Summer/Time (The Sunny Sunshine Duet #2)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Bhodi

“He’s dicking us around,”

Axe mutters, still peering through the binoculars.

Under the cloak of darkness, the four of us lay on our fronts, looking down at the warehouse from a patch of greenery in the distance.

“He’ll be here,”

I say, glancing around the warehouse. But with little sign of life, I begin to feel the disappointment flood through me.

“Is he coming alone?” Rob asks.

“Should be,”

I respond, lifting the binoculars to my eyes.

Thirty minutes have already passed and we’re growing impatient, the occasional huff or sigh spills from one of us but the warehouse remains silent and dead. The evening mist swirls around the building. If you squint hard enough you can almost see the faces of those who are unable to leave, unable to move onto the next life and their punishment carries on even after death, unable to escape their fate. Unable to move further than a few feet whilst their souls wander the grounds, lost and unwanted.

“Shit,”

Rob hisses, pulling the phone from his pocket, his hand covering the light from the screen.

“What? Is it the girls?”

My fists clench into the dirt.

“No service, fuck sake.”

He quickly flashes the screen towards me.

“It’s a bit spotty up here,”

Jimmy replies.

“That’s no fucking good,”

Rob mutters, sliding the phone back into his pocket and shaking his head.

“Shut the fuck up,”

I snap, my eyes following the headlights travelling past us from the road below and heading towards the warehouse.

“Is it him?”

I shake my head, unsure. The unfamiliar car eventually pulls up towards the front of the warehouse, but as all four doors open wide, I let out a frustrated sigh.

“Fucking cunt.”

I turn to Axe, who’s now looking down the scope of his rifle. “Anyone we know?”

“Can’t see their faces, but three are carrying automatic weapons. One must be your captain”

“They’re gonna drill the fucking building, that prick has set us up.” I snap.

“Hang on, look.”

All eyes move to the direction of Jimmy’s finger, an additional two cars approach, shutting off their headlights as they pass and stop about one hundred feet from the warehouse. Looking back through the binoculars, the group appear none the wiser to the two cars. They begin to circle the building as a couple use hand gestures to signal meeting around back.

“Dean’s either got SWAT or military with him.”

I look to Axe, whose eagle eye has already spotted the signals.

“Nah, could be contractors, hell, it could be fucking anyone who’s watched enough cop shows.”

He shakes his head.

“What do we do?”

Rob asks, observing the two SUVs.

“We stay here, Dean and his team might already think we’re inside, but I’ve got no fucking clue who these clowns are.”

Rob turns his binoculars towards the cars, luckily, we’re high and further enough back not to be seen from the road.

“One SUV is parked now blocking their way out. The other car, four guys have just got out and are moving slowly towards the warehouse.”

Moving our sights back towards the warehouse, I feel the anticipation building as we watch the scene before us slowly unfold. The dark figures move slowly with precision towards the warehouse before splitting up and moving around the perimeter.

Two shots are eventually fired. With my gaze fixed on Captain Dean, he drops to the floor immediately. Pulling out his pistol, he begins to blindly fire off rounds in the vague direction of the threat. Two of his men begin to round the building and run straight into the other guys. Before they can even realise what’s happening, they’ve been shot in the head and their bodies drop towards the floor.

“Do we go?”

Jimmy asks.

“And do what? They’re shooting at each other.”

I continue to watch.

When the third man is dragged from the side of the building and brought out front, both the captain and him are thrown onto their knees whilst the team of four circle them like prey. When one pulls the phone to their ear, they pass it to the captain. I feel my body pulling me closer, holding the binoculars close to my eyes, watching with bated breath as he looks to the phone confused and pulls it tightly to his ear, his hands trembling as the confusion washes over his face.

I can’t work out the words being mouthed, but I see the hesitant shake of his head before the phone is pulled from his grasp and he’s smacked hard across the face with the butt of the gun before he falls to the ground, with blood spilling from his mouth. The man next to him begins to plead incoherently. His face contorts with fear and sadness, but it doesn’t move the armed men hovering over them.

Crawling across the ground, I get a better look towards the SUV blocking the road. Cigarette smoke billows from the driver’s side, but it’s the passenger nervously looking around that grabs my attention.

“Jimmy,”

I whisper, gesturing him over.

As he slides up alongside me, I hand him the binoculars and as he peers through, he immediately turns to me.

“Fucking Callaghan! What the fuck is he doing?”

“Working with whoever is in the fucking car.”

Our necks immediately snap towards the direction of more shots. Both the captain and the third man lay dead on the floor, blood beginning to spill from their heads as the four men begin to move back toward their waiting transport. As they quickly move away from the scene, their faces are obscured by black balaclavas, and they’re dressed entirely in black. But it’s not their clothing or their masks that grab Axe’s attention, but their precision, speed and organisation. Barely a minute has passed and they’re piling back into the car, speeding back off up the road, leaving nothing but a trail of dust in their wake.

The entire attack took less than two minutes, there was no messing about, barely any communication between them and nobody left alive. The fact they didn’t even bother to check the warehouse already tells me they weren’t looking for us. They were looking for the captain and the men accompanying him.

“They weren’t looking for us,”

Axe confirms, looking me dead in the eye.

A few hundred metres down the road, in the far distance, their headlights turn back on and eventually disappear out of sight. I watch as my heavy breath swirls through the air, my chest rising and falling, adrenaline coursing through us from the scene we’ve just witnessed. I stare out into the night sky.

“Let’s go.”

I solely rise to my feet, wiping the mud and dust off my clothes as the rest of us begin to descend the makeshift path and head back towards the car.

Pulling the camouflage netting off the car, I begin to roll it up as Axe drops the kit and weapon into the trunk. Every now and then I glance around to make sure we’re still alone and no one is approaching us. The eerie silence has now returned to our surroundings, and we quickly pile into the car, as Jimmy switches on the ignition and heads back towards the city. The car bounces along the gravel path. Leaning against the car window, I begin to pick at my thumb through my gloves, my mind racing with the possibilities as to why someone has shot Captain Dean, but hell, that prick turned up with three armed men, if we’d fallen for his fucking games, we’d have been killed it.

Slamming my fist into the dash over and over again, the rage begins to pump through my body.

“FUCK!”

I scream out.

A second later, I see the lights fast approaching. Before I can even warn Jimmy, the car is far too close as it drives from off the road and sideswipes the driver’s door hard, shunting us off the road instantly. As the car barrels fast down a hill, screams fill the vehicle as Jimmy tires to control the steering.

“TREE TREE!” I shout.

Getting closer and closer, I throw my hands over my head. I feel the crash before I hear it. I feel my entire body being thrown forward before my head bounces off the headrest. Loud groans engulf me, and I try to focus my eyes on my surroundings, but I feel my vision swaying. Smoke from the car billows across the windscreen, my head begins to roll, and my eyes are unable to focus on anything. I reach out for the door handle. After a couple failed attempts, I manage to lock my fingers around it and pull. Pushing the door open, I throw my hands out as my body hits the ground hard. I don’t feel any pain yet, but I know it’s because of the adrenaline. Rolling into a sitting position, my hands begin patting down my body, but there’s no damage, until I reach my head and catch a glimpse of the blood coming from a deep cut on my forehead.

When the second car door opens, I hear the familiar voice of Axe and somehow, he’s already on his feet and rounding the car towards me. He blinks a couple of times, noticing the blood on my face but I shake my head.

“I’m fine,”

I confirm, gesturing my head towards him. “Your lip.”

I point out.

“Smacked it on the headrest,”

he says, wiping it away with the back of his hand, then smearing it onto his cargo pants.

Holding his hand out to me, I take it as he wrenches me back to my feet with ease. I begin to stagger on my feet slightly, the headrush causing my body to sway but I refuse to fall back down.

“Check on Jimmy, I’ll get Rob.”

We both pull the doors open, followed by groans from Rob as the blood spills from a nasty wound on his head. Checking for a pulse I place my fingers to his neck and wait a couple of seconds, breathing a sigh of relief when I finally hear him speak.

“I fucking hate you, Bhodi,”

he mutters.

“Join the club, kid.”

Axe laughs, pulling a semi-conscious Jimmy from the car.

“I feel fucking sick.”

Jimmy staggers to his feet, his body weak as Axe holds him up.

Flashlights begin to flicker between the trees and muffled voices approach. As my head turns back to the group, a deep click permeates my ears.

“Hands up, don’t fucking move,”

an unfamiliar voice shouts.

The footsteps and lights near. I look to Axe but he merely shakes his head.

“We’re unarmed,”

he shouts.

A large group begins to close in, their weapons trained on us. My eyes move around the unfamiliar group, so far I’ve counted six, but more footsteps continue to approach fast. My heart’s about to break from my chest, my body is screaming to fight, run, do anything but I trust Axe. I know if I run, they’ll definitely shoot us and they haven’t just yet, however that’s not to say they won’t. But in my experience, if someone wants you dead, they won’t miss a golden opportunity.

“Who the fuck are you?”

I spit out.

The group looks between themselves, before they split slightly. A dark figure similarly dressed in black approaches before lowering his weapon and he slides the balaclava from his face. My blood runs cold, the goosebumps rise on my skin and my eyes can’t hide their shock.

“Callaghan,” I mutter.

Jimmy narrows his gaze, recognising Callaghan immediately.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Jimmy looks between the two of us.

“I need you all to come with me, it’ll become clear.”

“Like fuck we’re going with you, you tried to kill us.”

“No, trust me. If I wanted you dead, you would be.”

He smirks. “Follow me and we’ll get you some medical attention.”

With the blood pouring from the wound in my head, Rob barely conscious, feeling defeated and beaten, I nod to both Axe and Jimmy. Pulling Rob out of the car, I throw his arm across my shoulder and begin moving back towards the road. Each time I glance back, I see the armed men keeping a distance behind us, but their fingers ready on the trigger. Every muscle in my body begins to strain with each step. The ascent back up the hill with a practically dead weight doesn’t ease the strain on my broken frame. The road eventually nears and we find ourselves met with more SUVs and more armed men.

Holding Rob upright, we stand on the even road. Callaghan approaches, dropping his weapon to the side and gestures for assistance from two men standing idle. They lead Rob towards the back of one of the cars, as both Jimmy and Axe stand at my side. The three of us stand in solidarity whilst the man who I believed to be just a good cop looks between us, unsure of his next move. His eyes flicker with a hint of fear, and so they should. If he fucks us over, I’ll knife him in the neck. Callaghan eventually takes a deep breath, he turns to me and his demeanour changes to one more serious than before.

“Who was at your house earlier tonight?”

“What the fuck are you on about?”

A slither of fear shooting up my spine, I take a step closer. “What happened?”

“Two men were shot and killed at your property earlier this evening.”

“Who?” I snap.

“We don’t know, no IDs were found on the body.”

“Where’s Summer? Is she OK?”

Callaghan stops for a moment, running a hand across his mouth. He shakes his head, almost confused.

“She wasn’t there, Bhodi. I..”

“Hold on!”

Jimmy takes a step forward, squaring up to Callaghan. “You knew she was alive, didn’t you?”

Callaghan looks between Jimmy and I, he lowers his head slightly before nodding in response. I feel my foot push from the ground, reaching for the collar of his jacket, before Axe pulls me back, his arms round me tight.

“You fucking knew! You fucking cunt!”

My bellows grab the attention of everyone nearby. I push to fight off Axe, practically headbutting him, but the rage won’t go away, I’m blinded by anger.

Stepping back, Jimmy shakes his head towards Callaghan and he cocks his fist back, swinging hard. It connects with his jaw and that rat bastard drops to the floor, shocked and embarrassed.

“Fucking hell, you could have had Bhodi charged, you fucking asshole!”

Jimmy screams. As the armed men begin to approach, he turns his attention to them. “You lot can fuck off as well,”

he spits out, running his hand over his face, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Where’s the van?”

“There was no van, Bhodi! She wasn’t there!”

Callaghan screams back at me.

Axe eventually lets me go and I begin to feel the waves of dizziness and nausea rush through me. Taking a deep breath, I look towards Callaghan, holding eye contact and watching him slowly retreat in on himself.

“They had the keys, they probably heard the shots and left.”

Hs shakes my shoulders slightly. “I’m sure they’re fine, I’ll get the phone off Rob and we’ll call.”

Axe walks across to Rob who’s laying on a stretcher and pulls the phone from his pocket.

“Get in the car, all of you,”

he says, opening the door to one of the SUVs. “I’ll explain on the way.”

“Where?” I ask.

He sighs, realising we aren’t going anywhere without an answer.

“The police commissioner’s.”

The tension spikes between the three of us. I hold Callaghan’s gaze all the way towards the car and almost smile to myself when he hesitantly moves away. We all slide into the seat, sitting shoulder to shoulder. The three of us are sandwiched into the back seat, clutching onto the blades in our pockets and as the car begins to move, it doesn’t stop me thinking through how I’d stab Callaghan in the head if he tried anything.

The thirty-minute drive is painfully slow and I feel myself tensing each time a car passes, waiting to be shunted off the road again. Driving swiftly through the city, the large familiar skyscrapers come into view. Turning down a ramp, Callaghan leans out of the window and presses a button on the intercom. The metal door immediately begins to rise, opening up onto a dim parking lot.

Parking up, our heavy boot steps echo around the desolate concrete area. Stealing glances around the area, I keep my head low, spotting multiple cameras moving around the area and watching each movement we make. Approaching a private elevator, the doors open and we all step inside and it begins to rise towards the top floor. Callaghan remains facing forward, his face stoic, but when I look down, I see his fingers twitching with nerves.

When the doors open, a burly bald man dressed in a dark suit stands at the entrance. He gestures for us to step inside. Callaghan enters first and when I follow behind, he holds out his hand, stopping me.

“Arms out,”

he commands.

I shoot him a look, before turning round smirking to both Axe and Jimmy who mirror my expression.

“Touch me, and I’ll fucking slice your face off,”

I say, with a crooked smile.

“There’s no need for that, Bhodi.”

Strode stands in the doorway, a somewhat impressed smile on his face whilst he leans heavy on his walking stick. “Let them through, it’s fine.”

The big guy looks me up and down one final time. Both irritated and flustered that he was called off, he eventually steps aside, and we follow Strode into a large living space. A tall man, holding a whiskey in his hands, stands up and turns to me, offering a sympathetic smile, but it’s one I don’t reciprocate.

“What the fuck is going on?” I ask.

“What do you know?”

Commissioner Lake asks, his eyes narrowing on mine.

“You first.”

His shoulders drop for a moment, whilst he studies the room. Nodding, he gestures for us all to take a seat at the large dining table. Pulling out the chair, I feel my knees screaming ‘thanks’ as I sit down. My body finally having a moment to relax as the bumps and bruises begin to take hold. Gesturing to Callaghan to carry on, he begins to speak.

“We know about Daly and Nate Jordan,”

he states. “But we know you didn’t kill Nate, he’d made it to another state before he was killed.”

Callaghan turns to Jimmy. “I wondered how you’d gotten that footage from the apartment, especially coming to Bhodi’s aid but then I soon realised you and Michael were friends, you have an interest in Summer’s well-being so I couldn’t ever imagine you’d defend her killer.”

Callaghan narrows on Jimmy. “But it’s when the captain stupidly threw the medical examiner’s report at you. You knew Summer was alive, likely because you’d seen her, but you also wanted to know who lied.”

“Not bad, Callaghan.”

Jimmy smirks.

“We had nothing to hold Bhodi on, but the captain’s attitude…it was too personal for him, almost desperate. When Nate Jordan went missing, I checked around and a neighbour managed to identify three men helping them move during the night before they disappeared altogether.”

“Nate Jordan admitted to knowing and falsifying multiple medical reports at the request of Daly. He’d gotten himself into debt with Luca, so he was working off his debt.”

“But he’d never have worked that debt off.”

“No, the pressure was getting too much. Summer is alive and so is Harry Maine, they wanted me arrested and charged and Daly took Summer from the house because he wanted to know how much she’d managed to find out.”

“About what?”

Commissioner Lake asks, leaning in concerned.

“Everything. The dirty cops, her father’s murder, the lies, all of it.”

“There’s more than just Daly, Nate and Dean?”

“Yeah and they’re willing to frame anyone getting in their way. This is far bigger than a few bent cops, this is departments sticking to a lie to bring people down.”

“The meeting at the warehouse was a setup.”

Strode clasps his hand together on the table, disappointment flooding from his words. “You were never in danger, but with Dean turning up armed, we knew it was to silence you all. We did what we had to.”

The group nod, a morbid understanding settling over us. As a ping comes from Axe, he rifles in his pocket and pulls a face. Sliding from the table he moves into the next room, but his voice becomes louder and louder before the thundering of footsteps comes charging back at us. Axe stands wide eyed, his face white and his jaw quivering.

“He has the girls, Luca has them.”