Corrector (25 page)

Jake nodded.  “They are going a little earlier than necessary.  I told Cheryl to ask Karin about when they made arrangements for the hotel.  She’ll learn that it was an almost spontaneous decision, which might help her be more comfortable with what I’ve told her.  Given how Karin and Ellen selected their hotel, how could I have known the place and room so far in advance if I wasn’t being up front with my abilities?”

“They’ll be in touch by phone?”

“Only if something goes wrong, or if for some reason they can’t convince Karin to stay out of it.  I told them to explain what I’ve done before and why I’m approaching it this way.  Karin might not believe we are going to try and capture them, which could throw a monkey wrench into things.”

“How come you had me make reservations down the way in Corte Madera instead of where they are staying?” Nate asked.

“I want to be divorced from the discussions.  I know that Karin will argue with me.  If she can’t talk with me, hopefully she will stand down rather than take some action that might put me at risk.”

“This is too damn complicated,” Nate complained.

“It’s the first time one of these things has involved someone close to me or people who know what I can do.  In the past I’ve been able to operate like the fly on the wall, in and out unseen.”

Jake pulled the Silverado to a stop facing into the small canyon he liked to use for target practice.  He and Nate climbed out of the vehicle and started unloading the ammunition and targets.  Once everything was set up, Jake went and got the box with the guns and the separate case with the silencers.

He had explained to Nate that they would need to use silenced weapons.  This added an element of risk, since such devices were illegal in California, but Jake had been through the events before and knew they would not encounter any cops during the encounter.  Afterwards they would throw away everything that might get them in trouble. Jake would worry about re-supply in the future.  The biggest risk was being caught with the items before they were ready to act.

“I have two weapons that are set up for suppressors” Jake explained.  “But I don’t want to risk the documented suppressor.  It could be awkward to explain its loss, and I don’t think we need to.  I’ll use my Sig-Sauer with its commercial silencer.  That is the most accurate and I’ll be firing at the shooter from the greatest distance.  You’ll use my Glock with the home grown silencer.  We’ll keep the frame and attach the factory parts afterwards.  We’ll toss everything else.”

Nate was a better shot than Jake, and had used the Glock before, albeit with the standard barrel.  He looked at the pistol that Jake handed him with the extremely tall sights and the threaded barrel.  Slowly he unscrewed the thread protector, then reached out his hand for the adapter Jake had made on the shop lathe.  Uncertainly, he screwed the oil filter onto the end of the adapter.  Jake had selected a tall and relative narrow filter rather than the thick filter used by the Chevy.

“That’s the strangest contraption I’ve ever seen.” Nate said.  He held out the handgun, attempting to align the sights on the target they had set up.  “I still can’t see the target.  The filter blocks the sights.”

“I know,” agreed Jake.  “Those sights work well enough with the thinner commercial units, but aren’t any help with the oil filters.  You’ll have to get the feel and shoot by instinct.  The range will be less than fifteen feet.”

“And these really work?”

“You’ll see.  Surprisingly well actually.”

They spent an hour practicing.  By the time they finished, Nate was able to consistently place his shots into the kill zone of the silhouette targets they had set up.  Jake fired almost two hundred rounds, reaffirming his own comfort with the weapon he would be using.

It all came down to this.  Jake and Nate were in position on the rooftop waiting for the two men to arrive.  Zack and Cheryl had intercepted Karin and had convinced the two women to stay out of San Francisco yesterday, opting for a day at Sea World instead.  Today they were supposedly on their way back to Nevada.  Jake hoped so, but worried about the reception he would receive once he returned home himself.

Jake was waiting exactly where he had the last time.  Nate was further back in a hide where he couldn’t see the spot the shooter would go to, but where he had a clear view of the stairway door.  They each had a throw-away phone and communicated strictly by text.  They had passed a couple of messages earlier to ensure reliable communications.

It was time.  The shooter had come out onto the roof a few minutes earlier and was in the process of setting up. Jake texted a quick code telling Nate he was moving, then dropped the phone in his pocket.  He stood and slowly moved toward the man a short distance away.

Jake heard the three sharp thuds behind him.  He couldn’t help clenching somewhat at the sounds, but nothing came his way.  That had been Nate.  As he heard the man fall, the shooter in front of him perked up in response to the sounds.  He turned suddenly and started to bring the Uzi around as Jake had expected.  His own pistol aligned on the target, Jake fired two quick shots.  He had planned to shoot for the chest, but something about the man’s clothes suggested more padding than seemed normal.  He might be wearing a vest.  Anyone could buy one of course, but cops in particular would have access to such equipment.  Jake adjusted his aim and put the two shots under the upraised arm into the armpit.  Then he shifted his aim upwards and put another pair into the man’s head.  While this was happening, he heard another muffled shot behind him. Certain his own target was dead, he quickly looked behind him.

Nate was standing over the body of the cop.

“Bastard had a vest,” Nate whispered.  He had put a final shot into the wounded man’s head.

Quickly they scanned the area for their brass.  Nate was able to find all of the brass for the Glock, but one of the rounds from the Sig had bounced off and gotten itself lost.  There was no time to worry about it.  Quickly they moved toward the fire escape and made their way down to the street level.

Fifteen minutes later they were in their car.  Forty minutes later Nate tossed the incriminating pieces into the bay from the center of the Richmond Bridge where Jake had momentarily stopped as they drove across.  As they drove onto the 80 Freeway, Jake called the San Francisco police and told them to check for shooters on the building.  They pulled the batteries from the throw away phones and ditched them in Vallejo where they stopped for gas.  Several hours later they were in Nevada.  Upon arriving home, Jake called Karin while Nate called Zack.

The calls were intended to arrange to get together the next afternoon to review events and coordinate their status, as well as to let the others know they had returned safely.  Damage control and coordination, just in case.  Jake couldn’t see where they had left any kind of a trail, but he didn’t want his friends at risk and it was important they all understood where matters stood.  Nate talked briefly with Zack before hanging up.  He had better luck than Jake had.

“You had to kill them, didn’t you?” Karin had said when Jake reached her on the phone.  The news had carried the story for several hours of the two armed men who had been found dead on the roof of the building at Pier 39.  Thus far the word hadn’t come out about one or more of them being cops, but Jake couldn’t imagine how it would be more than a day or so before that was leaked to the media even if the police didn’t choose to reveal it themselves.

Jake had to remember that from Karin’s perspective this was the first time they had communicated since the last awkward discussion that had ended unhappily more than two months earlier.  She wouldn’t have any memories of their meeting in Vallejo and the time they had spent together there.  She would know only that Zack and Cheryl had appeared, revealed to her what Jake  had told them about upcoming events, and now would see that he had acted the same way as in the past by arranging to kill the shooter. 

“I tried to let the police handle it,” he said lamely in response to her accusations.

He had.  But it had spiraled out of control and in the end this was the only way he could see to bring the matter to a conclusion.  He had hopes of making her understand that. If not, however, he’d accept the inevitable.  As he’d driven home from his weeks long sabbatical, he’d come to terms with a future without her.  That might be where this all ended.  At least she was alive, which mattered most to him.  Even if they couldn’t be together.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Nate said as he prepared to leave for his own home.  “Is Karin going to come?”  He had overheard a little of Jake’s conversation.

“She said she would, but I’m not certain.  We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“At least Cheryl managed to keep Ellen out of it,” Nate said.

That was a surprising development, but one that pleased Jake immensely.  He’d been worried about Ellen as the potential leak.  He didn’t know her very well, and this situation would have been a bit of gossip he’d worried she might reveal.  But Cheryl had approached the woman and explained that she needed to speak with Karin privately.  After explaining the situation to Karin, the two women had concocted the story that Karin needed to return to Nevada late the next day to meet with Jake who would be returning from his trip.  It was important.  Ellen had accepted the situation as a possible reconciliation attempt.  As a result, the foursome had spent the next morning and early afternoon at Sea World, and then Karin had left with Zack and Cheryl.  Ellen would be going into the city the next day, then would drive down to Redwood City to visit an old schoolmate before returning to Nevada herself.  She never learned of the intended attack in the city nor of Jake’s ability.

“It’ll work out,” Nate said encouragingly.  “We’ll help her understand.”

Jake wondered, but maybe having the others know would help somewhat.  Still, Cheryl hadn’t been fully supportive of what he was doing, and the two women may join against him.

“I don’t know,” Jake said honestly as he tried to rub some of the tenseness out of his neck.  “How about you?  Are you doing okay?”

Nate flashed him an awkward grin.  “I guess.  I still half expect to see the police arrive with sirens blaring as they come to arrest me for murder.  It’s almost unbelievable we did what we did.  But having seen what was going on, I know it was the right thing.  They were about to do exactly what you told us.  If we hadn’t been there . . .”

“It’ll go away,” Jake promised.  “I felt exactly the same the first couple of times.  Call me if you want to talk.”

Nate nodded, then climbed into his car and started it up.  He waved as he drove away.

Nate was the first to arrive after lunch.  Zack and Cheryl were next, arriving half an hour later.  Nate and Jake were watching the news when they knocked at the door.  The media was reporting that one of the men was a cop and the other was his brother.  Names were reported, so at last the identities had been revealed.  The reports were also revealing that it appeared the two men had been intent on an attack on the tourists, and whoever had shot them had prevented a significant number of casualties.  No motivation for the attempted attack was being given.  Thus far, the police were also not indicating any leads as to who had killed the two men on the roof.

“We were listening in the car,” Cheryl said when Jake told her what was being broadcast. 

“Do you think you got away clean?” Zack asked, somewhat concerned.

“No one saw us.  I can’t see any way for them to trace this to us,” Jake explained.  “We’ve ditched everything we took with us to the scene.”

“You planned to kill them all along, didn’t you?” Cheryl asked. 

It starts already
.  “Yes,” Jake admitted.  “I couldn’t see anyway else to end it.  Especially since one was a cop.  A call to the police about the intent would have gone unheeded and more than likely would have just delayed the attack to another date and location.  If we had captured them, we would have been left trying to explain how we happened to be on the rooftop waiting, armed with weapons that are very illegal in California.  I’m not sure who would have ended up in the most trouble.  This was the only certain way to stop it.  Besides, I owed the bastard for shooting Karin.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this beforehand?”

“I needed you to convince Karin. If you’d told her my intentions, I’m not sure what actions she might have taken.  It could have been something that upset the entire plan.”

“It’s done,” Zack said, interrupting.  “From what the news has been reporting, it would have been exactly as you described.  I still have trouble understanding how this ability of yours works, but stopping the killing was the right action.”

The discussion was interrupted by Jake’s doorbell. 

“That’s hopefully Karin,” Jake said.  He left the others in the living room and walked back out toward the front of the house.  His heart beat faster in anticipation of seeing her again.

Jake pulled open the door and there she was.  She looked wonderful.  Her long hair was being teased by the light breeze.  She wore a white buttoned blouse and a knee length skirt which showed off her legs.  Thank god he’d been able to prevent her being harmed.