Dead Man's Hand (39 page)

He
looked at his s
ergeant.
“
For one thing, why are you here?
”

“
I
’
m
checking
my men, making sure everyone is okay.
”

“
Bullshit. There
’
s more. And two, I think we owe Watters this much. He just put his life on the line for us. Why don
’
t you go back to the office and I
’
ll let you know when you
’
re needed.
”

“
Who died and gave you guts?
Okay
. Whatever. I
’
ll see you in a few hours.
”

After t
he sergeant turned and stomped off
,
Dale returned to the room
and spoke to Watters
.
“
After
we got you and Baxter into the ER last night, I spent the night here in the hospital while Jimmy stayed with Rachel in case I needed to contact her. I got back to the office for a few minutes this morning
,
while you were in surgery
,
and
brought those files with me. But my team has been working through the night.
A
ll we know
for sure
is that Baxter was born in Biloxi
, Mississippi
.
From Sanders
’
phone records, we found several phone calls to a phone booth in New Orleans
and
we expect that
’
s who Sanders was calling.
As a rule, assassins
like to hang out near home, believe it or not.
I
’
ll follow up later
.
”

“
So what are you going to do about Sanders?
”

“
I
’
m not sure yet. I…
”

There was a light rap on the door and a nurse entered with a new envelope.
“
Th
is is Ketoprofen, 50
mg capsules
for acute pain
.
It will act as both a pain killer and anti-inflammatory. Take one every four to six hours
.
”

“
Thanks,
”
he said.

The nurse left.

Dale said,
“
I
’
m going to the office now to see what my team has found. We have to wait for the doctor
’
s permission to interrogate Baxter
and
I want to be ready when I do.
Calvin, Jimmy and I would like you to watch us interview Baxter. We can check Baxter
’
s information with you
.
Maybe you
’
ll
be able to expand on it or illuminate. What do you say?
”

Watters
smiled
and nodded
.
“
I
’
d like that.
”

“
Good. You should get some rest
now. I
’
ll be back later.
”

Chapter
39

Everyone was in that Sunday
, recharged now that Baxter
had
tried to kill Watters
and
maybe more.
The department was
in full operational mode
—
phone
s
ringing, papers rustling, fingers tapping keyboards and anxious chatter. Dale
’
s team hadn
’
t been this alive since the investigation
had
started
,
when Grant
’
s body was found more than four days ago.

Jimmy was already at his desk, looking like he
’
d gotten even less sleep, when Dale strode through, peeled off his jacket and set it on the back of his chair. A steaming mug of coffee was already sitting on his desk.

“
How
’
s Watters?
”
Jimmy asked.

“
Recovering. He seems to be in good spirits, considering the circumstances. Any word on when we can talk with Baxter?
”

Jimmy shook his head.
“
Couple of hours. He had a full amputation and will be lucid by then, or good enough.
”

Dale sat down at his desk.
“
What do we know so far?
”

“
We found a knapsack and a briefcase on the roof of the old Hadley
Grocer
building
down the street
from Watters
’
hideout
, jammed underneath the fire-exit staircase. Inside the knapsack we found a camouflaged rain poncho and a tarp. The briefcase contained pieces of a
7.62
x
51mm
M40
and a tripod.
”

“
Marine
standard-issue sniper rifle
.
”

Jimmy nodded and continued.
“
We circulated Baxter
’
s picture and got a possible hit. Baxter had checked into a
p
enthouse
s
uite at the Bellagio on Monday night.
”

After a moment
’
s thought, Dale said
,
“
That
’
s over $500 a night. Who
’
s paying the bill?
”

Jimmy shrugged.
“
The hotel manager said the
bill
was
paid for seven nights, in cash.
The bed looked like it hadn
’
t been slept in. No fingerprints. We found a suitcase with some clothes
and
toiletries
and
a duffel bag full of weapons in the ve
nt.
”
Jimmy read from a sheet.
“
A
Browning
9
x
19mm
Hi-Power
,
a
Taurus Millennium series PT145
, a
Walther P99
semi-automatic, the list goes on. B
allistics ran them all, but
they
came up empty on our murders
and
couldn
’
t connect them to any murders across the country. They also sent the data to ATF, to run through their
National Integrated Ballistic Information Network
.
A
gain
,
no match.
”

“
We caught a
good one.
”

“
This is interesting
but leads
nowhere
,
”
Jimmy said
.
“
The team found ember rem
ains in the sink.
Baxter burned a sheaf of papers and ran it down the
drain. We took out the pipes
, but we couldn
’
t recover any kind of evidence.
”
He
held up a sheaf of papers.
“
I just pr
inted out Baxter
’
s bio, a textbook on becoming a champion killer
.
”

They divvied up the package
and
both men read without interruption
.

Dale stared at Baxter
’
s Marine Corps boot camp ID photo—chiseled jaw, gleam in his eye—ready to make a difference. Baxter was
an ex-
M
arine of the 2nd MEB, 2nd B
attalion, 3rd Marines.

Baxter
did two tours
and
was highly decorated,
including two
P
urple
H
earts
.
He
had taken out
fifty-three
people in one two-hour exploit
.
N
ot long after
he
received a dishonorable discharge
under a specia
l warrant that was unexplained and classified
.

Jimmy whistled.
“
Wow! Carlos Hathcock, the most legendary sniper in Marine and American military history,
has
ninety-three
confirmed kills
is his whole service time.
”

“
Yeah, but who knows how many they really have
?
The distances and circumstances make it extremely difficult to confirm. It also says here that Baxter received an early psychological discharge.
”
Dale looked at Jimmy.
“
I have a har
d time
be
lieving
that someone with Baxter
’
s sniper record and numerous combat medals and decorations would be dishonorably discharged from the Corps.
”

It was Jimmy
’
s turn.
“
Look at this. The military has an outstanding, special, high-priority warrant out against Baxter.
”

“
Listen to this quote
from one of Baxter
’
s commanding officers
.
‘
In training camp, Derek Baxter showed a rare gift for sharp shooting and I sent him to our Marine Sniper-Scout School, the finest of its kind in the world
,
where only
six of every hundred who enter graduate
. Derek graduated at the top of his class
and
joined one of the military
’
s most elite groups
.
H
is subsequent performance as a sniper was among the best I
’
ve ever seen
.
’
End quote
.
”

“
I wonder what happened.
”

Jimmy smiled.
“
The advantages of being a psychopath. No emotion about other people.
”

Dale knew that t
he right thing
would be to call the military and tell them they had Derek Baxter in custody.

At the end of reading, one thing was clear. Baxter was a military asset, but also a
n obvious
sociopath
.

Dale
’
s
cell phone
rang.

“
Dayton.
”

“
We
’
ve got a problem, sir.
”

He
listened
for a moment
, the smile fading from his face. He hung up.

“
Fuck!
”

The uniform who
’
d been guarding Baxter
’
s room met Dale and Jimmy at the hospital entrance door.

“
I tried to keep them out,
D
etective
s
, but they pushed their way through with their credentials. There was nothin
g I could do.
”

“
Don
’
t worry about it, kid.
”

They took the elevator to the third floor. Dale and Jimmy strode across the lobby
and
passed the nurse
’
s station
.
Dale tried the doorknob to the room, but it had been locked from the inside.
He ji
gg
led it hard
but it wouldn
’
t budge.

“
Jimmy, find someone to open this, will you?
”

As
J
immy turned to lea
ve, the door was opened just enough for
a large
head with a
blond crew cut
to appear
.
The man
had a square jaw and pronounced cords in his thick neck.
“
The Colonel will see you guys in a minute.
”

Dale reached for the knob.
“
Wait—
”

The man shut the door
and
Dale
, raising his eyebrows,
turned to Jimmy.

He answered with a shrug.

Less than a minute later, true to his word, the door opened and a man in a green military uniform walk
ed
out
with a
M
arine swagger. A
pair of tough
-
looking
A
rmy men
followed him and stopped
outside the door. The leader continued
toward
Dale and Jimmy, his chest displaying numerous medals and ribbons.

“
Gentlemen, I
’
m Marine Colonel John Hughes.
”
The man didn
’
t extend his arm, his hands intertwined behind his back.

Dale thought Hughes
resembled
a cartoon character with deeply recessed eyes, a prominent nose
and
a narrow chin. His
scholar accent didn
’
t go unnoticed.

“
Detective
Dayton, Vegas Police
. T
his is my partner,
D
etective Mason.
”

Hughes gave the detectives an antagonistic nod.
“
Detectives, I
’
m
Derek
Baxter
’
s
defense attorney and I
’
ll be organizing his court-martial.
”

“
S
o what is it Baxter did
that resulted in that special high-priority warrant?
”

Hughes
’
s
impassive face never changed.
“
That
’
s confidential information,
D
etective. I
’
ll be taking
him
back to base now.
”
He turned to leave.

“
Wait a minute, Colonel.
”
Dale knew the military
warrant took legal precedence over Baxter
’
s police custody
,
but he still didn
’
t like it. He
played his highest card right away.
“
I don
’
t think you comprehend the gravity of the situation. You
’
re not taking him anywhere. Baxter is wanted for questioning in the
murder
of
a police officer
.
”

The colonel didn
’
t flinch.
“
I
’
m sorry for your loss,
D
etective, but this is a ma
tter of national security. Baxter
is wanted back on base. The military prefers to handle these situations internally.
”