In The Line of Fire Boxset 5 Books in 1 (Thriller Stories To Keep You up all Night)

by Rhiley McCabe

  “Let’s split up,” Tate said, “we’ll cover more ground that way. We’ll continue in groups of two.”

  Everyone looked at Matthew and then at Tate; he immediately realized the problem and rolled his eyes at Ruiz for bringing such a dangerous and unpredictable man along.

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  “Matthew, since you’re the best among us, you don’t need backup. The rest of us will only slow you down anyway, right?”

  “Right, right, right…” Matthew chanted, “I don’t work well with others.” He said in a remarkably normal tone, scratching his scalp with an unsheathed knife.

  “It’s settled, then.” Tate continued, “Ruiz, you’re with me. Tobi, Philo, Philip, you head toward those rocks to check it out. Matthew, you just do what you do best.”

  Matthew disappeared immediately.

  “Watch out for that guy.” Tate told the others before he and Ruiz headed off.

  “Now what?” Carlos whispered as they watched the Tate and the assassins head off in different directions.

  They had been lying silently in the long grass, barely five yards away from the group as they talked about splitting up.

  “We find Jason, kill him and get the hell out of here. I need to get to The Syndicate before that asshole does.”

  “Listen, mon,” Badrick cautioned, “those are not your average criminals. We can’t take them on. That Nigerian, his name is Tobi… He could take out all of us with his eyes blindfolded.”

  “He’s right, jefe… Let’s be smart about it.” Carlos looked around, “Did you guys see where that psycho disappeared to?”

  No one answered.

  Leo was desperate to get rid of the cop. He was desperate to prove he was worthy of his position within 218

  The Syndicate; that he was better than Tate Mike, a worthless pawn who wouldn’t even know of the organization’s existence if he hadn’t been the District Attorney of New York City… But he also knew he was in over his head. The three of them could take out two, maybe three of Tate’s men. The rest would overpower them.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he finally said, “We’ll track down the cop when the dust settles.”

  Slowly and stealthily, they moved back to the car. A figure pounced on Badrick, taking him to the ground.

  Leo and Carlos both pointed their guns, but they couldn’t see who was who in the dust and darkness.

  “Aargh!” An unfamiliar voice exclaimed. The figure rolled to the side.

  “Bitch!” Badrick shouted and tried to get up, but the figure pounced again. Badrick let out a painful cry and grabbed his face. The figure struggled to his feet and limped to a bush.

  Badrick kneeled and wailed like a baby, holding on to his face.

  “Shut up!” Leo reprimanded, to no effect. “Shit! Carlos, shut him up.”

  Carlos eyed Leo with contempt and carefully approached Badrick, “What’s wrong, man?” He put a hand on Badrick’s shoulder.

  “My eye…” Badrick moaned, still covering his face.

  “Get up.” Carlos pulled him to his feet, “Look at me.” He forced Badrick’s hands away from his face.

  “Oh, man…” said Carlos.

  A rustle came from the bushes. Carlos and Leo both pulled out their guns and shot toward the shrubs. A shot 219

  came from there and barely missed Leo. Carlos shot five times. They heard a few grunts, followed by a loud thud.

  “Where are you?!” Leo recognized Tate’s voice in the distance.

  “Come on!” He said to Carlos.

  Leo led the way to the car. Carlos grabbed Badrick by the arm and pulled him along.

  “My eye…” Badrick said desperately as they rushed along.

  “We’re almost there.” Carlos encouraged.

  “Over here!” Tobi called. He switched on his flashlight so the others could find him.

  “Did you get him?” Tate asked excitedly as he approached.

  “Nope… He got Matthew.” Tobi shone his flashlight to the ground and revealed Matthew’s dead, glassy eyes staring up at them. A broken blade was sticking out just above his left kneecap, and he had several bullet wounds.

  “What’s that in his hand?” Tate asked, pointing to Matthew’s clenched, bloody fist.

  Philip kneeled down and opened his hand. He smiled and picked up an eyeball.

  “Souvenir?” He offered it to Tate, who looked away in disgust. The others cackled.

  “Psycho down…” Philo added comically.

  Tate hit Philo against the temple with the gun in his hand. “Funny guy, eh?”

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  They heard a car engine roar.

  “After them, right now!” Tate yelled.

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  CHAPTER FOUR

  Romero watched in amusement as the two cars zoomed off. He took off his night-vision goggles and shook his head. He had been stalking Tobi, Philo and Philip when several gunshots went off in the distance.

  Like trigger-happy maniacs, they dashed off in that direction. It disgusted him that they were among the top assassins in the world. A bunch of morons.

  It disappointed him when they all took off in such a hurry… He wanted to have some fun. Initially, he was worried about taking them on. He had never seen or worked with any of them before, so he had always assumed they were well trained and disciplined—like him. Their spectacle on his property proved him wrong.

  In fact, it kind of embarrassed him that he had to be associated with them. The only one who seemed to know what he was doing was the crazy guy.

  When he saw Matthew stalking Leo and his gang, he knew he’d only have to sit and wait for the idiots to destroy each other. He would then pick off whoever remained.

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  Oh, Leo… Your head grew too big, man. All power-hungry maggots fall, eventually. And Tate, how desperate you became.

  That was your mistake. Neither of you will have a place in that organization now.

  At that thought, he remembered seeing something fall from Leo’s pocket as he ran through the bushes. He stood up gently and headed in that direction. When he got to the spot where he thought he saw something fall from Leo’s pocket, he fumbled in his webbing vest, got a flashlight and scanned the ground. After twenty minutes of finding nothing but rocks and twigs, he let out a few cuss words and stood up. As he walked away, something cracked under his one shoe.

  “Are you okay?” Beatrice wanted to know—wide, blue eyes staring into his dark soul when he entered the room.

  “What happened out there?” Jason spoiled their second of bliss.

  “They’re gone.”

  Beatrice gasped; her hand instinctively covered her mouth. Jason took hold of his nose bridge, wondering how he would explain the District Attorney’s death without concrete evidence of his involvement with The Syndicate.

  “You killed all of them?” Jason asked, dismayed.

  “Not all of them…” He took off his webbing, “In fact, I didn’t have the pleasure of killing anyone.” He added with obvious disappointment in his voice. His face dropped when he saw Beatrice’s scornful expression. He walked to the table where his guns and ammunition lay and put the webbing vest down carefully.

  “What does that mean? We heard the gunshots.” Beatrice said with a croaky voice. Romero looked at her with 223

  concern. He wanted to approach her, but he didn’t know how, so he stood frozen.

  “She asked you a question.” Jason said.

  Romero turned to Jason, “One of your boss’s men got shot by Leo, or one of his guys. His corpse is in the bushes outside.”

  “What did I get myself into?” Beatrice said to no one in particular. She let out a sigh.

  “I’m sorry…” Romero mumbled.

  “Oh, please!” Jason retorted, “Are you sorry about all the innocent women and children you’ve murdered? All the good men?”

  Romero squinted his eyes at Jason and approached him slowly, like a predator. Jason clenched his jaw, well aware of the fact that he was at a
serious disadvantage with his wounded hand. Romero halted a few inches from him.

  He was at least a head higher than Jason and twice his size.

  “You’re brave, or incredibly stupid.” Romero said.

  He didn’t show it, but Jason’s ability to look him straight in the eyes took him aback. He was used to seeing fear and cowardice whenever he made intimidating displays.

  But all he saw in Jason was hatred and unpredictability.

  “Where are they now?” Beatrice asked.

  Romero’s attention immediately turned to her, “They took off.” He looked at Jason again and backed off, walking away with his hands in his pockets, “I’m guessing Leo made a run for it and your boss pursued him. Congratulations, you get to live another day, cop… Ah!”

  “What?” Jason and Beatrice asked in unison.

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  Romero revealed a dusty, black object from his pocket, “I almost forgot about this,” he blew over it and examined it.

  Beatrice approached him, “A flash drive?”

  Romero nodded, “Leo dropped it.” He handed it to her.

  She looked at it and frowned, “It’s broken, let’s see if we can get anything off it.” She walked to the bag she had brought along from her house and took out her laptop.

  “Good find.” She said to Romero while waiting for the machine to start up.

  Jason started pacing up and down. He felt conflicted about Romero—something he had never experienced with a criminal. Not even Mary, whom he had trusted with his life before he discovered her true colors, got any sympathy from him. He was so close to killing her that night he took her to the safe house… He halted and closed his eyes.

  “Will you not listen to my side of the story? You’ve always been reasonable.” She had pleaded that night. He wouldn’t have any of it. Now she’d never be able to tell him her side of the story. Perhaps he should have listened…

  “Urgh!” Beatrice threw her hands up.

  “Did I break it too much?” Romero asked guiltily. Beatrice looked up at him with sympathetic eyes.

  “No, not at all…” She smiled, “The drive in encrypted and I need a password.”

  “Well, that settles it.” Jason said, “I’m calling this in. I’ve had enough.”

  “Hold on a second,” Beatrice protested and turned to Romero, “You don’t happen to have an Alienware, do you?”

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  He smiled, “I do… But what for?”

  “I need its processing power to see if I can crack the password.”

  Romero nodded and disappeared into another room.

  “Just let my try. If it doesn’t work, we can go.” Beatrice assured Jason, who gave her an annoyed nod. She rolled her eyes, “I haven’t forgotten that you wanted to say something.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Earlier… When I asked if you’re going to arrest him.

  You were going to say something, but you stopped yourself.”

  Jason stared at her, pretending to be dumbstruck, “You’re mistaken. I said what I wanted to.”

  “About what?” Romero asked as he reappeared with a slim, black laptop. He handed it to Beatrice.

  “Mind your own business.” Jason said and seated himself next to Beatrice.

  “It’s not working,” Jason said when the password request popped up.

  “Hold on, let me do my thing.” Beatrice insisted. Her fingers flew expertly over the keyboard.

  After ten minutes, Jason stood up and took out his phone.

  “Don’t you dare!” Beatrice shouted, holding an index finger in the air while staring at the screen. “Aaand… I’m in!” She said excitedly, clapping her hands together in triumph. “Told you to let me do my thing.” She said while eying Jason.

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  He sighed and sat next to her again, “Let’s see if it’s worth anything,” he grumbled.

  Romero grabbed the bottle of vodka from earlier and gulped it down. He carefully approached the other two; they stopped what they were doing and looked up at him.

  “Do you mind?” He asked politely, pointing to the open spot next to Beatrice.

  “No… No, not at all. Please,” She said like a love-struck teenager. He approached slowly and sat down awkwardly, a good 15 inches away from her.

  “Arab missions… Germany missions…” Beatrice read the folder names, “Guys, these look like jobs Leo might have completed for The Syndicate,” she said. “Oh, no…”

  She added in a sad tone.

  “What?” Jason and Romero asked as one man.

  “There’s a folder on you, Romero.” She pointed it out with her finger. Romero scoffed, apparently unphased.

  Beatrice looked to Jason with pleading eyes. He stared at her, expressionless.

  “Open one of them.” Romero encouraged.

  Beatrice opened the Arab folder. It was full of drug supply contracts, recorded phone conversations and photos.

  “So, his some big-shot drug-dealer with a high rank in The Syndicate…” Jason said, stroking his chin, “And he recorded all his dealings.”

  “Probably to blackmail them,” Romero added, “That’s probably why he has one on me, too.” He said angrily.

  Beatrice exited the folder to see what else they could find. “Members? What’s that?” She asked and opened it.

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  “Wow…” Beatrice said as the laptop loaded thousands of files with names. It contained detailed records of every Syndicate member. “How did he gather this under their noses?” She wondered.

  “Open the folder that says Top Three,” Jason instructed.

  Leo looked back and saw headlights coming closer. He stepped on the gas to speed up.

  “They’re behind us!” He shouted.

  “Urgh!” Carlos exclaimed, “Badrick, are you okay?”

  Badrick let out a sinister laugh, “Yes, mon! Now I’ll look even meaner.” He flashed a smile.

  Carlos looked out the back window. The car was closing in fast. “We need to shake them, Leo!”

  “Thank you, captain obvious!” Leo yelled angrily.

  A bullet wheezed past the car into the darkness.

  “Shit!” Carlos yelled. He and Badrick bent down. Leo went as low as he could without losing sight of the road.

  Bullets ignited the darkness from Tate’s car, now right behind them. A bullet hit the back windshield, shattering it all over Carlos and Badrick.

  Leo cursed as he violently swerved to the right in an attempt to shake them off. But Tate was behind them like glue.

  “Don’t be so useless!” Leo shouted to the back, “Shoot them!”

  Carlos and Badrick looked to each other as if they knew it was the end. They picked up their automatic rifles.

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  When the gunshots from behind subsided a little, they opened fire on Tate’s car.

  Tobi was the one who fired as soon as Leo’s car was in range.

  “What the hell do you think you are doing?” Tate bawled, “You’ll attract the entire police force!”

  “You’ll never get them otherwise!” Tobi replied.

  Tate knew he was right. It needed to be over before they entered the city. If Leo got away, he’d probably disappear and return with vengeance one day. Or worse—expose The Syndicate. It was a world in which no one could be trusted. He kept records on some Syndicate activities and members for insurance, and he knew Leo was smart enough to do the same.

  “Everyone! Shoot those bastards down!” Tate said and sped up to get closer to Leo’s car.

  Ruiz, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately took action. He rolled down the side windshield and shot at the moving car in front of them. He emptied his cartridge and shattered Leo’s rear windshield. The others joined in the shooting, which gave off a brilliant show of yellowish and bright sparks in the darkness.

  As Tobi struggled to replace his cartridge, a bullet from Leo’s car pierced his neck. His hand went limb and blood gushed out. Philo tried to pull b
ack through the window as bullets from the other car flew by. Another bullet hit Tobi in the face and his body went limp.

  “Shit!” Philo yelled as he struggled to hold on to Tobi’s weight. He had to let go. Tobi’s body smashed violently onto the tar.

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  “AAAH!” Tate yelled in frustration, swerving the car to dodge the rolling body and bullets coming from Leo’s car. “Shoot that car down!” He demanded.

  “Ruiz!” Philip called, “Take this, you’re a better shot.” He handed him a HK123 machine gun with a belt of rounds attached to it.

  Ruiz nodded and took it. He smashed the remains of the bullet-ridden windshield. He rested the gun on the dashboard.

  “Machine gun!” Carlos shouted.

  One of Leo’s tires popped—the burst let out echoes in the darkness. Leo lost control of the steering and the car swerved violently off the road, banging into a tree.

  Tate squawked like a maniac as he pulled his car off the road. The others joined in with hoots and laughter. They jumped out of the car and eagerly approached the crash site. They found Badrick first. He lay on the back seat, paralyzed and gasping for air. He could only look on with his remaining eye as Philip gripped his hands tightly around his neck.

  “Nighty, night…” Philip said as Badrick gasped and gargled.

  “Leo?” Tate asked his men.

  “He’s not in the car,” Ruiz answered, “Looks like he flew through the windshield.”

  Tate scanned the ground and saw Leo trying to crawl away about six feet from the car. He walked over and kicked him. He moaned slightly. Tate turned him around.

  His face was covered in blood and dirt, and his nose was 230

  badly broken. Tate smirked and gave him another hard kick. Small grunts escaped from Leo.

  “That’s for the trouble you put me through.” He stomped on Leo’s stomach.

  “Hey!” Ruiz called out and approached, “He’s mine…”

  “Be my guest,” Tate said and gestured toward Leo with an open arm.

  Ruiz kneeled down next to Leo, who stared at him with wide, apologetic eyes. He tried to say something, but the agony was too much. Ruiz slapped him a few times against the cheek.

  “Don’t you go dying too soon, now.”

  Ruiz rose and kicked Leo a few times in the side. He had no energy to protest, so he just lay there. Ruiz went down again and kneeled over him. “This is for Rico!” He pounded Leo’s face with all his might until blood and saliva covered his fists. Leo went limp.