Dockingboys

Chapter Twenty Two

Already, there was a fire in Jawa's house. It was spreading through some of the books that were placed on the shelf, as well as the carpet. Jawa looked up and saw some girls screaming and locking themselves inside the yacht, while some of them dove into the water and started swimming to shore. But right now, that wasn't the most important thing at hand. He turned to Mack.

"You got a vehicle?" he asked.

Mack nodded. "Yeah! It's parked next to the entrance of the pier!"

"Don't go back! There's most likely someone around! If you've got any brains, you wouldn't go outside right now!" Jawa replied, keeping his head down under the counter.

"Alright, then, smartass! What do we do?" Mack asked Jawa.

Jawa reached over and opened a small door attached to the wall. The door

swung open and revealed a crawl space that led outside. Jawa gestured at it. "After you, old man!" he said. Mack frowned, then dove inside the space, crawling until he clambered out of the hole. Jawa went in after him and immediately started for the motorboat parked next to the pier. Bullets ran after him. Mack swore and followed him, only he didn't climb into the boat like Jawa did. Instead, he ran for the truck, where Xavier and Derrick were currently shooting at a target next to the house.

"Let's get outta here!" Mack said, climbing into the passenger seat. Pitts waited until Xavier and Derrick were in the back of the truck before slamming the pedal to the floor and speeding away. They watched as Jawa darted across the water in his motorboat, the foam spreading as the little boat cut through the water.

~~~

"What do you mean, there's a mole in the police department?" Tess asked angrily.

"Wait, let me explain, alright?" Declan said. "The revolver you gave me was empty."

Tess gave him a confused look. "Huh?"

"The revolver. It didn't have any bullets. Nothing to shoot with."

"What? That's impossible! The guys at the station, they loaded it and gave it to me!" Tess protested, then paused. "Wait a second, are you saying that the guy who loaded it for me didn't actually do it?"

Declan rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

"Doesn't that mean that guy is a mole?" Tess said worriedly.

Declan gave vent to an exasperated sigh. "Yes, it does! Now, do you understand why I was so keen not to go anywhere that involves the police? We don't know how many moles there are. For all we know, there could be an entire network of them in the police department, waiting to close in on us the moment we show ourselves. They were obviously planning on letting you die, and then after you left, they'd call Oliver to tell him to kill you."

Tess slapped her forehead. Why hadn't she thought of this? She was trained to be a detective, after all. But somehow, she'd missed this small point. "Well, what do we do, then?"

Declan shrugged. "I don't know. The only thing we can do is go to the South Docks in five days and see what happens. Do you have an officer's number that you trust completely?"

"Well, there's Captain Tarson. He's the chief of the Oakton Police Department. Should I call him?"

Declan thought about it for a moment. The leader of a group would be the most likely to be bribed by someone, but he couldn't be sure. He turned to Tess and nodded.

"Call him."

~~~

Oliver Hill looked in the mirror again. His reflection stared back at him with cold eyes and a sneer. He'd switched out his clothes for a black hoodie and dark jeans, with a pair of sunglasses to match. Oliver walked over to the table in his study and opened a drawer, selected a watch, then opened the closet door behind him. The closet light lit up as he opened the door and there were multiple guns and weapons displayed on the wall. He selected a handgun and pocketed it, then picked up a small knife hanging on the wall and twirled it around on his finger via a small hole at the end of the handle. Satisfied, he closed the closet and headed for the door.