The Corin Chronicles Volume I: The Light and the Dark (21 page)

“Everything,” he replied, smiling. “It’s our first overseas mission. Gotta be prepared.”

Karl smiled at Nancy before walking out of the front door, with an excited Andrew on his heels.

3.5

A
DELAIDE

T
he seatbelt sign had been on for five minutes, but Andrew desperately needed a comfort break. That, coupled with his fear of landing, had him continuously worried. He tried to control his shaking hands, to avoid being seen by his partners. Being the latest addition, he knew he had to show that he belonged, and showing fear on an airplane would not have filled Karl with confidence, especially with so much at stake once they reached the ground.

A glance to his left revealed Karl going through some files, calm as he had ever been. A few rows back was William, shamelessly flirting with a very attractive brunette woman, whom he had helped earlier with her luggage. With his partners seemingly at ease with the landing, he tried to regain his focus by breathing deeply, as houses and roads below them became visible.

“So this is it.” He had tried through the entire journey to have a conversation with Karl, but none had lasted longer than two minutes. “There’s no turning back now.”

“Have a drink, rookie.” Karl put his pen in his mouth and continued to flip through numerous sheets of paper. “Seriously,” said Karl. He removed the pen and looked at him. “It will calm you down.”

“But we’re going straight for him when we land.” Andrew had a startled look on his face.

“At this rate, you won’t even make it to the ground.” Karl smiled. “Just have a bit of that whisky. It’ll do you good.”

Andrew glanced back at William again and saw him getting even more engrossed with the brunette. With a deep breath, he gulped down the glass of whisky that had been sitting on his tray for the last hour. The sudden placement of Andrew’s hand over his mouth made Karl chuckle, but in an instant, he regained his serious expression and continued going through the files.

Upon landing, Andrew sighed heavily and immediately reached for the luggage compartment before feeling the iron grip of Karl’s hand around his wrist.

“Come on now, Agent Sharpe.” Karl nodded toward an elderly lady, also attempting to get her luggage. “Ladies first.”

Scowling, Andrew turned toward the lady and smiled. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know where my manners have gone.” The woman replicated his smile. “May I bring anything down for you?” he asked.

“Oh, you’re such a gentleman,” she said. “Mine’s the red bag on the left, please.”

Swiftly, Andrew grabbed the bag and gently placed it on the floor. The approval on the woman’s face brought another smile to his own. A sudden tap on his shoulders from Karl prompted him to follow his boss toward the exit.

Andrew noticed that William was still engrossed in his conversation. “Agent Montgomery,” he shouted. The look on William’s face resembled that of a child interrupted during a computer game. “It’s time.” Andrew could not resist another smile.

Reluctantly, William leaned over and kissed the woman on both cheeks before standing and heading toward Andrew with a scowl on his face.

The airport seemed busy, but Karl could not tell whether or not it was normal for this airport. Although he had visited a few locations in the South Pacific, Adelaide was not one of them. He expected a large welcoming committee, but so far he had not seen any law enforcement agents approaching them, or signs with their names.

“Do you think they’ve forgotten that we’re coming?” asked William, smiling.

“It’s not a joking matter.” Karl glanced around the airport. “If they don’t show up in a—“

“Hang on, hang on,” interrupted Andrew, returning from his comfort break. “I think that’s our man over there. He doesn’t seem happy though.” He directed their attention to a tall man in a slim-fitting white shirt. His hair was balding in the middle, and sweat glistened on his forehead. The expression on his face seemed tense, almost as if he had just walked away from a blazing argument.

Karl walked a few steps ahead of his partners and held his hand out. “Inspector Donovan?” he asked.

The bald man nodded and shook his hand. “Welcome to Adelaide,” he said.

“Thank you,” said Karl. “Australian Federal Police.” He held up his badge. “I’m agent Hobbs, and these are agents Montgomery and Sharpe.” Both William and Andrew nodded.

Inspector Donovan frowned. He stared at their matching black suits.

Unsure of what the inspector was thinking, Andrew tried to maintain a blank expression. Impersonating FBI officers was one thing, but having to modify their accents to convince the Australian police that they were the federal arm of their law enforcement was something completely different.

“Commander Jordan says that you have eyes on him right now,” said Karl.

“Yes, we do.” With a scowl on his face, Inspector Donovan reached into his very tattered briefcase and pulled out a thin computer tablet. The screen displayed a glossy image of a luxurious looking high-rise apartment. “He’s at this apartment,” he continued. “He’s been there for a while. Don’t know how he can afford it though. He looks so young. Ever since he came to our attention, we’ve set up camp on the ground floor, in their security room. It’s been about two weeks now. Two of my men are there as we speak and can move in at any time.”

“No!” The hard tone in Karl’s voice surprised the three men around him. “This guy is very dangerous,” he said. “No one moves in until we get there. Is that understood?”

Inspector Donovan nodded but let out a disapproving grunt. “Come on,” he said reluctantly. “Let’s go to the car. The apartment is not far from here.”

Karl stayed close to Donovan, while the other two maintained a steady pace, slightly behind them. They arrived at an SUV and climbed inside. It was comfortable and spacious, but all three of them remained focused. As they approached some traffic lights, Inspector Donovan looked at both William and Andrew, who looked straight back at him, hardly blinking. He saw that Karl had a stack of files on his lap and leaned his head in his direction, hoping to get a closer look.

“So who is this guy you’re so interested in?” he asked. “What has he actually done? We’re after him for a few things ourselves, but now you guys are here, and there’s nothing we can do.”

“We just want this to be as simple as it can be.” Karl stopped going through the files and fixed a stare on Donovan. “I appreciate the hard work you and your guys put in, but he’s ours now, and we have full tactical command on his takedown. Is that understood?”

The inspector did not respond, opting instead to maintain his concentration on the road, still emitting disapproving mumbles. “The commander said that we should support you on this, but he never said you’d take over,” he said.

“Do we have a problem, Inspector?” Karl’s tone took on a direct ring.

Inspector Donovan shook his head and continued driving.

Karl had seen the high-rise apartment in the distance, but as they pulled up outside it, he checked all of his weapons, as did his partners. Inspector Donovan looked at them, but decided against asking any more questions.

“Where are your men right now?” asked Andrew.

“As I said, they’re still there. I think—“

Some noise on his radio interrupted him. He cleared the signal to hear the voice of one of his fellow officers. “Inspector,” said the voice.

“Go ahead, Johnson,” he said.

“We saw him leave his room on the cameras a few minutes ago, but he hasn’t come downstairs.”

“What?” Donovan shouted. The other three men in the car looked at each other worriedly. “Where the hell is he?”

“I don’t know, sir,” replied Sergeant Johnson. “But Capps has gone upstairs to find out.”

“Why did he do that?” shouted Karl. “Didn’t I tell you that nobody was to go up without us?”

Donovan did not answer the question. He continued speaking to his sergeant. “Can you still reach Capps on the radio?”

“I don’t know,” said Sergeant Johnson. “Let me try.” As he opened his mouth to speak, the slightly distorted voice of Capps came through.

“Capps, Capps,” said Donovan. “Go somewhere else. We can’t hear you.”

Following a few minutes of jumbled speech, Sergeant Capps’s voice steadily became clearer. “Sorry, sir. I went to look for him in the toilet,” he said.

“Sergeant Capps,” said Karl. “I’m Agent Hobbs with the AFP. Have you seen any sign of him at all?”

“No, sir,” replied Sergeant Capps. “I think he may be hidi… wait. No. I can see him.” A scuffling sound, followed by a loud crack, indicated that the radio might have been dropped to the floor. They heard the sergeant say, “Freeze! Police!” Then a gunshot came through, and the radio signal went silent.

“Sergeant Capps! Sergeant Capps!” repeated Inspector Donovan. “What the hell just happened?” He looked at the three men around him, waiting for one of them to answer.

“I don’t know, sir,” shouted the voice of Sergeant Johnson through the radio. “But I’m going up there.”

Karl forcefully grabbed the radio from Inspector Donovan. “Listen to me, Sergeant Johnson. I know you think you’re doing the best thing for your partner, but believe me, you don’t know what you’re dealing with. You need to stay right where you are.” He looked at his partners in the back of the car, who continued to arm themselves. “Are you ready guys?” They answered his question by stepping out of the car, followed by Inspector Donovan.

“Sergeant Johnson,” Karl continued, climbing out of the car. “Can you hear me?” There was no reply, but he could hear the sound of running feet. “I know you can hear me, and I’m begging you. Don’t go up there. We’re just setting up outside, and then we’ll go up and get him ourselves.”

Aggressively, Inspector Donovan grabbed hold of the radio. “Johnson, you will listen, and you’ll do as you’re told,” he shouted. “Don’t, under any circumstances, go up there. That is an order.” Nothing came through the radio.

“Damn!” shouted Karl. “What part of ‘stay away until we get there’ don’t your men understand?”

Inspector Donovan avoided his gaze.

“They’re both dead,” Karl said. “Just like that. Two more people lost.” He stamped his foot on the ground in frustration.

They entered the foyer of the apartment building and went into a small corner, where Inspector Donovan spoke for a few minutes with the administrator, explaining what had been happening. Karl and his men stepped back a few yards to talk, while they waited for Donovan.

“So what do you think is happening up there?” Andrew said. He was clearly uneasy, but his partners remained eerily subdued.

“Calm down, rookie. We know how to deal with him. Just follow our lead. Remember everything we told you, and you’ll be fine.” Shifting restlessly, Karl headed toward Donovan, who, upon noticing him, walked away from the administrator.

“I got it,” Inspector Donovan said, grinning and holding up a door keycard. “It’s a master.”

Karl took the keycard and said, “I need you to call for backup. Make them heavy, but don’t come up until we call you.”

“What’re you going to do? Where do you think he is?”

“No idea,” replied Karl. “He definitely hasn’t left the building, or we would have seen him, so we have to assume that he’s hiding in one of the other apartments.”

“With all due respect, Agent Hobbs,” said Donovan. He stuck out his chest with his arms folded across it. “If it’s a full apartment search, then you’ll need to send a hell of a lot of my men up there. There’s no way you three can cover it all.”

“No, Inspector,” said Karl. “I know how he thinks. There are only a number of apartments he would go to. I need a list of everyone who lives here. I especially need a list of young families within three floors of him. Send it to my tablet once you get it.”

“But how would he know who the young families are?”

“He would have done a door-to-door when he first moved here, introducing himself to his neighbors, analyzing them, trying to pick out the ones he can use.”

“And you know all this how?”

Karl walked toward the elevator, where his partners were waiting for him. Stepping inside, he turned back to Inspector Donovan. “Trust me,” he said. “I know what I’m talking about. Now do me a favor and call that backup. But please, don’t come up till I tell you to.”

Just as the elevator doors closed, Donovan saw the three men tightly holding their weapons.

The elevator did not make any stops on its way to the tenth floor. The bell indicating their arrival brought a sense of anxiety to all three of them. With extreme care, Karl led the way out of the lift, with his gun held in front of him. Glancing to his right, he noticed that the suspect’s room was a mere three doors from the elevator.

“Okay,” he said quietly. “That’s his room over there, but first we check the restroom.” He calmly led the way toward his left, with the others closely behind.

“How come it’s so quiet?” asked Andrew. “No one’s out here at all.”

“Don’t worry about the silence, rookie,” replied William. “Worry instead about where he is.”

“Quiet, guys.” Karl had his hands on the doorknob of the restroom door. Without much deliberation, he shoved it open.