by Brad Cooper
“Okay. I know what you’re getting at. Anything else?” Kevin asked.
“I don’t know. If they’re not already here waiting, they’ll miss it. For all we know, these people won’t be back again.” He pointed at Adam and Kevin and said, “You two, come inside. Kara, stay here.”
“What? Why?” she protested.
“Please, just stay here for a minute.”
Adam closed the door behind him and said, “What gives?”
“Kevin, how many guys did you say were always out there?” Clark asked.
Robbins tapped his fingers on his leg as he counted them off aloud. “Let’s see; the Chief, Frank, Carl, the little guy, and his bodyguard. Mr. Tochigi stays in his building I think. He did last time anyway. So, five in all but the main guy, the little guy, isn’t a threat. Why?”
“Four on three,” Adam said. He looked at Ryan and said, “I know what you’re thinking, Ryan.”
“You probably do.” Then to Kevin: “Is it possible?”
“That depends on what you have in mind. If you think we’re going in there to stop something from happening, then probably not.”
“Can we hold them up until someone else with a bigger arsenal gets here?”
“It’s possible but we don’t know if they’re…”
“Yes or no?” Clark interjected sharply. He knew they were short on time.
“I think so. If we’ve got help coming then I think we could. If not, God knows what we’re walking into.”
Clark pondered what he’d been told and asked, “Is it worth it?”
Adam answered before Kevin could. “Yes. After what they did to Lisa, it’s worth it. Parking one in the back of their heads would be worth it.”
“I’ll grab a few things and we’ll go down there. If we’re outgunned, we leave. Deal?” Clark looked around for objections. He saw none. “Five minutes.” To Kevin: “Call them and tell them as much as you can. Tell them whatever you have to tell them to get them here.”
Clark ran into his bedroom and pulled the strongbox from underneath his bed. He took out his key ring and found the lone small, silver key made especially for the box’s lock.
“I always wondered what that key goes to,” Adam said from the doorway. “What are you doing?” he asked when he saw what Clark was retrieving.
Clark opened the strongbox without answering. He took out a solid black handgun. The finish was flawless. It appeared to be untouched. He balanced it in his right hand then shoved the other items aside looking for the ammunition. Still looking down he said, “It’s a Sig Sauer P226. It’s my dad’s but he left it here in case of an emergency or something. That and he knew I liked it. It’s the official sidearm of the Navy SEALs, I think.”
“Are you insane? Have you even fired that thing before?”
“It’s been a couple of years ago now, back before he moved. We went to the range a few times. I’m not too bad. Of course we dominate that game at the mall so I’m probably better now than ever.” He stood up and looked at Adam. “It’s not even coming out unless it’s absolute unavoidable. I swear. This thing makes me nervous and it’s not even loaded yet.” He walked past him and said, “Come on.”
“I’m not arguing. What else?”
“Grab some duct tape,” Clark said.
“What are you going to do with duct tape?”
“You can use it for anything. Plus, if we have to go head-to-head with one of them, we can at least restrain him. We don’t have a stockpile of handcuffs and it’s the best we can do in a pinch.” Clark saw the handle of Adam’s four-inch knife sticking out of his pocket. “Nice knife, Rambo. Let’s go.”
Kevin ended the call and said, “They’re coming. They hadn’t heard about anyone coming before now but they said they’re on the way. We’ve got to hold them up though. They’re at least twenty minutes away, maybe more. They said they have to get ready to ‘mobilize’ first.”
Clark held up two fingers and said, “Two minutes. Kevin, you’re driving. They won’t think anything about seeing your Blazer coming. I’m going to go put my contacts in.”
He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. After splashing water on his face and drying it with a towel, he stared at his reflection in the mirror over the sink. “How did this happen?” he asked, aloud but to himself. “We can’t let this go on anymore. They killed one guy, they almost killed Lisa, and they came in here after us.” He hung his head and then looked back into the mirror. “They’re never going to stop. They might hurt me. They can’t hurt Adam or Kevin.” He ran his hands over his face and looked into the mirror one last time. “They can’t get near Kara.” Clark looked to the ceiling, but in reality he was looking to a location much higher. “Lord, just get us through this somehow,” he prayed and recited a Bible verse, Psalm 27:1, before quickly placing the contacts in his eyes. “Just keep Kara safe.”
Ryan hurried out of the house and onto the deck where Kara had been waiting impatiently and with growing frustration. “Where are you guys going?” she asked angrily.
“We’ll be back in a few minutes. Just stay here.”
He tried to walk past her but she grabbed his arm. “You are the biggest enigma I’ve ever seen. You act like a superhero with an alter ego. What do you think you’re doing?”
“You don’t want to know. Trust me.”
“I do trust you. I trust you more than anyone else. I think I’ve proven that much.”
“You have.”
“Please tell me you’re not going down there.”
He turned to her and said, “They’ve got people on the way but if the chopper doesn’t stick around longer than normal, they’ll never get here in time. We’re just going to hold them up if they try to leave.”
She maintained the grip on his arm as she looked up at him. “And if they don’t, you’re not doing anything. Right?”
“They won’t even know we’re there,” Clark said to reassure her.
“Then you won’t mind if I come with you just to make sure,” Kara said.
“No!” he said loudly, in protest. “You’re staying here. I don’t want you anywhere near this.”
“My presence shouldn’t matter if you’re not going to do anything. You’re not going unless I do.”
“I would love to see you stop me. You’re staying here. If we’re not back in an hour, call someone.”
He tried to walk away a second time but was stopped again. “You know that I’ll show up down there anyway. Either I go with you or I follow you. You decide.”
Clark thought about it, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate. He was no match for her strong will, nor was he ever. He rubbed his eyes and asked, “Do you still have Lisa’s cell?”
“I have it but the battery’s almost dead. I’ve kept it turned off. I could probably use it in a pinch. Listen, I wanted to…”
“That is all you’re doing. You understand? You’re staying far away from everything and you’re keeping out of sight. If something happens, you get on the phone and you get out of there. Get inside Lisa’s house and barricade yourself in the closet if you have it comes down to that. Don’t let them see you. You said you have her car keys, too. I don’t care. Just get away from there. You hear me? If something happened to you, I’d…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Here,” she said, pushing a folded piece of paper into his hand.
“What’s this?” Clark asked.
“Just read it. It’s been a while since I wrote it.”
Clark immediately forgot the hurry he was in and read the words on the lined paper. The emotion in the verses hit him immediately. The words echoed the same sentiments he’d felt toward Kara for so long and yet he hadn’t written the words himself.
“I always show you everything I write,” she said with a nervous smile.
Clark looked up from the paper and said, “You haven’t written anything like this in quite a while. Looks like something or someone you got inspired. Whoever inspired you is a lucky man.”
; “I wrote it about you,” Kara said. She looked at him, the uncertainty clear in her eyes.
Ryan folded the paper and put it in his pocket. “There are a lot of things you need to hear. I’ve got a lot to tell you when I get back. Just stay out of sight. Okay?”
Clark turned to walk to Kevin’s car but Kara stopped him a third time. She looked up into his eyes and kissed him, but it was not the kiss of a friend. “I love you. Be careful.”
He smiled and said, “I love you, too,” and ran to the car.
CHAPTER
36
The sky seemed to open up with light as Robbins rolled his Blazer slowly into the space in front of Lisa’s house. On their way down Main Street, they passed by the group of men who they were there to detain and went largely unnoticed. The chopper was there. The passengers were outside and the small man’s bodyguard was again retrieving bags out of the aircraft and handing them to the waiting officers.
“That’s all she’s going to do is use the phone, if she has to?” Adam asked.
“Yeah. She’s coming in the back way so it’ll be a couple of minutes. I just hope she stays out of sight. If I possessed the ability to tell her ‘no’ about anything, this wouldn’t even be a concern.”
The group of three walked into Lisa’s backyard and to the same position from where she had seen the first link in the chain of events that had brought them to this point. They all crouched and looked across the creek to the center of activity.
“Looks like they just got started,” Kevin said. “They unload everything and then they check it over at the restaurant.”
“How long?” Adam asked.
“Fifteen minutes, give or take two or three. Unless there’s more going on that we don’t know about.”
“In other words they’ll be gone before the States have a chance to as much as get inside the city limits,” Ryan said.
“Let me have a crack at the big guy,” Adam said, focusing on Akira. “I’ll kill the redneck in the truck if I get near him.”
Clark looked at him and said, “I don’t think we’re to that point quite yet but if that’s what you want, have at him.” Kara walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her and said, “You are staying here.” He pointed to a spot several feet away that had an excellent vantage point. “Right there. Don’t move. I don’t want you any closer than that.”
“I know,” she said.
Kevin pointed to the side of the police station that faced Lisa’s house. “We can hang right there, peek around the corner, and keep an eye on things. They won’t know we’re there as long as we’re quiet getting across the creek. We can’t really use the bridge because they’ll see us nosing around if someone is at the front of the station.”
The creek was high from the recent rain, much of which had fallen overnight, but Adam quickly found a narrow spot with large but slippery stones providing a makeshift bridge to the other side. The important part was that it was dry.
“We’ve got a problem,” Clark said. He walked to the corner of the building that faced Cayton Lane and said, “When they go over to Tochigi’s we’ll lose sight of them.”
“Not all of them go inside. Whoever takes the bags from the big guy, which will probably be Carl, goes over there with them. The big guy stays, the little guy goes, and maybe one of the other guys will go over there too. If anyone stays back with the bodyguard, it’ll be Frank. He’s the biggest one of the three,” Kevin said.
“That can be good,” said Adam. “If we split them up we can get to them easier.”
“Divide and conquer,” Clark agreed. Then to Kevin: “I know you’re bigger than Lilly but can you handle Amick? He’s got a lot of size on you.”
“I can get him down with no problem. If I can do that much, I’ll cuff him with his own cuffs or something.”
“You just have to get one of them down quick, that is, if two of them go over there,” Adam said.
“In every movie, somebody’s got chloroform to use on whoever they’re after. That’d come in handy right about now,” Clark said, walking back to their original position. To Kevin: “Do you have your sidearm or anything with you?”
“No, I thought that’d be too noisy and pretty bad for our odds if they got it away from me. I grabbed my tazer though.”
“Tazer? A stun gun?” Adam asked.
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “It’s better than nothing. Plus, it’s relatively quiet.”
Kevin tiptoed to the corner from which they were observing the activity and saw Sato’s bodyguard Akira handing the last bag to Lilly, who started walking in the direction of the restaurant along with Sato. The Tochigis were nowhere to be seen.
As anticipated, Lilly and Sato crossed the street and started down the sidewalk toward Tochigi’s. When they were several steps away from the covered entrance, Kevin darted across the road after them. He reached the sidewalk to the left of the entrance as Sato and Lilly approached to the right.
Sato walked quickly and with his head pointed downward. He reached the covered doorway before Lilly and did not see the hidden figure that was awaiting him. Kevin towered over Sato, who looked up at him, the shock apparent in his eyes as he reached for the handle of the door. Kevin landed one blow, his fist striking him flush on the chin. Sato fell to the ground as one hundred and forty pounds of dead weight. Blood trickled from his busted lower lip.
From twenty feet away, Lilly heard the fall but was unaware of the cause. He trotted closer toward the entrance and saw Sato slumped against the door. He dropped the bags and knelt down to check on the fallen Asian executive. As Lilly crouched, Robbins slid around the corner and caught him with a kick to his face, sending him crashing backward onto the sidewalk. He brought his hands to his face, trying to stop the blood that poured from his freshly broken nose, then reached for the gun in the holster on his hip. Robbins kicked Lilly’s hand away and dropped a knee into his stomach. The impact knocked the breath out of Lilly’s lungs. Kevin quickly pulled out the stun gun, pushed it to the exposed side of Lilly’s neck, and pulled the trigger. Lilly’s body became rigid from the voltage and then went limp when the electric current ceased.
Kevin took the handcuffs from Lilly’s belt, then took the keys from his pocket and put them in his own. He locked the cuffs around Lilly’s right wrist. He started to lock the other cuff around his left wrist but stopped when he realized that an escape was still possible. Instead, he contorted Lilly’s limp body to allow another possibility. He locked the other cuff around Lilly’s left ankle, and then took out his own set of cuffs that he’d retrieved from his car before leaving. He cuffed Lilly’s left hand to his right ankle, thereby creating a criss-cross that would make any type of movement virtually impossible without assistance. He kicked the duffle bag over to the entrance, leaving it beside Sato’s body.
Kevin crossed the road and ran back to the blind side of the building where Ryan and Adam were waiting and watching. “Two down, three to go,” he said. “Lilly’s out like a light and the little guy is down but I don’t know how long he’ll stay that way.”
The bell on the door to Tochigi’s rang and they listened as Hotaka exclaimed something unintelligible to them in Japanese. “That doesn’t sound good,” Adam said.
“Hold on,” Kevin said. He moved to the corner and looked toward the area where he’d left Lilly and Sato lying. “Now we have a problem. Hotaka came outside and found them. I think he got tired of waiting.”
Clark watched as Akira turned his head toward the noise and ran in that direction. Sparks and Amick were close behind. “Here we go,” Clark said.
Akira reappeared. Sato stumbled as he walked. One arm was draped across the back of his much larger guard and the other over the back of the police chief. His equilibrium was almost zero and walking without assistance was not an option.
“They’re leaving. They saw Carl and got spooked,” Kevin said.
“We can’t let them leave,” Ryan said.
No directions were
spoken. No plan was discussed. Action was required.
The rainfall started slowly but escalated to a downpour in a matter of seconds. Large raindrops smacked the ground as the already saturated soil repelled any further moisture. Visibility was reduced by half and traction became problematic on any unpaved surface.
Akira helped Sato into the chopper, closed the door, and started around to the other side. Adam sprinted around the corner first with Ryan and Kevin close behind. Running full speed, he dove for the back of the large man’s legs. He drove his shoulder into the back of Akira’s knee, dropping him to the ground with a thud. Adam rolled to his feet. Despite the other disadvantages, he possessed considerably more agility. He jumped on top of Akira and landed three punches in succession before being pushed away with almost inhuman force.
“What the…,” Sparks almost said after hearing the crash on the other side of the helicopter. He saw Akira drop to the ground with an unknown figure on top of him. Sparks ran to the other side but was tripped by Clark who stood beneath the rear propeller.
Sparks fell to his knees and pushed himself upward. Clark started for the handgun he’d stashed in his belt behind his back but thought better of it. Sparks swept his leg just above the ground, sending Clark onto his back. The gun pushed into the base of his spine, spawning a groan of pain. Clark crab-walked in reverse and pushed himself to his feet. He moved backward as Sparks turned toward him.
“You guys never give up, do you?” Sparks said, out of breath.
“Apparently we’re not the only ones,” Clark answered. He sidestepped to his left but Sparks stepped in front of him. Every move he made was mimicked. Clark was trapped. He failed to notice, as did the others, that Kara had moved from the one position where she had been instructed to stay.
Kevin circled behind the building and found himself directly behind an unsuspecting Frank Amick. He turned to flee just in time to see the smiling young officer glaring at him. The scowl on Kevin’s face, coupled with the dismay on that of Frank Amick, perfectly expressed the emotion of the moment but Kevin couldn’t resist a verbal taunt.