Don't Loo Lie a Seal

Thanks to Devir Ginator for all his editing skills. Sorry for the delay in posting the ending of this series but here it is. I hope you all enjoy it.

****

After I had changed I found the detectives and Alex as they waited poolside.

"How promising does this lead look to you both?" He was asking as I walked up.

"Someone has definitely been using the place," Det. Lang answered gruffly. "It's an old warehouse with a whole lot of nothing around it and it sits right off the Intercoastal. Our guys, that have had eyes on, say there's four inside right now."

"There were five when they went after Miss Voss," Alex pointed out.

"Coffee run?" I ventured as I gave him a look for being formal about Addison.

"We aren't sure," Det. Young answered. "We thought you might want to get eyes on and see if you recognize anyone. You're welcome to come along as well, Mr. Kortesis."

Alex shook his head.

"I haven't been in contact with these guys like Ken has," He stated then looked toward Addison's balcony. "I'll stay here and wait on updates."

"Ready if you are, Kenny," Det. Young said.

"Give me second and I'll meet you at your car," I stated.

As they walked off I turned to Alex and raised my eyebrows questioningly.

"Just go with them, Ken," He sighed and folded his arms across his chest.

"I'll go once you clue me in as to what is going on with you," I stated as I ignored his wishes.

"I... I questioned Addison about her trip after the party. It didn't go well," He admitted.

"I thought we had dropped the whole Russian angle already?" I asked.

"We had but when we found that a substantial amount of money has gone missing from the business accounts of Voss Enterprises I wanted to dig a little deeper and her trip just..." He grumbled.

"Tripped your spidey sense?" I interrupted him. "How substantial are we talking about?"

"Without an official audit we aren't sure," He answered. "It looks like whoever was doing it was funneling small amounts from different areas of all the companies so it would be harder to detect."

"You brought this to Mr. Voss' attention?" I asked.

"As soon as we triple checked it to be sure," He answered. "We haven't traced where the money ended up but we're working on it with his people."

"And Addison?" I asked.

"She had gone to Belarus to check out some missing money on a project there," He sighed. "Then she told me that I could stick any further questions about her dealings there in a very particular orifice."

"Cut her some slack. One of her best friends took off this morning," I shared.

"Heard about that," he said as he looked at me closely. "Are you good?"

"Not really," I answered with a shrug, "but what am I supposed to do about it?"

It was Alex's turn to shrug then he nodded toward the house.

"You don't want to keep the detectives waiting," He said.

Alex knew me well enough to know when not to push. This was one of those times. I nodded at him then joined the detectives at their car.

"Is everything cool?" Det. Young asked as I slipped into the backseat.

"Sure," I lied.

She didn't look as if she believed me but she tapped Det. Lang's shoulder and he put the car in gear. We made idle chit chat as Lang drove us to our destination. A run down looking warehouse district just off one the Intercoastal waterway's tributaries. The whole area had a look of disuse to it save for the occasional bit of graffiti.

"The place that we're looking at is on the far end." Det. Young shared as Det. Lang pulled to a stop. "It's the most isolated unit and it has access to the waterway."

"We've got to walk in otherwise we risk being seen or heard," Det. Lang pointed out.

"Cameras?" I asked as I looked around.

"Unsure," he answered. "There's too much open ground around the place for us to be sure. We can't get close enough to check."

"Sounds like a promising place to set up but too bad for us if we can't get close enough to find out if this is a waste of time or not," I commented.

"We'll know more in a few minutes," He shared and nodded toward the waterway where a police boat was docked just out of sight of the warehouse. "Swat is on the way to check it out."

"Swat? Isn't that a little much on a hunch?" I asked. "We aren't even sure how accurate the information you found is."

"This thing involves the richest family in the state so the word came down that whatever it takes to ends this, we use," He answered.

"You agree with this?" I spun and asked Det. Young.

"Way above my pay grade, Ken," She answered as we reached the boat. "Bobby, I think I'm going to stay on land for the time being."

He nodded as I gave her a quizzical look.

"Sea sickness?" I asked and she nodded.

I nodded back sympathetically and boarded the boat. On the boat were a pair of detectives.

"No movement for a couple of hours now," one of them reported.

"They must be sleeping," The other shared. "Is tactile en route?"

Det. Lang nodded.

"They're five minutes out," he answered. "The mayor wants this handled now. They aren't expecting us so we can wrap this up quick and easy like."

I shook my head.

"Something's wrong with all this," I said. "They can't be this sloppy. They haven't been so far, so why change now?"

"You think it's a set up?" Det. Young knelt down and asked.

"I'm not sure," I answered. "It just feels, I don't know, too easy?"

"Take easy whenever you can get it, Grayson," Lang chuckled.

I nodded but I still felt ill at ease with the situation. I just couldn't put my finger on why. I looked toward the warehouse that was about a hundred yards away from our vantage point and sighed.

****

A few minutes later they get a call that SWAT had set up a staging area and were gearing up to move in. They asked if there had been any movement from the target building.

"Negative movement," Det. Lang reported back. "We think they're sleeping."

"Let's wake them up then," the team leader responded back.

A moment later I heard a pair of engines growing closer then a pair of Swat trucks sped across the bumpy macadam toward the building.

"This is all wrong," I muttered to no one in particular as the trucks got closer to the warehouse.

The trucks came to a stop at the warehouse and then nothing. No one inside the warehouse opened fire. No one made a break for it. It was silent.

"Think we caught them sleeping?" Det. Lang postulated as we watched from afar.

"Ken is right," Det. Young said. "This is all wrong. These guys wouldn't be caught unawares like this."

"We'll know soon enough," Det. Lang said. "They're about to breach."

We were close enough to hear the sound of the concussive charge when it went off and blew the warehouse door inward. The members of the Swat team rushed in, weapons drawn but no sound of gunfire came. It was eerily silent. It only took a few tense minutes before we got the all clear signal from the Swat leader.

"You guys are going to want to get in here," He stated over the radio. "I've never seen anything like this."

Det. Lang, Young and I all shared a worried look as we started to make our way toward the warehouse.

****

That look didn't wane when we saw a few of the Swat guys as they walked out of the building with ashen colored faces. No one stopped us as we walked inside. We made it only a few feet in when we spotted the first body. He lay in a pool of blood with several bullet wounds in his back.

"He made a run for it," Det. Young commented.

"He didn't make it," Det. Lang muttered.

"It gets worse the further you go," The Swat team leader shared as he walked up to us. "We've found four bodies so far and each one was more messed up than this guy. One guy was tortured and it took awhile."

Det. Lang heeded his unspoken warning and went to wait outside for the coroner while Det. Young and I paused to look over the first body.

"Do you think this was Yuri?" She whispered as we knelt down.

"Who else?" I asked. "He said that he would leave this to me but these guys killed one of his own and he always was one for swift vengeance. Think we can get an ID off any of these guys?"

"Shouldn't be a problem with this one at least," She said as she glanced over the body. "This one looks like he got double tapped in the back which left his hands intact so prints are a possibility and he's leaked his DNA all over the place if that fails. The medical examiner should be able to tell us more once he gets a look."

The main area of the warehouse was a blood bath. Two bodies lay on the floor with multiple wounds while the third was seated in a chair. Or I thought he was seated until I saw the knives that held his hands in place on the chair.

"Oh god," Det. Young gasped out at seeing what was done to him.

This was worse than the corpse with no face and I was glad that I had skipped breakfast.

"Did they do this for revenge or something more?" She asked.

"Information," I stated. "They wanted to know where the fifth guy was."

"And you think this guy gave him up?" She asked.

"He gave them everything that he knew or we wouldn't have found him here," I shared as I pointed the bullet wound at the back of his head. "He was promised an end to his pain if he gave it up."

"So Yuri knows who the fifth person is and we don't," She muttered. "I guess we can just wait around for the next body to drop or we could try and ask Yuri."

"You'll never get Yuri to admit knowledge of any of this," I said. "The knives were theirs and take a look around. There's no bullet casings around. His people were careful about leaving any evidence behind."

"Do you have anything useful to add or do you just want to keep raining on the parade?" She asked.

"I'm done raining," I shared. "I'm going to put a call into Alex and let him know what's going on."

She nodded and I headed outside to escape the gore and coppery smell that assaulted my senses. I pulled out my phone and hit Alex's number as she joined me.

"I'll wait out here with you guys for the M.E.," She said. "It's too much for me in there too."

I nodded in understanding as I waited for Alex to answer his phone.

"That was quick," He answered. "Was it them?"

"It was four of them," I said. "They're all dead. One was tortured to find the fifth member."

"What do you mean that they're dead and who is torturing anyone?" He asked confused.

"The local muscle they hired," I answered. "They killed one of their own so now they're looking to finish what they started."

"Vengeance," He muttered. "Where do you think the fifth guy is?"

"If he saw what was done here and he's smart he'll be on a plane getting the hell out of the country," I answered. "Too bad we still don't know who he..."

In the background of the call I heard a commotion kick up.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Someone just called for a lock down," he answered. "I need to go check this out."

"A lock down? The team is dead. Why in the hell is there..." I started to ask but he cut me off.

"I don't know which is why I'm hanging up so I can find out," He said then disconnected.

"Did you say there's a lock down?" Det. Young asked.

"Gotta be a mistake, right?" Det. Lang asked.

"It could be but I can't take that chance," I said. "I need to get back there."

Det. Lang pulled the car keys from his pocket and handed them to his partner.

"I'll run with all of this. You get him back to the Voss' and find out what's going on," he told her. "I don't like coincidences. Something is wrong with this."

"Agreed," Det. Young nodded. "We've had suspicions that there was someone on the inside at the Voss' and if that person was the fifth team member..."

"We need to get back there now!" I said and ran for the car with Det. Young hot on my heels.

****

"Who called for a lock down?" Alex demanded into his ear bud.

"I did," Cassidy answered him. "We've got movement on the beach!"

"It's got to be some kids or something," Alex assured him. "The kidnappers were taken out."

"I heard but I'm not taking chances on there not being two teams out there," He stated. "Get Mr. Voss into his safe room. My team will handle the rest."

"Addison is close too," Alex answered. "I'll have my guys grab her too and get them into the room with her dad. You can handle Mrs. Voss and Karly right?"

"I think I'm closer to Addison," Cassidy started to argue then changed his mind. "Have your men move her into the safe room with her father and you and your guys stay with them in case my team fails to contain this."

"Understood," Alex answered then hurried to Mr. Voss' office.

He made the call to his team and advised them to get Addison to the safe room then burst into Mr. Voss' office.

"Alex, what in the hell is going on?" He demanded to know.

"Lock down, sir," Alex answered him. "We need to get you to a safe room."

Mr. Voss had risen to his feet and started to follow Alex when he stopped.

"Where is my family?" He demanded to know.

"Addison is being moved as we speak," Alex answered. "Mr. Williams is closest to your wife and Karly. He's moving them. My job is you and Addison, sir. We need to move."

Mr. Voss nodded and followed Alex toward his safe room. They entered and a scared Addison hugged her father.

"The room is secure, sir," One of Alex's guards reported.

Alex looked into the camera that was mounted and gave a nod.

"Joe, go secure on room one," He said but got no response.

He turned toward the door but nothing happened so he called out again.

"Joe, can you read me? Joe?" He said as he checked his earbud.

"Alex?" Addison asked when she noticed his agitation.

"Something is wrong. Joe isn't answering me," Alex said as he pulled his pistol. "I'm going to check it out."

"Sir, we should..." another of his guard started but Alex cut him off.

"Everyone stay here," He told them. "I'm going. Seal the room and make it secure. No one gets in here, understood?"

"Understood," He nodded.

Alex nodded then walked out and waited for the door to close before he started toward the security control room. As he made his way down the hallway all the lights went out.

"What the hell?" He wondered aloud.

He turned back to the safe room and waited but the back up generators failed to kick on he pounded on the door.

"Is everyone all right?" He shouted.

"What happened to the lights?" Mr. Voss shouted back.

"And the generators!" Addison added.

"I'm not sure but I'm heading to the control room to find out," He answered. "Hold tight!"

Alex hurried to the security room and carefully pushed open the door with his gun drawn.

"Joe?" He called out into the darkened room.

With no windows the room was nearly pitch black so Alex moved carefully into the room. A few steps in his foot hit something soft that moaned. He dropped to his knees and groped around until he found a head, then a neck. He recognised Joe's neck. Alex breathed a quick sigh of relief when he found a steady pulse.

"Joe, talk to me," he urged him as he lightly shook him by his shoulder.

Joe groaned then started to push himself up to a seated position but Alex stopped him.

"Whoa, take it slow, buddy," Alex told him. "How many were there?"

"It was Williams," Joe said. "He came into the room. Asked me for a camera adjustment then smacked me with something when I turned to do it for him. What the hell is going on, Boss?"

"Williams? Joe, are you sure?" Alex asked confused.

"Positive," Joe answered. "I thought I heard him call out an alert after he smacked me but I wasn't sure. Why is it still dark?"

"The generators didn't kick in," Alex said as he started to leave. "I need lights and eyes here, Joe. Can you fix what he broke?"

"I can but shouldn't you go after him?" Joe asked.

"I can't go running around blind," Alex stated. "He's got Mrs. Voss and Karly with him at least that's my fear and I need to know where they are instead of wasting time trying to search this whole house!"

Joe grunted as he pushed himself to his feet then with the help of Alex's light he went to his desk. He looked over his smashed keyboard and the computer tower that had been pulled open.

"Hard drive is gone," Joe announced as he rubbed his head. "They always think that works."

"Doesn't it?" Alex asked confused.

"It does," Joe said then pulled a backpack from underneath his desk and opened it.

He pulled out a laptop and smiled.

"But if you have half a brain, you always have a back up," Joe added as he connected the wires from the tower to his laptop.

He powered the laptop up, waited a few seconds then typed out a series of commands.

"Okay, the generators are offline and I can't get them to respond," Joe shared. "We haven't lost power because my laptop is charging. He just took out the lights. The breaker panel should be..."

"I know where it is, Joe," Alex announced.

He hurried out of the room and after he was gone for a few seconds the lights flickered back to life.

"Joe, are our communications back up?" Alex asked after he switched the lights back on.

"They are," Joe answered him in his ear bud. "I'm bringing the cameras back online right now?"

"Does anyone have eyes on Williams, Mrs. Voss or Karly?" Alex demanded over the open line.

"Negative," Came the first reply. "We're on the beach but there's no intruders here. No one has been here. What is going on?"

"We're unsure," Alex lied. "It may be a false alarm or there could still be a threat. Secure the beach and alert me if you see Williams."

Joe looked at him confused as Alex made a signal to cut the communications.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked after he complied with the order.

"Those are all his people. Everyone I can trust is either locked in the safe room with Addison and her dad or not here," Alex explained as he scanned the camera feeds. "Lock the beach gate and tell them it's a glitch if they raise a fuss about it."

Joe turned and made that happen then looked back at Alex.

"What now?"

"Now I've got to find Mrs. Voss and her daughter," Alex said. "Can you tell if anyone has left the estate?"

Joe brought up a screen and shook his head.

"The front gate hasn't been opened since Ken left with the detectives," He reported. "It's shows that it's been locked down. That's strange."

Joe tapped at his keyboard for a moment to pull up the camera on the front gate.

"That's good though right?" Alex asked. "If it's locked down that will keep Cassidy trapped unless he tries to ram the damn thing."

"I don't think he'll try that, Boss," Joe said and pointed toward the large monitor.

Alex looked up and saw a pair of SUV's parked at the gate. As he watched several men emerged from them all armed. One man he recognized instantly.

"What in the hell is he doing here?" Alex asked through gritted teeth.

"Is that the kidnappers?" Joe asked.

"No, they're all dead," Alex shared then shook his head. "Almost all of them that is. Those are their killers and we're in their way. Joe, seal this room once I leave it and don't come out for anything. It's going to get real ugly real quick here."

****

Det. Young jerked the wheel of her unmarked car left and took the oncoming lane before jerking it back to the right where she narrowly avoided clipping the front end of the car she was passing.

"You're not going to puke are you, Kenny?" She shouted over the sound of her blaring siren.

"I've been driven way worse than this before," I answered. "This siren thing is drilling into my skull but I'm fine with the driving, Jen. Remind me to tell you about this one helicopter pilot we had. This doesn't come close to the stuff he pulled on us."

She fishtailed the car into a right hand turn then straightened it up just before she would have taken out a pair of garbage cans on the side of the road. We were on the main road that led to the Voss' estate and Jen was pouring on more speed as we got closer. I pulled my gun from my shoulder holster as the estate came into view and I spotted a couple of cars stopped at the closed gate.