by Mike Ryan
“Looks like they don’t want you leaving,” Recker said, starting the engine.
“I’ve always been pleasant company.”
Recker looked back and put the car in reverse. They didn’t get far. After only reversing about fifteen feet, another car pulled up behind them. The bullets started flying immediately. Recker and Malloy immediately put their heads down and leaned forward as the onslaught started. The windows of Recker’s car were destroyed by the bullets flying through them. Knowing they couldn’t stay there and let themselves get pinned in, as that was as sure as death could be, they both popped the doors open and jumped out. Still recognizant that there was a shooter somewhere behind them, they each dropped to a knee as they started to return fire, using the open door as a shield to protect their backs.
The tires on Recker’s vehicle soon matched the ones on Malloy’s, both back tires being quickly punctured from the gunfire. Seconds later, both Recker and Malloy dispatched one of their attackers at the same time, on each side of the perpetrator’s vehicle. Since there were four men initially in the car that pulled up behind them, they still had two more to go. All four men continued to exchange gunfire until Recker finally dropped the remaining man on his side. Recker then tried to help Malloy out by firing across the car. The other man tried to return the fire on Recker, but raised his body ever so slightly above the frame of the door he was behind, giving Malloy enough of a target to shoot at. And he didn’t miss.
With all four men of the car dispatched of, Recker and Malloy kept themselves crouched down behind the doors of their car. They looked at each other through the front seats of the car.
“What now?” Malloy asked.
Recker looked at his back tires. “Well, looks like we’re not leaving anytime soon.”
“I guess the question is whether they got more guys coming.”
“I don’t think that’s the question. I think the real question is what time the rest of them are getting here. ’Cause you can be sure they’re coming. If they sent one, you better believe they’re sending more.”
“Well we can’t sit here and wait for them.”
“You know this place better than I do. I’ll follow your lead.”
Malloy looked in both directions. They were closer to the back of the buildings now than they were to the front. Plus they had a couple cars in the way to hopefully provide some cover.
“Hey, instead of all that, why don’t we just take that car?” Malloy said, pointing to the car behind them.
Recker leaned over, still mindful of sticking his body out past the door that was shielding him. That car looked like it had a tilt to it as well. Then he saw the front tire. Recker leaned back to continue his conversation.
“Nope. It’s got one in the front tire. That’s not going anywhere either.”
“Back to Plan B,” Malloy said.
“Which is?”
Malloy pointed to the building on Recker’s side. “We head to the back door there. It’s easy enough to get in. Then we call for backup. And hope that ours gets here before theirs do.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t do that yet.”
Malloy then patted his pockets. He started panicking when he couldn’t find his phone. “Crap. I think mine’s in my car.”
“I wouldn’t go back for it at this point. Once we get to the building, I’ll call Chris.”
“Call Vincent too. I’m not sure Chris will be enough on his own.”
“Yeah. We gotta get moving before more arrive. You ready?”
“Ready when you are,” Malloy replied.
“You go first. I’ll stay here and cover you. If I see the shooter, I’ll try to pick him off. Stop when you get to the next car, then turn around and cover me and I’ll follow..”
“Right.”
“Go.”
Recker turned to face where the shooter was as Malloy sprinted to the next car. Luckily, Malloy got there without incident. Once he was in place, he stood behind the door to give Recker some cover as he made his way to the other side of the car. Once Recker was ready, Malloy made a dash to the back corner of the building, where he promptly turned around and got into position.
“Come on, Mike!”
Recker raised up and ran for the same spot. About halfway there, the shooter started firing at him, though luckily none of the bullets hit Recker. A couple landed near his feet and a few flew past him. Malloy instantly returned fire in the same direction, though the shooter was pretty well covered and not in much danger of being hit from that spot. But Malloy’s fire at least caused him to pause for a few seconds, allowing Recker enough time to reach the building.
“You good?” Malloy asked.
Recker took a few deep breaths. “Yeah.” He immediately started looking around for more targets.
Malloy went over to the door and typed in the code on the number pad to unlock the door. The door immediately unlocked and the two of them went inside. Malloy turned on the lights.
“Not gonna take them long to figure out where we are,” Recker said. “Might be better if we kill the lights. No use advertising where we are.”
Malloy nodded. “Yeah.” He flicked them back off. “Guess there’s nothing else to do now but wait.”
“Yeah. Just wait.”
9
“Better make the call,” Malloy said.
Recker pulled out his phone and called Haley. Malloy went over to the windows, looking out to see if they were getting any visitors yet. So far the coast was clear, but they knew that wouldn’t last very long. Recker watched Malloy’s actions as he listened to the ringing on his phone. That would tell him whether something was going on outside. There was no answer on Haley’s phone. It was odd, he thought, unless Haley was already on another assignment somewhere. Recker then tried Jones, who immediately picked up.
“I was just thinking of you.”
Recker cut in on his thought. “Great, listen, I’m in a jam here and need help.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I was meeting Malloy for something and we ran into something of an ambush.”
“An ambush?”
“There’s a shooter out there somewhere, and we already got surprised with a car full of Jerrick’s men. We disposed of them, but we’re not going anywhere, and I have a feeling there’s more coming.”
“What about your car?”
“My car, Malloy’s car, the other car that came, all the tires are shot. We’re not going anywhere except on foot, and that’s not a good idea with a shooter out there.”
“OK, I’ll get Chris and send him over to you.”
“I just tried to call him, but he didn’t answer.”
“He’s on the way to pick up Paxton. He agreed to join us.”
“Picked a great time for it.”
“How was anyone to know?”
“Well, looks like he’ll have a nice audition process. How far away is he?”
Jones looked at the time and rubbed his forehead. His estimation was farther than he would have liked. “I would say he’s probably on the way back now, but he’s probably at least twenty or thirty minutes out.”
Recker loudly sighed into the phone. “All right. I’ll have to call Vincent then and see if he can get here sooner.”
“I’ll call Chris now, but please keep me informed. And text me where you are.”
“Right.”
Malloy walked over from one of the windows. “How we looking?”
Recker shook his head. “Chris is probably twenty or thirty minutes out.”
Malloy held his hand out. “I’ll call Vincent.”
Recker handed him his phone, then went over to the window to check for himself what was going on out there. There was still nothing, though.
Seeing it was Jones calling, Haley hit the button to answer it for hands-free calling on the infotainment screen.
“Yeah, David?”
“You need to change course immediately,” Jones replied. “Mike’s in trouble and you need to g
et there ASAP.”
“What’s up?”
“He was apparently meeting Malloy, and there was an ambush. From what I can tell, they’re pinned down and unable to move. I’m sending the address now. Let me know when you have it.”
Haley looked at the screen and saw the address pop up. He quickly put it into the car GPS system. “Looks like we’re about twenty minutes out.”
“Step on it if you can. I’m not sure if Vincent’s men will get there ahead of you, but be on the lookout.”
“I can make it in fifteen.”
“Let me know when you get there.”
Haley ended the call, then put his foot on the gas, nearly putting it to the floor, flying down I-95.
“So who are these Malloy and Vincent characters?” Phillips asked.
“Well, that’s somewhat complicated. Short version is they’re criminals. Long version is we sometimes work together.”
“Wait, what? We’re helping people like that? I thought we were there to get people like that off the street?”
“Like I said, it’s somewhat complicated. I’ll explain things on the way. You best start loading up, though. When we get there, it might get dicey right away.”
Phillips reached down into his bag on the floor between his legs and unzipped it. He then removed a pistol and put a magazine in. “I’m ready. How will I know who to shoot at?”
“Just follow my lead once we get there.”
A few minutes later, Malloy came over to Recker’s position by the window and handed him his phone back.
“What’s the story?” Recker asked.
“Vincent’s sending a team over. Should be here in ten minutes or so.”
“Hopefully we can hold out that long.”
“We can handle ten minutes.”
“With what?” Recker held his gun up, then removed his backup weapon and held that in the air next to it. “We can’t fight them off all day. Depending on how many’s coming and when they get here, we’ve only got a limited supply of ammo.”
A disappointed look came over Malloy’s face. “I didn’t even think of it.” He reached down and removed his backup weapon as well. Neither of them were carrying extra magazines on them since they didn’t think they’d be in this situation. They each had some in the car, but they weren’t sure it was wise to go back out there. “I’m not sure going back out there’s a good idea.”
“Me neither, but if we don’t, and we get bombarded before your friends get here, we’re not gonna need a rescue, we’ll need stretchers.”
“But what if what we think is coming doesn’t come?”
“You wanna take that chance?”
Malloy raised an eyebrow. “Not really.”
“Me either. My car’s the closest, so I’ll go out there if you can lay down some cover for me.”
Malloy nodded. They both went over to the back door again. Recker opened the door and peeked out, making sure there were no surprises in store for him. With everything looking clear, he, followed by Malloy, hurried along the edge of the building until they got to the corner of it.
“Let me know when you’re ready,” Recker said, crouching down.
Malloy tapped him on the back of the shoulder. “Go.”
Recker started running, but only got a couple of steps before he was met with a barrage of gunfire. He immediately dropped to the ground as he looked to see where it was coming from.
“On the right!” Malloy yelled, pulling his gun up and firing a few rounds at the incoming car that was gaining steam and driving in their direction.
Recker got back to his knees and retreated back to Malloy’s position. Malloy stood there, firing away with his right arm as he extended his left to help Recker get behind him to safety. Once Recker was in back of him, he began firing as Malloy went back to the door and punched the code in. The door automatically locked once it closed. Once it was opened again, Recker and Malloy quickly went inside. They each went over to a different window to assess the situation.
“I got one car over here,” Malloy said.
“Got one on this side too.”
“They’re starting to pile out.”
“How many you got?” Recker asked.
“Looks like four over here. What about you?”
“Looks like I got four on this side too. Any sign of Jerrick?”
“You really think he’s gonna show up here? He’ll send all of his minions over first. He just likes to talk a big game. When it comes time for action, I think he likes to sit in the shadows.”
“Well, I guess you can afford to if you got the numbers.”
“I still wish he was here. I’d just like to get one shot at him. That’s all, just one shot.”
“Unless your friends show up quick, I’m not sure you’re gonna get your chance.”
Malloy looked out again, hoping to see a sign of the rest of Vincent’s men showing up. But there was nothing there yet. Nothing outside of eight, angry looking men standing around out there, wondering about how they were going to proceed.
“We gotta hold them off,” Recker said.
“Any ideas? Outside of offering up one of us as a diversion.”
“Maybe we can keep them talking for a bit.” Recker used the butt of his gun to break off a piece of the window. “Sorry about that. You can bill me for it later.”
“If we survive, I’ll pay for it myself.”
“Hey guys!” Recker yelled. “I’d stop right there if I was you.”
Jerrick’s handpicked leader for the group immediately responded. “That you Recker?”
“Sure is. Now, unless all you guys wanna visit the cemetery today, I’d advise you to go home.”
The man laughed, taking a quick glance at his friends. “Funny talk coming from a man trapped inside that building.”
“We won’t be trapped for long.”
“You know what else is funny? We set this all up, only expecting to take out Malloy. Vincent’s right-hand, number one man. But now, it looks like we got ourselves a bonus. Not only do we get to take out Malloy, we get to take out The Silencer too. How’s that for a day? Man, we’re gonna be kings for taking you two punks out.”
“Don’t count out your dead bodies before they’re buried.”
“Funny guy. But if you’re waiting for the calvary to come, don’t worry, we got a little something for them out by the entrance too.”
Recker looked at Malloy. “Damn.”
“Looks like they thought of everything,” Malloy replied.
“Let’s just hope your boys are able to get through whatever it is.” Recker turned back to the crowd outside. “Well if you’re so confident about taking us, come on and get it.”
“What are you doing?” Malloy asked.
“I don’t want them to think we’re trying to stall because we’re running low on ammo or something. But if we invite them in, they might think twice about actually coming, thinking we got something up our sleeve.”
“Oh.” Malloy shrugged. “Might work.” Then Malloy looked out and saw another car pulling up near the others. “Then again, maybe not.”
“Looks like we got more company.”
“They’re pulling out all the stops.”
“Wouldn’t you if you had us two in here trapped?”
“Yeah, guess I would.”
“They’ve got their opportunity and they’re taking their shot.”
“Yeah, well, let’s help them miss.”
“If they start moving in, we’ll have to conserve our ammo,” Recker said. “Only shoot at what you know you can hit.”
“Wonder what they’re waiting for?”
“They don’t know for sure what we got in here either. Don’t forget they’re improvising here. You were supposed to be dead already.”
“Oh yeah. I’m sorry I disrupted their plans.”
“Don’t worry about it, though. I’m sure they’ll be coming up with something soon enough.”
10
Recker sighed as
he watched another car pull up. Things were getting dicier by the second. He counted at least fifteen guys milling around by the cars out there. Every one of them looked heavily armed.
“Looks like they’re pulling out all the stops.”
“I just hope they keep on waiting,” Malloy said.
“Doesn’t seem like they’re very concerned. I have a feeling that means they got something special in mind for whoever arrives to help us.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t bear well for us or your guys that come.”
“They’ll handle it.”
“We’ll see.” Recker then noticed some of the men dispersing from the main crowd. “Hey, you might wanna head over to the back door and make sure that’s covered. I doubt they’re coming in through the windows.”
“I’m on it.”
Recker was at a window near the front door, and from his position, had a clear line of sight to Malloy near the back. “Hey, if one of us starts losing ground, we should let the other one know.”
Malloy nodded. “I’ll yell out. If one of us does, then immediately go to the stairs over there in the middle. That way the other one doesn’t get surrounded.”
Recker agreed. “OK. We’ll hold out here as long as we can. If we start losing ground, we’ll keep moving up.”
Almost immediately, there was a thumping near the back door. “Here they come,” Haley yelled.
Recker looked back briefly, but turned his head back to his spot when he heard noises outside the front door as well. “Over here too!”
“See you at the top!”
The front door then burst open, with a couple of guys rushing through. Recker immediately opened fire, hitting the first three guys that came through the door. Then there was silence for a few moments. Recker took a few steps back so he could watch the window and the door simultaneously. Then the back door flew open. Two guys rushed in, though Malloy took care of them right away as well.
One of the windows on the side was then broken, with someone standing there taking shots inside. The shots were well off-track, and Recker returned fire, though he didn’t hit anything either. Then another shot came from the front door. Recker started backtracking slowly. Things were going similarly for Malloy. The opponents were piling up outside the door. Malloy could hear them conversing and shuffling their feet around. It was only a matter of minutes, if that long, before the whole group went inside. Depending on the numbers, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold them all off.
