by Mike Ryan
His thoughts went to Tiffany, and how he knew she was what he needed to get back to a good place. She was kind, patient, loving, and caring. And he wasn’t ready to lose that too.
After the fifteen minutes was up, Jacobs knew he had to get moving. But he still wanted to give Thrower as much time as possible.
“Nate, how you making out?”
“Cutting through the gate now.”
“How’s it looking once you get past it?”
Thrower looked through the fence. He saw two men standing near the back door of the building he needed to get to. “Looks like I’m gonna have my work cut out for me.”
“It’s not a clear path?”
“No, it’s not.”
“I’ll give you as much time as I can.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get there.”
As Jacobs started slowly driving on the road again, Thrower continued looking through the fence, checking to see if there were any more men he’d have to deal with besides the two obvious ones. He didn’t see anyone, though that didn’t mean there weren’t any lurking around somewhere. But for right now, his focus was on the two at the back door.
“How are we gonna handle that?” Franks asked.
“I don’t know. But we need to be quick about it.”
“I could always go in first, try to draw their attention to me. Then you sneak up behind them.”
“What makes you think they won’t shoot first?”
“Oh. Yeah. Good thought. Nix that.”
“Or that you’ll be able to turn their backs to me.”
“You got something else in mind?”
Thrower looked up and down the fence, trying to see if there was a better spot he could go in at. He looked at the fence in relation to the building and thought he had something. He continued cutting through the fence in the spot they were.
“Here, you go in here.” Thrower then pointed farther up the fence. “I’m gonna go up that way and get in through there.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Just go in.”
“And stand there?”
“Yeah.”
“What about that shooting thing?”
“All you need to do is move them a few steps towards you. Then I can get in behind them over there.”
“Without a sound?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Man, I hope you know what you’re doing. Or we’re all gonna be up the creek without a paddle.”
“I told Brett we’re gonna get there, and we will. Or we’re all going down together.”
18
Thrower held the fence steady with his free hand as he clipped the last remaining section of the fence. He was trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to alert anyone he was there. Once the section was removed, he took his backpack off and shoved that through the new hole first. He then slid in on his stomach. He was on the side of the building, but there were a bunch of bushes there, preventing him from being seen by anyone in the front.
He quickly got up on one knee and took two knives out, holding one in each hand. He waited patiently until Franks did his part, which he hoped wouldn’t take too long. They couldn’t afford to wait. Luckily, he then saw Franks’ head getting through the fence.
“Hey,” one of the guards said, pointing at Franks’ position.
Franks just stood there, not saying a word. He simply put his hands up high over his head to signify he wasn’t a threat.
Thrower waited a couple seconds, not wanting to move until he saw the outline of the first man appear. Then he saw it. And he wasted no time in getting to him. Thrower raced over to the man, jumping onto his back, twisting the knife from his left hand into the man’s side as they fell to the ground.
As soon as they hit the ground, Thrower’s attention immediately went to the other man at the door. The remaining guard seemed in shock at what was happening, though he didn’t have long to look at it. Just as Thrower hit the ground, while keeping the knife in his man’s side, with his right hand, he threw the other knife at the remaining guard. It hit its mark, lodging into the man’s chest. The guard dropped to his knees.
Wanting to make sure everything remained quiet, Thrower couldn’t afford to have the guard yell out in pain. He took out the knife from the guard’s side, then threw it at the guard by the door. The second knife drove into the man’s stomach, causing him to finally fall over onto the ground.
Thrower looked around to make sure no one else was there. They were all clear. He waved at Franks to come over to him. Franks immediately ran in his direction, both of them getting to the back door. Thrower pulled his knives out of the dead man, then put his hand on the knob of the door, opening it. He quickly took a peek inside, and with it all clear, started going in.
“Bring those guys in.”
“Why?” Franks asked.
“So nobody sees them if they come walking by.”
“If they’re not here, they’ll know something’s up anyway.”
“They might just think they walked away somewhere,” Thrower said. “Better that than seeing dead guys. Then you know something’s up.”
“You gonna help?”
“I’m gonna check to make sure no one else is in here.”
“Oh. Yeah. You do that, man, I got this. Never thought I’d say dragging dead guys around was the better job, but here we are.”
Thrower had to clear the building quickly in order to get eyes on Ames as soon as possible. He saw the steps leading up to the second floor and went over to them. He put his foot on the bottom step to start going up, then stopped when he heard a noise. There was another man walking down the hallway on the first floor. The man was looking at his phone and started talking as Franks dragged one of the bodies in.
The man just assumed it was one of his buddies. “Hey, did you guys ever hear of…” The man looked up, then dropped his phone immediately when he saw Franks’ face.
The guard pulled out his gun and stretched his arm out, ready to use it. Thrower ran up behind him, though, and knocked the gun out of his hands. The guard turned around and tried to throw a punch, but Thrower blocked it, then landed a few punches of his own. Within seconds, both men were suddenly on the floor, with Thrower getting in behind the man’s back. Thrower cinched his arm under the man’s chin, slowly squeezing the life out of him. It didn’t take much longer for the fight to be over.
Once the man was dead, Thrower took his arm off the man’s throat and shoved him to the side. Thrower stood up and took another quick look around.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Franks said.
“Check out the rest of this floor.”
“Me?!”
“I gotta get up there and set up quick.”
“What if…” Franks stopped talking as Thrower ran up the steps and disappeared from sight.
Thrower had already taken up more time than he wanted to. He knew Jacobs was getting through the gate right about now, and Thrower wanted to be in position well before Jacobs started talking to Ames.
Franks looked at the hallway to his left and let out a sigh. He gripped his gun, hoping he didn’t have to use it. He was OK using it, as long as it wasn’t too close of a battle. He wasn’t interested in getting into a tussle like Thrower was. If he had a few seconds to line up his shot, he thought he’d be OK. But if it turned into something else, he wasn’t sure he could manage it.
Just as he was about to move his legs, Franks stopped, startled at the noise he was hearing upstairs. Thrower had obviously found himself another opponent. As Franks remained stationary, seconds later, a man came violently crashing down the steps, stopping at his permanent resting spot on the first floor. Franks cautiously went over to the man and gently pushed the man’s arm with his foot. He wasn’t moving. Franks then noticed the knife wound in the man’s stomach. He looked up the steps, though he couldn’t see Thrower at this point.
“Man, that’s one bad mofo. I ain’t never having an argument wi
th him.”
Franks went and checked out the rest of the floor. There were only a few other rooms down there, but he wasn’t too anxious to look in any of them. Luckily, the rest of the floor was empty.
Franks wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Thank the Lord.”
He then went up the stairs, though he stopped once he reached the top step. He knew how lethal Thrower was, and Franks wasn’t dumb enough to even take a chance on catching him by surprise and risk being on the receiving end of one of his friend’s beatings.
“Nate,” Franks whispered.
Thrower had already found a spot by a window. Recognizing Franks’ voice, he didn’t even turn around to answer. “To your right.” He stayed focused on his target. He had his rifle out but was careful not to point it out the window and risk being spotted yet.
“Anyone else up here?” Franks asked.
“Not anymore.”
“You see Brett yet?”
Thrower nodded in the direction of the window. “Looks like his car’s coming in now.”
“You want me to do anything?”
“Just stay focused on those steps. Make sure no one comes up behind us. I’ll take care of everything out there.”
“You got it.”
Thrower continued looking out the window, seeing Jacobs’ car finally stop just inside the gate. Jacobs made sure he parked where he did to make sure no other cars could come up behind him. If they did, they were hitting a roadblock.
Jacobs sat inside his car for a moment, looking at what was in front of him, which was formidable. There must have been twenty men waiting for him, including Ames. Jacobs noticed him almost right away. Most of the men were standing in front of their cars, which were parked in front of the buildings, but a few were standing behind them.
Jacobs started talking to Gunner, though he never took his eyes off the dangerous men before him. “You ready for this?”
Gunner let out a deep sounding growl as he leaned forward, looking like he was about to jump out of the car and take his pick of arms to latch onto. He just might have if the window wasn’t up.
After a few more seconds of sizing up his opponents, Jacobs finally opened his door. He slowly got out. He stood there, then called for Gunner. Gunner jumped out of the car and immediately started barking.
“Gunner, quiet.”
Gunner instantly stopped barking as Jacobs closed the car door. Jacobs wasn’t ready to move forward yet. He stood there, looking at all the men waiting for him. Though Gunner was antsy, he sat down by his owner’s side. He was ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
Before moving forward, Jacobs spun his head to both sides and peeked behind him, making sure there were no surprises that he wasn’t aware of. With everything seeming clear, he moved a few steps, reaching the front of his car. Gunner moved along with him.
As Jacobs moved, so did Ames. Followed by a dozen of his men, he moved about ten feet closer to Jacobs. He was careful not to get too close, though, just in case Jacobs had ideas about going down in a blaze of glory. Ames wasn’t going down with him.
“Glad to see you’ve made it,” Ames said.
“Didn’t really have much of a choice.” Jacobs’s eyes continually glanced between Ames’ men, making sure none of them pulled a gun that he didn’t see.
Ames smiled, proud of his accomplishment. “No, you didn’t, did you?” Ames stretched his arms out wide as if he were welcoming Jacobs to a house party. “Well, should we commence with the proceedings?”
“First things first. You call off your men.”
Ames shook his head. “That’s not how it works. You come forward, then I call them.”
Jacobs shook his head. “Nope. Not gonna happen. I’m not doing anything until I hear you call off your men. If not, I’ll get back in this car and drive away.”
“What makes you think I don’t have men out there waiting for you in case you do?”
Jacobs shrugged. “I’ll take my chances.”
“I believe you would.”
“I could also shoot you right now and do the same.”
Ames grinned. “Do that and your girlfriend’s parents die just the same. Unless they hear my voice in the next five minutes, they have orders to shoot.”
“I figured that.”
Gunner started growling again, wanting to be let loose, though he wasn’t on a leash, anyway. But he always followed Jacobs’ commands.
“What do you need him for?” Jacobs asked, looking down briefly at the dog.
“Because he’s a vicious mutt that needs to be kept off the street.”
“He’s not a mutt.”
“And because I don’t like him, and because he’s… well, I could go on for an hour about him too. Let’s just say he’s right below you on the pecking order. There’s no scenario in which he survives this either.”
“I take it you’re not an animal lover.”
“Not when they bite me.”
“He hasn’t bitten you yet.”
“And he’ll never get the chance. Luckily, he won’t get to see you go down first.” Jacobs glared at Ames, wishing he was standing within arm’s reach of him, so he could rip his throat out. “Unfortunately, you’re gonna see him killed first. But thankfully, you won’t have to live with the memory for too long.”
“Your mother didn’t hold you much as a baby, did she?”
Ames laughed. “You know, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”
“I’m sure it isn’t.”
“All right, enough of the talk. It’s time to get this over with.”
“Make the call. You get nothing until that happens.”
“Fine.” Ames took out his phone from his pants pocket. He then dialed a number.
“Make sure you say it loud enough for me to hear,” Jacobs said.
Ames’ man quickly answered. “Cancel the order,” he said loudly. “It’s no longer necessary.” Ames then put his phone back in his pocket. “Satisfied?”
“Yeah. I guess that’ll do.”
“So, are we ready?”
Jacobs shrugged. “Guess as ready as I’ll ever be. Let the fun begin.”
19
Jacobs stood there for a few seconds, staring at Ames, not moving an inch. Ames was beginning to think he was up to something. At the very least, he was getting him aggravated.
“I made the call,” Ames said. “I upheld my part of the bargain. Now it’s your turn.”
Jacobs put his right hand on top of his head and started scratching. “Well, I’ll tell ya… I don’t really think I’ll feel too badly about taking back my part of it. Especially against you.”
“What?”
The shot then rang out. A second later, Ames jolted forward from the impact of the bullet entering the back of his right shoulder. He fell on his hands and knees. As several of Ames’ men looked back to figure out where the shot had come from, Jacobs removed his gun and started blasting away.
“Gunner, go!”
Gunner took off like he’d been shot out of a cannon, quickly finding his first victim. Jacobs knelt down by the front of the car and continued firing, keeping an eye on his four-legged friend to make sure he didn’t get in over his head. Ames’ men diverted their attention between Jacobs and whoever was shooting at them from the other building. It didn’t take them very long to determine Thrower’s position, considering he mowed down a few more of them after Ames went down.
Confusion and chaos reigned over the next several minutes, Ames’ men not sure what they should be doing with their boss down. There was a lot of yelling, some of them pointing at Thrower, some of them pointing at Jacobs, not to mention the couple who were unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of Gunner’s teeth.
They were of course firing back at Jacobs and Thrower, but a few of them wanted to retreat, a few wanted to get their boss and whisk him away, and some wanted to focus on one target over the other. With Ames down, there was no leadership. That was partially how Ames structured hi
s organization. He didn’t really want a specific second in command, mostly out of fear that having someone else right under him might cause that person to eventually want to overthrow him.
Most of Ames’ men had by now retreated behind cars, trying to shield themselves from both directions. A couple of the men had broken off and ran in between a couple of the buildings. Their goal was to get in behind whoever was shooting at them from the building and take them out.
They barged into the building, immediately stumbling over the bodies of their dead friends. They were loud enough for Franks to hear them come in, though.
“Looks like we got company, man.”
“Switch spots,” Thrower said. “You take the window.”
Franks rushed over to the window and immediately started firing down below, while Thrower hurried over to the top of the stairs. He got there just in time to see one of the men charging up the steps. Thrower put three rounds into him, causing the man to fall down on top of one of the other ones. Not wanting to keep himself plainly visible, he retreated behind the wall, peeking around it as he waited for the next one to try their luck.
He didn’t wait long. Almost immediately, two more of Ames’ men rushed up the steps. Thrower jumped out from the wall and instantly locked onto his two targets. His first shot hit the lead man dead in the center of his forehead. As the man fell back, he knocked the man behind him off balance a little, giving Thrower an easy target and without having to duck bullets himself. The man regained his balance just as two bullets ripped into his chest, killing him instantly.
With the two men falling back down the stairs, Thrower retreated again behind the wall, waiting for his next victims to appear. He glanced back at Franks for a moment to see how he was doing.
“How you making out over there?”
Franks fired a couple more rounds, though he also kept ducking the bullets that were flying in his direction. “Uh, you know, just…”
“Are you actually hitting anything?”