by Jon Mills
“What are you going to do with your share after?”
“I’m taking Theresa out of here. Maybe go to the Bahamas, get a little shack down there and open my own bar. I need a slower pace of life.”
“I hear you, man. We aren’t getting any younger.”
And that was the truth. Billy was getting close to forty and all he had to show for his life was a record of criminal behavior, a house that belonged to Theresa and a shitty trailer. He’d always imagined that by the time he made it to forty he would be set up in some nice crib in the city with a couple of kids of his own and a business that operated twenty-four seven without him being involved. Of course he would look in on it from time to time but that would be all. He’d always been averse to work; at least any work that didn’t pay well.
As they sat out there watching Mother Nature do its worst, a silver SUV came into the driveway followed by a black sedan. Gravel crunched and large puddles splashed. Billy squinted. Who the hell was that? As the vehicles got closer his eyes widened.
“Shit!”
“What?”
“It’s Kalen.”
Billy glanced at his watch, it was nearly noon.
“What the hell’s he doing here? It’s not two.”
“I don’t know but get the guys and product ready.”
Ronny went inside while Billy stood to his feet. He couldn’t believe Kalen was here right now. He gave a fake smile as they pulled up close to the house. Kalen was the first to get out, then his men came around. They dashed to get under the cover of the porch.
“What are you doing here so early?”
“Change of plans. You got the product?”
Billy eyed the men. Each of them carried a semi-automatic rifle. “I don’t think you’ll need those.”
“Precaution. I think you understand.”
Billy called out to Ronny while keeping his eye on the men. He glanced past Kalen.
“You expecting someone?”
“No. I thought I saw another car.”
“Come, let’s take a seat.”
Kalen wrapped his arm around Billy and led him over to the porch rocker.
“So tell me again, how did you manage to get so much product in forty-eight hours?”
“I had a friend of mine who owed me a favor.”
“Owed a favor. Do I know him?”
“No. No, I don’t think you do.”
“Forty grand in meth is a lot. Is he distributing locally?”
“He was. He’s out of the business now.”
Billy swallowed hard. His pulse was racing and he was sweating a little. Kalen ran his tongue around the inside of his own teeth before lighting a cigarette and blowing out smoke.
“Your friend. He got a name?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t know him.”
Kalen raised his eyebrows. “You would be surprised how many dealers we know.”
“Markus.”
“Markus.” Kalen nodded. “Markus…”
“Tomlin.”
Kalen shouted over to his buddy. “You heard of a Markus Tomlin?”
“I don’t believe I have, boss.”
Ronny came out and glanced at the others. He brought a bag of meth with him and handed it off to Kalen who examined it.
“Mind if I test the goods?”
“No. Go ahead,” Ronny said.
“What’s your name?” Kalen asked him.
“Ronny.”
Kalen reached down to his leg and pulled out a knife from a sheath. He laid the bag on the table and jabbed the knife in, splitting it wide open. He cupped the product and took some out before taking the back of the knife and smashing up the chunks into a fine powder in front of him.
“Ronny, come around here so you can block the wind a little.”
Some of the powder was getting blown off the table.
“That’s a good lad. Alright, go ahead and snort it.”
Ronny’s eyes darted between Billy and Kalen.
“What?”
“Snort it.”
“I don’t…”
“You want to sell this? Then go ahead and fucking snort it.”
“I thought you were going to test it.”
“I am. By having you snort it. What? You think I’m going to snort that shit up my nose?”
Billy could tell that Ronny was nervous. He’d never been the kind of guy to deal with confrontations. He was an opportunist. A thief and a damn fine one at that. Billy gestured to him to go ahead.
Ronny went to scoop up some.
“No, come on down here.”
Again he gave a look of confusion but then dropped down to one knee to place his nose against the product and snort it up. Kalen watched carefully, a smirk dancing on his lips as the product vanished up Ronny’s nose. His eyes rolled back a bit before he got this wide grin on his face.
“And the next line.”
“What?”
“I want to see you do the next line.”
“But this stuff is potent.”
“That’s what I want to see. I don’t know how potent it is.”
Ronny rubbed his nose and then did the next line. Now he had a look on his face as if he had just stepped into heaven itself.
“Oooh, you missed a bit.”
Kalen pointed to a small amount of powder at the edge of the table.
“Go on. Finish it off.”
This time as Ronny placed his nose against the table, Kalen grabbed his head and held it against the table. Ronny’s face was turned on its side with one ear facing up.
“Shit, man, what are you doing?” Billy said rising to his feet only to be told to sit back down by Kalen’s men who had their guns on them.
“How’s that product? Is it good?”
“Yeah. Yeah. It’s good.”
“It should be. It’s fucking ours!” Kalen shouted just before he jammed a knife down into the side of Ronny’s head. It went right through his ear and penetrated deep into the skull. Ronny let out this high-pitched scream. Kalen held him there as blood poured out all over the table. Ronny’s four guys came out with guns but were quickly told to put them down by Kalen’s men. After seeing what he’d done to Ronny, they didn’t argue. Who would? Ronny’s guys were just youngsters in their early twenties. None of them had done time. They all thought they were big men when trouble wasn’t knocking on their door. Now they looked as if they were going to piss themselves in fear.
Kalen pushed the knife until it couldn’t go any further before he stood up and placed his foot against Ronny’s face so he could pull it back out. Ronny’s lifeless body slumped to the floor.
“Did you really think we would buy your story about a friend owing you a favor? No one would cough up that amount of product as a favor. You must be the biggest fucking idiot I have ever met.”
Kalen reached over and grabbed a hold of Billy by the head.
“Now I should fucking kill you right here and now, but my father wants me to bring you in alive.”
“Please, Kalen, I…”
“Shut the fuck up, you sniveling punk. You thought you were going to sell back to us, our own product?”
“I didn’t know it was yours. I swear.”
“And that whole shit about Mike going to Vegas.” He turned back and looked at his men. “You stupid fuck.”
Billy’s heart was racing.
“Time is up, Billy.”
He’d just muttered the words when several police cruisers came skidding into view. Doors opened and guns were raised. Kalen’s men turned and opened fire. The noise was deafening. Between the rain, wind and sloshing of the river, which had gone wild, the sound of gunfire erupting and men ducking for cover was overwhelming. Kalen released his grip on Billy and he fell to the floor.
“You set us up!”
Billy didn’t even get a chance to speak. Kalen pulled the trigger and fired two rounds into him.
Chapter 31
The eye in the sky had seen the activity and radioed it in long
before Isabel and SWAT showed up. She was en route to the house when she was told to hold back. They had identified several men holding rifles. The police would send in SWAT. Something that she didn’t want to do but it was out of her hands now. She was now playing second fiddle to what they wanted.
All she could think about was Jack Winchester making a break for it.
“Tell them to stand down.”
“It’s too late for that, they’ve opened fire,” the officer in charge repeated over her ear mic. “Hold back until it’s safe.”
“Hold back. The hell I will.”
Isabel blew into the driveway in her sedan. The wet ground below the tires nearly made her lose control of the vehicle. The first thing she saw was multiple assailants. The next was her car along with the cruisers being riddled with bullets. Metal pinged and glass shattered as she ducked down and forced her car door open. She slipped into wet mud that felt alive.
Officers off to her left were yelling and taking cover behind their vehicles as they returned fire. Crawling on the ground in the thick mud she made it to the edge of her car tire and glanced beyond it. She aimed her Glock and fired, but from her position, it was useless. With the sheer amount of rain coming down, and too many cars in the way, she was more likely to die from being hit by lightning than by a bullet. It was complete pandemonium. The forest hedged them in on the right-hand side, while the river threatened on the left. Staying low to the ground she moved her way through the mud and slid down the embankment so that she could go around the side of the house. The river was rushing hard, curling up large amounts of dark water that smashed down over the edge. Every step through the brush felt treacherous. One misstep and she would be in the river and taken down by the strong current.
The gunfire didn’t let up as she tried to stay out of view of the gunmen who were positioned at various places along the porch and behind their vehicles.
Jack was still struggling to get out of his restraints when he heard gunfire. That was followed by the sound of a chopper overhead and boots clattering above him. Enveloped by the darkness of the rag around his eyes he pressed his head against the floor and scraped it back and forth until he could see a small amount of light from underneath. There was no telling what the hell was going on up there except that it probably was related to that idiot Billy.
As hard as he tried to free himself, it was useless. The binds cut into his wrists. They had fastened him so tight that unless he broke the chair itself he wouldn’t be getting out.
Isabel shuffled through the cluster of trees and undergrowth towards the side of the house. She slipped several times and found herself inches away from the edge of the water. Her clothing was covered in a thick layer of mud. Lots of it was in her hair and on her face. When she got closer to the back of the house, a younger guy not much older than twenty-one came rushing out the back. He wasn’t even looking where he was going until it was too late. Isabel took him down and laid her knee on the back of his neck. She looked up to make sure no one else was coming out.
“Where’s Jack Winchester?”
“Get the fuck off.”
She pressed harder. She was in no mood for taking shit.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know who the hell you are on about.”
“Billy Dixon?”
“He’s dead. They shot him.”
“The guy who he was with?”
“In the basement.”
She would have used her cuffs on the guy but she needed those for Winchester. Instead, she got off him, took his gun and let him go. He was a small pawn in the game she was playing. The kid rushed off in a state of panic. There was no way in hell she was going to lose Winchester. She pulled up to the back of the house and peeked through the door. Several men were inside. All of them were packing heat and firing rounds out the front. Slipping down around the side of the house, she moved along until she came across a small window. Down on her knees she rubbed her palm across the pane of glass to clear the dirt and cobwebs away. It didn’t help much. Her hands were covered in dirt. Peering in she spotted him. Laid on his side, tied up and unable to move, he wasn’t going anywhere.
She was getting up when a bullet struck her in the shoulder.
“Fucking pig,” A guy had come darting around the side to escape. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she had fallen back into thick brush, she was certain he would have killed her. He was firing rounds rapidly at the ground. She looked up and couldn’t see him, which meant he had no idea where she was. As she circled around a boulder and he came back into view, she returned fire bringing him down in six shots. She unloaded the magazine and slammed another one into place as she approached the house. Gunshot wound or not, she wasn’t going to let Winchester go.
By now several other officers had circled around and came up on her. They checked her wound briefly before taking fire. They might have tied a cloth around it but bullets were flying all over the place.
“Ma’am, I’ll lead you back,” one said.
“To hell you will, I’m here to get Winchester.”
With pain coursing through her body from the wound to her shoulder she pressed on towards the back of the house. The officer persisted and told her she needed to go back. She was losing too much blood. At the back door, the officer, who went by the name Reed, insisted he lead the way. She was sandwiched between him and another officer as they entered. They hadn’t been in there more than a few seconds when they were fired upon. Isabel took cover in a room immediately off to her right. It was stacked with boxes, some of which she could tell from the open flaps were filled with bags of meth. The smell inside was atrocious; a mixture of weed, alcohol and urine.
“I need to get to the basement.” She peeked around the corner and saw that the basement access was a good ten feet away. Bullets were snapping, and men were yelling. The walls were riddled with holes. Reed held his hand up to indicate when, then pointed for her to move. Scrambling forward she burst out into the corridor and went for the door. With her Glock aimed forward and firing in rapid succession she made it. In the event that anyone rushed out to return fire they would have been taken down by a flurry of bullets zipping through the air. She grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. Within a matter of seconds, she was enveloped in the darkness of the damp basement. Cautiously she came down the stairs with her weapon on the ready. She had only seen Jack through the window but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone watching over him.
When she reached the bottom and cleared the ground floor, she rushed over to Jack and yanked off the rag covering his eyes. Jack’s eyes immediately widened.
“Jack Winchester, you are under arrest.”
She began cutting the restraints around his feet first, then took out her handcuffs, locked one on to her wrist and the other onto his before she freed his hands.
“You’re bleeding,” he muttered noticing very little white on her shirt. Blood had soaked it.
“What?”
“I said you’re bleeding.”
She glanced at him and for a few seconds they locked eyes. She pulled her Glock and hauled him up to his feet, a task that wasn’t easy for a woman of her stature. She led the way up the stairs keeping her Glock out in front of her. The sound of gunfire hadn’t let up the entire time she’d been down in the basement. The echo of men’s voices and boots pounding the floor filled the air. There was no way of knowing if it was the police or the men who had retreated into the house.
“You know, you’d be better off cutting me loose.”
“Shut the hell up.”
She peered out the door. She saw an officer down, and a man standing over him firing another shot into his face. A burst of anger and she went to rush out but Jack pulled her back.
“What the hell are you doing?” she yelled.
“Saving your ass.”
With a flood of indignation, Isabel turned back to the door and yanked him out while firing at the man who was now at the main door. Two rounds hit
the guy in the back and he fell to the floor. They turned and retreated towards the rear entrance when another guy came out of the side. Jack plowed his free fist into the guy’s face with a right hook, Isabel followed through with a bullet. They took cover in the next room. The curtains were closed leaving them in darkness. She stumbled a little and he caught her.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
“I’m fine,” she said straightening up and glancing out down the corridor. Reed, the other officer that she had come in with, was still at the back. He waved her on. She bolted out but at the same time another man came into view further down with an assault rifle. Jack saw it before Isabel did. He threw his body weight onto her, knocking her to the ground. She landed hard. The officer ahead of them fired at the guy but received multiple rounds to his upper torso. When the gunfire stopped, Jack was still laying on top of Isabel. He glanced back to check that the coast was clear. The officer ahead of them was down writhing in agony. Gunfire was still erupting out the front.
“You okay?” he asked her. But she didn’t respond. There was a trickle of blood coming from her head. She must have smacked it against the floor on the way down.
Shit! Jack began rooting through her jacket for the key to the handcuffs but another round of gunfire made him reach for her gun instead. He grabbed it up and twisted over just in time. Jack fired one shot and another guy dropped. There was no time to find a key or even a sliver of metal that he could use to push between the teeth. He got up and lifted Isabel up into his arms. Moving fast, he dashed out of the back of the house and kept running towards the tree line. The thought of being hit by a bullet or knocked down to the ground by more cops was at the forefront of his mind the whole time. Branches crunched beneath his boots as he carried her into the thick woodland.
He knew if she didn’t get to a hospital soon she would probably die from a loss of blood. When the house was out of sight, he laid her down and fished around in her pockets to find the key.
“C’mon,” he muttered while occasionally looking back in the direction of the house. He could hear the sound of the river rushing below. Every pocket he checked was empty. Where the hell had she put it? Perhaps it fell out? Shit! he repeated before pummeling the earth with his free hand. This couldn’t get any worse. His daughter had been taken, Billy screwed him over and now he was attached to the wrist of the agent that had a vendetta against him.