by Steve Richer
At that, Rogan glanced into the building. They all had hangdog expressions. They were beaten, devoid of hope.
“Do we do it?” Clifford asked.
Sabatini bristled. “You little cocksucker…”
“What? You’re a criminal. This may save our lives.”
Rogan hated himself for it, but he also debated with this issue. Giving them Sabatini wouldn’t be a great loss in the grand scheme of things. He had made a fortune getting people hooked on drugs. He had destroyed lives. He’d had people murdered for decades. He would be missed by very few people. Hell, by giving him up he’d be doing the world a favor.
But who said that it would stop there? What guarantee did he have that the mercenaries would go on their merry way once they had Sabatini.
“Maybe we can negotiate,” Paul said to the others as he came closer. “They want me too, right?”
Rogan shook his head. “There’s no negotiating with these turd nibblers.”
“I’m an attorney. Negotiating is what I do.”
“And putting holes in people’s heads is what they do, Paul.”
Gina came forward. “Rogan is right. Nothing good can happen by surrendering.”
“They have my wife and son,” Sabatini said.
“We don’t know that.”
“We can ask them. If it can save their lives, then I can give myself up.”
“Look,” Rogan said. “There’s a good chance that they’re already dead. I’m sorry, but there’s no sugarcoating it. They’re probably dead, only Blake will never admit it.”
“We ask for proof of life,” Sabatini said. “If I hear their voices, if they are released, I’ll surrender.”
“I don’t recommend this course of action,” Rogan replied. “It’s not a smart move. It’s never the smart move.”
“Bricks!” Blake called. “Time’s up. I need a decision.”
Paul straightened up. “I’m going.”
“What? No.”
The lawyer tried to get out of the building, but Rogan was in the way. Instead of asking politely, Paul raised his pistol and pointed it at the younger man.
“What the…”
Rogan understood everything at once. This wasn’t the act of a desperate man. No, this was premeditated. From the cold-blooded look in his eyes, Paul Bloom had been planning to do this all along.
The answer was in the man’s necklace. The USB drive around his neck.
The bad guys wanted Sabatini, but they also wanted his attorney. The reason was clear now. He had all the financial information pertaining to the criminal empire. If Paul was willing to go out there, it was because he was part of this.
The lawyer grabbed the muzzle of the rifle, pointing it away from himself, and simultaneously he kicked Rogan in the shin.
Rogan collapsed and, simultaneously, Paul pushed him so that he would block the exit as he fell. However, Rogan was anticipating this.
With one hand, he squeezed the trigger, making a three-round burst splinter the doorframe. And with the other hand he grabbed the small USB drive, yanking it off completely from around his neck.
Paul responded by firing his pistol, the bullets landing next to Rogan’s body. The others in the building were too shocked to do anything. Rogan knew this was common for people new to combat. This gave Paul the opportunity to escape.
His heart pumping madly, Rogan shuffled out again. As he turned to shoot at Paul—because he wanted him dead now—the mercenaries began firing to cover the lawyer’s getaway.
“Goddamn it,” Rogan muttered as he retreated. He turned to the others who were shaking with fright. “They’re gonna come after us now.”
Gina’s eyes widened. “They had grenade launchers at the helicopter. They can use them on us.”
“Let’s move! We’re going into those trees!”
He ushered everyone out of the building and began shooting in the general direction of the mercenaries, laying down cover fire for his people. He was pleasantly surprised when Gina and Sabatini also fired as they ran.
Bullets flew around them and Rogan couldn’t delay anymore. He took off and joined the group. In fact, the smart thing to do was to be in front so he could find a suitable trail.
“Go, go!”
Shots had stopped. This meant two things. First, they were out of range and out of sight. And second, the killers were after them.
It was dark again, so dark. Rogan focused on finding the path of least resistance which wasn’t an easy feat. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that there was more and more distance between himself and the rest of his people.
He wanted to tell them to keep up, but he was also afraid to call attention to himself. They had to go fast. Where? That was another problem. They were running out of places to hide.
“Aaah!”
Rogan stopped and spun around. “What is it?”
They all turned and all understood. Sabatini had missed a step. He had slid down a slope. Going back to help him meant exposing everyone to the very real possibility of certain death because the mercenaries were hot on their tail.
As much as Rogan didn’t care for Sabatini, a sense of failure overcame him. His mission had been to keep him—and everyone—safe. Alive. And he had failed.
He looked at Clifford, Bill, and Gina. He could still save them. As much as it pained him to leave someone behind, they had to go on. He waved them on and they continued running.
That’s when they all heard one of the mercenaries shout. “I got him! I got Sabatini!”
Chapter 33
“Stop struggling,” the big man said.
Sabatini wanted to resist, but there was no point. The guy binding his wrists together—somebody had called him Beta—was the size of a mountain. He stood no chance against him. Or against anyone, really. He was in his sixties and his fighting days were over.
They were in the middle of the road now and he wasn’t sure what they were waiting for. Frankly, he didn’t care. He was more troubled by Paul. He had been his closest ally for thirty years.
It was obvious now that he was with these bastards.
“How could you, Paul?”
The overweight lawyer hesitated before replying, taking his time to put on a poncho one of the soldiers had given him, which was better than the revealing bathrobe. He took a meandering step closer. “It’s business.”
“Fucking business? I made you a rich man, Paul. We did great things together.”
“And you wanted to stop these great things, Santo. You brought this upon yourself.”
Blake put a hand up. “Shut up, both of you.”
Loud rumblings broke the monotony of the storm. It was cars. Two Jeeps got to the beach and turned around, ready to go back in the other direction.
“Beta, take the lawyer, Gamma, and Xi into Tau’s vehicle. I’ll follow with Mr. Sabatini. We meet back at the house.”
“Copy, sir.”
The men did as they were told while Blake took Sabatini’s arm, leading him to the second car. And that’s when his heart sank.
The two people sitting in front were Raymond and Renna.
“You’re alive!”
“Of course we’re alive, dad. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
“What?” Sabatini replied, his mouth going dry.
Raymond moved out of the driver’s seat and sat in the back just as Sabatini was placed there. Blake got behind the wheel and Renna remained in the passenger seat. Their hands weren’t tied like his were.
“What the hell is going on, Raymond?”
Renna turned on her seat. “Why do you ask him? Why don’t you ask me? Why doesn’t anybody ever ask me?”
“I don’t understand,” Sabatini whispered as the two-car convoy took off.
“You want to tell him, baby, or should I?”
With that, Raymond leaned forward and kissed Renna on the lips. It was fast and deep. Feverish.
Sabatini watched them. He was shocked at first, but fury took over. Bet
rayal was a cardinal sin in his trade. The way he operated, mistakes could be forgiven. They were all human after all. But loyalty was mandatory. To be betrayed could bring down his entire organization.
That’s what was happening right now. Right before his eyes.
“It can’t be…”
His own wife. His own son.
His own blood.
“Better believe it, Santo,” Renna said with a mischievous wink.
“Why? Didn’t I treat you well? I treated you like a princess.”
“But I’m not a princess. I’m a queen! You always thought I was nothing more than a trophy wife who knew to blow you whenever you had a bad day. But guess what, Santo? I’m more than that. Raymond is twice the man you are and together we’re taking over your business.”
Raymond nodded. “You lost your edge, dad. You became soft.”
“And that’s why you had all of these people killed? Johnny, Sal, all the others? They killed George, for chrissakes! He had nothing to do with this.”
“Didn’t you teach me to be ruthless, dad? You said that to be successful you had to make difficult choices. That’s what I did tonight. I sacrificed some pawns to win the game.”
“If your mother was alive to see this…”
“Oh spare me the sentimental bullshit!” Raymond spat. “I am what you made me. I grew up around crime so don’t be surprised that I became a criminal. I’m fully owning this shit. I got no qualms about it, okay? You should do the same.”
Renna was laughing. “Live by the sword, die by the sword! So poetic.”
“You want to do the honors or should I?” Blake asked as he drew a pistol.
“Wait, not now,” Raymond said.
“We spent the entire night waiting to do this.”
Raymond shook his head. “Things are different now. Bricks took the USB drive from Bloom, right? It has all our records on it. We can’t kill my father before we recover the financial files. I need those documents to keep the empire going after the old man is gone.”
“I raised you to have a little more respect than that.”
“You should’ve raised me not to enjoy money so much, dad. Because that’s what it’s about. You’re pissing everything away.”
Sabatini frowned. “We have hundreds of millions of dollars. That money is as much yours as it’s mine, you know that. But that’s not what’s really important, is it? It’s about the power. You want to be in charge. You want to be a big man. You think that taking me out will make you one.”
“I know so.”
“Son, you’ll be dead within a year if you think that way. You have to stay under the radar, you need to be smart. That’s how I lasted so long. That’s why I wanted to get out. I wanted to retire before I went too far, before I pushed my luck.”
“Well that’s not me, dad! I want the perks of the job, okay? I want people to tremble with fear when I walk into a room. I want respect.”
“You’ll never get it. You…” Sabatini continued, his voice unsteady. “You lost all respect I had for you.”
Raymond stared at his father and the old man stared right back. They were so much alike, and yet, so different. Raymond’s lips curled into a snarl, his rage mounting within him.
“Give me the gun.”
“What?” Blake replied, his eyes still on the road as he followed the other vehicle.
“I said give me the goddamn gun. My dad is gonna be the first to understand the concept of respect.”
“Baby…” Renna pleaded as Raymond stood up and reached forward for the mercenary’s weapon. “We have to wait until we get the flash drive, remember?”
“We’ll find another way. Paul will help us. Come on, hand it over.”
Just as Raymond’s fingers closed around the black pistol, gunshots erupted.
The Jeep in front of them was riddled with bullets and Beta swerved. The car skidded in the mud and stopped sideways. The engine was smoking and the vehicle was dead in the middle of the road, blocking the way.
And the gunshots kept coming.
Chapter 34
Rogan swore under his breath. He hadn’t been able to kill everyone in the leading Jeep. He’d been aiming for them, but he had only wound up destroying the engine. That was a lousy ambush since he wasn’t with a company of Marines. If it had been the case, he would’ve sent two platoons sweeping down to finish the job. But it was just him.
“It’s not over,” Gina said.
And there was her, too. She had insisted on coming along. Bill and Clifford were hiding deep in the jungle, but Gina had made it clear that she didn’t intend to leave Rogan do this all by himself.
So they had run through the trees, following the coast because it was a much more direct route than the cars on the road. That was how they had gotten in position so quickly. It was also why Rogan was winded and had missed the shot.
The only advantage they had was surprise, so they had exploited that. The car had drifted sideways and the engine was out of commission. Blake could technically get in reverse and disappear in the other direction, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t.
He had military training and probably the sense of duty that came with that. He would stay and fight. That made things more difficult for Rogan, but he was also relishing the opportunity to end things once and for all.
“Stay low,” he told Gina. “You didn’t have to come and you don’t need this shit.”
He moved forward before she could argue. He stayed within the tree line, concealed from everyone except those really looking for him, and he planted the carbine against his shoulder.
The first two people out of the Jeep were those in the back, some Asian guy and another with the Greek letter for Tau on the front of his uniform. They jumped to the other side of the vehicle and that was exactly what Rogan had expected them to do. He stopped breathing, controlled his movements, and pulled the trigger four times in rapid succession.
The two men were thrown off and landed in the mud, completely still. They were dead.
“Yes…” Rogan whispered to himself, happy to taste victory for once.
But all his joy vanished as palm fronds exploded around him. Someone was shooting back and it was no one from the lead car.
He instinctively looked at the other. It was Blake. He was stretched inside the vehicle, still in the driver’s seat but leaning over the passenger door like a sniper in a tough spot. He was zeroing in on his target.
Shit!
Rogan turned back and ran into the jungle, although not too far away. He had no intention of stopping this fight before it was over. There was no sense in dragging this mess into a series of unsuccessful skirmishes. It ended here and now.
He was fifteen feet into the woods when he saw Gina crouching next to a log. The fact that she was holding a fancy European pistol didn’t mean that she knew how to use it. She was liable to get herself killed just because she felt some sort of sense of loyalty toward him. Yet, she was a stubborn lady and arguing with her was a waste of time.
“Somebody’s coming!” she warned.
A second after she said that, earsplitting gunshots rang out. Rogan felt the bullets whizz past his head, a million times faster than the wind surrounding him.
He threw himself forward and spun on his back. He was hoping that he would be fast enough to turn, get a bead on whoever was bold enough to follow them into the woods, and take them out.
But he wasn’t fast enough.
More shots were fired. They were loud, sounding like .45s. Hell, it could even be a .50 caliber. As Rogan looked up, he understood why. The man running after them was the big guy, the one with a B on his shirt. Beta. The Desert Eagle hand cannon looked puny between his fingers. Even worse, he was a pro. He knew what to do.
Still, Rogan was determined not to die like this. He held his breath again and raised the rifle as more shots were fired around him. But as he squeezed the trigger, nothing happened.
Click.
He was out of ammo!
<
br /> Panic surging through him, Rogan reached for another magazine. This would be the last thing he did on this earth.
But then the Desert Eagle shots suddenly stopped. Beta’s chest gushed in a series of bloody holes. The huge man was as surprised by this as Rogan was. His jaw dropped, his eyes glazed over, and he tumbled backwards.
What the…
Rogan looked to his right and saw Gina in a firing stance, smoke billowing from her pistol. She had saved his life while doing the last thing she had ever been prepared for.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
She acknowledged this with a terse nod, followed by a nervous smile. She would be haunted by this for the rest of her life, but that only mattered if they survived the night.
And there was certainly no guarantee of that.
~ ~ ~ ~
In the rear Jeep, everyone scrambled out. Raymond helped Renna over the seat and out of the car so she wouldn’t have to get in front of it. Sabatini was on his own and he wasn’t exactly nimble. Having his hands tied didn’t help matters either. Nevertheless, he managed to stand and leap out.
Blake remained in position, sprawled over the seats and firing sporadically into the trees. He wasn’t doing much damage, but he was keeping the opposing force at bay, which was a start.
Raymond was fuming as he ducked behind the car. His hands were balled into fists and he punched the fender twice, making his knuckles bleed.
He poked his head over the hood and shouted, “Give me the fucking USB drive!”
There was no answer except for the two spaced out shots from Blake.
“Give me the USB drive or I’m gonna kill every last one of you motherfuckers! You hear me? I’ll hunt you down and gut you all like pigs!”
“Yes…” Renna said with an approving smirk.
It was almost like it was turning her on and Raymond picked up on it.
“You’ll get no quarters,” he screamed into the jungle. “Bring us the flash drive or I’ll keep the whore for last!”
Sabatini stared at his son while being impassive, cowering behind the tire. This wasn’t the boy he had raised. Or maybe it was, but he had done a terrible job of it. He’d been absent from his life way too much. He had failed his son as a father.
