You're Only Dead

by Jack Parker

  Emery blinked at Victor before his lips parted in shock. "Casey Sheridan…"

  "Correct, Mr. Scott," said Ludkov. "Another reason neither group would be, as you might say, very keen on me should I make my interest in this matter known."

  Emery absorbed this revelation for a moment before shaking his head. "So then a truce can't be formed. What is it you'd like me to do?"

  "If I must choose between nuisances, I will choose Hennessey's barking hooligans. However, if the two organizations destroy one another, this is all the better. Your asking after Garner has hopefully planted the seed of doubt already in the Dutchman's head. Walking in and demanding this file outright is characteristic of Hennessey's sloppy work. His bravado does not allow him subtlety, and he has had clashes with Garner before. What I want from you now is a push in the other direction."

  "You want me to bait Hennessey as well."

  "Yes."

  Emery was getting tired of these nonsense tasks. He didn't bloody care about mobsters and turf wars and sabotage. He didn't care about Ludkov. At this point he just wanted to go home…start over…go back to square one and will himself to retrace Kurt's steps. Instead he was stuck here playing the goddamned intermediary between London's apparently ineffectual crime sects. "Why?" he asked pithily.

  Ludkov seemed a bit surprised. "Why what, Mr. Fletcher?"

  "Why do you need me to do this? It seems like this task could fall just as easily on anyone in your employment. I don't see why it is you need your new 'partner' to run such a mundane errand."

  "Because, by your own admission, you are very, very clever." Ludkov looked down, fingers touching the edge of his personal tablet that sat near him on the desk. "The plan I have formed involves a security breach. Given your proven proficiency in the technological field, I think you are a very good choice."

  "What am I supposed to be doing?"

  "The hotspot of contention between the Dutchman's people and Hennessey's is a warehouse district north of here. Hennessey has been using this facility to smuggle goods for years now and its use is one of the primary reasons the Dutchman wanted his allegiance. Currently Hennessey is housing a shipment of arms at this location. You are to destroy this cargo. To accomplish this without being apprehended, you will need to tamper with their security cameras."

  "You need a tech specialist just to cut a few wires?" Victor asked.

  "You cannot shut down surveillance, or they will swarm the area. You must fool them."

  "Loop footage," Victor said, looking at Emery. "We can do that. It's not hard."

  Emery closed his eyes a moment. "And you don't have anyone else with enough electronic knowledge to do this?"

  "None that I trust," Ludkov replied.

  Emery put a hand to his chest. "And you trust me?"

  "Of course, Mr. Fletcher. After all, you and I have a very long and profitable future together."

  Emery felt defeated. There really was no getting out of this. "When does this need to happen?"

  "Tomorrow morning. Hennessey is certain to refrain from transporting his merchandise during the daylight hours. You may pick any men you desire to accompany you on this mission."

  Emery considered this for a moment and nodded. "I want Ms. Faraday."

  Ludkov looked to her. "Done."

  "And two bigger chaps. None of those skinny dunderheads that stopped me up outside."

  "I will see that two such men make your acquaintance."

  "Right. That should do it, then."

  "Excellent," Ludkov said, nodding sharply. "I have good feeling about this."

  Emery turned off without being dismissed, muttering under his breath. "I'm thrilled."

  He could hear Victor and Georgie hurrying after him. "Dude," Victor said. "Maybe play it a little cooler. Don't piss that guy off."

  "He's bloody well 'pissing' me off," Emery said as he continued on. "Besides, Ludkov and I are equals now, right? Partners in crime."

  "Only until he decides you're not."

  "Couldn't happen soon enough," Emery snipped. "Forget it. I've had enough of this day; I just want to take a bloody rest."

  Victor backed off.

  Emery turned back to face front and nearly walked right into Dave, who was looming over him. "Ready when you are, Mr. M."

  Emery leaned back. "Ready for what?"

  "Boss just gave you a job, didn't he? We're going to help."

  Victor snorted in laughter and Emery ground his teeth. "You want to help me, Dave?"

  He nodded emphatically.

  "Then get the fuck out of my way."

  Dave shrank back and Emery stormed on. Victor slugged Dave lightly in the shoulder as they passed.

  * * *

  Georgie filled them in on the specifics of the job in excruciating detail. If they could get into the facility through a certain gate, they would only need to alter one camera in order to demolish the right warehouse unseen. After that they would just need to break in, plant some explosives, and detonate Hennessey's weapons cache. She went over the layout of the property with careful specificity and by the time she was finished Victor had the scenario planned out just right in his head. Emery absorbed it all silently next to them as he drank a cup of tea.

  "How long will this take?" Victor asked as he sat back from the crude drawing of the facility she'd made.

  "No longer than a half hour I suspect," she guessed.

  Victor harrumphed. "Great. Just in time for lunch."

  Emery's chin was resting on the edge of his tea cup, eyes thoughtful. "Victor, did you know that Sheridan had ties with these groups beforehand?"

  Victor turned to him. "I knew he'd worked for Hennessey's crew on a couple of gigs, but I don't know who this other douche is. Doesn't surprise me, though. Somehow that guy managed to have his finger in every pie out there."

  Georgie stood up with some effort and Victor held up a hand to try and steady her, but she waved it away. "More tea?"

  "I can get it, Georgie," Emery insisted, but she snatched his cup out of his hands.

  "Nonsense. You're a guest."

  There was something vaguely hilarious about the woman's sense of propriety. Victor shook his head as he watched her walk off into the kitchen.

  Emery's eyes followed her for a moment as well before turning back to him. "How did you get tangled up with him?"

  "Sheridan?" Victor blinked. "Shit. That was a long time ago…I guess I'd just moved down from Scotland. I knew a guy who knew a guy who knew he was looking for a safecracker. I didn't know what I was doing at the time, but I improvised. Young and dumb and broke."

  "You worked well together, then?"

  "Fuck no. Not ever. But he got me paid." Victor scratched his chest and thought back. "Sheridan didn't like having anyone in the room he thought was smarter than him. That's why he liked Sterling so much. Kurt he figured he could pretend was dumb because he didn't say much and always did what he was told. And you know me—I never shut up."

  "Did…he introduce you to Kurt?"

  Victor affirmed this with a humming noise. "They'd known each other for a while from before. Kurt was probably the only I guy I ever worked with that I actually got along with. No arguments, disagreements, nothing. I guess we both took things exactly as seriously as Sheridan didn't."

  Emery rubbed his upper arm, rolling his healing shoulder a bit. "I suppose we've never talked about it, but…I'm the reason he's dead. I don't know how you feel about that fact."

  Victor chuckled gruffly. "Jesus. You really do think everything is your fault, don't you?"

  "Well you worked with him. You knew the man for years and I got him killed. Part of me feels like I should apologize, I mean if he was a friend or something I—"

  Victor held up a hand. "Sheridan is the reason Sheridan's dead. And that guy was not my friend." He paused for a long moment, tapping his fingers on the table idly. "I didn't wanna kidnap you, you know. That's not an excuse, but…it ate at me. I cared. Hurting innocent people, that's not…that's ne
ver been something I'm okay with. Sheridan absolutely fucking swore there'd be no reason to hurt you. Just scare you."

  Emery looked up. "I don't blame you for that, Victor. Especially considering…well, everything."

  "Yeah, so let's forget about it. All of it. Past is past."

  Georgie was just returning, setting Emery's cup in front of him and opening her mouth before a knock at the door interrupted them. She drew her gun and cautiously opened it to reveal two men that were unfamiliar to Victor, but as soon as she saw them she put her gun away and held the door open. They were both physically fit, tall, and armed. Georgie looked back to the table and gestured to the two strangers. "Men, this is Dabney and Holt. Those great big chaps you ordered."

  Emery gave an approving nod to Victor. "They'll do."

  * * *

  It was six a.m. when they arrived on scene at the gated off warehouse lot and approached the eastern most entrance. Georgie sent Holt out first to survey the area and ensure that Hennessey's men were nowhere on site while Victor gauged the camera he was to rig from afar. A moment later Holt returned and beckoned them, after which they filed in and stuck close to the side of a warehouse out of the security camera's view. Victor slung his pack off of a shoulder and began pulling out his equipment as the others covered him.

  "Have you got this?" Emery asked, eyes scanning the lot.

  "Gimme ten minutes," Victor said. He reached up and plucked the wiring on the back of the camera to get a closer look before he began to carefully strip it. The others let him work. It was exactly nine minutes and twelve seconds later before he was finished, packing away his supplies and giving a thumbs up. "We're in the shadows, folks."

  Emery slapped Victor on the shoulder and they made their way towards the warehouse marked 'C' and picked the lock on a side door. Victor waited until everyone was inside before taking one more sweep and slipping inside himself, closing up. Inside the warehouse was a stacked maze of crates and boxes. It looked like Hennessey was gearing up for World War Three in here.

  "We've got six charges," Georgie said. "Let's have two at each end, two in the middle. Make it an even spread." Dabney and Holt were each handed a charge before they departed obediently. Georgie handed out another to Victor and the last to Emery, keeping two for herself. "I'll go up the center. You boys hit the west corners."

  Victor reached out to take his just as a gunshot sounded.

  "Shit," Emery hissed, aimlessly shoving Georgie out of the open and whipping around to try and find the source.

  Victor drew his weapon and pulled at Emery to gear up to drag him off as another shot rang out, this time closer. It was followed by two more, one ricocheting off of a crate not four feet away. "Move it, get down!" Victor snapped. They began to backpedal when a gunman appeared, dressed in black, catching their gaze briefly before opening fire in quick succession. The group dove apart, Emery and Georgie leaping left while Victor scrambled right. He stumbled to the ground hard behind a stack of boxes, waiting for the fire to cease before reaching out and returning a few shots. He could see Georgie and Emery huddled down behind another cluster, but he couldn't make it to them without exposing himself for too long. Emery met his eyes and Victor motioned with a hand for him to stay. He then pulled back and began creeping around the wall of crates towards the sound of scuffling boots against concrete.

  He didn't know how many there were, but it was enough to be a fucking problem. After some maneuvering around obstacles he'd made it to the other end of the warehouse, where he could see men converging on Emery's hiding spot. He fired on them, hitting one in the back and sending the other fleeing for cover. Emery stood and fired at the retreating figure while Georgie sprang from the location and made off elsewhere. Another bullet whizzed by Victor's face from another angle and he jumped back down. He kept moving around, trying to seek them out, to get any idea on how many there were and where they were at. This warehouse was huge. He almost got turned around in the poorly constructed maze, but after a moment of meandering he came across Holt's dead body. Fuck. There was one down. He backed away from the corpse, eyes shifting about and gun held up. He was too busy staring at the most open nearby space to register the man behind him.

  Before he could react he was in a hold. The man was strong, muscling him into dropping his gun in one easy twist and yanking him back behind the crate wall with a hand over his mouth as he thrashed. Victor tried to get his elbow into the guy's gut, but it was blocked by a painful tightening of his hold.

  "Stop," a voice hissed in his ear. "Keep bloody quiet."

  Victor did as he was told, stiffening up, realizing the moment he heard that earth-shatteringly familiar voice that the hand covering his mouth was missing its last finger.

  Chapter 16

  Victor could feel the hand sliding from his mouth and quickly reached up to yank the arm away, turning in complete awe to see Kurt Gabler staring back at him.

  "Holy fuck," he heaved. "Kurt."

  Kurt let his steely eyes flicker out towards the fray, shots still firing, and gripped Victor's bicep. "I don't know what in the hell you're doing here, Vic, but I'm only giving you this one very brief chance to retreat."

  Victor barely registered the words, staring dumbstruck at the man. He was fucking alive. He was fucking in London right fucking now, right fucking here. This was unbelievable. A goddamn shot in a million. "Jesus Christ am I glad to see you," he said. And it was true, too. He never thought he'd be so happy to see this frigid bastard.

  Kurt's demeanor was becoming more urgent. "Did you not hear me?" A shot fired closer and Kurt snatched Victor's shirt, jerking them both down into a crouching position as he looked around the corner. "It's imperative that you make your exit. The men I'm with will not spare you. Around that way. The west side. Go quickly."

  "I can't do that, man," Victor said. "You're the whole reason I'm here. You've gotta—"

  Kurt looked back at him sternly. "Two years ago you saved my life, Victor, and I'm attempting to return that favor. I don't know who you're working for, but trust me when I say you're in over your head. You haven't the slightest idea what I'm risking to remove you from this situation so sod the job and run."

  "Man I can't, Emery's gonna flip his—"

  Kurt's head jerked back to look at him from where it had moved to continue surveying their surroundings. "Emery?"

  Victor held out his hands in exasperation. "That's who I'm working for. He hired me to help him fucking find you."

  Kurt stared, looking both shocked and furious. "He cannot find me. You will not report back to him that I was here."

  Victor blinked repeatedly and huffed out a flustered breath. "I might not get the chance to, man, because your fucking goons are currently shooting at him!"

  Victor only had a moment to register the stone cold panic on Kurt's face before the man flew from their hiding place into the bullet storm around them.

  "Hey!" Victor snapped, grabbing for him, but he fell short. He let out a string of curses and jumped on his gun, crawling around the crate to see Kurt disappearing into the sea of boxes. He gritted his teeth and leaned back, gathering his nerve before leaping out and rushing after.

  * * *

  "Bloody hell," Emery snarled, pressing himself down hard where he was squashed against Georgie behind a low stack of crates and frantically reloading his gun. "Where did they fucking come from?"

  "The bloody vapor," Georgie suggested. She leaned out and fired a few more shots.

  "Are they Hennessey's?"

  "Best to shoot first and ask later."

  "Agreed." Emery took a few deep breaths and held up his gun. "Move." They both bolted from their position, trying to get out from under the pin. Shots slung around them but they made it to the next covered area. Emery skirted to a halt and crouched down. "I don't see Victor."

  Georgie tried to get a look around, but it was fruitless. "Bastard went the wrong way."

  "We'll draw their fire and double back. Do you see the others?"


  "No. But I assume from the firing pattern they're still alive."

  A few more shots and screams followed. Emery grimaced. "Let's hope." This was bad. He didn't know what Ludkov would do if he cocked this one up. He looked down at the explosive charge still in his hand and planted it between two nearby crates. There was no telling as to the success of the other placements but if he could just find Victor and get out of here this might all work out. Georgie watched him do so curiously. He looked back at her. "Come on. If we can spread them out we can still do this."

  "Right," Georgie nodded. "Cover me."

  Georgie took one more look before rushing out towards the right and Emery provided cover fire. He could see her make it to cover just as a pain slashed across his arm and he pulled back immediately. He grabbed at the wound in his right forearm and twisted it up to see. The sleeve of his shirt was shorn open, a line of blood underneath. Just a graze. He reloaded as fast as he could and bent back out to try and get a fix on her location again.

  * * *

  Victor slid around more cover to watch Kurt approaching two of his own shooters quickly. The one facing him looked up, pointing to the left of the warehouse and uttering some kind of information at him. Kurt reached out, snatching the closer man from behind with a hand to the back of his neck and slamming his head into a nearby crate whilst simultaneously firing a round off into the other man's face. The next bullet deposited into the other temporarily stunned man's skull before Kurt shoved the body roughly to the ground and stepped over both to keep moving hurriedly onward. Victor stared wide-eyed before scurrying over to collect their weapons. Fuck, with all the sweet talk from Emery over the last few weeks he'd managed to forget that this guy was actually fucking terrifying.

  He needed to find out where Emery and Georgie had gotten to. If Kurt could just hold up for one damn minute and tell him how many men there were it might do him some good, but the man was an unstoppable force of brutality at the moment. Three more oblivious men suddenly mobbed him, one indicating to him through gesture that there were three assailants to the left. Victor, for lack of a better idea, shot that guy in the chest. The other two jumped back and turned to find the shooter, giving Kurt the opportunity to pop the one who returned fire in the back of the head while Victor shot the other. He caught up to Kurt fast, peering around the corner.