by Mike Ryan
Before putting the car in gear, Jacobs looked over at his partner. “You ready?”
Thrower held his gun up. “Locked and loaded. Let’s do it.”
Jacobs put the car in drive and put his foot on the gas, almost putting the pedal through the floor. He had his right hand on the wheel and his left hand on his pistol. He kept the headlights off as they raced for the gate. They got there within seconds. Just before impact, they saw the two guards standing behind the gate, though they quickly scattered to the sides when they realized the car wasn’t stopping.
Jacobs jammed on the brakes as soon as the front of the car broke the gate open. As the gate swung violently to the side, the guards jumped out of the way. Jacobs and Thrower each fired simultaneously. Neither guard was a problem. The guard on Jacobs’ side was still on the ground and on his back when Jacobs put a bullet in him. The guard on Thrower’s side had quickly got back up to his feet, but he never got a chance to use his own weapon before he fell back to his death. Gunner barked in the back seat.
Jacobs took a quick look in Thrower’s direction, making sure he was done on his side. Thrower gave him a glance and a nod. No words were necessary. Jacobs put his foot back down on the pedal and the car took off again.
In less than ten seconds, the car had reached the main building. Jacobs almost put his foot through the floor as he threw on the brakes, the tires squealing, and smoke rising into the air. Thrower had opened his door even before the car had fully stopped, and he jumped out.
The front door to the building opened, and a man appeared. That was Thrower’s first target. Thrower drilled him with two shots. Jacobs jumped out of the car and took aim at a man coming around the side of the building. Gunner jumped out the window and ran for the front door, latching on to the next man that came through it.
Thrower knelt next to the open door, using it as a shield as he started shooting at anything that moved. There were a few more men that appeared by the door, a couple more by the window, and several more on his side of the building. He hit a couple of them, though not all of them fatally. He was also ducking in between shots as the bullets were coming in hot and from all angles.
Jacobs was in a similar situation, though he was now set up behind the hood. He was mostly focused on the side of the building, though he occasionally took some shots at the door as well. He also had to keep an eye on Gunner, making sure the dog didn’t get in over his head. Jacobs also kept looking behind them, making sure they didn’t get any nasty surprises they weren’t anticipating.
Gunshots filled the air over the next several minutes, Jacobs and Thrower unable to advance much from their current positions. They had enough ammunition on them to be able to reload their weapons quickly, and they needed it, as there seemed to be an endless number of targets.
At one point Gunner wrestled his man to the ground. Another man appeared in the frame of the door and took aim at the dog. Jacobs noticed him out of the corner of his eye and quickly changed his target from the side of the building to the door. He fired three shots at the man, two of them hitting him.
“Gunner, release!”
As Gunner released the man’s arm from his mouth, he raced back over to Jacobs’ position. The man slowly got up to rejoin the fight, though not for long. Jacobs put two more rounds into him, finishing off what Gunner had started. With Gunner now behind him, waiting for his next command, there was a slight lull in the action. Everything had gone quiet. There were no bodies in vulnerable positions to shoot at. Jacobs and Thrower briefly looked at each other, though they quickly returned their attention to their former positions to make sure nobody got the jump on them.
“Is that it?” Thrower asked.
Jacobs’ eyes darted all around the building, struggling to find another target. “I don’t know.” He crouched down and turned to Gunner. “You sense anything, buddy?”
Gunner put his nose in the air. He was sniffing something in the wind. He then let out a growl. That was Jacobs’ cue. He quickly turned around to face the building again.
“Gunner picked up something.”
“He can’t, by chance, tell us how many, can he?” Thrower asked.
Jacobs laughed. “Sure would be nice if he could.”
Suddenly, gunshots from an automatic rifle ripped through the air. Jacobs and Thrower immediately ducked, though multiple bullets lodged into the car, putting a few holes in it. Jacobs peeked up from behind the hood, Thrower from the passenger car door, both spotting their target at the same time. He was at the window of the building.
Jacobs and Thrower both fired within seconds of each other. They weren’t sure whose bullets connected, but the man went down. Everything was quiet again. Only for a moment, though.
Gunner started growling. He was looking at the side of the building. Jacobs stared in that direction, struggling to see anything moving in the dark. Then he thought he noticed something. It could’ve been a leg picking up and running. He wasn’t sure. Gunner stood up, looking like he was ready to pounce.
“Easy.”
Jacobs didn’t want him running after anyone. He feared that if Gunner took off, he’d find a few of them, but he’d be surrounded, and something bad would happen before Jacobs was able to catch up with him again. Though Jacobs wanted to take out as many of his enemies as possible, he was willing to let a few of them slide if that meant being safe. A couple more probably wouldn’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. If the battle ended here, they made their mark.
“I think I saw a few go out that way,” Jacobs said, waving his arm to the left of the building.
“OK. I think we should probably clear that building first, make sure there’s no more floaters. Cover me and I’ll go in.”
“Check that. You stay here and cover outside, and me and Gunner will go in.”
“Why do you get all the fun?”
“Because Gunner can get in there and check things out faster than you or I can. And he only listens to me.”
“Fair point.” Thrower took a deep breath. “OK. Guess I’m staying out here.”
“Don’t worry. If there’s too many, I’ll try to flush them out here for you.”
“Thanks.”
Jacobs looked back at Gunner and pet him on his head. “You ready?” Gunner licked his lips. “Cover me as I make my way to the door!”
“I gotcha,” Thrower replied.
As Jacobs ran from behind the hood of the car and made himself visible, Gunner followed him closely. Thrower altered his aim, quickly pointing his gun to the side of the building, then to the door, the window, then back again, looking for the outline of a man with a gun in his hands. Luckily, there was no such person.
Within a few seconds, Jacobs and Gunner made it to the front door. Due to the fracas, the door was already open, which led to an easy entry. Gunner went in first and started sniffing around. As Jacobs went in, Thrower continued shifting his focus to different points on the outside. There was still nothing there that he saw.
Jacobs and Gunner cleared the first room they were in, then quickly went to the next one. The next couple they came across were also empty. Luckily, most of the doors were open up to that point. They then went up to one that was closed.
Jacobs stood next to the door, then quickly turned the handle and pushed it open. Almost immediately, several shots were fired in rapid fashion. Gunner instantly ran in, latching his jaws onto a man’s arm. Jacobs could hear his dog growling, as he often did when he was struggling to bring a man to the ground. Jacobs also knew whoever was in there was no longer focused on him.
Jacobs spun into the middle of the opened door and quickly found his new target. He fired three rounds, all of which hit the man in the chest. Gunner didn’t release the man’s arm, even as he fell to the ground. Jacobs had to call him off.
They cleared the rest of the room, then hurried out. They still had several more rooms to check. As they were doing that, Thrower was keeping an eye out in front. Nothing captured his in
terest thus far.
Then, Thrower spun around, hearing the sound of an oncoming vehicle. The headlights were blinding, and the car was increasing its speed as it headed straight for him. Thrower stood steady and firm, and calmly aimed his weapon at the speeding vehicle. He squinted his eyes to get a better look. He first thought was to try to shoot out the lights, but at the speed it was going, and the fact that they were bright, he wasn’t sure he was going to hit them before the car reached him.
He felt his best chance at that moment was to put some shots through the windshield. Maybe one of them would strike the driver. But even if they didn’t, a few cracks in the glass might be enough to shatter the driver’s nerves and cause him to lose control of the car. It was the most Thrower could hope for.
Thrower began firing. He remained strong in his stance, not wavering an inch as the car barreled towards him. He thought he heard a shot go through the windshield, as it sounded like a piece of glass breaking. He couldn’t be sure, though. Not that it seemed to matter, as the car wasn’t slowing down. Nonetheless, he kept firing.
He unloaded everything he had. When the magazine in his gun had emptied, Thrower quickly changed it, and continued firing. It sounded like another pop in the glass. A few more seconds, and the car was going to be almost on top of him. Thrower unloaded the rest of his magazine, hoping something would hit.
Almost immediately after firing his last round, the car took a sudden turn to the right, and made a beeline for the building. Moments later, the vehicle plowed into it, shaking it, causing a few pieces of debris from the building to fall. Thrower quickly put another magazine into his gun and pointed it at the driver. He wasn’t getting out. And he never would. At least not alive. One of the bullets Thrower fired struck the man in the head, killing him instantly. He was long dead before the car ever hit the building.
The back door opened on the passenger side, and a man crawled out. He was armed. He started scurrying on his hands and feet to the trunk of the car. He was trying to get back there unnoticed so he could pick Thrower off. Just as the man raised his gun, several more shots were heard. The man slumped to the ground.
Jacobs got there just in time to see what the man was attempting. He shot through the window. The glass had already been shot out during the previous battle. They had just finished checking the building and were on the way to the front when the car struck it.
Jacobs and Gunner jumped through the window since the door was now blocked by the car that was sticking halfway through it.
“Coming out,” Jacobs said.
“I got you.”
Thrower saw Jacobs and Gunner emerge from behind the car, but he kept spinning around, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
“Looked like you needed a hand,” Jacobs said.
“I had it under control. Just a few thousand pounds of steel heading my way. Nothing to it.”
“I bet.”
“How’s the building?”
Jacobs looked back at it. “Shaky.”
Thrower laughed. “I meant inside.”
Jacobs smiled. “It’s clear. Now. You see anything else?”
“Not yet. I think that might be it.”
“Where’d this car come from?”
Thrower shook his head. “I dunno. Came from back that way.” Thrower pointed in the direction of the gate. “Maybe they called for backup.”
“Maybe.”
“You see anything in there that resembled video equipment?”
“No, why?”
“Well, when the police show up, I’d rather not be on camera for them,” Thrower said.
“Oh. No, no video.”
“Good.”
“Let’s go that way.” Jacobs pointed in the direction that the other men had travelled in when they left the building. “Maybe we can still pick up a trail.”
Thrower nodded, then got back in the passenger seat of their car. Jacobs and Gunner got in as well. They took off in the direction of the escaping men. It didn’t take long to see where they went. There was an open gate to the rear of the property.
Thrower pointed to it and smiled. “See, told you there’s always a back exit.”
“Yeah.”
“I’d say following it’s a lost cause at this point.”
Jacobs sighed. “I tend to agree.”
Thrower tapped Jacobs’ arm. “Hey, don’t get frustrated. This was a win. I didn’t bother to count how many are down back there, but there’s at least ten. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.”
Jacobs looked at him and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Whose men were they, anyway? Recognize any of them? Were they all Butch’s guys?”
“Looked like it. Didn’t notice any strangers. I wonder if Butch was one of the ones that got away.”
“Could be. The others kept up the distraction, allowing him to escape. That’s how most of the big-timers do it.”
“Yeah. Sure would’ve been nice to cut off one of the heads on the dragon, though, wouldn’t it?”
“We’ll get there. Sooner or later, we’ll get there.”
Jacobs briefly looked at Gunner, before looking out into the dark night sky. “Let’s try to make that sooner, huh? The sooner the better.”
14
Butch was one of the ones who’d escaped from the grasps of Jacobs and Thrower. He and six more of his men. Once they had successfully gotten away, Butch called Mallette to let him know what happened. He also wanted a little assistance. Without knowing how Jacobs had found him, Butch wasn’t certain about going to any of his other places. If Jacobs could find him once, he could do it again. And he didn’t want to take those kinds of chances.
Mallette told him to come to his current office. He had guards outside patrolling the building. Mallette was relatively comfortable in that Jacobs didn’t know he was there. But even if he did, he was OK with engaging him. Mallette also wasn’t too concerned about Butch being followed, or tailed somehow.
When Butch and his boys arrived, Mallette was looking out the window, waiting for them. Once they were led into the building, Mallette went over to his desk and sat down. He tried to keep a calm demeanor. He wasn’t happy about Butch losing men, but at least they weren’t his. He didn’t have many to spare.
As Butch was finally led into the office, he immediately went over to the window. He walked right past the desk, not even acknowledging Mallette’s presence. Mallette watched him closely. Butch looked like a flustered man. Of course, it was understandable, considering he’d just got ambushed. He let Butch stare out the window for a good solid minute before talking.
“I would doubt they’re coming,” Mallette finally said.
“How can you be sure?”
“I can’t. But I don’t believe they know about this place. If they did, they would’ve hit it first. I believe I’m farther up on Jacobs’ hit list than you are.”
“I’m not so sure now.”
“Relax. Have a drink. Settle your nerves.”
“I just lost eleven men back there. Eleven. That’s a big hit for one night.”
“Believe me, I understand.” Mallette got up and walked over to a cabinet that housed all his liquor. He grabbed a couple glasses and poured themselves some vodka. He brought the glasses over to Butch, handing him one. “Here. Drink up.”
Butch stared at him for a moment, not so sure about having one. He didn’t feel like celebrating after what he’d just been through. But maybe it would help to calm him down. He took the glass and instantly put it up to his lips. After taking a few sips, he gave more thought to what had happened. “How’d he know we were there?”
Mallette walked back to his desk and sat down again. “He had help?”
“The dog was there. And another guy. Not Franks. This guy was equally as dangerous. He knew what he was doing.”
“Ah, the mysterious player that gave Ames some fits.”
“I still wanna know how he found us.”
Mallette took a sip of his drink. “I’ve long suspec
ted he’s got more help than we know of. It’s not just him and his dog.”
“Well, there’s Franks.”
“I don’t even count Franks. He’s an information guy. He’s good at getting people together, finding out information that’s floating around. He doesn’t usually get into the grunt work.”
Butch stared back out the window. “Maybe he’s the one who found us.”
Mallette shook his head. “I’m not so sure. Like I said, I’ve thought for a long time that Jacobs has friends. I think he’s still got friends on the force, like his former partner.”
“Yeah, what’s his name?”
“Buchanan. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more who still backed him. Even besides all that, I wouldn’t be shocked if Jacobs had a few friends who were good with computers and technology.”
“You mean hackers?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. How else would Jacobs be able to remain elusive, or know some of the things he does? It’s not all Franks. It can’t be. There are some things that just aren’t out there to be learned. Some things can only be found by someone who knows how to find things with a few strokes of a keyboard.”
“Then he has an advantage on us.”
“Maybe.” Mallette continued to think. “And maybe we need to create our own advantage.”
“What do you mean? Get a hacker on our side? See if we can flush him out that way?”
“Not exactly.” Mallette got up and walked around the desk, still holding the drink in his hand. “What if we did get someone who was good at that sort of thing? But not at finding Jacobs. Or the computer friend he’s got at his side. I feel that would probably be a fruitless effort. After all, if he’s got someone who’s good enough with computers to find things, he’s probably smart enough to know how to cover his tracks, as well.”
“So what do you propose?”