by Mike Ryan
What made things worse was Haley had no idea how many people he was up against. Could’ve been one. Might’ve been fifty. Still, one shot had already been fired and heard, so the police might have been on the way, though he didn’t hear any sirens yet. But that still meant he couldn’t stay very long. He had to go, regardless of what was out there.
Haley threw open the door quickly and violently, hoping to get a reaction and a quick trigger from whoever was out there, that way he could hear the direction the shots were coming from. He wasn’t disappointed. A bullet ripped through the door, leaving a hole through the center of it. It was only one shot, leaving Haley to believe only one man was out there, and it came from his left.
Haley could’ve just run out the door fast, jumped and rolled on the ground, giving his shooter a tough target to aim at, but it also would’ve been tough for Haley to find the man, while leaving himself wide open. Instead, he got down on the ground and crawled. Most people don’t look down when looking for someone, they usually look straight ahead, and that’s what Haley was counting on.
Haley poked his head out the door and quickly tried to find his target. With not getting his head blown off yet, he figured his assessment of the situation was correct so far. After squinting for a few seconds and trying to look through the darkness, Haley finally found his man. He saw a pair of legs standing by some trash cans not too far away.
Wanting to take extra precaution and not assume anything, Haley took an extra couple of minutes to look to his right also, making sure nobody was over there either. He didn’t see anyone though. Haley wasn’t taking any chances yet and wasn’t about to make himself a target either. Still lying on the ground, he brought his gun around in front of him, and took aim at the man. Haley pulled the trigger, the bullet going through the man’s leg, shattering his shin.
The man dropped to the ground in agony. The gun flew out of his hand as his hands instinctively went to his throbbing leg, holding his shin as he cried out in pain. As the man writhed around on the ground, Haley took aim again. He probably could have just fled the scene and left the man alive, but he didn’t want to take the chance of him taking a pot shot at him on the run. Besides, the man had tried to kill him, so now all bets were off. As the man lifted his back off the ground to look down at his leg, Haley fired once more. A direct hit that went into the lower part of the man’s chest, killing him immediately.
Haley got to his knees as he continued to look around, making sure he didn’t run into a bullet himself. Satisfied that no one else was around, he stood up fully and started walking out of the alley. He stayed close to the wall though and continually kept checking all around. When he finally got to the end of the alley without incident, he breathed a sigh of relief. There was still the shooter from the front, but Haley figured he was long gone.
As he walked along the sidewalk to get around to the front of the buildings, a huge explosion was heard. It rattled the area and Haley lost his balance a little, though he still remained on his feet. The explosion came from the area of the house, so Haley started running in that direction to see what had transpired. He quickly stopped once he turned the corner and saw what it was. His car was on fire and looked like it had just been driven through a war zone, charred, glass blown out, pieces of metal bent and twisted, a couple doors that were thrown across the street, not to mention the fire that was shooting up through where the windows used to be.
Haley wasn’t even mad. He was just stunned. He was too shocked to be angry. He just stood there for a minute, frozen as he looked at what used to be his vehicle. Then he heard police and fire sirens, with several patrol cars zooming down the street to begin blocking things off. Knowing there was nothing else he could do there, and since his car was torn to shreds, Haley just backed away and started walking. He called Jones to let him know he was on foot.
“Hey, just wanted to let you know that I’m good.”
“Thankfully,” Jones said. “I was worried. What about the shooter?”
“Well, there were two that I know of. There was another one waiting in back for me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he’s dead. The one in front got away.”
“Get a look at either of them?”
“No, I probably should have checked out the guy I killed, but I was just too interested in getting out of there. Wasn’t sure how many there might have been.”
“No, you did the right thing,” Jones replied. “I can probably find out later anyway. Are you on your way back here?”
“Well, you see, that’s kind of a problem.”
“What? Why?”
“Well… my car blew up.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, my car is literally on fire right now. Police and fire are here putting it out.”
“Uhh…,” Jones murmured, not even sure what to say.
“My thoughts exactly.”
“What happened?”
“Beats me. Came out of the alley and started walking back to the front, then I heard an explosion. Came around the corner and saw my car on fire.”
“They knew it was you. They knew you were there the whole time.”
“I guess so,” Haley said. “This whole thing’s pretty strange.”
“Not so strange once you hear what I think is going on.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll tell you about it later.”
“It’ll have to be much later since I’m walking.”
“Where are you? I’ll come get you.”
Haley told him to come to a nearby convenience store, where Haley would stop in for a soda while he waited. About half an hour later, Jones arrived. Once Haley got in the car and they started back for the office, he was eager for Jones to start explaining his theory.
“So, what’s going on here?” Haley asked.
“We got played. This whole thing, starting from the jump was planned as a setup.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Tyrell called Mike about something going down in the jewelry store, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I believe that was planned specifically to get him down there so they could kill him.”
“Why?” Haley asked.
“More on that in a minute. With it failing, they went to Plan B, which was the Mendoza house. They knew we’d be tracking the group and come across Bradshaw. Knowing I’d probably be able to trace the phone, they left it in the house, so we’d specifically go there.”
“So, while I was watching the house, they were watching me, waiting for me to go inside.”
“Precisely.”
“That still leaves a question of who,” Haley said. “This Kirby group isn’t sophisticated enough to pull something like this off on their own. We’ve never even tangled with them before, there’d be no reason for them to do this.”
“You’re right about that. They’re not behind it. I believe they’ve been used for pawns in this scheme.”
“Pawns? Who would want to knock us off? Who would even have a reason? And who’s dirty enough to do it?”
Jones gave him a menacing kind of look, persuading him to think harder. Haley thought for a second, one name popping up in his head in particular.
“Vincent? We’re not on bad terms with him though. And he knows Tyrell.”
“Close. Nowak.”
“Nowak? Why? I mean, we’ve tangled with her before, but we haven’t interacted with her lately.”
“Remember, she wants to take over the city. She can’t do that unless she gets rid of Vincent and us. Vincent’s her competition and we’d be like a cloud hanging over her head. Also, when Tyrell told Mike about the plan, he said something about Nowak, though he wasn’t sure she was involved.”
“So back at the house, did they think they were shooting at Mike, or me?”
“I’m not sure. It doesn’t really matter though, does it?”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Haley said, thinking about the strange text messages h
e received.
“What is it?”
“The message said something about knowing how we get information and that the avenue would be closed. There’s a meaning in there, a warning.”
Jones looked at Haley in horror, knowing what it meant. “Tyrell.”
Haley returned the horrific look. “They wanted to see who on the street is working with us.”
“And now they know. They found their man.”
“We gotta warn him.”
Haley immediately got out his phone and dialed Tyrell’s number to warn him of what they feared to be an impending attack on his life. It kept ringing, but eventually went to voicemail.
“He’s not picking up,” Haley said in a panic.
“Keep trying.”
Haley tried several more times, all with the same result. It was unusual for Tyrell not to answer for this long. His phone was usually close by. Jones and Haley began fearing that the worst had happened.
“Let’s just drive to his house and see if he’s there,” Haley said, praying that they wouldn’t be too late.
10
Haley tried several more times to call Tyrell on the way to his house, still to no avail. When they finally arrived at his house, they ran toward the front door. It was late at night, a little after eleven, and hoped they wouldn’t scare his mother or brother, but they figured it had to be done under the circumstances. Haley pounded on the door, not sure if anyone was sleeping or not, but needed to get someone’s attention. A few minutes later, they saw the curtain from the window move and someone looking out. Then the door opened. It was Darnell.
“Mr. Haley, Mr. Jones, what’s wrong?”
“Darnell, where’s your brother?” Haley asked.
“Uhh, I don’t know. He got a message about an hour ago and left. Said he’d be back soon.”
“A message? From who?”
“He said it was from Mr. Recker.”
Jones and Haley looked at each other, knowing Recker sent no such message. Still, just to be sure, Haley immediately called Mia.
“Chris? Everything OK?”
“I’m not sure yet. Is Mike there?”
“Of course he is. Why?”
“Did he go somewhere?” Haley asked. “Or is he planning on going somewhere?”
“Of course not. He’s been here all night. What’s going on?”
“It’s a long story. And it’s been a long night. I got shot at, my car blown up, and Tyrell told his brother that he got a message from Mike to meet him somewhere about an hour ago.”
“Oh my, are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“Well, Mike’s been sleeping for the last three hours,” Mia said. “And his phone isn’t near him.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
“What’s going on?”
“Someone’s trying to take all of us, and everyone associated with us, out of the game.”
Mia had a lot more questions but didn’t want to keep Haley tied up knowing Tyrell’s safety was at stake. “I’ll let you go so you can concentrate on finding Tyrell.”
“OK, thanks.”
“Let me know when you find him.”
“I will.”
Haley looked at Jones and shook his head. Seeing the concerned look on their faces, Darnell was starting to get worried himself.
“What’s going on? Why you looking for my brother?”
“Did he mention where he was going?” Jones asked.
Darnell shook his head. “No, just said he was meeting him and would be back soon. That’s all he said.” Seeing the disappointed looks they were giving each other, Darnell knew something was wrong. “What is it?”
“Mike’s at home,” Haley said. “He’s got a concussion and hasn’t left his place in a few days. He didn’t send Tyrell any message.”
Darnell looked confused. “I don’t understand. Why would Tyrell say it was from him if it wasn’t?”
“How did they contact him?” Jones asked. “By phone?”
“Yeah.”
“We think somebody…”
Jones was interrupted by Haley grabbing his arm. He didn’t think it was a good idea to tell Darnell the truth and have him worry all night about their suspicions.
“We don’t know what’s going on,” Haley said. “That’s why we’re looking for him. You don’t have any idea where he might have gone?”
“Nah. He really don’t talk to me much about his business. He tries to keep me away from all that.”
“OK. Well, if he comes back, or you hear from him, tell him to call us as soon as possible, all right?”
“Yeah, I will.”
Jones and Haley dejectedly walked back to their car, unsure what to do next. They had no way of knowing where Tyrell might have gone.
“You sure we shouldn’t have told him what’s going on?” Jones asked.
“He doesn’t need to know. He’s just a kid. He shouldn’t have something like that on his mind the entire night. Besides, we don’t even know for sure Tyrell’s life is in danger. We could be wrong.”
“I don’t think we are.”
“Maybe not. But if we’re right, Darnell will know soon enough anyway.”
Jones sighed. “Well, I guess the only thing we can do right now is go back to the office and I can tap into his phone.”
“That’s gonna take time we don’t have.”
“I know, but what else can we do?”
They drove back to the office, prepared to have a very long night. Once there, Jones immediately hopped on a computer and started typing away. It wasn’t long before Jones had found what he was looking for.
“His last call was exactly one hour and forty-two minutes ago,” Jones said.
“Who from?” Haley asked.
“It’s an unlisted number.”
“Figures. What about texts?”
“Nothing in the last three hours,” Jones replied. “And the last one he had was to his brother letting him know he was on his way home.”
“So, we’re not any closer to finding him.”
“Unfortunately, not.”
The two of them sat back in their chairs, knowing there was nothing else they could do. Nothing but wait and hope that their fears were unfounded and go by without incident. After several hours of not hearing anything, and Jones was continually checking both police and hospital records, the wait was starting to get to them.
“Feels like a wake in here,” Haley said.
“I know.”
“I don’t ever remember feeling so helpless before. Here we are waiting for word of something terrible happening and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Well, I guess we can take solace in that no news is good news,” Jones said.
“Who says? No news is even worse. That means he still hasn’t turned up yet, cause if he had, he would’ve called us by now.”
“True.”
As the night wore on, the feeling in their stomachs that a catastrophe was just around the corner only increased. Once three o’clock came, they were about to call it a night.
“I think we might as well get a few hours of sleep at this point,” Jones said. “There’s really not much else we can do here.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Just sitting and waiting for the bottom to drop out isn’t doing us much good.”
They stood up and pushed their chairs in, Haley stretching his arms out. Before they were able pack up for the night, one of Jones’ computers started beeping.
“What’s that?” Haley asked.
“An alert.”
“You’ve got an alert for just about everything at this point, don’t you?”
“It does make things easier,” Jones answered, sitting back down to investigate.
“What’s this one?”
“Oh no.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Tyrell.”
“He’s dead?”
Jones looked up and sighed, more of relief than anything. “No, thank heavens. But it looks as though he was badly injured.”
“What happened?” Haley asked, sitting back down as well.
“He was shot. Multiple times.”
“Bad? How do you know?”
“I put his name into every hospital in the city and a thirty-mile radius outside of it so I’d get an alert if his name popped into the system.”
“How bad?”
“Looks as though he’s in the emergency room undergoing surgery,” Jones replied.
“What’s his prognosis?”
“Too soon to tell. All we can do now is pray.”
“Should we let Mike know?”
“Yes, but let’s wait until the morning.”
“We’re already in the morning,” Haley said.
“I mean, much later. After we’ve all had a chance to get a little sleep. The only thing we could do now by telling him is make him worry.”
“Something tells me he’ll find out before we say a word about it.”
“Yes, I think that’s probably likely. And something else tells me that we shall be seeing our friend sooner rather than later.”
“Is that good or bad?” Haley asked.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll see when it happens.”
11
Recker woke up about ten o’clock, smelling bacon and eggs cooking on the stove. He sat up on the edge of the bed, actually feeling good for a change. There was no headache, or tiredness, or ringing in his head, all his symptoms seemed to be gone. He walked into kitchen, instantly getting greeted with a hug and a kiss from Mia as soon as she saw him.
“How are you feeling?”
“Good,” Recker said.
“No, really? Don’t lie to me.”
Recker laughed. “No, I’m telling you the truth. I really feel good. I’m fine.”
“You’re not just saying that so you can get out of here?”
Recker gave her another kiss on the lips. “Why would I wanna do that? Staying here all alone with you isn’t a punishment.”