* * *
Outside the house, Garcia lay on his back in a patch of mud and watched the explosions take place. The man he had left near the front door was headed toward him when a broken section of a 2"x4" pierced the hood’s chest.
At the same instant, the man was knocked backwards by the force of the gas explosion. In the wake of the explosion came fire and the cries and screams of men. All of it was eclipsed, even the roar of the rain, by the sound that followed.
The nascent house groaned as if dealt a death blow, it then shuddered, followed by its collapse. Forty-five men had been inside the house. The grenades had killed nine outright, while the gas explosion had claimed seven more. The twenty-nine survivors, many of whom were wounded, were seeking to flee back outside when the home fell down upon them.
Garcia scurried backwards through the mud and just managed not to become another of the dead. He still suffered a blow to his skull as a chunk of wood grazed his temple. In the aftermath of the home’s destruction, men struggled to free themselves, while others wailed in agony from their injuries.
* * *
Ryker pounded a fist against his knee after hearing the explosion. He knew that something had gone horribly wrong and that Garcia’s men were dying. Beside him, Vivian donned her rain hat and opened the door on her side.
“I’m going to the house to see what’s happened.”
“Be damn careful.”
“I will be,” Vivian said, and rushed from the vehicle. Ryker thought about following her but knew that he’d have trouble navigating his artificial leg over loose gravel and mud. He cursed his missing lower limb and damned the soul of Spenser Hawke. He owed that man so much, so damn much.
Ryker saw Vivian head into the trees. Just before he lost sight of her, he saw her take out her gun.
* * *
After tossing the grenades, Cody had reached out across the top of the roof to take hold of Romeo’s hands. When the gas exploded, they felt the house shake, followed by the tremble and the collapse. A wooden beam broke through the plywood sheeting inches from where Cody lay. Had it been any closer it would have skewered him.
The falling roof canted more toward Romeo’s side than Cody’s. The impact of its collapse sent Cody’s lower half into the air and hurled him away from the roof. His progress halted as the staples he’d shot through his raincoat held for an instant. Then, Cody’s weight proved too much for the thin metal strips and the coat ripped free.
He fell beside Romeo and went sliding off the other side of the roof. Their fall was brief but brutal. They slammed into the ground facing forward. Had his initial descent from the roof not been aborted by the staples securing him to its surface, Cody would have landed on a jagged tree stump and been impaled. That was a fact he would never know, but it was a fact all the same.
Instead, the two of them fell into mud. They lay there for several moments as rain pattered against their backs, and the pain of their rough landing subsided.
“Romeo?” Cody muttered, and received no answer. When he turned his head, he saw that Romeo looked dazed.
Cody dragged himself to his feet, wiped mud from his face, and checked on his friend. There was a broken board near Romeo’s head that he must have struck when he fell. As Cody helped him to his feet, Romeo stumbled and went down to one knee.
Movement caught Cody’s eye as one of Garcia’s men crawled out from beneath the debris. The man looked bloody and was bleeding from his right side. Cody left Romeo and went to the thug while unslinging his rifle from his back. After aiming the rifle at the punk’s face, Cody leaned down and asked him who he worked for. The man was still lying in the mud. He had to speak to Cody while looking down, otherwise the rain blinded him. When Cody realized he didn’t understand English he repeated his question in Spanish. The man answered.
“I’m here with Jorge Garcia.”
“Not a man named Ryker?”
“Si, the American with the woman, Vince Ryker.”
“Where is Ryker?”
The man had no idea, but he knew he was facing death. When asked, he gave a description of Garcia, then begged for his life.
“Please, I want to live, please?”
As an answer, Cody bludgeoned the back of the man’s head three times. He used the same piece of wood that had injured Romeo, while wielding it like a club.
Turning, Cody was relieved to find that Romeo was on his feet and had his rifle in hand. Blood trickled from a cut but was washed away by the rain as soon as it appeared.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m seeing double, but I can move.”
“There must be more survivors, so keep your head on a swivel.”
They moved toward the area of the trailers and the pickup trucks. Cody became aware that he was limping even as he felt the first hint of pain in his right ankle. With Romeo’s head injury and the ache in his ankle, they wouldn’t be outrunning anyone. His midsection was also on fire, as if he’d taken a beating.
As they rounded a corner of the debris pile that had been the house, they spotted six men gathered together. One of the men smiled at them, believing them to be more survivors. His smile disappeared as Cody and Romeo raised their rifles and fired.
* * *
Upon reaching the jobsite, Vivian had taken out her phone to call Ryker and describe what she was seeing. She was on a hill that bordered the house and saw that the home had been demolished.
As for the men, they were mere shapes silhouetted by the rain. When two of the shapes opened fire on six others, Vivian let out a gasp.
Ryker heard the sound of the shots coming over Vivian’s phone and asked her what was happening.
“They’re… they’re still alive. Xavier and Romeo are still alive, and, and they’re winning.”
“Get back here, now. I’ve had enough of this shit.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Just get back here.”
Vivian did as ordered and made it to the truck with the sound of gunfire echoing behind her. As she climbed into the cab of the pickup, she gripped Ryker’s arm.
“Are you planning on joining the fight?”
“To hell with those boys. I want Hawke, and I’m going to bring him here.”
“How?”
“I’ve been a fool, Vivian. I see that now. I was obsessed with defeating Hawke by using the element of surprise, but I don’t need it. I’ll face Spenser Hawke head-on.”
“You’re going to reveal yourself?”
“I’m going to issue a challenge to the man. I’ll be signing it in blood.”
Ryker pulled back onto the road and headed toward the homes owned by Cody and Romeo.
Vivian studied him and saw the rage in his eyes. A shiver went down her spine. Someone was going to die.
130
Out From The Shadows
ROBBIN’S COVE, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY 2004
Cody felt the tug as a round passed through the flap of his raincoat, which was whipping in the wind. He was facing off against two survivors of the house collapse while Romeo traded shots with a second pair. Cody was turned sideways to present as small a target as possible while the men he battled faced forward with their knees slightly bent. He struck one man in the forehead and the second man took two in the chest.
With his targets dispatched, he whirled about to aid Romeo. Cody found that his friend had already put down the two thugs that threatened him. They had encountered eleven survivors and killed them all.
“How’s your head?” Cody asked.
“Better, the double-vision went away, but I’m a little dizzy still.”
“Follow me and we’ll check out the rest of the property.”
Romeo grabbed his arm. “No, man, let’s do this right. You go that way and I’ll meet you on the other side.”
Cody wore a worried frown. “What if you pass out?”
“I’m good, Cody. Now let’s finish this.”
After scanning for trouble, Cody studied his f
riend carefully. Romeo’s pupils weren’t dilated, so there was a good chance that he hadn’t suffered a concussion.
“All right, we’ll split up, but be damn careful.”
“You too, bro,” Romeo said, as he turned to head left.
* * *
Jorge Garcia was looking down at the bodies of six men. He had heard an exchange of gunfire and rushed toward the sound, while keeping to the cover of the trees. Three of Garcia’s men were with him. They were members of his regular crew and not the recruits he had hired. He was coming to the conclusion that they were the only survivors.
A single gunshot sounded off from somewhere close and Garcia saw one of his men jump. He couldn’t fault the man for being nervous, as his own nerves were on edge.
Fifty men had cornered two inside a house. Now, those two were prowling the ruins of that home and killing anyone they came across.
Who the hell are these men? Garcia thought.
His remaining crew was staring at him, looking for guidance. He gazed back at them with his stoic face then pointed at the trees while mouthing the words, Nosotros vamos, meaning, “We go.”
The men looked relieved and headed into the shelter of the trees and toward the spot where Garcia had parked his Lincoln. The four of them would fit comfortably inside the luxury vehicle. As for the bus the other forty-six men had ridden in to get there, it was no longer needed, unless someone put it to use as a hearse.
* * *
Cody smiled as he watched Romeo round a corner of the home’s wreckage. Like Garcia and his men, he had heard the single gunshot that had been fired.
“There was just one more guy,” Romeo said. “He had a broken leg with the bone sticking out of it, but he tried to shoot me, so I put him down.”
They moved through the rain and stood by the tool shed. Only then did Cody notice that the storm’s intensity had lessened and that the sky had brightened a shade. As they gazed at the house, the ruined house, the horrible truth dawned on them.
“We’re fucked,” Romeo said, stating the situation succinctly.
The land sale, the home, and all its permits were listed under the identities of Xavier Zane and Romeo Slade. Dozens of men lay dead about the property and there was evidence of gunplay and the use of illegal explosives.
Thanks to the rain and the seclusion of their location, the slaughter and chaos had yet to be discovered or reported. That would change, and soon.
The same was true of their homes, which were also listed under those identities, along with their bank accounts and vehicle registrations.
“We’ll have to start over,” Cody said, as he took out his phone. “Call Emma and tell her to pack bags for both of you.”
“Oh God, Cody. We have to tell the girls that they’re losing their homes.”
“Yeah, there’s no other way.”
“Damn, Ryker! Damn him all to hell.”
Cody dialed, and when May Ling picked up, he sighed. “I need you to listen carefully…”
* * *
As one of Garcia’s men drove, Garcia called Ryker. Although he didn’t know it, Ryker was only a few miles away from his location.
“Zane and Slade are still alive, Ryker. They killed most of my men by bringing a house down around them with grenades. You never said they would have grenades.”
“I didn’t know, and I don’t care anymore. I’m done using surrogates, from now on this fight is mine. Go back to Dallas, Garcia, or go to hell. I don’t care what you do anymore.”
The line went dead, and Garcia stared at his phone. If Ryker thought he was going back to Dallas like a whipped dog he was loco. No, this fight was far from over.
* * *
At Cody’s house, May Ling was rushing about as she packed bags with their belongings. There were tears in her eyes.
When the pickup truck sped into the driveway, she was on the floor of the bedroom closet. May Ling was emptying the hidden space where Cody told her he had stashed money. May Ling stuffed the cash into an open suitcase on the bed, then hurried from the room while carrying two heavy bags.
After sitting them by the door, she noticed a shadow moving beyond the door’s beveled glass inset. The shadow took the shape of a man, and that man was rushing forward while limping. Before May Ling could reach for the knob, the door was kicked inward, accompanied by the sound of splintering wood. As it slammed into the wall beside it, the glass in the door shattered, and a man entered. It was Vince Ryker.
131
Sorrow
ROBBIN’S COVE, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY 2004
Cody and Romeo stood beside their pickup trucks and watched as flames spread throughout the job trailer. They had set it on fire to erase their prints and DNA.
Before setting that blaze, they’d lit a fire in the tool shed and kicked over the portable toilets so that the rain could get inside them. The wind’s intensity had lessened but the rain still came down steadily. As for the ruins of the house, if there were prints or hair samples inside that could be salvaged, then so be it. The wood was too wet to burn, and the small fires created by the blast of the acetylene tanks had been doused by the rain.
Now and then a moan or a wretched cry for help emanated from within the demolished home. Cody and Romeo ignored their pleas. They had no pity for the men who’d tried to kill them.
The boys climbed inside their vehicles. The pickup trucks would also need to be discarded soon. Anything tying them to the identities of Xavier Zane and Romeo Slade were a danger to them now and they would need to start over.
As smoke rose into the cloudy sky, the boys drove home to gather their women. Afterward, they would have to find shelter and regroup. In a way, it felt like the world was ending, and in a way, it was.
* * *
Vivian shoved Emma inside Cody’s home with enough force to send the smaller woman tumbling to the carpet.
May Ling made a move to help Emma up, but she was held back by Vince Ryker.
“The bitch was packing bags to leave,” Vivian told Ryker.
“That means those boys are headed here, so we need to make this quick.”
Emma rose on her own and stared at Ryker. “Who are you?”
Ryker ignored her and took out a knife with a six-inch blade, which he held out to his protégée.
“Kill her!”
Vivian looked startled by the request and asked a question. “Does Emma really need to die?”
“I want to know that my daughter hasn’t lost her nerve.”
“Daughter?” Emma said, her voice a shocked whisper. “This man is your father?”
Emma’s question was ignored. When she took a quick step to bolt for the open doorway, Ryker reached out and yanked her back by her hair.
“A message needs to be sent. I want Hawke to know that I’m here and that I intend to kill all of them. I’m Tanner, not Hawke, and my apprentice needs to be as dedicated and ruthless as I am.”
The blade was snatched from Ryker’s hand, and Emma watched as a woman she’d considered a friend moved toward her with murderous intent. Ryker released Emma; she backpedaled away from him while holding up a hand in a gesture that bid her attacker to stop.
“What are you doing?”
Her assailant said nothing, but her eyes spoke volumes. There was violence in those eyes, along with a determination to kill.
“You’re mad! Stay away from me.”
“Kill her,” Ryker said. “Let our enemies know what it feels like to lose someone they love.”
The blade rose high and Emma screamed in terror.
* * *
Cody and Romeo reached the house minutes later. When they saw the front doors of their homes sitting open, they rushed from their trucks with their rifles in hand.
May Ling was on the floor in the living room looking as if she had bathed in blood. When Cody moved toward her, he did so on legs gone weak.
Romeo entered moments later after having found his home empty. When he entered Cody’s house and viewed the terri
ble vengeance wrought by Ryker, he sank to his knees, as a wail escaped his lips.
Emma was dead. She’d been brutally murdered with over a dozen stab wounds on her torso. The knife was still protruding from her body. Emma’s large blue eyes looked dull as they stared into eternity. The expression frozen on her face was one of terror mixed with incomprehension.
Emma was cradled in May Ling’s arms as the other woman’s tears mixed with her blood. When she looked over at Romeo, May Ling choked back a sob as she spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Vivian did this… but that man, Ryker, he told me to give you both a message. He, he said, ‘Tell Hawke and his boys that this is only the beginning.”
Romeo rose from the floor, stumbled across the room, and reached down to scoop Emma into his arms. After settling on the sofa with her body, Romeo wept in great sobs of howling grief.
132
The Call Goes Out
ROBBIN’S COVE, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY 2004
Cody helped May Ling up from the floor and crushed her to his breast. He was aware that he had come perilously close to losing her. After guiding May Ling toward the bedroom to shower and change, Cody sat on the side of the bed and took out his phone.
When his call was answered, the cheeriness in the voice made Cody wince.
“Hey, Cody, it’s good to hear from you, boy.”
Young Guns Box Set Page 58