going on in this city between people who don’t care who they hurt or kill. It has nothing to do with you, Jack.”
“If you won’t help me, I’ll find them alone.”
William shook his head. “You’re not law enforcement anymore. I can’t do that.”
“Then make me law enforcement.”
“You serious?”
“Yes. On one condition: I’m assigned to Robbery-Homicide on this case.”
“There’s no way I can promise that.”
“Robbery-Homicide, this case. That’s the only way, William. I know you got the juice to do it. I know you’re up for captain when Franks retires. Just do it.”
William exhaled, watching the man’s face. “Okay. Robbery-Homicide, this case. But if you get emotional and let your judgment get clouded, I gotta take you off.”
The paperwork was amazingly quick. Jack did have to take a blood test and polygraph, but he got his shield within two days and was issued his weapon. He turned it down and ordered one of his own. A custom-made Desert Eagle .45 caliber with expanded clip.
Whenever he got through for the day, he went to the hospital and sat in the waiting room. Nicole still wasn’t speaking to him but one day she came over and sat next to him for a few hours, neither of them saying anything.
Autumn was stable but the swelling in her brain had her in a coma. Her heart hadn’t been punctured but the tip of her lung had and she had gone into surgery the moment she got here. Recovery, they said, was a long way away.
Jack bought an iPad and at night would read everything he could about the Myrs. They had come out of nowhere to become one of Los Angeles’ most dangerous and influential gangs. They supplied their operation with drug money but had recently gotten into bank robberies as well. It was odd, because the drug trade was so lucrative. Jack wondered what it was they needed all that money for.
Their main recruitment tool was the promise of money. Everyone in the organization was paid, an anonymous source had told the LA Times . And paid well. But there seemed to be more than that. People died willingly for this gang. Money couldn’t motivate men like that. It was one of the reasons Machiavelli had recommended never to use mercenaries; their loyalties were easily changed.
Jack tried to find as much information as he could about their leader, Agamemnon, but there was nothing on him other than a few black and white photos from the bank robbery. There was no way, Jack knew, that a human being could grow so large. He guessed Agamemnon was probably near eight feet tall and somewhere around seven or eight hundred pounds, if that mass was all him. Jack guessed there was a regular man under that suit, disguising his body shape and type from the cameras.
Technically, a new detective had months of training with superior officers, assisting on routine calls. Jack was spared that little speed bump and, when he appeared at the precinct one day, had every file on the Myrs emailed to him. He began reading at seven in the morning and didn’t stop until three in the morning the next day. He would run down to the grocery store around the corner and buy fruit and cheese and he’d sleep a few hours on the bed in the breakroom. Other than that, his eyes were glued to his screen.
The bank robbery last week wasn’t the first by the Myrs, but it was the most brazen. There had been three other robberies. Jack made notes regarding their locations and the amounts taken. Two of the banks had video.
One video showed a bank teller out of a First Mutual in downtown Burbank, who saw the Myrs coming and locked the doors. Agamemnon casually ripped the doors off the frames.
Jack played the scene over and over. What the hell are you?
CHAPTER 11
The next day, Jack’s first stop was the hospital. No one was there this early in the morning and he got to sit next to Autumn’s bed. He held her hand a long time and spoke gently to her of some of the things he’d seen and places
“If you won’t help me, I’ll find them alone.”
William shook his head. “You’re not law enforcement anymore. I can’t do that.”
“Then make me law enforcement.”
“You serious?”
“Yes. On one condition: I’m assigned to Robbery-Homicide on this case.”
“There’s no way I can promise that.”
“Robbery-Homicide, this case. That’s the only way, William. I know you got the juice to do it. I know you’re up for captain when Franks retires. Just do it.”
William exhaled, watching the man’s face. “Okay. Robbery-Homicide, this case. But if you get emotional and let your judgment get clouded, I gotta take you off.”
The paperwork was amazingly quick. Jack did have to take a blood test and polygraph, but he got his shield within two days and was issued his weapon. He turned it down and ordered one of his own. A custom-made Desert Eagle .45 caliber with expanded clip.
Whenever he got through for the day, he went to the hospital and sat in the waiting room. Nicole still wasn’t speaking to him but one day she came over and sat next to him for a few hours, neither of them saying anything.
Autumn was stable but the swelling in her brain had her in a coma. Her heart hadn’t been punctured but the tip of her lung had and she had gone into surgery the moment she got here. Recovery, they said, was a long way away.
Jack bought an iPad and at night would read everything he could about the Myrs. They had come out of nowhere to become one of Los Angeles’ most dangerous and influential gangs. They supplied their operation with drug money but had recently gotten into bank robberies as well. It was odd, because the drug trade was so lucrative. Jack wondered what it was they needed all that money for.
Their main recruitment tool was the promise of money. Everyone in the organization was paid, an anonymous source had told the LA Times . And paid well. But there seemed to be more than that. People died willingly for this gang. Money couldn’t motivate men like that. It was one of the reasons Machiavelli had recommended never to use mercenaries; their loyalties were easily changed.
Jack tried to find as much information as he could about their leader, Agamemnon, but there was nothing on him other than a few black and white photos from the bank robbery. There was no way, Jack knew, that a human being could grow so large. He guessed Agamemnon was probably near eight feet tall and somewhere around seven or eight hundred pounds, if that mass was all him. Jack guessed there was a regular man under that suit, disguising his body shape and type from the cameras.
Technically, a new detective had months of training with superior officers, assisting on routine calls. Jack was spared that little speed bump and, when he appeared at the precinct one day, had every file on the Myrs emailed to him. He began reading at seven in the morning and didn’t stop until three in the morning the next day. He would run down to the grocery store around the corner and buy fruit and cheese and he’d sleep a few hours on the bed in the breakroom. Other than that, his eyes were glued to his screen.
The bank robbery last week wasn’t the first by the Myrs, but it was the most brazen. There had been three other robberies. Jack made notes regarding their locations and the amounts taken. Two of the banks had video.
One video showed a bank teller out of a First Mutual in downtown Burbank, who saw the Myrs coming and locked the doors. Agamemnon casually ripped the doors off the frames.
Jack played the scene over and over. What the hell are you?
CHAPTER 11
The next day, Jack’s first stop was the hospital. No one was there this early in the morning and he got to sit next to Autumn’s bed. He held her hand a long time and spoke gently to her of some of the things he’d seen and places
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