by Mike Ryan
Once they finished their conversation, Lamb sat on the edge of the bed and thought about what Garner just told him. It wasn’t really anything earth-shattering, and to be honest, he kind of expected it. He assumed that once it was known that he turned down the job, that they’d speed the process up. Now he was viewed as a wild card. They were going to be on the lookout for him, and once they learned he was in Tampa, they’d come looking for him. And they would be checking his whereabouts. If they didn’t know already that he had flown down to Tampa, they soon would.
Remembering what his friend said about sleeping with one eye open, Lamb got off the bed and walked over to his luggage. He unpacked his guns and made sure his semi-automatic pistol was loaded. As it was approaching midnight, and knowing he likely had a long day ahead of him tomorrow, he wanted to get at least a few hours’ sleep. Three or four hours probably would’ve been sufficient. It was a one-bedroom room that he was in, and he took a look at the bed, knowing there wasn’t a chance he was sleeping in that thing. He took a few pillows and tucked the bed sheets over them, making it appear that he was sleeping in bed. If anyone did sneak into the room while he was asleep, the bed would most likely be the first place they looked.
Lamb took one pillow off the bed and walked into the kitchen and set it down on the hard, tan tiled floor. The kitchen was off of the main room, though there was a half wall that acted as a divider. The kitchen was visible from the front door, but the floor of it was not. If he did hear anyone come in during the night, he should be able to hear them and catch them by surprise. Sleeping on the hard kitchen floor probably would’ve sounded like an extremely uncomfortable night by most people’s standards, but for Lamb, it wasn’t even close to the worst spot he had to bed down for the night. He’d slept in just about every position or spot imaginable, including cars, bathtubs, mud, woods, and most times without a pillow or blanket. All in the name of getting into the best spot possible for the task at hand. So, while most people would’ve balked at sleeping on the kitchen floor, for him, it wasn’t that bad. He’d make it work. Especially if it meant him staying alive because of it.
Lamb was a light sleeper, a byproduct of always having to be alert, and heard a clicking sound coming from the front door. He had his phone on the floor next to the pillow and saw that it was 3 a.m. He reached his hand under the pillow and grabbed his Glock. He crawled along the floor to the edge of the half-wall and peeked around the corner, just in time to see a sliver of light opening between the door and the frame. It was dark, but with the light from the hallway as a background, he could definitely make out two sets of legs entering the room.
Lamb raised his gun higher, ready to take out whoever came in his direction. Both people who entered the room, though, moved the other way. They quickly maneuvered through the main room, before going down the short hall that led into the bedroom. Lamb went into his bag and took out a sound suppressor, putting it on the barrel of his gun. He stayed in the same spot, crouching down by the half-wall in the kitchen, waiting for his visitors to come out of the bedroom. After a minute, he heard the sounds of gunfire, though it sounded like his attackers were using suppressors on their weapons as well. But suppressors didn’t completely mute the sound of gunfire, just muffled the sound slightly.
“Crap, he’s not here,” one of the men said, loud enough for Lamb to hear. “I’ll check under the bed and closets, you take the bathroom.”
“Right.”
It was clear to Lamb that they had fired at the target of pillows he’d set up and checked to see if he was under the blankets. He moved out from the comforts of the wall, just enough to get a clearer view of the hallway that the men would be returning from. It left him vulnerable to return fire, as the wall was no longer in front of him to give him cover, but it shouldn’t have mattered too much. As long as he got them before they knew what was happening.
Once the two men had cleared the bedroom, bathroom, and closets, Lamb could hear them sighing in frustration, then talking amongst themselves.
“What do you wanna do?” one of the men asked.
“I dunno. He obviously knew we were coming,” the other replied. “Let’s tell the others to keep a look out. Maybe he’s out walking around or something.”
Though it was dark, Lamb could still see the outline of the two men pretty clearly. He couldn’t really make out their faces very well, but getting a clear target of their chests wasn’t an issue. As the two men emerged into the main room, one was walking closely behind the other, to where only his head was really visible. But as soon as the man in front dropped, the second should’ve been easy pickings without the cover of his friend.
Without the slightest pause or concern for his own well-being, Lamb took aim at his first target. He gently pulled back on the trigger, aiming for dead center mass on the first intruder. Just as he suspected it would play out, the first man instantly dropped, with Lamb then aiming and firing at his second target. The second guy brought his gun up, ready to fire, though it was too late by that point. He had no idea where the shooter was, and didn’t see where the first shot had come from. Without having the time to either look for their shooter, or fire back, the second man dropped to the ground only a few seconds later. Lamb put a bullet in the man’s chest in an almost identical spot as his partner’s..
After firing his two shots, Lamb retreated to the edge of the half-wall again, just in case either of his two victims weren’t quite dead yet. He didn’t want to move closer and wind up eating a bullet of his own. He didn’t mind waiting an extra minute or two to make sure they were dead. From his position, he could hear if they started crawling along the floor, or were writhing around in pain. After waiting thirty seconds, no sounds were coming from the two men lying on the floor at the edge of the hallway. Assuming it was safe, Lamb stood up fully and started walking over to the two men. As he did, he could hear the faint sound of one them, breathing heavily as they gasped for each breath.
Lamb flicked on a light switch, revealing two men, probably in their late twenties. There was nothing unusual about their attire or appearance, nothing that would indicate a specific affiliation to any organization. The first man Lamb shot was dead before he even hit the ground. The second one was close to it, barely hanging on. The man’s gun was close to his side, though with his breathing problems, didn’t seem all that worried about it. His main concern was just making it through another minute.
Lamb stepped over the dead body and kicked the gun away from the side of the second man, the weapon coming to rest near the door of the bedroom. As Lamb stood over the badly injured body, the barely breathing man wondered if he was about to be finished off. Considering the amount of pain he was in, the man knew he probably didn’t have much longer to live anyway. At that point, he would have preferred to be put out of his misery quickly than stay in the acute amount of pain that he was in. Lamb, though, was looking for a few answers before the man met the afterlife.
“Who sent you?” Lamb asked, straddling over the man and pointing his gun at the injured man’s forehead.
“You know I can’t tell you,” the man whispered, barely able to get the words out, still struggling to breathe.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. No idea,” the man said, licking his dry lips and trying to keep his eyes open, though it was a battle to do so.
“How many more men you got out there waiting for me?”
The man somehow mustered a little smile over his face and quickly batted his eyes as he slowly shook his head. “You’ll never make it out of here.”
The smile slowly eroded from the man’s face as his head slumped to the left and his eyes closed. They never opened again as the last breath of life left his body. But he told Lamb all he needed to hear. By the dying man’s last words, Lamb knew there were others nearby waiting for him. Judging by how confident the man seemed of his predicament, Lamb guessed there were at least two others, possibly more. The question now would be how t
o find and avoid them. He could’ve engaged in a battle with everyone he came across, but that really wasn’t his intention. And he didn’t think it was the best strategy. Every person he came across who had a gun in their hands and was trying to kill him, delayed his main objective. Each minute lost due to these battles could have been a crucial minute that he couldn’t afford to lose.
Lamb picked up the weapons that belonged to the two dead men and brought them over to his bag, throwing them in. He figured one could never have enough firepower. Never knew when additional guns might come in handy. And he liked to be prepared. Especially now. If he already had four people showing up at his hotel room just a few hours after landing, there was no telling how many more would try to get in his way before he got to the Swanson house. His main hope now was that they didn’t eliminate the entire Swanson family before turning their efforts on him. He guessed that wasn’t the case, though. Lamb assumed that they came after him first, unless they had an unbelievable amount of people working on the job and were splitting duties. It was unlikely, though, due to the common rule of trying to keep as few people as possible in the loop of what was really going on, in case someone eventually couldn’t keep secrets.
He wasn’t sure how he was getting out of the hotel, but Lamb knew he couldn’t stay. Eventually, someone was going to come up and check on the two guys who had gone missing. And while he normally wouldn’t have minded just waiting it out, figuring he could withstand an incoming onslaught of intruders, now probably wasn’t the best time to do that. Not with a little girl’s life at stake. Lamb picked up his gun bag and started walking to the door when he stopped, startled at the sound that was now emanating from the hallway outside the door. Suddenly, the smoke alarms inside his room started beeping and a light started flashing. Lamb now knew how the rest of the crew was planning on taking him. He was sure one of them either pulled a fire alarm, or started a small fire somewhere in order to evacuate the building.
Lamb opened the door slightly and peeked out, just to make sure nobody was on the other side with a gun, waiting for him to stick his head out and blow it off. A male voice came on the intercom, directing everyone to avoid the elevators, and stick to the stairs at the end of the hallways to evacuate the hotel. Lamb just stood there for a few moments, watching as people quickly walked past him on their way to the stairs. He knew he couldn’t stand there for too long, as it was equally as possible that someone might come walking by his door who had a gun in his hand, picking Lamb off as the man walked past. But Lamb knew it was just as likely that this crew had someone standing in a doorway somewhere in the stairwells, just waiting to pick him off as he came running down.
It was a twelve-story hotel, and Lamb was on the tenth floor. One of the troubles of booking a room at the last minute was not getting a choice in terms of what was available. Not that it really mattered in this case. If they were planning on pulling the fire alarm and waiting somewhere, it didn’t make much difference if he was on the tenth floor or the second. They’d be waiting regardless. No matter what, Lamb knew he had to go down. He really had no other choices. The only other option he had was to go up to the roof. But considering the hotel wasn’t connected to any other buildings, all Lamb could do up there was wait. And hope they didn’t eventually figure out he was up there and come looking for him. If that happened, all he would wind up doing is delaying the inevitable. He quickly came to the conclusion that it was best if he just went along with their plan. He’d have to keep a close eye on the doors as he passed each level and assume that they had a man standing by one of the doors.
Lamb waited until the last of the people on the tenth floor ran past him, not wanting to get anyone innocent caught up in any gunfire should it erupt. After giving the last woman who went by plenty of room in front of him, Lamb gave the dead bodies in his hotel room one last look before exiting. He closed the door and calmly walked to the end of the hallway on his left. He took another glance behind him, just to make sure nobody with a gun was closing in on him. They could’ve been waiting for him almost anywhere. They obviously knew what floor he was on along with his room number, so they had the upper hand there. He gripped the gun in his hand, knowing full well it was likely he’d have to use it again within the next few minutes.
The doors leading to the stairwells were full panel doors, so Lamb couldn’t see if anyone was waiting on the other side of it. He pushed it open just an inch and peeked in. Once he saw it was clear, he started descending the steps. As he got to the ninth-floor level, he slowed up a bit, nervous about someone popping out from behind the door. He thought about pulling it open quickly to get the jump on whoever was on the other side of it, if anyone was, but decided to keep going down as swiftly as possible. Just as he passed the door and took a few steps, he heard the door swing open. Before he brought his gun up, he quickly identified the person coming out as a non-threat. It was a woman in her forties, with a teenaged daughter right behind her. Lamb gave them a smile as he let them pass him on the way down. He looked at the door one more time before moving on again himself.
Lamb passed the eighth floor without incident, which didn’t really ease his mind much. All it meant to him was that he was getting closer to a fight. If he made it down to the ground level without firing his gun, surprise wouldn’t even begin to describe his feelings. As he turned the corner on the stairs, about halfway between the seventh and eighth floor, Lamb saw the bottom of a man’s legs, just standing there. Lamb stopped and leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the man. He couldn’t quite make out his face, or if he was carrying a weapon. The only way he was going to find out who it was, was to get closer.
He tucked his gun behind his back to make it less visible as he walked down a few more steps. As soon as he made out the face of the man, the stranger noticed him coming and quickly turned toward him. Lamb could tell by his movements that he was making an aggressive posture at him, and reached inside his jacket. Lamb could make out the handle of the man’s gun as he started to remove it from his jacket and raised his own gun, immediately firing on the man. At that range, only one shot was needed, and it had a deadly impact. Lamb shot the man right through the middle of his chest. The force of the blast knocked the man back into the wall before he found his final resting spot on blue carpeted steps.
Lamb stepped over him, not paying him any more thought as he wondered about what else was waiting for him. He assumed he had at least one more test waiting for him. He went down a couple more floors without incident. Once he got to the fourth floor, as soon as he passed the door, it quickly flew open behind him. He immediately noticed the armed man point the gun at him, and Lamb ducked, knowing he wasn’t going to be faster after being taken by surprise. The man fired as Lamb squatted, the bullet flying just over his head, lodging into the wall. Lamb returned fire from his lower position, hitting the man in the stomach. The man hunched over in pain as he grabbed his midsection. He grabbed a better handle of his gun in order to fire another shot at Lamb, but it was too late. Lamb had already gotten the better of him and fired another round at the man, this time hitting him in the chest. The man dropped to the ground, his hand releasing his grip on the gun as it fell.
Lamb didn’t bother to stick around to see the end results of his handiwork, knowing he still needed to get out of there quickly. Based on where he shot the man, and the proximity of the shots, he knew that if the man wasn’t dead yet, he soon would be. Lamb thought he might’ve been in the clear now, but he couldn’t believe it for certain yet. Not until he was in his car and flying down the highway with the hotel clearly in his rearview mirror.
Lamb passed the final few levels free of any further attacks. Once he opened the door to the lobby, there was still a fair amount of people stirring around, some fleeing toward the door, some just milling about. By now, Lamb could see the bright flashing lights of several police cars out front. He didn’t want to be the last one to leave. He put his gun away and rushed toward the middle of the flock of people as the
y lined up to leave the hotel. One by one they exited, going past a couple of police officers as a fire truck came blazing in with lights and sirens. All the hotel guests gathered in the parking lot as they looked on at the commotion. Lamb, though, knew he couldn’t wait around. It wouldn’t be long until those two dead bodies in the stairwells were found and that would lead to a lock down of the entire area. Getting away at that point would be much more complicated.
With as many people as there were now, slipping away quietly without being noticed shouldn’t have been too much of a problem. He started backing away slowly, making sure not to cause any undue attention toward himself. He kept backing up until he was stopped by something. He turned around, ready to apologize to the person he bumped into. As he opened his mouth to speak, he quickly noticed the shiny barrel that was jammed into his stomach.
“They told me how good you were,” the man said, grabbing the black bag from Lamb’s hand.
“I should’ve known there’d be someone else out here.”
“How many of my boys did you get?”
“Four,” Lamb answered.
The man grinned, impressed at the hit man’s work. “And here I thought we had a good plan.”
“Plan wasn’t bad. I’m just better than you.”
“And yet here we are, me with a gun on you.”
“Well, you see, that’s the difference. If the situation was reversed, we wouldn’t be here right now, ‘cause you’d be up there in your room lying in a pool of your own blood.”
The man smiled again. “Cocky son of a gun, aren’t ya?”
Lamb shrugged. “So, what are you waiting for?”
“We’re gonna go somewhere a little quieter. Dropping you right here wouldn’t look good.”
“Smart,” Lamb said sarcastically, though his opponent couldn’t quite tell that he was mocking him.
The stranger turned Lamb around and jammed the gun into his back, hanging a long coat over his arm to hide the weapon from onlookers. He pushed Lamb forward, telling him to keep walking until he was told otherwise. Lamb assumed he was being led to a car, or else the guy probably would’ve killed him already. He figured the guy was going to take him somewhere and dump his body in a nice secluded spot. Maybe a lake, or the woods, or maybe an abandoned building somewhere. It didn’t really matter where he was being taken, though, as Lamb knew he could never reach that destination. If he was going to break free, he was going to have to do it soon.
