Free A Witch and Her Man (Jeff and Gail) by G.E. Stills Page B

that's everything," he finished.
     
    "Okay, you've been helpful, so I'm going to let you live. My advice is for you get as far away from here as possible. I'm going to leave now. Don't come outside for at least ten minutes after I go. Is that clear? Take my advice. Leave the country. If you don't, you'll end up dead."
     
    Al nodded and Jeff backed to the open door. He stepped off the porch, ran down the street to his car and waited. Sure enough, ten minutes later Al hurried out the door, wearing a clean pair of pants and got into his car. He started his car and drove down the street, apparently unaware he was being followed. The man went straight to what Jeff assumed was Felix's house and when the door opened, he rushed in.
     
    Jeff knelt outside the partially open door, peeking through the casing and listening to the conversation inside.
     
    "Al, you actually told this person everything! You didn't even lie? How stupid can you get?" Felix clenched his teeth and squelched the obvious anger that wanted to burst from his mouth. Jeff watched the play of emotions on Felix's face and could almost read his thoughts. All his carefully laid plans to shift the blame from himself to Al had gone up in smoke. "You fucking idiot! You told this stranger everything?"
     
    "But Felix, what else was I supposed to do? He had a gun to my head," Al whined.
     
    Jeff was not surprised by Felix's behavior. Al had become a big liability. One he certainly intended to get rid of. Felix turned his back to Al in the pretense of getting his drink off the counter. Then he spun back and fired the pistol he had drawn, striking his accomplice twice, once in the throat and once in the chest. Al slipped to the floor, disbelief written on his face. He could not even speak because of the neck wound as his lifeblood poured out onto the floor. His hand was grasping his throat as he attempted in vain to hold back the flow. He looked up at Felix in shock.
     
    "You shoulda lied, Al, or you shoulda died, just like you are now," Felix said in a controlled voice as he picked up the telephone and walked into the other room.
     
    Silently, Jeff pushed the door open and entered the room. He looked at the body on the floor then searched Al until he found the gun he was certain was there. He removed it and walked toward the other room to listen to Felix's conversation.
     
    "Let me speak to Tom," Felix demanded.
     
    Waiting for Tom to come to the phone, he walked back into the room. He had holstered his gun to use the phone and looked up just in time to see Jeff. He dropped the phone and grabbed desperately for his gun. He was far too late. Jeff's gun barked once, drilling a hole between Felix's eyes. Jeff watched as the man crumpled to the floor, dead.
     
    Placing Al's gun on the table, he picked up the phone.
     
    "Hello... Hello? This is Captain Bradford. Who's this?" asked the man on the other end of the line. Jeff pushed the disconnect button and placed the phone in Felix's dead hand. He walked over to Al, knelt down and placed the gun in his dead hand.
     
    "I tried to tell you to leave, Al, but you didn't listen."
     
    He searched through the house and after flipping on the light in one room, exclaimed, "Bingo!" He sat down at the desk and in a matter of minutes, hacked into the computer there. He located a blank CD and copied the files. He also found a slip of paper with scribbled passwords. You talk about Al being stupid . He added these to the CD and shut down the computer.
     
    Jeff looked around carefully one last time to be sure no trace of his presence remained before leaving.   When he got back into his car, he removed the latex gloves on his hands and stuck them in his pocket to be disposed of later.
     
    As he drove back to his place, he was already planning his next step. The name Captain Tom Bradford was familiar. No wonder the investigation was going nowhere. The damned Assistant Police Chief, for Christ's sake. The deeper I dig into this case,