiled and nodded to her but she did not take me on. 
The second elevator opened and two youths walked out.  They both wore the same
sort of grey jogging bottoms and hooded jackets.  The outfits looked
comfortable but I didn’t know how warm they would be outside.

One of the young men walked towards me, the other
stood behind him.  The nearest was thin and wiry, the other you could see was
massive with muscle which he tried to show even more of by unzipping his jacket
to reveal pectoral muscles that bodybuilders would swoon over.  Still the look
on his face and the way he crossed his arms made him look like a large child
trying to look intimidating and failing all in one go.  Once the wiry man was
about five yards away he stopped and said, “I think you better leave, copper.”

“Who said I’m a police officer?  I’m just here to
spread the good word of the Latter Day Saints,” I replied with a smile waving
my hands theatrically before me.

“We know who you are, Harper, and you are not
welcome here.”

“Was worth a try I guess.  Come on gents, there’s no
point on you all getting an obstruction of justice charge against you or even
worse aiding and abetting a murder.”

A smile crossed both of their lips, “Wouldn’t be the
first time,” the muscular one said with a deep rumble.

Gritting
my teeth at the prospect of what was to come I said, “I need to go upstairs,
boys, and there doesn't need to be any trouble or bloodshed in doing that if
you step out of the way.”

“And
we can't move out of your way. If we start letting in every copper then we have
big problem on our hands.”

I
tilted my head and thought for a moment on how it gets to the point where every
police officer must live in fear of getting called to a certain area of a town
and more specifically one building, “Never said every, just myself. That being
said there will probably be a lot of armed men coming through here in the next
couple of minutes and either you let me in and I tell the officers where this
madman killer is or you have an awful lot of questions being asked when there
are dozens of police all over this tower block.”

“You're
bluffing.”

Shaking
my head I put my hands in the air. It felt strange and very stupid taking my
hand off the best weapon I had, but there was no reason for me to escalate the
violence if I could talk my way out of it, “I'm sure you have all seen the news
about this sniper that has been terrorizing the city. That drug dealers,
civilians and cops alike are all being targeted.  Well he just ran into this
building and since I’m guessing you haven’t been down here and threatening
someone else then that person is known by you.  Now you can tell me who that
person is and on what floor and I can direct the search to exactly that point
or it gets messy.  You do realize that the Matrix unit will be here and go
through every floor, every house and every room till we find this person.  That
means any hidden weapons, any drugs, hell every bit of elicit porn you
degenerates have will be confiscated and you will be sentenced.  What the hell
is the point in having a safe house from the police if every one of your gang
is in jail?”

The
two men looked at each other briefly before the closer man answered, “We don’t
rat on anyone.”

“Fine,
don’t rat.  Just let me go and find this murderer and there will be no
consequences.”

“You
can’t promise that.”

I
put my hands down and after moving my jacket I placed them on my hips, thankful
to rest my sore shoulder and trying to remain calm, “No, you’re right but boys
as you can see I’ve already been through a fight tonight and I don’t really
want another if I can help it.  I want to catch this guy before he kills again
and if you don’t think he will shoot you at the next convenient moment then you
are sorely mistaken.”

The
smaller man turned to his comrade and they leaned in close to chat.  I did my
best not to look impatient but I really wanted to find the killer before the armed
response turned up.  This man started targeting the police because of my
actions in saving Saul.  Those deaths would live with me to the end of my days
but I could at least save future lives by bringing the man to justice.  The two
men stopped talking and then stepped aside.  The diminutive man put his hands
to his side and nodded towards the lift.

I
nodded my thanks and walked towards the lifts.  I stopped and was presented
with two options.  Turning slightly towards the two goons, the muscular man pointed
at the lift they had exited.

“Thanks
boys,” I said as I entered the elevator and the doors closed behind me.