Bullet Trap

by Mike Ryan

  Bullet Trap

  The Silencer Series Book 15

  Mike Ryan

  www.mikeryanbooks.com

  Copyright © 2021 by Mike Ryan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  Cover Design: The Cover Collection

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Also by Mike Ryan

  About the Author

  1

  Recker sat in his chair, watching the beautiful, bikini-clad woman running out of the water. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she ran on the sand, the water making her body glisten. Mia had a big smile on her face, as she had every day since they’d been in Hawaii. Recker honestly didn’t think he’d make it. Staying in one spot, as beautiful as the scenery was, without anything to do other than relax. He was sure he’d go crazy after a week or two. But here he was.

  They’d now been there for twelve weeks. And he was still in no hurry to leave. Mia was certainly happy about being there. She was in no hurry to get back, either. This had really been the most relaxing couple of months Recker could ever remember.

  After a minute, Mia finally reached him, planting a kiss on his lips as she got there. She sat in a chair next to him and dried herself off with a towel.

  “Isn’t this the best?”

  Recker nodded, looking out at the ocean. “It certainly has its benefits.”

  “I still can’t believe we’ve been here for three months.”

  “Miss home?”

  “Honestly? Not really. I guess that probably sounds a little harsh, but… how could anybody get tired of this? Beautiful beach, beautiful weather, sand, ocean, no hustle or bustle. This is the dream.” Recker smiled at her. Seeing her happy and content made him even more so. “I guess we should probably be going back soon, though, huh?”

  Recker shrugged. “Why?”

  Mia stared at his face for a few seconds, trying to analyze him. She was having trouble figuring him out this time. She wasn’t sure if he actually was as calm as he appeared, or if he was just acting that way for her benefit. “Are you going to tell me you don’t miss being back home, meeting people in dark alleys, dodging bullets, dealing with some less than desirable people?”

  Recker grinned. “Honestly? I don’t.”

  “Seriously? You’re not just saying that for me?”

  Recker cleared his throat. “You know, when I initially mentioned coming out here, I really thought we’d be here for three or four weeks, then I’d get bored and wanna go back. Get back to work.”

  “And you’re gonna sit there and tell me that you don’t want to go back?”

  Recker shook his head. “I really don’t miss it. It’s funny. I never thought I was capable of living like this. Just enjoying the scenery without being involved in something. But you’re right. How could you get tired of this? I feel good. I feel relaxed. I don’t feel like I need to go back.”

  Mia leaned over and grabbed his arm, getting excited, thinking about their future. “Do you think it’s possible… I mean… do you think we could stay here? Like… forever? Does that sound crazy to even think that?”

  Recker smiled. “I don’t think it sounds crazy at all.”

  “Do you really think we could? Would you want to?”

  “What about your work?” Recker then laughed. “I think you’ve given up your next three years of vacation time to be here this long.”

  “I’d be OK if we didn’t go back. I really would. I mean, if we bought a house on the beach somewhere, just enjoyed each day as it came, without worrying about me going to work, or you making it back home in one piece.” Mia had a contentful look on her face just thinking of it all. “I can just imagine it. And David and Chris could always come out to visit, so it’s not like we’d never see them again.”

  “You don’t think you’d get tired of going to the beach every day?”

  Mia raised her eyebrows. “Seriously?”

  Recker laughed. “I guess that’s a no?”

  “There’s other things to do besides going to the beach. We could get a boat, we could learn to scuba dive, we could learn to surf, there’s a lot of things to do here. We’ve got enough money where we don’t need to work.”

  “Yeah, I know, I hear ya.”

  “You don’t want to?”

  “I’m not saying no. Let’s just think about it for a few days or a week or whatever.”

  “And there’s hospitals here, so I could always get a job here if I needed to.”

  Recker smiled at her, knowing she was excited thinking about the prospects of remaining there. He leaned over and kissed her. Even he had to admit the thought of living there forever was enticing.

  They sat there, soaking up the sun and the sand for a little while longer. They were only a few minutes away from their hotel, and there wasn’t a dark cloud in the sky. For them, everything still seemed perfect.

  Haley walked through the door, looking at his phone like he usually did. It seemed to be his normal routine now. He walked in, checked his phone to see if he had a message from Recker, then went on about his day. It’d been a week since he last heard from his friend. They each texted each other periodically, though neither wanted to pull the other away from what they were doing.

  Haley sighed upon seeing that he didn’t have any new messages, then walked over to the desk and sat next to Jones.

  “Anything on the agenda today?”

  “Not so far,” Jones replied. “Why so glum?”

  “Huh?”

  “The sigh heard ‘round the world. They could hear that in Florida, probably.”

  “Ah, it’s nothing.”

  Jones already knew what it was, though. Haley’s mood had changed in the time that Recker was gone. Some days, Jones got the impression that Haley didn’t even want to be there. His demeanor had changed to one where it seemed like he was only there because he had to be, not because he wanted to be. It was a little concerning to Jones, hoping that Haley would eventually snap out of it and fully embrace their new dynamics, as hard as it was to accept.

  “He’s enjoying his time,” Jones said.

  “I really thought he would be back. I thought after four weeks, six weeks at most, he’d be itching to get back.”

  Jones smiled. “The lure of a Hawaiian beach and a beautiful woman at your side is a tough thing to pass up. Doesn’t matter who you are.”

  Haley sighed again. “Yeah, I know. I just… it’s just weird not seeing him around here, you know?”

  “Oh, believe me, I know. It’s certainly different. But he’s been gone for twelve weeks now. We have to finally entertain the possibility that he’s not coming back. He’s earned this time.”

  “I know he has.”

  “It could be that he’s just reached the end of the line. He could just be ready for the next chapter. And there are a lot worse places to start it than out there.”

  Haley still couldn’t hide his disappoi
ntment in Recker being absent. “Yeah.”

  “He’s been a great partner. A great friend. But if he’s moving on, we have to do so as well.”

  Haley looked around the room. “Speaking of partners, where is he?”

  “Uh, he should be in soon. He said he was working on something.”

  Haley scrunched the left side of his face, obviously confused. “Working on what? What’s there to work on right now?”

  “He did not say.”

  “I swear if he’s trying to do something against Vincent, I’m gonna punch his lights out. He’s got some kind of strange fascination with him.”

  “He views Vincent as a criminal. Which he is. We brought him in to take down the criminal element in this city. He’s taken that to heart.”

  “And we’ve also explained numerous times that Vincent is not our enemy. With all the other things that are going on out there, taking care of Vincent is not in our best interests, and he’s not even in the top ten of things we need to worry about.”

  “I know. And I agree.”

  “Well then why don’t you tell him to knock it off? He obviously doesn’t listen to me.”

  “Paxton is wired differently than you and Michael. He needs to do things in his way. Just as I’ve let you and Mike do things in your own way, he needs to do it in his.”

  “Even if it’s wrong?”

  “He’s technically not wrong.”

  “David…”

  “I know, I know. But we have to walk a narrow line with him, between giving him guidance, and completely cuffing his hands. We brought him in to be one of us. We didn’t bring him in to be micromanaged.”

  “I think it’s a mistake.”

  “It may very well be. But I think it’s necessary that we give him a little rope.”

  “And if he hangs himself with it?”

  Jones shot him a look. “It’s our job to see that he doesn’t.”

  Haley sighed again, and shook his head. He wasn’t on board with Jones’ line of thinking. “Sometimes I think it’d be better if I was working alone. Mike did it for a while before I came in, right?”

  “Yes, but I’d like to think we’ve evolved since then. We don’t need to go it alone anymore. Having another partner in the fold is helpful.”

  “Not if I’m fighting with him every step of the way.”

  “You just need to give him more time. I still believe he will be a valuable asset, if we allow him to grow. He will make mistakes, yes. Some of them may be costly. Some of them we will look back on and say they probably should have been avoided. But it will make him better.”

  Haley nodded, though he still wasn’t in agreement. “Just hope it doesn’t cost one of us our lives,” he whispered.

  Jones heard him, and glanced over at him out of the corner of his eye, but thought it better to not respond. He knew Haley was already frustrated to begin with, and engaging further in a conversation probably wasn’t the best way to raise his spirits. He just had to hope he’d eventually come around. If not, everything that Jones had tried to build over the past few years was at risk of crumbling down.

  2

  Half the day elapsed, with neither Jones nor Haley sure about where the third member of the team was. Haley started taking up Recker’s usual position of pacing around the room.

  “He’ll be here,” Jones said, taking a second to look up from his computer.

  “Why isn’t he here yet?”

  “If he ran into trouble, he would have let us know.”

  “That’s the thing. Why should he have run into trouble? We’re not working on anything right now.”

  “You’re right. He’s probably not. That’s why you need to relax. He’s probably just out taking a walk or something.”

  “Do you even know the guy?”

  “Chris, you need to relax. He’s fine.”

  “Then why hasn’t he checked in since this morning?”

  “You’re not required to check in at all hours of the day.”

  “Yeah, but he’s not me. And he’s not Mike. He still needs more attention. So he should be here so we can give it to him. He’s kind of arrogant. Well, not kind of. He is arrogant.”

  “As a lot of talented people who know how good they are… are.”

  “You gotta stop defending him, David. I know you really want this to work, but even you have to know you can’t bat a thousand every time. You’re gonna have a swing and miss every now and then.”

  “I’m not ready to admit that yet.”

  Haley sighed and ran his hand over the hair on his head. He believed that Jones knew the situation wasn’t working out, but just hoped that it would be more than he really thought it would. Haley thought they were trying to fit a square block into a round hole. Phillips had been with the team for over three months, and it didn’t feel like he was blending in. It still felt like Phillips was a wild card, who was more interested in doing his own thing, rather than being a part of the team.

  It didn’t take much longer before they finally heard from Phillips, though. He called Haley, who was ready to rip him a new one.

  “Where are you at?” Haley tersely asked.

  “Hey, need your help. I’m pinned down right now.”

  “Pinned down?! Doing what?!”

  “I was trailing a bunch of guys, figured they had a drug shipment or something. Didn’t go as well as I hoped.”

  Haley heard gunfire in the background. He sighed and shook his head. “Where are you at?”

  “Uh, not real sure right now. I’m kinda busy.”

  “We’ll just ping your phone. Who and what are you up against?”

  “Who, I’m not sure. What, I think there’s three or four of them.”

  Haley loudly sighed into the phone, making sure his partner knew his displeasure. “Just hang on, I’m on my way.”

  Haley hung up and went to the gun cabinet, grabbing a few weapons, explaining the situation to Jones as he did. Once he had what he needed, he sped past Jones.

  “Ping his phone and text me where he’s at,” Haley said, flying out the door.

  All of their phones were connected to Jones’ computer, so they’d be able to tell where any of them were at any moment, especially in a situation like this. Haley was barely out of the parking lot before Jones texted him the address. The address belonged to some type of storage warehouse, but there was something familiar about it. Jones knew he’d seen the address before somewhere. He typed it into his computer and within seconds, knew where he had seen it before.

  It was a building that belonged to Vincent. That’s why Jones knew it. It was on the list of publicly known facilities that Vincent owned. Armed with this new information, he called Haley.

  Haley answered, but was greeted with silence. He had a feeling something was up. “Uh, yeah?”

  Jones was silent for a few more seconds before answering. “I’m not quite sure how to say this.”

  “Phillips is dead?”

  “Oh no, please don’t even joke about that.”

  “Phillips is already back at the office?”

  “I don’t think he’s that good.”

  “Then what?” Now it was Jones’ turn to loudly sigh into the phone. “David, what’s wrong?”

  “Um, the place Paxton is at… is a building that’s owned by… Vincent.”

  Haley was quiet for a moment as he processed what he was just told. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

  “I wish I was.”

  “You’re telling me that Paxton is in a shootout with Vincent’s crew?”

  “Um, well, I think that… let’s not jump to conclusions yet. It could be someone using Vincent’s building without his knowledge. Or it could be someone else who… who…” Jones was stumbling as he tried to think of something other than the most likely scenario. He really didn’t want to think about trading shots with Vincent’s men.

  Haley had no such thoughts of an alternate scenario. He knew what was going on. “David, just stop kidding yourself. Pa
xton’s screwed himself, and probably us with him. Nobody’s using that building without Vincent’s knowledge and approval.”

  “Just hurry up and get there and try to get him out without doing too much damage.”

  “I think it’s probably a little too late for that.”

  “Work as many miracles as you can muster.”

  Haley got to the building in about twenty-five minutes. There were some cars parked out in front of the place, so he assumed some people were still there. He parked his car around the corner, then went in on foot. He ran around to the side of the building, looking for an entrance point. He didn’t see one yet. He then went to the back, and saw a window that had been knocked out. He assumed that was how Phillips got in. Either that, or the gunfire knocked it out.

  Haley crawled through the window, a few pieces of glass crackling underneath his feet as he stepped on the inside. He spun around, looking for his partner. It was dark in there, and he wasn’t about to put on a flashlight and give his position away, so he had to hope he heard a noise somewhere. There were a few pallets filled with boxes next to him, so he slid in behind them, waiting for an indication someone was out there.

  He spent a few minutes in that spot, not moving an inch, and not making a sound. Not wanting to be there for too long, Haley finally pulled out his phone and sent Phillips a text message.

  “I’m here. You still in the building?”

  He got a reply almost immediately. “I’m here. Where are you?”

  “By the back window that’s broken.”

  “Coming to you.”

  Haley immediately noticed the light from a flashlight shining in the air. He looked around the pallet and saw Phillips’ outline walking over to him. Haley waited until Phillips made it to him before speaking, still wary of Vincent’s men.