Bullet Trap

by Mike Ryan

  “We do.”

  “Can I ask a personal question? One that I probably have no business asking, and probably wouldn’t like it if someone asked it of me. It’s a business thing, and I tend to play those cards close to the chest, as I know you, and Recker, and David do as well.”

  “Ask away.”

  “What do you guys see in this guy? Why do you keep trying so hard to fit him in? Seems to me like you’re fighting a losing battle. He doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of you. At least from the outside looking in.”

  “Honestly, David picked him. And considering he also picked Recker, and me, he’s got a pretty good track record. This guy’s rough around the edges, but he’s good. There’s no question of that. We’re just trying to dull some of those edges.”

  “Doesn’t appear to be working.”

  Haley shrugged. “Maybe not. All I can do is try.”

  “A piece of advice… sometimes you have to know when to cut bait.”

  “We’re just not at that stage yet.”

  “Sometimes, it’s better to cut loose too soon… before it’s too late.”

  “I know.”

  Inside, Haley wanted to just come clean, and let Vincent know that he wasn’t fond of Phillips at all. That he really wished Jones would have cut the guy loose weeks ago. And he wouldn’t have blamed Vincent one bit if he decided to stage an all-out war against them because of what happened. But no matter what problems they had, Phillips was still a partner, still a teammate, and he wouldn’t throw him under the bus completely. He didn’t mind showing his unhappiness with him, but that’s as far as he’d take it.

  “We’ll get him on board.”

  “I hope so,” Vincent said. “Or the next time we’re face to face like this, it won’t be as civil a conversation. As a matter of fact, it probably won’t be a conversation at all.”

  Haley nodded again. “I completely understand.”

  “Good. Now, let’s talk no more of this. I’m sure you’d like to go home, get some rest, as would I.”

  Haley stood up. “We’ll get it fixed.”

  Vincent just blinked and nodded. Haley then left the room, instantly greeted by Malloy.

  “How’d it go?” Malloy asked.

  “About as well as you’d imagine.”

  They started walking toward the exit. “He’s giving a warning?”

  “Yes.”

  “I like you, Chris, I always have. Make sure you get that guy together. Because this warning… it’s the last one he’s giving.”

  “I know.”

  They continued talking until they reached the door. Malloy escorted Haley out until they reached his car. Haley opened the car door and was about to get in when Malloy grabbed his arm.

  “Chris.”

  Haley turned around. “Yeah?”

  “I like you. We’ve been in some jams together, helped each other out of some, I’d consider us… well, I think everything’s good with us.”

  “Yeah. It is.”

  “Get that guy in line. I’d hate to have to be looking at you through a scope or the end of a barrel.”

  Haley nodded, and tapped Malloy on the arm. He then got in his car and drove off the premises. Haley drove straight back to his apartment, though he called Jones on the way, just to let him know how everything went. Vincent didn’t really say anything that was unexpected, or that Haley was surprised about. But the cards were firmly down on the table. There was no question what would happen next if any of them, especially Phillips, stepped over the line.

  Once Haley got back to his apartment, he grabbed a beer, then sat down on the couch. He put the TV on, but he wasn’t really paying attention to it. He pulled out his phone and held it in his hand. Instinctively, he scrolled to Recker’s number, then stared at it for a few moments.

  “Really could use your help right now, buddy.”

  Haley thought about sending him a text, or calling him, and letting him know what was going on, just to get his thoughts on what to do. But he never hit that button. He put the phone down and turned the power button off. He didn’t want to guilt Recker into coming back. If his friend was happy where he was, and it seemed like that was the case, Haley didn’t want to be at the root of giving all that up. Because he knew that Recker would drop everything if he knew his friends were in trouble. And Haley wasn’t going to do that to him.

  Haley looked at his phone again and sighed. There were a ton of thoughts swirling around inside his head at the moment. Should he talk to Jones about giving Phillips the pink slip? Should he continue working with the man, trying to improve him? Should he just step back and let whatever happens happen?

  He turned on his phone again and looked at Recker’s name in his contact list. “What would you do right now?”

  5

  Recker and Mia had just gotten back to their hotel room after having dinner at a nearby restaurant. They changed clothes, then talked about what they wanted to do for the rest of the night. Having an evening stroll on the beach seemed to be one of their favorite activities. Recker, like he’d been doing over the previous few days, left his phone on the nightstand. It was hard at first, but he was starting to get better at disconnecting.

  As Recker put his phone down, he stared at it for a few moments. Mia noticed his gaze.

  “Just pick it up.”

  Recker turned toward her. “Huh?”

  Mia laughed. “Just pick it up and call them. You know you want to.”

  “No I don’t.”

  “Oh yes you do. I’ve noticed you looking at your phone more often the past few days. Like you’re waiting for a call or text message asking you to come back.”

  Recker shook his head. “No. OK, maybe I’ve been thinking about it, but not because I’m itching to go back.”

  “Then why?”

  “I don’t know. I guess just to… see how they’re doing.”

  “Then just pick up the phone and ask.”

  “I dunno. I don’t want to make it seem like I’m checking up on them, or make it seem like they can’t survive without me or something. If there was a problem, I’m sure they’d have reached out.”

  “I’m sure they would. Now, if you’re not gonna use that phone, I believe there’s a beach waiting for us.”

  Recker smiled, leaving his phone behind as he put his arm around his girlfriend and walked out the door.

  For a few days after Haley’s meeting with Vincent, everything seemed much better with the team. For once, Phillips actually seemed like he was listening. It appeared that he was really trying to fit in. Though Haley initially had his doubts, and probably still did, maybe the incident with Vincent was exactly what Phillips needed to get his head on straight. Time would tell, but the early results were promising.

  But Haley also knew that old habits died hard. So when he came into the office, and saw that Phillips wasn’t there again, his thoughts immediately turned to what trouble his partner might be in.

  “Where is he this time?” Haley asked, spinning his head around the room.

  “Relax. He’ll be here.”

  “Do we know where he is?”

  “Uh, no. Not at the moment. But everything is fine.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because there’s no trouble for him to get into right now.”

  “Who says?”

  “We’re not working on anything at the moment,” Jones answered. “There are a couple things on the horizon, but they are not likely for a few days at least.”

  “Since when did we need to be working on something for him to get into trouble?”

  Jones stopped typing and looked up at him. He couldn’t deny the point. But he chose to look at the positive side of things. “You’ve seen him these past few days. He’s been much better.”

  “Maybe he had a relapse.”

  “Chris, the man has been trying to change. Let’s just give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  “He doesn’t really deserve that much.” Jones gave
him a disapproving glance. Haley threw his arms up. “OK, OK. I’ll pretend he’s rescuing a cat from a tree or something.”

  It took a few minutes, but Haley eventually started to calm down and stop worrying. He wound up sitting next to Jones, doing some computer work. Then it came. Haley’s phone started ringing. He looked at it and saw it was Phillips.

  “Yes?”

  “Need help, buddy,” Phillips replied.

  Haley sighed, and his shoulders slumped. Old habits died hard, indeed. He already knew what the next words out of his mouth would be. “What is it?”

  “I’m pinned down in an alley. Looks like I bit off more than I could chew this time.”

  Haley lowered his head and put his hand on his forehead. “What alley?”

  “Behind that old bar on…” Phillips' voice cut out as he fired his gun.

  “I couldn’t hear you. What bar?”

  Phillips fired his gun a couple more times, then repeated his location. Haley heard him this time. “How many men are there?”

  “Looks like eight or ten, I think. Could be more.”

  Haley shook his head. “Why can you just not leave things alone?”

  “I don’t know, man. You can yell at me later if you want. I deserve it. But I could really use your help down here.”

  “Just hold on, I’m on my way.” Haley quickly went over to the gun cabinet, and explained the situation to Jones as he geared up. “See? What’d I tell you?”

  Jones had an exasperated look on his face. “It appears I may have been a tad hasty in my hopefulness.”

  Haley ran out the door again to save his partner.

  Jones turned to yell at him before he left, but Haley was too quick and had already gone. All Jones had now was the closed door. “I was going to say be careful. Please be careful.”

  Haley put his foot on the pedal to reach Phillips as fast as he could. He was a good thirty minutes away from him, though. And judging from the sound of things, he wasn’t sure Phillips was going to be able to hold off that long.

  As Haley got to the area, he didn’t hear any sounds. He thought it strange he didn’t hear any gunfire. He hoped that didn’t mean the worst for Phillips. Haley got out of his car and cautiously went down the alley behind the bar, finding it surprisingly empty. There was no one to be found. He did see Phillips’ car, but there were no dead bodies, and nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, other than his empty vehicle.

  Haley quickly got on his phone again and called Phillips. For once, he actually hoped that Phillips would pick up. Thankfully, after four rings, he did.

  “Hey, buddy.”

  “Where are you?” Haley asked. “I’m at the bar.”

  “Oh. Things were getting too hot there. Had to go.”

  “Go where?”

  “I’m on foot now, but they’re still after me.” Haley heard a few more shots in the background. “I’m a few streets west of there now.”

  Haley looked around, then started running in that direction. “Ok, I’m on the way.”

  “Hurry it up, man. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold them off.”

  Haley quickly ran toward the sound of the gunfire, arriving at the scene in just a few minutes. There appeared to be no way to get to Phillips, though, from the spot he was in at first. Haley didn’t recognize any of the men at first, but they had effectively blocked the alley off. And he didn’t know how many more Phillips was dealing with at the other end of it, but at this end, there already appeared to be around fifteen.

  Haley was going to have to look for another way to get to him. Because he wasn’t getting through fifteen men. Haley went around the block, knowing that was wasting precious time, but he didn’t have a choice. He came around the other end of the alley, seeing what looked like ten more men blocking it. He still couldn’t see where Phillips was, but he must have been somewhere in the middle.

  As Haley looked on from the corner of a nearby building, he contemplated his options. He really only had two. He either walked away from his partner, and let him perish because of his own doing, or he risked his own life to try to save him. And saving him at this point seemed like an insurmountable task.

  Haley pulled out his phone and called Jones. “David, we got a major problem here.”

  “What is it?” The tone in Jones’ voice indicated he feared what he was about to hear.

  “Phillips is cut off and surrounded. I’m not sure I can get to him.”

  “What are the odds?”

  “Looks like about twenty-five to one right now. And that might be generous.”

  “Is there no way you can get to him?”

  “Only way I see is throwing myself right into the fire.”

  Hearing the seriousness in Haley’s voice, Jones still couldn’t tell him which call to make. Either way, he could be sending one, or both of them, to their deaths. He couldn’t make that call from the safety of his office. “Do whatever you feel is right, Chris. Whichever call you make, we’ll live with the consequences.”

  There was more shooting in the background. Haley was silent for a few seconds as he thought about it. No matter how much he disagreed with Phillips, on just about every issue there was, he was still his partner. And he couldn’t just walk away from him, knowing his life was hanging in the balance.

  “I’m going in,” Haley said.

  Jones closed his eyes, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time he heard his friend’s voice. “Whatever you do, make sure you make it back here.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  As the line went dead, Jones closed his eyes again. He put his hand over his mouth, thinking about what was about to happen. All he could do at that point was say a prayer and hope that it would be answered.

  Haley shoved his phone back in his pocket and checked his gun, making sure it was ready to fire. He contemplated how he was going to approach this. He then got out his phone again and called Phillips.

  “Hey. You joining the party soon?”

  “Yeah,” Haley said. “I’m about to make my entrance.”

  “Hope you make it a good one.”

  “Yeah, me too. There’s about ten men between me and you. We gotta lessen the odds.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “Once we get off the phone, start taking out men to the south of you. I’ll be coming that way.”

  “What about crossfire?”

  “I’ll just have to take my chances. You better not miss.”

  “I won’t.”

  “If you start firing from your end, I’ll fire as I’m running in from my end, and I’ll meet you in the middle. Sound like a plan?”

  “As good as any I’ve got.”

  “As soon as I hang up, count to five, then start blasting.”

  “You got it. Thanks.”

  “Thank me when we’re out of here.”

  Haley hung up, then counted to five himself. He then heard more shots, which was his cue to leave. As he started running up the alley, he saw one of the men drop to the ground. He had a slight advantage in that all the men were looking in Phillips’ direction. That gave him the element of surprise. But it wouldn’t last long.

  As soon as Haley fired his first shot, he took out the man he was aiming for, but it then gave himself away. Phillips was able to take out another man, as the other men’s focus was now split in two. Haley crouched down next to the wall and continued firing, trying to make himself as small a target as possible. He took out one more man.

  With six men left between him and Phillips, the odds were starting to look a little better, though still not great. Two more of the men went down, one each from the guns of Haley and Phillips. Phillips then saw his opportunity to flee from his current position, and started running in Haley’s direction.

  Since the amount of men between the two of them had lessened, Haley was now able to see Phillips as he started running. Two of the men turned to try to take out Phillips, but Haley drilled both of them. With only one man left in their way now, b
oth Haley and Phillips could finally see a way out for them.

  Unfortunately, that way out closed quickly. Haley looked on in horror as he saw Phillips go down rather suddenly. He could hear his partner yell out in pain, obviously from a bullet wound. Phillips rolled around on the ground, holding his leg. Haley, seeing his partner in even more danger, considering he was out in the open, and unable to protect himself, and knew he had to get in there and pull him out. And he had to do it now.

  Haley raised up and took out the last man between him and Phillips, then quickly ran down the alley until he got to Phillips’ position. Haley knelt over him, continuing to fire at the men at the other end of the alley, who were now advancing toward them. Haley kept firing, but knew they were in a jam. Unless he took out everyone there, they were going to have a tough time escaping.

  “You able to move?” Haley asked.

  Phillips grimaced and moaned. “I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

  “We can’t stay here.”

  “Just go. You’ve done all you can.”

  “I’ll help you up.” Haley continued firing, then changed his magazine quickly. The other men kept advancing.

  Phillips looked back at the crowd. “They’re coming hard. You’re not gonna make it with me slowing you down.”

  “We’ll make it.”

  Haley fired several more rounds, hitting a few of his targets, though at the moment, his main goal was just keeping the crowd at bay. Phillips was right, though. They weren’t going to get out of that alley quickly. With his free hand, Haley helped Phillips get to his feet. Once Phillips was up, Haley put his arm around his shoulders, helping his partner walk.

  They were only able to get a few feet before Phillips went down again; the bullet hitting him in the middle of his back. Haley immediately turned around and continued firing.

  “You keep going, I’ll hold them off!” Haley said.

  Phillips started crawling. “I… don’t think that’s happening.”

  Haley took a quick peek behind him, seeing Phillips stop moving. “Paxton?!” Haley didn’t have time to check on him, as he immediately went back to firing. “Paxton?!”

  Without hearing any sound of movement, and without a response, Haley knew that his partner was gone. Now, Haley just had to worry about getting himself out of there. He took a few steps backward, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the others. It wasn’t doing much good, though.