Another brief shake of the head.
“Then what do you want?”
It was then that the man spotted the suppressor on the end of the gun barrel pointing at him.
“You’re making a huge mistake,” he said. “This is a lot bigger than both of us.”
“First thing you’ve said that makes sense,” said the other man.
He pulled the trigger once and drilled a hole in the other man’s forehead. Dum-dum round, it stayed inside. The man slumped forward over the steering wheel.
The other man had a comm bud in his ear and spoke into a mic tagged to his jacket.
He gave the location and situation. He received an affirmative that “cleanup” would commence right away. He put the starter button back from where he had earlier taken it. Then he closed the door without looking at the man he had just shot dead.
He slipped his pistol into a holster that rode on the back of his waistband and sprinted back to the spot where he had left Decker.
Decker was still there lying on his belly in the middle of the alley. With the falling rain he was as soaked as though he had jumped, fully clothed, into a pool.
When Decker saw the man heading down the alley, he called out, “Hey, can I get up?”
“Affirmative.” The man hustled over and helped him up. Decker could feel the strength in the other man’s grip.
“Someone just tried to kill me,” said Decker.
The man pointed to the hole punched in the brick. “Forty-four-caliber steel jacketed with an incendiary, mini-explosive kicker. Someone really wanted to make sure that you would be joining the ranks of the dearly departed.”
“But you saved my ass. Why?”
“It’s my job.”
“Why?”
“That’s it.”
“What happened to the other guy?”
“He was my job, too.”
“And what happened to him?”
“That’s it.”
Decker looked flustered by this odd response. “What’s going on?”
“We’re counting on you to get us there, Mr. Decker.”
“Who’sus?”
“I won’t insult your intelligence.”
“And if I can’t get us there?”
“Not an option. That’syourjob.”
“I’m here to investigate a murder. I don’t know about the rest of this. I don’t know about whatever element you’re attached to.”
“We’re on the same team, just a different division.”