“Are you guys alright!” Sean asked quickly as he emerged from the church.
“I like the car!” added Liam enthusiastically. “Can I drive?”
“Shut up and get your things in the back,” ordered MacDuff from behind the wheel of the red convertible. “Unless you two were asleep up there, you know we just stole this car from a shoot out with the army. So I’d rather not sit around for them to find us.”
Their gear was quickly loaded into the trunk of the car and they jumped into the back seat, barely sitting down before MacDuff accelerated down the narrow street.
“Which way did Bufford’s truck go?!” Pierce asked turning to look at the men in the back of the car.
“He was heading out of Merida, for the road back to Seville,” Sean answered evenly, despite having to hold on to the door as the car lurched around a corner. “We lost sight of them shortly after they crossed the old roman bridge.”
“What the hell happened down there?” Liam asked as they took another sharp corner avoiding a crowded market ahead. “We watched Bufford stop at the cross roads, then this car and two more trucks showed up. A few seconds after that everything went to hell.”
“We were in the bombed out factory across the road,” Pierce began, breathlessly explaining everything he witnessed from his hiding place.
“We couldn’t see individuals that well, but we saw the explosion.”
“That was one of the army staff cars,” continued Pierce as the car slowed down behind a lone horse drawn cart. “Apparently the arms dealer’s guards had grenades and knew how to use them.”
“Arms dealer?” MacDuff shot Pierce a questioning look.
“While you took care of the second guard and got the car, I had a quick conversation with the suited man. There were guns in the back of the truck Bufford drove off in.”
“Was he the Reaver, the target of the hunt?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” replied Pierce shortly. “Because Bufford now has a few crates of German made submachine guns, with ammunition, and we still have no clue what he’s up to.”
“Well we know he’s leaving Merida, which is exactly what we have to do,” offered MacDuff as he honked the horn. They were crawling along behind a slow moving cart, with people walking on either side.
“Relax Duffy, let’s not gather too much attention to ourselves,” Pierce offered as the cart finally turned and they moved passed it.
“I think we’re past a low profile,” laughed Liam as he leaned up from the back seat. “Four armed men driving a red convertible riddled with bullet holes?”
“Fair point.”
“We don’t know how many soldiers made it out of that gunfight, where they are now, or if they’re looking for us,” MacDuff pointed out as they approached a traffic circle leading to the Puente Romano. “Speak of the Devil. Everyone hold on!”
As they had entered the circle MacDuff spotted the second staff car from before, but refilled with more soldiers. He accelerated out of the circle and headed for the bridge, realizing that they had recognized the convertible. The staff car took chase, with the men in the back trying to stand and take aim with their rifles.
The first couple of shots were nowhere close to the convertible, but that didn’t keep the Brown Pack from lowering their heads. The firing stopped briefly and MacDuff had enough time to raise his head to see they were about to overtake a rickety hand cart whose owner had taken cover.
“Bugger!” yelled MacDuff as he swerved too late, hitting the corner of the cart and sending it splintering into pieces over them. Sean looked back at the car chasing them and was immediately troubled by what he saw.
The remains of the cart fell in front of the staff car, forcing it to swerve violently. The sudden movement made the two men in the back momentarily lower a medium sized machine gun they were aiming over the windshield. They both fell backwards before they could begin firing.
“Liam!” screamed Sean as he pulled out his pistol and fired a quick shot over the back of the seat. Liam followed his cue and removed his own gun.
“Aim for the tires before they can start firing!” ordered Pierce as he pulled out his own pistol, forgetting it was now empty.
Liam and Sean both popped up at the same moment and fired within seconds of each other before the soldiers could open fire themselves. Both front tires blew out, forcing the driver to over steer as he lost control of the car. It skidded sideways and then slammed into the side of the bridge with a violent screech of metal and Spanish screams.
Everyone in the convertible took a few slow breaths, raising themselves up to a normal sitting position as the car accelerated off the bridge and turned onto the road to Seville. MacDuff pulled out his flask slowly and it was passed around.
“You’re a good lad,” MacDuff told Pierce as he put the flask back into his pocket after a few moments silence. “You’ve proven all you need to. I owe you my life.”
“I think we’re even after that driving performance,” Pierce replied lightly, uncomfortable with the solemnity of MacDuff’s tone. “How did you know they’d be looking for us?”
“Call it a sixth sense; I’ve been in this kind of situation before.”
“So what do we do now sir?” Sean asked, naturally changing his own tone towards Pierce.
“We head to Seville and back through the portal,” Pierce responded immediately, having already concluded the next course of action and wanting to demonstrate confidence in his plan. “I don’t know what Bufford’s next move is. Neither did the dealer, despite my asking nicely. But I don’t think it’s going to be in the middle of the Spanish Civil War.”
They drove into the night, heading south towards Seville. After a couple of hours and running low on gas, they stopped in a small village frantically looking for a gas pump. When none could be found they siphoned some gas from a parked truck in order to continue their journey.
However by midnight everyone was exhausted, having survived an exciting and dangerous day. Pierce spotted a derelict shed a short distance from the road. They were able to park the car inside and lay their bedrolls on some hay piled in the corner.
“What was all that talk about owing your life to Mr. Pierce?” Liam asked MacDuff when Patrick had gone outside to answer the call of nature.
“That’s Lord Pierce,” McDuff corrected gently. “When those soldiers showed up shooting at everything that moved we were in the warehouse like he said. But what he didn’t say was that two of them came in when my back was turned. They had the jump on me, but he took care of them without hesitation. Bang. Bang.”
MacDuff raised his hand in the shape of a gun and demonstrated Pierce’s calm shots from the afternoon, eliciting a soft whistle from Liam. It wasn’t only the fact that he’d saved MacDuff’s life that garnered the most respect from them. It was the fact he hadn’t said anything about it in the car. He’d simply done what he needed to do and wasn’t about to start celebrating the fact he’d killed two men.
“Then he ran into the street where all the shooting was happening, even when I tried to lead him away,” continued MacDuff quietly as the other two drew closer. “He walks up nonchalantly to the arms dealer in the white suit who was hiding behind the car. He puts a gun to his head and asks what he’d just sold Bufford. When the man shook his head he lowered the pistol to his right knee. Again the man refused to answer and even laughed. Lord Pierce shot him in the knee without blinking.”
“It’s a good story,” called Pierce from the shed door, having quietly re-entered. “But you left out the part where I puked my guts out after shooting those two soldiers.”
“Creative license,” McDuff shrugged.
“Don’t feel bad,” Sean said as he sat down on his bedroll. “I was a wreck for days after the first time I killed a man. Of course I was a teenager and was forced to defend myself with a rock. It was up close, personal, and very messy.”
“You should be proud you vomited,” chimed in Liam with his usual bonhomie. “It shows you�
�re not a psychopath.”
“Thanks for that. I suggest we all get some sleep. Except for you Liam, you’ve got first watch.”
A Malevolent Manner (Patrick Pierce #1) Page 72
