Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 03 - Snow Cone (13 page)

“Maybe one last question.  Who is your boss, and do you have any
idea who the mining company could be?”

Tony began to drink and put up a finger that he would be done in a second.  He finished off the glass and turned on the faucet to fill his glass once more.

“No problem.  My boss is…”

Just as Jane was beginning to take a step toward him to hear the answer, a boom filled the air followed by the shattering of glass as the window over the kitchen sink in front of Tony broke into pieces.

Tony immediately fell to the floor.

The burst of sound and breaking glass startled Jane and adrenaline began to fill her body as her heart began to pound.  Alex stood behind her, frozen in shock at what had just transpired.

Instinctively, Jane crouched down onto one knee.  “Get down, Alex!” she screamed. 

Alex went down to his knees and onto his stomach.  “What the hell was that?” he exclaimed.

“It was a gunshot,” she tried to say calmly.  “Just stay down.”

Jane crawled around the corner of one of the kitchen cabinets until she got to Tony.  He was lying on his back and blood was gushing from his neck onto the floor.  Jane pulled open a few drawers and found some kitchen towels.  She attempted to apply pressure to the gunshot wound on Tony’s neck, but the bullet had struck his carotid artery.  She could see that his eyes were lifeless, and she quickly checked for a pulse on his wrist.  Tony had bled out almost instantly, and his heart was no longer pumping.  Tony was dead.

Jane knew there was nothing more she could do for the man and crawled back to Alex.  She got to one knee, just high enough to peer over the windowsill in the living room.  Tony’s backyard was bordered by a thick treeline, and it offered a clear view to the back of Tony’s house.  It was the perfect place for a sniper to keep concealed.

“What do we do?” Alex asked, breathing heavily.

“Just stay low.  They’re probably still out there.  I’m coming to you.”  Jane rose slightly and began to walk in a crouched position toward Alex.

Another shot rang out and shattered the window Jane had been looking out of, and the bullet hit the leather couch behind
her.

Jane took out her 9 mm and got on one knee.  She pointed it at the window and let off two rounds back through the shattered glass.  The sound was deafening and caused Alex to bury his head in his hands.

“What the hell are you doing!” he yelled as his ears rung from the sound of the gunfire.

“It’s to let them know we’re armed,” Jane explained quickly.

Alex reached into his shoulder holster and pulled out his fake Colt 45.  “Well, if that will scare them off,” he yelled.  He got on one knee and pointed at the same window and into the backyard. 

He attempted to squeeze off a few rounds but the gun did nothing.  “What the…”  Another shot sliced through the room, this time hitting the wall over their heads.

“Stay down,” Jane ordered again.

“You gave me a fake gun?” Alex exclaimed.

“Of course.  You don’t know how to use a gun.  Now stay down and think of a way out of here.”  Jane pointed her gun and let off another round into the backyard at the trees.

“Stop doing that!” Alex screamed. 

Jane didn’t hear him.  Her ears were buzzing, and she was filled with so much adrenaline that she wasn’t processing what Alex was saying.

Alex looked around the room as Jane kept her gun drawn and pointed at the backyard of the house.  He saw a control panel on the wall near the front door.  It was an alarm system, and it was something he knew how to use.  He crawled on his belly toward the panel and began to pull himself up to it.  Another shot flew through the room, this time at Alex near the panel.  He dropped his hand before it could get to the buttons.

“Now you can shoot,” he screamed at Jane.  She turned and realized what he was doing.

Jane pulled off three more shots.  She couldn’t see anything she was shooting at, but that wasn’t the point.  It was merely just a way for Alex to trigger the alarm.  As the shots from Jane’s gun flew into the backyard and into the trees, Alex reached up and hit the emergency alert button of the control panel.

There was a slight pause in the air before a siren began to wail.  The sound filled the house and it was so loud that Jane couldn’t even hear what Alex was saying.  He motioned for her to come to him.  Jane crawled along the tile floor until she reached Alex.

“I bet the police are on their way,” he yelled over the blare of the alarm.

“Stay close to the house and get to the car.  I don’t know if anyone is still out there,” she said ominously.

Alex opened the front door but stayed in a crouched position.  Jane followed him closely and shut the door behind her.  Jane peered in both directions, looking for any movement between the trees that lined the property.  Luckily most people in the neighborhood were at work or away from their homes doing other things so the alarm hadn’t produced any curiosity.  It was their hope that the unknown gunman had been frightened away from the sound, too.  Alex pressed himself against the house and moved quickly in the direction of the rental car.  When he got to the corner of the house they had a dilemma; they had to cover an open area of land. 

“Run as fast as you can,” he told Jane.

She holstered her gun and prepared for the sprint.  Jane left the corner of the house first and ran toward the car.  Alex gathered up his courage and ran after her.  Jane got to the side of the car and waited.  She saw Alex coming toward her, but noticed something moving in the treeline in the distance.  It was shadowy figure moving quickly amongst the trees.  The figure stopped and she could see the long barrel of a rifle rise up.

“Alex, get down, get down!” she screamed. 

Alex heard her screams but couldn’t understand the words.  He did notice her making a gesture for him to hit the ground.  He launched himself forward and sprawled out on the grass of the neighboring yard as he heard a gunshot.  A bullet landed in the grass in front of him.  He looked at it in horror, realizing he would have been shot if he had continued. 

Jane quickly unloaded the rest of her bullets from her gun at the figure in the trees until her magazine was spent.  Alex was already crawling toward her, and it was the fastest she had seen anyone move on their hands and knees. 

Alex sat down next to her and reached to unlock the car door. Jane could no longer see the gunman in the trees, which made her uneasy.  But she heard the faint whine of police sirens over the blaring noise of the house alarm and decided that the gunman had chosen to escape.

“Get in, get in,” Alex implored as he crawled over the passenger seat to get to the driver’s side. 

Jane pulled herself into the car, and Alex fumbled to get the key into the ignition.  His hands were shaking so badly that she had to help him insert it and start the car.  He pulled away from the curb and followed the road out of the subdivision.

“Slow down, and calm down,” Jane ordered, in case they passed one of the police cars coming to investigate the alarm.

Alex took some deep breaths and reduced the speed of the car.  He made a series of turns to get them as far away from the area as possible.  He pulled off into a gas station and parked away from the other cars getting gas or a drink.

“What are you doing?” Jane asked him.

“I have to regroup.  I can barely keep my hands on the wheel,” he replied.  He held up one of his hands and it shook like a leaf.

Jane put her head in her hands and began to sob, and Alex put his quivering hand on her back.  They had witnessed a horrendous act and neither of them were prepared for the aftereffects.

They sat in the car for ten more minutes and didn’t speak.  What had started as a fun mission had turned into a horrible nightmare. 

“We’re okay.  Everything is okay,” Alex reassured her.

“There was so much blood.  I couldn’t do anything,” she stammered as she continued to cry.

“There was absolutely nothing you could do.  There wasn’t anything either of us could have done.  This is a dangerous game we’re playing.  They were going to shoot him if we had been there or not,” Alex said as he tried to rationalize the situation.

“I think we better go.  I want to get out of here,” she replied as she wiped away the tears.  Jane was strong, but no one could be expected to be so after the incident they had just witnessed.

Alex didn’t reply as he started the car.  It was going to be a long drive to New York.

-Chapter 24-

The day passed slowly as we waited for answers from Alex and Jane.  I had developed a knot in my stomach during the night thinking it over.  I guess it was a premonition, but I dismissed it as sensitivity to Icelandic food.

Jane called from New York’s La Guardia Airport later that afternoon.  I was relieved to hear her voice, but I immediately sensed something was wrong.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when she told the story.  I was filled with guilt, anger, and about twelve other feelings as I listened to her trying to control her emotions.  I vowed to myself to never let her be in harm’s way again, but I knew it was a promise I probably could not keep.

Jane had expressed an interest in becoming a more active part of the team.  As much as it scared me, she was really good.  She had amazing physical strength, she usually was able to keep her emotions in check, and her acting ability lent itself to our type of business.  She would have been considered a perfect specimen if it weren’t for her position as my girlfriend, and hopefully someday, my fiancé.

Galveston had been the catalyst for her interest in being more than just our office manager, and she had been pestering him to teach her the business.  He finally gave in and taught her self-defense moves, introduced her to firearms, and showed her how to use her acting ability when investigating a case.  I wanted to blame him, but like Sally, Jane loved an adventure.

I continued to console her as best I could while having an ocean between us.  In a moment of delusion, I decided it might help her to talk to
Galveston.  He had more experience than anyone in dealing with the aftermath of situations like this.  The problem was he had the sensitivity of a garden slug, and against my better judgment, I put him on the phone.

At first he listened well, and then I could tell he had heard enough. 

“Jane, listen to me,” he started, growing frustrated at Jane’s retelling of the story.  “In this business you never know what’s going to happen, right?”

“Yes,” she replied sheepishly.

“If you want to be in this business and not sitting behind a desk, then you have to be able to handle things that aren’t pleasant, understand?” he asked condescendingly.

“But I…” she attempted and
Galveston abruptly cut her off.

“No.  You’re either going to let it go and focus on the case and the information, or we won’t be able to use you in the field again.”  I cringed at his harsh statement.

Jane didn’t speak.  Galveston knew from experience this was a sink or swim moment.  Either Jane would decide she could handle the nasty side of our business, or she could go back to fielding calls and doing research from the comfort of the office.  I knew Galveston secretly didn’t want Jane in the mix and working cases, but he had to leave the decision up to her. 

Jane sniffled and gave her answer.  “I want to be involved.  I really want to be in this business.”

Galveston shook his head.  He didn’t agree with the decision, but he had to honor it.  It was the precise reason why he had insisted she get as much training as possible.

“Okay, then.  It’s time to get back to work, Rule 14,” he said, which caused Jane to laugh.  The rules were actually factual and were
Galveston’s “Lessons for life”, or as I called them, “Lessons in Insanity”.

Galveston
covered the phone with his hand.  “Did you get that, Roger?  Rule 14—get back to work to get you mind of a bad memory,” he said to me, as if I cared.

“Pure genius,” I replied, stroking his ego with the words.

“Alright, Jane.  What should we do?”

“I think the
mining company may be the culprit.  I also think we need to find Tony’s boss.  He wasn’t able to tell me his name, but I bet we can find it easy enough.”  She managed to say Tony’s name without tearing up.

“That sounds like a good place to start.  Have Alex
try to find the name of this company, and find out who Tony’s boss is and his connection to them,” Galveston ordered.

“Yes, we’ll get right on it.”

“Put Alex on for a second.  I need to ask him something.”

Galveston
waited as Jane gave her phone to Alex.  He was sure Alex didn’t want to talk.

“Yeah, what is it?” Alex sneered.

“Easy, big fella.  Heard you had quite a time.”

“Yeah, it was good fun almost getting shot to death.  It was also nice of you to tell Jane to get me a fake gun.”

“You know you have no business using a gun,” Galveston told him.  “You would’ve shot your foot off or something.”

Alex knew he was right but wouldn’t admit it.  “Yeah, well, I might have needed it.”

“You hate guns, remember?  Now, enough about that.  Did you happen to look at the pictures of the inside of that truck?”

“Yeah, they had quite a setup.  It appeared to be a satellite uplink station.  Some of the stacks were servers.  They had a lot of computing power in that truck, way more than would be needed for a
supposed mining operation.  I also noticed a communication system that can monitor radio traffic.  It was a very sophisticated operation.  Someone pored a lot of money and time into that truck.  Too bad the Air Force destroyed it.  Something like that would have looked good in my backyard.”

“Anything else?”

“No, I don’t think so.  Aren’t you going to ask me how I’m doing after almost getting killed?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,”
Galveston retorted.

“I’m glad you care.”

“If it makes you feel better, how are you doing?”

“Fine, I guess.  It isn’t too pleasant to see someone gunned down.”

“I know,” Galveston said seriously.  “I am glad you’re okay.  I just want you to get your mind off it.”

“Yeah, it’s not going to be easy.  You have to find out who did this, you know.”

“We will, but we’re going to need your help.  You can get out if you want,” Galveston said, giving Alex the opportunity to back out of the case.

“No, it wouldn’t be fair to Jane or to you and Roger,” Alex replied with a moment of caring.  “Plus you would just drag me back in at some later date.”

“You’re probably right about that.  As much as I dislike you, you are an integral part of this team.”  It was the closest Galveston could get to actual praise.

“I don’t like you either, and thanks.”  Alex stopped as if he was cherishing their close connection.  “Next time give me a gun.”

“No,” Galveston replied succinctly.  “Now find me the name of Tony’s boss and anything about that mining company.”

“Yes, your highness,” Alex answered sarcastically.  “I’ll give you a call in a couple of hours.”

“Alright.  Be careful,” Galveston added.

“Whew,”
Galveston said as he ended the call.  “That was rough.  I thought we might lose both of them.”

“I can’t imagine what they’re feeling.  We’ve witnessed bad guys getting gunned down, but nothing like this,” I said.

“That’s why I had to be hard on them, and why I had to let them choose to go or stay.  It was the only way to allow them to get over it.”

“I understand.  I couldn’t have done it.  I would have told them to take some time off.”

“That’s why you have me here, my friend,” Galveston replied smugly.

Galveston
and I next discussed how we were going to tell Joe and Sally the news.  Sally didn’t know the man, but we were more worried about telling Joe.  He had known Tony for a short time, but in that time they had become friends. 

I got the short end of the stick and was in charge of telling him the news.  I called him into our room while
Galveston went and told Sally.  Joe took the news hard, as anyone would.  He was in a state of shock that any of this was happening.  I didn’t know what to say.

Joe left the room as
Galveston returned.  He told me Sally would make sure Joe was okay.  We left them alone for a few hours to digest the news and to get some rest.

Galveston
and I used the time to catch up on some much needed sleep.  When we woke up, it was already late, and we were feeling claustrophobic. 

“I think I need a drink.  We can all get out of here for a few hours, don’t you think?”
  Galveston asked.

“I think that
’s a grand idea.  Sally and Joe need to let off a little steam too.”

We walked next door to their room and went inside.  Sally was doing some exercise, and Joe was busy at his computer catching up on work he had left back in
Nashville.  It was his way of taking his mind off the death of his friend.

“Stop what you’re doing,”
Galveston announced.  “We’re going to take a short break and catch some fresh air.  I saw a pub down the street.  I think it’s time we gave them a visit.”

Joe didn’t seem interested, but Sally jumped up from the floor after she finished one last abdominal crunch.

“I’m in,” she announced quickly.  “Just let me freshen up.”

“What about you, Joe?” I asked him as he continued to peck away at the keys on his computer.

“I don’t think so.  I have so much work to catch up on.  You go without me.”

“No, Joe.  You need it more than we do.  You’re coming along,”
Galveston commanded and put his hands over the keyboard of Joe’s laptop.

Joe was about to rebuff
Galveston’s statement but noticed we were not going to take “no” for an answer.

“Okay,” he said dejectedly.  “I’m coming.”

“Good.  Don’t worry, you’ll feel better after a nice, cold beer.”  I told him.

Sometimes we needed to leave well enough alone.