‘Bullshit baby,’ Chloe whispered. ‘Like I told you, you can have me anytime, and I’ll never get bored of feeling you come inside me.’
‘Ah damn it Chloe, you’re giving me a boner.’
‘Shit, just my luck.’ She laughed and bit in to her bacon.
The diner door opened as another customer came in out of the storm. A gust of wind blew snow across the linoleum floor and the man who had just stepped in struggled to close the door.
‘It’s colder than Alaska out there,’ Dan heard the man say.
A couple of other patrons nodded their heads at the statement and the man lowered the hood on his parka and stamped his feet to kick off the build up of snow. He removed his gloves and slapped them against his thighs. The man’s head turned and his face met Dan’s and Dan knew that face and something in the man’s eyes made Dan realise that the man recognised him too.
To Chloe it all happened like a slow motion movie. Dan started to get up and at the same time he was reaching across the table and yanking at her collar. His hand gripped the material of her coat and he was pulling her sideways out of the booth with a powerful tug, whilst at the same time reaching in to his coat with his right hand for the Browning secured in its shoulder rig.
Chloe felt her body get clear of the vinyl seat and she began to fall towards the floor, her body twisting as she fell and she looked across the diner and saw a man reaching around his waist to his lower back and her head filled with one word: GUN.
Chloe started to reach in for her pistol and she looked up at Dan as his hand reached inside his jacket to free his weapon. Her back connected with the floor but it didn’t hurt as the padding of her coat acted as a blanket. Her breath escaped her lungs as the impact shocked her more than it hurt. Chloe’s fingers found the strap that kept the Glock safe in its holster and popped the button. Dan’s hand was pulling the Browning out, he hand its grip free but she could see that he would be too late as the man by the door raised his right arm, in his hand was a large calibre revolver.
Chloe saw that customers were beginning to see that something wasn’t right and the man with the gun, who she now realised was Devon McCall had the revolver up and she could see the hammer rising. Dan was raising his own gun-hand; the Browning huge in his grip. Chloe’s hand gripped her Glock and her thumb switched the safety off as her hand came free of her jacket. Her body was sliding on the polished linoleum and she started to raise her hand, bearing her aim towards McCall. She was aware that she was screaming but she couldn’t understand the word coming from her mouth.
Sara was raising a hand to her mouth and Chloe heard the waitress scream and other customers began to move away from the gunfight in progress.
Dan’s Browning was rising fast but McCall was faster and Chloe saw the hammer fall and the muzzle flame shoot from the barrel and Chloe screamed again as she saw Dan get hit high in the right shoulder and he was crashing backwards over the booth’s low back. His shot went wide and Chloe saw the cartridge casing flying from its ejection port and Chloe had her Glock in both hands; holding it just like Dan had shown her and she pulled the trigger. The copper casing arcing over her as it was ejected. Her shot was slightly off and only grazed McCall’s thigh but it threw him off balance enough so that his next shot thumped through the padding of the seat next to Dan as Dan continued to fall backwards and on to the table in the booth next to theirs.
Chloe saw that customers were dropping to the floor and raising their hands to protect their heads and she pulled the trigger again. McCall’s next shot passed through the collar of Chloe’s coat and she could feel its heat against her neck. Her shot was wide and high and exploded the strip light above McCall’s head; raining down a shower of white shards. McCall winced but took aim once again and Chloe fired again, she could see the muzzle flash from her Glock and this time her aim was a little better and her round tore through McCall’s right thigh and the man yelled out as he pulled the trigger and Chloe felt like she had been hit by a mule as the bullet slammed in to her chest between her breasts slamming her back against the linoleum.
She saw Sara’s eyes, wide and huge and fearful and Chloe was turning her face back to McCall, trying to find the energy to shoot him again, she pulled the trigger but the shot was wide and a hole appeared in the cigarette machine by the door.
Glass shards from the strip light continued to fall around McCall and his large revolver was pointing square at Chloe’s face and she could see him thumbing back the hammer and she squeezed the trigger again; her hand was low and her shot caught McCall in the right foot and all the while she screamed; the sound primeval and her throat burned from the raggedness of her yell and then McCall’s face was gone, a hole opened up between his eyes and a geyser of red flew from the back of the man’s head and he pulled the trigger but the shot went in to the floor at his feet.
Chloe was still sliding backwards from the force of his round that had connected with her chest; it really did feel like getting kicked by a mule. She didn’t have the strength to lift her gun but it was okay, McCall was hit again as Dan started to jump down from the table; his second shot caught McCall in the chest and as Dan began to land on the floor his third rapid shot hit McCall directly in the heart, copper casings landed near her and she watched as one rolled, trailing smoke beneath the stall nearest her, and Chloe could hear Dan’s scream of rage and then it was as if normal time had been resumed...
Chloe stopped screaming no, no, no over and over, her throat was hoarse and she hurt like hell. She lifted her head and Dan was crouching beside her. ‘Baby, tell me you’re okay?’
Chloe nodded her head several times in rapid succession. ‘You?’
‘Yes baby.’
Dan got to his feet and scanned the diner; he kept his Browning at arm’s length pointing at the ground. Diners were lying on the floor and he could hear a few whimpering or out right crying. He didn’t have time to check that everyone was okay so he shouted out, ‘Is anyone hurt? Has anyone been shot?’
There was no reply. He could see Sara looking up at him, her mouth open in an Oh, her eyes wide with fear. ‘Relax Sara; we’re not here to harm anyone. Fran, are you okay back there?’
‘I’m fine, just take what you want and go mister, please,’ Fran shouted back from behind the grill.
‘It’s not like that Fran.’ Dan checked on Chloe once more and he could see that she was lifting her sweater to tap at the Kevlar vest beneath. She smiled up at him and gave him a thumbs-up. She started to sit up.
Dan walked over to the door and looked out into the street. He couldn’t see a thing, the snow was heavy and the wind so loud he prayed that the shots hadn’t travelled far.
‘Okay people, listen up, what happened here was a mistake, McCall had it coming, but I didn’t expect for him to walk through that damn door; that was just a twist of fate.’ Dan could see that some of the diners were watching him. ‘In time there will be things on the news about McCall, bad things and you’ll all realise what happened here today had to happen, and we mean you no harm what so ever, you’re all going to be fine, but I need for you all to stay exactly where you are for a while longer.’
Dan walked to the end of the diner and tore the phone from the wall; he saw another handset by the grill’s window and pointed it out to Chloe. She was on her feet and staggered over to the phone and ripped it out. She hoped that the weather would black out any mobile phones that the diners might have on them. Chloe bent and pocketed a cartridge case and looked for the others that Dan and she had fired.
Dan looked down at the dead body of McCall.
‘Listen up folks, we’re leaving now and I want everyone here to stay exactly where they are and think of your loved ones; your husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers, sisters, mother and father, think of them, of how much you love them and they you. And whilst you’re thinking of them I want you all to count to a thousand before you get up.’
Dan saw Chloe pocketing a cartridge case and he knelt to pick one u
p. Trust Chloe to think of the small things.
‘Now some of you may want to play hero and get up to call for help the minute we leave, again I implore you not to, to think of your loved ones even harder, of how they’ll be if you don’t make it home to them. I don’t want to harm anyone in this town, but if anyone plays hero, I promise you all this I will kill every motherfucker around here to protect what is mine.’
Dan walked over to Chloe. ‘Are you ready?’
Chloe nodded her head and held open her hand to reveal a handful of copper casings.
Dan reached in to his pocket and counted out a thousand dollars. He dropped this on the counter.
‘Fran, I’ve left enough to cover the damage and to pay for everyone’s meal here, folks I am real sorry you had to witness this, but if you all do as I say you’ll get through it and one day you’ll have a hell of a story to tell people.’
Dan crossed to the door and looked out in to the street. Chloe stepped up beside him.
‘We’ve got to move quick Chloe, back to the motel, you get in the car, I’ll get our stuff and we’re out of here,’ he whispered.
‘Okay, I’ll get the engine running, give me the keys,’ she said quietly.
He handed them to her. Chloe kept hold of the Glock and Dan nodded his head once. ‘If anyone’s out there don’t stop, we’ve got to get through this, do you understand?’
She knew what he meant, if anyone tried to stop them she was to shoot to kill.
Chloe nodded her head.
‘Right people, we’re out of here and remember what I said, think of your loved ones and count to a thousand.’
Dan pulled open the door and they moved out in to the street. Dan took the lead and they staggered against the wind and snow. It was hard to see anything out there and he prayed they made it safely across to the motel.
Dan couldn’t see any vehicles on the road, and there was three inches of fresh snow on the tarmac, he wondered if the roads out would be clear enough to get the Volvo through but he’d worry about that later.
‘You think they’ll do what you said?’ Chloe shouted over the worsening storm as they reached the motel’s car-park.
‘What would you do in their place, if you thought you’d never see your loved ones again?’
Chloe thought about it as they slid and stumbled towards the Volvo. ‘I’d count to a thousand.’
‘Well let’s hope they all think like you.’ They reached the Volvo. They were both already freezing cold, their un-gloved hands turning blue, with their jackets opened the jumpers offered little protection against the storm.
‘Right, I’ll be back in two, if anyone comes, get out of here, don’t wait for me.’
‘Never gonna happen baby, you go, we both go.’ Chloe gave him a very quick peck on the lips. ‘Just make sure it doesn’t come to that, now hurry.’
Chloe unlocked the Volvo and climbed up in to the 4x4, closed the door and started the engine. It kicked in to life immediately and she said a silent prayer to whoever had built the fine automobile that they were now relying on. Chloe flicked the wipers on and the snow that had accumulated slid from the screen. She slid across in to the passenger seat and turned the heaters up full blast.
She kept her eyes on the road and so far couldn’t see anyone moving about in the storm, she prayed like hell that their luck held.
Chloe put a hand to her chest and winced at the pain, the ache she was feeling in her breasts was terrific but the vest had done its job. She held the gun between her knees, ready to use it if she had to but hoping that she wouldn’t have to shoot at a law enforcement officer. She would kill to protect Dan but she wouldn’t like living with it.
‘Come on baby, come on baby,’ she said aloud and the driver’s door opened and she raised the Glock and Dan said, ‘I don’t want to get shot baby.’
Chloe chuckled and lowered the gun. Dan threw their bags over the back of the seats in to the rear and handed the laptop case across to Chloe. She pushed it in to the foot-well and Dan climbed in.
‘Any problems?’
‘No, I got in and out okay, I’ve cleared the place. Luckily we didn’t take much in with us.’
Dan slammed the door.
‘Seatbelt,’ he told her and quickly fastened his. ‘Take this,’ he handed her the Browning.
‘Anyone tries to stop us open up with both.’
Dan put the car in gear and pressed on the accelerator. The tyres spun in the snow and Chloe began to panic but then the tyres found traction and they pulled out of the space and Dan drove to the exit and turned right on to the street. The back end slid slightly in the icy conditions and Dan adjusted the wheel and engaged the Volvo’s “Off Road” function. The engine noise changed slightly and then Dan was accelerating away and the Volvo kept to the icy road perfectly.
‘When we’re in Montana we’ve got to get one of these.’ Chloe said.
‘We’re not out of the woods yet.’
Dan turned at the next intersection and Chloe recognised the road as the main street they had travelled in on yesterday.
Up ahead they could see a Sheriff’s patrol car moving towards them in the opposite lane.
‘Shit,’ Chloe said, ‘They know.’
Dan kept his speed at a steady rate, and shook his head at her, ‘I don’t think so, his lights aren’t on, and I don’t hear a siren, just relax and let’s see what he does.’
Chloe’s heart beat was jacked up as the patrol car loomed larger through the windscreen and then they were level with it and the sheriff’s car passed them by without slowing.
‘Jesus, I think I just wet myself,’ Chloe said and flicked the safeties on on both weapons. She put the Glock back in her shoulder holster but kept the Browning in her lap.
Up ahead a car went by at the intersection and then they saw a snow plough coming down in to the town off the two lane highway that they had come in on yesterday.
Dan accelerated out of Perfection and every few minutes would check his rear-view mirror. When they were ten miles out of the town Dan began to relax a little but he knew that they had to burn up the miles as quickly as possible and ditch the Volvo. The police would be looking for it soon enough, it wouldn’t take a genius detective to figure out that the guests in the motel were the ones who had did the shooting, from there it would be quite easy to figure out that they drove a Volvo so he knew they had to abandon the Volvo as soon as it was safe to do so. Fucking good job I didn’t use the Adams alias to book that car, Dan thought. He had used a fake ID that Terry had given him and the credit card would not lead the authorities to them. Dan figured they had two hours to lose the Volvo and find alternative means of transportation.
Dan shot a look at Chloe and he could see she was shivering. It was very warm in the car so he put it down to the events in the diner and the after effects of an adrenalin rush.
‘It’s the comedown from the adrenaline, are you going to throw up?’
‘No, I’m okay,’ Chloe looked out the back at the empty road behind them. ‘How long until they’re on to this car, we need to ditch it don’t we?’
‘Yes and as soon as possible, we need to find a town or city with a rail connection, we’ll dump the Volvo and burn it, our fingerprints and DNA will be all over it, we don’t want the law coming for us years down the line.’
‘Makes sense, catch a train to anywhere but here and then hire another car with a different ID, am I with you so far?’
‘Absolutely, we’ll be fine once we ditch this, they’ll have our descriptions but we can change our hair colour pretty easily, once we’re out of the state I think we’re home free.’
‘Shame I got my hair cut earlier, although I could always get a wig.’
Dan smiled. ‘We’ll be okay.’
‘You really think so?’
‘I do,’ he replied but he wasn’t sure he was entirely convincing.
Sheriff Johnson looked at the old timer everyone in town called Doc and shook his head in disbelief. Johns
on had been Sheriff of Perfection for nigh on twenty five years and the shooting in the diner was the third murder scene that he had attended in all those years. Perfection was a good town; the people were good and generally the worse he and his two deputies had to contend with were bar-room brawls and the odd fender-bender.
They’d interviewed everyone present at the time of the shootings and each gave varying descriptions of the man and woman that had gunned down McCall. Reports stated that McCall had fired first and that the Englishman had returned fire. Sara and several others stated that it lasted no longer than a minute, from the opening shot to the young couple leaving. Descriptions had the couple as young, the man ranging from five eight to six seven, and hardly anyone could offer more about the woman other than she was stunning.
Johnson hated witnesses; they never helped and often hindered an investigation. They’d be able to get finger prints off of the mugs and knives and forks but if the couple were English there was a chance their prints wouldn’t be on record. Johnson had hoped that the CCTV on the street would offer a better look at the shooters but the storm had been raging for too long and at some point had frozen the cameras so that the recorder showed nothing more than several hours of icicle patterns on the cameras’ lenses.
Doc was the best hope of a decent description, according to everyone in the diner he had been closest to the two shooters and McCall but Doc was being damn unhelpful.
Johnson tapped his pen on the table and sighed. ‘Doc, you can’t honestly expect me to believe the shit you’re telling me and I quote direct from your statement here; “the two shooters were Hispanic of unidentifiable gender and as far as I could tell were high on drugs”, shit Doc do you want me to lock you up?’
Doc, a sheep rancher by trade lived ten miles north from Perfection and it was known by everyone that he disliked McCall and the holiday makers that broke his fences and scared his sheep.
‘What can I say Barry; my eyesight ain’t what it once was and I wasn’t wearing my glasses.’
Rage Against The Machine: Special Edition (Dan & Chloe Book 1) Page 41