The Combative

by Mike Ryan

  “I don’t know. Another half hour, maybe.”

  Gunner kept making sounds, indicating his displeasure with the wait. After another thirty minutes, Jacobs knew nobody was coming.

  “Looks like we’ve been had on this one.”

  Gunner finally perked up and sat again.

  “I think it’s time to leave, buddy.”

  Gunner barked a couple times.

  “I don’t know if it was done intentionally. But it sure makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

  12

  Tiffany looked out the window. It’d been half an hour since Jacobs and Gunner left. She didn’t know why, but she was feeling uneasy. It was the first time in the last couple months that she’d been by herself. At least at the house. Every other time Jacobs left, he kept Gunner behind. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous. In her mind, there was no reason to be. But there she was, staring out the window, looking for something that didn’t seem right.

  Since everything seemed fine, Tiffany went over to the table and picked her book up, then went over to the couch and sat down to start reading. She read a couple of pages, then picked her head up and looked at the door. She looked at the window, then turned her head to look at the hallway and the kitchen. She shook her head to get the scary thoughts out of her head and went back to reading.

  Outside were two separate cars, both having two men inside. They were all employed by Ames. They were at separate ends of the parking lot, but they each had a view of the front door of Jacobs’ place. The leader of the four was a man nicknamed Sludge. He called Ames to get further instructions.

  “Boss, Jacobs and his dog left about thirty minutes ago. What do you want us to do?”

  “Who’s still there?” Ames asked.

  “Just the girl.”

  “You’re sure she’s there?”

  “Positive. We saw her at the door and close it as Jacobs left. She’s there. No doubt about it.”

  “And she’s alone?”

  “We’ve been watching since last night. Nobody else has gone in. And only Jacobs and the dog have come out.”

  “OK. I want you to go in.”

  “Should we wait for Jacobs to come back first?”

  “No. That might be a little more complicated. If you wait for him, you’ll have him, the dog, and the girl to contend with. Plus, if you break in, there’s no telling if Jacobs will shoot the lot of you as you get in. You might not ever even get to him. Get in there now. Take care of the girl. Then you’ll sit there and wait for Jacobs to get home. You can surprise him as he walks through the door. Then you can take out him and the dog before they know what hit them.”

  “What do you want us to do with the girl?”

  Ames didn’t hesitate. “Kill her.”

  “You don’t want us to bring her somewhere?”

  “No. I want her dead. Do you have a problem doing it?”

  “No, boss. Just wanted to make sure.”

  “In the event that Jacobs somehow manages to elude us again, losing another person that’s significant to him might just bring him to his knees. We might not ever have to deal with him again. The toll of another woman getting killed because of him might just shove him over the edge. He’ll end up in a straitjacket. Kill her. As violently as possible.”

  Sludge looked at his partner briefly. “You got it, boss.”

  “Let me know when it’s done.”

  Sludge put the phone down and looked at his partner again. “Looks like it’s go time.”

  The two men got out of the car and started walking towards Jacobs’ place. Sludge motioned to the men in the other car to start moving in. They’d go in through the back. Tiffany was still on the couch, reading her book. She was just starting to calm her nerves and put her mind at ease as she got more into the book. Then there was a knock on the door.

  Tiffany jumped out of her seat, the book shuffling off her lap and onto the couch. She let out a slight noise but quickly put her hand over her mouth in hopes of muffling any sound she might not realize she was making. She sat there, frozen, not moving a muscle. She stared at the door. She could only hope it was some salesperson going door-to-door, and they’d move on after a few seconds. Her heart was beating fast. It felt like it skipped a few beats. She started breathing heavier.

  Then there were a few more knocks. A lump went down Tiffany’s throat as she figured out what to do. There were a couple more knocks. They were getting louder. So were the beats in her chest. She started biting her lip.

  If there was one thing that Jacobs tried to beat into her head over the past couple months was that if he wasn’t there, she wasn’t to open the door for anyone. Not even Franks. And nobody else knew she was there.

  “Tiffany!” Sludge shouted through the door. “Tiffany! Open up!”

  Tiffany put both hands over her mouth, alarmed to hear her name called. How did they know her name? Jacobs told her he would never send anyone there for her. He didn’t trust anyone enough to do that, other than Franks. And that was not Franks’ voice.

  “Tiffany! Brett sent us over to get you. Please open up.”

  She started looking around, wondering where she should go. She had to get away. She had to hide. She jumped off the couch and ran to the back of the house and peeked out the corner of the window. She was horrified to see two men standing near the back door.

  “Oh my god, oh my god,” she whispered. “What am I gonna do?”

  She hurried back through the house, when she suddenly heard thumping on the door. It sounded like they were trying to break it down.

  “Tiffany, we know you’re in there!”

  She put her hands on her head and frantically looked around, not sure where she should go. She ran into the hallway. She still wasn’t sure where she was going. She then found herself in the bathroom. She locked the door. She quickly looked around, hoping she could put something in front of the door to prevent them from breaking through it. There was nothing, though.

  Tiffany jumped when she heard a loud bang. It was the sound of the men breaking through the front door. She started looking through the medicine cabinet, hoping she could find something she might be able to use to protect herself. She couldn’t find anything.

  Not knowing what else to do, she looked at the bathtub and jumped in it. There was a window just above it. The only chance she had now was to climb through it. As she fiddled with the window, she was startled when she heard the knob of the door jiggle. She turned back around, horrified to see that the door started moving. They were trying to break it down. She quickly went back to the window.

  Just as Tiffany got it opened, the door broke open, with two men rushing in. She looked back and let out a scream, desperately trying to jump up and climb through the window. The two men hurried over to her and grabbed hold of her, dragging her out of the bathtub. Tiffany let out a few screams and tried breaking free from the grasp of the two men, but it was to no avail. She even tried kicking her way out, but she just couldn’t get loose. The two men dragged her into the living room.

  “What now?” one of the men asked.

  Sludge responded. “Boss said he wanted it done as violently as possible.”

  “Rape her first?”

  Sludge shrugged. “Do what you want. Just make it fast. I don’t wanna be caught with our pants down if Jacobs suddenly shows up. Just hurry it up. Then we’ll slap her around a bit, maybe carve her up a bit, then we’ll put a bullet in her head.”

  Tiffany continued screaming, hoping someone would hear her and come to her rescue. Hearing what they had planned for her, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. As two of the men held her arms out, one of the men got on top of her.

  “Please!” Tiffany yelled.

  Suddenly, the front door swung open. Thrower ran into the room at full speed, launching his body at Sludge who was the only one standing. Thrower quickly got up, threw a punch at Sludge’s face, then turned around to face the rest of the men, who had now let go of Tiffany.

&n
bsp; Thrower didn’t wait for the other men to make the first move. Outnumbered as he was, he was going on the offensive. That was always his strategy when the odds weren’t in his favor. If he waited, that gave his opponents the upper hand. He had to put them on the defensive and give himself the advantage.

  Thrower charged at the man on his right, spearing him in the gut and taking him down. As they wrestled on the ground, the other men came over. That gave Tiffany time to crawl away. She leaned up against the far wall and watched for a second.

  The other two men picked Thrower up, grabbing each of his arms, holding him at bay for the third man to work him over. As the man got back to his feet and walked over to him, Thrower gave him a thrust kick between his legs. As the man hunched over, Thrower was able to wiggle his wrist free from the one man on his left. He then gave him a quick left hook, spun down on the ground and kicked out the legs of the remaining man, sending him down to the ground as well.

  Thrower quickly looked back at Tiffany. “Get out of here.”

  “What about you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. Get out.”

  Tiffany got up and ran out the door. Thrower turned his attention back to the men, just in time to receive a punch to the side of his face, sending him stumbling backwards. Thrower steadied himself, then the two men started trading punches. Within a few seconds, Thrower started to get the upper hand. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw Sludge standing in the corner of the room, pointing a gun at him.

  Reacting quickly, and on instinct, Thrower grabbed the man he was fighting, and put his arm around his throat, then used his positioning to slide around to the man’s back. Just as Sludge opened fire, Thrower yanked the other man in front of him, using him as a shield. Sludge emptied his gun into the man’s chest. Thrower kept the man in front of him for a second, then let the body fall to the floor.

  Thrower ran towards Sludge and launched himself at him again. He threw a punch that landed on Sludge’s head at the same time as he reached him. Sludge’s back and head slammed into the wall. He was a little shaky as Thrower began his assault.

  The man who got kicked in the groin finally made it back to his feet. He took out a knife and threw it at Thrower. Thrower yelled in agony as he felt the sharp steel blade lodge into his left leg. He looked down at it, and without thinking, yanked it out of his leg. Swapping it into his right hand, he then reached back, and threw it back at the man who it belonged to.

  The man screamed in pain as the blade went into the middle of his chest. He stood there for a second, in shock that it happened, then dropped to his knees. He fell over onto his side. With Thrower distracted, Sludge belted him on the back of the head, sending Thrower to his hands and knees on the ground.

  “Who are you?!” Sludge asked, putting his hands on Thrower’s head to pick him back up.

  “Your nightmare,” Thrower replied. He instantly started nailing Sludge with punches to his midsection, alternating between his left and right hands. He was going so fast it looked like Thrower was using the man as a speed bag.

  The other man who remained, besides Sludge, came along and put all his weight into slugging Thrower in the back. Thrower lost his balance and was forced into Sludge, both of them going down to the ground. As he rested on top of Sludge, Thrower put his hand on the left side of the man’s waist, feeling the handle of a knife. In one swift motion, Thrower removed the knife, rolled over, and shoved the blade into the man’s midsection.

  The man stood there for a moment, stunned at what just happened. As blood started pouring out of his stomach and onto the floor, he dropped to his knees. Thrower got to his feet, then watched as the man fell over onto his side. Sludge also got to his feet. The two remaining men just stood there, several feet apart, each of them looking at the other.

  “Looks like it’s just us now,” Sludge said.

  “Seems so.”

  With his weapons now gone, there was only one thing Sludge could do. He put his hands up, ready for a fight. Thrower tried to ignore the pain in his leg the best he could, and put his hands up as well. Sludge took a few steps in his opponent’s direction.

  “Who the hell are you, anyway?”

  “Just call me The Bodyguard.”

  “That’s gonna look a little funny on your tombstone.” Sludge threw a left jab that missed.

  Thrower responded with a kick from his good leg, though he winced a little, feeling the pain from standing on the bad one. Sludge mostly blocked it with his arm, anyway. Judging by the force he used with it, Thrower determined that if he was going to win this fight, he’d have to do it with his hands.

  “You know what’s gonna look funny on yours?” Thrower asked.

  “What’s that?”

  “They’re gonna write down that you died like a bitch.”

  Sludge immediately replied with a right hand that connected across the side of Thrower’s face. Wanting to seize on the opportunity, Sludge lunged forward and got in close, grabbing Thrower around his neck. The two men wrestled for a few seconds before they both finally went down to the ground.

  They continued wrestling, both of them getting in a few shots on the other. They tried punches, knees, elbows, anything they could to get a leg up on the other one. After a few minutes, though, Thrower used his superior combat skills to eventually slide around to Sludge’s back.

  Thrower put his arm around Sludge’s neck, choking the life out of him. And he wasn’t letting go until he felt the life drain out of Sludge’s body. Sludge tried fighting it. He slapped and punched at Thrower’s arm, kicked at him, scratched, everything he could think of to wiggle free. But he just couldn’t do it. Thrower’s grip was locked in tight.

  Slowly, Sludge’s movements indicated that he was losing the battle. His punches and kicks were becoming weaker with every second. After what seemed like an eternity, Sludge’s body finally went limp. There was no more fight within him. Thrower kept his grip locked on for a few extra seconds, just to make sure that the man was really dead. Once Thrower was sure Sludge’s time had expired, he let Sludge loose. He immediately fell to his side. Thrower felt the man’s neck. He was dead.

  Thrower slid back away from the dead body, giving himself a little room as he took some deep breaths. He looked around at what was left of the carnage. Four dead bodies. As the adrenaline started to die down, he put his hand on his leg, the pain becoming more intense.

  Thrower then grabbed Sludge’s arm and tore the sleeve right off of his shirt. He then wrapped it around his leg to stop the bleeding. Knowing he had to start moving, Thrower stood up and started walking for the door. As he reached it, he looked back at his victims. Considering what they were planning on doing, he had no sympathy for them.

  Thrower walked out of the house, limping. As he walked down the steps, Tiffany ran over to him. Seeing that he was hurt, she put his arm around her so she could help him walk.

  “I thought I told you to get out?”

  “I did,” Tiffany replied. “I was waiting over there by the cars. I couldn’t just leave without knowing what happened to you.”

  “Oh.”

  Tiffany looked back at the house. “What happened to them?”

  “You won’t have to worry about them anymore.”

  “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

  Thrower seemed unaffected by his injury, though he was touched by her concern. “All part of the job. Let’s get to my car over there.”

  “Thank you so much for helping me.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “If it wasn’t for you…”

  “Don’t even finish the sentence. Don’t think or worry about what might have happened. All that matters is what did. And now you’re safe.”

  “I’ll never be able to repay you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  Once they finally reached the car, Tiffany helped Thrower get in the back seat so he could stretch his leg out, while she got behind the wheel. She peeled out of the parking lot, though s
he wasn’t sure where she was going. She reached for her phone, then realized she didn’t have it.

  “Oh, no, I don’t have my phone.”

  “Use mine,” Thrower said. “It’s there on the passenger seat.”

  Tiffany reached over and grabbed it, then scrolled to Franks’ number. She didn’t want to call Jacobs in case he was busy with something, and she didn’t want to distract him if he was. Franks was the next best bet. He immediately picked up.

  “Eddie, we’re in trouble.”

  “Slow down, slow down, what’s wrong?” Franks asked.

  Tiffany then told him everything that had happened. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Just relax. Relax. I’ll send someone over there right now to clean up the scene.”

  “How are you gonna clean that up?”

  “Well, clean it up as in getting everything out of there that might identify you. The bodies are staying. It’s probably too late to get them out without being noticed. But I can have someone there in five minutes to do the rest.”

  “What about Nathan? Should I take him to the hospital?”

  “No. Don’t worry. I got a guy.”

  13

  Jacobs barged through the front door, surprised that it wasn’t locked. Gunner ran in front of him, going into the living room. When Jacobs got there, Tiffany ran over to him, giving him the biggest hug she could muster. Jacobs put his arms around her and held her tight. He put his face into her hair, getting as close to her as possible. He’d almost lost her. He knew it. It had almost happened again. And if it wasn’t for Thrower, it’d be a dramatically different scene right now. They pulled away from each other, looking into each other’s eyes.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Tiffany put her index finger in the air. “Don’t you do that. Don’t you even think about it.”

  “It’s my fault.”

  “Brett, I don’t want to hear that again. Stop. It was not your fault.”

  “She’s right, man, stop doing that to yourself,” Franks said. “All’s well that ends well.” Franks looked down at Thrower, who was sitting on the couch with his leg up. “Well, sort of speaking, if you know what I mean. I mean, not in your case.”