by Paul Moxham
“Huh?” one of the men said.
“Sanchez hired us to make sure these floors are safe in preparation for the big attack tonight,” Muscles said.
The man in charge of the two soldiers frowned. “If he hired you, why did he hire us to do the same exact thing?”
“Because he wants to be sure that it’s safe,” Logan added.
The man in charge quickly whispered to the other two soldiers.
“Get ready to fire,” Muscles whispered, glancing at the rest of his group.
As Muscles and company kept on advancing, the three men reached for their weapons. Before they could open fire, Muscles and Logan shot first.
Two of the soldiers fell in an instant, leaving just the tall man alive. He threw a smoke grenade at the group before turning and fleeing.
Muscles took cover. “Don’t let him reach the fire escape door!”
The group continued to shoot at the man, but he twisted and turned and avoided getting shot, until he collapsed to the ground, injured. Grenade smoke enveloped the area before Logan could get a fix on him.
“Damn!” Logan fired at the spot where he’d last seen the man. Moments later, he heard the noise of the fire door opening and closing and he realized he had gone through them.
“Do we go after him?” Jet asked.
“Of course. If he warns Sanchez that we’re here, the whole plan will be sunk,” Muscles shouted. “Come on!” He led the charge through the smoke and through the fire escape door.
Standing next to the stairs, the group looked up and down, wondering which direction the soldier had gone. They then heard footsteps above them.
“This way!” Muscles raced up the stairs, the others right behind him.
Muscles was fast, but the soldier was just as fast. Just as it seemed as though Muscles had a line of sight to fire, the man would disappear around the corner.
After racing up a number of floors, Muscles stopped as he saw that the fire escape door was swinging to and fro. “Wait!”
The group hesitated as they tried to figure out where the man had gone, but they couldn’t hear anything.
Muscles couldn’t decide if he should go up the stairs or search the floor that he was on. There wasn’t any time to waste, so he quickly decided to split up. “Logan and I will search this floor, while you two keep on going up the stairs. We’ll meet up on the eightieth floor.”
The two groups departed without delay. As Jet and Baldy clattered up the stairs, Logan followed Muscles through the door and into the hallway.
“Do you think he came this way?” Logan asked, a firm grip on his pistol.
Muscles nodded. “Yes. It would make much more sense to catch an elevator to the eighty-first floor than running up the stairs. Besides, he couldn’t outpace us running up the steps, so even if he could make it to the party room, we’d be right behind him, which wouldn’t be much use.”
Muscles paused as they reached a turning point in the hallway. “The service elevators are this way and the main elevator shaft is this way. Let’s split up. Once you’ve cleared the area, head toward the other fire escape door.”
The two split up, with Logan heading for the main elevator shaft. He didn’t know how far back they were from the soldier, which was the most concerning thing. It would only take a minute or two to call for an elevator and get on one. Once that happened, their plan would be useless.
He ran to the elevator shaft. His footsteps echoed against the floor, making a loud noise, but this couldn’t be helped. He rounded the corner and came into full view of the line of elevators. He skidded to a stop as he caught sight of the soldier waiting anxiously by the last one.
The soldier raised his shotgun and a slug spat out. Logan ducked and hid behind the corner, narrowly avoiding it. He peered around the corner and saw the soldier pushing down hard on the elevator button.
He realized that as soon as the doors opened, it’d be too late to catch him. He had to take him out now. Logan reloaded his pistol. Then, taking a deep breath, he hurried around the corner.
The soldier got hit in the arm and the shotgun clattered to the floor as bullets from Logan’s pistol hit their target. With a curse, the soldier reached into his pocket and pulled out another smoke grenade. He flung it toward Logan before turning and running down the hallway.
Logan hurried forward and picked up the shotgun, only to chuck it down again. It was empty. Not sure if the man had another weapon on him, he slowly advanced through the smoke.
As the smoke parted, he saw that there was no one. Careful not to make too much noise, Logan advanced past the numerous offices that were deserted.
The hallway curved around until it rejoined with the main one, and as Logan reached that, he decided what to do. Before he could make up his mind, he heard footsteps behind him.
He whipped his pistol around and waited for the person to round the corner. With his finger on the trigger, he waited, only to sigh with relief as Muscles appeared.
“I heard the shots and came running. Did you get him?” Muscles asked.
Logan shook his head. “No, but I injured him. He threw a grenade in my direction and headed off into the smoke. I wasn’t sure if he was hiding in one of the offices or if he doubled back, but if you haven’t seen him—”
“No, I haven’t. I’d say he headed for the other set of stairs. Come on, we may be too late.” Muscles hurried past Logan and the two of them ran down the hallway.
They had just caught sight of the fire escape door, when they heard bullets smacking into the plaster walls.
“What the …” Logan sprinted past Muscles and reached the door just as an explosion wrapped them in a black cloud of choking dust and sharp debris. The force blew the door apart, pushing Logan down onto the ground. Muscles helped Logan to his feet.
“What was that?” Logan asked.
“Don’t know.” Muscles glanced around furtively. Hearing footsteps above them, he and Logan positioned themselves by the corner.
The two parties saw each other at the same time and both relaxed and lowered their weapons. It was Jet. “Where did he go?”
Logan frowned. “Where did who go?”
“The man. I chased him down the staircase. We exchanged shots before he fled and set off some kind of big ass bomb.” Jet glanced around at the debris. “This is it.”
Logan glanced at Muscles. “He must’ve continued down the stairs.”
Muscles nodded. “Let’s see.”
The three hurried down the stairs. As they reached the next level, they paused next to the fire escape door.
“Did he continue down or not?” Muscles said.
“I’ll check, you continue.” Jet rushed off.
The two continued down, still not hearing anything. The next fire escape door was partially open.
“He must’ve gone in here,” Muscles said, peering through the door.
“Maybe. I’ll keep on going just in case.” As Muscles disappeared, Logan continued down. He reached the next floor and paused. Should he keep on going or was it just a waste of time? What if the man was already in the elevator?
Listening, he heard something. Just a slight noise. Almost like a pebble rolling down a step. Logan frowned and glanced down the stairs. The floor below was covered in debris. He had forgotten about the explosion and how a person wouldn’t be able to continue past the damaged stairwell unless they jumped.
What if the soldier was hiding by the fire escape door on the next level? That would explain the noise he just heard. And if he was hiding, that’d mean the door was probably blocked with debris or something, else he would have escaped that way. He probably didn’t have a gun, but he still could have another grenade.
Keeping as quiet as possible, he went down the steps, one at a time. He had gone down six when he attempted to crane his neck over the side. If he could, he wanted to see the man without being spotted.
Peering over, he saw the jammed door and sitting next to it was the soldier. He held a gren
ade in his hand. Logan drew back, but not before he had been spotted.
The man released the pin on the grenade and waited a few seconds. He then threw it with all his might.
Chapter 25
As it hit the wall, Logan leaped back, just before it exploded. As the debris settled, Logan hurried back down and whipped out his pistol, aiming at the man. “Stay where you are!”
“Why should I?” The man spit. “First chance you get you’re going to kill me.”
“That’s not true,” Logan replied as he slowly walked down the steps one step at a time. He saw the soldier’s eyes shift from him to the jagged staircase and back again. He realized what the man was contemplating and tried to convince him otherwise.
“There’s no need to jump. I just want to have a talk with you.” Logan paused as the man walked a few feet closer to the edge of the broken staircase. “Do you like working for Sanchez?”
“Not really,” the soldier replied.
“They why don’t you work with me in taking down Sanchez? Together we—”
“Together we can do what?” The man leaned against what was left of the wall. “You’ll never defeat Sanchez. He has an army of people that’ll protect him.” Despite the situation, the man grinned. “Fact is, the penthouse suite where he lives is rigged with explosives. So, if you’re planning on taking him down, you better be prepared to go down yourself. He only needs to press one button and the whole building will come crashing down.”
“You’re bluffing,” Logan said.
“Bluffing? Why would I bluff?” The soldier smiled thinly. “I have no reason to bluff. Just like I have no reason to join you.” The man backed up and took a running leap.
Logan watched as he cleared the first empty space and landed hard on a small piece of concrete. He barely managed to clutch onto the edge. He hauled himself up and prepared to jump again.
Wanting to deter him, Logan pulled the trigger. An empty click greeted him. He was out of bullets. “Damn!” He tossed the weapon to the ground and hurried down the stairs. Reaching the spot that the man had jumped from, he considered his options.
A moment later, the man made the second jump. This was the easiest one as it was only a few feet. Logan glanced at the fire escape door and saw that a massive piece of concrete was jammed against it. There was no way he could move it.
He watched as the man hauled himself up and prepared to jump again. Logan realized that the next jump was the most dangerous one, but if he made it, only two small leaps remained. He’d then head for the next fire escape door and use the elevator to reach Sanchez.
If Muscles had been on the lower level, everything would have been all right. But he had no way of knowing where Muscles was, so he realized that he was the only one who could stop the man.
With a gleam in his eyes, Logan backed up and leaped. He sailed over the space and grabbed the edge of the concrete. Pulling himself up, he saw that the man was just about to make the leap.
Logan got to his feet and jumped again. As he crashed down on the concrete, the man flew through the air.
With only a small space to land on, and being so close to the corner of the building, there was a real risk he could go too far and tumble right over the edge and disappear into the inky blackness.
Logan stumbled to his feet and watched in horror as the man did precisely that. His feet hit the concrete at an odd angle, and he tumbled headfirst across the hard surface. He tried to get a grasp to slow his momentum, but failed.
“Help!” the man waved his arms as he got closer to the edge. Before Logan could say anything, the man fell, screaming out in desperation as he tumbled down.
Logan sat down and held his head in his hands. What a waste. He hadn’t imagined that it’d end this way.
“Hey!” came a voice from below.
Logan looked down and saw Muscles on the floor below. “You’re too late.”
“Too late? What do you mean? Where is he?” Muscles glanced around as he tried to see where the man was.
“He went through there.” Logan pointed to the hole in the wall.
Muscles lowered his pistol. “I see. Did he mean to do it?”
“No. He tried to make the jump and miscalculated.” Logan stood up. “I thought it looked too dangerous when we were standing where you are, but it looks even more dangerous from up here. I’ll go back the way I came and meet you by the other staircase.”
Muscles nodded and retreated down the steps. Logan breathed a sigh of relief as he tried to compose himself. To see someone just disappear over the edge like that and to know that they were falling to their death was horrible.
Logan stepped back a few feet and jumped back to where he’d been standing a few minutes earlier. Then after taking a look back once more at where the man had disappeared, he hurried up the steps.
By the time he arrived at the other stairs, Muscles was already there. “Did the man say anything of interest before he died?”
Logan thought. “Well, he did say something, though I wonder if it was true or not.”
“What?” Muscles said. “Tell me.”
“The man mentioned something about Sanchez rigging the penthouse with explosives and that it’d only take a press of a button to send this building crashing down.”
Muscles frowned. “We wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“It could’ve been a lie.”
“Did he look as though he was lying?”
“Well, no, but—”
“We’ll have to search the penthouse then.” Muscles strode off. “Let’s hope we run into the others on the eightieth floor. I don’t want to waste time searching for them.”
As the two reached the rendezvous point, they met Jet and Baldy. Quickly, they told them everything that had happened. With time running out, they climbed up to the eighty-third floor.
Logan opened the fire escape door and peered through. Everything seemed nice and quiet. After waving the others through, Logan walked down the hallway. As he didn’t have a weapon on him, he waited for the others to catch up.
“Where is the entrance to the suite?” Baldy said.
“Just up here.” Logan continued walking until he reached the door. He tried opening it. “It’s locked.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Jet said.
As Muscles saw that Jet intended to shoot the lock off with his pistol, he stopped him. “Wait! If someone hears a gun being fired, they’ll come searching. Besides, if Sanchez or someone else comes along here, they’ll see that the lock is shot off.”
“Then how do we get in?” Baldy asked.
Logan grinned. He fiddled around in his pockets as he tried to find something. A few moments later, he pulled out his key pass. “I’ve been carrying this around all this time, wondering if I was going to get a chance to use it.” He slid the pass into the door. A second later, the door was unlocked. “There, nice and easy.”
Logan put the pass back into his pocket and waited for the others to enter. With everyone else in, he took one more look down either end of the hallway before closing the door.
“I guess you want us to be all careful and professional, right?” Jet said.
“Of course not. If this place is wired with explosives, we got to find them. So tear everything apart.” Muscles went to the couch and threw the pillows off it. He slit the fabric with a knife and felt around.
As Jet searched the rest of the room, Baldy headed for the kitchen. Logan decided to have a look in the office. As he walked across the room and passed the bar, he remembered the last time he had been here. It had been happier times. And cleaner times. Back then, the bar was nice and tidy, where now it was a mess with empty bottles spread everywhere.
He snickered a little as he remembered how Donald had given him the key pass. He’d almost given it back. Now he was very glad that he hadn’t.
The office was quite large with an old, stout wooden desk, a leather chair, and rows and rows of bookshelves. Logan had briefly been in this room once or
twice and hardly remembered it, but he knew that it wouldn’t have looked like this normally.
Books lay scattered all across the floor, some spread wide open and some closed. The model train in the corner was a terrible sight for any train lover to see. It looked like a mini war had taken place.
Logan sighed. Whoever had made a mess of this room had probably been drunk. At least Donald wasn’t alive to see it. Not that it really mattered. The model train had been a passion for Donald in his earlier years, but after his wife passed away, it had been gathering dust.
Logan glanced around the office. Apart from the desk and the bookshelves, there wasn’t any place where explosives could be, so he quickly searched those two things.
After pulling out numerous books, he didn’t find anything. He made his way back to the others, who were gathered in the lounge room.
“That was a waste of time,” Jet said.
“The man was probably lying,” Baldy said. “Come on, let’s go to the party room and get Sanchez.”
“I don’t think he was lying,” Logan said. “As he said to me, there wasn’t any reason for him to say such a thing.”
“He was probably trying to stop us from attacking Sanchez,” Baldy said.
Logan shook his head. “Maybe those explosives were just a rumor that Sanchez spread to stop any of his men from taking control.”
Muscles glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late. If we hurry, we can make it to the party room just before nine.”
~*~*~
Xavier breathed a sigh of relief as the person moved off. He had no idea why they’d stopped, but at least they had moved on.
Things became quiet for a while, and soon Xavier thought he’d take a peek. Opening the trunk a bit, he peered through. He couldn’t hear or see anything. He decided he’d give it five minutes and then, if things still remained the same, he’d climb out.
Five minutes passed without incident. Xavier took hold of his rifle and climbed out. He slowly turned around, looking in every direction. No one was in sight.
Xavier glanced at his watch. It was coming up to eight-forty. After closing the trunk, he started to walk back to the generator room, stopping every now and then to listen.
