by Mike Ryan
“So how are we gonna handle this?”
Bridge smiled. “I got a plan.”
“Oh boy.”
Bridge tapped the driver on the shoulder. “You. In.”
“You’re putting him in here with us?” one of the ladies asked, a few others agreeing with the sentiment.
“Only temporary ladies, only temporary, I assure you. Just until we get the girls out of this place.”
“What if he does something while you’re gone?”
Bridge took out one of his guns and held it up. “Who knows how to work one of these?”
“I do,” a brunette to his left said.
“You know how to handle one?”
She nodded. “My dad used to take me hunting.”
“OK. Then I leave you in charge.” Bridge handed the gun to her. “You keep that pointed at him. If he makes a move to leave or does anything suspicious, you shoot him.”
“Where?”
“Wherever you want.” Bridge then looked at the driver again. “You, move all the way to the back. If he moves from that spot, shoot him wherever you like.”
“Will do.”
“We’ll be back soon.”
“Try the same thing as yesterday?” Nicole asked.
“I got an idea,” a blonde said, overhearing them.
They both looked at her. “Yeah?” Bridge asked.
“Why don’t you let me distract them? They know me. They’ll be surprised to see me, and they’ll let their guard down.”
Bridge and Nicole looked at each other. “You’re sure about this?”
The woman nodded. “I wanna help. I wanna help take these guys down.”
“You’re really sure?”
“Yes. I wanna help.”
“OK. You do exactly what I say.”
“I will.”
The woman got out, then Bridge closed the doors. They took the long way around, coming up in back of the building just as Bridge did the day before on the previous one. Bridge was going to pull the same trick, but the girl had other ideas.
“Let me run up to him.”
“What?” Bridge asked.
“Let me run up to him. I can do this.”
Bridge wasn’t sure, and it was against his better judgment, but he was willing to go along. “OK.”
The woman emerged from the building and started running hysterically toward the driver, yelling and crying. Bridge and Nicole watched intently, waiting for their opportunity. The woman lunged into the driver’s arms, spinning him around so that his back was to her new friends. The man tried to understand what she was talking about, though she was doing a good job of sounding incoherent. As the man’s back turned, Bridge and Nicole ran out from the building and toward them. Bridge removed his gun as he got to the pair and smashed it into the back of the man’s head, dropping him in an instant.
“Hey, that was pretty good,” Bridge said.
“Before all this I had dreams of becoming an actor,” the woman replied.
“You might still have a future in it.”
Bridge and Nicole then grabbed the man and put him in the back of the van, handcuffing him to a railing that was in there for the ladies. They then went to the front of the building. There was just the one guard standing there.
“You want me to do the same thing?” the blonde asked.
“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Bridge answered. He looked at his girlfriend. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Just take him out?”
“Yeah. Should be easy enough.”
“I’m on it.”
Nicole got down on one knee and pointed her gun at the man’s chest, who was mostly just looking down at the ground as he paced around out of boredom. A few seconds later, the man was flat on his back, looking up at the sky as he took his last few breaths. With him out of the way, the three of them ran up to the door, knocking just as they did the day before.
“You stay to the side until we say it’s clear,” Bridge told the blonde.
“OK.”
As soon as the door opened, Bridge kicked it in further. He didn’t really have the patience to try to talk his way in like he did the last time, especially when it would probably just result in him kicking it open anyway. It saved time and caught the man by surprise by starting with that tactic. The man on the other side was floored by the door hitting him so suddenly. Bridge and Nicole rushed in, Bridge quickly putting a bullet in the man’s chest before he was able to get up and offer any resistance. Knowing there was one more guy in there, Bridge and Nicole kept their weapons out in front, ready to fire. They started walking down the hallway, Bridge motioning to his partner to watch his back as he watched ahead of them. When a man jumped out at the end of the hallway, Bridge immediately pulled the trigger, firing four times. All four bullets found their mark, and the armed guard didn’t have a chance to fire his own weapon before the life was snuffed out of him.
“You start getting these girls out,” Bridge said.
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’m just gonna look around and make sure there are no other shooters to worry about.”
Nicole immediately opened one of the doors as Bridge checked the rest of the building. The blonde was now helping Nicole clear the rooms while he was gone. He was back a few minutes later, reporting the place was clear.
“Any problems?”
“Not so far,” Nicole replied. “The usual grumbling about their groove getting messed up, but everything’s fine.”
The women were dressed and out of the building within a few minutes. They went back to the van, putting the ladies back in. As they did, Bridge rubbed his eyes, looking like he was distressed.
“What’s wrong?” Nicole asked.
“I feel like we got too many passengers to keep track of and take care of.”
“Nothing else we can do, really.”
“What are we gonna do with them all? We can’t take them with us to that warehouse. And there’s too many to stash at the hotel.”
“We can call Eric.”
“Too much time,” Bridge said. “He’s not gonna be able to help us right this second. And we can’t wait on this any longer, or they’ll get suspicious if they’re not back when they’re supposed to be.”
“Then they’ll just have to come. They don’t have to come in. They can wait around the corner in that van, plus we have the rental. If we both go in this van, they can probably cram six or seven into the SUV, plus there’s the front seats in the van. That should work.”
Bridge nodded, though he still didn’t like the women being that close to the action. Even if they weren’t immediately there, he would have preferred them being in another location entirely. But sometimes the situation just didn’t work out the way he would have preferred.
Once the women were inside the van, they woke the driver up, slapping him around a few times. Bridge gave him the same speech he gave the other driver. It also seemed to work.
“How many men are inside that warehouse guarding them?” Bridge asked.
“I think five. No, six.”
“Which is it?”
“It’s six. One at the front door, one at the back, two inside with the girls, then two usually in the office area.”
“All armed?”
“Yeah.”
“You get us in, and I’ll look the other way if we come back out and you’re not there. You understand?”
The man nodded. “I’ll be gone.”
“You get us in?”
“Yeah. There’s a camera that makes sure I’m driving. Once they see it’s me, the gate will open up, and I drive right up to the building.”
“Then what happens?”
“The guard at the door comes out, I get out, and we open the van and escort the girls back inside.”
“What about the other guards?”
“One comes by the front to help, and the other one stays inside with the others.”
“How many mor
e girls are in there right now?”
“Five.”
“OK. We go there now.”
Nicole kept an eye on the driver as Bridge took some of the girls and placed them in the other van, as well as putting them in the SUV. They handcuffed the other driver to the railing inside the van so he wouldn’t be an issue for anyone. Bridge selected two of the women to drive the other vehicles and instructed them to follow him. He made sure they were well aware of what was going on. Once he had them settled, he went back to his partner.
Bridge and Nicole got in the back of the van as the driver got back in behind the wheel. Bridge kept a gun on him just to make sure he remembered to do his part. As they were driving, Nicole could read her boyfriend’s face. Something was still troubling him.
“What else is it? It’s not just this.”
“Still no sign of Evelyn,” Bridge said.
“She might be at one of the two warehouses still.”
“What if she’s not? What if we’ve done all this, and she’s still not there?”
“Then we’ll just have more work to do to find her. But even if she’s not, we’ll still have done something very important. Even if she’s not there, this mission is not a failure.”
“I know.” Bridge looked down. “I just hope we don’t have to go back and tell Sharon Fester that we couldn’t find her sister. After all this.”
“We’ll find her. We’re close.”
“Yeah. Close within inches or close within miles?”
“She’ll be at one of these locations.”
“And if she’s not?”
“Like I said, we’ll keep looking until we find her. No matter what it takes.”
17
Once they got to the first warehouse, they stopped well short of the entrance, before they got within view of the cameras. Bridge got out and went back to the trailing vehicles and told them where he wanted them to park until they were done.
“No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, you do not come in under any circumstances,” Bridge told both drivers. “Is that clear?”
Both nodded. “What if you guys run into trouble while you’re in there, though?” one of them asked.
“We can handle it. But if not, if we’re not back within half an hour, you guys take off and don’t look back.”
“I’d feel bad about leaving you there. After all you’ve done for us.”
Bridge smiled at her. “Trust me. If we’re not back within half an hour, there’s nothing else you can do for us. It probably means we’re gone. If that happens, you do what you have to do to get out of here. You head to the nearest police station and ask them to call Eric Happ of the FBI. He’s a friend of mine. He’ll know what’s going on. But hopefully it won’t come to that, and I’ll see you guys again in thirty minutes.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Bridge jogged back to the other van and got inside. He and Nicole tucked down out of sight, just in back of the driver's seat. Bridge still had his pistol pointed at the ribs of the driver, though, just in case he decided to go off script.
“Move,” Bridge said.
The driver complied and put the van in motion. Within a minute, they were at the gate of the property. The driver came to a stop as they reached it, letting the camera pick up his face. As soon as that was done, the gate opened, and the driver continued driving.
“Good job,” Bridge said. “Don’t screw it up now.”
“All I care about is getting out of here now.”
They pulled up to the front of the building and stopped. The driver hesitated about getting out. He was waiting for the front guard to approach, like usual.
“What’s the matter?!” the front guard yelled with a smile. “Gonna make me do all the work today?”
“I was thinking about it,” the driver replied with a laugh.
The guard walked around to the back of the van. As soon as he opened the doors, Nicole opened fire, hitting him point blank in the chest. He never knew what hit him. Bridge and Nicole then scurried out of the van and ran to the front door. The driver jumped out of the van and ran in the other direction. The guard had the door unlocked in anticipation of the girls arriving back. Bridge looked at Nicole to make sure she was ready. Once she gave the signal that she was, Bridge pushed the door open. Just like they were told, there was another guard standing not too far away in the hallway, waiting to help out. He wasn’t paying much attention, though, instead scrolling through his phone, assuming there weren’t any problems, since there never was.
Bridge didn’t wait for him to look up and put a round in the side of his head. They stepped over the man’s body and continued their journey. They arrived at the end of the hallway, leading to a big open space. Bridge looked in both directions, eventually seeing an open doorway off to his right near the back. He then saw a shadow as if someone was walking in that spot. He nodded for Nicole to follow him as they sprinted across the warehouse floor.
Once they got to the door, they waited beside it for a few seconds, listening to see if they could tell what was beyond that door instead of possibly sticking their heads in and getting it shot off. It just sounded like someone walking, though. There were no words or voices heard. Bridge took a couple deep breaths, then jumped in the doorway, surprising the guard that was walking around. The guard tried to reach for his weapon, which was tucked away in his pants, but Bridge was much too fast for him and chalked up another victim.
“The girls should be nearby,” Nicole said.
“Yeah. You find them. I’ll look for the office where the other two are supposed to be.”
Nicole went through another door as Bridge disappeared back through the main floor again. He saw another door at the other end of the floor and rushed over to it. The top half of the door was glass and Bridge was able to look inside, though there was nothing inside. He opened the door and went in, seeing another door to his left. He could see the light was on, shining through the crack underneath the door. Bridge stood there for a moment, listening, hearing a couple of voices. They were laughing, sounding like they were having a good time. It was a shame he was going to have to interrupt that.
Bridge took a step back and sized up the door. It was just a brown slab door. He probably could’ve broken through it easily enough but thought it would be easier getting in if he just knocked. So he knocked three times. He saw the handle on the door start to jiggle and a voice talking in a different language. Bridge had his weapon in front of him, pointed at the door, ready to go. As soon as the door opened and a target was visible, Bridge opened fire. As the man fell to the floor, Bridge rushed into the room, quickly finding his second target. There was a hefty man sitting behind a desk, looking at some papers. He jumped up and scurried toward a four-door metal filing cabinet, where he kept his pistol. He never got to open the drawer, though. Bridge dropped him with two rounds. With his work there done, Bridge went out to the main part of the warehouse, where he saw Nicole walking in from the other side, five more women behind her. Bridge quickly scanned the faces of the scared women to see if Evelyn was among them. She was not, though.
“How you making out?” Nicole asked.
“Just one more to go. Just have to find the back door.”
“You want help?”
“No. Just get them in the van and get ready to move fast.”
“We could just leave now, you know. You could just forget about the last guy.”
Bridge looked at the women behind her. “How soon you think they’ll forget?”
Nicole understood his point. Bridge was taking them all out as long as it was possible. If he left any of them alive, it was obvious they weren’t against this sort of activity. Leaving them alive would just give them the access to do it again. Bridge couldn’t let that happen. As Nicole led the women back through the front, Bridge started looking around for the back. He went through the door Nicole came from, finding another hallway, though it wasn’t too long. There were a couple
of doors on each side. Bridge took a quick peek inside, observing blankets and handcuffs scattered around the floor. He could easily see that it was the living quarters for the imprisoned women. He finally came to the end of the hall and another door that led to the back. Bridge went through it and slowly walked toward the rear of the building, not sure what he was going to find. He finally had the back door within sight and saw a man sitting there on a folding chair, his arms crossed. It looked as if he might have been sleeping.
Bridge stopped creeping forward and stood there for a few moments as he pondered what to do about the man. Killing someone while they were sleeping just seemed wrong. He wasn’t sure why that was. After all, dead would be dead, no matter how a person got there. He almost felt obligated to give a person a chance, though, even if they were a bad guy, and even if it was less than one percent of one. He guessed it was just one of his quirks.
“Hey buddy!” Bridge yelled. The man opened his eyes and looked at the stranger. “Can you tell me where the bathroom is? Seems like I took a wrong turn.”
The man jumped up from his chair and reached for his rifle, which was leaning up against the wall to the right of him. Bridge ripped off three shots, sending the man falling back down over his chair.
“Let that be a lesson to you,” Bridge said, even though he knew the man was dead. “Be nice to people or things like this can happen.”
Bridge hurriedly walked back through the building again, walking outside and seeing Nicole behind the wheel of the van.
“Everything good?”
“Everything’s good,” Bridge answered, getting into the van. “Hundred percent takeout rate.” Bridge looked back at the women in the back, making sure they were OK. “Let’s get out of here.”
“One warehouse down, one warehouse to go.”
They had been on the road for about twenty minutes as they travelled toward their next assignment. Bridge’s phone rang. He was planning on ignoring it, but when he looked at the caller ID and saw it was Happ, he figured he should answer his friend’s call. It might have something to do with the case.
“Eric, we’re kind of busy right now.”
“So I hear.”