by Mike Ryan
Lamb took cover behind the wood again, the pain in his shoulder returning. Brooke looked at him sympathetically, still worried about him. It was obvious he was in a tremendous amount of pain. Lamb put his hand on his shoulder and massaged it, trying to get the pain to subside a little. He rose up again and looked over the wood pile, knowing there was still one more shooter. At least one. Who knew how many more were in the area or on the way. Maybe there were more on the other side.
There was a brief silence as both sides had holstered their weapons for the moment. It was almost like both men were waiting for the other one to make the first move and then react accordingly. The silence was then broken up by the sounds of police sirens wailing through the air. It definitely was more than one car and they sounded like they were getting close to arriving. Lamb looked around to see if there was a clear path out of there, though there didn’t appear to be at first glance. It was a chain link fence that surrounded the property and Lamb could’ve cut through it if he still had his bag with him. Along with guns, he kept an array of little tools and gadgets that he carried around with him in case he needed something. He had a small handheld pair of bolt cutters in the bag that would’ve easily sliced through the chain link. But there was obviously no way to get it now. There was only one way to get to the other side, and that was to go over it.
“You think you can climb that fence?” Lamb asked.
Brooke nodded. “Yeah, I can do it.”
“Good. That’s what we’re gonna do.”
“Can you?” she asked, looking at his wounds.
“I’ll make it,” Lamb replied, giving her a wink.
Luckily for the both of them, the fence wasn’t too high. It would have been perfect if it was only a four-foot high fence, that would have made the jump easy. It wasn’t that small, though. At least the fence wasn’t of the eight-foot variety, either. It was six feet high, so it was definitely scalable. Lamb was six feet tall himself, so it wasn’t a big jump for him, though he had definitely lost some of the strength in his left shoulder. Pulling himself up would be a bit of a challenge, but he was sure he could manage it. Climbing the fence would expose them to the shooter, but they just had to hope that he wouldn’t be able to hit them. Brooke should’ve been able to get over without a problem, as Lamb could lay down some cover fire for her. But he wouldn’t wind up with the same protection. Nevertheless, it was the way it would have to be.
“OK, when I say go, you climb that thing as quick as you can,” Lamb said.
“You’re coming, right?”
“I’ll be right behind you. When you start climbing, I’m gonna fire at this guy so you don’t have to worry about him.”
“OK.”
“Just move as fast as you can. When you get to the other side, keep going down the street. Head to the right.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be coming. But when I do, I’m likely going to be drawing gunfire, and I want to make sure you don’t get hit with a stray bullet. So as soon as you get over it, move to the right as quick as possible.”
“OK.”
Brooke nodded. Her lips were dry and her hands were sweating, wiping them off on the side of her pants as she readied herself. The fence was only about ten or twelve feet away from the pile of wood they were behind, so it wasn’t a far distance to run. The only thing Lamb really worried about was her taking fire as she climbed up.
“Go!” Lamb said.
As Brooke ran for the fence, Lamb rose back up above the wood, putting his elbows on top of it as he steadied his arms and his weakened shoulder. He took aim at the open door and fired a steady barrage of bullets at it, hoping he’d hit the guy, but if not, at least giving Brooke enough time to get over the fence. The plan worked as the man took cover back inside the building to shield himself from the gunfire. Lamb looked back at the fence to make sure Brooke wasn’t having any problems and saw that she was just climbing down the other side of it. He wasted no time in trying to do the same and once she was clear, fired a few more shots toward the door and ran over to the fence himself. Lamb wanted to take advantage of the man in the door taking cover and use the few extra seconds to boost his chances of climbing the fence without taking another bullet. A bullet that he probably couldn’t afford to take.
Lamb got to the fence and started pulling himself up, though it felt like his shoulder was being ripped apart. The pain that was shooting through his body was pretty severe, but he was trying to block it out the best he could. About halfway up the fence, the man from the door saw him and immediately unloaded in his direction. With bullets flying all around him, Lamb didn’t panic, and continued until he reached the top. He could hear a couple clanging sounds, as a couple of bullets hit the fence and glanced off it. Once Lamb was on the other side, he only climbed down a few inches before releasing his grip from the chain link, letting his body drop to the ground.
Once his feet were firmly planted on the concrete, he looked over and spotted Brooke and started running toward her. As they started running, they could hear some yelling and commotion coming from inside the construction site. Lamb assumed that the police had entered the facility and run into the shooter, and possibly anyone else who’d been there. Whatever happened seemed to go off peacefully as they didn’t hear any more gunfire.
“What do we do now?” Brooke asked.
Lamb looked around, seeing what else was around them. Behind the construction site was a clump of trees that ran down the length of the street as far as they could tell. It was an undeveloped area behind them and there wasn’t a street in back of it, so they didn’t have to worry about cars driving by and seeing them, whether they were ordinary citizens or undesirable thugs who were looking to put some holes in them.
“I don’t know,” Lamb said. “We’ve gotta figure something out.”
10
Lamb continued walking with his head on a swivel, not knowing if there was anybody left from the crew that had just tried to take them out. As they kept moving, the one good thing, Lamb thought, was that they weren’t out in plain sight. With a bunch of trees behind them and buildings in front, at least their movements were concealed for the moment. Lamb had thoughts about ducking inside a building somewhere, but quickly decided against it.
He didn’t want to enter a place all shot up, full of holes, and bleeding all over himself. He was trying not to attract attention, and that surely wouldn’t be the best way to avoid it. He knew as soon as he showed up somewhere, bleeding like he was, with a gun in his hands, and a young girl standing next to him, the police would be there a few minutes later. Now, though, he was starting to wonder if maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. He initially balked at Dunn’s suggestion of turning himself and Brooke into the local police station, but it started creeping into his mind that maybe it was for the best that he did. Even though he knew it would mean he’d most likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, he was willing to make that trade off right about now, if it meant ensuring Brooke’s safety. Something he wasn’t sure he could provide much longer.
Lamb kept looking back to make sure they weren’t being followed, and the coast seemed clear. At least for the moment. He knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long, though, especially with them being on foot. They wouldn’t be able to get too far. And there would be more men coming for them. He was as sure of that as anything. These men wouldn’t stop looking for them until Lamb and the girl were either dead or in police custody.
He then thought of Dunn and figured she should have been calling soon. Instead of waiting, he pulled out his phone to call her. As the phone started ringing, Lamb saw a big green dumpster in back of one of the buildings. There were a few boxes piled up high alongside of it and Lamb and Brooke sat down, their backs up against the dumpster. The boxes concealed them for the moment. After a few rings, Dunn finally picked up, sounding like she was out of breath as she answered.
“Hey,” she huffed.
“What happened to ten minutes?”
“I got busy, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, we got busy too.”
“You got busy? What do you mean? What happened?” Dunn asked.
“Sitting at an intersection and we got t-boned.”
“Oh no, are you guys OK?”
Lamb took a deep breath before answering. “Uhh, yeah, all things considered.”
“All things considered? What does that mean?”
“Brooke’s fine. We’re on foot now. Had to leave the car behind.”
“What happened after you got hit?”
“Ducked into some construction site over on Maple, I think. There’s some building already built.”
“Yeah, I think I know the one.”
“Had a little bit of a shootout with two, three, maybe four guys, don’t exactly remember know how many,” Lamb said.
“Where are you at now?”
“Uhh, I don’t even know. Behind some buildings. We fled the construction site and just started walking. There’s a bunch of trees and stuff behind there.”
“OK. I think I know what area you’re in.”
As Lamb was talking, Brooke was carefully looking at him, seeing that his shoulder was still bleeding. She looked through a couple of the boxes that were next to them and saw a piece of cloth in one of them. It was some kind of blue rag. They must have been behind some type of restaurant, she thought, because it looked the rag had some food stains on it. She picked it up, then crawled over in front of Lamb and started dabbing at his shoulder.
“You’re still bleeding,” Brooke said.
Lamb smiled at her, appreciating the kind gesture. She seemed like a good kid. She wasn’t mouthy, had manners, seemed to have respect. Maybe it was just the situation that was doing it to her, maybe she wasn’t like that all the time, but Lamb had a feeling this was the true her. And he found himself liking her more as time went along. A nice, caring, kid. He knew they all weren’t that way. He would’ve hated to have died for some snot-nosed kid that he couldn’t stand.
“Was that Brooke I heard?” Dunn asked.
“Yeah.”
“She said you’re bleeding. You’re hurt?”
“It’s fine. Nothing to worry about,” Lamb said.
“Hey, don’t give me the tough guy act. If you’re seriously hurt, for Brooke’s sake, I need to know. I’d hate for you to pass out somewhere before I get there. Then I won’t know what’s going on or where you are.”
“I’m not gonna pass out.”
“OK, well, that’s a good thing I guess. How hurt are you?”
“What do you want me to give you? A scale of one to ten?” Lamb asked.
“How many bullets?”
“Still in me or gone through?”
“Don’t get cute,” Dunn said. “Just tell me the truth.”
“Umm, I dunno. I lost count.”
“Oh jeez.”
“Uhh, four I think. Let’s see...two in the leg. Two in the shoulder.”
“How bad?”
“Well, they’ve felt better.”
“Great.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Lamb said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s just stick to the plan. Did you pick a spot yet?”
“Well, I did. But are you gonna be able to get there?” Dunn asked.
“I’m not sure. I guess I’m gonna have to grab a car somewhere.”
“Are you gonna be able to drive in your condition?”
“I told you, don’t worry about me.”
“OK, well, are you sure you’re not gonna crash and injure the both of you?”
Lamb looked at Brooke and sighed, not really sure of anything at the present time.
“Plus, how secure do you think you are right now?” Dunn asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, are you fairly concealed, feel good about the spot you’re in? Or are you pretty much out in the open?”
“Ehh,” Lamb mumbled, not really feeling all that great about where they were. “Well, right now we’re out of sight behind a dumpster. I can’t really guarantee we’ll be by ourselves for that much longer.”
“Are you gonna expose yourself if you try to grab a car?”
“Well, I mean, I’m gonna have to take a chance on it sometime.”
“You know they know you’re on foot right now, right?”
“No doubt about it.”
“So, you also know that they’re probably driving up and down the street, combing through the area looking for you,” Dunn said.
“Probably right again.”
“Why don’t you just try to stay out of sight where you are and I’ll drive there and find you.”
“You might wind up stepping right into something,” Lamb said.
“I’m pretty sure I’m already stepping into something. I mean, there’s just as good a chance as them picking up your trail and you leading them to me, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“So just try to sit tight for now and I’ll come there.”
Lamb sighed, not sure he liked the idea. He also wasn’t sure if he had a better one, though. “All right.”
“You said there was a bunch of trees behind you. Can you kind of get lost in there? Maybe camouflage yourselves or just get out of sight?”
“Uhh, yeah, maybe.”
“OK, well, do that. I’m probably about fifteen minutes away from there. I’ll call you again when I’m five minutes out.”
“All right.”
“If you start taking fire and have to move, call me and let me know as soon as you can,” Dunn said. “Or if you’re pinned down so I don’t walk into an ambush.”
“If I’m pinned down all you’ll have to do is open your ears and listen for the barrage of bullets.”
“OK. Fifteen minutes.”
After hanging up, Lamb put the phone back in his pocket and gave Brooke a smile, trying not to let her think anything was wrong. Well, anything else. Seemed as though not much had actually gone right up to that point.
“What are we doing now?” Brooke asked.
“Now we’re gonna wait. As long as we can, anyway.”
“We’re not gonna keep moving?”
“Not right now. We’re gonna sit here and wait for someone.”
“Who?”
“There’s a lady FBI agent on her way to get you,” Lamb said. “She’ll be able to take care of you.”
“Why can’t I just stay with you?”
Lamb sighed and hesitated for a second, hoping he could explain it to her. He looked down at his wounds, tapped at his shoulder, then smiled at her. “Well, judging by these, I can barely take care of myself, let alone you.”
“Well, you’re doing a good job so far.”
“But I don’t know how much longer I can do that. There’s honestly only so much I can do. There’s always gonna be people looking for me. You need the safety and security of living where you don’t have to worry about this stuff. I’ll never be able to provide that. Not for any length of time. But this FBI agent, she’ll be able to do that for you.”
“But what will happen to you after I go with her?” Brooke asked, worried about his health.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m probably gonna go to Europe or something.”
“Will I ever see you again?”
Lamb didn’t want to disappoint her with what he assumed would be the truth. And that was that he wasn’t sure if he’d even be alive by the end of the day. But he didn’t want to lie to her either and say he’d see her again someday, something he clearly didn’t believe would ever happen.
“I don’t know,” Lamb said. “Maybe someday.”
“That’s a no, isn’t it?”
“No. It’s a... I don’t know. Really.”
Brooke still didn’t look that satisfied with the answer, but knew that was probably as good as she was going to get. They continued sitting there for a few more minutes.
“Are we gonna sit here until that agent comes?” Brooke asked.
&nb
sp; “I don’t know.”
After sitting there for five minutes, Lamb started to squirm. He thought he heard voices and got up, looking around the boxes and the edge of the dumpster. It appeared to be a couple people standing near the back door of the restaurant, having a smoke. Even though it was nothing nefarious, Lamb wasn’t sure how much longer they could stay there. He was getting fidgety, thinking someone was going to come along eventually.
Though the pain in his body was starting to subside, Lamb felt a little weaker. There was nothing he’d rather do than just lie down somewhere. But that was obviously not an option. A few more seconds went by, and he heard the sound of a car engine coming through the back alleyway of the building. He ducked back down behind the dumpster, making sure Brooke wasn’t visible either. The car slowly drove by, and judging by the sound of it, seemed like it had driven away. Lamb slowly stood up, taking careful note of their surroundings and keeping tabs on the car. It had driven down to the other end of the alleyway, stopping at the very last building.
The car doors opened and two people got out. From that distance, Lamb couldn’t quite tell whether they looking for him and Brooke, or whether they had legitimate business there. But he wasn’t going to take chances and find out. The two men stood near the rear bumper and leaned up against the car, not looking like they were doing much of anything. That was as good a cue as Lamb was looking for to leave. As far as he was concerned, they were looking for him and waiting for further instructions, or more friends to arrive. He’d rather be wrong and leave when it wasn’t necessary than continue to sit there and wind up in another gunfight.
Lamb knelt back down to let Brooke know what they were doing. “OK. We’re gonna get going again.”
“I thought you said we were staying?”
“Yeah, but there’s a car down there and I don’t know what they’re doing.”
“Are they looking for us?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t say for sure. But I don’t wanna take chances and find out.”
