Free The Assassin's Trail by J.C. Fields Page A

in the front of the building had been the hostess. Lucky her.
    He headed to the rear of the restaurant to see if he could assist any of the injured. There had been few customers at this hour, but he found two he knew.
    Neil Ross and Frank Bonner were in the back of the restaurant on the floor, covered with debris from the ceiling and broken tables and chairs. Neil had a bad gash on his forehead, and Frank Bonner stared blankly, a large shard of glass protruding from his half-severed neck. Kruger bent down to check on Neil. There was a pulse, although weak.
    “Neil… Neil… Can you hear me?”
    With a raspy voice, barely above a whisper, Neil Ross said, “What happened?”
    “Don’t move, you’ve been in an accident. Help will be here shortly.”
    Neil opened his eyes and stared at Kruger. At first not recognizing him, the older man finally nodded. “Sean, is that you?”
    “Yes, sir, don’t move until the EMTs get here.”
    “Where’s Frank?”
    Kruger noticed several first responders moving toward them and said, “I’ve got a severe laceration on the upper forehead here, probably a concussion.”
    The EMTs nodded and pointed to Frank Bonner. “What about that one?”
    Kruger shook his head. The fireman understood and knelt down next to Kruger.
    Neil said, “Sean, where’s Frank?” with a note of desperation in his voice.
    Kruger had to tell him something. “Neil, Frank’s hurt, they’re working on him right now.”
    “How bad, Sean?”
    Kruger gave him a slight smile, but said nothing.
    “We were supposed to meet Fernando Guevara here at ten-thirty. He…” Neil closed his eyes and seemed to lose consciousness.
    The EMT gently shook him. “Sir, don’t go to sleep, I need you alert. Stay with me, sir.” He shook him again and Neil opened his eyes. Tears formed and slid down his dust covered face.
    Kruger thought about what he had just heard. Fernando Guevara was meeting them here. More than likely one of the bodies in the limo outside was him. He shook his head. Rich guy number three.
    Later, after he watched Neil being loaded into an ambulance, he surveyed the area. He was surprised to see Franklin Dollar, the Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City FBI Office, talking to several men in FBI windbreakers. He wanted to go back to his apartment, but thought he needed to get Dollar the information about Guevara. As he approached the group of FBI agents, Dollar noticed him and waved him over.
    “Kruger, what the hell are you doing here?”
    Kruger glared at Dollar and said “I live about five blocks from here. Heard the explosion and thought I could help.”
    Dollar nodded, “Did you see anything?”
    “No, it was pure chaos when I arrived. The limo appears to have taken the greatest force of the explosion.” Kruger pointed to the now smoldering car and then pointed at the damaged front of Dublin's. “Two dead in the restaurant, with at least half a dozen injured, some critically.”
    Dollar turned back to his men and said, “Start looking for anyone who saw the explosion. Everyone knows the drill.” Both men nodded and took off in different directions. Dollar turned back to Kruger. “I know you and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we need to work together on this as a team. Are you on board?”
    Kruger stared at Dollar, trying to determine his motive, but finally stuck his hand out and said, “Yeah, I'm on board. This was too close to my home not to be.”
    Both men shook, understanding they had a truce for the moment.
    Kruger pointed to the limousine and said, “I can give you a pretty good guess on one of the victims in the limo.”
    Dollar looked at the destroyed vehicle. “Who?”
    “Fernando Guevara, CEO of Whiterock Equities. He was meeting two gentlemen here at the restaurant. Looks like someone knew he was going to be here.”
    “How do you know?” Franklin looked at Kruger with skepticism.
    “Because my wife’s boss was the one he was meeting and they just put