“He…he tortured us,” Habib croaked. “He…”
“Shut your mouth!” Dickerson squatted down to look into Habib’s eyes. “I don’t know how the DA ever let you two jackasses out on the streets again, but I can tell you this, you and your brother won’t be seeing the outside of a cell for the good part of your lives. Listen closely while I read you your rights again.”
When Dickerson finished, he and his partner cut the restraints off, and handcuffed the Rashidi brothers. Once they were in the rear of Dickerson’s squad car, Nick showed him the bomb placements while Dickerson filmed it. Nick noticed how nervous Officer Helmgrin was when they returned to the house front.
“The detonator is off,” Nick explained. “We can wait on the street for the bomb squad. It wouldn’t do any good though. There’s enough C4 in those charges to wipe out everything in a hundred yard radius.”
“Did they say anything at all about this?”
“I didn’t ask, Neil. Would you like me to interrogate them for you?”
“Uh… no, but thanks for the offer. What was Habib mumbling about torture?”
“Well… I didn’t find them attaching bombs onto my house structure, and then decide to let bygones be bygones. I disabled the Rashidi boys. I did so with a stun-gun, and I toasted them until they stopped moving. Then I restrained them. I had every right to shoot them both in the head, but I didn’t.”
“No argument there. I’m really sorry about these two getting out with no warning. When you told me on the phone who you were holding captive, I couldn’t believe it. There’s no way the DA should have turned them loose before they were arraigned.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. They would have done this sooner or later, and you can bet this isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this. I’m damn lucky we walked Deke tonight or half my neighborhood would be gone.”
The bomb squad arrived minutes later. Dickerson handled everything from then on, with Nick joining Gus and Deke across the street, and out of the way.
“We could have found room for those two in the Valley, Muerto. I’m frankly shocked you didn’t gut them.”
Nick took a deep breath before speaking. “I thought about it, but as I told you before, we have too many things going on right now. The Rashidi boys will be on my radar from now on, along with their families. I didn’t see anything like this coming. The most that would have happened to them for the stalking business is some jail time. They were cocky enough to believe they could blow a city block to hell, and get away with it. When they get out, they die. I would imagine they’ll be in prison so long I may die first though.”
“I believe you’ve overestimated our justice system, Muerto. Instead of being transferred to Gitmo, they’ll probably get a fine.”
“You’re right, but either way, I’ll take care of them. I’m going to get my lawyer to find out what kind of deal could possibly have been done to let them out without informing me.”
“You have a lawyer?”
“Sure, I have a lawyer. He’s dedicated to me too. His names Justin Khole. I normally don’t leave my personal business in the hands of police and our court system. I’ve used Justin only for mundane law issues like copyright hassles, and property problems. He has people to handle every kind of law problem from estate law to criminal law. He handles the high profile criminal cases.”
“I’ll bite. How did this gentleman lawyer find his way onto your tab?”
“He defended the wrong criminal.”
“Out with it, Muerto. Don’t short shrift me on the story.”
“It will have to wait for the beach tomorrow, Payaso. Here comes Neil. I need to go inside, comfort the girls, and get some sleep. Thanks for doing duty all day on the monitors.”
Gus handed Nick Deke’s leash. “It was a classic. That’s for sure. Are we sippin’ the Irish tomorrow?”
“Bring it, and I’ll let you know when I get a US Marshal update. I’ll bring the coffee. If you show for the school walk, I’ll tell you the Lawyer Khole story on the way.”
“If I’m not here by the regular walk time, take off. It will mean I’m in Tina’s doghouse, and I’ll be trying to make it up to her.”
“Understood. See you tomorrow.” Nick watched Gus give Neil a quick wave on the way by. Nick walked forward to meet Neil. “How’s it going, Officer Dickerson?”
Dickerson showed a pained expression. “I know you’re upset about not being informed when those two terrorists were turned loose, but there’s not much I can do now but apologize.”