Chapter 44

“Wake up.” The words woke Aaron from his crash on the office sofa.

Lifting his head from the leather armrest, he wiped the drool from his cheek and stared up at Jarvis, who offered him a breakfast burrito accompanied by a giant coffee.

“Your phone’s been ringing all morning,” said Jarvis, looking impeccable as ever with a crisp white shirt and pressed black suite.

Aaron grumbled and moaned at his achy body as he tried to sit up. He found the burner phone beneath him, stuck between the armrest and the cushion. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he saw a text from Liam letting him know he’d emailed him a ‘present’. Taking the offerings from Jarvis, he stood with a yawn and walked over to his desk. Staring begrudgingly at Jarvis who reminded him of his younger, carefree, and undamaged self. Hair neat, face clean shaven and lustrous, eyes ready to slay another day. His heart sunk at the thought of not seeing Makayla in his office today or ever. He swallowed the searing hatred her felt for her killer.

Unwrapping the burrito, he mumbled, “You know I hate these things, Jarvis.” But he took a big bite anyway and plonked himself down behind his desk.

“What?” he asked when he caught Jarvis staring at him.

“You look terrible.”

“Is that what you came here to tell me? That I look awful?” He took another bite, speaking with his mouth full of food. “Because death does that to a person.” His tone dripped of bitterness.

Jarvis stood with his hands in his pockets, all smug.

Aarons’ eyes shot to him, he pulled the burrito from his mouth. “Spit it out, Jarvis. You know something, I can tell.”

Jarvis straightened his shoulders. “The alert you sent out to the gang unit on the tattoo gave us a lead. We found the girl from the hospital, she’s in interrogation if you…”

Aaron stood. “Great work!” and chucked the burrito in the bin, then wiped his hands clean.

Jarvis pursed his lips. “Her lawyer is on the way.”

“And?”

Jarvis shuffled his feet. “It’s not good. She’s connected. The lawyer is well, you won’t believe this…”

“For god’s sake, I don’t have the patience for guessing games,” Aaron said through flaring nostrils.

“Delgado.”

“The Devil’s Breath killer yeah…”

“He is very well connected. His lawyer, when I did research on him. He’s gone undefeated in court. Got some nasty characters off some inhuman crimes.”

Aaron shrugged, walked back over to his table and took a huge swig of coffee. “We knew that.”

Jarvis gave him a firm stare. “The case is going to JAG.”

“Shit!” Aaron sat down on his desk. “Well, we suspected the military was involved but air force?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t understand.”

Jarvis stood closer to Aaron, “Why did you think the military was involved. I was not aware…”

Nodding, Aaron interrupted, “Something Liam found lead us to believe that...” He wiped at his mouth with a serviette. “Never mind.”

“Why, Sir?” Jarvis’s voice pitched.

“It’s a small lead, but I’d rather not get you in trouble.”

Jarvis was about to say something when Aaron dismissed him with a hard glare. “Is the lawyer here yet?” he asked, getting into his emails and recovering the one Liam sent. Clicking on the Liam sent over, he immediately pressed the print icon.

Bryce burst into the office. “You best have a freaking miracle up your sleeve. The lawyer is in the parking lot…”

Aaron snatched up the sketch from the printer. “I need five seconds with our perp, Captain.”

Bryce pinched the skin between his eyes. “Why? What have you got?” he sounded cynical, hopeless even.

Aaron stared at the sketch.

“Delagado is a family name. Makayla was telling me it’s a father and son Duo,” he continued with a pinch in his chest at the thought of her last words being a clue. Looking up he showed Bryce the sketch of Willow, depicting two men, similar in look, family even—the Delgado family name and crescent on the bottom of the sketched page. Aaron continued when Bryce shot him a skeptical stare.

“Delgado has a biological father. This must be him.”

“Delgado guy was an orphan, Valmer’s foster kid.” His forehead furrowed as he studied the copy of the sketch.

Aaron spun around to take up a sip of his coffee then looked between Bryce and Jarvis before he added. “If we tell our suspect someone has ratted her out, and show her this, lading her to believe this is a sketch drawn up from a witness, and letting her know we have someone, which we do, or rather did. That gave her up and is accusing her of being the mastermind.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Bryce was starting to lose it.

“They guy I,” Aaron cleared his throat, “I shot in the hospital, his tattoo matches hers, this is how we found her, through the gang unit.”

“And the guy at the compound, the big guard with the burnt off tattoo.” Jarvis asked, what’s the connection there?”

Aaron gave a nod,” he’s starting to talk, seems his afraid of someone, but he is more afraid of dying.”

“Get to it then,” Bryce snapped pointing in the direction of the interrogation rooms.

Aaron tucked his shirt in as he spoke to Bryce, “Captain, I am going to make her think Delgado has put a hit out on her.”

“But the guy you shot in the hospital, the one with the shoe pegged through his face, he was Delgado’s assassin, and he is…” Jarvis was saying.

“She doesn’t know he’s dead. The information has not been released to the press,” Aaron added. Then he snickered at the of Raine impaling her attacker with her high heeled shoe.

“It might work.” Bryce looked deep in thought.

“Run the of these sketched men through facial recognition. The one we know is our killer, the other I suspect a direct family member as Anderson suggested. They almost look the same, but we need definite not maybe.”

Anderson was full of life again, “You can find a copy of the sketch in my email from Liam Jarvis.” Then he smiled at Bryce while he fixed up his shirt collar, “Seems the Vivier sisters might just have solved this case.”

“No, we still have eight girls missing.” Bryce warned.

“Not for long,” Aaron said as he rushed out of the office.

“Well,” Bryce scolded Jarvis. “Get to it then, ascertain…”

“Sir. I know this man in this image. He’s been on Interpol’s most wanted list for some time. It’s General Delgado.” Jarvis concluded.

Bryce came around to the computer screen, then studied the printed-out sketch Willow drew of the two men standing in the shadows of a room he identified as the crime scene Lorel Palmer was found in.

Bryce slapped down on the table. “You are absolutely right, I didn’t recognize him out of uniform.” He took the sketch and studied the face of General Delgado. “I’ll get the warrant,” Bryce smirked.

“You can do that?” Jarvis looked perplexed. Then continued when Bryce gave away nothing. “It’s only a sketch Sir, not a photo, it’s not solid evidence. That girl wasn’t actually there to witness…”

Bryce gave the smuggest smile. “Don’t underestimate me Jarvis.”

Aaron slammed the of Delgado and the General on to the table before the woman who they were holding for questioning.

“We have video confirmation of you killing Nurse Bertha Benson. We have you inside doctor Vermaak’s office the night he died.”

She gave him a so what look.

“You don’t work for the hospital. This looks real bad.” Aaron straightened up, crossing his arms. “Your partner gave us this this,” he said, pointing to the sketch. “He’s prepared to give you up in return for our protection from General Delgado.”

She shrugged. “So what do you need me for?”

“Call me old fashioned, but I don’t want to see a woman get railroaded. I know he’s lying to me. He accused you of being the right-hand man. Seems you are facing over a dozen accounts of murder—along with kidnapping, attempting murder, impersonation, organ trafficking, the list is endless. He’s told us you are a terrorist, supplying, and selling military…”

She jerked forward, her cuffs scraping on the metal table. “He will kill me.”

His eyes darted toward the door. “You sign here,” he supplied a typed-out letter of agreement toward her. “Give us the intel and become a state witness. I will protect you.”

She bit down on her nails, metal chains clinging on the metal table.

Aaron narrowed his eyes on her. “This is very personal to me; my partner is dead and I want the man responsible. He won’t get away with it. Right now, I need you, and by that, I mean the honest truth. And I will be straightforward with you all the way. I would die saving you from him if it meant I get vengeance for my partner.” Aaron’s voice had risen, and his fists had balled against the table. He meant every word of it, and she knew it.

She hesitated.

Aaron swore, his eyes shot to the two-way mirror. “Delgado’s lawyer is here.” He wiped at the back of his neck, pacing. “When he enters, you have less than two seconds before he makes you. By the time he leaves here you can be assured the hit on you has been ordered before he can even get into this car.”

Still she looked undecided.

“I know this guy, we’ve been chasing him for years. He will kill everyone you love before he comes for you.”

Sweat beaded her forehead, her shaky hands went out. “Please you have to help me I have family.”

Aaron shoved the documents toward her, where she snatched it up and took the pen from him. She had just signed the document at the precise moment the door opened for the lawyer to enter.

Aaron grabbed the paper, swiftly moved so his body was obstructing the lawyer’s view of his witness. “Too late, now get out.” He shoved the paper in his face.

The lawyer, grim faced snatched up the paper. But Aaron pulled it from his grasp. “I said get out, I won’t have you study the name of my witness on this paper, so that you can call it in to your boss and kill my witness before trial. Not this time. Tell your General he is done, Interpol has him as we speak.” He shoved the layer out the doorway and slammed it shut.

Once the door closed, he turned back to the woman in custody. “Give me what I want, or I call him back in.”

She noticed he had not given away the sex of the witness. “But I signed…” she looked confused.

Aaron went to rip the agreement.

“Please,” she pleaded.

“I need the location of those girls right fucking now.” His voice had risen to a scream.

She agreed with a nod.

“While you are in such a cooperating mood, your comrade—the one with you that night in the hospital—what has he got against Valmer and the Devil’s Breath Cult? Why try and take over the cult and the other business?”

She sniffed. “We were all his kids, at one time or another.”

Aaron pulled his phone from his pocket and opened up google maps while he listened.

She shrugged before continuing. But Valmer didn’t want us for his elite team. He said we didn’t have it in us; that we didn’t deserve the power, that our fire was weak and the world had snuffed it out.”

“Carry on.” Aaron slid the phone over to her.

“Marco was the one who organized the heart of Valmer to be removed. He used the doctor’s connections to transport it, to throw the cops off, but he was too late and had lost the heart somehow, and that young bitch got his heart instead…”

Aaron leaped at her, “Watch your mouth, that girl was innocent.”

“Sure,” she shrugged, her eyes rolling. “So innocent she got involved with black market organ traffickers.”

Ignoring her he asked, “What is the connection to General Delgado.” He already knew the answer he just wanted it on tape.”

“Marco wanted to exceed Valmer as the Devil’s Breath Killer. Promised me he’d take care of us, give my family the protection they needed from Delgado.”

His eyes gestured to the phone. “While you are talking, you can direct me to the location of those girls. The exact location, type it in…”

Her fingers pulled the phone toward her while she continued, her eyes darting to the singed document Aaron held in his hands.

While she took up the phone, she continued. “He wanted Valmer’s heart, thought it would give him the power Valmer clearly had, wanted to get to Delgado.”

“Why?”

“Delgado was like a big brother to us,”

“Delgado was your foster brother?” Aaron narrowed his eye son her.

“When I need protection from Valmer, from his beating on me, Marco intervened, but Delgado stopped Marco, and I ended up in hospital with a knife in my gut, that’s the short story.”

“So Marco hated Delgado for not protecting you both from Valmer. Is that it?”

She nodded and slid the phone back to Aaron.

He snatched it up and took a look, sharing the map location to Jarvis’ phone. He called out the GPS coordinates so the camera in the room could record it. He then looked down at his informant. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was she had to go through that, but he had to tuck away all traces of sympathy for her—she was a killer, a kidnapper, and who knew what else she had chosen to do. She needed to pay, but first...

Aaron sat down across the table from her and moved a pen and paper toward her.

“We need a statement of everything, and you best spill the beans on how Delgado and his biological father, the General is part of this.”

He said out loud like he was trying to put it all together himself. “At some point Delgado, must have found his biological son. I know the general is notorious for his many affairs. He took him in, or more like it - roped him in when he found out about his compulsion to eat hearts, his Devils cult. The general must have offered him more power, money, connections.”

His eyes flew back to her.

“You might have saved the lives of those girls today, helped stopped a serial killer cult. So know what ever happens from here, you did the right thing for once. You might just be a hero to those girls. I won’t forget that.”

His gaze was intense, searing even as he thought of Makayla and the Vivier sisters. Their suffering won’t be for nothing.

Marble floors, impressive stone pillars and ornate high ceilings greeted the Vivier sisters as they entered the federal court building. Maureen Anderson’s black shoes were so shiny Willow could see the reflection of the chandelier in them.

“Ladies.” Maureen smiled as she gestured for them to take a seat outside of the Judge’s Chambers.

The hallways were empty as per the FBI’s request. Their identities had to remain completely secret before and during the trial of General Delgado. He’s associates would all be prosecuted individually, and they could not take the risk that they could be exposed, not even to court staff. The general had been Most Wanted for years, for a reason—he had connections everywhere.

The sun had just risen over the city of Washington, the golden gleam of its rays warming up the otherwise cold interior of the hallway. Raine stared down nervously at her watch, the sting of her injuries still plaguing her every move.

“Miss Viviers.” Maureen touched her wrist. “They will be here.”

Willow sighed, her eyes moved to the far side of the hallway, “They are here.”

On cue, Aaron, Liam, and their unit captain rounded the corner and with them, Martin Anderson released from prison. All three women smiled, their stomachs a flutter at the impeccably dressed—some would say very handsome—male entourage coming their way. Willow snatched up her sister’s hand and squeezed. They shared a soft smile and stood as the doors behind them opened up and the Judge stood in the doorway calling them inside. Two court officers exited and stood outside the doors as the group entered.

Aaron slid in between the crowd, gently nudging Willow with his shoulder. “You look good.”

She smiled up at him, green eyes a glimmer, blonde hair shiny and long, braided down the side of her neck. “Your team has been good to us.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, that too.” His eyes took in her very groomed appearance, but he could clearly see the weight she carried when Valmer haunted her had lifted.

Raine and Liam shared a sweet smile, and she nodded, mouthing a silent thank you and stood—high heels and dark blue dress, all formal next his stepmother Maureen Anderson. Liam fell in next to the attorney he had roped in—the bartender from the Beach Bar’s stepmother—who looked pleased to be involved in such a high-profile case. Raine heard Maureen ask the other woman, “How does it feel to be on the good side for once?”

The woman’s cold blue eyes stared blankly ahead. “I’m starting to warm up to it.” Her gaze then shifted to Willow who looked so young and innocent, it tugged at her heart-stings just a little.

The judge came in, only one court officer at her side. Maureen greeted the judge with a handshake, and the judge’s eyes fell to Bryce, her ex-husband, then shot up as the federal DA entered—another of Bryce’s ex-wives.

The judge motioned for all of them to take a seat.

The judge’s lips pursed together as her eyes took in the collection of people in her chambers. “This is a mess.” She admitted. “Rogue cops, over-protective family…” her lips pulled tight. “I can’t say I am pleased with the means and methods that makes up this case.” Her eyes took in her ex-husband again.

Bryce gave a soft smile, of all his wives she had been the most difficult, their marriage only lasting a year. But they remained friends, good friends that were in touch often, mostly asking each other advice about loopholes in cases—and how to overcome them.

The judge’s gaze moved through the line of people, took her seat before saying, “By law, each of you should be prosecuted individually, but being Captain Bryce is one of the most upstanding FBI agents I have ever worked with, I’ll allow this very unorthodox meeting.”

Bryce smiled warmly.

“This could be a conflict of interest in most courts. As I know the DA and the Arresting Agent. Lucky for us, this case is highly sensitive, and Interpol has been more than lenient in striking a deal with every informant, consultant and agent who lead to the apprehension of the international war criminal, drug smuggler, and organ trafficker General Delgado. The evidence brought before us from all parties,” She looked up at the Viviers sisters, then to Martin Anderson, “has been obtained in some strange ways, but Agent Anderson and his brother Liam Anderson have tied it up nicely with physical evidence supporting all allegation so far. The audio from Agent Mckenzie tipped the case in our favor.”

Aaron’s chest pulled tight at the mention of Makayla. Willow and Liam shared a look with a smile.

“We have one of the biggest cases in American History, and I’m proud to give my findings without Trial for reasons that all of you sitting here, might be in danger. We don’t know the extent of Delgado’s reach just yet, and I won’t gamble with the lives of good folk like you all. God knows we need solid souls fighting on our side in the war against evil.”

The Judge’s hands flattened out a piece of paper on her desk before her, and she began to read it out loud.

“Willow Viviers, once fully recovered you will be under the employment of the federal government for five years as a consultant in the major crimes unit working alongside Agents Anderson as psychic.” She paused, to take sip of water, not believing she just said that.

“The charges against Raine Viviers have been reduced to reckless endangerment. And in exchange for you risking your life trying to obtain evidence, you will do community service of three years, your probation officer will be assigned to you by Captain Bryce.” Her eyes flicker to her ex-husband. “During the period of your community service, you may be employed as a federal informant and extent your services to them for another two years. Both sisters will receive new identities, and minimum remuneration for their services. All assets within the Vivier trust fund are to be frozen but housing will be supplied.”

“Martin Anderson,” she continued. “You are guilty of killing a man, but you also have provided the agency with key leads that has tied in crucial evidence that lead us to their identities of those missing girls. Therefore, you shall be moved out of maximum security, and can, if you so wish to continue your religious work inside the prison as a way to show your remorse, and in doing so, you might be able to reduce your sentence in that manner.”

She stood. “Now go live your lives, happily ever after.” She shooed them out with the flick of her wrist, flashing a proud smile to her court officer as she turned and disappeared through the doorway behind her desk.

THE END