Chapter 24
Chaing Lui looked up at the sky. It seemed every time he stepped out to handle a situation, it would rain. It seems the Gods were sending out a warning. He smiled as the rain drops hit the umbrella that was nicely placed over his head by one of his men as they stood outside one of his many restaurants he had in this area of China Town. His visitor refused to come inside stating it would be a short meeting. The man approached Lui and his entourage wearing a beige trench coat and a fedora. The guy looked like he watched too many Bullitt movies. Lui knew different. Though he looked very simple and plain, this man was just as dangerous as Lui and had just as many connections. The guy in the trench coat went by the same name that gave him power: Street.
Street walked up to Lui and handed him a manila folder. It was a little damp due to the rain.
"New day and new year," Street simply said. "Look the old owner has let go of the leash, I don't want you seeking revenge over his orders."
"Ah yes," Lui said opening the folder and smiling. "Consider it done."
Street smirked, looked at Lui and his men, and walked off.
Lui handed the folder to Luke Sung who was right beside him as well.
"Read it," Lui said pertaining to the documents that Street just gave him.
Sung took out the documents and read the notation to himself then looked at Lui.
Sung's eyebrows raised up in surprise. Sung dropped the documents on the wet ground.
"I...I..." Sung was trying to say as Lui pulled out a gun from his pants' back waist.
"All business is personal." Lui pulled the trigger as his men looked on. "Especially treachery."
Lance CoolWater arrived at Sean Archer's house the same time the coroner did. He got to look at his buddy once last time. Lifeless with a bullet in his head. Suicide is what the medics was calling it since Archer's government-issued Glock 17 was still in his hands as he lay slouched on his favorite love seat. There was still drool coming down his mouth as the paramedics placed him in a body bag to be examined later.
CoolWater looked and saw one of Archer's partner Stephen Bowen standing next to Crime Scene Unit workers. He walked over to him.
"What the fuck happened?" CoolWater asked Bowen.
"They got him on wires," Bowen said looking as the paramedics roll the body bag with Archer's corpse in it off in a gurney. "All that shit we did, all those raids and sweeps and he got caught on a goddamn wire talking to the same son of a bitch we trying to catch. Shit, he was going to get indicted. The warrant was getting made up then..."
"That still don't explain why he would off himself," CoolWater said kneeling down by the loveseat. "He had friends. Could have gotten a good lawyer. Why would he end it?"
"The only person that could answer that is no longer available for questioning," Bowen remarked with his head down.
Bowen whispered something to the CSU workers. The man nodded and then tapped his other partner. They both walked away from where Bowen and CoolWater was standing.
Bowen squatted beside CoolWater.
"I know he was your buddy," Bowen sympathized. "Heck, he was a fine partner and a damn good colleague that I ever had the pleasure of working for. But those tapes, man, those tapes tell all. I wish I could disclose more but I can't. Still an ongoing investigation. The department don't know how many more are under the take. People are getting antsy. You know Felix Orlando the so called Ice Cream Man is dead. Yeah, you know that man had a penthouse suite at the Marriot right here on Jay Street. Just to think he was right there the whole time. It was a straight shootout when his suite got raided though. DEA and our own local boys went in. In the end, only a few agents and fellow comrades were wounded, Orlando and his team met the ultimate fate."
"Damn," CoolWater shook his head.
"And what about your case with that Xavier fellow, the one that was supposed to be working for that guy?" Bowen asked. "I heard some stories..."
CoolWater shook his head then looked around.
"He never talked," CoolWater whispered. "Despite all the years he was facing. He never talked just smiled. When the joke finally hit us, it wasn't that funny. Only witness we had was a walk-in. He signed all the right paper and forms, give us details about everything for the Gates case. I wanted it but the leads on the case, Wilder and Young, hotshots, wanted the glory. They ran with his story hook, line and sinker. We catch this bastard cold but it's like he's expecting us. Now we can't find the CI. The name he put on file belongs to an ex-convict that died ten years ago and the address we have for him is for an old abandoned warehouse that was condemned years ago. We got had. The department as a whole from the Captain on down. Xavier was already in Riker’s now awaiting trial by the time we caught the mix-up. District Attorney lose his damn mind. The City had nothing on him. So anxious to put that bastard away, we let slip through our fingers again. And now the head ringer of the show can't be accounted for either. And on top of that a dedicated officer of the law decides to end his life so he won't face a trial and admit to being in cohorts with the same enemy we tried to lock away. I don't believe that one though. I mean he’s the one that gave me the files about Orlando and Xavier. He the one..."
"He talked about you on the tapes too," Bowen said. "He knew you was looking into that Orlando guy. Would make sense to feed you more information like he was helping your case..."
"...To throw off the trail," CoolWater finished like he finally caught some insight.
"Truth be told nobody knows how this went down," Bowen said. "All I know is the DEA wanted him and they had taps on him. The SAC of the damn thing goes to the Captain of my unit personally and hands him all the evidence saying that they should work together to bring this to a close. Said he don't know how many more are on the take but if they are, this will be a wakeup call that someone is always watching and listening."
Bowen stood up.
"You know we still feeling that backdraft," CoolWater said now getting up. "I couldn't even investigate this whole ordeal if I wanted to. I'm off the clock. Suspension affected immediately so is about a couple of other detectives."
CoolWater looked at the front door where Archer's corpse was just wheeled out of. "Maybe it's for the best. Besides I'm tired, I can use a good night sleep. Rest in Peace Shawn.”
The law enforcement agent gave his name and who he came to see at the hospital's receptionist desk and was instructed where to go. A tear came down his eye and he realized he was going to the Intensive Care Unit because the patient he was going to see had just came out of surgery.
He walked right about the door and opened it slowly mentally preparing himself. He spotted a lady crying over a bed gurney that contained another young female with tubes connected to her body.
The agent stepped forward slowly and the lady felt a presence behind her. She turned around but couldn't believe it.
The young female in the gurney opened her eyes slowly as if she felt the same force the older lady who was by her bedside had.
"Daaa...Daa...addy!"
Another tear from the agent's eye. He promise from then on, he would never his family.
"Yes, Sonja, daddy's home."