Taking Down Brooklyn

by Kelly Moore

  The room is dark, so I feel my way to a door. When I find the cool metal of a doorknob, I place my hand on it and slowly turn it. The door opens easily, and I peek out into the hallway. I find a door to my right, at the end of the hallway, with a sign on it that reads, Stairs.

  I slip out of the small room and jog to the door. When it opens, and I step inside, I take the stairs two at a time until I get to the roof.

  I’ve been running since I left Brooklyn, and I’m nearly out of breath, but I have to get set up.

  I find a brick on the rooftop that I use to keep the door from closing all the way, and I move in the direction of her apartment.

  When I’m at the ledge, I kneel down and set up my rifle. I use the scope to check out our surroundings.

  I look at the alley below us and the street that runs in front of her building. I even look in the windows of the small stores and restaurants that line the road to make sure nobody is watching and waiting for her to come home. When I have our surroundings secured, I aim the rifle at her window and watch for her to open the curtains.

  I don’t take my eye off her window, and it feels like the seconds become minutes. She should be inside already. I wait and just as I’m about to get up and go rogue on her building, she opens the curtains and sees me.

  I can finally breathe. I had been holding my breath in anticipation of seeing her safe. I feel relief wash over me as she waves, letting me know the apartment is clear.

  She turns away from the window to go in search for the cure, and I keep watch on that window. I can see the hardwood floor of the hallway and her shadow dancing across the floor. She comes back to the window, shaking her head before motioning to the street.

  I pack up quickly and make my way back to the alley where we split off.

  “Did you get it?”

  “No, it’s gone. My whole apartment has been trashed.” She crosses her arms over her chest as her nostrils flair.

  “Do you have any more or was that all of it?”

  “I have two vials in my office, but that’s it. The rest has been shipped out already. I just held on to three tubes for insurance purposes.”

  “Let’s go. We have to get my brother the vaccine and make sure nobody else gets their hands on that cure.” I start toward the bike we left around the corner.

  She comes jogging up behind me. “Do you think the company got it? If they did, doesn’t that mean that they are done chasing us?”

  I shake my head. “I have no idea who else would’ve taken it, and I don’t care as long as you’re safe and we get that cure to my brother.” I get on the bike and kick it to life.

  She gives me directions to her office, and I park the bike in the parking lot. She gets off and starts toward the door.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  She stops and spins around to face me. “To get the vaccines.”

  “Not without me.” I stand from the bike. I don’t like leaving bags full of cash and guns strapped on the bike where anyone can take them, so I strap one on my back and toss her the other. She catches it just like I knew she would, and she pulls it on as she turns for the door.

  She avoids the main entrance, instead walking around to the back of the building. She leads me down an alleyway and reaches inside her jacket, pulling a card from the breast pocket. She shows me the key card and smiles. “I was just going to walk in the front door, but since we have a bag full of guns that kind of shoots that plan out of the water.” She inserts the card and the light changes from red to green.

  She pulls open the door and walks inside with me following behind her.

  We walk down the long hallway until she turns right and unlocks an office with her thumbprint. The plate flashes from red to green again, and the door buzzes allowing her to push through it.

  I walk in behind her and stand near the door, looking everything over. There are no windows in this room to let in natural light. It feels very stuffy and overcrowded.

  “How can you work in here?”

  She bends down by the desk and opens a mini fridge. “I don’t much. This is just my office. I spend most of my time down in the lab.” She pulls out two vials of the vaccine and shows them to me.

  I reach out, and she hands me one of them. I study the clear glass tube with its orange-red liquid inside. I tilt the tube and watch as the air travels through the liquid and to the other end of the vial. “This is it, huh?”

  “Yep. It packs a lot of punch for such a little vial, doesn’t it?” She brings out a small black case and slides the vaccines into the foam before holding out her hand for the other vial. I hand it over to her, almost afraid to let it out of my sight. This small vial could save my brother’s life.

  I watch as she places the second tube into the foam of the case. She closes the lid and latches it shut. “This case is designed to keep the vaccine at the right temperature for twelve hours. Any longer than that and the vaccines will start to lose their effectiveness.”

  “So we have twelve hours to make it to my brother?” That’s not enough time. I set an alarm on my watch for twelve hours.

  Her eyebrows lift as she slides the case into her bag, her face becomes serious. “I have one spare battery for it. That gives us exactly twenty-four hours from right now to get your brother this cure.” She places the bag on her back and moves around the desk toward me. “With each degree the vaccine loses, the cure loses twenty-five percent of its effectiveness. I wouldn’t push it too far past twenty-four hours.”

  “Let’s get on the road. Do you think you will be okay with riding on the bike all night?”

  She laughs. “Nothing I haven’t done before. Let’s just hope we don’t run into trouble. This is an eighteen-hour drive, and we don’t have a second to lose.”

  I open the door to step back out into the hallway when a shot rings out. Fuck! I should’ve known this was too easy. They have been watching us, waiting for us to lead them right to the cure. But if they’re still after it, who ransacked her apartment?

  I pull the gun out of the waistband of my jeans and pull her directly behind me. I kick open the door and step out with the gun raised. As soon as I see them, I shoot and pull her out of the office. The men fall to the ground to avoid being shot, and we run down the hall. I turn around and shoot one more time, trying to keep them back even though I know they will follow.

  She throws open the door that leads back to the alley, and I shut it behind me. Just before the door closes, I see the two men running toward us.

  “Help me,” I tell her, rushing around a small-sized dumpster and tucking the gun away. I push it in the direction of the door. The old rusty wheels scream in protest. She rushes around the dumpster and shoves with all her might. Once the wheels of the dumpster start spinning, they move easier and we’re able to move it in front of the door.

  I grab hold of her wrist and stop her from rounding the corner of the building. “Wait here,” I tell her before removing my gun from the waistband of my jeans. I creep along the edge of the building and look around into the parking lot. There is a blacked-out SUV parked next to our bike that wasn’t there before. No doubt full of armed men ready to take us out the minute they see us.

  I quickly make my way back to her. “We have to run. Men are inside, and there are some around front, waiting for us.

  “Run? Run where?”

  “We have to find a car to get us to the Keys. Let’s go.” We walk down the alley and round the corner in the opposite direction of the men. Just as we turn, a shot is fired, and we both take off running.

  When we approach a dumpster, I pull her behind it while I peek out and watch for the men that are chasing us.

  I pull out my weapon and have it ready for the second that I see them.

  “We know you’re back here,” the man says as he rounds the corner of the building.

  He doesn’t even have time to take another step before I’m pulling the trigger. The shot hits him in the shoulder. It’s not deadly, but e
nough to take him down.

  Before his body even hits the pavement, I have hold of Brooklyn and I’m pulling her behind me. I turn around to see the man’s partner kneeling down to check on him. The man motions in our direction, and his partner pulls his gun and takes aim.

  Before he can get a shot off, I’m pulling Brook to my right where the alley opens up onto the street. We come to a dead stop and look around, deciding where to go.

  I scan the area quickly. There are several small shops lining the road. Across the street, on the corner, is a large parking lot. I point. “Over there!”

  We dart into the street, barely missing a minivan as we make our journey to the parking lot.

  I lead her into the rows of cars, looking for the perfect one to steal.

  “What are we doing?”

  “We need a car. The clock is ticking.”

  I find an older Oldsmobile and unscrew the antenna. I pry the antenna into the door and use it to hit the unlock button. When the lock switches over, I open the door and kneel down. I pry open the dash and pull out the wires. I cut two of them and stick them together. The car turns over a couple times before it stays running.

  I stand. “Let’s go.” I climb behind the wheel and reach over to let Brooklyn into the passenger side door. When she’s inside and the door is closed behind her, I throw the car into drive and hit the gas.

  “Lean back and hide your face,” I tell her as I pull out onto the main road. I want to drive by her office to see if the men are still there. I’d rather be on the bike than in this stuffy car.

  I drive by and hide the bottom portion of my face with my arm that sits on top of the wheel. The blacked-out SUV is still there, and now there are four men dressed in black suits surrounding our bike. Two more come walking up, one of them holding their shoulder with blood running down his arm.

  “Fuck! Looks like this has to get us to Florida.”

  “It’s a good thing we didn’t leave our bags on that bike,” Brooklyn says, removing her bag and tossing it into the floorboard. Mine is still strapped around me, and I take it off and hand it to her.

  “Get comfortable, sweetheart. This is going to be a long drive.”

  We got lucky, and the car we stole had a full tank of gas. It is getting late, and we both need a quick stop since I wouldn’t stop before. I needed to get as far away from DC as possible. They were entirely too close for comfort.

  I pull into a small gas station and fill the tank. We both go inside and load up on snacks and water after taking a restroom break. We’re back on the interstate within ten minutes.

  I pull my phone from my pocket and call Jake.

  “Hello?” he answers.

  “I’m coming to you.”

  “Good, I just got here. How far out are you?”

  “About thirteen hours. We’re driving straight through. I have something for you.”

  “Hopefully it’s better than the last present you brought me,” he jokes in his husky voice.

  I laugh. “I promise it’s better than a dead frog.”

  He joins in on my laughter. When we were six, I caught a frog to give him after I lost his. I put the frog in a box, but being six years old, I forgot to punch holes in the box. By the time he came home from little league, the frog had died.

  I smile from thinking about how mad he got when he thought he had his pet frog back only to realize it wasn’t the same frog, but a dead one. He thought I did it on purpose.

  “We’ll see you soon, bro.”

  “Alright. Be careful,” he tells me.

  “What was so funny?” Brooklyn asks, raising her head from the headrest.

  I look at her briefly. Her eyes seem even darker in the darkened car. Headlights light up the car, and I see nothing but her wild red hair curls that surround her beautiful face. She’s breathtaking.

  “Nothing, just my brother.”

  We drive for hours, making sure to change the battery in the case to keep the vaccine at the right temperature. The closer we get, the faster I drive. I can’t wait to get to my brother and give him his life back.

  Brooklyn is sound asleep by the time we make it into Florida. I’m so tired from the long drive that I have to jiggle my leg and beat my hands on the steering wheel to stay awake, but I can’t stop, not yet.

  I pull into the driveway and shake her awake, looking up at the beachfront property. I see Jake come to the floor-to-ceiling window, and I stick my hand out of my open window and wave, so he knows it’s me.

  I watch as he waves back before turning around. Brooklyn finally stirs, and we stand from the car just as my brother makes his way out.

  “What’s with the piece of crap?” He motions toward the car.

  “It’s borrowed. We both lost our bikes.”

  He pulls me in for a hug. “By borrowed you mean…”

  “Stolen,” I confirm.

  “Who’s this?” He turns and looks at Brooklyn who’s rounding the car with both our bags. I reach out and take them both.

  “This is Brooklyn. Let’s go inside, and we’ll fill you in.”

  He shrugs his big shoulders and turns to lead us into the house.

  Chapter Eight

  John

  “This property is amazing,” Brooklyn says, shielding her eyes from the sun. “I love the light blue ceiling on the porch, and the large paddle fans add such a cozy feeling. And, it being right on the water, I don’t think I would ever leave this place. I could hide out here forever.”

  “Our grandfather bought this house years ago. He handed it down to us right before he died,” Jake tells her.

  “It looks like a small plantation. The palm trees that line the property keep it secluded.” She sits in a rocking chair.

  “It used to be one. Pops would rent out the rooms to honeymooners. He was such a romantic. He bought this place for Meme. After she died is when he started renting out the rooms. He used to say that she was the one and only for him, but he couldn’t bear not seeing people in love.” Jake takes a seat next to her. His face looks pale as he wipes his brow.

  “How are you feeling?” I ask him.

  “A little tired,” he says.

  “Hey, how come you boys got this place and not your parents?”

  “Because he raised us. Our parents were both meth heads and dumped us here years ago. Broke Pop’s heart, but he loved us and took care of us the best way he knew how,” I answer her.

  She reaches out and holds my hand as I walk by her to join them in the rockers. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. We had a great life growing up here. It was a simple life, but we have a lot of great memories here,” I say.

  She unzips her backpack and pulls out the box the vials are stored in. “We need to get these in the fridge and adjust the temp.” She stands.

  “What’s in the box?” Jake asks.

  “Your long and healthy future. Brooklyn has developed the cure for cancer.”

  Jake stands quickly, almost knocking over the rocking chair. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you, Miss Warren.” Jake fumbles over his words. “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing the president’s daughter with you? And why are you hanging out with the likes of him?” he asks, grinning at her.

  “She’s with me because I’m trying to save her ass.”

  He looks between the two of us. “Let me guess, you were supposed to kill her?”

  “You know about his line of work?” She points at me.

  “Yeah, he is in it because…”

  “Jake, shut the hell up,” I bark, cutting him off.

  “Wait, no, I want to hear this.” She turns around to face me.

  “I think we have more important things to deal with right now, like you giving Jake the vaccine.” I stand and take the box out of her hand.

  “You’re giving me the cure?” Jake’s eyes light up.

  “Yes she is. It was part of our deal.” I walk past them and open the screen door to the house and motion for them
to go inside.

  “I need to renegotiate our terms to include getting information out of you,” she says as she walks through the door. “Wow, I really do love this place. The plump couches look so inviting.” She lays the box on the marble countertop.

  “You’re on the run for me so she will cure me?” Jake whispers to me, standing just outside the door.

  I shut the door with Brooklyn on the other side. “I couldn’t kill her. She’s completely innocent.” I rub my hand down my face. “Fuck, she’s probably even saintly.”

  “You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?” He laughs.

  “It doesn’t matter how I feel. A woman like that deserves a hell of a lot better man than me. My priority is saving her life right now.”

  “She would be damn lucky to have a man like you. I know you see yourself as a bad guy, but you did what you did to help me and to keep this place from being taken away. You’ve done nothing but sacrifice your entire life for me, and she should know it.”

  “You need to keep your mouth shut and not tell her anything. It wouldn’t matter anyway. When this is all said and done, she’ll return to her life, and I will go to prison for my crimes. I can’t save her without exposing myself.”

  “See what I mean? Now you’re sacrificing yourself for her.” His whispers are getting louder.

  I hug him to me. “It’s okay, Jake. You won’t need me to take care of you anymore. This place is paid for, and now you won’t be sick anymore. And, that sexy woman in there will save the world.”

  He lets go and lightly slaps his hand on my cheek. “Such the fucking hero. I love you man, but we have to find a way out for you too.” He opens the screen door and heads for Brooklyn.

  She has an alcohol pad and a vial in her hand. “Roll up your sleeve, Jake. This is going to sting like crazy, and you will feel worse for a few days, but it will cure you.”

  He has tears in his eyes as he rolls up his sleeve. “Thank you for this,” he tells her.

  “You have your brother to thank.” She leans in and kisses his cheek. She injects his arm and rubs the spot where the needle went into his skin. He makes a hissing sound as the burn takes over. She looks over his shoulder and smiles at me.