Baghdad Heist: A Charlie Glass Murder Mystery Thriller (Charlie Glass Crime Thrillers Book 1) by J.J. Carson

Author:J.J. Carson [Carson, J.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JJ Carson Publishing UK
Published: 2023-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

“Exactly. We fake the pieces and the documentation. The most valuable thing we have is the route out. Authorities are so paranoid about illegal arms that they’re relieved to see honest brokers like us follow the rules. They don't give us a second thought, and if they do, we pay them to go back and remember their first thought.”

“And that it’s coming through a disreputable channel gives no one heartburn?”

Kirk shrugged. “People tell themselves what they want to believe.” Charlie shook her head, so Kirk tried again. “I’m not saying we’re saints. We started shipping arms, graduated to looted items.”

“Then relegated yourselves to high-class fakes and murder?”

“Things just spiraled.”

“I’ll say they did.” All the while Charlie struggled to avoid staring at the magnificent little cuneiform.

Kirk changed tack. “When did you know?”

“About you?” Charlie clarified. He nodded. “When you walked through that door.”

“You must have known before then.”

“Maybe I knew, but I didn’t believe it. I had suspicions long before I ever realized.”

“How so?”

Charlie pointed. “Over there on the desk is the same paperwork that you planted to incriminate Dempsey. Identical.”

“So?”

“I stared at the files from the murder scene across at the warehouse for hours knowing that they held a clue.”

In the absence of a response from her captive, Charlie continued. “It wasn’t what was on the files—it was what wasn’t.”

“Which was?”

“Nothing. No blood splattering, no body matter. Everything in the murder scene was caked in blood. Tariq planted the files after he shot them, didn’t he?”

Kirk was running low on options, so Charlie piled on the pressure. “When I cut my hand, the blood gushed for ages. That reminded me. All the blood at the warehouse was dry. He must have shot them hours before.”

“Remember the shootout? I protected you!”

“With blanks?” Kirk stalled. “I found the blanks you used for your fake gun battle.”

“Where?”

“In your housing unit.”

Kirk sounded almost impressed. “You have been busy.”

Charlie laid down the cuneiform and lifted her gun. She then pointed it at Kirk’s tattoo. “The ink was the final give away. Nergal himself.”

Kirk played dumb. “Nergal.”

“The mystery name Tariq called you when you put a bullet through him. I recall seeing it on the wall of the incident room. Remember, the one you dragged me out of?”

“It was for your own good.”

“Just like killing Tariq was for your own good. Your own friend.”

Kirk squirmed under the interrogation. “He was no friend, and he was going to kill you.”

“It was a brilliant move, getting lost on the way to Tariq’s ambush. You knew exactly where you were going. You were just buying time. Building your backstory. Did you leave him to finish me off?”

“No. He was freelancing. I saved your life.”

Charlie didn’t quite understand. “Why didn't you just let him shoot me?”

For once, it sounded as if Kirk was selecting honesty as his preferred policy. “Self-preservation. If you shoot a white woman in Baghdad, it makes CNN Headline News. Terps go missing every day.”

“So, the gig was, get me to write a report that fit your narrative, but when I saw through the scam?”

Kirk lifted his palms skyward.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.