The Finish (The Eliminator Series Book 12) Read online

  When Jacobs and Tiffany reached the bench, Buchanan stood up and shook each of their hands. He even pet Gunner on the head.

  “Good to see you again,” Buchanan said, looking at Tiffany.

  She smiled. “You too.”

  Buchanan looked down at their hands, which were still interlocked. “When you said you wanted to meet, you didn’t say you were bringing company.”

  “I wanted to…” Jacobs stopped mid-sentence, then looked at Tiffany. “You’ve always been there for me. Whether I saw it or not. Whether I accepted it or not.”

  “And I always will be,” the sergeant replied.

  “I know that. I guess I just wanted you to see that… I’m trying to get back to who I used to be.”

  Buchanan glanced at Tiffany. “With a little help?”

  Jacobs looked at her and smiled, squeezing her hand a little tighter. “Yeah.”

  “Well, I’m glad. If anyone deserves happiness, it’s you.” He looked at Tiffany again “And if you were able to penetrate this brick wall, you must be something pretty special.”

  “I don’t know,” Tiffany replied with a shrug.

  The three of them sat down. Buchanan assumed this wasn’t just a social visit. “So what else is on your mind? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be upset if you just wanted to introduce your relationship to me formally, but I get the feeling this isn’t all there is. Is it?”

  “No, not totally. I mean, I did want to do this, so you could see I’m trying to change.”

  “And I’m glad.”

  “But it’s also about Mallette.”

  “Isn’t it always?” Buchanan asked. “It always comes down to him in one way or another.”

  “You know as well as I do that I’ll never be free as long as he’s out there. Ames, too. As long as they’re breathing, they’re gunning for me. And her.”

  Buchanan looked at her, somewhat concerned. “Something else happen?”

  “Well, not at the moment. But they’ve tried repeatedly.”

  “Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”

  “Because we’ve handled it.”

  “Brett, you don’t need to be a hero.”

  “I don’t wanna be. But we both know that you, and the department, may be unwilling to do certain things that have to be done. And we both know what those things are.”

  “What exactly are you asking?”

  “That if you hear anything interesting, to let me know.”

  “Anything pertaining to… anything specific?”

  “Anything that could help me end this.”

  “You want me to set him up for you?”

  Jacobs shook his head. “No. I would never ask you to do that. If you hear of a possible meeting somewhere, if you hear any rumors of his plans, anything at all. Anything that can help me.”

  “Let me ask a question first.”

  “OK?”

  “What do you plan on doing when this is over? Assuming Mallette and Ames are in the ground.”

  Jacob glanced at Tiffany, then back at the sergeant. “Rebuild.”

  Buchanan grinned. That was what he wanted to hear. “There won’t be someone else, some other criminal, to latch onto?”

  “I’m done after this. It started with Mallette. It ends with Mallette. For good.”

  “In that case… I’ll do what I can.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “While we’re on the subject, you happen to know anything about Butch being killed?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Your handiwork?”

  “No,” Jacobs answered. “I was there. They tried to tail us after picking Tiff up from school. Wound up at this place, took out a bunch of their guys. Mallette and Butch were there together. They formed some sort of partnership. Not sure what happened; it was out of our view. We heard the shot, went over to it, found Butch lying there. As far as we can figure it, Mallette put one in his head.”

  Buchanan rubbed his chin, thinking about it. “Why? Why would he do that if they formed some kind of alliance?”

  “My guess—and that’s all it is—is that they had a falling out. Ever since they formed a partnership, Butch has been losing guys like crazy.”

  “Am I to assume that’s due to you?”

  Jacobs grinned. “I think that Butch wanted to pull out, and they had some sort of argument, and Mallette killed him.”

  “Certainly possible.”

  “My theory is that Mallette’s operating with a skeleton crew. He needed Butch’s cooperation to boost his numbers. If Butch left and took his men with him, that would leave Mallette in a hole. He couldn’t have that. So he killed Butch, eliminated his competition, and took his men at the same time.”

  “He may look to Ames next,” Buchanan said. “I’ll see if we can find anything out on that level.”

  “There’s no way Ames is ever gonna agree to work with Mallette. As soon as he hears about Butch, he’s gonna assume it’s Mallette’s doing.”

  “Or yours.”

  Jacobs shrugged. “Maybe. But I think Ames and Mallette are basically the same person. I don’t think the two of them could ever work together on anything. If Mallette approached Butch about partnering up, I’m sure he did the same with Ames. Ames probably turned him down on it.”

  “Could be. What’s your next move?”

  “Right now, I don’t have one. Just have to play it by ear, I guess. Hope something breaks.”

  “Need any protection?”

  “I think we’re good. I’ve got people on my brother’s place, just in case they try something there again. And I’m taking Tiffany to and from school.”

  “What about her parents?”

  “Hawaii,” Jacobs replied. “For a few more weeks.”

  “OK. Well, if this isn’t settled by then, let me know, and I can have someone sitting on their house.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “Thank you,” Tiffany said.

  Buchanan nodded. “No problem. You may not believe this, but I want to end this thing quickly too. It’s time. Don’t you think?”

  “It is,” Jacobs answered. “It’s past time. It’s time for this to end.”

  3

  Reed pushed open the closed door and rushed into the office. Mallette was on the phone, but quickly hung up, sensing the urgency of his underling.

  “We’ve got him,” Reed said.

  “Who?”

  “Ames. He’s agreeing to meet again.”

  “Good. Under what conditions?”

  “Said he will only meet with you. At a place of his choosing.”

  “Hmm.”

  “I don’t like it, boss. He could be setting you up.”

  “I think it’s extremely possible,” Mallette said. “Maybe even likely. It doesn’t really matter, though, especially considering we’re going to be doing the same thing to him.”

  “Boss, I know you didn’t exactly get off on the right foot with him, but do you think it’s a good idea to be doing this now?”

  Mallette glared at him. “Is it interfering with something for you?”

  “Well, it’s just, with Jacobs still out there, and now taking on Ames, we really can’t afford to get into it with him.”

  “There will be no getting into it with him. One opportunity. One shot. One dead. That’s all it will take. There will be no war. No extended conflict. No loss of men. Just one will fall.”

  “And if it doesn’t work?”

  “It will work. It has to.”

  “Maybe we can take another run at him, bringing him into the fold, like we did with Butch?”

  “We both saw how well that worked out,” Mallette said. “I have no illusions about a partnership with Ames working out any better.”

  “But if it doesn’t, then we can kill him and take his men.”

  “Or we can just do that to begin with and forget all the other nonsense that comes with it. Then we can eliminate all the competition and focus on Brett Jacobs. And fina
lly eliminate him.”

  “Should I agree to his terms?”

  “Do it. Whatever he wants.”

  Reed left the room to set up the meeting. Mallette got back on the phone. Reed was only gone a few minutes before he burst back into the office.

  “Boss, they say if you wanna meet, you gotta do it now.”

  Mallette stood up. “Well then, let’s go.”

  “I don’t like this. We don’t have time to set anything up.”

  “Where are we meeting?”

  “Uh, I dunno, some vacant building. We’re not gonna be able to get the boys in there in time to set up a shot.”

  “You get the boys ready,” Mallette said. “Make it happen.”

  Reed huffed, knowing there wasn’t enough time to make it happen like his boss wanted. But Mallette was so fixated on doing things his own way, and patience wasn’t one of his strong points. There would be no talking him out of it. They walked out of the office, Reed calling some of the other men to get them into position.

  Reed wasn’t done trying to convince his boss that it wasn’t a good idea. Once they got in the car, and Reed finished talking, he put his phone away, trying to talk his boss out of this meeting.

  “OK, the boys are on their way there now, but there’s not enough time.”

  “Just give me the gun,” Mallette said, holding his hand out. Reed put a pistol in it. Mallette then stuffed it inside the belt of his pants. “If the boys can’t be ready, then I’ll do it myself.”

  “What if Ames has got protection there?”

  “I’m not going to have one more night worrying about Wilson Ames. His reign ends now.”

  It was a twenty-minute drive to the meeting place, but they stalled a few extra minutes, getting there in thirty. Mallette wanted his people in place before he got there. When they did arrive, they saw several cars parked in front of the building.

  “I don’t like this, boss.”

  “Are our guys in place?” Mallette asked.

  Reed immediately got on the phone. He got off a short time later. He didn’t look pleased. “They’re not ready, boss. They can’t get in. Not yet. They need more time.”

  “Time is something we don’t have.”

  “Yes, we do. We don’t have to do this just yet.”

  Mallette didn’t want to hear it. He wanted Ames eliminated, and he wanted him gone today. He got out of the car with Reed, and the driver also got out. The two men escorted Mallette to the door. Just before they reached it, two of Ames’ men appeared. They had guns in hand.

  Mallette and his men stopped, waiting for Ames’ men to make a move. Ames’ men opened the door, stepping to the side, seeming to give Mallette a warm welcome. Mallette and his men continued their approach and walked into the building. They were escorted by Ames’ men, going into another room that was devoid of any furnishings. Mallette took a look around, seeing nothing but four bare concrete walls.

  “Where’s Ames?” Mallette asked.

  “He’ll be here,” one of the men replied. “Just wait here.”

  Ames’ men turned around to leave, but Mallette had some more questions. “Are you not waiting here with us?”

  “Waiting isn’t part of the plan.”

  The two men swung back around, pulling out their pistols once more. They took aim at Mallette, though his driver stepped in front of him as a shield. As the bullets penetrated his body, Reed withdrew his pistol, too, and returned fire. With all the bullets Mallette’s driver took, the impact knocked him onto his boss, knocking them both onto the floor.

  Reed hit the first man, then took a bullet himself. He dropped to his knees, but still was in the fight, and continued to fire. All three men were hit but kept firing, each of them taking numerous bullets. Finally, one of Ames’ men perished after taking four bullets. Then the second of Ames’ men dropped after taking three bullets.

  Reed tried to get back to his feet but stumbled down again. He had taken one bullet to the leg, one to the arm, two in the midsection, and one to the chest. It was only a matter of time before he departed. He still had enough energy in him to crawl over to his boss to make sure he was all right. Mallette wasn’t moving.

  “Boss…” Reed kept crawling. “You OK?” He only made it about halfway to Mallette before he ran out of energy and life. His eyes closed for the final time.

  Mallette waited another minute before finally shoving his driver off his body. He was making sure there was no other danger lurking before revealing that he was still alive. He took a quick look at Reed as he got back to his feet. Mallette firmly gripped the gun in his hand, just in case the fight wasn’t over yet. He kept the gun aimed at the door for well over a minute, just waiting. There was no one else coming, though. Not until several more of his men finally got into the building, coming from a side window. They came running toward Mallette.

  “Boss, you OK?”

  Mallette put his gun away and nodded, looking as though he wanted to throw someone through a wall. He didn’t seem to care as much about two of his men being dead, both of whom died protecting him. His mind was only focused on Ames.

  “What happened?” one of his men asked.

  “Wilson Ames set me up,” Mallette replied angrily. “That’s what happened.”

  “Shame about Reed.”

  Mallette glanced down at the dead man, still not showing much remorse for his situation. He didn’t appreciate what had happened. Of course, he was planning to do the same thing. Reed tried to warn him about rushing in, but Mallette was too stubborn to listen. As Mallette stared at the bodies of his two men, anger flowed through his veins. There was only one thought going through his mind.

  “I want Wilson Ames’ head on a stick.”

  Several days had passed, and there wasn’t much activity on any front. Thrower reported back that he couldn’t see anyone hanging around Terry Jacobs’ family. Jacobs continued taking Tiffany to and from school, but there was nobody following them that Jacobs could tell. And there’d been no rumors on any front involving Mallette or Ames. At least none that provided anything actionable. There were rumors that Mallette and Ames were ramping up their hatred toward one another, but that didn’t have anything to do with Jacobs.

  All that changed, though, when Franks tried to burst into the house. The locked door prevented him from charging right in. Gunner immediately started barking, and Jacobs took out his gun as he went to the front door to investigate. Once he saw it was Franks, the red alert died down. He tucked his gun away and opened the door to let his friend in.

  Jacobs held his arms out. “What gives?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why are you trying to charge into the house? Are you trying to get shot?”

  “Why would I get shot?”

  Jacobs looked at him like he was crazy. “Uh, because you know I keep the door locked at all times in case of some dangerous thug finding out where we are.”

  “Oh yeah, that.”

  “Sometimes I wonder what world you’re living in.”

  Hearing Franks’ voice, Tiffany appeared from the hallway where Jacobs told her to go in case it was someone dangerous trying to get in.

  “Hey, Tiff,” Franks said.

  Tiffany gave him a warm smile and a half-hearted wave.

  “Is there something we can do for you?” Jacobs asked.

  “About what?”

  “You did try to bust in here just a few minutes ago. You remember that, right?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “So what did you want?”

  “Oh. Yeah. Why’d you let me get away from that?”

  Jacobs sighed. “I don’t know. You know how I lead you off-topic sometimes.”

  “True. You do do that every now and again.”

  “Eddie, what do you want?”

  “I bring news, man, news.”

  “Such as?”

  “Word is that Mallette and Ames are coming to a head, man. Like, there’s an explosion about to happen.”
<
br />   “OK?” Jacobs seemed a little ambivalent about the news.

  Franks was a bit surprised by the lack of reaction he received. “OK? That’s it? That’s all you’re giving me?”

  “Um… thanks?”

  Franks rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders. “Come on, man, don’t be like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Here I just told you that your two biggest rivals are about to meet up in some epic contest that might blow the doors off of everything, and what do you say?” He then mocked his friend. “OK?” He returned to his normal voice. “I mean, what’s that? OK? That’s all you got to say? OK?”

  “What would you like me to say?”

  “Well, I thought you’d be a bit more excited about it. Maybe jump up and down, do a jumping jack, throw your arms up, let out a yell… something!”

  “Why?”

  “Oh, forget it.”

  Jacobs finally let out a smile. “I mean, I guess it’s good. What exactly is it that you want me to do with the news?”

  “Well, maybe, just maybe, the two bastards will meet up and take each other out.”

  “The odds of that are not strong.”

  “We can hope.”

  “Hope doesn’t do anything.”

  “Man, you’re a real barrel of laughs today, aren’t ya?”

  “Listen, the odds of both of them appearing in the same room are not that high. So even if they do go up against each other, it’s just gonna be rival factions killing each other. The leaders will probably be safe.”

  “But maybe one of these leaders will go down with the ship, huh?”

  “That would still leave the other one,” Jacobs said.

  “Well, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.”

  “Why not?”

  Franks sighed. “Look, let’s keep our fingers crossed that these two bad boys will knock one of the others off. Even if that only leaves one of them left… it still means only one of them is left. That’s much more manageable than two, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe.”

  Franks waved his hand at him. “You’re impossible today, you know that?”

  “Sorry, it’s just… we haven’t heard anything for a couple days. Sometimes it feels like this thing’s never gonna end.”