by Mike Ryan
5
With a gun still pressed against his back, Lamb fully complied with the man’s direction. Within a minute, they had escaped the gawking, onlooking crowd who were mostly concerned with what was going on in the hotel.
“All right, stop,” the armed man ordered, pointing to a car in front of them. “That white car to the left there.”
“So, where are we going?”
“You’ll know when we get there.”
Lamb walked over to the white four door sedan, waiting for further instructions as he stood by the back bumper.
“Get in. You’re driving,” the man said.
“I don’t really know the area,” Lamb replied.
“Just get in.”
Lamb complied with the man’s wishes for the moment, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. He was also kind of curious at where he was being taken. Once both men had gotten into the car, the man tossed the keys to his prisoner.
“So, what’s your name?” Lamb asked.
“What’s it matter?”
Lamb shrugged. “I always like to know the names of the people I kill.”
The man smiled at his bravado. “You’re one of those guys who never admits defeat, huh?”
“Guess so.”
“C’mon, drive.”
“You haven’t told me where we’re going yet.”
“Just start driving. I’ll tell you where to go. There’s somebody who wants to have a word with you.”
“Oh. Friend of mine?”
“I doubt it.”
“Would it happen to be the guy who employs you and the three people I just killed?” Lamb asked.
“Yeah. And he ain’t too happy about it.”
“What’s he wanna talk about?”
“I dunno. My job is just to get you there.”
“And then what?”
“Then you and him will talk. Then after that, I imagine you’ll be eating some bullets of your own.”
“Thought so.”
Lamb wasn’t really worried about the threats. In fact, the man gave him a vital clue that he wasn’t going to kill him, at least not yet. That gave him the upper hand for the moment. Although Lamb was wondering about the identity of the man he was being taken to meet, he had no intention of ever making that meeting. Somewhere along the ride, he’d have to make his move and get out of this thug’s clutches. As Lamb pulled out of the hotel parking lot, he was given directions on which way to go. The man told him where to turn a few yards in advance. Being that it was so early in the morning, there wasn’t much traffic on the road. Lamb figured that probably worked in his favor. It meant he could take more of a risk without endangering other cars in the road.
“So how long are we driving for until we meet this boss of yours?” Lamb asked.
“Why? What’s it matter?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just curious. Like to prepare myself.”
“Wondering how much breathing time you got left?”
“Something like that.”
“We got about half an hour,” the man said, his eyes alternating between the road and his driver.
As they started driving along a street that was flush with trees along the sides, and there was virtually no other traffic on the road, Lamb figured it was time to make his move. He thought about just driving off the road and crashing into a tree, but if the car became inoperable, he’d have a long walk by the time he got back to the hotel. And by that time, they’d have discovered the bodies and put the area on lockdown. Who knew if his car would still be available by then? They might have been dusting it for prints. There was also the question of the airbags deploying. Lamb had a knife in his bag, so he could cut the airbags, but it’d probably take longer than he wanted to cut them out completely. Which meant he’d have to drive around with at least part of it still attached, which would most likely be an annoying way to drive.
Lamb waited another minute before his opportunity to strike arose. He noticed the man occasionally took his eyes off him and looked to the road, and the next time he made that mistake, it would be his last. He looked at his captor out of the corner of his eye, just waiting to make his move. As soon as he saw the man turn his head to look at the road, Lamb made a hard turn, forcing the car to the side of the road, then jammed on the brakes, almost putting his foot through the floor. Neither man was wearing their seat belt, so the force of the stop made both of them leave their seat. Lamb, expecting it, was able to brace himself a little better than his companion. Though his chest rammed into the steering wheel, Lamb quickly shrugged off the minor pain and enacted his plan. The other man was also thrust forward, his head hitting the glove compartment. The sudden jolt knocked the gun from his hands, the weapon winding up in the middle console between the two parties.
After getting hit, the man was temporarily disoriented and felt for the bump on his head. That gave Lamb all the time he needed. He quickly reached for the weapon before the other man could find it. As the man turned his head to look at him, he lunged for the gun Lamb was now holding. Not wanting to engage in a wresting contest inside the car, Lamb pulled the trigger, the force of the bullet knocking the man back into the passenger window. He was hurt and bleeding, but not dead yet, and therefore still a threat. Before he made another motion toward him, Lamb pulled the trigger two more times, making sure he wouldn’t be a further problem. The man hunched over, his head violently hitting the glove compartment once again, though he didn’t feel it this time since he was dead by then. Lamb got out of the car and walked around it, opening up the passenger side door. He then pulled his dead friend out of the car, letting his body thump to the ground. He then got back in the car and sped away.
They’d been driving in the opposite direction from where Lamb needed to go, so he had to turn the car around to head toward Swanson’s house. With no other hiccups, it’d probably take him about an hour to get there. After a few minutes of driving, Lamb stopped the car along the side of the road and reached into the back seat, grabbing his bag. He pulled it up to the passenger seat and unzipped it. He wanted to make sure all his weapons were still there, just in case his friend had dumped them while they were walking to the car. Everything was still there. He also put the new gun he’d just acquired in it.
Lamb had no further issues and arrived at the Swanson house around five-thirty. He sat there for a few minutes, watching the area to see if he was alone. After not seeing anyone else around, his phone rang. His friend didn’t even wait for a greeting before he started talking.
“Hey, just wanted to give you a heads up,” Garner said. “I just found out that there’s four or five guys heading to your hotel room right now. You gotta get out of there.”
“Thanks for the warning. Everything’s under control.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I already met that group. You’re about an hour late.”
“Oh. Damn. Sorry. Thought I had something useful for you.”
“You did. I appreciate the heads up.”
“What happened?”
“Two came into my room. I was expecting them, though, and got the jump on them. Then his buddies pulled the fire alarm. Two of them were waiting in the stairwells. The last one was waiting outside for me. He actually got me into a car and was intending on taking me to meet someone. He didn’t quite make it.”
“Probably taking you to the guy who ordered the hit on Swanson,” Garner said.
“Why? What’d the point be?”
“Probably just wanting to know why you turned down the contract but are now here.”
“Would he still have killed me after talking to him?”
“No question.”
“Guess it’s good I didn’t wait,” Lamb said.
“You hurt or anything?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Where are you now?”
“Sitting outside the Swanson home.”
“When you gonna make your move?” Garner asked, wondering about his plans.
“I don’t know. I figure I’ll let them wake up first. Being woken up with this kind of news isn’t always pleasant.”
“Yeah, neither is a bullet to the head, which is what he might get if you wait.”
“I gotta be honest, I’m not all that concerned with him,” Lamb replied. “If it was just him being hit, I could live with it. It’s the mother and the girl...especially the girl, that’s what bothers me.”
“I know. Just don’t wait too long to make your move.”
“I figure I’ll give them another hour. As soon as I see a light turn on. I don’t want to scare the girl to death either by barging in.”
“She’ll be a lot more scared if she sees both her parents dead in front of her.”
“I hear you.”
“All right. Good luck. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”
“Just be careful. Don’t get yourself in a tight spot.”
“You know it.”
After they hung up, Lamb looked over to his bag and just stared at it for a minute. That bag was almost like a trusted friend to him. It was his livelihood, and his protection, but it might have been one of the last times he was reaching into it.
Once 6:30 rolled around, Lamb started preparing himself to move. He noticed a couple of lights turn on and off again, leading him to the assumption that the occupants of the house were up. He turned the key in the ignition and pulled up to the house. Swanson lived in a rather large house, a lot of property to go with it, and a mid-sized wall around the entire place. There was also a metal gate that blocked anyone from entering up the driveway.
There was a buzzer by the gate with a speaker to talk in to, so Lamb pushed it, hoping to get a response and an invitation to come up. Sadly, he got neither. He pressed the button a few more times without any answer. Since he knew they were up, he got the impression they were just ignoring him. He got back in his car and drove around the property, looking for a better point of entry. He hoped there was a spot he could hop over or sneak around to get onto the grounds.
Once Lamb got around to the back, he noticed several small trees that were just inside the fence, but they had several limbs and branches that extended over it. It’d been a while since he climbed a tree, but at least it wasn’t too high. He parked as close to the fence as possible and stood on the hood to give himself a better boost. He jumped up and grabbed one of the branches, a good thick one, and pulled himself up. He swung his legs up and his foot caught hold of the fence. He then swung his momentum toward the fence, draping himself over it. As he maneuvered his entire body over the fence, with his hands still on the tree, he let go, dropping to the grass. He took a quick look around to see if anybody saw him. From the reports he’d looked at, Swanson didn’t have any dogs, which was a big help. The last thing he needed was seeing a couple of guard dogs running toward him. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about it.
The backyard was huge, probably well over two acres, and Lamb started moving toward the house. His other concern was that Swanson saw him coming and was waiting in a window with a rifle, ready to pick him off. There were some things in the yard that Lamb tried to stay behind for cover, a few statues, playtime furniture, patio sets. There was also a big in-ground pool not too far from the back door of the house. There was a small little waterfall, a slide, and a diving board that went along with it. Lamb had just walked past the edge of the pool when the sliding glass door to the house was pulled open. Lamb froze as he waited to see who it was. It was Lawrence Swanson.
Swanson was whistling, had his bathing suit on, and a white towel draped over his shoulder as he was about to go for his morning swim. It had become something of a habit for him, swimming in the morning three or four days a week. It seemed to help relax him before he started his day. He was looking at the ground as he walked outside, not seeing his visitor at first. As he looked up to see how the water was, he noticed the strange man standing there. He was alarmed, seeing a stranger on his property, especially since Swanson was defenseless. He usually had a gun on him when he was out, and usually had one nearby in the house, but near the pool, that was the one spot where he was vulnerable.
“Who are you?” Swanson asked. “What do you want?”
“I tried buzzing the front gate. Nobody answered.”
“Oh. That was you? I don’t answer for people I don’t know at this time of the morning.”
“Well, I’m trying to save your life. And that of your family.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s a hit out on you right now. I came here to warn you about it and get your family to safety,” Lamb said.
“A hit? On me? You’re crazy,” Swanson said, waving his hand at the man.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“Get out of here before I throw you out.”
“I’m just trying to help you.”
“I don’t need help from the likes of you. How would you know, anyway?”
“Because I’m the man they hired to do it.”
Swanson’s face suddenly went from disbelief to worry, concerned that the man in front of him was telling him the truth and was about to come up shooting. “Who hired you?”
Lamb shrugged. “I get hired through third parties. Couldn’t tell you. What I do know is that unless you wanna wind up face first in that swimming pool, you and your family better come with me right now.”
“Why? Where are you taking us?”
“I don’t know. We’ll figure that out later. But staying here isn’t safe,” Lamb said.
“I’m safer here than I am out there.”
“You think so? If I can get in here, so can they.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Swanson said, trying to wrap his head around what he’d been told. “So, you’re telling me that you were hired to kill me. But here you are trying to warn me? That doesn’t make sense.”
“I was hired. But then I turned it down.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Because I wasn’t that enamored with the side effects,” Lamb answered.
“Side effects? What side effects?”
“You have a wife and a daughter, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
Lamb just tilted his head and made a face, figuring he didn’t need to say the words for his host to get the message.
“My wife and daughter?” Swanson asked, hardly believing it. “They’re innocent. They’re not involved in anything. Especially Brooke. She’s only eleven.”
“You know how it works as much as I do. They don’t want any collateral damage coming up later. They want everything tied off now.”
Swanson was clearly affected by the news that his family was a target and he looked worried. “So, what do you want? Why are you here? Money?”
Lamb shook his head. “I don’t want a thing from you.”
“Then why are you doing this? They’ll kill you for helping us.”
“I know. They’ve already tried. I’ve already taken out four men this morning on my way here.”
“Four?”
“I’ll be honest, I’m not doing this so much for you as I am for your daughter,” Lamb said. “I just couldn’t stomach the fact that an eleven-year-old would be killed for the sins of her father.”
Swanson was deep in thought and looked at the pool for a minute before answering. “Well, thank you for that.”
“No thanks needed. Like I said, I’m not really doing it for you.”
“Why then? You’re just doing it out of the goodness of your heart? Somehow, I don’t buy that. If you were hired first, you must be pretty good. And that would mean this isn’t your first rodeo. So why put yourself through all this?”
“I guess I wanna hold on to a belief that no matter how many bad things we do in life, there’s still some good in all of us. Maybe one good deed. Something that resonates deep inside of us that we believe is worth fighting for. Something that’s bigger than all of us.”
Swanson walked clo
ser to the pool, looking at his reflection in the water as he pondered the situation. “So how much time do you think we have?”
“Well, if my schedule so far this morning has been any indication...not much. If I were you, I’d round up your family right now so we can get out of here within the next few minutes. It’s a cinch that there’s more people on the way here now.”
“How do I know all this is really the truth?” Swanson asked.
Figuring he would have to do this, Lamb pulled out his phone and the pictures of the documents that he’d taken. It was a good thing he always had backup copies available at all times. He handed his phone over to Swanson who eagerly started looking over it.
“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what all that means, right?” Lamb asked.
Swanson peered up at his visitor. “I’ve seen it before.”
“Then you know I’ve told you the truth.”
Swanson stopped reading and sighed, looking back at the strange man, handing him his phone back. He sorrowfully nodded, knowing his life was about to change, and probably not for the better. “I guess I knew this day would come eventually.”
“Your family in the house?”
Swanson nodded. “They’re in the kitchen eating breakfast. How are we gonna explain this to them?”
“How ‘bout the truth?”
“The truth. Sometimes the truth is more complicated to explain than a lie.”
“And sometimes it’s not,” Lamb said.
Swanson sighed again. “I can’t believe this. After all I’ve done for them.”
Lamb stared at him, not really having much compassion for his problem. Swanson was well aware of the bed he was lying in as far as Lamb was concerned and didn’t have much pity for him and the fact his world was beginning to fall apart. With Swanson standing in front of him, talking, he seemed like a decent enough fellow. Didn’t seem to be obnoxious or overly aggravating in any way, but the truth remained that he was a criminal in bed with other criminals. When one steps over the line, there will be a price that needs to be paid.