Chapter 14 part 3

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It was a cool night and Jared kept the truck's window cracked open.  The breeze was refreshing, but the noise from the nearby sirens made the police scanner hard to hear. 

The call had woken him not fifteen minutes ago.  More of his men had been attacked, most probably by the same person.  Since the murder of his men, of his friend, last night, he had increased patrols, sent out word to all the men working in his new organization that there was a dangerous race traitor that had to be found.

A spotter had seen the man and sent word up the contact chain until it had reached Jared.  He wasn't one to rush in anything he did, but he'd been out the door in two minutes.  If it was the same man he had seen the other night, it wouldn't be good for the police to catch him.  Somehow, this attacker knew something about Jared's people, things he could pass on to the police if he wanted.  But that wasn't the real reason he had hurried to his truck and followed the directions on the scanner.

Jared wanted this man for himself.

It wasn't that the man was a race traitor.  Jared knew that there were many who didn't share his views.  Calling them traitors was ignorant shorthand.  He used the term as a tool for motivating some of the faithful, but didn't believe in it himself.

Jared's reason was much simpler.  It was loyalty to his men.  This stranger had attacked and killed his men.  He had to answer that challenge, even if he risked some exposure because of it. 

The man was also a risk to the job they were here to do.  Whether this killer was working with the police or not, he was disrupting elements that Jared had carefully placed.  Not only was David dead, but it looked like the other races had stopped fighting back.  Without that retaliation to act as a justification, it would be much harder to swing public opinion to support the cleansing of the city.

If he got rid of this man, then he could more easily move on to the next step.  He could focus on figuring out what his bomb maker was holding back.  Jared and his people could clear this city quicker with fires that were hotter and brighter.  But this murderer was keeping Jared from doing that.

He circled the block once more and counted the police cruisers.  There were eight outside the exits to the ramp and he saw lights of at least four more flashing inside.  The police obviously wanted this man as much as he did.  And, they evidently hadn't found him yet.

The police vehicles were crowded at the entrances and exits, but as he rounded the corner, he saw that the back side of the ramp was unguarded.  The solid concrete wall went up to the second level, but each floor was open above that.  The police hadn't thought someone would escape this way, but Jared judged that even with the nearly twenty foot drop, this would be the way he'd go if he needed to get out of the ramp quickly.

He braked the truck and studied that area.  Midway down, the small street behind the ramp was intersected by an alley.  He tapped his foot on the gas and headed around the block, where that alley would let out.

Then he saw him.  The man was hunched, staggering not as a drunk would but like someone in substantial pain.  The movement was nothing like what he'd seen at the fight the night before.  That man had been fluid, incredibly fast and strong enough to overpower a whole group, one that had included David Turner, who had been with Jared for years.  This man could barely stand. 

But the clothes, the hair and the even the brief glimpse that Jared could catch of his face from a block away were all the same.  It was him.

Jared watched the killer limp across the street and hoped that his men had caused those injuries tonight.  Perhaps this attacker was wearing down.

If so, he should deal with the problem now.  Get out, smash his skull with a brick and leave the body in the alley.  But if the man wasn't as worn down as he looked, even if he had some reserve of adrenaline, he might be too much to deal with alone.  Jared knew he had work to do, more people that he had to protect.  He couldn't risk himself without thinking; he was a general in the coming war between the races.  That responsibility had kept him in the truck last night, as his men had died, though he had hated himself for doing nothing.

He drove down the street, past the alley that the man disappeared into and saw him stumble, then continue on.  Jared parked the truck, got out and locked the doors.  He walked past the alley again and saw his target.  He slowly followed. 

The man had to sleep someplace.  Jared would find out where.

 *

(Author’s note: I hope everyone is having a blast following William as things go from bad to worse in his life!  I wish I could say that he’s going to get a break, but things definitely do not get easier for him in the next chapter.  Thank you all for clicking that star and leaving comments!  And don’t forget to check out the Schism podcast!  All the links are on my website… bruce-elgin.com  Talk to you all soon!)

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