Bullet Trap

by Mike Ryan

  Haley quickly turned around and started running back down the alley from which he entered. He got about halfway there before he felt the bullet strike the back of his thigh. He went down. He knew he didn’t have time to feel the pain, though. He had to keep moving. He instantly got back to his feet and turned around to start firing again.

  He fired a couple of rounds, but he hunched over as a bullet entered his midsection. Haley raised up again to fire, but was quickly knocked off balance as two more bullets penetrated his chest. His gun dropped from his hand as the force of the bullets knocked him off his feet. He landed hard on the ground, the back of his head striking against the pavement.

  Just like that, The Silencers had been eliminated.

  6

  Jones was frantically typing away, trying to find out any bits of information he could. Neither Haley nor Phillips had answered their phone when he called, and he assumed the situation should have been over with by now. It’d been two hours since he last talked with Haley.

  Jones was checking the news station websites, social media accounts, and even tried hacking into the police computers. He wasn’t finding any information about what had happened. He was trying not to let his mind wander away with negative thoughts, but it was hard to stop that from happening. For the first time that he could remember, he was actually starting to panic. Though they’d all been in some tough situations before, there was always a fallback plan. There wasn’t one here.

  There was no one to call, no one to back up the guys in the field, and no one that was coming to save them. With Recker being gone, and not knowing who was responsible for whatever was going on out there, Jones didn’t feel comfortable calling Vincent. After all, with the ultimatums he’d been giving lately, for all Jones knew, Vincent was the one responsible.

  Jones stopped typing for a few moments and put his elbows on the desk. He lowered his head and put it into the palms of his hands. He took some deep breaths, trying to think of his next step. He wasn’t sure. He noticed his phone on the desk and picked it up again. He called Haley’s number first. He wasn’t expecting an answer, so he was surprised when someone picked up on the third ring.

  “Hello?” the man answered.

  Jones slightly pulled his head away from the phone. That wasn’t Haley’s voice. It wasn’t Phillips’ either. Jones wasn’t about to start a conversation with a stranger, so he immediately hung up.

  After staring at his phone for a few seconds, Jones decided to call again. He knew it wasn’t the wrong number, and he fully expected the same man to answer again, but maybe this time he could get some additional information. This time, the man picked up after the second ring.

  “Hello?”

  Jones cleared his throat. “Uh, who is this?”

  “This is Detective Liebrandt. Who is this?”

  Jones wasn’t about to give his name. “My name is Brian. Has something happened? Where is…” Jones hesitated on giving out Haley’s name, but he was desperate for some information at this point. “Where is Chris?”

  “That the guy this phone belongs to?”

  “Yes, why? Where is he? Has something happened?”

  “Sure has. We found this phone in the pocket of a guy who’d been shot.”

  “Shot? Will he be OK?”

  “Don’t really know. Last I heard he was in bad shape. Didn’t look like he was gonna make it. They took him to the hospital to try and find out what happened, but they weren’t very hopeful.”

  “Oh, my.” Jones closed his eyes again, sad to hear that his worst fears had been realized.

  “What’s your relationship with this guy?”

  “We’re just friends.”

  “You know what he does for a living and all.”

  “He’s in security, I believe.”

  “Oh, security, huh?”

  “As far as I’m aware.”

  “Do you happen to know the other guy?”

  “What other guy?” Jones asked, hoping he didn’t get a second dose of bad news.

  “There was another guy laying near this Chris guy. Uh, Paxton was his name.” The detective looked at his notebook. “Yeah, Paxton Phillips.”

  “I’m… I don’t believe I’ve heard the name before. Is he going to the hospital too?”

  “Afraid not. He’s dead.”

  Stunned, Jones immediately dropped the phone. He hadn’t even bothered to hang up. He didn’t know what to do now. A lump went down his throat as he thought of the unthinkable. He had a tough time focusing on anything. His eyes darted around the room, trying to process what he’d just heard.

  Jones wanted to go in the corner somewhere and curl up in a ball and just disappear. If a magical portal had appeared right in front of him that could’ve taken him some place else, he would’ve taken it. It didn’t even matter where. Anywhere but staying there, thinking about what was going on.

  Jones then went back on the computer, getting a sudden rush, wanting to find out everything he could. Though he received the worst news possible on Phillips, there was still hope for Haley. The detective said he was in bad shape, but at least he wasn’t dead. Not yet. That was something. It was something for Jones to hang onto. And right now, that was about all he had left to cling to.

  Jones’ thoughts turned to Phillips for a second. He was sad about losing him. Though he had those rough spots along the edges, Jones didn’t think he was a bad guy. He wanted to do the right thing. He just wasn’t able to bend and come around to the team’s way of doing things.

  In the end, Jones felt like it was his fault. He was the one that brought Phillips in. And even though it seemed like it wasn’t working, he kept pushing, thinking Phillips would eventually blend in, that he’d eventually get it. But it just didn’t happen. Maybe he should have listened to Haley. He should have seen that it wasn’t working, admitted defeat, and cut Phillips loose. Then this whole thing probably wouldn’t have happened. Phillips wouldn’t be dead, Haley never would have been in that situation, and now wouldn’t be fighting for his life.

  Jones sighed, and though he wasn’t going to be able to get those thoughts out of his mind, he could at least try to push them to the side. Right now, he still had Haley to think about. He started calling every hospital in the area, hoping he could get some information, but none of them admitted to bringing in someone that matched Haley’s description.

  Not deterred, Jones worked tirelessly for the next couple of hours, finding out every piece of information he could get about the incident that went down. Slowly, news reports started coming out, the police made a statement, and Jones started putting the pieces together. Jones then put his computer skills to work, hacking into hospital databases, until he found the one that had brought Haley in.

  Jones looked at his chart. It wasn’t good. He was taken immediately into surgery, where he still currently was. Jones sat back in his chair and put his hand over his mouth, wondering how everything went so horribly wrong. This was always the day he feared, though he always thought that no matter the situation, his team would somehow find a way out of it. But it looked like their luck had finally run out.

  Jones let his hands fall onto his lap, his shoulders slumped, and he let his eyes glance around the room. It suddenly felt lonely in there. He wiped a tear from his eye. As he looked around the room, he pictured Recker, Haley, and Phillips, standing around, doing some of the things they often did over the years. He had to come to the realization that they might not ever have those moments again.

  Jones got up and walked around for a few minutes, just soaking everything in. He felt like he no longer had a purpose. Nothing else seemed important with the loss of his friends. He walked over to the couch and sat down on the edge of it. It felt like the world had come crashing down around him.

  Then Jones thought of Recker again. He hated to have to tell him this news, but he knew it had to come from him. Recker couldn’t find out about this from a third party. Especially about Haley. Though Recker knew Phillips, he wasn’t with
him long enough to form any sort of attachment. But Haley was another story. Recker would want to know about that.

  Jones went back over to the desk and grabbed his phone. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to get the words out. It was hard enough just thinking about it. But voicing it? He wasn’t sure he could do it. He dialed Recker’s number, but there was no answer. This wasn’t something he could leave in a message. A voicemail, email, or text message just wouldn’t cut it. Not for something like this.

  Jones dialed again, still getting no answer. He waited a few minutes before trying a third time. Recker still didn’t pick up. Jones decided he would send him a text, but he’d leave the details for when he called back.

  “Can you call me when you get a minute?”

  Jones put his phone back down and walked over to the couch. All he could do now was wait.

  Recker and Mia had just gotten back to their hotel room after another night on the beach. They gave each other a kiss, and as Mia went into the bathroom to change, Recker went over to the table to look at his phone. He saw he had three missed calls from Jones, and a text message. He looked at the time. The calls and messages came in over an hour ago.

  Recker stared at the message. He automatically knew something wasn’t right. Three missed calls and a message asking him to call back was an immediate red flag. Something bad had happened. He knew it. His body stiffened with tension. He sat down on the edge of the bed and called his friend back. Jones answered almost immediately.

  “Mike, I’m so glad you called.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s…” Jones sighed. He cleared his throat. Recker started bracing himself for the worst possible news. He could already hear it in Jones’ voice.

  “Just say it.”

  “It’s…” Jones still had a hard time getting the words out. “Paxton and Chris.”

  “What about them?” Recker was fearful about what was coming next.

  “Paxton is dead.” Jones stopped, not able to say another word in order to keep himself composed.

  A lump went down Recker’s throat, afraid of what he might hear next. “And Chris?”

  Jones cleared his throat again. “He’s in a hospital room right now fighting for his life.”

  Recker didn’t respond. He just stared at the wall, his eyes getting glossy. Mia came out of the bathroom, and saw the look on her boyfriend’s face, immediately knowing something was wrong.

  “Mike, what is it?” she asked.

  Recker didn’t even hear her. “What happened?”

  Jones took a second to collect himself. “I don’t even know all the details at this point. As far as I can gather, Paxton got into some type of trouble. He called Chris, and Chris went over to save him. I know Paxton was surrounded at one point. Chris went in there to pull him out.”

  “What was he working on?”

  “That’s the thing. I don’t know. We didn’t have any specific jobs at the moment. Paxton must have found something on his own.”

  Recker started to say something, but then stopped before any words came out of his mouth. They wouldn’t have been appropriate at that time. He was going to say something negative about Phillips going off script and doing his own thing, but considering he just lost his life, it didn’t seem like it mattered now. And it wouldn’t bring him back or get Haley out of the hospital.

  Mia went over to the bed and sat down next to Recker. She put her hand on his knee. “What is it?”

  Recker looked at her and shook his head. He put his phone on speaker so she could hear. “How long ago did all this happen?”

  “A couple of hours. It’s taken me a while to figure out the details and find out where they took Chris.”

  “What’s the prognosis?”

  Jones hesitated before answering. “It’s not good. Initial reports indicated they didn’t think he would make it. They took him right into surgery.”

  Mia immediately became concerned. “Surgery? What happened?”

  “Any update?” Recker asked.

  “It’s too soon,” Jones answered. “We likely won’t know for a few hours. Even if he does make it, with everything that happened, it’s likely he’s going to have a police escort on his door.”

  “I’ll get the next flight out of here.”

  “No. That’s not the reason for me calling. I just wanted to tell you personally what happened so that you wouldn’t hear it from someone else. If you’re out there, relaxing, having a good time, then I want you to stay. This is not about you coming back.”

  “My friend is in a hospital fighting for his life. I can’t stay here and have a good time while knowing that.”

  “Mike, I can keep you updated with any news as soon as I hear it. My intention was not to uproot your plans if you want to…”

  “David. I’m coming. I’ll take the next flight out. You keep me posted on anything that happens and text me. It’s a twelve hour flight, not including a layover, so I’ll be there tomorrow.”

  Jones knew it was pointless to argue, so he wasn’t going to try. “I will.”

  As soon as Recker got off the phone, he hung his head. Mia put her hand on the back of his head and rubbed it to try to comfort him.

  “What happened?” Mia asked.

  Recker shook his head. “I don’t know. But I have to go.”

  “Of course.”

  Recker looked at her. “I’m sorry. I thought that…”

  “Stop. Don’t apologize. It’s Chris. We have to go back. There’s not even a debate.”

  “You’re the best.” Recker leaned over and kissed her.

  “I’ll start packing if you want to look up flight times.”

  Recker went back on his phone and saw there was a plane leaving later that night. “There’s a flight at 11:35 tonight.”

  “We can make it,” Mia said, hurriedly placing some clothes in a suitcase.

  “I’ll book our tickets.” Recker’s thoughts then turned back to Haley. “And then I’ll place whoever’s responsible for this in a bag.”

  7

  Recker and Mia arrived back in Philadelphia on time and immediately booked a rental car. Jones offered to come meet them, but Recker didn’t want him leaving the office in case something broke on Haley. Once they got back to the office, Jones spun his chair around and stood up when he heard the door open. He took a few steps forward to greet his friends. Mia ran over to him and gave him a hug.

  “Are you OK?”

  Jones tried to give her a smile, but not much of one emerged on his face. “I’m… as well as could be, I suppose. I’m not really the one that needs worrying over. Chris needs everything he can get.”

  “Have you heard anything else about that?” Recker asked.

  “About his condition?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I just got word on your flight over that he’s out of surgery. He’s still in critical condition, but his prognosis has improved slightly.”

  Mia clasped her hands together and put them in front of her mouth. “Well that’s good news at least.”

  “It’s something. He’s still not out of the woods yet.”

  “But he’s going in the right direction.”

  “Is he still being guarded?” Recker asked.

  Jones nodded. “There are police officers outside his door. I would guess that when he’s well enough, assuming he gets there, there will be a lot of questions waiting for him.”

  “He’ll get there.” Recker took a deep breath, his eyes glancing around the room. “What about who did it?”

  Jones was waiting for that question, as he knew it was coming at some point. “I don’t know yet. I’ve gotten no indication from any sources about anyone bragging about it. I’ve asked Tyrell to check into it, but he hasn’t come up with anything yet either.”

  “Strange that someone did this and isn’t taking credit for it.”

  “I thought so as well. But, my focus at this point has been trying to keep up to date on Chris’ c
ondition.”

  Recker kept nodding in agreement. It was obvious anger was running through his veins, ready to explode. But he was keeping it in check. He’d wait until he found whoever was responsible before unleashing it.

  “Well there’s two obvious players,” Recker said. “Jerrick or Vincent.”

  Jones moved his head to the side, agreeing without having to say the names. “I didn’t want to make assumptions, but they would seem to be at the top of the list.”

  “Why would Vincent do this to Chris?” Mia asked. “I thought they were good with him?”

  “Paxton has been… relentless in some of his activities,” Jones replied. “He turned an ally in Vincent into someone that we can’t really say for sure where his position lies these days.”

  “I know, but would he have done that to Chris?”

  Jones raised an eyebrow, not really having any concrete answers. All they had was speculation at that point. “It would depend on the situation, I think. As it was, Paxton seemed to be the target. He was what everyone was aiming for. Chris came in at the last minute to try and save him. So, either the situation evolved into them not having any choice but to shoot him, or…” Jones shrugged. “Or maybe it just couldn’t be helped. I don’t know.”

  “I’m gonna find out,” Recker said.

  “How?” Mia replied.

  “I’m gonna ask.”

  Recker immediately got on his phone and called Malloy, who picked up right away.

  “Am I assuming you’re back?” Malloy asked.

  “I would assume nothing right now,” Recker tersely said.

  “I’ve heard about what happened.”

  “That’s why I’m calling. I wanna talk to him, and I wanna talk to him right now.”

  “I’m not sure that’s possible right now.”