Michelle Gagnon - The Gatekeeper

“She no talk to police,” Celia said with finality.

“Well, then.” Kelly stood. “Thanks so much for your time, Celia. I’m so sorry again for your loss.”

Celia’s eyes filled with tears and she crossed herself.

Kelly let herself out. As she walked to her bu-car an Eldorado cruised past, filled with teenage boys who challenged her with their eyes. One of them whistled, and another laughed. Kelly ignored them, thinking that a van full of white men would definitely stick out like a sore thumb here. But there were any number of explanations, and a canvass of the neighborhood would probably only result in more slammed doors. Still, it was hard to shake the sense that she was missing something. Why would a group of white men kill Duke Morris, their purported champion, and stow the gun at an MS-13 stash house? Sure, it had stirred up considerable interest in their cause, but to commit murder for that reason seemed excessive.

She flipped open her phone and dialed.

“Where the hell are you? I thought-”

Kelly cut Rodriguez off. “Did you ever run down where the tip came from, for the raid?”

“What, on the MS-13 house?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” He sounded irritated.

“Just do it, Rodriguez.”

“You know, I’m not your assistant, I’m your partner.”

“Fine. I’ll get someone else on the task force to do it.” Kelly gritted her teeth as she pulled away from the curb.

A pause. “You’re thinking someone wanted us to find that gun, right?”

“Maybe. It’s something we should follow up on.”

“It’s not a bad theory,” he conceded. “All right, I’ll check it out.”

As Kelly drove back to the station she tried calling Jake, but he didn’t answer. With any luck his day was going better than hers, she thought grimly as she hung up.

Dante tapped a finger on his holstered gun. Chances were he wouldn’t need it, but he wasn’t a big believer in chance and preferred to hedge his bets. He glanced at the gate, legs jiggling nervously. Nearly time now. He was in a security booth at the entrance to a waste storage plant. One of hundreds in Texas that handled “low risk” radioactive materials, it had been mismanaged by an owner with a weakness for strippers and was currently stuck in bankruptcy court. They’d broken in the night before with a hacksaw and bolt cutters. Everything here had already been moved when the government belatedly consolidated hazardous materials at more secure facilities. There hadn’t been a shipment here in months. Although hopefully the truck drivers wouldn’t know that. And if they did, well, then it was their unlucky day.

It was a relief to finally have something to do. A few more days stuck in that warehouse and Dante would have gone out of his head. Despite the diversion provided by the girls, his men were increasingly hard to control. Things were close to combusting when the call came in. Dante had a sixth sense for when shit was about to hit the fan, it was kind of his gift.

So far the plan was going off without a hitch. Of course, Jackson had taken everything into account, down to the most minor detail.

They’d brought a small TV set with them. Dante had it tuned to a baseball game to maintain the illusion of a bored security guard. The Sox were top of their division again. He never thought he’d see the day when that team became a goddamned dynasty. But given enough time, even the worst sometimes came out on top. Kind of like what was happening in the country today, he thought, lips pursing in a sneer.

The rumble of engines in the distance. Dante straightened in his chair. He could see them coming over the hill, three eighteen-wheelers towing flatbeds draped with tarps. Eleven o’clock, right on time. The first truck slowed as it approached. The driver rolled down his window and Dante left the booth, opening the gate to greet him. “Morning,” he said, forcing a grin.

The driver was older, mid-fifties with a beard down to his chest. He craned his neck to see around Dante. “That the game?”

It took a second to realize what he was referring to, but Dante caught himself and said, “Sure is.”

“Damn, wish I’d seen that triple. Listening to it just ain’t the same.” He squinted at the low line of buildings ahead. “Awful quiet around here today. Place used to be bustling.”

Dante’s hand crept to his holster, but he kept his smile wide. “You know how it is. Cutbacks. They laid off half the guys.”

“Shame. Times are tough all over.” The driver nodded toward the flatbed. “Where you want it?”

“Wheel it on back. They’ll unhitch the trailer so you can get on your way.”

“Sure would appreciate that. I gotta be back in Galveston by noon.”

Dante waved him through and the other trucks followed, gears groaning as they lurched past with their payload. As he slid the gate shut behind them, his face split in a genuine grin. Easy as pie, just like Jackson promised. An inside man was changing the records to show the equipment landing a couple hundred miles farther west. Unless someone was paying real close attention, they were golden. And now that they had the raw materials, it was time to start phase two. Which meant their own personal D-day was less than a week away. Dante glanced down at his belt, checking the dosimeter clipped to it. None of the circles were tinted. Satisfied, he turned back to the Sox game and let out a whoop as a ball sailed clear of the stadium.

Panting, Madison forced herself through one more push-up before collapsing on the floor. Being stuck in this room with nothing to do for hours on end was driving her nuts. Finally she’d resorted to exercise, usually the bane of her existence. She spent a good chunk of each day performing half-remembered calisthenics from gym class-lunges, push-ups. She had a vision of herself as that ripped chick in The Terminator by the time she got out of here. Not that she would be getting out, but at least it kept her busy.

Madison forced that thought from her mind and started again. For a long stretch after they hurt her, she’d curled up in bed. Lurch had even added a piece of cake to her morning tray, but she didn’t see the point in fighting the inevitable anymore. She decided that she’d stop eating and drinking. If she was going to die anyway, she might as well do it on her own terms.

But for some reason when she awoke again, she felt better. Maybe it was because even in this dark place she could smell a change in the air. For the first time the metal walls felt warm; summer had finally arrived wherever she was. She figured it was time to stop sulking and get back to her routine. She might only have a few days left to live, no point spending them in bed.

She was getting stronger, now she could get to eight without collapsing. Madison lay on her stomach for a minute, gasping, catching her breath. The face of the man who had come for her rose unbidden in her mind and her teeth clenched. She pictured slamming her fist in his mouth, clawing out his eyes, yanking that creepy smile off his face. Gritting her teeth, she pushed off the floor again and kept counting.

“Apparently Mack Krex was a model prisoner.”

“Really? I find that surprising.” Jake crossed his legs and sat back in the chair. The Corcoran prison warden faced him. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it definitely wasn’t this glamorous woman in her fifties with a coiffed updo and manicured nails. She looked like someone who would be at home sipping martinis on the ninth hole. Yet here she was running a prison that harbored some of the most ruthless offenders, including Charles Manson and Juan Corona. Of course, when it was revealed a decade ago that guards were staging “Gladiator Days,” orchestrating fights between inmates, the Department of Corrections had frantically attempted to burnish the prison’s image. And appointing a woman like Elise Faulkner to run it was definitely a sea change. Despite her high society appearance, Jake sensed a steeliness that accounted for her success in such a testosterone-filled environment.