A Shot In The Night (John Harper Series Book 2) (30 page)

Standing
there alone in the small metal box I was left wondering which floor my prey was
on.  One look at the floor buttons gave the chilling clue I needed.  A bloody
finger smudge was on the thirteenth floor, one below the top floor which there
was no button for.  After everything that had happened I was positive now that
I was being led to the slaughter.  Especially since I knew Kai Nelson, the
leader of the Elsworth Warriors lived on that specific floor from the files
that I had read.  Since he was one of the most dangerous of people in the city
and any unauthorized person on that floor would likely end up looking like Swiss
cheese, I wasn’t too eager to see what was waiting for me there.  There was no
need for the gunman to press the button with his injured hand when he had a
free one and if that too was covered in blood, which would be no surprise since
he had attempted some medical treatment, then why not use a knuckle or some
other aid that had not been soaked in red fluid.

The
man wanted me to follow and since the blood was still wet and fresh, I had no
intention of going to that floor.  I pressed for the eleventh floor and pulled
out my pistol.

It
was strange how I had thought nothing more of firing it earlier, how the hours
of training when I was in Ireland had come back to me.  I smiled at the thought
of my instructor drilling it into my head about gun safety as I touched the
switch that made it armed.  It was stupid of me to carry it in that manner but
I needed to be certain that in the split second that I reached for the weapon I
could pull the trigger and know that it would discharge a deadly piece of
lead.  Still I had two other safeties for the weapon, firstly my brain and
secondly my own trigger finger.

The
door opened with a dull chime and I stepped out with the pistol raised.  With
my left hand underneath my right and bottom of the gun providing a firm shooting
platform I walked slowly down the hallway.

It
was a standard floor design with eight individual apartments on each level. 
Two stairwells were situated at each end.  The elevators ran up the central
shaft of the building, the hallway essentially ringed them.  I was hyperalert
as I moved down the hall looking for any drop of blood or sign that my target
was on the floor.  I managed a full circuit without seeing anything. I made my
way back to the elevator and pressed for the twelfth and thirteenth floors before
going towards the stairwell.

I
moved slowly since I didn’t know if the gunman had planted any more traps for
me or was lying in wait.  My phone vibrated and I pressed myself next to the
wall and tapped the answer button on my headset.  I answered with a click of my
tongue.

“Hello,
John, are you there?  Hello?” the sweet melodic voice of Camille Jarvis asked
in my ear.

“This really isn't the best of times to talk,
darling,” I whispered back and went to end the call.

“No, John, wait.  I take it you are at the Elsworth
Towers estate.”

I just coughed an affirmative as I walked up the
stairs towards the twelfth floor.  I stood by the doorway in the lime green
hall and shivered slightly.

“Well I did a bit of tracking on that message that
was sent to me, well I say I did; I passed it along to your friend Harris, the
little bastard, and he told me it was sent from a cafe in town.  I'm going to
go look for it now but with free Wifi these days it could be anyone.  It just
doesn't seem like some random gang thug would be clever enough to pull all of
this off.”

“You called to tell me all of that?  I've just been
stabbed by the madman and tracked him to one of the most dangerous buildings I
have ever had the misfortune of entering ready for a final showdown and you call
me for that.”

“I just thought you would want to know.”

I sighed and pushed open the door with the pistol
barrel, “Next time think before you call otherwise I could end up dead.”

“I don't think you will get another call,” a voice
said at my side as another barrel was pressed deep into the side of my temple. 
I didn't turn nor did I get the chance as a sharp smack was delivered to the
back of my head, rendering me unconscious.

There is nothing worse than waking up with a splitting headache,
especially one that has been inflicted by a chunk of metal smacking into your
noggin.  I went to move my hand towards the lump I could feel rising but both
of my hands were bound to a chair.  I opened my eyes and gnashed my teeth at
the sight of silver duct tape exactly like the stuff used in the house opposite
the police station.  My gut turned and I fought against the binding again.

I quickly assessed my surroundings; it was a council flat living
room that had been gutted.  It was difficult to see in the low light that was
cast from the single bulb hanging from the ceiling.  I couldn't see around the
corner where I suspected the exit was and the rest of the flat.  The floor was
concrete, pieces of grey carpet were still attached to the grippers near the
wall suggesting it had been ripped up in a hurry.  The old floral wallpaper was
falling down in strips and mould was growing in the corners.  A flat that was
completely barren in a tower block that was housing a serial killer with a gun
and I was tied to a chair, not exactly where I thought I would end up before
Christmas.

“Oh good, you are awake,” a voice said from behind me.

I blinked to try and gather my senses in the low light, “Not the
most comfortable of wake-ups I must admit.  Couldn’t you have put me up in a
better place than this, I mean look, there’s enough rooms, you didn’t have to
put me in the worst one.”

He laughed, “This isn’t even close to bad. You are lucky there are
still roofs on these towers.  When the local council has enough of buildings
they don’t like in this city they tend to take the roof off and let the
elements in.”

“Yeah, I can honestly say I wasn’t here to check on the building
maintenance.”

“So Mister Harper, you have decided to enter the dragon’s den for
another reason,” said the man.  I recognized the accent and voice but in the
haze that was clearing my head I struggled to place the person.

“And I forgot to bring my diagrams and business plan.”

“Don't try and be smart,” the voice said as I got smacked on the
rising lump, sending a new wave of pain through my head.

“I don't have to try.  You know I came here to stop a killer so why
am I in this lovely apartment?  Surely it would be easier if you just shot me.”

The man walked into my view and in the weak light cast from the
naked bulb I recognised him as Joshua Murray, the second-in-command of the
Elsworth Warriors, “Now ordinarily you would be right. One busy, or should I
say ex-busy, who just happened to go missing wouldn't be that high on people
around here's list of problems.  I mean, with all the police and other people
that are getting shot it wouldn't be too much of a surprise. We know enough
places that make it easy to get rid of a body but unfortunately I don't have
the authority to cap you just yet.”

“Then I guess it is good that old Saul had a word with you.  You do
remember that conversation, right?”

“Oh I remember, but it isn't his word that is keeping you alive. 
You see, Saul is on his way out.  He might not know it yet since he is living
it up in his castle out of the country but there is a change coming.”

I looked at him and shook my head, “There's always someone trying to
topple Caesar.”

“And he fell.  All empires fall in the end.”

The tracksuited goon was surprisingly well informed for someone who
had left school early and had never been the brightest there.  I was a little
intimidated by the turn of events but my best way to deflect from that was to
talk, “Very clever Murray.  What, surprised I knew who you are?”

“Not at all, Harper.  You see we do our research just like I'm sure
you've done yours.  This business, this tower block, we don't run it like any
gang you've seen.  We're smart.”

“And why should you be any different to the rest of the people who
think they know what they are doing?  Even Saul said you guys don't think
ahead.”

“And as I have said Saul sees fuck all.  He sees some tracksuit
wearing dealers who happen to be in one particular gang and that is what he
wants to see.”

These were particularly interesting and surprising developments but
nothing that was especially important to me, catching the shooter was my only
goal, “So shooting people was the best way to get him into the city?  You take
him out and then take over his operation?”

“No, Mister Harper, that isn't it at all,” another voice said as he
entered the room.  It was Kai Nelson one of the suspects that had hovered in
the background of my investigation.  He was wearing a new black tracksuit and
he moved a wooden chair from next to a slanted plastic table and placed before
me, “You see, Saul has lots of connections out of town.  He is the man who
ships in the heroin, the ecstasy, he has the contacts for cocaine.  What he
doesn't do though is have a series of weed farms.  He doesn't make 2C-C, he
doesn't cook meth or bath salts.  He stays to old drugs of choice and we move
on, eventually others will take note as well and the old man will be removed.”

“You see, Mister Harper, I may come across as some scally who is
hungry for blood and power but I've been training for this my whole life.  My
brother was in the Army, he taught me an awful lot.  The best way to wage a war
when you don't have the resources of your opponent is to go guerrilla.  We go
after supply chain and then we start hitting his officers before we just take
over his territory and if we do it the right way he is just a wizened old man
who gets removed.”

I shook my head slowly not wanting to inflict anymore pain upon
myself, “He taught you a lot.  You do know that there are armed police coming
in here any minute, right? And having me tied up probably isn't the best idea.”

“Oh we know ways out of here other than the main entrance and there
are places to hide things you don't want to be found.”

“Are they common knowledge?”

“They are to us, Harper, so don't worry,” said Murray as he punched
me deep into my stomach.

It wasn't something he needed to do especially since I was tied down
but I got the message that they didn't want me talking.  However that wasn't
the way I survived so long.  If you don't laugh, you cry and antagonizing
people was my way to laugh, “Good, because you are going to need to know how to
get out of here.”

“Don't worry, we will know when the police arrive,” Nelson said with
a smile as he raised my police radio and waved it side to side.

It was another one of those moments where I probably should have
just shut my mouth but I couldn't stop laughing.  Even after Murray punched me
again this time in the jaw, the next blow was to the stomach and I still
managed to laugh which came out more like a cough but was enough to get another
smack from the drug dealer, “What's so funny?”

Still coughing and laughing I looked up at the man and spat out
blood on the dusty floor, “Did your brother also teach you how to fire a gun?”

“He was a marksman in the Engineers and a very good one at that, so
yeah he taught me and Josh how to shoot but don't be stupid, there is no way we
are getting into a shootout with the Matrix unit.”

A crooked smile crossed my face, “Don't be stupid,” I repeated
before laughing again, 'you're the ones who have locked yourself in a building
with a gunman who wants to kill police, drug dealers and civilians.  You've
made yourself an even bigger target.  Oh and he was framing you, so Nelson you
better be as good a shot as you think because there's a bullseye on your head.

My speech didn't go down too well and I suffered another couple of
punches to the stomach and ribs from Murray to the point where I was knocked to
the ground.  My shoulder took the brunt of the fall but still my head bounced
off the cold concrete and I felt blood pool beneath me.  I was nearly as badly
dazed as when I first woke up.  I did my best not to sneeze when dust entered
my nostril as I breathed.

“You know nothing, Harper,” Murray said as I lay there and rolled my
head to look at the man.

“I know enough.  I know who the gunman is and why he is here.  I
also know that if you are well prepared then he shouldn't be too much of a
problem considering he is struggling with a bullet wound to his shoulder and
another that clipped his leg.  Does that ring any bells as to people who have
entered this building in the last twenty minutes?” I managed to say all that in
a rasping voice as I struggled, lying on the floor.

The two men looked at each other briefly and then there was a low
word between them before suddenly there was a shot and then another from in the
hall.  The sound echoed through the spartan room and was followed by a chuckle
from myself, “Guess you boys aren't as well prepared as you thought.”

The two men left straight away at what could be best described as a
stunted run and I was alone.  The chair that they had tied me to was not the
most sturdy of furniture pieces and I managed to break my right arm free as the
wood came loose on the armrest.  I rolled my shoulder and grabbed at the tape
on my left wrist.  It took about a minute as I tore my way out of it, I then
started working on my ankles.  Finally free I knelt and put my cold hand to the
wounds on my head.  Luckily none of my teeth were badly damaged but there was a
serious lump growing on the back of my head and another bad cut at the side of
my face.  Coughing, I rose unsteadily to my feet, resting my hand on the
damaged table.  It couldn't hold my weight and the contents fell to the floor
as did I once again.

A string of expletives left my mouth as I tried to regain my
composure.  The items on the floor filled me with some confidence since they
were what I had kept on my person.  However my jacket was no longer in the room
so I had to pocket my knife, wallet, phone and car keys.  The pistol I checked
and was relieved to see that there was still the four bullets inside it.  I
placed it back in the comfortable recess at the small of my back and looked at
the remains of my earpiece.  Unfortunately the radio had been taken by Nelson
when he left the apartment.

I crept to the door leading to the hallway and took my pistol out as
I heard two more gunshots in quick succession.  Someone yelled in pain and I
heard the distinct thump of something heavy and meaty dropping to the ground.

Then there was the sound of someone running down the hall.  The
slapping of trainered feet hitting the floor and then squeaking as they skidded
on the plastic as they sped around the corner.  I peered around the corner and
raised the pistol.

I was shocked to see Alex and Dom who I had met when I first arrived
in Liverpool with fear etched on their faces as they ran for their lives.  The
skeletal face of the gunman behind them raising a revolver.  Before he could
fire, I shot, my aim hindered by the concussion I was sure I was suffering. 
The bullet smashed into the breezeblock wall next to him, dust and rubble
shattered and covered him and threw off his concentration. He ducked back
behind the corner as I fired again.  The two gang members dived into the room I
was in.

“Afternoon gentlemen,” I said as I hid behind the wall as the return
fire made it impossible for me to stay in the hallway.

“Bloody hell, …..Harper?..... where the hell did you learn to shoot
like that?” asked Dom as he had his hands on his knees and struggled to intake
air.

I shrugged my shoulders which brought a wince of pain, “I obviously
was better Time Crisis since I didn't manage to hit the man.  Are you guys at
all armed?”

Alex nodded his face ghostly white in the dim light.  He avoided eye
contact with me and made nothing of the fact I had smashed his nose earlier in
the week.  Two black eyes were the evidence of that encounter.

“Ok, well stick your gun out there and shoot a couple of rounds
whilst I make a call,” I ordered.

“You're going to make a phone call when there is someone shooting at
you?” Dom inquired his words strung out as he was oxygen deprived and more than
a little frightened about what was going on.

“Hey I've got to pay the bills, this is a good story,” I said over
my shoulder as I walked out the hall and into the kitchen area.  All of the
cupboard doors had been ripped off, no appliances were left in the room and the
sink had definitely been used recently but as a toilet.  I crinkled my nose and
dialed Spencer, “Right copper, where the hell are the armed response?”

“Harper, thank God you are still alive.  We've got reports of
gunfire in there and it's all kicking off.”

The loud report of Alex firing and his partner shouting abuse at the
'Seasonal Shooter' filled the background.  I smiled, “Yeah, it is all
definitely kicking off as you put it.  So where the hell is my back up?”

“I thought you had a radio?  They entered the building ten minutes
ago but are having to clear the floors.  They are on the way up but they don't
want to get ambushed.”

I nodded and bit my lip in frustration, “Hold on,” I put the phone
to my chest and shouted out to the two gang members, “Guys, which floor are we
on?”

“Fourteen,” one of them yelled back over the din of gunfire.

I was a little surprised but it made sense that I was be taken to
the top floor since it was above the well defended area that was the thirteenth
level.  What was more shocking was that the gunman had managed to get that far,
“Spencer, I'm on the fourteenth floor, the top one.  Basically I'm going to say
there will probably be some trouble between your guys and the floor below. 
There are gang members all over this place and they’re well armed as well.  If
they go in hard then there is going to be some real trouble.”

“Harper, there is no way they aren't going in hard after this guy. 
If the Elsworth Warriors gang aren't going to go down quietly then it is going
to get bloody.  All I can suggest is you just put your head down and try and
show your ID before the plastic cuffs slap on you.”

“Yeah this nutter could get out of here by then and although I feel
confident on who it is, mate, I can't tell you since I'm not pointing the
finger at someone else and getting it wrong.  Just tell them to hurry up
otherwise you may find a lot of dead drug dealers.”

“Are you saying it is not Kai Nelson and his gang?”

I was back in the corridor next to the two gang members, “What I'm
saying it that if you don't hurry then Nelson will be dead as will a lot of
other people.”