The Killer Within Read Free

hits going on and the rumors from my other informants.”
    Burke nodded. “All right, I’ll call Judge Browers’
    office, get the task force on this.” That was just what Frank didn’t want to hear. He leaned forward, a fierce gleam in his eyes. “With all due respect, sir, screw the task force. Hector came after me .
    Let me lead a team tomorrow night, let me bust this Page 9
    shipment.”
    Burke’s eyes went hard. “I won’t have any grandstanding in this squad.”
    “This is my case, I want this one,” Frank said.
    “I really don’t care what you want, detective.” Burke’s voice betrayed a long-simmering irritation gained from years of butting heads with Frank. “This isn’t about you--”
    “Sir, if I may,” Vera said, “The information came from Frank’s source, and it does look like Hector put out a hit specifically on him.”
    Frank watched his partner. Her face was a mask of calm, but he could read the tension in her body.
    She looked long and hard at the lieutenant, and some unspoken acknowledgment passed between them. The lieutenant looked down before returning his gaze to Frank. “All right, we’ll do it your way.” Burke glowered as he spat out the words, begrudging every one. “I’ll put the team together, and you can run the show.” Frank suppressed a grin. “No task force?”
    “No, but understand, you screw this up, it’s your ass and probably your career.”
    That didn’t bother Frank one bit. “Understood, and thank you, sir,” he said, rising.
    The lieutenant grunted, and his voice sounded odd. “Thank me when it’s over, Frank. Vera, I need to speak with you.”
    Frank left Burke’s office, closing the door behind him. He wondered what had changed the lieutenant’s mind, and why he wanted to talk to Vera. He was probably making sure she spoke to a department shrink. That was standard procedure after a shooting.
    Frank spent the rest of his shift in a state of nervous excitement. Nothing upset him, not even Vera, who seemed to have her eyes on him whenever he turned around. Not even his ex’s lawyer bothered him when he called to tell Frank she was suing for full custody of their kids. Frank cheerfully told him where he could shove his lawsuit. He was finally getting his big chance, nothing was going to bring him down.
    The next day, Frank met with the other Page 10
    detectives in the squad and the thirty uniformed officers Lieutenant Burke had secured. Frank went over the map of the old Herald building, where each team was going to be stationed, and reiterated their responsibilities. Everything was ready.
    Later that evening, sunset found Frank and Vera in a shuttered boathouse by the docks of the North Metro Bay. Their binoculars were trained through a boarded up window at the back of the old City Herald building.
    The uniformed officers shuffled and fidgeted in their assault gear, waiting until it was go time.
    “Why’d the Herald go under, anyway?” one of them asked.
    “Internet, probably,” Vera replied without turning. “Nobody reads papers anymore.” The last vestiges of sunlight stained the horizon deep crimson, though the detectives paid little notice.
    In the encroaching darkness, the building looked abandoned. However, surveillance had detected movement inside throughout the day, and Frank felt certain it was the Ecuadorians.
    Time crawled. Frank felt the usual butterflies before a dangerous job. Vera did, too. Her every movement screeched with tension, and she wouldn’t go more than a few feet away from Frank, which he found strange. He wondered if she still felt bad about the shooting the day before.
    At quarter past midnight, Frank’s comm crackled.
    It was the lieutenant. His team was watching the ships in the dock. “There’s activity aboard the tanker in slip number thirty-eight. Looks like several large crates are being offloaded.”
    “Any indication where they’re headed?” Frank asked. “Negative, should have that shortly.” Minutes