by Chris Pike
* * *
Brick decided the Hyatts had waited long enough. “War!” he screamed. Dozens of rifles from all directions fired on the Alamo, including two belt-fed machine guns pointed at the Alamo’s main entrance. In the darkness, the muzzle flash was sufficient to illuminate the two machine gun operators.
“Move away from the door. It won’t last long.” Kate realized the Alamo was good in its day, but it could not withstand the concentrated pounding from automatic weapons. “Snipers, open fire!” she commanded.
With Virgil and Nico out of sight, command fell to Kate. She was well known and respected at the bar for holding her own against unruly customers. Her background of descending from a Russian woman sniper from WWII added to her ability, and the fact she had competed with her older brothers on the shooting range rounded out her competency. She had earned the right to lead.
Sitting on the roof, Nico put twenty rounds of full-auto mayhem on the left gun operator, then emptied the magazine into the other operator. He regretted he could not see well enough to dispatch the operators without hurting the guns. He assumed the guns were the exquisite Model 240 7.62 x 51 machine guns designed by FN (Fabrique Nationale) of Belgium. If the guns could be salvaged, they would be a great asset for the Minor’s defense in the future.
Two new operators got back on the guns. Nico put a fresh 35 round magazine into the Galil, racked the charging handle, and pushed the selector lever down to the semi-automatic position. He had the operator positions in his memory, so he could preserve ammo and allow his gun’s barrel to cool by using the Galil’s flip up night sights to put one bullet into each man.
Inside the Alamo, people had moved to each side of the heavy wooden doors. Wounded, Billy had been placed behind a toppled display case that would supply some cover. “Remember the Alamo!” he shouted.
“Yeah!” someone yelled.
“Remember Goliad!” came another, honoring the war cry from the same time period when Colonel Fannin and his troops were massacred at Goliad, a frontier town near San Antonio.
A few people snickered, but most of them were filled with new resolve and a desire to win.
The defenders at the windows were kept busy by Hyatt soldiers trying to sneak up to the Alamo. The closer the Hyatts came the easier it was for the Tombstones to shoot them from the wooden barred windows.
Nico had been forced to go full-auto a number of times. He had to reload his magazines by hand and he wished they had taken the bulky Galil BenchLoader with them. “Jesse, can you cover all four sides while I reload all these magazines?”
Jesse nodded. “You bet.”
Chapter 25
Fire from the Hyatts was noticeably dissipating. No one was volunteering to man the M240 machine guns due to the fates of the previous gunners.
Nico took turns moving from wall to wall to find targets who were still shooting. The Galil’s night sights were deadly out to seventy-five yards. Jesse gave the thumbs up indicating he was doing well, so Nico concentrated on the remaining three sides of the building. It bothered Nico that Brick had disappeared.
“Jesse, have you seen any sign of Brick?”
“I haven’t—”
Two grenades landed on the roof and rolled, coming to a stop a few feet away. Jesse acted on impulse, catapulted up, and ran to the grenades.
“Noooo!” Nico yelled. “Don’t!”
Jesse threw his body on top of the grenades and pulled them to his chest.
As Nico went to pull Jesse away, the blast threw Nico eight feet back. It felt as though every inch of his body had been slapped with a giant log. When he came to his senses, he turned to Jesse, but there was nothing to be done.
On ground level, Brick yelled, “Knock, knock!” He tossed two more grenades at the main wooden doors of the Alamo then sprinted back toward the Hyatt machine guns.
Nico shook off the effects of the grenade blast. He pushed the selector lever to the middle and gave Brick an eight round burst. The roof vibrated under his feet and smoke from the second explosion filled the air.
“Kate, is everyone all right?” Nico waited for an answer. He balled his fists and silently cursed in frustration when no answer came. He picked up Jesse’s pack and rammed all the loaded magazines into it, leaving the top flap open. He jumped off the side of the building and rolled. No fire came from the Alamo, which intensified his anger.
Nico walked the grounds, emptying magazine after magazine. He covered all four sides, emptying his Galil completely. Drawing his Glock after seeing some movement, he yelled for the Hyatt to show himself. Something did not look right.
Debris had been pushed to the side and Reload ran up to Nico. The large dog was panting and wild-eyed. Nico holstered his gun and patted Reload on the head.
“Is it safe to come out?”
Nico crouched and whispered, “Kate, is that you?”
“It’s me.”
“Come on out. It’s safe.”
Kate walked out with her hands up. When she reached Nico, she hugged him. She leaned back from him. “Are you okay?” She reached up to his face and gingerly touched his ears. “You have blood coming out of your ears.”
“I might need some first aid. Let’s go on back inside.”
The wooden doors had been knocked down, but the lower hinges had held and angled the doors upward to direct some of the grenade’s explosive force toward the ceiling.
Virgil emerged and slapped Nico on the back as he walked by. “Guys, pick up all the loose guns and ammo. Make sure the Hyatts are dead and not playing possum before you get too close.” Virgil looked at the two heavily damaged M240s. “Well, I can cobble one working gun together from two junkers.” Virgil looked around, waiting for his clever line to be appreciated.
* * *
Later, Kate peered through binoculars and noticed some activity over at the Hyatt Hotel. She saw a man looking back at her through his own binoculars. The man started walking toward her position. She briefly thought about telling Nico then decided against it so he could get some rest, knowing Nico’s adrenaline dump would make him tired for several days.
“Virgil, can you give me some cover?” Kate asked as she passed the group cleaning the courtyard in front of the Alamo.
“Sure. Don’t take any chances. If you hit the dirt, I’ll unload on whoever I need to.” Virgil pulled back the charging handle on an AR-15 to load the weapon, then pushed the forward assist to make sure the bolt was fully seated.
Kate walked up to the man approaching her. He was tall with white hair.
“You don’t have to worry. I’m Randall. I represent the Crocketts.”
“I’m Kate.” She eyed the man, watching for any indication of his intent. “Are you with the group that took over the Crockett hotel?”
“I am. We had been planning to fight the Hyatts ourselves and I’m here to tell you we’re cleaning up the remaining ones, and also to tell you we appreciate what you’ve done.”
“We were forced to go to war over trading for water,” Kate replied. “We have wounded and dead.”
“I think we can spare medical supplies if you need it.”
“I appreciate it,” Kate said.
“If water was all you wanted, you can have it for free, anytime you want. You will have no trouble from us.”
“Thank you.”
“If you don’t mind, I have work to do,” Randall said.
“Not at all.”
Randall left as quickly as he had appeared.
“We’ll have to trust you on that promise!” Kate yelled. “Please make sure all your guards know the Tombstones can draw water at any time from your pools.” Kate’s hands were down, near her gun. She still wasn’t one hundred percent this guy was on the up and up.
“I promise, your people will not be bothered when they go for water. We don’t want to repeat what just happened.”
“Fair enough. Give us a few days to clean up and we’ll have you over for supper.” Kate motioned with a friendly wave indi
cating the conversation was over.
They both went back to their home bases.
* * *
Nico was up and walking around to calm his nerves. He emerged from the Minor Hotel’s front entrance and walked onto a street no longer busy with traffic.
A woman wearing baggy gray pants and a hoodie walked toward him. “Carlos, or should I say Nico? I hear you go by Nico around here.”
Nico whipped around, immediately recognizing the voice. It was Marisa Sanchez.
“We had a deal remember?”
“I remember.”
“Do you have my package?”
“Coincidence or timing, you’re here after all the excitement is over?”
“Maybe a little of both. Package, please.”
“I’ll get it. I also want to get paid. Remember that part of the deal?”
“I remember,” Marisa acknowledged.
“Give me a moment.” Nico turned and was about to leave when Kate showed up.
“Who’s this?” Kate didn’t recognize the woman in the tattered clothes and hoodie.
“A business acquaintance.”
Kate’s radar was showing all the colors of an impending storm. Whatever this woman was up to wasn’t good. Beneath the tattered clothes and dirty shoes, Kate noticed the pale French manicured nails and salon worthy eyebrows.
Anticipating questions he did not want to answer in front of Kate, or to leave her alone with Marisa, Nico said, “Kate, could you bring me my backpack? It should be in my room. It has something I need.” Nico flicked his eyes sideways indicating it was okay for Kate to leave.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
Watching Kate leave, he got a nagging feeling about the man he was really after. Louis Santiago. Taking a chance, he asked. “Couldn’t Santiago come?” Nico was back in his Border Patrol role.
“Not so fast. First the package.”
Kate arrived with the backpack.
“Thanks, Kate.” Nico patted Kate’s shoulder in an effort to move her along. Getting the message, Kate left and disappeared around the corner.
Nico unzipped a secret zipper on the side of the pack. A package in brown waxed paper fell out. He handed it to Marisa.
She unwrapped the package and used her hands to spread the white powder out over the brown waxed paper. Three vials appeared and Marisa quickly pocketed them, leaving thousands of dollars of cocaine to blow away in the wind.
“I’ve done my part,” Nico said. “Introduce me to Louis Santiago.”
“Ah, the infamous Louis Santiago,” Maris opined. “You’re not the only one with many names. Let me introduce myself. I’m Marisa Louisa Santiago Sanchez.” She gave him a catlike smile.
To say Nico was surprised was an understatement. He hadn’t planned on the elusive Louis Santiago hiding in plain sight. He wasn’t even sure what to say other than, “Is that all you need?”
“Not quite. I’ve been observing you for a long time Nikolai Belyahov.”
“How do you know my real name?”
“Do you really think the leader of a cartel wouldn’t know who she’s doing business with? Although there isn’t much available public information about you. It makes me wonder what you really do. Only the government has the power to erase identities.”
Nico thought quickly. “I am Nikolai Belyahov.”
“Do I detect a hint of apprehension? Hmm?”
Nico said nothing, only stared at her.
“Don’t underestimate what I can do or the power I have,” Marisa said. “The Hyatts were under my command. And if it wasn’t for you, all this would be my territory. That’s why I want you to work for me. You showed incredible fortitude under tremendous pressure and overwhelming odds, you—”
“Work for you?” Nico was incredulous.
“Yes! Why not? We’ll put our heads together and the possibilities would be endless. Who knows? There might be other things in it for you, if you know what I’m talking about.”
Nico knew exactly what she was talking about, and had zero interest.
“How much money does your employer pay you?” Marisa asked. “The government is notoriously stingy.”
She had done her homework alright. Nico was lucky to be alive. He needed to be extra careful.
“That bad, huh? Perhaps a measly few thousand dollars a month? I could pay you a thousand times what they pay you.” Marisa walked around Nico, eyeing him up and down. She touched him on his arm. “I’ve seen you in action. I’ve been watching from over there.” Marisa pointed to a window high in an adjacent building. “You impress me, Nikolai.” She lowered the hoodie and stood inches away from him. “Come work for me.”
“You’re the kind of people we try to put away for a good long time,” Nico said.
“You and a lot of other people. I’m not kidding when I said I can pay you well.”
“It’s not the money that interests me.”
“Everybody has their price,” Marisa countered. “Name your price.”
“Suppose I did come work for you. How long would that last? A year or less.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you really think I risked my life for a brown package? I knew something else was going on with the infamous Louis Santiago, I just didn’t know what.” Nico leaned in closer to Marisa. “You hired me because you don’t want anyone else to know your secret. You don’t have long to live, do you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Her previous seductive smile vanished into a petulant frown.
“Sure you do. The vials aren’t illegal drugs. The writing on them is Russian. And since I can speak and read Russian, I know those are experimental drugs for cancer. Your secret is out.”
“I want to live. Is that so bad?”
“No, but as soon as people learn you’re sick, they’ll be on you like a pack of wolves on a rotting carcass.”
The heat in Marisa’s face rose along with a Walther P22 she took from her waistband. She pointed it directly at Nico’s forehead.
Nico was startled at the speed in which she drew the gun. There was no time for him to draw his Glock. Though he was fast on the draw, he couldn’t beat the gun pointed at him. His mind raced for a solution.
“I don’t like you knowing my secret,” Marisa said.
Thinking quickly, Nico asked a question knowing it was difficult to talk and shoot at the same time. He needed to throw off Marisa’s concentration. “What was your question earlier? Something about price?”
“I said name your price.”
“My price is a million dollars plus control of this sector of San Antonio.”
Marisa laughed. “You expect me to believe you now? No deal. My secret goes to the grave with you.”
When Nico took a step back to put distance between him and the Walther P22, the report of a gunshot pierced the silence. He flinched, and his ear tingled at the vibration of the bullet slicing the air inches away from his head.
Marisa’s head snapped sideways, followed by an instantaneous spray of brain matter. Her arms flew backwards and her body collapsed in a heap. There was a large, gaping hole in the side of her head. Nico had seen a lot of carnage in his days, but had never witnessed a woman having part of her head blown off. He grimaced. Nobody could survive a wound like that.
Kate walked up to Nico, still pointing her rifle at Marisa. “Is she dead?”
“Quite dead. I didn’t know you were such a good shot.”
“I’ve had some practice lately.”
“What clued you in?” Nico asked.
Kate lowered her rifle. “I get suspicious when a thoroughbred dresses down to skid row. I thought I had met her before, but couldn’t exactly remember. Then it hit me. She has a French manicure, the same kind the woman had who met you in the hotel last week.” Kate knelt and picked up the Walther. “A micro .22 long rifle is about the only gun a woman could use with long nails. She was the woman in the bar, wasn’t she?”
“She was,” Nico
confirmed.
“I didn’t trust her from the moment I met her.”
“Guess I don’t have women’s intuition.”
Kate playfully punched him on the arm.
“You saved my life and killed the biggest drug lord south of the border. Did you know there’s a huge reward for what you did?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Last time I checked, the reward was at least one hundred thousand dollars.”
Dollar signs danced in Kate’s mind. She slowly repeated what Nico had said. “One hundred thousand dollars?”
“That’s the going price.”
The thought of the money made Kate woozy and she teetered on unsteady legs. Nico caught her and guided her to a spot away and out of sight from Marisa’s corpse. He helped Kate sit in the shade of a big oak tree. They both ended up on the ground.
Reload appeared and nudged Kate’s hand. She blinked open her eyes, and said, “A hundred thousand dollars. Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. Whenever the electrical grid boots back up, when and if it happens, I’ll be sure you get it.”
“What’s my reward for saving you?” Kate asked playfully.
“Something priceless.”
“That’s even better.”
Nico ran his finger down the bridge of her nose then tapped the end of it. “You’re something else.” Kate returned a smile. “Close your eyes,” Nico said. This was the moment he had been waiting for. This was the woman he had been waiting for all his life.
As he gazed upon Kate, Reload wiggled in between them and stuck his snout on Kate’s face, planting a smelly, slobbery dog kiss. His glee at being next to Kate was unadulterated and he wiggled from side to side.
Kate scrunched her nose and opened her eyes to a big hairy face with a black nose staring straight at her. She broke out laughing and nudged Reload away. “At first I thought that was you. I was going to tell you to brush your teeth.”
Nico fell to the side and laughed. “This isn’t going how I wanted it to. You need to tell Reload to beat it.”
