by Mike Ryan
He didn’t get a reply, and didn’t need one, as one of his men went down instantly. The gunshots were coming from behind them, where they had just come from. They immediately retreated into the room, though it was no escape. Mallette’s men didn’t need to proceed any further. They just needed to keep the others at bay for the moment.
Outside, the gunfire started flying by the cars. Mallette’s men—and Ames’ men—were lobbying bullets back and forth. The men in the lead car got dropped by Mallette’s men coming in behind them. Then, the men in the second car got out and met the same fate as the others. A furious exchange between the remaining men lasted for about thirty seconds.
Then it suddenly stopped. An ominous silence filled the air. Selby and a few others cautiously moved forward to check on the fallen men, as well as make sure the cars were empty. First, they checked the men on the ground, to make sure they were really dead and nobody was playing possum and would come up shooting.
But there was no playing involved here. They were all gone. Selby checked the vehicles. The first one was empty. Then they moved to the second one. They opened the front doors. It was clear. Then they opened the back doors. There was a man lying down on the floor, trying to keep himself concealed.
“Get up and get out,” Selby said, his gun pointed at the man.
Mallette’s men on the other side of the car also had their guns pointed at the man. If he came up shooting, he was as good as dead. The man didn’t resist, though. He slowly got out, his face not yet revealed as he slid his way out of the car. He kept his head down as he stood up straight.
Selby’s eyes lit up at the sight of Wilson Ames standing in front of him. He needed to tell his boss who was still just outside the front gate, waiting for word that it was safe for him to come in.
Selby motioned to the others. “Keep your guns pointed at him. If he moves, shoot him.”
Selby quickly ran back toward the gate, which was only a few seconds away. He turned the corner, seeing Mallette leaning against the wall.
“Boss… we got him.”
Mallette’s face indicated he wasn’t sure whether he should act surprised or excited, or some combination thereof. “Ames is here?”
Selby nodded. “And alive. He was in the second car that came in.”
Mallette excitedly slapped Selby on the arm. “Excellent. Let’s go.”
Selby led Mallette through the gate and to the car where Ames was still standing, guns still pointed at him.
As soon as Mallette locked eyes with him, a grin formed on his face. “Well, it looks like we meet again.”
“Take a while to think of that line?” Ames asked.
Mallette pointed to the warehouse with his thumb. “Take him inside.”
The others led Ames inside, with Mallette following a safe distance behind. Once they got there, Mallette was informed of the situation with the others. It was a standstill between Ames’ men in the conference room. They weren’t getting out without a fight, though they weren’t making a move to escape yet.
With Ames standing in the middle of the room, and Mallette’s guards still pointing weapons at him, Mallette started pacing around him.
“Would you like to tell your men in there to surrender?” Mallette asked.
“Nope.”
“There’s no hope for them. No way to escape. They’re trapped.”
Ames shrugged, not showing the slightest bit of concern. “Oh well.”
“Wouldn’t you like to make a deal in order to spare their lives?”
“What exactly do you want here, Rich?”
“The same thing I’ve always wanted. Power, control, authority. That’s always what it’s been about.”
“Fine. It appears you’ve won.”
Mallette laughed as he continued walking around his prisoner. “Yes, I have, haven’t I? Winning is such an intoxicating feeling, isn’t it? It can just consume a person, make it seem like nothing else is important, make you do things you normally wouldn’t do. Just for the sake of saying you’re the best. You’re on top. Nobody else is better than you… and everyone else is beneath you. To the victor go the spoils. Isn’t that right?”
“So they say.”
Mallette nodded. “So I’m claiming my spoils.”
“If you want to run me out of town, just do it. I’ll take my men, we’ll leave and never come back.”
Mallette laughed again. He looked at his men as he passed them. “Listen to this guy, will you? They’ll leave and never come back. Like I actually believe him.”
“You have my word. You’ve won. There’s nothing else I can do here. I’ve played my last hand. The men I have in there are all I’ve got left. I’m leaking oil and I can’t plug the leak.”
“Remember what I said about power. I have all of it. I can choose to end all of you right here if I so choose.”
“What good would that do? Like I said, you’ve won. Just tell us where you want us to go, and we’ll go there.”
Mallette walked around the back of Ames and grabbed a pistol out of the hand of one of his men. Once he was back in front of Ames, he stopped and brought the pistol up to Ames’ head, about a foot away from it.
“The only place I want you to go… is hell.”
Mallette pulled the trigger, blood splattering everywhere as Ames dropped to the ground. There was no need to check him for a pulse. Mallette stared at him for a few seconds, content with the result. He then tossed the pistol back to his man. With other pressing matters to attend to, the attention paid to Ames didn’t last long. Nobody was going to lose sleep over him.
“What about those other guys, boss?” Selby asked.
Mallette took his eyes off Ames and thought about it. “Well, let’s give them a choice.”
They went to the end of the hallway, making sure they didn’t stick their head—or any other part of their body—out there to be shot at.
“Who’s in charge in there?” Mallette asked.
Someone immediately replied. “Guess I am.”
“And who am I talking to?”
“Joe.”
“OK, Joe. There’s no way out for you. But I don’t want to fight, and I don’t want to kill you. Your boss is dead now.”
“Ames is dead?”
“That’s right. You don’t have to worry about your loyalty to him any longer. I give you my word… I don’t want to kill you.”
“What assurances do we have?”
“Just my word.”
“If you just killed Ames, I’m not sure how much I trust that.”
“I was only interested in him,” Mallette said. “You boys get a pass. Look, I’m not interested in staying here debating this all night. You either trust me, come on out and live… or you stay in there, in which case I guarantee you all won’t live to see another night. It’s your choice.”
It didn’t take long for the men to make a decision. Probably less than ten seconds.
“OK. We’re coming out.”
“Excellent decision, Joe,” Mallette said. “Drop your guns before you come out.”
The door opened, and though Mallette’s men had their guns out, he instructed them not to fire unless they had to. What was left of Ames’ men, all seven of them, came out of the room, empty-handed. They still weren’t sure they trusted Mallette not to kill them, but they knew what the result would be if they didn’t take that chance.
Once out of the room and down the hall, they entered the main part of the warehouse. They lined up against the wall. Mallette made sure they had a clear line of sight to see their former boss lying on the floor. He even pointed at him.
“You see? There he is. He’s gone now.”
“You said you’d let us go,” Joe said.
“I did. And before we get to that, I want to run something past you guys.” Mallette looked at each of the men, grinning at them, hoping to put them more at ease. And more agreeable to joining him. He could use the boost in numbers. “You’re now all out of work. There’s nothing
keeping you here. But if you agree to stay, join my organization, and profess your loyalty to me, I will offer you all employment. I’ll match whatever he was paying you and even kick in a little extra as a bonus. What do you all say?”
“What makes you think you could trust us now?”
“Make no mistake, there will be eyes watching you, making sure you fall in, making sure you do the right thing, making sure you are only loyal to me now. But if you prove your worth, believe me, I can give you things that Wilson Ames couldn’t even dream of.”
The offer sounded tempting to Joe. He looked down the line at the rest of the men. They started looking at each other too.
“What would you want us to do?” Joe asked.
“If you agree to work for me, the next up on my list is Brett Jacobs. I’m sure you’re all familiar with him.”
“Yeah.”
“He’s the next target. After he is eliminated, the city will be ours again. What do you say?” The men started talking amongst each other, though Mallette hoped to influence their decision. “There are seven of you now. You had eight. There will be more strength in our numbers if you join us.”
One of the other men in line broke free from the others. “Not me, man, I’m out! I’m done with this!” He started walking toward the door. “I don’t want anymore. Ames, Mallette, Jacobs, I don’t want any more to do with anybody. I’m out.”
Mallette put his hand out for his men to stop the man. “Just wait.”
“What? You said we could go.”
“Yes, just give it a second.” Mallette looked at the other six men standing there. “Does anyone else wish to join this man? Or will you stay here with me?”
“The rest of us will stay here,” Joe answered.
Mallette smiled. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
“Can I go now?” the other man asked.
“Yes, you can go.”
The man turned his back and continued walking toward the door. Mallette had no intention of letting him leave, though. He looked at Selby and nodded in his direction. Selby knew what he wanted him to do. Selby wasn’t too far away from the man, and instantly raised his gun, pointing it at the man’s back. Five popping sounds in quick succession. The man fell face forward as he came to his final resting place.
Mallette looked back at Ames’ remaining men. “Now there are six. I promised he could leave. I didn’t say he would be breathing. Is there anyone that has a problem with that?” The others glanced at each other and shook their heads. Nobody was going to say they did now. Definitely not now. “Is there anyone else who would like to go? This is your final chance.” The men continued to shake their heads. “Good. Now it’s time to go to work. We only have one target left. Brett Jacobs.”
7
Jacobs heard his phone ring and scampered over to it, but was too late to answer. He picked it up and saw the familiar number of Franks. Not even a second later, it started ringing again. Jacobs immediately answered.
“Well, it took you long enough, man.”
“I was busy.”
“Well, stop doing it all hoochie-goochie with the missus and listen up. I got news here.”
“First off, I’m not doing it all hoochie-goochie with anyone, and second, I believe it’s coochie. Not goochie.”
“You sure about that?”
“Pretty sure.”
“I dunno. I might have to look that one up.”
“You do that.”
“Anyways, what’d I call about?”
“I don’t know,” Jacobs said. “But I’ve got a few hours until you remember.”
“Very funny. Oh yeah, the big news. I just got word from one of my contacts, man, that a big meeting is going down as we speak. Like, right this very minute.”
“Big meeting between who?”
“Mallette, man, who else?”
“Should I run down the list?”
“No, not really. But I hear Mallette’s got this big shindig happening right now. I figured I’d let you know in case you wanted to crash the party or something.”
“Where’s it at?”
“Some warehouse or something. I sent you a text before I called with the address. Don’t you check your phone?”
“I told you, I was busy.”
“Doing what? You getting in the saddle again?”
“That is not your business.”
“I’m proud of you, man. Proud of you.”
“OK, forget about that. Are you sure of this thing?”
“What? The meeting? Yes, I’m sure! Got it on good authority, man. I’m almost a hundred percent sure this thing is happening. So if you wanna drop in unannounced, you ain’t got a lot of time to waste.”
“All right. I’ll call Nate and see if he can meet me there. Thanks.”
“Let me know if you need anything else.”
Jacobs immediately started getting ready. Tiffany came up behind him and put her arms around him.
“What is it?”
“I have to go,” Jacobs said, turning around. “Mallette might be having a meeting right now.”
Tiffany took a deep breath. “Be careful.”
“You know I will.”
They kissed for a few seconds before Jacobs was finally able to tear himself away from her. He looked over at Gunner, who was lying on the floor.
“You ready to go to work?”
Gunner barked and instantly stood up. As Jacobs got ready, he called Thrower to see if he could meet him.
“Eddie just called, said he got word that Mallette’s having a meeting right now.”
“Just tell me where and I’ll meet you there,” Thrower replied.
“I’ll forward it to you. Meet there in twenty?”
“Sounds good. I’ll be there.”
Jacobs finished getting ready, putting on his gear, getting his weapons ready, then gave Tiffany another kiss before he scurried out the door. As Tiffany watched him leave, she couldn’t be sure which was the more overpowering feeling. The hope that she felt, dreaming that this might be the end of one of Jacobs’ rivals, or that feeling of dread, worried about what her boyfriend might be walking into… and whether he’d be coming back.
She’d gotten better about not worrying so much, even if it was just outwardly. But there was always a piece of her that worried that whenever Jacobs walked out the door, it’d be the last she saw of him. Once he was out of sight, Tiffany went over to the TV and put something on, hoping that she’d find something to take her mind off of what she knew was happening.
Once Jacobs got to the warehouse, he started scouting around, since Thrower hadn’t gotten there yet. He walked around the perimeter of the property completely and was on his way back to the car when Gunner picked up on something. They stood there for a second, Jacobs waiting for a clue from his dog about how to proceed.
Gunner stuck his nose in the air, then stared into the darkness for a moment, then started running toward the direction of whatever he’d spotted. Jacobs ran after him, though he was already pretty sure what they were going to find. When Jacobs finally caught up with his dog again, he saw him being petted by Thrower. Jacobs could tell by the slight whining sound that whoever Gunner could tell was there was likely friendly. If it was the opposite, Gunner usually let out a growl of some kind.
“Sorry I’m late,” Thrower said. “I think I hit every red light on the way over here.”
“No problem. I already went around the place. I don’t see anything or anyone.”
“No guards? Not even at the gates?”
Jacobs shook his head. “Not that I can tell.”
“Strange. If this was a big meeting with Mallette, you’d think he’d have guards posted.”
“I know. Unless we’re too late already.”
“Or he’s keeping them hidden so as not to draw attention to them.”
“Could be,” Jacobs said.
“Taking a closer look?”
“You know it.”
“Find a good spot to
enter?”
Jacobs shrugged. “Same as usual, I guess. Cut a hole in the middle and go from there.”
They went to the middle of the fence where there were some bushes to disguise their presence, and they used their cutters to snip a small hole in the fence. Jacobs went through first, followed by Gunner, then Thrower. They remained there for a minute or two, spinning their heads in every direction in order to find someone who might be walking around, or a guard positioned in a tough-to-find spot. They weren’t having any luck, though.
“This is eerie,” Thrower said. “It’s way too quiet.”
Jacobs didn’t disagree. From their vantage point, they had a clear line of sight to the front gate. But something was off about it. It looked like it was open. He tapped Thrower on the arm.
“Something about that not seem right?” Jacobs asked.
Thrower reached into the pocket of his vest and took out a pair of mini-binoculars. “Yeah, it does. Looks like the damn thing’s broken. It’s not even closed right. Looks like they got chains wrapped around it to keep it closed.” Thrower continued looking through the binoculars, though now he was focused on the main building as well as around it, along with the rooftop. “This place looks deserted.”
“Perfect place to have a meeting, though, isn’t it?”
“I guess. But I can’t believe a guy like Mallette wouldn’t have guards posted.”
“Maybe he’s got them posted inside?” Jacobs said.
“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of having guards, though? If they see something, that means they’re already on top of you. And it doesn’t give you a long enough time to escape if that’s what you need.”
“Well, whatever the case, we gotta get in closer.”
Thrower continued looking around. “Wait a minute. There’s our entry point.” He pointed to the side window. “There’s a window over there, boarded up. We make our way to it. Once we get there, we can slide our way in.”
Jacobs was good with that and immediately took off running. Gunner went along with him. Thrower waited about five seconds, then followed. They each made it to the boarded-up window without incident. Sticking to the wall, they maneuvered their way to the front of the building. After peeking his head around the corner and seeing nothing, Jacobs ducked low and proceeded to the front door.