by Mike Ryan
“The last one.”
“And is that good or bad?”
Recker grinned. “Like I said, it’s neither. It just is what it is.”
“Is this supposed to make me feel better?”
“Nope. But then again, I don’t think there’s anything I could have said that could have made you do that.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“There’s only one thing that will quell your fears about him.”
“And what’s that?”
“Time.”
15
Recker jumped up in bed, like he normally did after a nightmare. This time was different, though. He looked at the window. The light was shining through. He turned toward Mia’s spot in the bed, but she wasn’t there. He put his hand on his chest for a second, just making sure he wasn’t still dreaming. His head looked around the room as if he were searching for something. He wasn’t though. He just felt different. He actually felt… normal. Him jumping out of his sleep must have been some kind of reflex action, as for once, he didn’t have a nightmare. Or if he did he couldn’t remember it, but for the last year or two, he remembered all the others, so if he had one, he assumed he would have remembered this one too. And his body felt different. Lighter. Like he wasn’t carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Maybe it was the effects of knowing he was leaving for a while.
He got out of bed and got dressed, then walked into the living room, where he smelled something good cooking. Recker went into the kitchen and saw Mia standing by the stove, making bacon, eggs, and toast. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist and kissed her on the neck. She tilted her head to get the full effect of his lips. She then turned her head to the side for her lips to meet his.
“Smells good.”
Mia smiled. “Sit down, they’re almost ready.” She turned and watched him sit down at the table. His face looked different to her. He looked free. His face didn’t show the usual amount of stress that it usually did. “You OK?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know, you just look… different.”
“I’m good. I actually feel good for a change.”
Mia smiled again. It was nice seeing him this way. “Good.”
“I don’t think I had a nightmare last night. At least I don’t remember one. And I don’t remember waking up in the middle of the night like I usually do.”
“That’s funny, because I almost always wake up when I feel your body move when you get up from one of those things and I don’t remember doing that last night either.”
Recker snickered. “Maybe I’ve been cured.”
Mia came over with their breakfast on plates, handing her boyfriend his share of it. “There you go.”
Recker immediately dug in, grabbing a piece of bacon first. “Tasty.”
Mia smiled. “It’s just bacon and eggs, Mike. It’s not that hard.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.”
After having a brief laugh, Mia wanted to make sure that Recker was still good with leaving. Even though they’d talked about it for the last week, and he seemed steadfast in his decision to go away for a while, there was still a small piece inside her that thought something would change at the last minute. Or that he wouldn’t be able to break himself away from the team. There was still that small piece of her that expected disappointment somewhere along the way.
“We’re still going, right?” Mia asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice.
Recker stopped eating and stared at her for a moment. “Of course. Why wouldn’t we?”
Mia shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess part of me is just making sure you haven’t changed your mind or anything. I know it’s a big step for you.”
Recker shook his head, then grabbed Mia’s hand across the table and held it. “Even if I was having second thoughts, I know how much you’ve been looking forward to this. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“You are having second thoughts?”
“No. No. I’m not. Honest. I still want to go.”
“You’re sure?”
Recker laughed. “Yes, I’m sure. I promise. I’m not having second thoughts. I said we should go and we still should. You’ve already scheduled your time off and all, so we’re good.”
“Time off can be switched if you’ve changed your mind.”
“I haven’t. I promise you, nothing’s changed.”
“Not even the new guy entering the picture?”
Recker looked at her, slightly confused. “Why would that change anything?”
Mia shrugged. “Maybe you feel with a new guy coming in, who needs some refinement, maybe you feel now’s not the right time to get away?”
Recker shook his head. “No. Even if I felt that way, and I do, I mean about the new guy needing refinement, which he does, that still wouldn’t be enough to get me to cancel this on you.”
“On us. It’s not just about me, you know.”
“I know. It’s about me, and you, and us, and all of that. I know.”
“So you’re not worried about leaving with the new guy taking your spot?”
“Am I worried? Eh, I mean, I’m a little concerned. I just want things to go smoothly for them. And I hope it doesn’t take something dramatic to get Phillips into the fold.”
“Chris knows what he’s doing. He’ll whip him into shape.”
“Of course he does. That’s not even a question. Chris is every bit as good as I am. The concern I have is the same concern I would have for myself if it was me training Phillips.”
“Which is?”
“That he does the wrong thing, says the wrong thing, and bites off more than he can chew. While I have no doubts about Chris’ abilities, what if they’re together and Phillips makes the wrong move and gets them both into trouble, more trouble than they can handle? In our line of work, there’s been a lot of people killed because the person they were with got them into a situation they couldn’t get out of.”
“Chris will make sure it doesn’t get that far.”
“What if Chris doesn’t even know?” Recker thought for a few more seconds. “What if they’re out somewhere, trailing someone, trying to be quiet and unnoticed, and Phillips decides out of the blue that he’s just gonna start dropping people? And if there’s other people around that they don’t see, then they both could get killed.”
“What are the chances of that happening?”
Recker shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe not great. But you don’t need much of a chance for it to be possible and actually happen. Especially when you deal with a certain kind of person.”
“They’ll figure out how to get him in. It didn’t take you guys long to get Haley into it smoothly, right?”
“Chris was different.”
“How so?”
“Because he didn’t think he had all the answers. He knew this was similar, but different. He was willing to sit back and learn, be taught, blend into the background.”
“And Phillips is the opposite?”
“I mean, from what I can tell, yeah, a little. He seems like he’s got an ego, doesn’t seem like he plays well with others, and doesn’t seem like he wants to learn a different way of doing things. He’s got his way. And there are plenty of guys like that.”
“If he’s good enough to be brought in, then he’s good enough to change his habits.”
“Well, that’s the hope. Anyway, let’s not talk about that. Everything’s settled for our trip, right?”
Mia smiled. “Yep. Plane tickets, rental car, hotel, all taken care of and ready to go. Already have most of our bags packed, so, I think the only thing really missing now… is us.” Recker smiled back at her. “I’m so looking forward to this, Mike.”
“I know you are. I’m actually looking forward to it myself.”
“Are you? Or are you just saying that for me?”
“No, I really am. Like I’ve been saying, I think getting away for a while will really be good for me. And what could be better t
han spending it in a place like Hawaii with you?”
“I can’t think of anything.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Recker’s phone ringing. It was still in the bedroom, so Recker got up from the table and rushed in to answer it. It was Haley.
“Yeah, Chris?”
“We could use your help right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“We’re a little pinned down.”
Recker heard gunfire in the background. “What’s going on?”
“Uh, well, we had a little bit of a job this morning and it totally went sideways.”
“What kind of job?”
“Well, I can explain that to you when you get here.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Well, we’re down here by the Delaware River. We got word that a shipment was coming in with some illegal contraband, and we came down here to check it out. Jerrick was supposed to be involved with this.”
“And?”
“And we were trying to be unnoticed and all…”
“I’m assuming that didn’t go so well.”
“No. No, it didn’t.”
“What kind of numbers?” Recker asked, still hearing gunfire in the background.
“Um, I’m not sure. It looks like around twenty of them, maybe.”
“Is it just you there?”
“No, Phillips is here too.” Haley then gave him the address.
As soon as he heard it, Recker knew the place. “That’s not a public dock.”
“No, it’s not. We got word that everything was being done hush-hush here.”
Recker sighed. “All right, I’m on my way.” Recker quickly input the address into the maps app on his phone. “Looks like I should get there in about twenty minutes. You gonna be able to hold off that long?”
“Yeah, we should be able to manage.”
“OK, just sit tight, I’m coming in hot.”
“Thanks.”
Recker quickly rushed into the closet and grabbed his equipment bag. Mia came into the room a few seconds later.
“What’s going on?”
“Chris is in trouble.” Recker went over to Mia and kissed her. “Gotta go help him.”
“Please be careful.”
“Always am.”
“Call me when you’re done.”
Recker looked back as he exited the room. “I will.”
As Recker disappeared from sight, and Mia heard the front door shut, she hoped this would be one of the final times she had to worry about him coming home. Even though it was still up in the air as to whether Recker would come back from Hawaii and take up his old life again, she secretly hoped that he wouldn’t. She was ready to be done with this life. She just hoped he would feel the same.
16
Haley peeked around the corner of the storage container he was behind and reached his arm out, firing three times. He then got his body back behind the container as the bullets returned in his direction.
“Don’t have much ammo left,” Phillips said.
Haley checked his. “Yeah, me neither.”
“We might not be able to wait for Recker to show.”
“He’ll be here soon.”
“I’m not sure we can wait.”
“He’ll be here.”
“Well I don’t know about you, but I’m not really all that into using sticks and throwing rocks for defensive purposes. We might have to run for it.”
“Just conserve our shots. They’re not really getting up on us yet. They’re still keeping their distance.”
“Yeah, but if they mount any kind of a charge, I think we’ve had it.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“I dunno. I’m starting to get nervous here.”
“You? Wyatt Earp getting nervous? I thought Wyatt Earp didn’t get nervous.”
“We all have our moments, I guess.”
“Well, we might not have had to worry about this if you didn’t start shooting at them.”
Phillips sharply turned his body toward him. “How was I to know they had more guys over there? They were hidden.”
“That’s why we do recon and we wait. So that we’re sure of what we’re walking into. So that we’re sure of what’s around us. So that when we finally decide to make our move, we always know what it is that we’re going up against. That’s why we don’t start firing at the drop of a hat.”
“OK, so maybe I should have waited a few more minutes.”
“Maybe?”
“All right, so it’s my fault. Does that make you happy?”
“No. It’d make me happy if we weren’t in this mess to begin with. What’s going to happen if you get me into one of the scrapes again when Mike’s gone and he can’t come in to the rescue. What are we gonna do then?”
Phillips smiled. “I guess we’ll just have to get out of it ourselves.”
Haley rolled his eyes. “Gee, there’s something to look forward to.”
Over the next few minutes, Haley continually looked at his watch. It seemed the situation was the exact reverse from the time he and Phillips helped out Recker and Malloy from overwhelming odds. Now it was Recker coming to the rescue.
The gunshots were exchanged by the two sides over the next few minutes, neither side getting the upper hand, though Haley and Phillips weren’t really trying to. They were just trying to hang on. They were surprised, but thankful, that Jerrick’s men didn’t seem to be pressing the issue. Either they didn’t think help was coming for the two men or they weren’t too worried about it. Or there was a third option. Maybe they were hoping for reinforcements to arrive so they could finally finish Recker off since they failed the last time they met.
A few more minutes elapsed and Jerrick’s men slowly but surely advanced on Haley and Phillips’ position. Jerrick’s men weren’t doing an all-out charge, but were taking turns with different men advancing in small increments in different locations. They were trying to spread out to keep Haley and Phillips from locking down on one position and taking a bunch of them out at one time.
As the minutes ticked away, Haley looked at his watch again. He figured Recker should have been arriving anytime now. But the bullets seemed to be getting fired from closer distances with each passing second. As much as he didn’t want to give in to Phillips’ opinion, he wasn’t sure they could continue to wait there for Recker either. A couple more shots lodged into the sides of the container that Haley and Phillips were standing behind. Jerrick’s men were moving in from the sides, looking like they were trying to surround them.
“All right, it’s starting to get hot in here,” Haley said.
“Ready to move it now?”
“I’d say so.”
“After me?” Phillips asked.
“Lead the way.”
Phillips immediately ran behind them to another container. There was an open distance of about ten or fifteen yards between the two, so he wasn’t exactly in safe territory as he ran. Haley did his best to provide cover for his new partner, throwing a few shots into the air, not really expecting any of them to hit anything that was useful to their predicament. Shots flew all around Phillips as he ran, some of them flying through the air, a few hitting the ground near his feet, but luckily none hitting him.
When Phillips got to the next container, he turned around and started firing, though like his partner, didn’t have high expectations of actually hitting anything that would help them. His eyes split their focus between several different targets as he fired everywhere. Haley sprinted across the open area, facing the same barrage of bullets that Phillips did. He, too, made it without incident. As soon as Haley got there, Phillips checked his ammunition.
“OK, I am seriously running low now.”
Haley checked his, as well. “I got about six shots left.”
“I’m down to four.”
“See any pitchforks lying around?”
“Maybe we can take a mad dash for the river and jump in.”
Right about now he was willing to consider anything. It was too far away, though. They’d never make it. Though they definitely weren’t going to make it standing where they were either. The lack of lead was a definite negative in their favor of surviving the encounter. Maybe they’d be better off just taking their chances that they could outrun the incoming barrage of bullets. He took another look around, keeping his face planted next to the container. With the bullets whizzing past them even more, it seemed like the walls were closing in.
“I don’t know about you, but that water’s looking pretty enticing right now,” Phillips said.
Haley couldn’t argue. “Well, I guess we’ve run out of options.”
Phillips took a few steps back, ready to start his mad dash. Before he was able to propel himself forward, though, a medley of gunfire broke out in the distance. It was more than one gun. It sounded like ten or twenty pistols and rifles going off at once.
“What’s that?” Phillips asked.
Haley tried to look around the container without getting his head blown off. “I’d say that’s our friend coming to the rescue.”
“Sounds like he brought an army with him.”
“Maybe he did.”
Recker did in fact bring help. On the way in, he called Malloy and apprised him of the situation. Malloy had six men that were about ten minutes away. They actually got to the area a few minutes ahead of Recker, but were told to wait for him before doing anything. Once Recker did, he took command of the men and led them into the area, quickly disposing of a few guards stationed near the entrance of the area.
With all of Jerrick’s men now knowing they’d been joined by extra people, most of them diverted from their positions and tried to meet the incoming force head-on. Haley and Phillips were able to clip a few of the men as they left their positions, seemingly forgetting about them. There were a couple that stayed behind, trying their best to finish off Haley and Phillips, though they weren’t able to accomplish their goal.
Of the group that split off to try to take on Recker, about fifteen of them, five or six were immediately dispatched before it was even much of a fight. The rest of the bunch, sensing that their advantage was slipping away as fast as it came, turned tail and ran from the scene just as quickly as they could. A few didn’t even bother to run for their vehicles. They just took the closest and clearest path that they could find that would lead them away from the conflict. Most of the others, though, ran back to their cars, of which there was a considerable amount of heroin, not to mention money, that they couldn’t just run away from. As much as they feared losing their lives the longer they stayed there against Recker and his team, they feared what Jerrick would do to them if they lost the shipment they were supposed to be bringing back.