The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 156 Baby Sheriff With a threatening scowl on my face, | climbed out of my car, taking a deep breath, seemingly unaware of the white medical lab coat falling to the ground. | was wearing a white long sleeved button down shirt, a maroon tie and gray slacks, disguised as a well-paid.

doctor.

| was about to shut the door closed when | finally took notice of the white coat lying on the ground. I picked it up, squeezing the pristine white coat, as if holding it tightly within the palm of my hand would somehow alleviate the guilt that weighed heavily on my conscience.

| angrily threw the coat onto the front seat of my car beside the surgical mask, surgical cap, wig, beard and glasses before slamming the door shut.

| was so angry at myself that | couldn't even look at my reflection in the window. | was utterly disgusted at myself.

I needed a moment to calm the f u ck down.

| placed both hands on the roof of my car and took deep breaths, grateful that somehow the cold air was numbing my insides.

Jack hesitantly took a step forward, most probably to offerssolace, but | raised a finger, urging him to stop. He quickly raised his hands in the air and backed away, givingthe space | needed.

| just wanted more tto... decompress. Was that too much to ask? Somehow, Jack understood... maybe because he knewso well. He alloweda moment to myself.

Liam, on the other hand, didn’t want to waste time. He took his phone from his pocket and quietly read his messages while waiting for things to simmer down. He quickly replied, his face devoid of emotion, but his eyes...

his eyes expressed a certain satisfaction....

He was simply enjoying the fact that tonight a Cohen would no longer need the organization.

Randy was grateful for all the information | gave him. He said it made his work easier. After/6 12:10 Thu, Apr 4 d.

CHAPTER 156 Baby 686 to Pete, Riley and Marla and voila! Case closed. Christine, Randy’s wife, would probably be depressed for stime, but she was a young and beautiful woman. She'd find someone else to be her life-long companion and a father to her baby.

“Did he buy it?” Bob asked in anticipation.

“He sure did,” | said, smiling. He scoffed in disbelief.

“Well, that was easy. Okay, so when you're done putting two in Riley, leave the sway. Hospital protocol in the midst of an active shooter is to hide or evacuate. The nurses will most probably leave their station and hide, so there won't be anyone in your way when you leave,” Bob pointed out. “You won't need to change back into the guard uniform either. Most of the people, if not all, will be leaving through the front entrances anyway.” He unfolded the blueprint of the detective’s house and placed it on top of the blueprint of the hospital. | quickly took a picture of it using my phone.

“Here's information on Matthews,” Bob said, handinga sheet of paper he took from his desk drawer. | was impressed. He was very thorough. “I know what you're thinkin’. Nope, | don’t do this in my spare time. | fund a couple of private detectives to getall the intel | need. | got a good thing goin” here: | don’t want to have to leave any of it any tsoon.” “It says here he’s never married,” | mumbled as | scanned through Matthews’ information. sheet. Good. It meant his house would be empty “Because he’s married to his job,” Bob replied, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, his house is a bo ten minutes away from the hospital. Within that tframe, the Bismarck SWAT will be conductin’ a search from floor to floor for suspects. Matthews, just like SWAT, will be focu on finding whoever killed his witness, so he won't bother to check on his house. Even then, you need to be in and out quickly.” He pointed to the rear entrance of the house.

“I suggest enterin’ through the back. The hatch to the basement is underneath the floor of the pantry in the kitchen.” *| have a question. How do we know Matthews will be at the hospital?” | asked.

“After that anonymous tip, he'll definitely be there. Matthews is the kind of guy who gets a high from an arrest,” Bob answered, shuddering in disgust. “Oh, and another thing, he has not hsecurity alarm. That's how co cky he is.” “Seems like you don’t like him,” | said, noticing the dislike in his voice. “What did he ever do to you?” “I have a garage on the next block. You know... the usual,” Bob said, implying the garage w 2/6 CHAPTER 156 Baby a venue for his usual criminal activities. “He csnoopin’ one day. Somethin’ about a certain car part comin from our garage that matched the serial number of a stolen vehicle. My main man, Manny, well, he explained that my garage only fixes cars and that we get our from reputable dealers only. To send him on his way, Manny gave him a list of auto parts parts dealers we order from and told him he forgot which store we got the car “I see. So tellwhat really happened with that car part?” | asked, amused.

part from.” “Manny forgot to remove the serial number. Anyway, the garage ain't listed under my name. It's owned by Charlene, the lady you met earlier at the front of the store.” “No wonder you askedto look for Charlie,” | said, chuckling at my mistake. “I thought you were Charlie.” “Hell no,” Bob replied. “Around here, I'm known as John. John Doe.” Bob left for work before eight to make sure the creamer Redford used was laced with Rohypnol while | entered through the rear exit at approximately fifteen minutes to nine. checked my messages once | was in the utility room. It was a huge storage space with its own elevator.

Matthews is at the hospital director's office located on the fifteenth floor. He’s having Riley transferred to Sanford Medical Center asap.

It was now or never.

Everything was going according to our plans until | was inside Room 1203. Riley was peacefully asleep on his bed, both arms and one leg in a cast while his mouth was wired from a broken jaw.

| decided it was best to inject him with a lethal dose of pentobarbital and let him die peacefully in his sleep. | was done injecting him with the drug and pulling his life support monitor off its socket when the bathroom door suddenly opened behindto reveal Detective Matthews hiding inside.

“Turn around slowly with your hands above your head where | can see them,” he instructed.

| muttered a curse. Why didn’t | check the bathroom earlier? How could | have been so careless? | looked down at the gun in my holster. | had screwed a silencer on, intending to use it on Riley. Unfortunately, I'd have to use it on the detective instead.

3/6 12:10 Thu, Apr 4d CHAPTER 156 Baby 68 “I said, turn around with your hands above your head. Slowly now,” Detective Matthews instructed once again.

“I've you don’t look as young as it says on een waiting for you. | Randall Evans’ file. Who are you?” | raised my hands and turned around slowly.

“Wait a minute. There's a cut on your forehead. You must be Sheriff-" | didn’t hesitate. | grabbed my gun from its holster and shot him in the head.

Smoke billowed out from both my gun and the gun shot wound on Detective Matthews’ forehead. While he collapsed on the floor, I quickly turned around and shot Riley in the head. It would be strange if Riley was found poisoned while Matthews died of a gunshot wound. | needed the story of an active shooter roaming around the hospital to stick.

| ran out of room 1203, headed back into the utility room and took the elevator back down to the ground floor.

Just as Bob said, no one was using the rear entrance to evacuate from the building. | casually walked out of the hospital, the guard uniform | had on earlier in a garbage bag, and quickly. headed out to the main road to the car Bob had lent me.

ded | was a good distance away from the hospital when | parked the car on the side of the road to change my disguise. | took my surgical mask, cap and coat off and donned a gray-haired. wig, a beard and dark rimmed glasses. When | was satisfied with my appearance, towards Detective Matthews’ house. | parked about a block away and walked tow house with a small gasoline tank in a duffle bag.

| needed to destroy any evidence that pointed to Liam, Jack, Dan or myself. Without Cohen, everything would sink. Without Jack, Dan or me, Liam will be a sitting duck.

Only way to destroy the evidence was to start a fire in the basement and keep the hatch open, so the fire would burn everything to the ground.

Luckily, entering the house was simple. All | needed was stools to pick the lock of the back door.

In the kitchen, | found the pantry, the false floor tile and the hatch which was padlocked. | took out a very small screwdriver, inserted it into the keyhole and began to wiggle and slide. until the padlock opened.

Before setting the place on fire, | looked through the papers on top of Detective Matthews 4/6 [e] 12:10 Thu, Apr 4d CHAPTER 156 Baby desk, took his laptop, and rummaged through his files in his file cabinet.

681 | doused everything in gasoline. Once | was done, | lit a cigarette, threw it in the basement. and left the back door open so the fire could draw in more air.

| made my way back to the car and drove towards the laundry shop, but instead of parking the car near Bob's shop, | brought it to Charlene’s garage to be stripped down.

| was driving back to New Salem when Bob called.

“We have a problem,” he said.

“I know, but I had to. There was no other way.” “What are you talking about?” He asked bewildered.

“Matthews,” | answered, feeling guilty.

“Oh, yeah. Well, that’s on your conscience not mine,” he said. “I called to tell you Randy is missin’. | did see him near room 728, promptin’to alert the police, but when | went to follow him, he suddenly disappeared. I've checked everywhere... and he isn’t in police custody either.” “He’s on the move, probably back to New Salem. I'll deal with him,” | told him. “Don’t worry about it.” “I have to ask you... did you actually hire someone to shoot people here at the hospit asked.

“No. Of course not,” | quickly replied. “Why do you ask?” “Listen to the news, Bob answered. “F ucked up thing is... SWAT couldn't find a shooter. Well, Combs, we're even now. So long.” | turned on the rato listen to the news. Luckily, | found a station that was reporting on the shooting incident at Bismarck Gen. So far, six casualties were reported, but according to the news reporter, the police were still looking for victims and suspects.

Six?! How did that happen? Liam.

111 L 5/6 12:10 Thu, Apr 4d CHAPTER 156 Baby 68 “We have an incoming report about a fire which broke out at one of the homes at Prairiewood. Neighbors say the house belongs to a Detective Matthews of the Bismarck Police Department who he shares with his niece and her baby daughter. There are no reports confirming if the niece and grandniece were indeed hwhen the fire broke. Firefighters at the scene are currently containing the fire. This is a developing story.” Music suddenly filled the car...

Did I just kill a baby?! Fuck! F uck! F uck! | continued listening to the rastation, praying for a miracle. There was no car in the driveway at Matthews” house nor did | even hear a baby cry. Maybe the niece and her daughter weren't hwhen | broke into the house and set it on fire.

As | exited the highway to New Salem, the news reporter finally cback with more information.

Breaking news... One of the casualties at Bismarck General Hospital mass shooting is Detective Amos Matthews, the owner of the house at Prairiewood which is currently in flames. The police have found no suspects of the mass shooting which leads authorities to believe that this might have been an inside job,” the reporter said. “As for Detective Matthews’ family, according to Mr. Lee, one of Detective Matthews’ neighbors, he saw the neice with her baby enter the house at seven in the evening. With me, right now, is the Chief of the Bismarck Fire Department,” the reporter said. “Chief, have you found the neice and her daughter?” “Yes, we have,” was the Chief's curt reply. “With deep regret, Miss Lynette Matthews Richardson and her baby did not survive the fire.” | quickly stopped the car, parked it on the side and vomited my guts out..

| killed a baby.

Chapter Comments Shzaqte POST COMMENT Of course with these 5 di ps hits nothing goes as planned, but wow that certainly took a sad unexpected turn.

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