by Liscom, Sean
The sprint to the fifth floor landing found two dead enforcers and a large hole in the outside wall of the stairwell. Both of them had been torn apart by shrapnel. This door was jammed in its frame so we bypassed it and continued to run for the 68th floor. At the 18th floor, we ran into a squad of enforcers coming down. The lead man was yelling into his radio when we came face to face.
“Are they still jamming the radios?” I asked frantically. My acting was aided by the fact that I
was sucking wind from sprinting up 18 floors of
stairs. I felt a slight nudge from Jill who was right behind me and I instantly dropped to my knees. She and two others fired on the enforcers and took them totally by surprise. This was something we expected and all of us had some form of ear protection in. If we hadn't, all of us would have been deaf after that.
I picked up the man's radio and put it to my ear. They had switched channels so I repeated the process of securing it in the transmit position with another zip-tie. Before I dropped it,
I put it to my mouth and started screaming into the mic.
“FIFTY INTRUDERS IN THE WEST STAIRWELL!!!!! WE NEED HELP!!!!” I smiled at Jill and dropped the radio. There were none of our guys in the west stairwell. We continued our trek up the stairs.
Jill and I were the first to reach the 67th floor. We were in the best physical shape but it still took us 30 minutes to make it. My legs felt like they were made of something between rubber and jelly. My lungs ached and it felt like my heart was going to beat itself right out of my chest. The two of us were waiting on the landing with our butts against the wall and our elbows on our knees trying to catch our breath. The rest of our people were still several floors below us.
I was thinking in my head that things were taking too long when gunfire erupted on the
same floor that we were on. Jill and I shared a confused look. The door to the landing slowly began to open on its own and a man who was drenched in blood from multiple gunshots fell to the steel deck between us.
I peeked through the gap between the door and its frame and could see several more bodies lying in the hallway. There were six of Ray's men standing in the hallway. I eased back a little so that I was no longer between the wall and the door. I leveled my pistol and pulled the trigger as fast as I could. All six of these guys were wearing body armor so I deliberately aimed low.
A couple of them managed to return fire in my direction but they were nowhere close to hitting me. When the Glock 21 ran dry, Jill leaned around the corner and emptied her weapon in the direction of the scrambling men in the hallway. That gave me just enough time to reload. All six men were down but they weren’t out of the fight. Three of them were returning fire while they struggled to get out of the kill zone, the other three were writhing on the floor clutching at their wounded legs.
The amount of incoming fire forced Jill and I to take cover behind the concrete door frame. When it died down again, I looked out to see six
more men emerging from one of the rooms. They had the five cartel members handcuffed and they were forcing them down the hall toward the
stairwell at the opposite end. The last man in line stopped and pulled something from a pouch on his belt.
He pulled the pin on the grenade and pulled his arm back to throw it when Jill and I unleashed everything we had on him. He was hit several times and fell backward onto the floor. The grenade rolled free and exploded. The men who were on the floor were dead and the others had made it to the safety of the stairwell. The first three men from our squad finally arrived. It was Carmine leading the way.
“Fourth and fifth floors are secure, well pinned down is more like it. Either way, they ain't goin anywhere,” he reported breathlessly.
“Where's Paul?” I asked. He should have been the first one up here, not Carmine, I thought.
“Hell if I know. I haven't seen him. A bunch of his men were helping contain the enforcers on the fourth and fifth but I didn't see him.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “Carmine, Adolpha is supposed to be on this floor somewhere. Go find her and get us some help on the 68th.”
“You got it!” he bolted past us into the hall with his men and began kicking in doors.
“You got one more flight of stairs in ya, babe?” I asked Jill. She gave me the go to hell look but nodded in the affirmative. The look on her face actually caused me to chuckle a little. I
popped the magazine from my pistol and counted the rounds in it. Six plus the one in the pipe and another full magazine on my hip. The dead man that was lying between us had an H&K MP5 in his dead hand. I took it and gave it to Jill. I also took the pistol that he had tucked in the back of his waistband and put it into mine.
“Let’s go!” I urged her up the last set of stairs. When we arrived on the 68th landing, the door was slightly ajar, the hallway beyond it was dark. Without pausing, I pushed the door open and slipped past it. Another 30 feet ahead of us was another door and there was light coming from under it.
We silently crept toward it and as we got closer, I could hear voices. I also heard something else. A distant, muted thump. I took another step and I felt a slight tremor in the concrete floor. At first I thought it was my weak legs playing tricks on me but I saw the same questioning look on Jill’s face. She had felt it too.
Weapons Warehouse:
Braden’s team had cut the back fence and
slipped to within 50 yards of the weapons warehouse. Multiple shots had been heard from the rooftop and they hadn’t seen any rockets fired in the last 10 minutes or so. Through the night vision goggles on his face, he counted eight
guys frantically searching the grounds. Melissa was lying on the mound next to him looking through the scope of her sniper rifle.
“Engage when ready,” Braden ordered. The first round left the suppressed barrel less than a second later. She quickly readjusted and there was another whispery pop.
“Get the guy in the doorway,” Braden whispered.
“Hang on,” Melissa replied. There was a few seconds pause before the next round was sent down range. The man that was visible fell backwards onto the asphalt and another man fell from the shadows to land on top of him. Neither moved. “Got a two-fer with that one.”
“Nice shooting,” Braden replied and then rolled to his side to look behind him. He motioned to the squad leaders for 3-1 and 3-3 to make their move. One squad went left and the other went right. The rifle next to him popped again.
“That’s five,” Melissa whispered. “Nobody else is brave enough to stick their heads out.”
“If they get brave, put them down,” he said as he got to his feet. He waived at the remaining
three squads and they all surged forward to take the warehouse.
The three remaining men who had taken refuge inside the warehouse weren’t ready for the overwhelming amount of force that Braden
brought with him. They surrendered as soon as they figured out what their odds were. Once he had his squads regrouped, he was getting ready to make the move on the next building when he heard as much as felt the loud booms. There were three of them in quick succession followed by the sounds of projectiles streaking overhead. It was enough to rattle the dust from the rafters of the building.
He quickly got eyes on the four tanks sitting on the freeway. Their barrels were pointed at the Kings casino and they were firing as quickly as they could. He watched the next salvo impact about halfway up on the massive tower.
68th floor, Kings Casino.
I really felt it this time. The whole building seemed to shudder a little. My attention was drawn to the closed door again when I heard maniacal laughter. Another quick nod to Jill and I twisted the handle slowly. Easing the door open, I could see that the hallway was clear. The only light was spilling from a room on the right another 30 feet ahead of us.
“You WILL give me what I want or I’ll leave you in the burning rubble of this building!” Ray shouted.
“There's no way in hell that yo
u will get the help of the cartels now!” a man with a heavy
Spanish accent said.
“Come now, Andrew. I have all of the leaders of the cartels here, in my house. I own you now! You live and die when I say. If I don't get what I want, I start killing you!” Judge shouted again. It sounded like he had become completely unhinged.
“Your house, Ray? Your fucking house is on fire and your men are being slaughtered as we speak!” the same voice answered again.
“These piss ants can't win, Andrew. I knew they were coming and they've walked right into my trap. In about five minutes, I'm gonna slam the lid shut on that box and eliminate all of them, once and for all!”
“Your men are on the run! They are in your house and beating down your bedroom door! You've lost, Ray! Let us go and we can promise mercy!”
“I don’t want your fucking mercy! It’s you who should be begging me!” Ray lowered his voice and it became impossible to hear what he was saying. I'd slipped as close to the door as I dared but still couldn't make out the words. I was
straining to listen and I felt Jill tap me on the shoulder again. I looked back at her and she motioned to something behind her with her head. Looking past her, Paul Wesson was standing there with a rifle pointed at us.
“Why don't we quit being anti-social. Let's
go on in and say hello to Ray,” he said aloud and motioned with the barrel. “Drop the guns too,” we did as instructed and slowly raised our hands, again he motioned toward the open door. I took the first step into the conference room and Ray had his back to me. Jill stepped up to my side, both of us had our hands above our heads. The cartel members looked in our direction which in turn caught Ray's attention. He slowly turned to face us.
“Well, well, well. Look who it is,” he said. I was about to say something when Paul stepped past us. The first thing I noticed was the pistol tucked into the back of his waistband. Jill saw it too.
“Been a long time, Ray. I'm not really sure I like what you've done with the place,” Paul remarked.
“You should have stuck around, Paul. We could have ruled this place like kings.”
“I don't really like your management style, Ray. It's gotten me in a lot of hot water over the years.”
“But I also made you a rich man and let's not forget, I saved your ass on more than one occasion.”
“I'd say that we're about even on that score, Ray. You seem to forget that you've also tried to kill me more than once.”
“You started that little game,” Ray paused
as he took a few steps toward Paul. “Why are you here?”
“I want back in,” that earned Paul a hearty laugh from Ray.
“Seriously? I'm about to seize control of everything from the Panama Canal to the Canadian border and you think you can show up here and ask for your place at the table again! What did you think? Did you think you could bring me the Sterling’s as a peace offering?” he started laughing again. “And people say I'm nuts!”
“I didn't say I wanted a place at your table,” Paul said evenly.
“You….. You think you have what it takes to run this show?” Ray didn't even try to hide the venom in his voice.
“My men are swarming your building, Ray. Your enforcers are all but defeated. My men have seized control of the weapons warehouse and it's only a matter of time before we hang you right down there on the Las Vegas strip.....” again Ray started laughing. He pulled out a chair and took a seat.
“You really think that I didn't know about all of this? You really think that you've won? Let me tell you a little secret, Paul. There are over a thousand gang members hiding outside the perimeter waiting to pour in here through the
same tunnels you’ve been slinking around in.
They are heavily armed and they are just waiting for my signal to come in here and kill everyone. Did you feel those little tremors? You know what that was?”
“No,” suspicion was hanging at the edge of Paul’s words as he spoke.
“That was four of my tanks firing on this tower. They are using a combination of high explosive and incendiary rounds. The other six tanks should be in position anytime to really start pounding this building. Anybody stuck on the upper floors will probably burn to death before the building collapses. It’s your men who are getting slaughtered now!”
“You’re crazy! You’ll die too!” I blurted out and took a step forward.
“Give me a little credit, Jason. I’ve got a chopper coming to pick me and my friends up. I’ll be watching from an orbit high above!” he laughed again.
“Why are you doing this?” Paul asked.
“Power, Paul. When the world starts to put itself back together, I want the power I deserve. You never could understand that and that’s why you never amounted to shit! With the cartels under MY control, I will be the man in charge. I will be the one that people bow to! I will be the one…..” his tirade was cut short when the door at
he opposite end of the room burst open. The five remaining enforcers spun to confront the
new threat.
His gaze never wavered from the three of us. The night that Marvin shot me, when he had that pistol pointed at my face, I saw rage in his eyes. A pure, unadulterated rage. I saw something entirely different in Ray's eyes. His were filled with something that I would describe as a maniacal lack of fear. We were standing in a building that was on fire and being battered by 120mm tank rounds. Three men and a woman were standing behind him facing down his five enforcers..... He should have been at least a little worried that his scheme was falling apart but he wasn't. The wild look in his eyes was almost inviting the chaos that was about to be unleashed in the room.
“So all of this was about power? All of that bullshit you were spewing about Adolpha and the cartels..... It was nothing more than a ruse?” I asked.
“Finally! Someone gets it!” he said joyfully.
“Why? Why go to all of the trouble to implicate them when it was really you all along?”
“Redirection my dear boy! While you were busy thinking that they were the masterminds, I was carrying out my plans.”
“To what end?”
“Simple. You kill Adolpha and the cartel heads and you become enemy number one of her pathetic followers AND the cartels. I, on the
other hand, get to be the hero when I swoop in and kill you like the damn roach you are! These dipshits will practically beg me to step in and take the reigns!”
“What about all of the men, all of the equipment you've left strewn across the state? How does all of that fit into your plans?” Jill asked.
“It's all disposable, honey.”
“Disposable?”
“Yes, disposable. All of that armor is a pain in the ass to keep running. Those men do nothing but suck down food and water. Melissa? Isn't that what you said your name was?”
“Actually, I'm Jill Sterling,” she replied. Confusion momentarily flashed across his face and then he started to smile.
“I see I'm not the only one to use a little redirection once in a while! That was bloody brilliant, Jason! Anyway, Jill, all that shit is disposable. Once we are done screwing around here and both of you are dead, I'm going to go to that little ranch of yours and burn it to the fucking ground. I'm gonna burn everything to the ground! The little towns, gone. The cities, gone!”
“You really are batshit crazy!” Jill said.
“You're the ones standing in a burning building with no escape plan. You're the ones that came all the way down here to pick a fight with me. No, I'd say you are the ones who are
nuts!”
“You started this, Ray!” Paul shouted.
“I'm the one that's going to finish it!” he yelled back. “Kill them! Kill all of them!” his enforcers immediately opened fire on Carmine and his men.
I dropped my right hand and grabbed the pistol from the back of Paul’s pants and I felt Jill grab the one I had stashed. Carmine opened fire on the enforcers from the other end of the
room. I took aim at Ray and started shooting. He scrambled out of his chair and was returning fire while on the run. We had Ray in a crossfire but nobody had yet to land a hit. The fighting in the room was frenzied and through it all,
Paul never moved from his spot.
The pistol I was using went to slide lock and without hesitation, I sprinted toward Ray. He was in the middle of reloading when I launched myself at him. We collided, bounced off of the wall and he went to the floor. I stepped back with the intent of delivering a powerful kick when I was broadsided by an enforcer. He was a big man and the combination of hitting the floor with his weight on top of me, knocked the breath from my lungs.
He ended up sitting straddle of me and was about to punch me in the face when Jill caught him in the face with her right boot. Ray had taken advantage of the momentary reprieve and gotten
to his feet. He charged Jill, wrapped her in a bear hug and slammed her into the heavy conference room table.
Sometimes, when things are happening really fast, you notice the strangest details. I noticed that all of the gun fire had suddenly stopped. As I was getting up, I could see that the room had turned into one massive fist fight. All of the cartel heads were cowering under the table, three more enforcers had joined the fray and the building was trembling again. Much worse that the first few times.
Ray swung hard and delivered a solid body blow to Jill. Her reaction was to jam her knee into his side as hard as she could. I ran past Paul and grabbed Ray by the back of his collar and flung him off of her. He stayed on his feet and came after me. The look in his eyes was that of a man who had gone over the edge of sanity. He faked a punch from his left fist and caught me in the right thigh with a kick instead.
Even with all of the training I’d had to protect that leg, I’d let my guard down long enough for him to land a solid blow. The sharp pain registered as soon as I hit the floor again. He was coming in for another kick when Jill jumped