High Velocity

by Mike Ryan

  “Like what?”

  Nowak pointed at him. “Like this. You sitting in a chair tied up. Adversaries with me. Enemies.”

  “I hadn’t thought of us as enemies.”

  “But you’re stepping in between my business dealings, costing me money.”

  “Told you I would,” Recker said. “You wanna do illegal stuff with other illegal people, that’s on you and I really don’t care. When you bring innocent people into things, that’s when I get involved.”

  “I’d hardly call Mr. Brinson an innocent party.”

  “Oh, come on, hooking him up with a woman so he’d cheat on his wife and help you embezzle funds isn’t exactly the same as comparing him to a thief or a murderer who does it because he enjoys it.”

  Nowak walked around Recker’s chair, putting her hand on his shoulder and running it across his back. “You know something? I really like you. I really do. I’m not sure what it is about you, but I find you have a magnetic personality that draws me closer to you.”

  “If only I had a dollar for every time I heard that.”

  “But there’s one thing that really irritates me about you and it’s that high moral compass you walk around with.”

  “I’m surprised there’s only one.”

  “You see, you’re already proving to be a pain.”

  “Not the first time I’ve heard that either,” Recker said.

  “And I can’t have you going around, continuing to interfere in my business. Especially as I’m going up against Vincent.”

  “Is this where you and I part company?”

  Nowak put her hand on his face and rubbed his cheek. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Not if we come to an understanding.”

  “Such as?”

  “Well, let’s look at your options here. I will offer you a deal because I like you and I really value what you could bring to the table.”

  “Encouraging.”

  “Agree to help me, not interfere in my business again, and you can walk out of here with all your body parts still attached as God has given you.”

  “And if I don’t agree?” Recker asked.

  “Well, I’m afraid you’re kind of a loose canon. And as much as I like you, I can’t afford to have you running around the city getting in my way again. So, as a consequence, you’d have to be buried here.” Since Recker was tied up and couldn’t reject her advances, Nowak sat on his lap then kissed him on the lips. “Or you could join me.” Nowak then kissed him again, hoping to weaken his defenses and bring him to his senses.

  Recker still wasn’t the least bit interested in joining her but knew he had to do something quickly. Though he assumed somebody was coming, thanks to leaving his com on, he couldn’t be sure when that help was arriving. The only thing he could do was stall.

  “So, what’s it gonna be?” Nowak asked.

  Recker softened his stance, trying to make it seem like he was interested in her. “Doesn’t seem like it’s much of a choice, does it?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I guess my mind’s made up then.”

  Nowak then planted another kiss on him, Recker pretending that he enjoyed this one. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

  “So, what do we do first?” Recker asked.

  “I have plans. We’ll discuss them later.”

  Though Nowak was enjoying sitting on his lap, she finally got off him, though she couldn’t resist touching him some more. She eventually was able to break her hand away from him and walked back over to Hernandez.

  “Untie him,” Nowak said.

  Hernandez looked at Recker, not really sure about doing what he was told. He didn’t trust him as much as his boss seemed to. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Yes. He’ll play ball with us.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “He’ll do what he’s told.”

  “But what if he takes off after we leave here and we don’t see him again?” Hernandez asked.

  “We don’t have to worry about that. Because he won’t be on his own from here on out. We will always have a few people with him to make sure he complies with what we want.”

  “But we can’t have someone with him twenty-four, seven, can we?”

  Nowak smiled. “Why not? If he’s not with you guys, then he’ll be with me.”

  “OK, if you say so.”

  “Untie him and bring him to the new place,” Nowak said, walking toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have something else to deal with right now. Take him to the new place and wait until I get there.”

  “As you say.”

  Nowak left the building, taking with her the three men who she left waiting outside. Once she was gone, Hernandez went back over to Recker. He still didn’t have a good feeling about untying him and letting him loose. He wasn’t as confident as his boss he was going to join their team. Hernandez took a deep breath, then walked around the back of Recker and started cutting loose the rope. Recker stretched his arms around, then got up from the chair.

  “Boss seems to put a lot of faith into you,” Hernandez said. “Me… not so much. You do anything other than what she tells you and I’ll put a bullet in you myself.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  “See that you do.”

  Recker put his hand out, hoping to get what belonged to him. “Can I have my guns back now?”

  Hernandez smiled and shook his head. “Not just yet. Not until we actually see you’re upholding your end of things.”

  “Well how am I gonna do that if I don’t have my stuff?”

  “When the time comes.”

  Then, Recker heard Jones’ voice in his ear. “Mike, Chris will be there momentarily.” Recker tilted his head and moved it around so it wasn’t obvious someone was in his ear. It was a good thing his com device was so small it wasn’t noticeable unless someone really was looking for it.

  “All right, let’s go,” Hernandez said, pointing to the door with his gun. Recker walked in front of everyone. Once he got to the door and opened it, he stopped. “Why are you stopping?”

  “Sorry,” Recker replied. “Habit. I never go through a door without knowing what’s on the other side. Something I picked up over the years.”

  Hernandez wasn’t impressed and didn’t want to hear it. “Keep going.”

  Recker did as he was told and stepped outside, looking around to see if he could see Haley. He couldn’t, but he sure hoped he was there. He was only a couple of feet from the car when another voice boomed in his ear.

  “Hernandez is to your left,” Haley said. “You take him, I’ll take out the others. I’ll shoot on your move.”

  Seeing as how he was almost at the car, Recker wasted no time in following Haley’s directions. Almost immediately, he twirled around and rushed Hernandez, spearing him in the gut with his shoulder, knocking them both to the ground. The blow from Recker knocked the gun from Hernandez’ hand. As they wrestled on the ground, the other three removed their guns to help their teammate. Haley was on a rooftop on the building directly facing the food factory entrance. As soon as the other three removed their guns, Haley opened fire with his sniper rifle. Within the span of a few seconds, he had successfully taken out the other three men without much of a struggle. The men didn’t know where the shots were coming from and didn’t have a chance to make it back inside the building for cover.

  After a couple minutes of wrestling, Recker got the upper hand after delivering a few punches to the side of Hernandez’ face. Recker reached for the gun lying on the ground and grabbed hold of it. Just as he did, Hernandez hurriedly removed one of his other guns to try to stop Recker’s progress. Recker quickly spun around on the ground and fired three shots rapidly in succession, all of which lodged into Hernandez’ midsection. The man instantly dropped to his knees, then face down on the ground as the blood he was losing quickly soaked the rest of his body, as well as the concrete underneath him.

&nb
sp; Recker got up and checked each of the men to see if any were still breathing, though none of them were. He then looked for Haley but didn’t see where he was. A few seconds later, he noticed Haley’s car zooming in. Recker quickly hopped in as they sped out of the area.

  “A little close for comfort,” Recker said.

  Haley smiled. “Had it all the way. Where to?”

  “Let’s head to that hotel Nowak’s staying.”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause I don’t like her.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Recker let Jones know he was OK and where they were heading. Though Jones objected to their destination, Recker didn’t pay much mind to him and went anyway. When they got to the hotel, they cautiously moved through it, not sure if Nowak’s men would be waiting for them. Recker thought it unlikely since he didn’t think word would get back to her so soon, but he couldn’t say for sure. They eschewed the elevator and went up the stairs.

  “What’s the plan?” Haley asked, trying to keep up with his partner, though he was falling a little behind due to his leg.

  “Shoot whoever gets in our way.”

  “Oh. Good plan.”

  “You all right?” Recker asked.

  “A little sore. No big deal.”

  “I can take care of it on my own.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Do it like last time?”

  “No, I think they’re on to that trick by now. Let’s just rush them.”

  Once they finally got to Nowak’s floor, they could immediately tell something was different. They looked toward her room and didn’t see the guards. That was a red flag right away. She wouldn’t have left herself unprotected like that.

  “Maybe they’re all inside having a powwow,” Haley said.

  “I kind of doubt it.”

  The two men hurried over to the door. Recker took a quick jiggle of the handle to see if it was open, but it was locked. Recker then bent down to pick the lock as Haley stood guard and watched for any unwelcomed visitors passing by. After a minute, Recker had the door unlocked. He slowly opened it as the two men stepped inside. Once in, they split off to check the room. But there was no one there. After a few minutes, the two met back up in the main room.

  “Empty,” Haley said.

  Recker sighed, wishing Nowak was there. If she was, he could’ve ended her entire organization then and there. Now, they’d probably have to start over.

  They stayed a few minutes to search the drawers, cabinets, and closets to see if any information had been left behind, but there was nothing of value. They let Jones know their findings then went straight back to the office. Jones was already hard at work trying to find out Nowak’s new location when the boys got back there.

  “Anything?” Recker asked.

  Jones voiced a loud sigh, which was all the response that Recker needed. “I’m afraid not.”

  “She just up and vanished?”

  “She checked out of her room yesterday.”

  “And you can’t get a fix on her now?”

  “Unfortunately, not,” Jones answered. “Everything I used to track her before has been no help. Phone, cards, everything’s been silent the last few days.”

  “Most likely she’s switched everything,” Haley said.

  “Undoubtedly so.”

  “Damn,” Recker said. “If she had stayed one more day we could’ve ended things.” He was more than a little disappointed in the developments, as he knew that meant Nowak would be around a lot longer, since she’d now have some time to regroup. He viewed Nowak as a much more dangerous threat than Vincent as she didn’t seem like she was as interested as Vincent was in having a business arrangement that benefited both of them. She was only out for herself.

  “The only thing we can do right now is put her to the side and work on other things,” Jones said. “At some point I’m sure she’ll turn up and we’ll run into her again.”

  “Sooner rather than later probably.”

  “Yes, well, in the meantime, we can start working again on our own things.”

  Recker then looked at Haley. “Assuming you’re well enough to keep things going for a week, you can do it without me, if that’s all right.”

  “Works for me,” Haley said.

  “Why?” Jones asked. “Where do you intend on going?”

  “You forget that Mia thing?”

  “Oh yes. I had forgotten for a moment.”

  “She hasn’t.”

  “You’d like to go now?”

  “No time like the present,” Recker answered.

  “Well, since it’s relatively slow at the moment, I see no harm in it,” Jones said.

  “Good, ‘cause I never thought I’d say this.”

  “What?”

  “I think I need a vacation.”

  About the Author

  Mike Ryan is the popular author of the bestselling Silencer Series. Sign up for his newsletter on his website to be notified of all new releases. Fans can also vote on book-related topics on his website and let him know your thoughts. Visit his website at www.mikeryanbooks.com

  Also by Mike Ryan

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