An address was listed under that. King guessed it led to the head office of Rafael Constructions, where the pair of construction workers had made a living. There was nothing else.
He swore and threw the briefcase across the room, at the same time making sure not to damage any of the walls. He’d caused Ronald enough distress already. It would do him no good to destroy his property. King scrunched the note up and shoved it in his pocket. He left the room as it was.
On the walk back to the sedan, the frustration of dead ends began to eat away at him. Coupled with a splitting headache and throbbing wounds, King felt anger rising inside his chest. No, not anger. Stifling rage. The leads had been worthless. He had the address of the construction company, which he probably could have located on a computer anyway. He doubted there were many competing near Jameson.
He passed reception only a few minutes after leaving it. On the way past, he stuck his head in the door and saw Ronald with a landline phone pressed to his ear, speaking animatedly. Probably still on the phone to the police. King waved, smiled, and tossed the key back over the desk. He registered the disbelief on Ronald’s face, then slipped back into his car and drove the smoking, bullet-ridden wreck out of Queensbridge for the last time.
CHAPTER 23
The second he stepped into the motel room he saw Kate’s face fall. He knew why. If she had even an inkling of concern for him she would be appalled by the injuries he’d sustained.
The drive back from Queensbridge had not been pleasant. As he came down from the high of combat, the pain had begun to seep into his face, his hand, his ribs. By the time he pulled up outside Yvonne’s motel and stumbled up to room four, he was ready to pass out.
‘Oh my god,’ she whispered.
They hugged for a moment, then King tossed the phone onto the bed. ‘That’s what I found.’
‘What was on it?’
‘An address. For a motel in Queensbridge. I went there. There was nothing.’
‘There had to be something. You’re beat half to death.’
King sat down in the rickety chair by the door and sighed. ‘Let’s not get into it. What’s done is done.’
She nodded. ‘Did you see anything?’
‘The package you delivered was there. But it was empty. It had a couple of guns in it and an address to Rafael Constructions.’
‘I know the place. It’s down the road.’
‘Well, that’s all I’ve got.’
‘You think they have something to do with what’s going on?’
‘I don’t know. It’s where David Lee and Miles Price worked. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s connected. Unless…’
‘Unless what?’
King stared blankly out the window. Thinking hard. ‘Do you have a phone?’
‘Of course.’
He fished around in his back pocket, searching for something, unsure if it had remained in place throughout the commotion of the morning. His fingers closed around the business card Richard had given him the previous day. Bent out of shape, but still intact.
Kate fished a smartphone out of her bag and handed it across. He took it with a nod of thanks and punched in the number scrawled on the front of the card.
Richard answered on the second ring.
‘Hello?’
‘Richard. It’s Jason King.’
He heard elation creep into the man’s tone. ‘King! My God, I didn’t think I’d hear from you again. Do you have good news?’
He recalled Richard asking him to keep an eye out for potential employment opportunities.
‘Far from it, my friend,’ he said. ‘But I’m wrapped up in a bit of a situation here, and I need some answers.’
‘I see. Well, anything I can do to help.’
‘We talked about how you were laid off?’
‘We did.’
‘Can I ask where you used to work?’
‘Place called Rafael Constructions. Worked there about two years before it got bought out.’
‘When we talked you mentioned overseas buyers. Do you know who?’
‘None of us do. The whole thing was done so fast… next thing we knew we were told to leave.’
‘Did you see them?’
‘I saw one of them. I don’t know how many there were. It might have only just been him. He looked similar to you. White, tall, in shape. He wore a suit. Didn’t match his surroundings.’
‘You sure he was from overseas?’
‘Well, not certain. But it looked like he’d flown in. All I saw of him was when he walked into the factory floor and shook hands with the manager. They both headed into the office after that. But he looked important. Like he didn’t belong in a town as small as this.’
‘Did you see anything else?’
‘Nope. They must have finalised the deal, because the next day most of us got informed we would be let go. I haven’t been back there since.’
‘Most?’
‘They kept a couple of guys on. To help them with some temporary work, I think.’
‘David Lee and Miles Price?’
‘Uh, yeah… how the hell did you know that?’
‘Richard, I have to go. But thank you. You’ve been a huge help.’
King hung up and tossed the phone back to Kate. ‘Rafael Constructions is now priority number one.’
‘What was all that about?’ she said, tucking the device into her bag.
‘I met a guy yesterday who’d been laid off his job. Turns out someone bought Rafael Constructions and got rid of all the old workers. What could they possibly want with a construction company?’
‘What about those two workers who you saw get shot?’
‘They kept them on to help out with something. The pair of them must have seen too much.’
‘So they’re definitely eliminating witnesses?’
King nodded. ‘They’re covering something up.’
‘We should visit their head office,’ Kate said. ‘I know where it is.’
He nodded again. ‘I need to rest first. I’ll pass out if we go now.’
She rose up onto her tip-toes and planted a kiss on his bloody lips. ‘Let’s get you fixed up.’
Kate left to visit the chemist down the road. He was wary of letting her go alone, especially given the nature of recent revelations. But he knew he was in no state to accompany her.
Besides, she could handle her own.
He stumbled into the bathroom and let the shower run cold. He needed the soothing relief. The water trickled over his wounds, washing away the blood caked over his body, cleaning him, reinvigorating him.
He stood under the stream for what felt like an hour but in reality couldn’t have been more than ten minutes. He dried himself tentatively, taking care not to disturb the wounds already throbbing over his body. Now that he had time to stop and breathe, he could assess the damage.
Cole had landed several hard body shots, but no ribs were broken. Nevertheless, his sternum ached and three large welts had surfaced across his abdomen. His cheek continued to swell, beginning to obscure his vision in one eye. His nose was battered, but not broken. He knew the difference from past experience. Still, swathes of pain drilled into his skull underneath his eyes. His lips had been cut in multiple places, either from elbows or punches. The stab wound on his hand had finally stopped bleeding, but it was a nasty injury, throbbing incessantly. Overall, he had taken a serious beating.
He estimated his body would take over a week to completely heal.
He didn’t have a week.
Still naked, he heard the door unlock and stuck his head around the corner to see Kate, breathless, wielding a pair of shopping bags packed with medical supplies.
‘You okay?’ he asked.
‘Yeah.’ She smiled at him. ‘Just didn’t want to be seen by the police, or… whoever. I got you new clothes too.’
She patched him up as best she could, rubbing antiseptic into the cuts, bandaging his hand, holding an ice pack to his face.