Body Count

by mike Evans

  Gabriel asked, “You guys are sure? There’s nothing else that you are worried about happening if you tell me no?”

  The men took a confident step closer as Gabriel discreetly dislocated the knuckle in his left hand. It had seemed like it was something unpleasant at the time when he had gotten the injury during his tae kwon do tournament. He had not had to worry much about having to use this trick before, but it was something that he was extremely grateful for right now. Gabriel assessed the room and the men. He knew that even with everything bruised he had been through worse conditions and more dangerous situations than these men and he had been able to get out of them. Gabriel had one thing about him that was different than these men and that was that he was not worried about killing them. He would do anything that he could to escape this place and he would kill every single person that stood in his way to do so if it meant he could get to Mikey.

  Gabriel let the cuff fall off of his left wrist, catching it in his right hand. Gripping the still closed cuff, he created a makeshift pair of brass knuckles.

  “It isn’t anything personal sir, but we have jobs to do. We aren’t going to leave this room for a long time if we don’t get these answers from you,” Howard replied.

  “You know if I had to guess, I’d think that you won't be here any longer than it takes the crime scene individual to photograph and get samples. I figure with the video that they have, there won’t be too many issues with looking at everything because of the cameras that they have mounted up top there.”

  Gordy stared at the man, feeling his nerves rising like they hadn’t in years. He felt like a child in a dark room, scared of the boogeyman. Except in his case, it was a man handcuffed to a chair that had, already like him, had the shit kicked out of him that day. Gordy stepped forward and said, “Look asshole, you’re doing way too much talking to not be giving any-”

  Gabriel, praying that he could make it through the next few minutes without getting dizzy, brought up a hand, knowing it was now or never and would only get one chance at this. Gabriel gripped Gordy’s tie. He knew the first thing that he needed to do was make sure that there was no one that had the ability to call out for help on the radio. He pulled Gordy towards him, getting him off balance with his kneecap. It did not take much effort much to do. He used the force to bring his head down. Gabriel sprang up from the seat with a left kick directly into Howard’s groin. It was the type that would leave you without having the option of having children. Tears instantly formed in Gordy’s eyes as his legs buckled and he dropped to the ground. Derek stared in disbelief at the disaster that was in front of him and rushed at Gabriel in hopes that he could get the surprise on him. Gabriel saw the man coming and brought the makeshift brass knuckles up, slamming them into his nose and breaking it. He brought a second vicious blow to the man’s Adam’s apple. He would be lucky if he lived after today.

  Gordy was trying to grip Gabriel around the waist however Gabriel brought his right hand down on the back of his neck, punching him three times and then letting the cuffs fall. Gripping him by the hair, Gabriel lifted a dazed Gordy back up and spun his neck, snapping it in one devastating, fluid motion then let him drop dead to the ground.

  Gabriel quickly felt his own pockets but realized that they were empty. He wondered if they had impounded his car or if they had even found it yet. He felt that was something he should have asked them. He was always amazed what someone would disclose during an interrogation if they felt that you would not be able to use the information. He bent down next to Howard and said, “Did you impound my car?”

  Howard looked up at him with tears in his eyes, his cheeks were flushed as red as could be. Gabriel looked into his eyes and could tell that he was on the verge of passing out. Gabriel punched him in the face and said, “Did you impound my fucking car! Tell me now or I'm going to be snapping your fucking neck next. If you don’t want to make it through today then keep not talking asshole.”

  Howard yelled through clenched teeth and said, “What car?”

  Gabriel stared into his eyes and decided that yes, Howard was telling the truth. Gabriel patted him down, stripped his ID cards again and pocketed his wallet. He moved to Derek and Gordy, who would have no use for his wallet. Gabriel knew that he would need some money to float himself and it never hurt to have cash on hand. When Derek reached for his radio, Gabriel kicked him in the side of the head with the heel of his bare foot and was not sure if he killed him or just knocked him out.

  For the second time that day, he stole another pair of shoes, and this time took Gordy’s suit coat. Gabriel grabbed the pair of crutches as well, knowing that people were generally more interested in what happened to the person carrying them and less in the man that had them, which was fine by him.

  Gabriel used them to get down the hallway, glad that there was no one in it. He was halfway down when a man came out of an office drinking a cup of coffee. He saw the crutches first and said, “Holy shit Gordy, I heard you got your ass kicked but I didn’t realize it was that bad, Jesus man. Did you not learn anything when you were in…...hey stop right there, you aren’t-”

  Gabriel rushed the man while dropping one of the crutches as he moved forward. The man went to reach for his service piece. Gabriel slid the crutch around the man’s arm quickly pulling it away from his holster as he pulled the gun. He spun the man in a circle, snapping his arm, which in turn made him drop the pistol. Gabriel quickly scooped it up then walked towards the man and swung the butt end of it at his face. He brought the pistol down, hitting him repeatedly until he no longer was conscious and his teeth had danced down the hallway. The door opened a second time and a younger man walked out. He said, “Can you believe these stupid fucking bankers?”

  Gabriel watched him walk out and was already headed for him with the pistol. “You know, you might not be too damn smart yourself,” he answered back.

  Gabriel stood quickly, holding the pistol with one hand he sent the butt into the man’s throat, effectively collapsing his windpipe. When he reached for his own pistol, Gabriel brought back the gun again and swung it like a baseball bat, connecting it with the side of his head. The crack from the hit echoed across the hallway and the man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. Gabriel felt the handcuff still on his wrist and knelt down next to the man. Searching, he found and grabbed a set of handcuff keys, unlocking then dropping them on the ground. When he saw the man convulsing, he thought for sure that he’d added one more to his body count.

  A cough came out of the interrogation room and Gabriel looked up with the pistol pointed at a man in his fifties who looked like he had been in here for a while. The stranger was looking like he was extremely worried if the next ten seconds would leave him dead or alive. He very quickly said, “Those guys deserved that, you know that? They’ve been asking me the same twenty questions for the last ten fucking hours. Do you know how many times you can say the same thing in that length of time? Fucking idiots. They didn’t even let me call my lawyer.”

  Gabriel walked in the room, looked the man over and tried to decide if he was going to be a threat. He was trying to think on his feet yet knew that his options were a bit limited. “What’d you do? But do me a favor and tell me the truth, or unlike these guys, I’ll go ahead and kill you. If you think their questioning you was hard, I can guarantee that you don’t want to have me do it. I don’t have any of the rules restricting me from doing exactly what I want to,” Gabriel informed the stranger

  The man smiled nervously and said, “My name is Phelps, Shaun Phelps.”

  “I don’t give a shit what your name is Shaun. I asked you, what did you do?”

  “Well sir, I am a banker, a very-“

  “Not your profession you fucking idiot! Why are you here today, why are they questioning you?”

  “Why do you care, you are going to get me in trouble?”

  “I don’t have time for this, do you want to leave? What I mean is, if you had the opportunity to not be in this room any longe
r would you be up to leave?” Gabriel inquired.

  Shaun nodded slowly, trying to figure out something that was not nearly as simple as he thought that it was. He replied, “Well eventually when they decide to press charges and hand me over to the FBI, they are going to pin embezzlement charges against me and my partners. They are running the terrorist laws against me, trying to say that my company is fronting money for people who want to do wrong against America.”

  Gabriel pulled the pistol and set it on the table and asked, “Are you? Because if you are that is going to be an issue for me. I don’t do well with pieces of shits like that. They’ve brought me nothing but trouble.”

  Shaun shook his head. He tried to shake his hands too but they were attached to the table the way that Gabriel’s should have been. “Hell no, I'm not giving any money to those God damned towel heads!” he exclaimed.

  “So what are you doing with all of it?”

  “I’m a thief kid. I have been putting all those rich bastards money in an account, and when I thought that I had enough, I was going to fly somewhere really warm and eat and drink for the rest of my life and do nothing else. I thought that sounded like a pretty great life to me. I would never work again, never answer another question about money again, and just as I was getting ready to pack my bags, the CIA picked my ass up outside of work and brought me here, wherever here is.”

  Gabriel nodded slowly, “So you stole money that’s it, nothing else that I need to know about?”

  “What do you care anyways?”

  “I’m your one chance to get out of here without answering to anyone. You won’t spend one day behind bars, and all you need to do is help me get out of here.”

  Shaun’s face went directly from fearful to angry and he yelled, “How in the hell am I going to get you out of here? You do realize that I’m chained to this table, these aren’t bracelets, they’re fucking handcuffs.”

  “If I took those off of you, are you going to be able to help me and do as you are told? I only need you to act like you are still restrained for a little bit longer,” Gabriel answered

  “What in the hell do we do if we get caught?”

  “They probably shoot me in the back of the head and taser you in the ass until you piss yourself and can’t say your own name. So you want to spend the rest of your life behind bars or are you up for a road trip?”

  “How far of a road trip?”

  “Just far enough to get back to my car, where my gear is. From there you can do whatever the fuck you want to no questions asked.”

  “Right, but where are you going to go?”

  “Why, do you need a friend?” Gabriel asked.

  “Nope, but I got a feeling that what I got going for me has a better chance of making my way out then you do.”

  “What do you mean by that, I thought they froze your assets?”

  “Just the ones that they could find. Anything else left is more than enough to get you and me somewhere that you can get an entirely new tint on that pale, white skin. Christ, you don’t look like you’ve had too good of a time lately.”

  Gabriel thought about his wife in the ground and said, “You know, that probably couldn’t be more true of a statement, but I don’t have the time to go on vacation. I need to travel and I am not going anywhere tropical. I need to head somewhere that is a bit more populated in the east.”

  “I tell you what, you ride with me and I’ll make sure that you and I don’t have any judicial issues to deal with. We can go somewhere that they aren’t very concerned with what crimes you may or may not have committed.”

  Gabriel thought of being in a car and how injured as he was. He tried to think how he’d pass through a security checkpoint at an airport without a good deal of money, no identification, and his face possibly showing at every ticket registration office. He didn’t make a habit out of trusting people, and when they were handcuffed to the metal table of a CIA investigation room, he trusted them even less.

  He leaned forward and stared the man down and menacingly said, “Just so you know, I'm supposed to be in here. I did kill the two men that they say I did. I shot them both and I did it with a smile on my face. Those mother fuckers deserved what I delivered and that’s all there is to it. If you do anything to double cross me after the last few days I've had, I guarantee you that I will not only kill you but will ensure you that it is the worst and most excruciating pain you are ever going to feel.”

  Shaun looked Gabriel in the eyes. He’d seen men ten times more powerful, the type that could make a country go into debt if they decided that they did not want its leaders to do well, making its people suffer because of it. What he saw in Gabriel was the same thing that he had seen in the bodyguards that protected these men, as well as those that came to kill them. He believed this man though when he told him something, there was a tone in his voice that made Shaun remain cautious around him. He watched how Gabriel moved and that made him believe every word that he said. Shaun smiled and said, “You know I’d have to say that I believe you. Why don’t we quit chatting and get out of here before some of these fellows wake up?”

  Gabriel looked down at them and retorted, “Oh they won’t be getting up any time soon Mr. Phelps.”

  “Please, any man that is getting me out of this shithole needs to call me Shaun, it only seems fitting.”

  Gabriel fished in his pocket for the pair of handcuff keys. He knew that whatever he was going to do needed to be done quickly. The way that he was currently feeling made him confident that if he didn’t get to an airplane and sit down soon, he was going to pass out. He undid one of Shaun’s handcuffs. Shaun held out his other wrist for Gabriel to unlock. Gabriel said, “Put your hands behind your back Shaun.”

  Shaun looked at him funny and Gabriel said, “Have you ever seen a criminal go out the front door without his hands cuffed?”

  Shaun laughed at this, saying, “Well to tell you the truth, I've probably seen it more times than most people. You forget in the circle that I run in there are some pretty powerful people with even more powerful lawyers. Christ, you think there is a reason that the criminals don’t go to prison.”

  “You can put your hands behind your back Shaun or I can help. If I were you, I would go with option one.” Gabriel advised

  He did as told and Gabriel clenched them tight. “If someone sees you and doesn’t think that this looks legit, then remember, we both get shot.”

  Shaun pulled on the cuffs and replied, “You could probably make the left one just a little bit tighter. What do you want me to call you?”

  Gabriel looked down at the clipped on badge that he had put on and said, “You can call me Agent Piel. You wouldn’t call me by my first name, but it looks like it was Gordy.”

  Shaun looked at him a bit sideways he said, “Was?”

  “Nothing that you need to know about. Just remember what I said about screwing me over. Those guys got it quick.”

  Gabriel pushed him in front while grabbing only one of the crutches. He took the rest of the magazines off of the men and slid them into his pockets. For effect, he took the holster from the man’s side and slid it into place on his own belt. He wanted to look as professional as possible and knew that having a nine millimeter hanging out inches from his pants wasn’t screaming professionalism to anyone. The last thing he needed was someone to try and do a look up on him.

  The two men made their way as quickly as they could to the elevator. When they got to the bank of them, Gabriel hit the down button, praying that there would not be an army worth of men downstairs with full auto rifles waiting and more than ready to put the two men down. When the doors opened, Gabriel pushed Shaun a bit to get him moving. “So how are we going to know if this damn thing worked?” Shaun asked with just a bit of trepidation.

  Gabriel replied with confidence, “Well that’s actually pretty damn simple, the two of us are going to go out the front door.”

  “Wait what do you mean we are going to go out the front door, that’
s the only plan you’ve got? You aren’t going to make it twenty feet with having to move on those crutches down the roadside. Besides, what fucking agent is going to walk, how bad did you hit your head kid?”

  “Which time? Gabriel asked sarcastically. “Tell you what, a car sounds great. Once we get out of here though, I think that it’d be smart if you drove. Do you think that you could handle that?”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Try and keep conscious.”

  The two men waited patiently and when the doors closed, Gabriel stood behind Shaun. He slid one of the guns into his pocket and made sure that the holster on his hip was unlatched and ready if he needed the other gun quickly. He took a deep calming breath hoping that this would work. The doors opened and Gabriel yelled loudly to gain attention towards him, “Get your ass moving you piece of shit. You couldn’t have wasted more of my fucking time. Do I look like I'm in any condition to waste my time, you son of a bitch?”

  They caught the guard’s attention who stood up from the desk and came around quickly, straight for him. Gabriel pulled at his credentials tossing them to the guard, instructing, “Go get my car brought around front would you? My leg’s all fucked up and I don't have time for this. I’m dropping this piece of shit off with the FBI and they can deal with his money laundering ass. Next time he tries to do something, maybe he will do it correctly and not fuck up. I hope those tight asses over there throw the book at him.”

  The guard did a quick once over and said, “Man you look like shit sir, you want me to call one of my men over to watch this guy while we wait for your car to come around? You could sit down and take a load off for a minute. You don’t look like you're doing all that good.”

  “Yeah you know that would be great, I'm dropping this dumbass off and heading down home and staying there for a week. I can write my report up at home from a laptop. I got a feeling I’m going to have some downtime and probably have to waste a few days with a stupid fucking psych eval because that is exactly what I needed this week.” Gabriel was doing a bang up job playing his role.