by Mike Gomes
The traffic started to loosen as the road widened. Hammersmith had little by way of traffic lights and weaving in and out of traffic was easier. Gabriela manipulated the sports car to perfection seeing openings in-between cars before they happened. Dropping the car into overdrive she punched the gas and pushed herself to within one car of the Mini that contained Duke. The big cowboy was visible in the driver’s sea,t his head with the cowboy hat on pressing against the roof. His shoulders took up more than half of the back window and looked to be pressing Duke against the passenger side door.
The Mini hit the round about doing its top speed of 70 MPH and veered off on the first right of Hogarth Lane. Keeping the car at full speed the road quickly changed to highway and the traffic was suddenly significantly sparser and the cars spread out.
“He’s screwed!” yelled Gabriela.
“Why?” asked Falau.
“This road turns into the M4. He has nowhere to go and can’t out run us!”
As the Mercedes hit the highway Gabriela pulled to the right and pressed down on the gas sending her slingshot past the car that had been in front of her. Less than a hundred yards away the Mini shined its tail lights. The hood of the Mercedes rose slightly as Gabriela opened its full power. The machine seemed to beg to be driven faster and was running down its prey like a cheetah on a gazelle. The hood emblem on the Mercedes acting like the sights in a scope pulled the Mini in closer and closer until the two were bumper to bumper.
The cowboy looked back the best he could in the cramped confines of the Mini. The smart and economical car was not in the same weight class with the Mercedes for highway combat but it was all that Wyatt had to work with.
The Mini jumped to the right and slowed itself significantly dropping behind another car and Gabriela did the same. Wyatt hit the gas and ousted the car to the far lane looking to take an off ramp but Gabriela easily moved up and blocked him from getting through. Any move that the little car made was matched and made insignificant by Gabriela’s driving. As long as they didn’t move back into congested traffic and small roads they would be fine.
“Should I ram him off the road?” asked Gabriela without turning her head.
“Here? Now?”
“No, next week! Yes here and now. What other time?”
Bang! Bang!
The back passenger window smashed as the two bullets blew through it.
The window broke into thousands of pieces causing Falau and Gabriela to duck down. Gabriela pulled the wheel to the right driving them to the side of the road and placed her foot on the brake letting the Mini move ahead. Once it was clear she picked back up her speed and closed the distance again.
Falau removed the 9MM handgun from the back of his pants and held it below the door obscuring it from the view of other cars. His finger pressed down on the toggle that lowered the window on his side of the car and he leaned out slightly. Firing the 9mm would cause waves of pain but there was no way to reach across his body and shoot out the window. He would have to hold the gun with his bad arm and brace it with his good arm.
Raising the gun up and out of the window a car with a family to the left of them screeched on their brakes without warning paralyzed by the fear of seeing what must be a mad man getting ready to shoot people on the highway.
Falau took aim and pulled the trigger twice hitting his target once.
The back left tire on the Mini exploded with the mix of it being pierced by the bullet and the high rate of speed it was going. Shreds of the tire shot across the road leaving the road speckled with its remains. Immediately the car swerved and the acceleration dropped. Wyatt did all he could to keep the top heavy car from flipping over but he had reached the end of the line for pushing the Mini any further. The tire had disaggregated to nothing and the car was now grinding on the rim. He pulled it hard to the right getting to the side of the road that was at a slightly elevated section.
Gabriela recognized her chance and moved in on the attack. She sped up as the Mini slowed and hugged the side of the road. Moving at 50 MPH Gabriela timed her maneuver with perfection turning the wheel causing the front right hand side of the Mercedes to crash solidly into the door of the Mini. The small car felt the impact and buckled while being pushed off the road and toppling to the ground. The Mini slid and spun to a stop on its side.
The Mercedes dropped head first off the riser and its nose hit hard down onto the ground causing the crumple zones to give way. Falau experienced a new pain of the seatbelt digging into his wound and scraping across it. The airbags deployed and Gabriela and Falau were given a face full of the dusty balloon.
“Are you ok?” asked Falau and getting no response from Gabriela other than hearing the sound of her pulling at her door handle.
“Its jammed! Move! We need to get out your side or they will get away.”
The two teammates pushed hard against the airbags quickening their deflation.
Falau’s door opened and they ran to the Mini that laid on it’s side with its bottom facing them. Falau removed his handgun and brought it up at eye level.
The two slowed themselves and creeped to the side of the car they knew was the back and looked in.
Other than a stain of blood it was empty.
Chapter 32
The empty Mini was less than 20 yards from where the tree line started. Any trees that were close to the road were taken out and destroyed long ago. Due to this the thickness of the woods was immediate and complete. No breeze was felt coming from that direction or light shining through.
Being not that far from London they knew that the forest could not be that extensive.
Gabriela paced around the car looking at the ground and stopped often to crouch down and get a closer look. Falau knew exactly what she was doing. The same thing he was doing and had a particular skill for. Tracking.
“They went in there.” he said pointing to a spot on the woods as he leaned back against the tipped over Mini attempting to get a few moments of rest before they pushed on.
“How do you know that.”
“Look at the ground pattern. The dirt and grass are pushed to the side and there is a slight grove. Duke didn’t go willingly with the cowboy but he was conscious and was not dragged.”
“Where did you learn to track?”
“As a kid. Then in the military and then hunting with friends. Just have a knack for it.”
“Seems like more than a knack if you can tell if someone has been dragged or not. Seems like this isn’t the first person you have tracked.”
“Maybe not. Stories for another day. For now we need to get moving. It’s not going to be too hard with Duke holding back. We can close the gap quick.”
Gabriela moved over to her teammate flashing her hard green eyes into his. “Tell me if you’re not up for this. You have a mess under that shirt and I understand if you can’t go running around in the woods.”
“I will stop right after you stop because of your broken ribs. Do you think I haven’t noticed the way you're keeping your arm against them. There isn’t any way in hell that you or I will quit so let’s just agree to watch each other’s back and we can make a move on them.” said Falau pulling himself up from the side of the car and tapping his finger on Gabriela’s arm that was protecting her ribs.
“Let’s move then.” said Gabriela snapping around and walking toward the woods.
Falau picked up his step and went in front of his teammate to get a better look at the ground. Getting to the edge of the woods the grass grew longer and had been tamped down and broken. Some of the grass was bent trying to rise back up after it had been stepped on. Falau knew this meant they had just moved through the area. Their lead was minimal. The grass to each side stayed in its original state. For a tracker the signs could not have been more obvious.
Wyatt had wasted no time moving into the woods to get any lead he could. Falau knew given more time a man of Wyatt’s abilities would have known how to cover his tracks. Still Falau was no fool and had
no desire to walk headlong into a trap that was set for an over eager follower.
Once inside the tree line following their prey became significantly harder. The canopy of trees played peek-a-boo with the moon light. Using a flashlight would give them away and more importantly give Wyatt something to shoot at from a distance.
Moving cautiously he followed the flickers of moonlight that appeared and disappeared from the waving leaves high in the trees. Falau put himself in Wyatt’s mind of trying to move fast with an unwilling companion. Walk where it is safe. He thought and the only way to see if anything was safe was by the slight moon light they had. Falau followed his intuition and walked from one spot of moonlight to another spot of moonlight, stopping and inspecting the ground to look for traces to follow. Without fail almost all of the patches of light were held with groves of footprints in the soft moss covered earth. Leaves and pine needles scattered about in little piles from feet pushing up against them from an abrupt stop.
Hitting another section of moonlight Falau froze and dropped to one knee. His hand stretched out and pointed to the ground indicating he wanted to have Gabriela join him. The powerful woman slid up next to him and knelt by his side.
“Tree line ends in twenty yards.” whispered Falau pointing to the area ahead.
Gabriela’s eyes adjusted and could see no difference and then looked back to her teammate questioning him without words.
Falau rolled his eyes at still having to prove himself to Gabriela. He knew she was a hard woman. He knew she preferred to work alone but he felt his conduct during the mission should have been more than enough to have her believe in him. “Feel the breeze? Look at the leaves up high. They are being pushed. The woods stop soon. The closer to the edge we get the more wind.”
Gabriela smiled and nodded her head in agreement. “Want me to lead up to the edge?”
“Sure but take it very slow. He could be waiting.”
Gabriela stayed low to the ground walking slowly in a large hump like fashion. She slipped from tree to tree stopping each time to get a better look. Now she avoided the spots of light trying to maximize their cover until she had made it to the edge of a large field that looked as if it were used for sports. In the distance a building resembling a school stood and half way across the field was Wyatt pulling Duke along. Their voices only sounded like grunts from this distance.
Falau pulled himself up next to Gabriela seeing the two in the middle of the field. “You flank them on the tree line. I am going in.”
Without waiting for a reply from Gabriela, Falau stood straight up and started to walk across the field with a hop in his step. He closed the gap quickly moving across the soccer pitch. The distance closed from 50 yards to 30 yards to 10 yards and Wyatt did not hear him coming from the constant complaining and groaning of Duke warped under his left arm.
“Wyatt, long time no see.”
Wyatt stopped instantly and tightened his grip on Duke. He did not turn to see who it was knowing it was Falau.
“I see you have our boy. I don’t want to kill you, Wyatt. I don’t want to shoot you. Two business men like us should be willing to work something out. But if you get any ideas about shooting me I can assure you that my friends are in the woods and you have two guns aimed at you right now. You might get me but they will definitely get you.”
The clouds broke wide letting in all the light there was to offer. The soft breeze pushed Falau’s hair to the side and slightly tugged on his clothes.
The grip around Duke slid up to his neck and Wyatt shifted his feet turning himself to his rival. Duke was a shield in case anyone took a shot. It was the only bargaining chip he had. “You again?”
“Ya, me again.”
“Son I have beat the shit out of you twice in the last twenty four hours and you are back for more. I will say one thing, that you have balls as big as church bells.” said Wyatt giggling at his own joke.
“Some say I have more balls than brains. Guess that’s why I am here.”
“You’re not a smart man. You know what I am capable of. You know I will kill Duke at any time. So why in God’s name take this chance?”
“I have you outnumbered.”
“So you say but with what? That old man and the bitch? What are they going to do?”
“Kill you if they have to but we would rather not. The kind of work we all do means we could help one another.”
“You have a point there but that does not help us much now because dear Mr. Duke is worth a lot to each of us. How will we resolve this matter?” questioned Wyatt momentarily cutting off the air to Duke’s lungs.
“We fight for him. Just you and me. The last man standing keeps Duke.”
“What?” squeaked Duke attempting to wrestle with the one handed grip of Wyatt despite his dislocated arm.
“Shut up.” snapped Wyatt throwing Duke to the ground having him land on his dislocated shoulder. He let out a scream and curled up on the ground anticipating another blow from the cowboy but it didn’t come.
“You like to make things happen don’t you?” asked Wyatt squaring himself up with Falau. “You’re a man with a gunshot wound and blood all over you but you’re picking a fight with the man that did it to you. If you don’t mind me saying there is a fine line between brave and stupid.”
“Brave if I win the fight and stupid if I lose.”
“Stupid no matter what. If you want this to happen it will happen but I am not going to take it easy on you. I am going to beat you down and when you're down I will beat you some more. I might kill you. I have killed people with my hands before.”
“It doesn’t feel good does it.” said Falau washing any feeling from his face.
“No, you see that’s what scares me about myself. It does feel good to me. Maybe I am a bad person or a psychopath of some kind, but if I get challenged and it results in me killing the other guy then I have no remorse. I had to defend what was mine and take control of the situation!” said Wyatt his voice raising as he spoke. “You must know what I mean by that. As a man you defend your family and property. That’s in our blood. It’s an instinct.”
“So Duke is your property. He belongs to you?”
“You're fucking right he does. Possession is nine tenths of the law and he is in my possession.” Wyatt’s finger went up pointing at Falau. He took a step forward and restrained himself from charging. “How do I know that your girlfriend or grandpa will not shoot me first chance they get.”
“The older man is Tim and he is not with us. He was lost before the chase and if the lady wanted to, she would have killed you by now. She could pick which one of your eyes she wanted to put the bullet in from her distance. But I can bring her forward if you like.”
Falau called out softly to Gabriela who heard all of the conversation. She approached Wyatt from behind causing him to snap around. Gabriela rose her hands into the air showing she was not going to shoot. She drifted to his right side and set up fifteen yards away from him but at an angle so he could not watch Falau and her at the same time.
“Wyatt and I are going to take this one alone. Winner gets Duke. You okay with that?”
“I am. Kick his ass.” responded Gabriela.
“Wyatt, I am going to give you one last chance to walk away. No harm no foul. We take Duke and this is all over.”
“No thanks!” growled Wyatt taking off his sport jacket. “Let’s be clear no guns or weapons or are you up for that to?”
“No. Just man to man. Winner takes all.”
“I like your style Falau. Too bad we didn’t meet under better circumstances.”
The two men started to circle and size one another up. Weaknesses were obvious on Falau but he searched for one on Wyatt. He was sturdy and strong. The power he possessed in the last two confrontations was still leaving its marks on Falau’s body. In an instant Falau made his decision that he would take the fight to Wyatt and be the aggressor. He lurched forward and snapped out a ball kick at the cowboy’s stomach.
> Chapter 33
Wyatt’s left arm swung down like an analog clock arm moving to the number six. It was a clean and fluid motion he had done thousands of times before starting in his basic classes of Krav Maga. Just a sweeping block designed to keep you on balance and ready to respond with a strike of your own and that is exactly what he did.
As the leg was swept aside by his powerful arm his right fist was cocked and ready to fire. It sat by his shoulder providing cover for another oncoming blow and ready to strike in the fashion of his deadly style of martial arts. The moves were compact and efficient. No wasted energy. The right hand jumped from its sitting place and took aim on Falau’s nose only to be interrupted by Falau’s quick movement and pulling up his arms. His forearms took the brunt of the blow and caused a stinging feeling on impact. Even the punches that were blocked from the big cowboy were painful.
Falau was no stranger to the martial arts himself. His discipline was Shaolin Kempo. A street fighting style of karate that placed high importance of function over form. The practitioners of this style believed that all the flashy moves you would see in the movies were of little use. They never actually helped you win in a fight on the street.
“You can’t beat me, Falau. You're just going to get yourself hurt.” said Wyatt changing his direction and forcing Falau to do the same like the lead in a pair of dancers he was dictating most of the fight.
“You talk a lot, Wyatt. Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
Wyatt’s head tilted slightly to the side as his chin hardened with anger.
