The only problem was that we were two DEA agents against what had turned out to be a dozen armed, trigger happy assholes who didn’t understand that freeze meant fucking freeze.
At least we broke up the party, I thought, but from the look on Raul’s face, I knew he didn’t feel the same way. Lately, he had been on my case about how reckless I was becoming, and this was the perfect situation he’d call me on later.
A bullet slammed into the wall above my head, and I winced, crouching down lower behind my cover. There was the distinct screech of tires, and I cursed under my breath. The gang was on the run, and the longer we stayed hidden, the less our chances were of coming out of this with anything other than a hit to our egos.
I took a deep breath and dashed across the space between my cover and Raul’s, keeping my head low as more bullets flew past, one grazing the nape of my neck. Raul pulled me down to the ground, stood up and fired, then crouched down again.
“You’re an idiot, you know that?” he said.
“Adrenaline, buddy,” I replied. “We live for it, right?”
“We could have waited for backup.”
“You know these assholes would have gotten a warning long before the cavalry got here,” I said.
“Yeah, we’re doing great on our own,” Raul said. “Tell you what? Remind me to rip you a new one when we get out of here.”
I smiled at him, trying my best to ignore the burning pain where the bullet had grazed my neck. I peeked out behind the crate. The van was still there, two men with guns on either side of it and a third lying on the ground dead. At least we had gotten a hit. A few feet away, three more men with guns were loading the trunk of one of the cars with what looked like cocaine packets, racing back and forth between the van and the car as they rushed to finish the deal we had interrupted.
“See that?” I gestured towards a metal staircase a few yards away. “You take the high ground. I’ll cover you.”
Raul looked at the staircase, then back at me. “This is a stupid idea,” he said.
“Come on, big boy,” I said. “You can do this.”
Raul grunted, moved to the edge of the crate and looked back at me, waiting. I nodded at him, and as soon as he broke cover, I was on my feet, firing. The combination took the two men by the van by surprise, and they fired aimlessly, not knowing who to concentrate on. I watched one of them slam into the van and fall in a heap as one of my bullets hit their target, and the other immediately turned to me, yelling as he returned my fire.
I crouched back down and watched Raul race up the stairs. The other men abandoned what they were doing and joined the fire fight, and I watched in horror as they aimed for Raul and fired. I broke cover, aiming my gun at the first of them and taking him down quickly. The others turned their attention back to me, and before I could get out of the way, I felt a sharp pain in my belly.
“Alex!”
I fell to my knees and rolled behind another crate, the pain in my stomach coursing through me like wildfire. It was as if my whole body had been set on fire and my guts were searing. Raul was calling my name over the sound of gunfire, and I quickly reloaded my gun. I looked down, blood spreading across my shirt from where the bullets had hit me. I felt the world around me swim in and out of focus.
There was more shouting, and I heard the sound of the car trunk being slammed shut.
They’re going to get away!
I pushed to my feet and looked around quickly for Raul, but he was nowhere to be found. The gunmen were firing at the walkway above my head, though, and I knew that although I couldn’t see him, Raul was definitely there. I used the distraction and broke cover again, firing at the two men, hitting one of them and sending the other scurrying away. Car tires screeched, and I hurried towards the van, feeling blood seep down the front of my legs as I struggled to keep my eyes from glazing over.
I raised my gun and fired at the car as it raced out in front of the van, the back window shattering as the car swerved and crashed into a heap of crates, wood exploding around it as it raced out of the warehouse. I fired again, knowing that it was useless, but far too angry and in too much pain to think straight.
I heard the gunshot before I felt the exploding pain in my leg, and I fell to the ground, crying out in pain, my gun flying from my hand. A gunman came out from behind the van just as I was pushing myself up, and fired. The bullet hit my chest and the impact threw me back, my head connecting with the hard, concrete floor.
Another volley of gunfire and the gunman collapsed onto the ground next to me, his dead eyes staring into mine.
The last thing I heard as my eyes closed and darkness took over was the distant sound of Raul yelling my name over and over again.
I was pretty sure I’d never open my eyes again.
Chapter 1: Alex Logan
“Are we there yet?”
I glanced up at my twelve-year-old daughter Kelly in the rearview mirror, her eyes glued to her phone. The frown on her face reflected the frustration I felt at being asked the same question for maybe the tenth time in the last hour, and a part of me wondered if it ever got old.
Whine much, Kelly? I wanted to say, but held my tongue. If there was one thing I had learned over the years, it was that my daughter had a tongue as sharp as mine, and my sarcasm was only going to be returned ten-fold. So, I didn’t reply and returned my attention to the road.