Brink of Extinction | Book 1 | Sudden Impact

by Shupert, Derek

  Juan kept pressure on his arm. He gnashed his teeth while checking the side-view mirror.

  I punched the gas, and sent the Suburban barreling down the alley. I checked the rearview mirror for any inbound cars as we neared the street.

  The front end of the SUV plowed through a row of trash cans that sent bags of trash into the air. I spun the steering wheel clockwise and pumped the brake. The Suburban dropped into the slight dip, and bottomed out as we drifted onto the street.

  The tires squealed as we made a wide arch into the far lane. I wrestled the steering wheel, bringing the SUV back under submission and into the correct lane.

  “That was close,” Juan said through panted breaths.

  My heart hammered. The pain in my side hadn’t let up, but that was the least of my worries.

  I kept the gas pedal mashed to the floorboard until we reached Andrès’s compound. We flew up the drive, and stopped shy of ramming the gate.

  The armed guard standing to the side of the entrance brought his AK to bear. He trained the barrel at the windshield, and advanced toward the driver’s side.

  I lowered the window. “Open the damn gate. Juan’s been shot.”

  The guard glanced at the passenger side of the Suburban, then ran toward the gate. He wheeled it across the drive far enough for us to pass.

  I drove up the winding driveway, and came to a skidding halt just shy of the stone garage. I hopped out, and met Juan as he slid down from the passenger seat.

  The men patrolling nearby rushed over with their dogs galloping at their sides.

  Juan’s face contorted in pain. He clutched his arm tight as blood seeped out from between his fingers.

  I offered a helping hand, but was shooed away, and given nothing more than a dirty look.

  I moved out of Juan’s way as he stomped to the rear of the house. Two guards stopped, and escorted him inside while two more tromped my way. They had their assault rifles shouldered and trained at my chest.

  “Whoa, whoa, guys,” I said in protest, lifting my arms into the air. “What’s going on?”

  They jerked their chins toward the house. I was lost and confused, but did as directed. One took up position behind me while the other stood at my side. I trailed behind Juan at gunpoint as we entered the house through the patio.

  Anna was nowhere to be seen. I craned my neck, searching for her among the crowd of armed henchmen who stood with weapons drawn and shouldered, but couldn’t spot her.

  Andrès stormed our way with two heavy-set men flanking him. He was pissed about something. His brow was furrowed, lips taut. His nostrils flared.

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked with my arms still raised in the air. “Where’s Anna?”

  Andrès approached Juan, and spoke into his ear. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

  Juan turned and looked at me with a scowl.

  “Get him out of my sight,” Andrès replied, twirling his fingers in the air. Two more of his men approached me with weapons drawn. They each grabbed my arm and held firm.

  “I completed the task you wanted. Juan can confirm. Gao hired T-dog to hit your warehouse,” I said, in a raised tone.

  Andrès looked at me, then nodded to his men. They dragged me away.

  “This is bullshit. We had a deal,” I said, while looking back over my shoulder.

  Andrès whistled, stopping his men. They spun me around. He walked toward me, anger filling his narrowed eyes. He stood but a scant inch away from me. “Any deal we had became null and void the moment my chop shop was hit, and my men killed. I’ve never had a problem at that location until you showed up, then bam, it gets hit. Don’t worry, Cory, we’ll soon get to the bottom of your treachery.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  SCARFACE

  Lawson knew how to pick his friends. Too bad it wouldn’t be enough to save his life.

  We surveyed the property from a safe distance. The dense vegetation and trees lining the street before the turnoff that ran in front of the massive house concealed our presence. There was a small clearing within the brush and trees that gave us a visual of the property.

  Brawny spoke to his men at the rear of the Hummer. Their voices were low. I didn’t pay any mind to it.

  Jackal watched their every move as I scoped out the compound. He nudged my arm. “What do you think they’re talking about?”

  I lowered the binoculars Brawny loaned me, and peered over my shoulder. “Who knows. Hopefully going over some sort of game plan. From the way things are looking from here, we’re going to need their help.”

  “That bad?” Jackal asked.

  “Hard to say, but that’s part of the problem. Can’t get a clear visual beyond the fence. Here, take a look.” I handed him the binoculars.

  Jackal surveyed the compound.

  Brawny approached us from behind, and cleared his throat. “We’re pretty much set to go. How are things looking?”

  Shitty, but what else is new?

  I glanced in the direction of the house, then rubbed my chin. “From our current position, we can’t get a clear view beyond that fence, so it’s difficult to gauge how many men he has. I’ve counted three well-armed guards carrying AKs patrolling the outside of the fence.”

  Brawny looked through the clearing at the compound. The tips of his fingers tugged at the top of his ballistic vest as he stooped down and leaned to the side. “Hey, Barnes. Did you get that drone operational by chance?”

  Grizzly slapped the magazine into his assault rifle, then secured the weapon across his broad chest. “Yeah. Had a bad connection going to the battery. Should be good to go now. Why?”

  “Get it out, will ya? We need to do some recon,” Brawny ordered.

  “Copy that.” Grizzly walked to the rear of their midnight-black SUV, and popped the hatch.

  Brawny stood up straight. “We’ve got a drone that we’ve used on a couple of jobs. It should give us a layout of the interior grounds and the guards’ positions.”

  Grizzly hauled a black case from the SUV, and sat it on the ground. He opened the lid, and removed an oversized controller.

  I pointed at the white drone. “They won’t spot or hear that thing, will they?”

  Brawny glanced at the medium-sized drone that Grizzly was prepping for flight. “We’re going to do a quick sweep of the property, so hopefully they won’t see or hear it. Plus, it’s not that loud. He’ll be flying it high enough where they shouldn’t hear it.”

  Grizzly pulled the drone from the case, and sat on the ground. His fingers worked the gadgets on the controller.

  “Yeah. I can’t see shit inside of the compound,” Jackal said, handing the binoculars back to Brawny. “Between the shrubs, trees, and the fence, it’s a best guess to how many are inside.”

  A light from under the drone flashed, then went away. The black propellers mounted in the corners jerked, then stopped.

  “Everything good?” Brawny asked, tapping his boot against the grass.

  The blades fired off again and whirled tirelessly. The drone lifted off the ground, and rose into the air. The noise created from the aircraft was nothing more than a humming sound.

  Grizzly maneuvered the drone up through the trees and into the gray murk of the sky. He walked over to us with his chin dipped, and eyes glued to the screen mounted in the center of the controller.

  We huddled around him, and watched as the aircraft crossed the street. The feed from the drone’s camera was clear and gave an excellent bird’s eye view of the area around the property. There weren’t any houses or other structures built close by–just open land with a handful of trees and tall swaying weeds that the wind tore through.

  The image distorted as the drone passed by the fence. It made it hard to make certain sections of the property out.

  Grizzly pursed his lips in frustration.

  “Are we out of range?” Brawny asked, leaning closer to the screen.

  “Maybe. Could be some sort of interference or even t
he weather,” Grizzly replied. His fingers worked the many toggle switches on the controller.

  The image cleared out a couple of seconds later, giving us a window of clarity at the interior and guard positions.

  I mapped out the compound inside my head, making a mental note of where the guards were, their numbers, and possible breach points for us to exploit.

  “There,” I said, pointing to the east of the property near the large garage. “We can have one team enter there.”

  Brawny pointed out another breach point along the back side. “We can enter here. Those trees and shrubs should provide some cover. The guards patrolling seem to be concentrated close to the house.”

  I tallied up the threats positioned around the compound. “So, we’ve got three guards patrolling the outside of the fence with another ten or so covering the interior. Not to mention any that are inside of the house.”

  “Just another walk in the park,” Jackal said with a grin.

  “All right, go ahead, and bring the drone back. I think we’ve seen everything we need to,” Brawny ordered.

  “Roger that.” Grizzly flew the aircraft back to our position. He secured the drone in its casing, and placed it back into the SUV.

  We loaded up with what weapons we had, and double-checked our gear. Brawny doled out an extra mag to Jackal and me. He also passed out two radios with white, coiled earpieces attached to them.

  I attached the radio to my belt, and fixed the earpiece over my ear. I shoved the mag in the waistband of my trousers, seeing as I had no other place to carry it. I opted for the Glock, and secured the assault rifle over my arm.

  Jackal stowed the two Glocks he had in the waistband of his trousers. He shouldered the rifle, and peered through the sight on top of the weapon. Slowly, he swept the tree line before us, then lowered the rifle.

  I dug my hand into the pocket of my pants, fishing for another piece of strawberry bubble gum. I was out–not a piece to spare.

  Shit.

  I switched to the other pocket, finding nothing except for the empty gum wrapper that I carried around with me.

  “What’s wrong?” Jackal asked, glancing at my pants. “Forget something?”

  “I’m out of gum. I thought I had some left,” I pulled my hand free of the empty pockets.

  “What’s with the gum?” Brawny asked from over my shoulder. “I’ve smelt that strawberry stuff on your breath. It’s kind of strange that a grown man is chewing a kid’s gum, isn’t it?” Brawny and his men moved to the side of Jackal and me. He cycled a round in his rifle.

  “It helps me think and stay focused. Some people smoke or chew tobacco. I prefer gum,” I replied in an aggravated tone.

  Brawny raised his hand in defense, then looked away. “All right. I was just wondering. No need to get touchy.”

  He hadn’t seen touchy, yet. He’d better pray he never did.

  I took point with Jackal and Brawny’s team following behind me. I kept close to the tree line as we shuffled toward the road. I paused, then checked the street before moving on. It was clear.

  We hurried across the street to the field of weeds. The blades of dead grass stood waist high. We crouched, and made our way through the field toward the east side of the house.

  Brawny’s team broke formation, and moved to the back portion of the property. Jackal and I maintained our current heading. I held my arm in the air, then made a fist. We took a knee in the weeds, dipping below the tips of the blades.

  “We’ve got movement at the east side of the compound heading this way,” I said, into the radio.

  “Copy that,” Brawny replied.

  Brawny’s team vanished around the back portion of the fence.

  The lone gunman moved alongside the steel bars of the fence line with his head tilted forward. The barrel of his AK was trained at the ground. Smoke escaped his mouth as he took a puff from the cigarette clutched between his fingers.

  He paused in front of a tree near our breach point, and set the AK on the ground.

  “What’s he doing?” Jackal asked in a whisper.

  The man’s hands fiddled with the front of his pants. Thin trails of smoke lifted above his head.

  “I think he’s taking a leak,” I replied. “Come on.”

  We stalked him through the weeds.

  His head tilted back as he looked to the grim sky that was painted with streaks of dark gray.

  The sky didn’t look normal, not by any means, especially for California. Was something more sinister coming our way?

  I pulled my dagger from the sheath, and stowed the Glock in my waistband. Jackal hung back and covered me.

  The man dipped his chin, and shook his junk as I closed in on him. I rose from the weeds, and extended my arm toward his neck as he bent down and reached for the AK.

  A branch snapped under my foot.

  He froze, then looked toward the field.

  I lunged forward, and grabbed him from behind before he made a single sound. I stabbed him in the back twice, then slit his carotid artery. I whispered in his ear, “You have been freed from this world.”

  A muffled gurgling sound escaped his lips as his body went limp.

  I moved my hands under both of his arms to catch the brunt of his dead weight, dragged his lifeless body to the weeds, and laid him within the dead vegetation.

  Jackal advanced to the tree, and grabbed the AK. He concealed the weapon at the base of the shrubs that resided between the large trees then moved down, and took cover behind the trunk of a wide tree. He rolled to the side, and peered through the steel bars at the back half of the stone garage.

  I took a knee at his side, and secured the dagger in its sheath.

  Jackal pointed at the roof of the garage, then to the back of the structure. “I don’t see any surveillance cameras or guards. I think we’re good to go.”

  I nodded.

  Jackal slung the rifle over his shoulder, and studied the fence. He looked at the steel beam that ran along the top. It looked to be a good seven to eight feet in height from the base to the top. I moved out of his way, giving him space to work.

  Jackal took two hearty steps back, then took off. The rifle slapped his back as his feet hammered the grass. He stepped on the bottom railing of the fence and jumped. He reached for the steel bar at the top and took hold. He hauled his body up and over the razor wire, missing the barbed ends.

  Jackal dropped to the lush green grass on the other side, then slipped the rifle free from his shoulder. He glanced at the knife wound on his forearm, shook his arm, then shouldered the rifle.

  A twinge of pain lanced through my arm as I sized up the fence. I had ignored it up until now.

  I took off, and mimicked Jackal’s approach. I hoisted my frame up the fence as Jackal swept the back half of the garage.

  A burning sensation tortured the hole in my arm. I gnashed my teeth, and fought through the pain.

  My body dumped over the railing along the top. The sharp, pointed ends of the razor wire cut at my clothes, ripping the fabric some. The carpet of thick grass cushioned my fall. I favored my injured arm as I pulled the Glock from my waistband.

  “Brawny’s team has made it over the fence. We took another guard out patrolling the outside. Moving toward the south end of the house,” Brawny said over the radio.

  “Copy that. We’re on the move, heading to the east side of the house,” I replied.

  Jackal took point, and moved to the edge of the garage. He paused, then peered around the corner.

  I flanked him, covering our backs.

  Jackal adjusted the rifle against his shoulder, and moved down the outside of the garage. He toed the corner, and swept the drive.

  Two guards with German shepherds materialized around the bushes. They stopped and chatted.

  The dogs sat on their haunches, waiting for their handlers’ commands. The canines looked our way, ears twitching and turning.

  Jackal moved away from the edge of the garage, then glanced over his sh
oulder at me. “How do you want to handle this? I’m not about killing dogs.”

  I wasn’t either, but we had to figure something out fast before they discovered we were there.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CORY

  The rope bound to my wrists bit my flesh. Every tug of my arms made the raw, sensitive skin worse, but that was the least of my problems.

  Anna sat next to me, bound to her chair. She fought the knotted rope keeping her arms restrained behind her back, but couldn’t get free.

  “What happened?” she asked, tugging her arms. “They just brought me down to this dark, dank wine cellar, and tied me up.”

  “No clue,” I replied, jerking at the rope. “All Andrès said was something about his chop shop being hit and men killed. He must think that we had something to do with whatever happened, but I don’t know how we would have, or what he’s even talking about. Either way, we need to find a way out of here.”

  “Good luck on that,” Anna replied, growing angrier by the second. “They have armed men everywhere.”

  I glanced around the cellar, searching for an exit other than the spiral stone staircase I was dragged down.

  Rows of wooden wine racks ran the length of the underground space on both sides of us. Darkness swallowed the racks, leaving just the vague outlines of the bottles and slanted shelves.

  Two large goons stood guard on either side of the stone archway that led to the main floor of the house. Portable lanterns and candles stationed near the entrance illuminated the sentries, making them appear more menacing.

  A knocking noise echoed from the spiral staircase. The silhouette of a figure appeared around the bend, and hit the landing.

  Andrès walked past his men, and headed straight for us. The sentries flanked him, and kept a few paces behind. His hands were behind his back. A cold, calculating look resided on what little I could see of his face.

  I continued pulling on the rope as he approached us.

  He towed me over, then shook his head like a disappointed parent. “So, tell me, Cory, who are you working with? Who are the men that knocked over my chop shop and slaughtered my men?”