by Adam Smith
The signpost rolled onto the hood of the car and lodged sideways across the windshield to rest on the wipers. Max cursed and stretched through his window to grab the heavy pole. His fingers closed around the metal, but he cursed again when he saw a pair of oncoming back sedans rushing straight at them.
“Eyes front!”
Kate leaned toward the front of the car and propped her rifle up on the back of the passenger seat. She fired through the bottom of the windshield just above the metal pole. By focusing fire on the rightmost sedan, she was able to chew through the enemy windshield and pepper first the driver and then the passenger with bullets. The sedan turned abruptly and plowed into a fire hydrant, sending a fountain of water up into the air.
But Kate didn’t have time to switch over and fire at the other driver. Max saw the black-suited driver in the car bracing a submachinegun through his window and guessed the gangster intended to pull a drive-by.
With no other option, Max lifted the pole he was still holding and swung it out straight ahead of his car. He braced the Jed Crowder Memorial Road sign against the side of his sportscar and aimed the jagged, broken end at the enemy.
As the two cars passed with just barely two feet of space between them, the improvised lance pierced the black sedan’s windshield, rammed through the enemy driver, and impaled the gangster behind him.
The impact rattled Max’s arm and left his hand numb. The sign screeched along the side of the sportscar and scraped off the blue paint, creating a new white stripe along the length of the car. In his rearview mirror, Max saw the black sedan veer off course and crash through the front lobby of a laundromat.
Johnny Legion led a pack of gangster vehicles chasing Max and Kate. More swarms of sedans approached them from the front. A tall stone wall blocked the right side of the road. With no other option, Max turned left and entered a large open park. Green grass stretched in every direction. Outdoor amphitheaters, stages, statues, play equipment, and groves of trees filled the park.
Max headed for a cluster of eucalyptus trees on the south side of the park, hoping to lose some of his pursuers. Mob vehicles converged on the blue sportscar from all directions. Max wove back and forth between the trees as enemy gunfire echoed off the towering trunks. Eucalyptus trees puffed with shattered bark from bullet impacts.
Max caught a glimpse of Johnny Legion in his rearview mirror as the hired killer fired his huge pistol. The shot grazed Max’s shoulder and he cried out in pain. The bullet tore out a chunk of meat and cracked the windshield. Max was forced to duck down to see through the spider-webbed glass.
Max veered out of the grove and floored the gas pedal. Chunks of manicured lawn flew from the sportscar’s tires.
Black sedans and SUVs raced in from all sides. Max dodged between the enemy vehicles as bullet impacts shook the blue sportscar.
Kate continued to fire as they drove, but she was increasingly forced to duck down as enemy fire poured in from every direction. “I’m down to my last full rifle,” she shouted.
“The good thing about being surrounded,” Max said, “is that you hit someone no matter which way you shoot!”
Max ran out of space to maneuver as vehicles closed in. Enemy drivers clipped the blue sportscar, jostling Max and Kate.
Desperate, Max cast about for an escape plan. When he saw a raised stage in the middle of the park, he yanked the wheel around and steered straight for the cement platform. Wide front steps of shallow stairs created a perfect ramp. The blue sportscar charged straight up the steps, darted across the narrow stage, and flew into the air.
Most of the chasing cars screeched to a stop at the base of the steps. A few followed the blue sportscar up the stairs but slowed before the jump and fell straight down the fifteen-foot drop.
As they flew, Kate unleashed a stream of automatic gunfire down into the horde of cars all around them. Max pulled a pistol from his belt and fired out his window, nailing the driver of another car.
Enemy drivers on the other side of the stage swerved to avoid the flying vehicle as it hurtled through the air and descended into their midst.
The blue sportscar crashed down on top of a black gangster sedan. The crunching impact killed all four screaming thugs inside. Max’s foot had never stopped pressing down on the gas pedal, and his car rolled down the back of the sedan and onto the grass.
With his enemies pointed the wrong direction, Max had an open park ahead of him and the protective barricade of the concrete stage behind.
“We’re in the clear!” Max shouted. He pumped his fist in triumph.
A keening whir preceded the chopper’s rise from a cluster of trees ahead. The side door was open, and a soldier in black fatigues was pointing a long metal tube at Max’s car.
“Kate, get—!”
The rocket streaked from the tube at the same time as Max cranked the wheel to the left. The explosive projectile impacted the concrete ahead and to his right. The front passenger seat twisted and blackened as a chunk of burning concrete slammed into it and ignited the upholstery. Kate screamed. The explosion grabbed the car, already in a precarious high-speed turn, and flipped it into a roll. The remaining windows shattered as the car rolled over and over several times.
Max banged his head on the seatback, lurched forward and barely avoided head-butting the steering wheel, only to be thrown sideways into the doorframe and feel his shoulder crunch from the impact.
With a screech, the mangled car skidded to a stop resting on the roof. All four tires spun impotently in the air. The seat beside Max was burning. Kate was still screaming.
Max smelled smoke and antifreeze and gasoline all merging together into a dizzying cloud that made his head spin. Every muscle screamed in agony as he kicked open his door and spilled out onto the concrete.
Despite his wounds, Max crawled to the rear of the car to help Kate. She was pushing frantically on the battered blue door, but nothing was happening.
“It’s stuck!” Kate’s voice quivered with panic. Inside the car, the upholstery continued to burn. The stench of melting plastic filled the air.
Max stuck his hand under the door through the twisted window and wiggled his fingers at her. “Crawl under!” The fall had crumpled the roof and narrowed the window frame, but he hoped enough room remained for Kate to get through.
The whine of helicopter blades and the roar of engines grew closer.
Kate dropped to the broken roof of the car and pushed herself through the window. She was able to wriggle her chest and waist through, but her wide hips caught on the frame. Kate clawed at the grass with her fingers as she fought desperately to pull herself free.
Max grabbed both of her hands and pulled as hard as he could. Kate screamed, but her hips popped free of the car. She clung to Max as he stood her upright and braced against the side of the car.
Bullets impacted the burning hulk. The air reeked of gasoline, but there was nowhere to run as the enemy horde advanced. The air vibrated with the thumping of approaching helicopters and Max groaned. The avalanche of sound heralded a whole squadron, probably twenty aircraft or more.
Max drew his remaining pistol and prepared to make a last stand. “Kate, stay low and keep between me and the car. You’ll have a shot at surviving what’s about to happen.”
Kate clutched at the chest of his shirt and looked up at him from inches away with tears in her wide blue eyes. His eyes drank in her pink lips and flushed cheeks.
The ex-cop shut his eyes and clenched the handle of his pistol tight in his fist. In a breathy voice Max murmured, “Into your hands I commit—”
A tremendous explosion split the air and rocked the burning car. Kate screamed and wrapped her arms around Max, and he braced his hand against the car to keep them standing as his eyes widened in shock.
The explosion hadn’t been against their blue car, but out amidst the sea of enemies.
&
nbsp; Chapter 22
The Cavalry Arrives
Twenty helicopters buzzed overhead and split off into two groups, half swinging in each direction to form a wide semicircle in the air above the overturned car.
Max squinted against the sun and recognized black and white markings on the helicopters. His whoop of joy startled Kate, and she looked up from hiding in his chest to stare at him with concern as if he’d lost his mind.
“Cavalry’s here!” Max shouted to the sky as the squadron of helicopters popped open their doors. Servos whirred as platforms automatically extended from inside the choppers and slid armed and armored police officers into the open. Twenty gunners on mounted machineguns squeezed their triggers and poured out a torrential flood of burning lead over the swarming sea of gangster vehicles.
Max stretched to see over the top of their blue sportscar as the first of the enemy cars exploded in a wave of destruction.
Concentrated fire from two gunners turned the lead black sedan into Swiss cheese and ground the occupants to bloody pulp. The front end of the car was pounded so forcefully down into the concrete that the speeding car flipped over the front and landed on its roof. The gunners switched to different targets as the pulverized vehicle slid to a stop a dozen feet from Max and Kate’s cover.
Many vehicles in the swarm were punched full of holes and drifted off course to crash into trees and statues. A few of the cars crashed into each other and created a nasty sprawling pileup which prevented other drivers from making an escape.
The police gunners showed no mercy as they tore the fleet of gangsters to smoking, bloody pieces. By the time the gangsters started mounting an organized defense, half their number had been shredded.
Johnny Legion’s car skidded to a halt behind the line of carnage. He hopped out, carrying a long rifle, and took cover behind a black SUV tipped over on its side.
More gangsters responded to the attack with rockets and grenade launchers. Their first salvo of explosive projectiles missed the squadron of police helicopters and landed throughout the park, causing a flurry of explosions across the landscape.
The helicopter pilots danced their birds through the air to present more challenging targets. The second wave of explosives mostly missed, but two police choppers took direct hits and burst into clouds of burning shrapnel as dual claps of thunder echoed across the cratered warzone.
One of the police helicopters swiveled to present its opposite side. When the door popped open, no machinegun platform emerged. Instead, a woman in bulky white armor stepped calmly into the open doorway. Long red hair whipped back and forth in the fierce zephyr created by the flock of helicopters.
Cool as a cucumber, the woman in white raised an enormously long railgun rifle to her shoulder and fired on the gangster cars scurrying around the battlefield. Even across the great distance, each shot echoed in Max’s ears, and every accelerated slug punched through the hood of a car or smashed in a windshield. The redhaired woman’s aim was deadly.
“Who’s that?” Kate asked, pointing at the woman in white.
Max laughed. “That’s Nancy Adams, the White Dove of San Pajita. Our best sniper. Someone called in the big guns!”
As White Dove continued to hammer the enemy swarm, one of the choppers flew in low above Max and Kate’s position. Max saw a dark figure suspended from a rope, and as the helicopter paused for barely more than a heartbeat, the figure dropped to the ground and ran toward their blue sportscar in a practiced crouch. As the runner in a black police uniform drew near, Max recognized the perfectly coiffed black hair of his friend Nick Sharpe.
Nick slammed up against the side of the blue sportscar and braced his long rifle over the top. Each time he pulled the trigger, a gangster’s head exploded into a shower of brains and bone fragments.
“Nick!” said Max. “Where the hell have you guys been all this time?”
Nick squeezed the trigger again, and his gun roared death upon their foes. “Papa Sal’s been promising McGarrick a fortune in damage fees and voluntary contributions. Chief was happy at first, but accounting ran the numbers and finally convinced him the racked-up damage fees are actually higher than Papa Sal’s net worth. McGarrick had already promised both his mistresses tropical vacations, so he got pissed and sent us to take revenge for leading him on.”
Nick squeezed the trigger again and liquified a scumbag’s brainpan. “Who’s the blonde?”
Kate had been fishing around through the broken window of the upside-down car. She pulled her arm free and stood. With some annoyance, Max noticed the shopping bag dangling from her hand.
Ignoring the explosions, machinegun fire, and roaring sniper shots from Nick and White Dove, Max swept his hands around to make proper introductions. “Kate, this is my partner Nick Sharpe. We’ve been brothers under the badge for a lotta years. Nick, this is Kate Valentine. She’s a baker. Pretty good shot, too. She’s also the woman of my dreams.”
Nick glanced over at Kate who smiled and waved, then looked at Max. Max’s former partner withdrew his long rifle and hunkered down in the shelter of the car. “Max, you got fired this morning. That was…” The almond-eyed cop glanced at his watch. “That was eight hours ago. In that short time, you started a war with Papa Sal, caused billions of dollars of damage to the city, and fell in love.” He stared hard at Max. “What’s your morning routine like, bro, to get those kinds of results?”
Max laughed. “Don’t be jealous, man. Get fired for reckless brutality and you too can live out your wildest dreams. Hey, speaking of reckless brutality, where’s Hunter?”
Nick jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the flock of helicopters overhead. “Up there somewhere.” He drew a small black disk the size of a quarter from his breast pocket and held it up beside his right eye as he scanned the sky. The air in front of Nick’s eyes shimmered like a wave of rising heat. “In fact, I bet—Yep, there he is.” He handed the quarter to Max and pointed.
Three of the helicopters broke formation and circled around toward the back of the crowd of gangster vehicles. From the rear, the three choppers swooped low over the gangsters in a flying wedge. Their gunners poured out a stream of death from above that caught the criminals on the wrong side of their cover and chewed them to pieces.
When Max held the black quarter beside his right eye and focused in on the lead helicopter, a projected holographic window filled his vision and zoomed in. With crystal clarity, Max could see Hunter March strapped into the gunner seat. His burly friend wore heavy armor covering his entire body. As Max expected, he wasn’t wearing the accompanying helmet, his usual excuse being that he loved to feel the wind in his hair. Sunlight gleamed in Hunter’s beard as the armored cop shook with crazed laughter. The mounted machinegun thumped in his hands and tore his targets into chunky little strips of meat which splattered across the battlefield.
The gravelly roar of Johnny Legion calling his name snared Max’s attention. The gangster was hunkered down behind the same overturned SUV. His long rifle’s barrel poked out of cover, and a loud shot echoed across the battlefield. One of the police choppers suddenly swerved out of formation and plummeted toward the ground. The falling aircraft crashed into a pile of wrecked cars and exploded, showering the devastated park in shrapnel. The other helicopters pulled back and wove through the air to try to escape a similar fate.
“Be seeing you, Valentine,” Johnny shouted. “And especially you, Cain. I’ve got your addresses, and I can find your families. Run far and run fast, but you’ll never outrun me.”
With the helicopters pulled back, Johnny retreated to his untouched blue convertible and roared off. A few of the police gunners took aim at him, but he zigzagged to the edge of the park and disappeared into the city.
Kate tugged at Max’s shirtsleeve. Her blue eyes were filled with worry. “Max, he knows where my sisters are. We can’t let him hurt them, Max!”
“We won’t,” Max
promised. He turned to Nick. “We need to end this war. Any chance all the boys can join in?”
Nick shook his head. “McGarrick specified this was a one-time hit to bloody Papa Sal’s nose. We’re not to chase or re-engage after the park is cleared. But,” the cop grinned, “I’m definitely onboard for a personal mission.”
“McGarrick will nail you to the wall.”
“McGarrick will be too busy begrudgingly nailing his mistresses in Tahiti to worry about me.”
“Hey, Nick,” Kate asked hesitantly, “are we going to get in trouble for all this? We’ve just been running for our lives.”
Nick shook his head. “Chief doesn’t know who was involved. Radio chatter is that a hitman from an unknown rival gang went to war against Papa Sal’s group, then linked up with a second hitman for a coordinated assault. If the Chief knew it was Max, he would have let the gangsters chew him up a little longer before getting revenge.” He smiled at Kate. “Looks like a clear case of gang politics. No need to arrest an innocent bystander like you.”
Kate heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
Max snorted. “Worried about getting a ticket now?”
“Yes,” Kate laughed. “I’ve got a perfect legal record. I’m not gonna let a delinquent like you mess that up.” Her delicate blonde brows knitted together with worry. “How long do you think we have before he goes after my family?”
“A man like that doesn’t wait,” Max said gravely. “He knows we’ll be on the move. We need to take the battle to Papa Sal immediately. Nick, let Kate use your cell phone to warn her family.”
“Sure. They can hole up at my apartment for the time being. 1811 Knight Way.” Nick pulled out his phone and handed it over. Kate turned toward the shelter of the overturned car to dial.
“An assault on Papa Sal’s private mansion,“ Max said to Nick. “We’re gonna need the heavy guns, buddy.”