QR Code Killer (3 page)

“You got what I want, Kirk?” Zeus asked,
leaning back in his chair. Speaking with an accent just beyond
definition, Zeus looked over the snitch. The intensity of his gaze
penetrated through the sunglasses and made the snitch squirm in his
seat. Zeus ignored the drink that seemed to magically appear before
him.

“Yep. I’m ready to deliver,” Kirk said.
Maddie thought he sounded terrified. If he didn’t get a handle on
his fear, things were not going to go well.

“Good. Let’s go over the details,” Zeus
leaned forward and motioned to one of his men, who sat down with an
iPad and started tapping in notes. “We’ll take possession of the
delivery tomorrow evening. Where are we meeting you?”

“At my warehouse,” Kirk said. Sweat trickled
down his forehead and threatened to drip in his eyes.

“At eleven, then, and no surprises,” Zeus
said, stretching a gloved hand across the table and tapping Kirk on
the arm. “I don’t like surprises.”

“No surprises,” Kirk repeated. Clearing his
throat, he tried to tamp down his fright. “Just to clarify, Zeus,
you want to pick up 5,000 grams of heroin. Right?”

Watching from his darkened corner, Danny saw
Zeus stiffen slightly. Kirk needed to get Zeus to implicate
himself, but things were about to spin out of control. He slowly
moved his hand down to get a tighter grip on his gun, ready for
whatever came next.

Zeus didn’t answer as he leaned back in his
chair. He watched Kirk suspiciously, intently. Danny suddenly saw
the terrifying power Zeus seemed to wield over people. His perusal
was enough to make Kirk’s hands tremble.

“Isn’t that right, Zeus? Did I get the order
wrong?” Kirk was starting to panic. He wanted, more than anything,
to walk out of this bar alive tonight. Dealing with Zeus, there was
only a fifty-fifty chance of that happening.

“You’ve got something wrong,” Zeus said,
getting up from the table. Reaching over, he jerked Kirk to his
feet. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

Kirk blanched white and began to visibly
shake from head to toe. Danny wasn’t sure the poor guy wouldn’t
throw up. Zeus ripped the sleeve from Kirk’s shirt, revealing his
wire. Bending over, Zeus put his lips close to the wire and
whispered. “Mad Dog, you should know better.”

Standing back up, he pulled a gun and shot
Kirk through the head before anyone had a chance to react. His army
of bodyguards surrounded him as they moved in unison down the hall
toward the back door.

Danny and the rest of the cops were trying
to fire without hitting any innocent bystanders.

“Maddie, here they come,” Danny relayed as
he followed Zeus down the hallway, dodging bullets. “Back alley,
move forward.”

Shots rang out and two of the bodyguards hit
the ground. Return fire took out one of the undercover cops.

Bursting out the back door, Zeus ran right
into Maddie’s shopping cart, causing him to drop his gun and his
sunglasses as he tried to catch himself. Half on the ground, he was
momentarily caught off guard. In the few seconds it took him to
gather his wits, Maddie’s Glock pressed cold steel to his throbbing
temple. The bodyguards, who would have taken her out, now found
themselves surrounded by some of Seattle’s finest. No one was going
anywhere.

“Time to drop your guns, boys, and play
nice,” Maddie instructed, holding the gun firmly to Zeus’ head.
This had been too easy. She expected Zeus to put up more of a
fight, to have more up his sleeve. Warning bells clanged in her
head. She knew him. She knew he wouldn’t go down quietly. Something
was going to go wrong. That notion brought the wretched bile of
fear burning up her throat and stinging her eyes.

“Mad Dog, how lovely to meet you in person,”
Zeus said, dipping his head ever so slightly her direction. When he
did, the bodyguards started shooting at anything that moved and
Zeus grabbed Maddie’s arm, attempting to twist the gun from her
hand. Instead, she put up a fight he hadn’t expected.

“For a little slip of a girl, you are pretty
strong,” he said, wrestling her for the gun.

“Size isn’t always the most important thing”
Maddie said, leveling a blow to Zeus’ midsection that would have
made most men fall to their knees. He didn’t seem bothered at
all.

“I agree. Intelligence, charm and good looks
more than make up for any inadequacies,” Zeus said, pinching her
neck in an effort to make her pass out. “But then again, sometimes
size is all that matters.”

Maddie twisted away from his hand and sucked
in a gulp of air. She needed to keep a clear head or she’d be the
next casualty on Zeus’ long list. Kicking him in the groin with as
much force as she could muster, she expected him to fall to the
pavement in pain. Instead, he laughed at her.

“Nice try, Mad Dog. That was not the least
bit lady-like in deportment. I expected better of you. Surely
you’re dear departed mother would expect you to behave in a more
comely manner,” Zeus said, spinning her around and pinning her arm
behind her back. He dipped his head to hers and ran his tongue
around the edge of her ear. “If you can behave yourself, maybe I’ll
keep you alive to play with later. What do you think of that?”

Revulsion shot through every vessel in
Maddie’s body, creating a nearly overwhelming wave of nausea to
roll over her. Swallowing hard, she fought to bring her emotions
under control. That was the only way to keep the upper hand.

“I think you are the most disgusting, vile
animal I’ve ever encountered,” Maddie said, quickly maneuvering
herself loose and taking a step back. She once again held the gun
pointed to his head.

Looking completely unconcerned, Zeus ignored
the bullets whizzing around them as Maddie’s team fought down his
men. “You wound me with your words, Maddie, dear. We could be such
good friends if you’d just try a little.”

Maddie willed herself to
pull the trigger, to end the life of the despicable man in front of
her. But something prevented her from shooting an unarmed man point
blank in the head.
Why did she have to
have a speck of conscience left? Why couldn’t she end his miserable
life with as little compassion as he had ended her
mother’s?

Zeus seemed to sense her hesitation and
backhanded her hard enough that she fell to her knees. He wasted no
time in yanking a knife from his boot, pulling her up and holding
it to her neck. With his other hand, he grabbed her gun and held it
to her side. His men were outnumbered and it was time to cut his
losses. Whistling loudly, he drew the attention of the officer
nearest Maddie, who issued a “hold fire” order.

“Gentleman, I will take my leave. To make
sure you don’t shoot me in the back upon my exit, I’ll be taking
along a little insurance.” Zeus slowly backed up the alley toward
the street as he spoke, dragging Maddie along by the neck, his
knife gleaming in the lamplight.

Maddie didn’t show her fear. Instead, she
tried to think of the best way to take Zeus down without anyone
else getting hurt. Casting a glance at Danny, she gave the tiniest
shake of her head. It was her signal to him to not follow or try
anything dangerous. Danny narrowed his eyes at her and glared. He
wouldn’t let her go this easily. They all knew Zeus would slice her
throat or shoot her as soon as he had the opportunity to
escape.

So Danny and the other officers stood where
they were. The three bodyguards still able to move ambled along
behind Zeus, like a wretched macabre parade down the alley.

Maddie held both hands against the arm
circling her neck, waiting for the right moment to break away. She
couldn’t shoot Zeus and the three bodyguards by herself. One of
them would get away, and she didn’t want to chance it being Zeus.
Instead, she decided to see if she could put a dent in his
aplomb.

“I’m surprised, Zeus,” Maddie said in a
conversational tone as he dragged her along, getting closer to the
street.

“At what, Maddie, dear?” he said, keeping
his eyes alert and moving.

“That you let yourself be trapped like this.
It was a pretty stupid move on your part not to keep someone in the
alley by the back door. I would have thought the great and mighty
Zeus would have planned better than that. Maybe you aren’t quite as
clever as you think you are.”

The arm around her neck tightened like a
steel band, threatening to cut off her air.

“You talk too much,” he hissed near her
ear.

“You mean the invincible Zeus is intimidated
by a little slip of a girl like me?” Maddie taunted. She could feel
the anger emanating from him. Good. The more emotion he felt, the
more likely he was to let his guard down, make a mistake. “Are you
scared of butterflies and puppies, too?”

One of the bodyguards laughed and Zeus gave
him a look dripping with venom.

“But that was funny, boss. I just…”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off
when Zeus lifted Maddie’s gun and shot his own man.

“That wasn’t very nice, Zeus. A man is
entitled to his own opinion. You feel threatened by factual
observations. Isn’t that interesting? Obviously, he found me quite
charming and funny,” Maddie continued with her needling. “I’m sure
you do too, but your delusional fantasies make you unable to
perceive that which is truly amusing.”

“Be quiet,” Zeus barked, his accent slipping
a little. Maddie felt the prick of the knife on her neck and a
trickle of blood. “Be quiet, or so help me, I’ll gut you like a
fish right here, right now.”

As they came out of the alley, Maddie caught
the eye of the two undercover cops still stationed out front. They
had orders not to leave their post, no matter what. Now she was
glad they had made that part of their plan.

“So you really are intimated by me. By a
little slip of a girl who can take down big bad Zeus without really
even trying. You are completely and undeniably pathetic. I really
anticipated you being more of a challenge instead of such an easy
mark. I also heard you were quite good looking. Apparently that
rumor wasn’t true either,” Maddie said, knowing it would push Zeus
beyond the edge of reason. He took a faltering step, which gave her
the window she needed to free herself, grab her gun from his hand
and shoot Zeus in the chest repeatedly while the other officers
took down the remaining bodyguards.

Zeus roared in anger and pain before
plunging the knife into Maddie’s left shoulder, slicing through her
bullet proof vest as he twisted the blade and jerked on the
handle.

Searing pain unlike anything she had ever
known engulfed her as she dropped to the sidewalk, helpless to do
anything but fight the blackness settling upon her. She could feel
blood gushing down her arm and chest as she fought to focus on
which way Zeus ran. One officer was calling for an ambulance while
the other ran in pursuit of Zeus, who appeared to have once again
vanished into what seemed like thin air.

Before sinking into oblivion, Maddie cursed
herself for not putting a bullet into Zeus’ head in the alley. He
somehow had managed to escape again. All she had to do was pull the
trigger and end the nightmare that had plagued her for years.

Instead, she was spiraling down into the
depths of an abysmal darkness hand-crafted by Zeus.

Eric Moore stood up and
drank in a long breath of clean air, stretching his back. Raising
his hands above his head, he twisted right and left, enjoying the
feel of his muscles being pulled and used. Looking up toward the
May sky, the pale white of a wind machine stood in stark contrast
to the vivid blue. Traveling the last two years, Erik helped
install wind turbines. He was fascinated with the behemoth machines
that
converted kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical
energy. They dotted landscapes throughout eastern Washington and
Oregon and he had helped install a good number of them.

When Sheila died, he couldn’t stand to be in
their home or on the farm. After a month of barely making it
through one day at a time, he rented the farm, put all his personal
belongings into storage and asked Mike, his neighbor and friend, to
keep an eye on things for him. He loaded a duffle bag full of
clothes in his pickup along with his dog, Boone, and left. The time
spent away from the farm had lessened the pain, softened the edges
of the hole in his heart, let the grief slowly seep out of him.
Erik still grieved, still hurt, still questioned why things
happened the way they had, but he no longer wished he could die
right along with Sheila and the baby.

He still preferred to keep to himself, even
though he liked the crew working on the wind machines. Every person
had a story and some were better left in the past. To the last man,
none of them pried, just accepted whatever was put before them at
face value.

Satisfied with his work, Erik took a step
back and grinned. This was the last machine they were putting up in
this area.

For several weeks they’d been working on a
century-old farm located out of Walla Walla, Washington, near the
Oregon border. From his view up on the ridge where the machines
were placed, he could see Ethan Weber baling hay while his son Zach
came along behind stacking the bales. The twosome owned and
operated the well-tended farm. Beyond the acres of hay, Erik could
see rolling fields of wheat waving in the gentle afternoon
breeze.

Although where he grew up in Ontario wasn’t
that far from the Walla Walla Valley, Erik had never ventured that
far north. He was surprised when their crew pulled into the area to
find a beautiful green valley filled with apple orchards,
vineyards, acres of sweet onions, and field after field of
wheat.

Not a large city by any means, Walla Walla
was a nice small town with friendly people and a selection of
stores and businesses. Although he rarely ate anything other than
fast food, he tried a few of the local restaurants and found the
food to be quite good.