Looking Into Darkness Page 12

  *****

  Casey Rawlings drove through Clearwater until she spotted Moseby’s car parked across from the Mercedes dealership. She pulled up and parked behind him. She exited her car, drew her pistol and crossed the street. What the hell was going on?

  She watched Moseby enter the dealership and Casey knew that she had to follow him. Something bad was about to happen and she could feel it. She just didn’t want there to be any more innocent victims of Evan Cristo’s killing spree. Keeping her pistol down by her thigh and out of sight, she hurried towards the closing glass door.

  Moseby walked through the showroom, pretending to examine the new cars parked there keeping his face away from Cristo, but keeping a watch on him in his peripheral vision. He didn’t think Cristo had spotted him yet. At that moment, the front door opened, and Casey Rawlings stepped inside. She wasn’t quiet about it and caught Cristo’s attention. Moseby could see the look of alarm on Cristo’s face as he made her for a cop. Cristo was on his feet and had his gun drawn faster than Casey could locate him. He fired, and she went down. Then, Cristo grabbed the saleslady and held her in front of him as a shield, his pistol held flush against the side of her head. She was screaming, wondering what the hell was going on.

  “Evan Cristo, put down your gun and let the woman go,” Moseby called from behind one of the show cars, his own pistol drawn and aimed at the killer.

  “Back off, or I’ll kill her!” Cristo shouted back.

  “Anything happens to her and I’ll blow your head off, Cristo. Right now, she’s the only thing keeping you alive.” The woman’s face had gone deathly white, as she struggled against the arm around her neck. A gun shot sounded and Cristo spun, his arm restraining the woman flying away from her. The saleswoman took two steps and dived over the hood of one of the cars. Cristo fired another shot at Casey and she slumped. Blood was already pooling around her prone body.

  Moseby started forward. His aim was unwavering as he began to pull the trigger, naming off the names of every cop killed by Cristo’s crew with each shot. He watched Cristo jerk as each bullet ripped through his flesh before he finally hit the wall and slid down leaving a blood trail. Moseby knelt and checked for a pulse. There was none. He walked over to the salesgirl. Her name tag read Sandy. “Are you okay?” he asked. She nodded her head numbly. Moseby led her back to her desk and helped her sit. He unzipped one of the duffle bags and pulled out a bundle of cash and put it in her purse. She looked at him, eyes wide. “For pain and suffering,” he told her. Moseby turned and walked over to Casey Rawlings. She was dead. She had lost too much blood. She was the real hero. It had been her shot that had saved Sandy.

  Moseby closed his eyes. Maybe, he really had looked into darkness one time too many. He wondered if he would ever feel the light. At least, Lucy was safe. He could hear the sounds of sirens rapidly approaching. Somebody in the dealership had dialed 9-1-1 during the shooting. Moseby holstered his gun and walked over and sat down on one of chairs the lined the showroom and waited.

  Chapter Twenty

  Garrett Moseby watched solemnly as the coroner’s van pulled away carrying the bodies of Casey Rawlings and Evan Cristo. Forensics had bagged and tagged the two duffle bags of money and taken them off, as well. Moseby has already talked to the Clearwater Detectives and the guys from the FDLE. He would talk to his own shooting review board when he got back to the station.

  A car pulled in and the door opened and there was Lucy French, arm still in a sling walking towards him. “Are you okay, partner?” she asked.

  “Not really, no,” Moseby answered, softly.

  “Were you hit?”

  “No, but I got Casey killed.”

  “Tell me what happened,” Lucy implored him, softly.

  “I was already inside, trying to line up a shot without putting Sandy, the saleslady, in the line of fire. It was about then that Casey charged in, yelling that she was a cop. He shot her the first time and she went down, then he grabbed Sandy around the neck and had his gun to her head. He wanted me to drop my gun and I told him if anything happened to Sandy he would die. Casey used the last of her strength to shoot him in the left shoulder. Sandy got loose and out of the way and I emptied my magazine into him. Casey died before he did,” Moseby explained.

  “You got Cristo, Gar. You put him down like the rabid dog he was,” Lucy said, looking into his eyes.

  “But at what cost, Luce? Another cop lost their life.”

  “Maybe, once this is wrapped up, you should take some time off. Talk to somebody, okay?”

  “Like who? A shrink?” Moseby scoffed.

  “Couldn’t hurt. I could get the name of the one that McCabe is seeing. She’s done Rebekah a lot of good,” Lucy replied.

  “I don’t know,” he shook his head.

  “How long have you been a cop, Garrett? How many years have you spent looking into the darkness?”

  “I’ll have my twenty years in later this year. I joined the force after a two-year stint in the Marines.”

  “So, you’ve spent twenty years looking into the abyss, Garrett. Twenty years! Don’t you think that has affected you? You need to see somebody and talk about it,” Lucy admonished him.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll see somebody,” Moseby said, surrendering.

  “It’s about damn time, partner,” Lucy smiled at him, and his heart felt just a little lighter.

  The End

  Coming Soon . . . Reaching for the Light

  After being nearly pulled into the abyss tracking down and ending the career of a killer that was targeting and murdering cops, Moseby and French are trying to get out of the personal hell they had fallen into. When the daughter of the mayor is kidnapped and held for ransom, they get their chance. The important thing is getting the child back safe. But catching the kidnapper will give them both a chance to climb out of the darkness as they reach for the light . . .