by Nova Rain
The night found me at the wheel of Jimmy’s van, its owner in the passenger seat and Joe and Bryan wrapping bars of C4 together in the back. The vehicle’s suspension had to look like a blur. It was working hard to absorb the vibrations from that crappy road. Less than a mile from our destination, Jimmy broke out his laptop once more.
“Alright.” His somewhat thin voice tore the silence. “Let’s see if there are any surveillance cameras in that warehouse.”
“You can check that?” I asked, curiosity written all over my face.
“Yes, sir,” Jimmy affirmed. “Surveillance cameras and their receivers operate at specific frequencies. I can detect their signal and order them to operate at another frequency. That’s how I disable them. Oh…” A sharp, continuous beep forced him to stop talking altogether. “It’s strange. I’m not picking up any signal. I thought Howard would want to protect his pot of gold.”
“It’s not that strange, kid,” Joe disagreed. “Most local cops are on his payroll. He doesn’t need surveillance cameras, because he thinks he’s untouchable.”
“It’s go time, motherfucker,” I said, the van rolling to a gentle halt outside the warehouse. Bryan crawled across the back to get the blowtorch as I hopped out.
“Turn her around,” Joe commanded Jimmy and joined me outside. My nostrils met with the pungent smell of wet grass, tiny drops of moisture shimmering on weeds under the moonlight. I felt some of them piercing through the fabric of my jeans as the three of us rushed over to the entrance of the warehouse. The clear night soon proved to be a welcome ally. It was so bright out there that we didn’t need flashlights.
Bryan flicked his lighter on and he brought it in front of the blowtorch. A small, blue flame sprang up over the tip, before he lowered it to the thick padlock. We all watched it eat away at the steel, and saw the van facing the direction from which we had come. The smell of burned metal rising up in the air, the padlock dropped to the ground. Joe and I gripped the handles almost at the same time. We pulled in opposite directions, the aluminum screeching along the rails. Bryan slipped his backpack off his shoulder and threw the blowtorch back in.
I walked off, pressing the “on” button on my flashlight. My friends did the same and followed me inside. That place was a drug lord’s heaven. Within seconds, we spotted eight rows of tables, parallel to one another. Digital scales were on them, along with spoons and piles of empty, nylon bags. Underneath each table were brown bags of either flour or baking powder. Amazed, I pointed the beam to the one nearest to me.
“Holy cow…” I whispered, noticing a white trace across the surface.
“Check this out.” Joe’s voice grabbed my attention, forcing me to look up. What I saw made my jaw drop to the floor. There were dozens of sacks up against the wall, piled on top of one another, and separated by a gray panel down the hall. The ones close to the door contained a brownish powder. I didn’t have to check the rest of them. Most likely, they contained China White…
“There’s got to be more than two tons of drugs in here,” Bryan commented, striding over to the right wall.
“Let’s get this over with,” I suggested, Joe leaving sets of explosives in my hand. I sprinted down the warehouse, my flashlight illuminating more traces of powder on the floor. I lifted it up and held it in my mouth, reaching into my back pocket. One by one, I taped four sets of C4 to the wall, one in each corner and two in the middle. I flipped their switches on, tiny bulbs over the bars flashing red in the dark.
I could feel my blood shooting through my veins like a bullet shooting out of a gun barrel. My heart was dancing in my chest to the fast rhythm of a mix of excitement, tension, and fear. This was my high. Put those three ingredients together, and I had no need for anything injected, snorted, or smoked. And the best thing about it? My senses were heightened, not numbed.
I spun around and ran back to the gate, the sound of another switch flipping on filling my ears. The sight of Jimmy’s blue van getting closer, I caught Bryan heading in my direction, out of the corner of my eye.
“All set,” Joe announced, jogging away from the left wall.
Exiting the warehouse, we slid the doors back shut and returned to the van.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I suggested, patting Jimmy’s wrist.
“Here.” Bryan slipped the detonator into Joe’s hand. “You should do the honors.”
“Thanks.” Our friend nodded, the van rolling down the bumpy road. “Ten, nine, eight…”
“I’d love to see the look on Howard’s face when he finds out about this,” I murmured, grinning from ear to ear.
“Three, two, one…”
Joe pressed the button at the end of the countdown. In an instant, a bright flash lit up the interior of the warehouse. Its side windows shattered into millions of pieces, their frames bowing outward as a massive fireball spewed out of them. I watched the roof in the passenger mirror shoot up in the air, huge chunks of aluminum, concrete and wood flying in all directions. One of those landed on the dry grass in front of the building, still smoldering. Before I could utter a word, the blast wave shook the entire van. I felt myself being pulled away from the door and towards Jimmy as the vehicle was tipped onto two wheels. I thrust my arm right and gripped the door handle, the empty fields disappearing from my line of sight. But, just then, the grip of that invisible force was loosened. My eyes meeting with the tall grass once more, the van bounced back on all four wheels.
“Yeah!” I cheered, slamming my fists onto the dashboard, sounds of joy and more cheers from behind me filling the air.
“I told you we’d do it!” Bryan laughed, his hands on Joe’s shoulders, our friend wearing a big smile of satisfaction.
“Thanks a lot for this, guys,” he said, squeezing my forearm while I watched the flames consume the warehouse. The side visible to me had been knocked over, flattening the grass underneath. What remained of the tables and the chairs we saw earlier, had spread around the property. Hundreds of small, burning pieces of wood had set fire to the grass, the main fire behind them still raging.
“There’s no need to thank us, man,” I assured him, my eyes on the mirror. “I couldn’t wait to see that sucker burn.”
“Well done, Jimmy,” he patted our driver on the back. “I’m going to need you to drive faster, though. That was one hell of a blast. It won’t take long for the fire department to get up here.”
“Gladly.” The boy obliged, putting his foot harder down on the accelerator. With the engine roaring in the wilderness, the van sped down the road, hitting rocks as it did.
“Not that fast, man,” I groaned, hanging on to the dashboard as the whole vehicle rocked back and forth. “You’ll shred those tires to pieces.”
“Sorry. I got too excited,” Jimmy said, easing the pressure on the accelerator. “It’s the adrenaline I guess.”
“I’m a little too excited, if you know what I mean,” I spoke, reaching across. “You have beautiful eyes, Jimmy. Did I ever tell you that?”
“What?!” He squealed, an expression of terror spreading across his face as he scooted away from me.
My friends and I burst out laughing, Bryan banging his head into Joe’s shoulder. I leaned back into my seat, holding my stomach, my spine flexing and extending.
“Oh, thank God…” Jimmy sighed in relief, adding to my amusement.
Our teasing didn’t stop there. Both Bryan and Joe continued to give some smart comments about his looks, long after the warehouse had disappeared into the night. Poor Jimmy… He was a geek amongst three “street” guys. In other words, he was defenseless against whatever came out of our mouths.
With the road up ahead leveling out, the town of Indian Springs spread out in front of us. Just after the last, right bend, I lost my mood to taunt the boy. A black, pickup truck was hurtling up the road, its headlights off. Tension tightened the back of my neck. No matter how clear the night was, one would simply not drive like that, unless they wanted to avoid being detected. I parte
d my lips, noticing an arm emerge from the passenger’s side. The crackling sound of a bullet ripped through the night, confirming my fears. The slug lodging into the hood, I reached back.
“Give me a goddamn rifle and get down.” I urged, my palm upward. Feeling the cold metal on my skin, I lowered the window and launched myself out. I shoved a magazine into place and pressed my eye to the scope. Just twenty yards from my target, I aimed at the windshield and squeezed the trigger. The sounds of my bullets resounded through the emptiness, large, muzzle flashes erupting from the tip of the barrel. I watched the windshield break into pieces, the handle of the rifle brushing my coat. The truck’s driver swerved right, until its front bumper hit the dirt, bringing it to a grinding halt. Jimmy slammed the brakes, the van’s tires skidding across the dirt.
“I’ll go check,” I uttered in a fast voice, opening my door. With the rifle still in my grasp, I ran around the Transit. Looking down, it occurred to me that those two weren’t a threat anymore. They were lying dead in their seats, blood oozing from wounds in their heads and their chests. But just when I was about to leave, a buzzing cell phone convinced me to stay there a little longer. The device was lying on the driver’s right knee, among tiny shards of glass. I reached in and picked it up, the caller ID flashing:
“Mr. Howard.”
I swiped my finger across the screen and raised it up to my ear.
“Talk to me, Francis.” A hoarse voice was on the other end of the line. “Are you there yet? Did you see who did it?”
“I’m sorry, Dennis, but Francis is unavailable right now. He’s busy dying.” Sarcasm was dripping from my tongue.
“Who is this?”
“I’m the guy who put a bullet in his head.”
“Listen to me, you little asshole…”
“No, you listen to me, you fuck!” I interrupted him. “You wanted a war? You got a war!”
I slammed the phone down on the asphalt and turned away from the pickup truck, fuming with anger.
“Howard sends his best,” I spoke in a stiff voice, getting back into the van.
“We need to plan our next move,” Joe suggested. “I’m open to ideas.”
“Later, man,” I sighed and leaned back in my seat. “We’ll do it later. Man, I’m exhausted.”
Luckily for me, Joe didn’t insist. I was drained. I doubted I could concentrate on anything else other than resting my weary bones.
“Take us out of Indian Springs, Jimmy,” he addressed the boy in a calm tone.
“I’ll have to enter the town,” Jimmy pointed out, the first houses of that scenic place coming into view.
I was staring at the small homes on either side, when his laptop beeped behind my seat.
“Huh?” He huffed in surprise, looking back at the machine for a moment.
“What is it?”
“That’s my cell signal alert,” he explained. “After we got attacked in my place in Tribeca, Joe asked if there was a way for me to track down Michelle and Ava’s phones. So, I went on the dark web and bought an app that does just that. It’s got limited range, but it works fine.”
“It says here they’re both in the same place.” Joe interjected, his face twisting into an expression of confusion. “It’s eighty yards down the road.”
“That must be it,” Jimmy presumed, pointing up at a yellow, flashing sign on the left side of the road.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ava
“To second chances.”
I clinked my glass of wine with Michelle’s, flashing her a bright-eyed look.
“I’ll drink to that.” She smiled in response, bringing her own glass to her mouth.
“Promise me something,” I requested. “That we’ll do this more often in New York. Ooh!” My brows shot up. “We should ask Helena to join us.”
“Oh please.” Michelle rolled her eyes at me. “That girl wouldn’t drink alcohol if her life depended on it. I’ll think about it. I can’t promise anything, though. I don’t want to make Joe feel neglected.”
“Because we’ll go out with each other once a month for drinks?” I asked, curiosity sending my voice up an octave.
“If it’s just once a month, I think he’ll be fine,” she assured me with a grin.
At that point, a knock on the door had us both staring at each other in confusion and disbelief. Without breaking her silence, Michelle padded towards the door.
“Don’t open it,” I urged, leaving my glass on the nightstand as she pressed her eye to the peephole.
“You’re not going to believe this,” she stated, looking back at me. “It’s Joe and Donny.”
“Excuse me?!” I exclaimed, my heart racing in my chest. “How…?”
She didn’t allow me any time to pose my question. Michelle swung the door open, the sheer size of the two men outside not leaving any room for doubt.
“Let’s give these two some privacy,” Joe suggested, taking her by the hand. Donny walked in, our eyes meeting across the room. For a moment, I believed he was someone else. That grim expression on his face and that sullen look in his eyes were totally new to me. He seemed to have left the cool, laid back guy back in New York City.
“H-how…?” I stuttered, watching him draw near. “How did you guys find us?”
“Through some…” He paused. “Computer app. Don’t ask. I don’t know jack about technology.”
“Before you say anything, please, let me explain myself,” I requested, my tone mellower than usual. “I was really upset when you told me to go to Barcelona. I couldn’t imagine being so far away from you. Neither could Michelle for that matter. Following you guys here was her idea.”
“Why?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Why did you follow us here? It’s not like we’d see each other.”
“Because being five thousand miles away wouldn’t be the same as being…”
“What, fifty miles away?” He interrupted me, his voice rising in volume and speed. “Being apart is being apart. What’s the difference?”
“I just wanted to be close to you,” I assumed a soft tone, looking up into his eyes. “I know it doesn’t make much sense, but…”
“No, no, no…” He shook his head in disapproval, stopping inches from me. “You don’t get it, do you? The guy that blew up Joe’s mall isn’t some chump who likes to play with dynamite, Ava. He’s the real deal. I read some old articles about him on our way over. Back in 2007, a valet at his casino made the mistake of telling his daughter she was pretty. You know what he did to him?”
“What?”
“He cut his freaking head off and dumped his body in the desert.” His words sent shivers of disgust over my skin. “The cops only found him when they spotted a couple of dogs chewing on the poor bastard’s remains. That’s who we’re dealing with. And what do you do? You come to his turf. You offer yourself to a goddamn psychopath. I’m pretty sure he’d love to chop you to pieces and make me watch.”
“I’m sorry, Donny,” I responded in a broken whisper, feeling moisture gathering in my eyes. “I had no idea about all that.”
“You knew about the bombing!” He cried out, casting a vicious glare down at me. “You were there! And you knew about the fucking shooting in Tribeca! I told you about it the night it happened! Did you really need more? Huh? Did you need details about other shit that psycho’s been involved in?”
“Oh, God…” I gave a sigh of despair, tearing my gaze away from him.
“You know, I liked your wackiness.” He assumed a lower tone, his face still stiff. “It’s one of the things that attracted me to you. But there’s a huge difference between wackiness and recklessness. What the hell were you thinking, Ava? That I’d kill that prick and we’d dance over his body?”
“No.” I whispered, lifting my gaze back up to his.
“I can’t do this,” he muttered under his breath, biting his lower lip. “If—and that’s a big if—I make it out of here alive, chances are I’ll do something similar in the future. It’s who I
am. And I can’t…” He faltered. “I can’t be with someone that doesn’t think straight. I can’t be with someone who thinks it’ll be fun to follow me to my enemy’s turf.”
“What are you saying?” I wondered, my heartbeat escalating as tears blurred my vision.
“It’s over, Ava,” he uttered in a faint voice, taking a step back.
“You don’t mean that,” I whispered, his words cutting me to my core. “You can’t mean that.”
“I’m sorry.” He mumbled and turned his back on me. The sound of the door clicking shut was like someone driving a blade through my gut. I tumbled to the bed beside me and burst into tears, recognizing the familiar hurt of a breakup, the hurt I thought I would never experience with that man. We had forgotten our past differences. We had been building something great together. Now, our relationship was in ruins, because I had made one mistake. It was insane to think about it, but that’s what it was.: a single mistake. Apparently however, it meant much more to Donny. It meant that he could no longer trust me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Donny
I gave her a ticket to Barcelona, and she wound up forty miles outside of Vegas with Michelle. Man, I must have been dreaming.
As much as I hated to admit it, this wasn’t a dream. It was a reality beyond my wildest imagination. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a single reason why they thought this was a good idea. What would they get out of this? We wouldn’t have seen each other. Those two would’ve been together, in a place where neither Joe nor I had any power. All they could get, was a truckload of danger, along with an even bigger amount of fear.
Fear? No. Scratch that. Were those two afraid, they would have gone to Europe like we agreed. Instead, they believed that Joe and I were on a mission to take out some schmuck that liked to play with explosives.