Chapter 2 - Bring in the Tank

Brian Hunter took off the dirty, grubby clothing and bulletproof vest, and stepped into an empty shower stall. A tired sigh escaped him as the warm water rushed over him cleaning away the sweat, grime, and some of his bad mood. He knew he should feel satisfied. The drug raid confiscated several million dollars’ worth of narcotics, yet disappointment tainted the victory. Chase Hancock was supposed to be there.

Hancock was supposed to be closing the deal tonight, but he wasn’t there. Where the hell was he? Brian wondered as he mentally went through all the surveillance that blatantly said Hancock was going to be closing this deal tonight. He let out a rumble of frustration running a hand over his wet, short blonde hair and continued his shower. Next time, he promised himself. Next time that piece of crap wouldn’t get away.

Chase Hancock was the city’s most powerful crime boss, specializing in narcotics and drugs. Despite being the head of the power house, Chase was always in the streets. It was his way of ensuring that everyone in his operation knew who he was and knew exactly what he was capable of if you pissed him off or double crossed him. It was so bad potential informants would rather spend a life in jail or kill themselves before telling the police anything on Hancock.

Hancock, also wasn’t frugal. He bought the loyalty of bums or politicians like a girl buys shoes. So every time Brian thought he finally gotten something on Chase something always happened to get him off. Evidence always became misplaced and lost, and the witnesses had ‘accidents’ or disappeared. Brian lost two good friends to Hancock. One to the drugs he put out on the streets and the other was an undercover who’d been compromised.

Brian scowled once more as he stepped out of the shower and dried off. One day, he promised himself again. One day, he’d bring in Hancock and lock him away for good. Leaving the locker room, dressed in a clean tee and jeans he walked over to the coffee pot. Hopefully caffeine would at least help chase away the exhaustion from a night without sleep. Rubbing his tense shoulder, he took a drink and scrunched his nose up in disgust.

The coffee tasted at least a week old. Figured, he thought sourly. He was out all night busting his ass and no one here bothered to spend one minute making a fresh pot.

“Hunter, get over here,” Steve Larson, his boss and mentor, demanded. The nearly sixty-five year old walked out of his office with an excited smile on his face.

“Yes Sir, what’s going down?” Brian asked, following him only to see none other than Chase Hancock being marched through the main office and in cuffs. Excitement and confusion flared up in him as he watched two officers escort him towards booking.

“We’ve got him on murder charges,” Steve explained. “I would’ve let you have the pleasure of bringing him in custody, but you were still out on the drug bust.”

Chase stopped in front of them with a smug smile. “I hear you got yourself a new pet mouse,” he sneered.

Mouse? Brian thought, but kept the confusion off his face.

“You should be careful, though. Mice are fragile things and so prone to getting hurt,” Chase sneered again.

“Didn't know you were such a soft heart, Hancock,” Brian shot back. “I think you should worry more about yourself. I’m eager to see how you’ll get yourself out of this one.” Brian nodded to the officers holding him and they pulled the scowling Hancock back into motion. He waited until the crime boss was out of the room before turning to Larson. “How did we get him and what the hell was that mouse thing about?”

“In my office,” Steve told him with a wave of his hand. They turned and walked into the decent sized office. Larson closed the door and went around his desk. He sat down and tossed a photograph on the desk towards Brain. A beautiful blonde was smiling at the camera man. It was the kind of smile that any straight man would sit up and take notice. Maybe even a few not so straight men.

“Hannah Hall. Chase’s latest girl,” Larson explained then tossed another picture on his desk. This time of the blonde bloodied and quite dead. “She must have pissed him off because last night he decided to take her out. He shot the damn girl four times! We haven’t found the firearm yet, but it looks like a standard nine-millimeter semiautomatic. Unfortunately, Mss. Hall has a bad boy fetish. All her exes have varied criminal backgrounds.”

“Which means Chase will try to push this off on one of them,” Brian said with a frown. It would be near impossible to get a conviction on Chase with only that as evidence. So why did Larson look so damn excited.

“Exactly but we lucked out on this one,” he replied as if he knew what Brian was thinking. Larson handed him another photograph, this time of a woman with dark auburn hair and pale skin that looked like it hadn’t seen the sun in years. She was pretty, but nothing that would stand out in a crowd.

“Maggie Kent. Our one and only hope at getting Chase behind bars. Ms. Kent saw him make the kill shot on his girl. He also tried to kill her, but she somehow managed to get away,” Larson explained.

Brian’s smile grew. This was it! This is what they needed to get that bastard off the streets. He frowned remembering Hancock’s comment. “That is if she stays alive long enough to testify,” Brian replied, tossing the photograph with the others.

“Chase is already making moves to see that she doesn’t. There's talk of a possible hit on someone known only as the mouse.”

Then it’s only a matter of time, Brian thought and told his boss so.

“He can’t kill what he can’t find,” Larson said, looking like a child who peaked at their Christmas present. “Officially Mss. Kent is going into the Witness Protection, but we both know Chase has people there. So I’ll be sending an undercover in Mss. Kent’s place while the real one goes to ground. The undercover should be able to identify whose giving Chase information and our witness will remain safe until the trial.”

“Hancock has people everywhere. Where could you possible take the woman to ground without him finding out and who could we even trust to guard her and not sell out when Hancock starts throwing out money?” Brian asked, frowning as he leaned back in his chair.

“I only know of one man I can trust fully,” Larson said. “As far as the where, I’m sure you’ll figure something out. It’s best if I don’t know where you squirrel her away.”

Brian stood there for a moment. He wasn’t exactly sure if he had heard Larson right. “Me?” Oh no. He hated bodyguard duty with a passion and besides that he was too good of a detective to be placed on babysitting detail. “You can’t be serious?”

“Of course, I am. I know it’s not exactly the ideal job, but you’re the only one I trust to do it,” Larson told him. “Chase is going to be offering a lot of money for her. Can you honestly suggest me someone you trust with her beyond any doubt?”

He scowled, gritting his teeth so he wouldn’t shout all the obscenities running through his head. “Fine,” he finally spat out.

Larson’s aged face split in a confident, victorious grin. Good thing they were such good friends or Brian would seriously consider knocking it right off his face. “When can you be ready to leave?”

“Within the hour,” Brian replied, keeping his tone sour. While Larson may have a point, Brain refused to pretend to be happy about it. His mind already running through the possible places he could take the woman to ground.

“Good. Get what you need and meet me at Mercy’s Hospital. I hope by now the officers there have been able to get her statement.”

Guilt hit Brian like a mac truck. She was hurt, probably scared out of his mind and he was here acting like some entitled dick. “How bad is she?”

Larson made a dry laugh. “From what I hear, pretty bad,” he said and looked almost sly now. “Mss. Kent wasn’t physically harmed, but she’s, well, when the officers tried to get her statement she spoke in a garbled mess.”

Great. This is just fantastic. Brian wondered if this could get any better.

An hour later Brian arrived at the hospital. He finally came up with the perfect place. It was secluded enough to keep them out of sight, yet only a day’s drive away. So if they needed to get back into the city in a hurry they could. Best part is, there was nothing that could connect him or the witness to the place. As he entered the large lobby of the hospital he spied Larson waiting for him. His boss handed him a manila folder.

“Take a moment to read this,” Larson said as he led Brian down one of the many identical halls of the hospital. “It’s what we know about Maggie Kent.” Inside were a few official documents like a copy of her id and school records and report. Though Brian didn’t think half a page could really be called a report.

Margaret Cody Kent, age, twenty two, was daughter of William and Ella Kent. William Kent was the founder and CEO of Kent Technologies, multi-million dollar company. William and Ella Kent died in a car accident when Maggie was only thirteen. Maggie was owner of her father’s company, but it appeared that it was actually being run by her father’s partner Henry Wilson who deposited her father’s share of the profits into her account.

Maggie’s foster parents were a Richard and Charlene Lawrence, but on the very day of her eighteenth birthday Maggie moved out and not spoken with them since. That same year she enrolled into the local University, but after two years she was suspended out for lack of attendance. Since then Maggie had no job history or legal issues, and she didn’t have any known relationships, platonic or otherwise, besides the deceased Hannah Hall.

Brian read over the page again then frowned. “Well making her disappear isn’t going to be hard. She’s almost done all the work for us.”

“Agreed,” Larson replied and stopped at a room where two officers stood guard. The door opened, and a nurse came out with a disgusted look on her face.

Brian decided to give her a charming smile in return. Nurses were the real power behind a hospital. They could make your life heaven or hell. He always did his best to stay on their good side. “How’s the patient doing?”

The nurse’s face went back to an expression of disgust. “Fine as far as I can tell since she refuses to let me get near her,” she complained then glared at Larson. “I’d rather spend my time taking care of patients that need and accept my help!” She gave Brian a flirty smile before rushing off.

“Why does she give you a sexy smile and chews me out,” Steve complained.

Brian gave his friend a nasty smile. He couldn’t help but feel karma was biting his friend right in the ass as payback for this babysitting job. “Because you’re obviously the boss. Well, that and I just have that effect on women,” he replied.

“Well let’s see how your ‘effect’ works on our witness.”

When they entered the room, the witness sat on the bed cross-legged. She wore dull blue scrubs that all the nurses and doctors wore. Her red hair messily pulled back away from her slightly squarish face. Her brown eyes eyed everyone in the room with a wary distrust as her pink lips pressed in a fine line.

“How are you doing Ms. Kent?” Larson asked as he walked up to her.

She visibly cringed and scooted back a few inches. Brian stopped by the door, deciding there was no need to make her any more nervous than she already was. Maggie started to speak, but as Larson had mentioned earlier nothing but squeaky jumbled mess came out. If that wasn’t odd enough, the woman held up her index finger, looking down at her lap. She took a few deep breaths before mumbling something about Newton’s laws of motion in a weak, stuttering voice.

When finished Maggie looked up. “I am fine,” she said with a slow, purposeful tone. As if she had to think about each word before speaking them. “I want to go home.”

“I understand, and I would like nothing more to send you home,” Larson told her in a calm voice. “However, your friend’s boyfriend is a very dangerous man. Chase Hancock will want to make sure you tell no one about what happened last night. So until he goes to jail and stays there, I’m afraid you can’t go back.”

She visibly swallowed as she gave him a deer in headlights stare. “W-what?” Maggie squeaked and when she spoke again it came out as mess of jumbled words and sounds. Brian watch with curiosity as Maggie shut her eyes tight and her chin dropped to her chest. Not looking at either of them she said softly, “The Uncertaint-ty P-principle states that the measurement of any ob-bject affects that ob-bject. That is it is impossib-ble to get a p-perfect measurement. This applies to all ob-bjects but-t is only significant at the at-tomic or sub-batomic level.”

She took a few more deep slow breaths. “Where am I going to go, if not home?”

“We’ve already taken care of that Ms. Kent. I would like you to meet Brian Hunter,” Larson said and Brian walked over to stand next to his boss. “He’s our top narcotics detective. He’ll take you somewhere safe and makes sure no harm comes to you.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Kent,” Brian told her and held out his hand when she looked up at him.

Her brow furrowed as she looked at him then down at his hand. She did this a couple of times before scooting back away from them, not uttering a word.

“Right,” Brian said and lowered his hand. “You have nothing to worry about. I’ll keep you safe”

“You still d-didn’t answer my q-question. Where am I going to go?”

“It’s in your best interest that particular information remains classified for the moment,” Brian replied.

Her lips pressed together even tighter. “What ab-bout my stuff? My clothes, my comp-puter?”

“It’ll still be there,” Larson explained.

“B-but I can’t go anywhere w-without my st-tuff.”

“If there is something important you need, we can have someone drop by your house and get it,” Larson told her, sounding as if he was starting to run out of patience.

Maggie’s eyes widened with horror. “No,” she gasped. “N-no, please. D-don’t send someone t-to my house.”

“It’s not safe for you to go to your home,” Brian told her.

“W-we can be q-quick,” she offered and when Larson started to tell her that wasn’t possible her jaw locked. “Then I won’t t-testify. C-chase won’t come after me t-then.”

Was she crazy? As Brian stared at her, he was seriously doubting her sanity. There was a price on her head and she wanted to stop by her house. And for what? Clothes? They could get her clothes anywhere. He took a breath to tell her that it was out of the question, but faltered at the lost look in Maggie’s brown eyes, filled with unshed tears. “Fine, I’ll take you home,” Brian said sourly.

Maggie let out a breath, her shoulders slumping as her head fell to her chest.

“Whatever. So here is the plan,” Larson said, irritation still a little visible in his expression. “We’ve got an undercover ready to leave out the main entrance when I give the word. She’ll go with the Witness Protection people. They don’t know she isn’t the real Maggie. Hunter you’ll take Ms. Kent out a service exit. Call me when you can. I will do whatever I can to get the court date set as soon as possible. I’ll send out the call now. Are you ready Ms. Kent?”

When she nodded, Brian moved to help her down off the bed. She shrunk away from him as if he had the plague. What the hell, he thought holding up his hands and taking a step back. As she slid off the bed, Brian wondered how the hell he was going to get through this. Right now he’d rather be locked in a cell with criminals then in a house alone with her.

Larson smirk at him as he hung up his cell. “It’s done the undercover is on her way out. Time for you two to get out of here as well.”

Larson led them out of the hospital room and through the maze of halls into the back parking lot. They stopped by a brand new black mustang. Brian opened the passenger side door for Maggie. He got another suspicious look as she got in the car in such a way that there wasn’t a chance that she might accidently brush against him.

“What was that you were saying earlier about your effect on women?” Larson joked in a hushed voice once the passenger door closed.

“Apparently, it doesn’t work on the weird ones.”

Larson started to laugh. “Apparently so. Call me when you’ve reached your destination. Keep your cool Hunter. Weird or not, she's our ticket to nailing Chase.”

Brian shook his head and got into the driver’s seat. He knew his friend was right. “So off to your place,” Brian stated as he started the car but was only greeted with silence. This was going to be great, he thought as he started the car.