How could I have been so stupid? So blind? I’ve underestimated The Order from the very beginning, and now Josh has paid the ultimate price for my mistake.
I look at the men again. Eight of The Order’s finest. Eight of the best assassins the world has to offer. I’m guessing the sniper’s moved now. He would’ve needed to be across the bridge to make the shot. Maybe even on the roof of the Supreme Court building opposite. He couldn’t have been too far away, because the exit wound on Josh’s head was small, which means it was a low-caliber bullet. Therefore, the shot had to have been fired from no farther than a few hundred yards. With so many of them surrounding us now, there’s no need for the sniper to hang around and risk being seen.
But I’ll find him. I can promise you that. I’ll find the guy who killed Josh, and when I do, it’ll make what I did to Pierce look like a fucking back massage.
I slowly get to my feet.
I glance to my left, where I see the last of the innocent locals fleeing out of sight, leaving the street free for me to turn it red.
I blink, pausing for a few moments in between. In that short time, I see not only the scene before me in my head, but also how events are about to transpire. The wide arc of soon-to-be deceased killers is roughly fifteen feet away, curving across the middle of the street. Through the gap between the two guys on the far right, I have line of sight to one of their cars. More importantly, I have line of sight to the cap of the fuel tank.
I need five shots. Ruby will need four.
She’s standing beside me. Her body is tense, with what I imagine is a cocktail of adrenaline and fear coursing through her veins. I lean my head slightly toward her, the movement barely noticeable.
“Follow my lead,” I whisper through still lips.
The world around me slows almost to a stop. I instinctively raise my cast like a shield as I move my good hand behind me, reaching for the M9. Everything feels like an out of body experience, as if I’m looking on from afar, watching myself move with a practiced, lethal grace. My movements don’t feel like my own. I’m on auto-pilot, allowing my subconscious full, deadly freedom.
I’ve got you, man. I’ve got you.
When the world stops making sense, you have to find the one thing inside you that still does, and hold onto it with everything you have. It’s the only way to survive.
I breathe slowly, almost meditatively, as I feel my hand wrap around the butt of the gun at my back. I watch the men in front of me react. They’re fast, but not fast enough. Their mistake was having their weapons by their sides when they approached me. Instead of simply squeezing the trigger, they have to lift the guns and aim first, which will take way too long.
I whip my arm out straight and fire off the first round. It covers the distance between me and the car almost instantly, penetrating the thin, metal bodywork, and burying itself into the gas tank.
The explosion is sudden and deafening, the heat instantly rushing toward me, scorching the very air around me. The vehicle is engulfed in flames within seconds, the smell of burning fuel strong and strangely pleasant. The blackened carcass is pushed into the air. It flips over, landing on the hood of the other car.
The men all react the same way—by ducking, and bringing a hand up in a natural, but ultimately futile attempt to protect themselves from the heat of the blast.
I don’t waste any time.
I move my arm slightly, and fire three more rounds, starting at the right of the semi-circle, and working my way back along it toward Ruby. Each bullet finds its mark, punching into the skulls of each man with violent accuracy, sending them sprawling to the ground.
The fourth guy is standing at more of an angle, so I adjust my aim slightly, and put a bullet in his chest, directly into his heart. He joins his friends a split-second later.
Five shots.
The sound of deliberate and precise gunfire stops a moment after I finish shooting. I look next to me, and see the last of the eight men, and the last of Ruby’s four targets, landing awkwardly on the road.
I turn to her. “You okay?”
She nods hurriedly. “Yeah, I am. Now, let’s get out of here before more of those assholes show up.”
She starts running toward the bridge, veering right as she gives the flaming wreck of the vehicle a wide berth. I start to follow her, but stop when I draw level with Josh’s body. I look down at him for a moment, and then tuck my gun away at my back before kneeling beside him. His lifeless eyes are looking away from me.
This… this doesn’t seem real. It’s Josh. He can’t be dead. I mean, look at the guy—he’s like Peter Pan. He’s older than me, yet he looks exactly the same as he did twenty years ago. I don’t understand. My brain can’t make sense of it.
He can’t be dead.
I stare at him. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. You were the one who lived, Josh. You were the one who always survived. I was supposed to be the one who dies… the one who goes out in a blaze of glory and divine retribution. It’s what I deserve, after the life I’ve led. That was always how it was supposed to be.”
I sniff back a sudden wave of emotion.
“What am I going to do now, huh? Look what happened when I was without you for six weeks—I caused this shit! And I ended up in therapy. Jesus, Josh, you have to wake up. I need you.”
He doesn’t move.
“Damn it, Josh, quit screwing around and wake up!”
I slam my fist down hard on his chest. Once, twice… desperately trying to force some life back into him.
“Wake up, you selfish bastard! You can’t do this to me! You’re too smart to get taken out by a fucking bullet. Figure something out, like you always do. Come on!”
I hit his chest again, before my shoulders involuntarily slump forward in defeat. I stare blankly at my best friend, as he lies motionless before me.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, man. I’m sorry.”
I sense movement next to me, and look up to see Ruby standing there, keeping a respectful distance, but presumably trying to decide when she should tell me how important it is that we’re no longer here.
I nod to her. “I know. Just gimme a sec.”
I quickly pat Josh down, taking his cell phone, his wallet, and his keys from his pockets.
“Jesus, Adrian,” says Ruby. “You’re robbing him?”
I smile, which loosens the single tear from the corner of my eye, allowing it to roll freely down my cheek. “I don’t think he’d mind. I need the phone so I can call the president, I need his wallet because it has the keycard for the hotel room inside it, and the keys are for the rental car he would’ve parked over the bridge.”
She doesn’t say anything, just takes a step back, giving me more space.
I reach over him, and use my finger and thumb to gently close his eyes. “I’ll see you soon, brother.”
I get to my feet and look Ruby in the eyes. I don’t say anything. I don’t need to.
After a moment, she simply nods. “I know.”
We set off running toward the bridge, quickly crossing over the Tiber, and stopping on the other side, facing the Piazza dei Tribunali. I glance left and right, trying to spot which car would be ours, but I see nothing that was obviously chosen by Josh. I hold the keys up, press the button on the fob, and see lights flash on a gray sedan across the street.
“Let’s go.” I toss Ruby the keys. “You can drive.”
Within a few moments, we’re on the move, heading east along the banks of the river, toward our hotel. We need to put some distance between us and the massacre back there. We need to lay low, so I can figure out our next move.
And I need to call the president and tell him about Josh.
I don’t know how—
“Shit!”
A car just plowed into the side of us, appearing at speed from our left as we drew level with another bridge.
Ruby wrestles with the wheel as we spin counterclockwise, sliding us to a stop, facing the opposite way. Directly
in front of us is another car, jet black with a chrome fender. The passenger door opens, and the torso of a man wearing sunglasses appears. He rests his arm in the crook of the door and takes aim with the gun in his hand.
I’m already reaching for mine. “Ruby, get us out of here!”
Bullets start pinging off the hood as she stamps hard on the gas. We surge forward, and head past the car, down the road it came from. As we draw level, I fire a few rounds in quick succession. I don’t know if I clipped the guy, but it at least gave him something to think about.
I look ahead as we pass through a small plaza with grass on either side. Ruby’s concentrating as she navigates the traffic that’s coming toward us.
I glance over at her. “This is a one-way street, Ruby.”
“I know…”
“And we’re going the wrong way.”
“I know! Will you quit complaining and start shooting those assholes behind us?”
I look over my shoulder, out the rear window, and see the black car following us, and gaining fast.
The car lurches left, and then right, and then left again, as we weave at speed through the stream of oncoming vehicles.
The tires screech as she slams the brakes on and drifts right, onto another road. I reach across and grab the handle above the window with my left hand. “Holy shit, Ruby! Where did you learn to drive?”
“You can have lessons? Since when?”
I look over at her. “Are you kidding me right now?”
She straightens us up, and hits the gas again, continuing to move in and out of the traffic. “Yes, I’m kidding, but no, I don’t have a license.”
“Then how the hell do you know how to drive?”
“Honestly? I watched a lot of Miami Vice when I was young.”
I close my eyes with disbelief. “Miami Vice… fuck me.” I stare ahead again. “Ruby, this is another one-way street!”
“Well, I don’t know where I’m going! Quit shouting at me and keep us alive!”
“You keep us alive, you’re driving!”
She slams the brakes on again and fishtails between two cars.
I chance a look behind us and see the car is keeping pace. Sitting on the right, it’s hard to shoot comfortably with my left hand. I shuffle in my seat, and twist my body, so my left arm is resting on the back of it. I wait until the car is directly behind us and then open fire. The first bullet shatters our rear window. The next three punch their way into their hood and grill, but do little to slow them down.
The hammer smacks down on an empty chamber.
“Shit, I’m out. Ruby, I need your gun.”
Without a word, she leans forward, and I reach behind her to pull it from her back.
“Try to keep us steady.”
I line up my shot again and fire two more rounds. Both go through their windshield, hitting the driver in the chest. The car lurches one way, and then the other, before smashing into another vehicle traveling the opposite way. The impact lifts it off the ground, and it flips sideways, rolling over once… twice, before stopping on its roof.
I shift back around in my seat. “I think we’re clear.”
She slows us down, and we turn left onto a road where we’re traveling in the right direction. “Thank God for that. Nice shooting.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I stare silently ahead, still trying to make sense of what’s happening. We’re coming up to a large traffic circle with a stone fountain in the middle, surrounded by patches of grass. As she heads right, she’s forced to slam the brakes on again. Three more cars slide to a halt—one in front of us, one to our left, and one from behind. They have all stopped side-on to us, trapping us in.
We look at each other. “Shit!”
28
14:02 CEST
The doors to the car in front fly open, and men pile out, raising their automatic rifles. I can only imagine the same thing is happening behind us.
“Look out!”
I reach over, and put my hand on Ruby’s arm, pushing her down as I lean forward, using the dash for protection. A split-second later, the firing starts. The staccato roar of a dozen rifles spitting hundreds of bullets fills the air, accompanied moments later by the rapid thudding as they riddle our car. Glass smashes all around us, showering us with thousands of tiny shards.
“What do we do?” shouts Ruby.
A good question, which, frankly, deserves a better answer than the one I’m about to give.
“Punch it!”
“What?”
“The gas, punch it, now!”
Staying low, she grips the wheel as she steps hard on the pedal. She keeps us as straight as she can as we surge forward. A few seconds pass, which feel like days, before we collide head-on with the front of the car facing us. The sound of metal crushing against metal drowns out the gunfire, the impact sending us lurching forward, slamming me into the dash. My shoulder takes the brunt of it, but Ruby goes head-first into the wheel, and, almost immediately, a thin trickle of blood appears down the side of her face.
I put my hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”
She nods silently.
Good enough.
I bolt upright and quickly aim Ruby’s gun out of the shattered windshield. I fire two rounds at the first two men I see, who are both standing startled on the left side of their car. The bullets find their mark and they both slump lifelessly to the ground.
“Let’s go.”
We climb hurriedly out of the sedan, Ruby ducking low as she retrieves the guns from the two guys I just shot. I drop to one knee and fire a couple more rounds off, hitting the two remaining men standing to the right.
Holding both rifles, Ruby jumps feet first and slides awkwardly over the crumpled remains of both hoods, landing in a crouch beside me. I tuck her gun at my back as she hands me one of the newly-acquired weapons. We have some cover on this side of the cars, but it won’t last us long.
I look at her. “On three?”
She nods back. “Three!”
We turn and pop up, quickly bringing the rifles up to rest on the roof of what remains of our rental car. As I look behind us, I see the other two vehicles. The first is parked at an angle, blocking the way we came, with three men and a woman surrounding it, intermittently shooting at us. I vaguely recognize one of the men, but I can’t recall where from. I suppose, with so many assassins chasing us, it was inevitable I might know at least one of them.
To the right of them, the second car is fully side-on to us, and came from the opposite direction to where we are now. Again, it’s surrounded by four people, all taking it in turns to squeeze off controlled bursts of automatic gunfire at us.
Without needing to talk, we do what we do best. I take aim at the car farthest left and spray the area with bullets. I’m not trying to be accurate—I don’t have the time to pick them off as things stand. I just want them to quit firing at me for a minute so I can get the hell out of here.
Ruby does the same to the other vehicle, and they quickly stop, ducking behind their cars for cover. We both keep firing until the hammers thump down on empty chambers.
“We’re done here. Follow me.”
I discard the rifle and set off running away from the fountain, sliding to a stop behind the small arc of cars parked around the circumference. I glance behind me and see Ruby stooping to pick up another rifle as she follows me.
The firing resumes as she reaches me. I glance over to the right, looking at the far side of the traffic circle. Cars have been left abandoned, and I’m suddenly aware of the screaming coming from all directions.
“Shit. We’re sitting ducks, Ruby. We have to move—there are way too many friendlies running around out here.”
Ruby checks over her shoulder. “This way.”
Keeping low, she starts running away from the fountain, heading along the sidewalk, past a small group of pedestrians huddling together for protection against the wall. I take out the M9 and squeeze off a couple of rounds behind m
e before following. As I draw level with the small group of scared bystanders, I shout, “You need to move! Go, now!”
I carry on past them without stopping. I don’t know if they even understood me, but at least I tried. I catch up with Ruby. “You’re moving like you have a plan?”
“Nope… just don’t like being shot.”
We reach the end of the sidewalk, which presents us with an intersection, and we stop to catch our breath.
“Which way?” asks Ruby.
I have no idea where I’m going, so I instinctively draw on the rules that got me this far.
“When in doubt, go right.”
“I thought you told me once that if there was ever any doubt, you go left?”
I frown. I did?
I shrug. “Left doesn’t feel right. Right does.”
“So, what? You just change your rules depending on how you feel at any given moment?”
“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Come on.”
As we head right, I hear gunfire pepper the ground behind me. We cross the street, passing a small restaurant, and head for a rusted gate on the left, between two buildings. It’s padlocked shut. I shoot the chain, which falls noisily to the ground, and Ruby pushes it open. We rush down the alley, which is shaded by the buildings on either side. The breeze here is refreshingly cool as we navigate past a couple of large dumpsters, and emerge into the open area in the center of the block.
The buildings on our left, and ahead of us, bar our way. The fire exits are closed, with no visible handles on the outside, so there’s no getting in. The area stretches away to the right, covered by trees. Behind us, I hear renewed screaming, which I’m guessing means our attackers have given chase.
I point right. “Down here.”
We run forward, keeping close to the trees, both for shade and cover. Luckily, there’s no one around back here. After a couple of hundred yards, the area turns left, and leads back out to the street.
Thicker Than Blood Page 18