Lethal Force

by Mike Ryan

  “How much longer is she gonna have to be here?”

  “Uhh, I would say a few more days,” the doctor answered. “She lost quite a bit of blood, which has made her a little weak and lethargic. That’s really the main issue right now. Other than that, she’s looking fine. I just wanna keep her a few more days for observation, make sure she gets her strength back up.”

  Recker nodded, not having a problem with it. He just wanted whatever was best for her. “OK.”

  “Even after she’s released though, I want her to take it easy at home. No lifting, moving things, things like that. Just relax, lie down, nothing strenuous.”

  “That’s no problem.”

  The doctor then did a quick examination of Mia, then left the room. Recker wanted to show her the pictures but didn’t want to make it seem like he was putting anything else before her.

  “How long are you staying?” Mia asked.

  “How long do you want me to stay?” Recker replied.

  Mia smiled. “All night if you can.”

  “I’ll stay until you fall asleep. Then I have something to do. But I’ll be right back after that.”

  Recker took a gulp, then reached into his pocket and removed the pictures. He put them on Mia’s lap.

  “Do you think you can identify the man who did this to you?”

  Mia picked up the photos and started looking through them. “There’s a lot here.”

  “Just take your time. Be sure.”

  Mia looked through about thirty pictures before she got to the one that did it. She stared at it, her mind going back to that moment when he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger.

  “You see him?” Recker asked, noticing her hesitation.

  “This is the guy.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I could never forget his face,” Mia said, handing the picture back to Recker.

  Recker took the picture and looked at it. “Bill Cummins.”

  “Promise me you’re not gonna kill him?”

  “What?”

  “Mike, I don’t want you to kill him out of revenge for me.”

  Recker sighed, not wanting to get in an argument over it while she was in the hospital. “Mia, if this guy was willing to kill you just for the sake of it, that means he’s willing to do it to anybody else who gets in his way. He’s a dangerous guy who needs to be taken off the street.”

  “So, let the police do it.”

  “I really don’t wanna talk about this here. You just need to focus on getting better.”

  “Mike, I know how you are. You’re gonna obsess over this thing until you find him. You morph into someone else. I don’t want you to do that.”

  Recker could see she was starting to get heated and didn’t want that to happen. He put his hands on her to try and calm her down.

  “OK, OK. Just relax.”

  Recker handed the picture of Cummins to Haley, while he put the rest of them back in his pocket. Haley instinctively knew what that meant. Recker wanted him to start working on finding Cummins, while he stayed there with Mia, not wanting to upset her anymore.

  “OK, well, I’m gonna head out now,” Haley said. “Get back to work.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Mia said.

  Haley gave her another hug and kiss before leaving. “I’ll, uhh, check back in later.”

  Recker nodded at him.

  “Please promise me you won’t kill him because of me,” Mia said.

  “We shouldn’t talk about this now.”

  “Promise me.”

  Recker sighed. “I promise I won’t kill him just because of you.”

  Mia was tired, probably too tired to realize he could’ve contorted what he said to mean just about anything to suit his purposes. Recker continued sitting there for a little while, talking with Mia, until she drifted off to sleep about half an hour later. He thought about leaving, but ultimately decided against it. He wanted his face to be what she saw when she eventually awoke. Cummins would have to wait. If only for a little bit.

  26

  Five days had passed, and Mia had been released from the hospital. Jones told Recker to take a week off to help take care of her, which he did. As much as he wanted to go after Cummins, he just couldn’t put that ahead of Mia’s well-being. Not after everything she’d done for him over the years. He had to be there for her, no matter what.

  But that didn’t mean the search for Cummins wasn’t moving full steam ahead. Even though it was against his better judgment, Jones continued looking for him, figuring it was better that he did it, instead of Recker going full-out crazy, looking for the man. At least if Jones did it, it would be in more of an orderly fashion. Haley helped in the search as well, but with Recker on the sidelines for the time being, he was the one managing the rest of the workload. If something heavy came up, they agreed they could call Recker in, but luckily, there was nothing that required the both of them. Just some minor issues that Haley could take care of by himself.

  Mia was lying on the couch, watching TV, when Recker came in from the kitchen, bringing her a bowl of tomato soup, one of her favorites. She smiled at him as she took the bowl.

  “This must be driving you crazy, huh?”

  Recker shook his head. “Not as much as you’d think.”

  “Oh, so you’re starting to get used to being Mr. Mom?”

  Recker laughed. “I hardly think making you something to eat qualifies as Mr. Mom. It’s not like we got a bunch of kids running around or anything.”

  Mia suddenly lost the smile on her face as she thought about what he said. Recker realized it was probably the wrong thing to say, considering the baby they once lost.

  “Hey, the doctor said it won’t impact your ability to have kids.”

  “I know,” Mia said. “It still makes me wonder and worry though. What if it does?”

  “It’s not something you need to worry about now. Right now, you just need to worry about getting your strength back and getting back to normal. Everything else is a discussion for another time.”

  Mia smiled at him. “You’re right.”

  Mia took a few sips of her soup as Recker went back into the kitchen and cleaned up. A minute later there was a knock on the door. Recker hurried out of the kitchen, looking a little flustered. He wasn’t expecting anybody. Jones and Haley always let him first know if they were coming over. Recker went over to the closet and grabbed his gun off the top shelf. He went over to the door and looked out the peephole. He took a step back and looked at Mia, a sense of relief on his face, as he put his gun in the back of his pants. Recker opened the door, letting Tyrell in.

  “What are you doing here?” Recker asked.

  Tyrell tapped him on the chest as he waltzed in. “Hey, nice to see you too.”

  Recker closed the door. “A phone call to let us know you were coming would’ve been nice.”

  “Yeah, but I wanted to make it a surprise.” Tyrell then looked at Mia. “There’s my sister!”

  Mia smiled, happy to see him. “Hey Ty!”

  “Sorry I couldn’t make it to the hospital. Had a lot of family stuff going on.”

  “That’s OK.”

  Tyrell went over to Mia and gave her a hug, then sat down next to her. “How you feeling?”

  “Pretty good considering.”

  Recker came over and sat down on a chair across from them.

  “Hey, you know what I just realized?” Tyrell asked.

  “What’s that?” Recker said.

  “We’ve all been shot!” Tyrell then laughed. “Isn’t that something? A little something for us all to bond over.”

  Recker raised an eyebrow. “Guess some people bond over less.”

  “You don’t mind me just dropping in like this, do you?”

  “Well…”

  “Of course not,” Mia said. “You know we love it when you drop by.”

  Recker smiled, though it didn’t look genuine. “Yes. We sure do.”

  The three of them sat t
here talking for about twenty minutes before Recker’s phone starting ringing. He walked into the kitchen and picked up his phone, which he left on the table.

  “Yeah?”

  “How is Mia?” Jones asked.

  “She’s doing good. Tyrell just stopped over.”

  “That’s good. Almost perfect timing.”

  “Why?”

  Jones almost hated to say, knowing what would happen next. “Because you’re probably going to leave. It would be nice knowing someone was still there with her.”

  “Where would I go?”

  “We found Cummins.”

  “Where?”

  Jones cleared his throat. “He’s at the same apartment that Billings was at when Chris had his run-in with him.”

  “How long’s he been there?”

  “Just arrived.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Well, it’s a culmination of some of the things we’ve been doing while you’ve been home. Basically, we thought he might be there, so Chris went there to check it out. And Cummins just showed up.”

  “I’m on the way.”

  “Do you want me to just have Chris handle it?”

  “No, I’m coming,” Recker said. “Tell him to wait for me.”

  “What if Cummins leaves before you get there?”

  “I’m coming.”

  “Understood.”

  Recker hung up, then walked back in the living room. Mia could tell by the look on his face, that he had something to say that he was apprehensive about.

  “Umm, Chris needs help with something. I really should go.”

  “I understand,” Mia said.

  Recker then looked at Tyrell. “You mind hanging here for a while with her?

  “Hey, me sitting here with a beautiful woman while you’re not around, you sure you trust me with that?”

  Recker smiled, then removed his gun, just letting it dangle next to his leg. “Remember I know where you live.”

  Tyrell laughed. “Point taken, point taken.”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Recker went over to Mia and gave her a kiss before leaving. As he was on the road, he called Haley to let him know he was on the way. Haley reinforced that he would just sit on everything until his partner got there. By the time Recker arrived, about half an hour had passed. Luckily for him, Cummins hadn’t left the apartment building. As soon as Recker got there, he found Haley, and went over to his car, hopping in the passenger seat.

  “Hey, how’s Mia?” Haley asked.

  “She’s good. Tyrell’s sitting with her until I get back.”

  “Oh. Good.”

  “How many we looking at?” Recker asked.

  “Three. Cummins and two of his cronies.”

  “What are they doing here?”

  “Beats me. Must be some things they’re trying to clear out of Billings’ place. Information or papers or something.”

  “Something they don’t want to fall into the hands of someone else,” Recker said.

  “Yeah, probably. So how you wanna do this? Wait ‘till they come out or head in after them?”

  “Waiting doesn’t appeal to me much.”

  “Didn’t think it would.”

  “If we wait until they come outside and we follow them, they could go just about anywhere.”

  “Could lead us to the others too,” Haley said.

  “Or lead us into a more dangerous spot. And it’d be out in the open and in public, which I don’t like.”

  “We’re going in?”

  Recker looked at him and smiled. “We’re going in.”

  “Let me go in first.”

  “Why?”

  “They saw your face at the hospital,” Haley answered. “If they got someone looking out, they’ll know trouble’s coming. If they see me though, I’m just a regular guy they don’t know.”

  Recker nodded, knowing it was a good point. “You’re right.”

  “Once I’m in I’ll let you know.”

  Haley got out of the car and headed toward the apartment building. He just hoped it wasn’t a repeat of the last time he was there, surprising him by walking out. Luckily, it wasn’t. He went into the building and headed up the steps until he got to Billings’ floor. He let his partner know they were good to go.

  “I’m in the stairwell. I’ve got a straight view to the apartment.”

  “On my way,” Recker said.

  Once Recker was out of the car, he sprinted to the building, quickly getting inside. He made his way up the steps to get to Haley’s position.

  “See anything?” Recker asked.

  “Not yet. I assume they’re still in there, but I can’t say for sure.”

  Recker took a quick look around. “Well, we’ll have to make this quick. We can’t stay here for long in case someone else comes along.”

  Recker and Haley emerged from the stairwell, heading straight for Billings’ apartment. The door was closed, but once they stood just outside of it, they could hear people talking inside. It sounded like they were getting pretty animated. Recker made a few motions to Haley, wondering if they should knock or just bust their way through the door. Haley shrugged, not having a strong feeling about it either way. After a few seconds, Recker decided it was better to not announce their presence. Him and Haley both took a few steps back, then together, almost put their collective feet through the door. Pieces of the frame of the door splintered off as it broke off.

  The men inside were shocked and surprised by the intrusion. They immediately went for their guns, but Recker and Haley were coming in shooting. They both shot at the first man they saw. There were actually four Scorpions inside the room, as one of them was already there, waiting for the others. Two of them went down instantly at the hands of Recker and Haley. By the time the other two removed their guns, Recker and Haley had turned their attention to them. Cummins was able to get a shot off, though it missed wildly, going well over Recker’s shoulder and into the wall. Recker’s shot did not miss though. Cummins hit the floor almost immediately after the bullet entered his chest from Recker’s gun. Haley had already taken care of the remaining member of the group.

  Recker could see that Cummins was still breathing, so he walked over to him, standing over him. As Cummins looked at the man who had just shot him, he remembered his face from the hospital. Cummins reached for his gun, which had flown out of his hand upon being shot, but it was too far away, and it hurt too much to move. He was dying and would probably be dead within minutes.

  “I remember you,” Cummins said hoarsely.

  “Good. I was hoping you would.”

  Cummins spit out some blood. “What for? What’d I do to you?”

  “That woman you shot in the hospital was my girlfriend.”

  Cummins spit out some more blood as he laughed, not believing the unbelievable bad luck he had from that one incident. “That’s what this was about. All of it? The hospital? This? A woman?”

  Recker nodded. “That’s it.”

  “Of all the dumb luck. Who are you anyway?”

  “I’m The Silencer.”

  Cummins eyes widened, hardly believing it. “Wow. We really screwed this up, huh?”

  “I would say so.”

  “Mike, we gotta go,” Haley said, worried about witnesses and the police, who were sure to be coming.

  Recker nodded, knowing there was no time to stay. But he wasn’t going to leave Cummins alive. Not even for an extra thirty seconds. He didn’t deserve a second of extra life. Recker pointed his gun back at Cummins, who already knew he was dying, and pulled the trigger. Cummins’ eyes instantly closed. Recker stood over him for a second, but Haley rushed over to the door, grabbing Recker by the arm to pull him along. The two rushed back down the hallway and sprinted down the stairs as they exited the building. Once they got back in their cars, they went across the street, waiting for the police to arrive. The cops showed up about five minutes later, Recker and Haley still watching.

&nb
sp; “Well, at least that’s over,” Haley said.

  “It’s not over,” Recker replied. “There’s still a lot more Scorpions out there. And it’s gonna be my personal mission to get them out of this city. It’s not over. This is just the beginning.”

  About the Author

  Mike Ryan lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and four children. He loves animals, sports, movies, and music. To be notified of all new releases, have a chance to win monthly giveaways, and more, sign up for his newsletter at www.mikeryanbooks.com

  Also by Mike Ryan

  The Silencer Series

  The Ghost Series

  The Cain Series

  The Eliminator Series

  A Dangerous Man

  The Last Job

  The Crew