Chapter Thirty-One

It took fourteen minutes to reach the building in the Mission District. Declan turned onto a side street and stopped the van. Charlie pulled in behind him. Declan jumped out of his vehicle and walked up to the driver's door of the Red Beast.

"Wait here. I'll be right back."

"Sure."

Declan got back into his van and did a circuit of the block, driving past the building he suspected Luke would be in. He spotted Luke's car parked in the alleyway.

After Declan had driven back and parked near the Red Beast, Charlie got out of the vehicle.

"Follow me," Declan said.

He walked Charlie a full block before he halted at an intersection. "See that construction site?" he said, pointing down the block.

"Yeah."

"There's an alleyway between it and the old building to its left."

"Okay."

"I want you to pull up and block the alleyway. I'll seal it off at the other end with the van. Stay in your car until you see me."

"Got it," Charlie said.

Declan moved the van around to the back of the alleyway and pulled in. Charlie had already blocked off the other end. Declan got out and waved towards Charlie, who left his car and ran to him.

There, at the small dumpster where he'd had his first encounter with Brick Wall, Declan gave Charlie his next instructions. "I want you to climb up here and carefully peek inside the window. I'll hoist you up and then brace it so it doesn't roll. Tell me if you can see anyone in there."

"Okay," Charlie whispered. Declan checked to see if anyone was watching, then placed his hands around Charlie's waist and lifted him up onto the lid. Charlie raised his head so he could see through the window and scanned the room. Charlie looked down at Declan and shook his head. Declan signalled for him to come down.

"They're probably in the basement," Declan whispered. "Come on."

He led Charlie to a side door where he tried the handle. It was locked. Charlie tapped him on the shoulder and pointed up. There, in faded peeling paint, was an old sign that read "Monarch Bakery." Declan hadn't spotted that on his previous night-time visit.

"All roads lead to Monarch," he said.

"What now?" Charlie whispered.

Declan pulled out a small case. "They probably haven't updated these locks since that sign was painted." The door had an old wafer-tumbler lock. This should be a breeze.

Declan inserted the thin picks into the keyhole, and in less than a minute, was able to rotate the tumbler. He eased open the door, praying it didn't squeak, then stuck his head in. It was, as Charlie had said, empty. But from the basement, he could hear voices, then a muffled scream.

Declan pulled back out of the doorway. "Give me your phone," he said, dialling a number and handing it back to Charlie. "Ask for Staff Sergeant Sam Hunt. If it's not him that answers, tell whoever it is that his son's life is in danger. Give him the address. Tell him I said no sirens. And no matter what you hear, you stay here. We can't take the chance that they'll miss the place. And if for some reason Luke runs out of here, you run the other way, ‘cause he'll be pissed."

"All right," Charlie said. Declan saw him press ‘Dial', then he headed through the door.

Declan crept to the back of the building then took the stairs to the basement.

He heard a voice from below, "I didn't tell anyone. Please, let me go. I'll go away and you'll never see me again. I promise…"

Declan got to the bottom of the steps and rounded the corner. Luke stood with his back towards him, maybe fifteen feet away. Too far to rush him unnoticed. Beyond him Justin was tied to a chair, his head lowered like he didn't want to see what was going to happen to him next.

"Let him go, Luke," Declan ordered.

Luke spun around, pulling out his gun from his waistband. Declan stood still, his hands raised to show Luke he was unarmed.

"Fuck, Declan… Why are you here? How did you…"

"Put the gun down, Luke. I'm not going to do anything. I just want to talk. That's all." He could see the wild-eyed look of confusion on Luke's face.

"Justin," Declan said, maintaining a calm tone, "are you hurt?"

The boy raised his head. He was terrified. "No. I told him I wasn't going to say anything but…" He broke into quiet sobs.

"Luke, put the gun down. Tell me what's going on."

Luke kept the gun trained on Declan. "It wasn't my fault," Luke said. "I had no choice. I had to help them."

"Help who?"

"You know who," he spit back. "You've seen what they can do."

"You mean Monarch? What do they have on you, Luke?"

Luke lowered the gun slightly. Declan knew from experience that a gun might not be big, but it could get very heavy when a person pointed it at someone they didn't want to kill.

"I owed them money—a lot of it—and I couldn't afford to pay them back. Never go to a loan shark. Not even to pay off a bookie."

"If you owe them money, Luke, maybe I could help."

"A hundred grand? Do you have that? Is business that good?"

"That's a lot."

"No one can help me, Declan. They said they had a way for me to pay off my debts. I just had to meet a guy and convince him to sell his building. So I met with Ian Mann, but he said no. When I told Monarch what had happened, they said I needed to try harder, or they would make things very difficult."

Declan said, "For you?"

Luke scowled. "Not just for me, but for my dad too. They found out his little secret, and mine. They said they would reveal that he was gay and destroy his career. It would kill him. So I did what they said. I'm in way too deep, Declan. And I've got nothing left. They drained me dry and the interest keeps mounting and I keep thinking about my dad."

Declan just had to keep him talking until help arrived. "How long have you been gambling?"

"Since high school. I've always had a thing for horses. It comes from being raised in the country, I guess." He let out a weak laugh. "It got really bad in university. When I got out, I took out a loan against the condo my folks bought me, and now…"

"But, Luke, to kill Ian Mann…"

"I was just supposed to scare the shit out of him. I didn't mean to kill him! It was an accident. He ran and fell and cracked his head open on a rock. He did it to himself."

"But he wasn't dead, Luke. The autopsy showed he drowned."

"I thought he was dead. I panicked. I stripped off his clothes to make it look like he'd gone swimming, then threw the body in the river. And then I found his dresses and wigs in the trunk of his car and I had an idea."

Declan moved in closer. "Why didn't they use one of their thugs? Wouldn't it have been easier?"

Luke replied, "Monarch had me over a barrel and I owed them. By using me they were extending their power into the police. I'm probably not the only cop on the force that they control."

"Is McKeckran involved with Monarch?" Declan asked.

Luke thought about it. "I don't think so, but it was easy to get him to close down the case because he hates queers. Imagine—McKeckran's homophobia almost saved my life. And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for him," he said, waving his gun at Justin. "Monarch had someone on the inside who texted me about the party house where Ian went, and Justin saw me there. I didn't know someone else was tracking Mann down." He turned to face the boy. "If you'd only just minded your own fucking business…"

"Luke, you can't hurt the kid."

"I don't want to. That's why I called Monarch. They know how to clean up my messes."

"Oh fuck, I don't have time for this shit," Declan said as he lunged towards Luke.

* * * *

Charlie could hear nothing from the doorway. He kept his eyes peeled for the police. What's taking them so long?

He checked his cell phone again. Still only the first text from Declan's father.

On the way. Keep yourself safe.

A crash came from inside the building. Charlie couldn't wait any longer.

He followed the sounds coming from the basement stairs. There was another loud crash. Charlie leapt down the last few steps and into the basement room. Declan had Luke in a headlock on the ground. A shattered table lay beside them. Luke struggled free, kicking Declan's right leg hard, just above the knee. Declan screamed in pain. Charlie spotted the handgun a few feet away. He dove for it and picked it up.

"Everybody freeze or I'll shoot," he yelled. The ball of muscles and fists on the floor stopped rolling. Charlie stood there, gun pointed towards the ceiling, hands shaking. From behind him, a calm voice spoke.

"I'll take that," the person said, plucking the gun out of his hand.

Charlie turned. Four police officers were standing at the foot of the stairs, guns drawn. The oldest one, who now held the gun, said, "You must have been trained by my son. He's not so good at following orders either."

Declan pushed himself up off the floor.

Sam Hunt walked past him towards Luke. "Face down on the ground, Fraser. Hands behind your back."

He handcuffed him, then two other cops lifted him off the ground and searched him.

"Luke Fraser, you're under arrest for the murder of Ian Mann and for the kidnapping of Justin Neves. God knows what else I'll come up with. Take him away."

He turned to Declan. "I got the files you sent me. I'll forward them to Major Crimes."

"I recorded the confession he made a few minutes ago," Declan said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'm not sure if it'll stand up in court, but it can't hurt. I'll forward you the file."

Charlie watched as the two faced each other, not saying anything. Declan's father blinked first. He nodded his head and said, "Good work."

Charlie ran to Justin, who sat in his chair, motionless. "I'll get you out of these," he said, fumbling at the zip ties that bound him.

"Here. This might be useful," Declan said, handing a pocket knife to Charlie.

"Just another second," Charlie said, cutting through the bindings. He rubbed Justin's hands and legs, hoping it would restore some feeling to the limbs.

"Who are you?" Justin asked.

"Charlie Watts. Just like I always was," he said with a smile, helping him to stand. Justin had trouble with his balance so Charlie put his arm around him for support.

"Are you with the police?"

"No. I'm just part of your rescue party."

Declan came up to Charlie and Justin. "Justin, they'll take your statement, get you checked out by a doctor and then get you home."

Justin nodded.

"Oh, one other thing," Declan said, walking over to the remains of the broken table. He rifled through the broken wood and came back. "I think everything's here," he said, handing a wallet, a set of keys and a cell phone back to Justin.

"If you need anything, you can call me," Charlie said.

Justin frowned. "I'm not sure I will. I trusted you, and you lied to me."

"I thought you were involved in Ian's murder," Charlie confessed. "I think you should call your folks and tell them that you spent the night at a friend's and apologise for not calling earlier. You might eventually have to tell them what happened."

"Will I have to go to court?"

"I don't know. I'm kinda new to all of this. If you do, stuff will probably come out. Stuff you don't want to. But I promise, I'll get those pictures back to you. After that, what you do is up to you."

Justin's expression was hard to read. He nodded and headed towards the door with the police officer. A few minutes after Justin had left, Charlie heard shouting, followed by the sounds of a fight. Charlie and Declan ran upstairs. The police were putting two men in handcuffs in the alleyway. Charlie grinned at the anger and confusion on the faces of Brick Wall and his accomplice.

Declan turned to Charlie and said, "I think it's time to finish with the police and call it a day. What do you say, Mr Watts?"

Charlie grinned and said, "I love working with you."

"And I love working with you," Declan replied.

Charlie couldn't wipe the smile off his face.