Instinctual 2

by Amanda Mackey

  Gary looked down to the burning on his arm and realized he’d been nicked with a bullet. Blood oozed out and stained the sleeve of his jacket, which had ripped with the force of the passing bullet. It appeared to be just a surface wound so he wasn’t too worried. “Just a scratch. Come on, we need to get inside. We’re sitting ducks out here.” He motioned for The Gladiator to move along the wall to the first available door. “I don’t think we’ll find any on this side. We need to get into the courtyard. These guys mean business, so fire at will.”

  “Game on, sir!”

  They both turned and crept back the way they had come, keeping their bodies pressed tightly into the stone wall until they came to the end of one wing where the horseshoe shape ended and the building became square before tapering into a long rectangle, meeting up with the other side in the same way.

  Gary held his handgun up, ready to fire, The Gladiator having chosen his long range military rifle. He was an expert marksman and could hit an acorn in a high tree from five hundred feet away if he had to. One shot. No mistakes.

  The earlier gunfire that had peeled out now left the night silent as they looked for the closest entrance. They didn’t know where the enemy was and were at a disadvantage, having lost the element of surprise.

  The Gladiator had called Rob quickly on their descent and given him an update about their location. He’d informed him that they were pretty confident they’d found their target. He’d quickly rattled off the coordinates and told Rob to be on guard in case they needed backup. Rob had the military base in Rome’s secure number and was to call it only at Gary’s request, should they need extra firepower and men as a last resort. They weren’t sure how many enemies were holed up inside but they had to be prepared. Gary kept his phone on vibrate only, so if Rob called he’d be able to feel it.

  There was an entrance halfway across so they made their way towards it, silently. The prison was huge so they were going to have their work cut out for them in regards to finding Jake. He could be anywhere, on any floor, but they weren’t leaving without him.

  The Gladiator reached the door first and opened it slowly, stopping momentarily when it squeaked loudly. The hinges were so old and rusted out that it was impossible to enter without a sound.

  Inside the door it was dark and musty. The room was large with nothing adorning it except ancient, red paint that clung to the rotting walls and cracked, dirty black and white checked tiles on the floor. It must have been staff quarters back in the day. Stealthily they crept across the tiles towards a door that would lead them into the cell blocks.

  Gary was operating on what little instinct he had. It was in times like this that he could really have used Rob and his gut feelings but they hadn’t had time to wait for him to make his way from La Spezia to a meeting point where he could have been picked up.

  The Gladiator looked as cold as ice with no emotion showing on his face at all. No sign of fear. Gary, on the other hand, had broken out in a sweat. It could have been from the bullet that had grazed his skin or it could have been from fear. He wasn’t sure which. He tried not to think of maybe not making it out alive and seeing his family again. He couldn’t. He had to stay focused and detach himself. It had been many years since he’d been on the front line and he couldn’t say he missed it. He’d been in some scary locations back in the day but this one was unsettling. The long, endless hall seemed to taunt them as they proceeded to creep forward, Gary on one side of the hallway checking the cells and The Gladiator on the other.

  It was a tedious process working their way through the center of the jail and curving with the shape of the building. Gary accepted the fact that it was going to take all night to search every cell and room, a task he was not looking forward to but one that was necessary.

  It felt strange to follow such a tight bend around which straightened out to another long hallway in front of them. All of the cells had been empty so far, the insides dreary and prehistoric.

  As they started down the straight and narrow again, The Gladiator stopped short, causing Gary to pause mid-step and then spin around to see if they were being followed. He could only see a short way to where the corridor curved and then disappeared. Looking at the Gladiator, he could see the soldier’s head cocked to one side as if listening to something. Gary closed the distance to stand next to him and asked, “What is it?”

  “I hear something.”

  “Something?”

  “A sound. Like beeping. It’s coming from down there.” He pointed in front of them, so they slowly inched forward, and as they got closer, Gary’s hearing kicked in and he could hear it, too. It was definitely beeping and it was getting louder.

  They were close now as the sound rang out, echoing against the quiet. They both knew that noise. They’d heard it numerous times. Gary’s adrenalin surged at the beeping, as both men closed in on the cell with their spy.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Gary reached Jake’s cell, noticing The Gladiator move to stand beside him. Both men looked at each other knowingly. It was a small victory, one which wasn’t won yet.

  “Fucking Jesus! Kate was right! Everything she said was true. All of it!” Gary ran his free hand through his hair and over his face, trying to make heads or tails of just how she’d gotten her information. Everything he knew to be true about the world and life had been turned upside down. Communicating with the near dead? How was it possible? There were no other explanations, though. Kate herself had been in a coma while Jake was lying unconscious in the very room they were looking into. He blinked a few times, trying to shake off his confusion. He’d have time for that later once they figured out how they were going to get Jake out.

  The Gladiator tried the cell door. “Locked!”

  “I didn’t think they’d leave it unlocked. We need to find the keys ASAP and get him to the safety of the chopper before our gunmen find us and start shooting again.”

  “Too late for that now, isn’t it?” sang a voice from down the hall.

  Both Gary and The Gladiator swung around to see two men had rounded the bend, guns raised.

  “Drop your weapons, now!” barked Adriano. “Nice and slow, and then keep your hands where we can see them.”

  The Gladiator held his gun in a death grip watching as Gary slowly bent down to lay his weapon on the cold stone floor. Gary looked sideways at The Gladiator and barely nodded but it was enough to let the soldier know that they needed to comply with the request for now and wait for the opportunity to attack. They had other weapons on their bodies, so could afford the loss of a gun each.

  The Gladiator bent down and put the rifle next to Gary’s handgun and then stood with his hands in the air.

  Stavros spoke. “You! Big guy! Kick the weapons over here. No funny stuff.”

  The Gladiator gave them a hateful stare before kicking the guns away as their two enemies approached slowly. Adriano picked both up, slinging the rifle over his shoulder and pocketing the handgun.

  “Now move! Down that way!” Stavros pointed back down the hall, past Jake’s cell, with the butt of his gun.

  Gary was praying that his wingman had a plan and would be able to share it with him because he had nothing at that point. He’d just have to wait and see how things played out. He willed his mind to calm down. He needed to be alert and ready to act in a split second.

  Both men followed the corridor with their hands on their heads until they came to a dead end. Two wooden double doors greeted them, so they stopped to await further instruction.

  “Open the doors and go through,” grunted Adriano as he pushed his gun into Gary’s back.

  Gary obliged and stepped into a surreal world. He tried to keep his face neutral as he stopped inside the door, his eyes focusing on two men at the other end, sitting on the couch.

  The balding older man stood and took a step forward. “Well, well, well! What do we have here, Stavros? Company, I see. So nice of you two men to join our little party. Come! Don’t be shy.”


  “We found them inside the prison looking at our patient down the hall.”

  “Good work, men. Bring our guests over to get a little more comfortable so we can get to know each other a little more, yes?”

  Gary and The Gladiator walked over to the sofa where Carlos sat.

  All three men sat side by side with The Gladiator in the middle.

  “I am The Lord and this is Adriano, Stavros and Carlos.”

  Gary glared at Carlos, finally within punching distance of the man whose head he wanted to deliver to Rob on a silver platter.

  “So. What brings the two of you to Santo Stefano Island? I’m guessing it’s not a social visit, no?” The Lord’s voice was sugary sweet.

  Gary calmly spoke to try and keep the situation from escalating. “We’re here to negotiate.”

  The Lord howled with laughter. “Negotiate? Please, do go on. I’m intrigued.”

  Gary didn’t have a clue what he should say next and was making it up as he went along.

  “You’re a business man, I can see. I’m sure we can come to a mutual agreement in regards to releasing your patient.”

  “Ahhh, so you’re the spy’s accomplices. Well, I must commend you on your ability to infiltrate my family and pull off your mission for such a long period of time. I am impressed. Maybe you should come work for me.” The Lord had a glint in his eye as he goaded Gary.

  The Gladiator had his fists tightly squeezed on his lap. Gary could tell by the body language of the big soldier that he wanted to tear someone apart, limb by limb.

  “You act like we’re the criminals here. We’re not the ones moving illegal arms into the United States. We’re not the ones selling drugs that end up in the hands of minors. We’re not the ones killing people that don’t comply with ‘our family’s code of ethics.’”

  “You make it sound like we hold a gun to the young dope addicts’ faces. People make their own choices in life, whether that be bad or good. We merely supply the demand.”

  “Yeah, but you just make it easier to get their hands on the stuff, not to mention weaponry that’s sold on the black market.”

  “Again, a choice, my friend. Now, we could sit here all day arguing about what’s right and wrong, but that’s not going to solve the fate of our ally in the cell, is it? You mentioned a mutual agreement? What do you suggest?”

  Think fast, Gary. Think fast. He needed to stop his emotions taking over and create a plan with a level head. He could feel The Gladiator’s gaze upon him but didn’t turn around. He refused to steal his stare away from the man calling the shots. “Let us go somewhere a little more private and discuss this like gentlemen.” Gary’s eyes flashed to the dwindling cigar held between the chubby fingers of the boss man. “Maybe share a cigar and work out a solution to our mutual problem.” It was all he had. He hoped to appeal to whatever niceness may still be left in the crime leader, if any. Appease him and get him on his own where the odds would be a little fairer. Take him out and get Jake onto the chopper, even if Gary had to stay behind and fight with The Gladiator.

  “Do you think I’m stupid? Why would I leave with you and risk being overpowered? I’ve been in this business a long time. I know how minds like yours work. I’ve had to in order to stay at the top.”

  “I assure you I just want to talk. I’ll leave my man here under the faithful watch of your goons as assurance. They can even frisk me and remove all my weapons.”

  The Gladiator cleared his throat but Gary didn’t look.

  The Lord cocked his head, his eyes still locked on Gary, pondering the offer. “You would unarm yourself to go with me for a chat? Is that wise?”

  “I want to prove to you that I don’t want any more trouble.”

  “Stand up!” The Lord turned sideways and motioned with his head for one of the men to frisk Gary.

  Stavros stepped forward, gun aimed as Gary stood. Starting at Gary’s feet, Stavros patted one hand up each leg, finding the bulge in Gary’s left ankle. Lifting the pant leg he discovered a boot knife tucked flush against the Achilles tendon. He placed it on the coffee table, continuing his search. Another two handguns were pulled from the waistband of Gary’s pants before Stavros seemed happy that there were no more weapons. He motioned with his gun for Gary to step aside.

  “Now you!” he threw at The Gladiator. “Stand!”

  The Gladiator looked lethal but said nothing as he stood and when all the guns and knives were removed, the pile looked like a small arsenal.

  The Lord shook his head, clucking his tongue. “You look like you were about to start a war!”

  “Well, it always pays to be prepared,” mumbled Gary.

  “Indeed.” The Lord pointed to The Gladiator. “You sit.” Then he pointed to Gary. “You come. Let us pay a little visit to your spy. Let me tell you my plans for our friend and may I add though, if you try anything, I’ll shoot you dead without even thinking about it.” He pulled his own handgun from inside his jacket.

  Gary held up his arms. “You have my word.” He knew his word meant jackshit to the criminal but he said it anyway. He gave The Gladiator a quick nod as if to say, ‘I’ve got this handled,’ before being led at gunpoint back out into the stark prison, relieved to be in the presence of only one shithead. He was biding his time. Phase A of his very incomplete plan that he’d only thought up moments ago had gone off without a hitch. He had the first man he was going to kill on his own. That was The Lord’s first mistake.

  Both men walked in silence to Jake’s cell. Phase B was just about fulfilled. Getting the keys to open the cell had been easier than Gary thought it would be. It had been thrown in his lap and he wasn’t going to waste a second of his good luck.

  The Lord pushed Gary into the bars of the cell just to the left of the padlock so he could still hold the gun to his target’s head while unlocking the cell with the other. With a click the lock opened and they were in. Gary could hardly believe his luck and needed to get closer to Jake to see what sort of a state he was in or even if he was still alive.

  “Go on. Take a look,” The Lord urged, forcing Gary over to the bed.

  Gary recoiled as his eyes found the bloody mess between Jake’s fingers. He pivoted to The Lord, using every morsel of constraint not to lunge at the man. “What have you done?”

  “Just a little reminder about disloyalty,” The Lord sneered.

  “Why didn’t you just let the guy die? Surely it would have been kinder.” Gary could have sworn he saw a flicker of something human in the evil man’s eyes but then it was gone. “What are your plans for him?”

  “I kept him alive for my own selfish reasons which are none of your concern. As for my plans? Well, I’m going to keep our patient here for a while and teach him some respect. Something I should have done a long time ago.”

  Gary could read between the lines. He knew without a doubt that Jake was The Lord’s unfortunate son. The fact that he’d been kept alive to endure some sort of punishment was despicable. It was not going to happen.

  Both men were standing side by side looking down at the body, The Lord still making sure to have the gun pressed into Gary’s right side. “What are you thinking?”

  Gary was going for broke. Even with a gun aimed at him he couldn’t hold in his revulsion any longer. “I’m thinking that you are a sick fuck for treating your own son like this. He may have been a spy in your Organization but he wasn’t and still isn’t aware that you are his father. You’ve cut off his finger! What sort of a father does that to his own son?”

  Gary felt the cold gun barrel push in harder as The Lord turned. “Bravo! You’ve worked out that this man here is indeed my son. How very clever of you! You’ve been doing your homework. As a matter of fact, I only just found out the imposter is my offspring a little over a week ago.” In a second The Lord’s voice had gone from relatively low-key to brutal. “You think cutting off his finger is severe after he dishonestly wormed his way into my family in order to destroy it? How dare you! He got off pretty lightly
, I would say, considering I let him live!”

  Gary grimaced and turned his head away to avoid the stagnant cigar breath on his face.

  The Lord gripped Gary’s arm fiercely and pushed him into the corner of the room. “Now! If you don’t have anything else to say, you can stand there until I administer my patient his medication. Make a move and it’ll be your last.”

  Gary stood still, adrenalin peaking. He needed to find a weapon and act soon or Jake would be left to undergo whatever sick, twisted torture The Lord had in store for him. He thought hard while watching Jake’s captor pick up a fresh syringe off the counter that ran along the side wall behind him and tore the wrapper off with his teeth. He momentarily placed the needle down, picking up a bottle of clear liquid while again using his teeth to unscrew the lid. He then placed the bottle on the counter, picked up the syringe, all the while using one hand. With his thumb he pushed back on the syringe to suck up the liquid through the needle until it was full.

  Eyeing a small scalpel on the metal cart beside the bed, Gary decided that when the chance arose, he’d go for it and strike in an area that would incapacitate the asshole long enough to get the gun away. Then it would be a fair fight.

  Once the meds were given, The Lord moved towards Gary, gun aimed dead center on his chest. “I think we’ve spent long enough here. Our other guest will be wondering what has happened to us. As far as a negotiation goes, there will be no negotiating. This is my son and as his father, I will be keeping him here. If you have a problem with that then I suggest you tell it to the barrel of my gun.”

  Grabbing Gary’s right arm and pulling him towards the cell doors, he failed to notice Gary’s hand swing onto the trolley to pick up the scalpel that silently sat on some tissues. He wasted no time bringing the sharp instrument up and into the side of The Lord’s neck, hoping to hell he hit the carotid artery.

  Stunned, The Lord dropped the gun and staggered away, pulling out the small weapon that was lodged deep in his neck.

  In the next second Gary was upon the ailing criminal, fist pummeling into his enemy’s face again and again until the big man lost his balance and fell to the floor. As Gary went for the gun on the floor, The Lord brought a foot up and kicked Gary in the knee-cap, a crack sounding from the left leg. Gary screamed, dropping to the floor backwards as The Lord regained his composure, turning onto his stomach to reach for the gun which had slid under Jake’s bed. Why was the fucker still fighting? He should be unconscious at the very least.