Sin City Assassin (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 3) (2 page)

Petersen couldn’t talk, but his grip became slightly firmer on Dix’s hand after he heard his friend’s voice.

Dix didn’t see any other obvious injuries. After what felt like an eternity, Dix could hear sirens. He was not a religious man, but he started praying for Petersen anyway.
Lord, you better not let this man die!

The sergeant came over and placed his hand on Dix’s shoulder. “You got any information on the shooters, Bill?”

Dix didn’t respond. He just kept telling Petersen he was going to be okay and that he would not let him go.

The sergeant wanted to help his old college roommate and recognized time was of the essence. The quicker they uncovered information about the shooters, the more likely they would be able to apprehend them. He again tapped Dix on the shoulder and asked him what he knew.

“Damn it, Randy, my partner is down, I don’t have time for this shit right now!” Dix yelled.

The sergeant understood Dix’s reaction. He could see his face had turned pale and he was likely suffering from shock, but he wasn’t about to give up now.

“Bill, we need something! The medics are on the way. We need to get these assholes!”

Dix snapped to attention. He knew Frazier was right. As he turned to tell him what he knew about the shooters, he felt Petersen’s grip fall from his hand. “No, no, no, don’t give up on me, Steve! Come on, man, stay awake, don’t give up!” As Petersen fell unconscious, Dix instantly began CPR on him.

The sergeant jumped in and began doing compressions while Dix gave breaths. The radio traffic was chaotic in the background while they frantically worked to save Petersen. Dix looked up to see an ambulance slam on its brakes when it slightly overshot the alley. The driver corrected himself and sped toward their location.

Two medics jumped out, grabbed the stretcher, and ran to help. They took over CPR immediately.

Dix demanded to be with Petersen as he was loaded into the ambulance. The look in his eyes made it clear no one would deny him.

As the ambulance door began to close, Dix yelled out to the sergeant, “Silver Range Rover, occupied by three, one with an MP5, license plate was 094BLT. Remember all the favors you owe me, I’m calling them all in now!”

As the ambulance sped toward the trauma center, Frazier put out the update from Dix via his radio. Roadblocks were set throughout downtown Las Vegas and every law enforcement official in the area responded to help.

Two of Frazier's men checked on the wounded man left behind by the suspects. They checked his breathing and looked for a pulse, and found none. They both looked up with grim looks on their faces. One of the men stated, "He's dead boss."

Petersen seized two more times before making it to the emergency room. He was transported into the operating room and Dix was finally forced to leave his side. As Dix grabbed his cell phone to call his wife, he noticed he was covered in Petersen’s blood and his hands were trembling. It was not the first time he’d been covered in another person’s blood, but the sight caused him to shudder. He felt his pulse race as he thought about what to say to his wife and he worried about how to tell Petersen’s wife what had just happened. He sat in the waiting room cursing
himself
for not wearing a concealed weapon and not doing more to protect Petersen. He was emotional and needed someone to help him through his difficult time. It was a lonely moment for Dix, something completely foreign to him and he’d lost control. He was terrified that he might lose Petersen.

After a few more minutes, he found the courage to call his wife. He also knew she would be with Petersen’s wife. “Honey. There’s been a shooting. Steve’s been transported to the trauma center. You and Michelle need to head over here right away.”

“What! Bill, what happened? Are you okay? What’s going on?” Her voice sounded frantic. In the background he could hear Michelle asking his wife what was wrong and she became hysterical.

“Honey, please, just come to the trauma center. I’m fine, but Steve has been injured. Just get down here right away.”

Dix’s wife, Jessica, had never heard her husband have a shaky voice so she knew something terrible had happened. She tried to calm herself the best she could while trying to calm Petersen’s wife too. Her heart raced and pounded in her chest.

“It’s going to be okay, Michelle. Steve’s been shot. We need to get to the hospital and see what happened,” Jessica replied in a quiet tone.

“Hun, Michelle is torn up and I’m worried. We’re gonna grab our stuff and head there right away,” Jessica said to him. She tried to reassure Michelle everything would be okay, but she was flailing her arms and crying hysterically. She took off toward the sign reading “Taxi” outside the hotel, leaving Jessica in the dust.

“Michelle, wait!”

Michelle pushed by people and ran to the front of the taxi line. People began to make snide comments. Michelle glared at them and didn’t even have to say a word.

A taxi pulled up and Michelle jumped in without even looking back for Jessica. Thankfully she had caught up and barreled into the taxi as it roared away from the valet parking area.

Jessica threw the driver a hundred dollar bill. “Get us to the damn trauma center on the double!” They didn’t say a word on the drive to the hospital.

Jessica wasn’t the least bit upset with Michelle. She’d understood that she would have probably done the same damn thing if it were her husband who’d been shot. She watched as Michelle began hyperventilating. She rubbed her back and whispered, “Steve will make it through this.” She wasn’t sure what had happened, but she knew her husband would do everything humanly possible to save Petersen. She cringed thinking about what her husband would do if he ever got his hands on the people responsible for the shooting.

Chapter 3
:

Joseph and Bruno Roy calmly loaded AR-15 assault rifles as their sister, Marie Roy, expertly drove their Range Rover through downtown Las Vegas streets without care during rush hour traffic. None of them had time to feel sorry for their brother they’d just left behind back in the alley. He’d been hit by a bullet and they’d ditched him without even a second thought. They all knew the risks involved in their lives; he was just the unlucky one this time.

“I’m heading to the secure underground garage,” Marie announced. “Once we get there, you need to get in the other vehicles and leave. We’ll meet at the safe house in Pahrump. Leave the briefcase with me.”

The two brothers looked at each other with disgust. She noticed it while looking in the rear view mirror as cops raced toward them. However, they both knew she was in charge and reported directly to the man who ran the operation. While he was safely in Canada, they were robbing and killing people for him in the United States.

 “Just get us to the garage,” Bruno replied smugly. “We can handle ourselves.” Bruno despised his sister. He felt, as the oldest and with the most training, he should be in charge. Yet, somehow his sister had been chosen to call the shots in Las Vegas and he didn’t like it one bit.

Before Marie could knock her brother down a notch with a verbal jab, she spotted two unmarked units in the rear view mirror. They were gaining on her quickly, but she didn’t panic.

“We have company. Disable the vehicles only. Killing cops is bad for business,” she said matter-of-factly.

Bruno and Joseph opened the rear window of the Range Rover and waited until the vehicles were close enough for a more accurate shot before firing rounds at the tires and engine blocks in an effort to stop them from pursuing them. Marie needed to make a quick move toward the east if she wanted to reach the safe casino,
The Fantasia
. She trusted her brothers would give her time to slip the cops and hit the secondary basement of the casino. From there, they would all leave the area in separate vehicles in three different directions.

She looked up at the rear view mirror just in time to see her brothers had begun firing rounds at the police cars.
They’d better not kill anyone
, she thought. She focused on her driving. A bullet casing, hot after being ejected from one of the rifles, landed on her neck and slid down her shirt. It burned the entire way down and caused her to twitch. The twitch caused her to veer slightly to the right, which made the rounds coming from her brothers’ assault weapons hit off target.
Son of a bitch!

Some of the bullets peppered the windshield of one of the unmarked police vehicles and into the cab of the car, striking the driver. The driver lost control and veered hard to the left, crashing into the second unmarked vehicle. The force of the crash sent the second vehicle spinning out of control in front of hundreds of pedestrians standing on Las Vegas Boulevard, stunned by what was happening right in front of them.

“Stop shooting,” Marie yelled. “You idiots!” All hell broke loose as pedestrians fled for their lives from what was left of the spinning unmarked vehicle. Other vehicles crashed into each other at the intersection while trying to avoid the unmarked vehicle and pedestrians running away from it. This provided Marie and her brothers with a makeshift roadblock. She wondered if the officers driving the two unmarked cars were dead. She also hoped no one got run over in the crash. Not because someone would have lost their life—that didn’t bother her at all—but because it would bring unwanted attention to all of them.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Bruno replied. He was pumped with adrenaline and seething as he spoke.

“You’re the one who couldn’t handle a little hot brass and jerked the car.” Joseph defended his brother. He knew this wasn’t the time or place to challenge his sister, but he was tired of her barking out all the orders while he and his brother risked their necks for her and the boss back home.

Marie thought about scolding them, putting them in their place again, but she was focused on the situation at hand. She needed to make it to the garage safely and everyone needed to split town. She relaxed as they pulled into the safe location.

The siblings argued over who had to take the Range Rover to Pahrump. Joseph ended up losing the argument. 

Then, like all the other times they’d done dangerous jobs in Las Vegas, they took off in three different directions. Marie chuckled as she could see Bruno attempting to hide the briefcase as they neared the street.
When will he ever learn
, she wondered.

“Bruno, toss me the briefcase. You’re wasting time,” she said while pointing under his arm.

Bruno spun around and launched the briefcase at Marie with as much force he could muster. He hoped it would hit her in the head and knock her out. “I hate you,” he muttered under his breath.

Marie easily caught the briefcase, opened it to ensure the cash was in it, and then said, “Thanks Bruno. I’ll see you two in Pahrump.”

With that, the Roy Family, less the one brother they’d left behind at the scene of the theft and shooting, disappeared and waited for orders from Canada for the next operation. 

Chapter 4
:

Dix paced back and forth in the waiting room area, gnawing on his fingernails. He was eager to learn the status of Petersen. He figured his wife and Petersen’s wife would get there any minute. He desperately hoped he could give them an update when they arrived. Truth was; he needed an update too. It was killing him wondering if Petersen was going to make it or not.

A doctor entered the waiting area and grabbed Dix by the arm, causing him to jump. “Sorry about that, I’m guessing you’re Bill Dix.”

Dix was shaken but replied, “Man you scared the day lights out of me. Yes, I’m Bill, how’s Steve?”

“Sorry, Bill, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. You’ll be happy to know Mr. Petersen is out of surgery and is expected to have a full recovery. The bullet missed his spine by millimeters as it went through his body.”

Dix felt slightly relieved as he heard the news.

“But it went all the way through and he should be out in less than a week. He can rehab a few weeks after, and with a little luck, he’ll be back in action.”

Dix began to cry. He was elated to hear the good news. He couldn’t picture things without his partner. His excitement almost caused him to miss the last thing the doctor said about rehab.

“What does he need rehab for?” Dix asked in a concerned voice.

“Looks like a bullet nicked his left hand and broke several of the smaller bones,” the doctor explained. “Mr. Petersen will be able to use his hand, but it’s going to take awhile to get full motion and strength back.”

Dix considered how upset Petersen would be if the injury forced him from the job. “Man he sure is lucky. Thanks so much for doing what you could for Steve.” He shook the doctor’s hand. The frantic voices of Jessica and Michelle echoed up from the hallway behind him. The doctor looked at Dix and he waved him off, indicating he would handle the situation from there.

“One last thing, Doc, when can we see Steve?” Dix asked.

“Once he comes to, and the nurses give us the thumbs up, he’s free to have visitors. I’m guessing in about thirty minutes.”

Dix smiled. “Thanks again. You guys are my heroes.” He spun around to see his wife and Petersen’s wife running full speed at him. He could see they both had been crying and were clearly concerned and upset.

Dix’s wife embraced him and he grabbed Petersen’s wife to hug her as well.

“Guys, Steve’s gonna be okay! It’s a long story, but two suspects took us hostage while we were walking to dinner. As we tried to get away, cops arrived, and in the craziness, Steve was shot.” Before he could continue, Petersen’s wife, Michelle, also a fellow officer, lost it again.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! What’re we going to do? Where is he? Oh my God!” She cried uncontrollably and punched the wall in front of her.

Jessica tried to console her by telling her everything would be okay and embracing her.

Dix jumped in to try to calm Michelle some. “The doctor just met with me. Steve will be able to see us in a little bit. He’s lucky to be alive, but he is expected to make a full recovery.”