CHAPTER 24: THE ASSASINATION ATTEMPT ON MARCUS PART 1

Gina POV

“Just keep your head down.” I tell Marcus as we hide behind a wall next to the window where the shot came through. Another bullet flies through the window and it hits one of the pillows on Marcus’ couch. I grab from the holster on my thigh as peak my head over the window sill. I look outside the window to see if there are any cop cars in front of Marcus’s house but I don’t see any. “Cops are gone.” I tell Marcus. “What?” He yells as another bullet flies through the window.
I look out the window and I see the guy looking over the balcony. I manage to snap a picture of him using my phone and I quickly send it through to my software in order to run facial recognition. This guy might have posed as one of Marcus’s neighbors by using a fake name.
“We’ve got a sniper on our hands.” I say to my guys over our communication device that’s fastened on my bracelet. “We know. We’re trying to find his location.” One of my guys responds back when I see movement on the balcony of the house across the street. “Upstairs balcony of the house across the street.” I tell them and they shoot towards him but he ducks every bullet.
I look back and I see his that he’s aiming for another shot when suddenly another male figure appears behind him but the man doesn’t notice him. It has to be a ghost. I can’t see the figures face because he’s wearing a hoody. The man raises his gun at us but the other figure sways his hand in the air making the man sway the gun another way. A bullet flies through Marcus’s window and nearly hits Marcus on his shoulder. “I told you to stay down.” I tell him. “Fuck. Whoever keeps sending these guys really want me dead.” Marcus replies. I peak out of the window again and I see the guy looking at me. I shoot right at him, hitting him on his shoulder making him drop his gun, he stares at me for a few seconds before he runs back into his house. “Asshole is on the run. We got to stop him.” I tell my guys outside as I get up onto my feet.
“I’m going after him. You stay here.” I say to Marcus before turning around and running out by the front door. “Gina!” I hear Marcus scream as I run out the door. I run over to the house where the sniper was and I see my guys going into his house by the front door so I know that he’s gone out the back door so I run around the house towards his backyard. The guy was just getting into his car when he sees me so I shoot two of his tires flat. The guy then proceeds to run away on foot. Bad move on his part.
“Why do these idiots always run.” I say to myself as I start running after the guy. He tries to climb the fence when the figure from earlier appears next to him. The figure then grabs the man by his legs and pulls him down making him fall to the ground. The man screams in pain while clutching his injured shoulder. I look at the figure as he pulls down his hoody. It’s a kid that’s maybe about 20 years old. “Hey I know you. I saw you in the news a few years ago.” I say to him. He just nods his head before disappearing again.

“Who the hell are you talking to you crazy bitch?” The man laying on the ground asks me. The guy looks up at me as I stand over him. He looks like he could be in his early fifties. “You fucked with the wrong guy asshole. Now tell me who the hell sent you?” I ask him.

The guy then proceeds to spit on my shoes before saying “I’ll never tell you anything you bitch.” He then starts smiling at me. “Fine then. I’ll get the information the hard way.” I say as I slam my fist on his face. He then goes unconscious just as my guys run over to us. “Tie his ass up.” I tell my guys when I hear a voice speaking from behind me.

“Oh my God. That’s Mr. Burkawits. He tried to have me killed?” Marcus says as he looks at the gut on the ground. “Marcus what the hell are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be more than fifty feet away from your house.” I tell him as I point to his ankle bracelet. Marcus looks down at his ankle. “Oh shit.” He says. The light that supposed to be green is now red which means the cops will be banging down his door any second now. “Yeah oh shit. You better get back. The cops will be here any second.” I say as I walk towards him.
“They’re going to think I’m trying to escape. How could I have been so stupid.” Marcus says. “I’ll talk to them and explain what happened. They might need to transfer you to another location for the time being. This is not going to stop.” I tell him just as we cross the road.
“What the hell were you thinking Marcus? I told you to stay back.” I tell him. “I wanted to help you. I just didn’t think about the ankle bracelet at all.” He says just as we walk onto his lawn when a few cop cars stop in front of his house and they come running out of the cars. Two cops grab Marcus by his arms in order to detain him while another guy walks towards us. I recognize him as Marcus’s arresting officer, Detective Julio Sanchez.
I immediately start noticing things about this guy’s attitude. There’s just something off about him that I can’t put my finger on yet.
“Detective Sanchez I can explain.” Marcus says as he looks at Detective Sanchez. “Explain what? That you tried to run?” Detective Sanchez replies. “That’s not what it looks like. I was attacked. You got to believe me.” Marcus tells him. “I believe the bracelet. I’m going to have to take you in and throw you in a jail cell. You’ll have to stay there until your court case.” Detective Sanchez says as he takes out his handcuffs. He grabs Marcus’s arms and turns him around. “Will you just listen? I didn’t try to escape.” Marcus says.
I just know that he’s not going to let Marcus go so I speak up.
“He’s telling the truth. A sniper was sent to kill him.” I say. Detective Sanchez gives me a questionable look. “And who the hell are you?” He asks me. “The girl that’s doing your job for you.” I reply sarcastically and he gives me an angry look. I then point to the guy on the ground. Detective Sanchez looks at him. “That’s the guy who tried to kill him. You guys would know if you actually did your job right. Where were your guys when their supposed to watch Marcus’s house?” I tell him. “You can bet that I’m going to tell your Captain all about this.” Marcus says.

“I’m going to call Captain Baldwin. I’ll bet that he’s not going to be pleased with you and your friends at all once he finds out that no cops were outside watching the house and with how you’re handling this situation.” Marcus says as he looks at Detective Sanchez. “I guess that we won’t have to call him after all.” I say as I point to the sidewalk. Another cop car stops in front of Marcus’s house and Captain Baldwin climbs out. Luke and Garrett also stop behind him in Luke’s Jeep.

“Ah shit.” Detective Sanchez mumbles under his breath. “Can somebody tell me what happened here?” Captain Baldwin says as he comes walking up to us with Luke and Garrett. Marcus and I then proceed to tell him everything that happened. I even tell him about the cops not being in front of Marcus’s house when the shootings happened.
“Did you even read him his rights Sanchez?” Captain Baldwin asks him. “No he didn’t.” I reply. Captain Baldwin shakes his head while looking at Sanchez. “Jesus Sanchez. You like screwing up don’t you? Let him go. He’s not going anywhere.” Captain Baldwin says. “Thank you.” Marcus says as he rubs his wrists after he uncuffs him. Some news vans have also started to arrive.
I look around to see some cops standing around as well as the neighbors who have come out of their houses to watch the commotion going on. “Any idea who this guy is?” Captain Baldwin asks looking at the unconscious guy on the ground. “Mr. Burkawits. He’s my neighbor. I thought he was a good guy. I guess I was wrong.” Marcus replies. “I need you to find out everything you can about him.” Captain Baldwin says as he looks at Luke and Garrett. “There’s no need for that. I’m already running a background scan on him.” I reply and they look at me like I’m some kind of weirdo. “What? My tech is way more advanced than yours.” I reply. Captain Baldwin sighs and then he looks at Luke. “Throw his ass in the back of the van.” He says.

“You’re going to press charges against this asshole?” I ask Marcus. “Hell yeah.” Marcus says. “Well what the hell are you all standing around for? This is obviously a crime scene so get going.” Captain Baldwin says to the cops and they start scrambling around. “I need to see you in my office first thing in the morning Sanchez.” Captain Baldwin tells him. He nods before walking away looking pissed. “Find out which uniforms were supposed to watch Castellano’s house when all this happened.” Captain Baldwin says to Luke and Garrett. “We already do know who they are Captain. Officers Kemper and Tamblin were supposed to be here but apparently they were called off.” Luke replies. “Called off? By who? I didn’t authorize that.” Captain Baldwin says. “We don’t know that yet Captain. All I know is that they’ve been hanging around a lot with Sanchez.” Garrett says as he looks at Sanchez walking out onto Marcus’s front porch. “I need you two to follow him. I want to know everything he’s up to. Where he goes and who he meets. Also check his bank accounts to see if he’s been receiving money illegally.” Captain Baldwin says to Luke and Garrett while they look at Sanchez walking into Marcus’s house. “Got it Captain.” Luke says. “You know I can help with that. Just saying.” I tell them and all three of them look at me. “What? I told you. The technology I use is way more advanced then the LAPD’s. I can help you with that.” I reply. “Do it.” Captain Baldwin says. “Okay fine.” Luke grumbles.

To be continued...