Street Justice (33 page)

“I’m from the field, like you guys,” Steve said.

“You’re not from where we are,” Will growled, narrowing his eyes.

A smile spread across his face as Steve replied, “No you’re right, where I come from is dangerous.” This triggered a flash of anger in Will’s face and launched forward with a barrage of fists and feet. Will’s anger took away from his focus and Steve was able to block the entire flurry but he was driven back toward the kitchenette. Will charged again and again tackled Steve, though this time he was ready for it and brought his arms up to his chest. As the two men crashed to the carpet, Steve used his feet to push off, and combined with the initial momentum, the two men made a complete flip and Steve landed on top of Will.

Steve extended his arms, and with Will against the ground, the move brought Steve upright sitting on Will’s midsection. Steve used gravity and strength to bring repeated blows down onto Will. His fists fell like stones down toward Will’s head and upper torso. Steve knew the strength and speed were more important than accuracy and he focused on keeping up an unrelenting barrage. Will blocked more than a few, and tried to kick free, but the fight and the broken knuckles were taking effect and Steve slowly wore Will down.

Finally, Steve connected with a clean strike to Will’s cheekbone. Will’s blocking arms wobbled and let a second blow through, connecting with his jawbone. Will’s arms dropped dishrags to the floor. Steve followed with one more hook, not to be mean but because experience told him in the situation, a little extra is better than too little.

Will lay on the floor unconscious and breathing hard for a man without cognitive thought. Steve was panting too must, knew he had to work fast. This was not the movies, he did not have twenty minutes before Will recovered, he might have two if he was lucky.

              Steve looked over to the bed and saw several sets of plasticuffs laying on the bedspread. He guessed they had been laid out for him. Had things gone to plan, Will could have Tasered him, walked back to the bed, gotten the cuffs and bound him up. Steve wandered what would have happened after that.

              Quickly, Steve used two sets of cuffs to bind Will’s arms behind him and his feet together. He thought about using his belt to bind the two together but figured he would not be around long enough for it to matter. He quickly moved to the front room and start doing a search of the drawers, under the couch cushions, behind the pictures, anywhere he might be able to find intel. As he completed the front room he started into the hallway and bathroom.

              Will woke groggily. His jaw hurt and his head felt like horned beetles were inside trying to bore out through his skull. His eyes fluttered open and the room swirled as tadpoles swam in front of his eyes. He went to shake them away and a lightning bolt surged down his spine. He went to try and stand but realized that his hands and feet were bound. He rocked back and forth gently on the floor, smelling the dirt and must from the hotel carpet.

              As the surrounding came into focus, Will remembered where he was and what had happened, other than the binding of his limbs. He heard a rustling noise and after a few minutes, his brain put together what it was. His attacker, Chris, was searching through the room. There was no way of him knowing that this room had been rented exclusively for the purpose of trapping him.

              Will flexed his arms, trying to break the bindings but they held tight and bit into his wrists. He again tried to roll and fumble up to a standing position. He got partially raised, using his face to work up the side of the bed when he slipped. His face slide back down the slick bed spread, causing a slight friction burn. As he landed he toppled over, causing a jabbing sensation into the right cheek of his rear end.

              He lay on his back for a moment then rolled back over, again the jabbing returned. Then he realized it was the small cylinder he had passed out to everyone right after he had set up the roof top control center. It was supposed to be used to call everyone to the roof top but hoped it would somehow let them know he was in trouble in the hotel room. He had no other choice. His fingers crept into his pocket. His reach was limited by how far his left arm could stretch toward his right pockets, now that both of his hands were connected.

              Slowly, his fingers slid in and his fingertips brushed the side of the small cylinder. As he brushed the cylinder, it slipped farther into his pocket. He tried to lift his fingers, push the denim of the rear pocket out, so he could slip his fingers over it, but as he lifted with his hand, it simply pulled the entire rear of his pants out away from his body and did little to give him a gap between the cylinder and the fabric of his pocket. He continued to grasp and fumble at the cylinder until it stopped moving.

The cylinder had reached the bottom of the pocket and could go no further. He attempted again to grasp the cylinder but unfortunately his hands would not go any farther either. His shoulder was already strained but he used his feet to drive his body up off the floor, driving his weight on his left shoulder, forcing his arm closer to his right rear pocket, sending pain throughout his body, as his shoulder stretched farther than it was supposed to stretch. His fingers finally slid up the side of the cylinder. As he tried to close his fingers again, the cylinder spun in place. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his body even higher, driving more bodyweight onto his shoulder. He felt something rip in the muscles but blotted out the pain. He forced all the air out of his lungs, minimizing the depth of his chest. He arched his back, trying to bring his butt ever so slightly closer.

              Finally, pain searing in his shoulder, his back protesting and seeing spots from heavy exertion and no air, with one last surge, his middle finger slipped over the tube and he closed on it like a vise. His body, other than his hand went limp and collapsed flat. As he did his hand popped from his pocket and the tube dropped to the carpet. Will’s eyes went wide as his hand scrambled to locate it. A minute later it was back in his hand and before anything else could happen, he hammered his thumb into the small button located on the device’s end. It was designed not to make any sound, to be a silent alarm, but the lack of feedback put a pit in Will’s stomach. Questions raced through his head, “What if when I fell it broke, what if the battery went dead, what if something in the room is blocking the signal?”

              Kip’s pocket vibrated violently, much stronger than anything his phone could produce. He reached into his pocket and produced the cylinder Will had gave them. The LED light was blinding and filled the room with a strobe effect even though the room was well lit. He looked at the tube then up at Johnny. Johnny already had his phone out and hit the speed dial. Russ looked at Kip and asked, “What’s that?”

              “A panic device, seems Alex might be in trouble,” Kip curtly explained.

              “What’s up,” Johnny asked his phone.

              “I was calling you when my phone rang. My panic device went off,” Alex replied.

              “So you didn’t push it?” Johnny asked.

              “No, I thought you did,” Alex responded.

              “No, we’re fine…”

              Both men said, “Oh crap,” at the same time. They both realized if it wasn’t one of them, then it had to be Will.

              “Will’s in trouble,” Alex spoke for both of them.

              “We’re twenty minutes away,” Johnny said.

              “I’m watching the corner,” Alex said. Both men went quiet for a moment then Alex continued, “Damn, we need more men.”

              “We had more men, we were trying to get more men which got us into this jam,” Johnny said apologetically. He knew he was putting Alex into a tight spot but knew there was nothing else to do. Johnny was physically too far away to help, Alex was the only one close enough.

              “There will be no one watching the corner,” Alex protested.

              “No one will know that, we keep quiet, our mystique is that we are ghosts anyway.”

              “Fine, but remember, this was your poor planning,” Alex said. He hung up before he could hear Johnny protest. Johnny did not like having his planning questioned. He used the glasses to take another look around. Everything seemed quiet, it was still during the day and the traffic was slow. He disarmed the door, leaving it disarmed because no one would be up there to disarm it again when he came back. He took the stairs down two at a time and stopped just before the exit. The exit led out into a small alley. He knew he needed to look calm so as not to attract attention to himself once on the street.

              He took a deep breath and pushed out into the alley. He gently closed the door so as to make as little sound as possible. Then he walked down the alley toward the street, trying to walk quickly while looking like he was in no hurry. He walked almost rigid while taking steps just a few inches longer than normal. He knew it wasn’t perfect but hoped it was good enough. Once on the street he kept his pace for two blocks, then he figured he was out of site of the street salesmen and took off at a run.

              Dario had watched Alex’s weird walk and knew who he was. Many of the boys with him didn’t care, but Dario wanted to know more about the guys they now worked for, beyond picking up product and dropping off money. He also realized that he had not seen any of the other guys today. He thought this might be worth some money to someone. He dialed Carl Marfori.

              In room 314, Steve finished with the front room, hallway and bathroom. He headed into the back room. He saw Will laying on the floor and walked past him starting checking through the nightstand and wardrobe. Casually he said to Will, not expecting a response, “I am starting to feel you guys were smart enough to rent a room especially for this meeting. So I’ll finish with a quick check of the room, then you, then call for back-up. Adrian is not going to be happy, we’re going to have to basically start over but what can you do.”

              Steve closed up the wardrobe and headed over to Will. He lay on his side, glaring at Steve. Steve grabbed Will’s upper arm and pulled him to a sitting position. As he did he looked down and saw the panic device. “What’s this?”

              “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Will answered.

              “Actually I would,” Steve confirmed.

              “Well I’m not telling you,” Will narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips.

              “Dude, really? Is it that important? I mean when I call, they will come take you downtown and this little doohickey too. I’m sure someone at HQ can take it apart and tell us what it does. Why not just tell me?”

              “Where is HQ? Seattle PD?” Will asked.

              Steve let out a chuckle, “No, you’re in a little more trouble than that. I’m working on the behalf of the FBI.”

              “So you’re an FBI agent?”

              “Not exactly,” Steve replied.

              “So then what exactly?”

              “What does it matter?”

              “I want to know who is arresting me and who beat me up, so I know who to sue,” Will said flatly.

              Steve evaluated Will for a moment trying to figure out if he was serious. Finally he offered, “If you get down to it, I used to work for the agency and now am a full time contractor for the FBI. The great part about this is, if you do sue, and you did win, the FBI would simply cut me free.”

              Alex sprinted into the hotel lobby and up the stairs two at a time. He tore down the hallway and raced to room 314. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then he leaned his ear to the door and listened. He heard quiet voices, but could not make out the words. He would like a lot more information about what was waiting for him on the far side of the door. He only knew it was not good, otherwise Will could have simply called, rather than hit the panic button.

              Alex had a key to the room, so his choices came down to trying to sneak in, which, if they were in the front room together would mean he would be giving up his element of surprise, or he could barge in, giving him some shock value if they were in the front room, but give away his entrance if they were in the back room. He listened again and guessed. There was no reason they would be whispering and the voices sounded quiet, so he gambled they were in the back room.

              Alex slid the card into the lock and the small green light blinked. Slowly he turned the knob and eased the door open. When the door was wide enough, Alex stuck his head inside and risked a look around. The front room was empty so he quickly slid inside and closed the door behind himself. He paused and listened again. Will was talking to Chris about how Chris came to work for the FBI. That was news, the fact the FBI was involved. As he glided toward the hallway, he prayed Will would keep Chris talking.

              As he crossed the front room, Alex saw the Taser and smiled. Finally, something was breaking his way. He scooped up the device and continued his journey. Sliding quietly down the hallway, he paused when he saw Steve’s back. Steve was grilling Will about their emergency contact device. Will was doing a great job of doing everything but answer the question. Alex looked up and down the hallway. It was too small to have any cover so he decided his best action was to simply move as fast and quietly as possible.

              Alex ducked back to the front room, checked the safety was off on the Taser and fit it comfortably into his right hand. Taking one more deep but silent breath, he moved toward the back room. As he took the last step that put him in the doorway Will saw him in his peripheral vision and inadvertently let his eyes shift to look at him. It was not much but it was enough. For Steve, hyper-tuned for indicators about his surroundings through years of conflict, the eye shift might as well have been a flashing message on an LED screen.

              Without warning Steve dropped his body and pivoted, swinging his right shoulder and arm back, leading with the elbow. The hit was solid and would have knocked most people from their feet and had them grasping their mid-section in pain. Unfortunately, Alex was not most people. The unexpected strike did cause Alex to collapse upon himself a bit, but he maintained his feet and more importantly was ready for the next strike. Steve continued his circle, bringing his left fist around. Normally Alex would have raised his right arm to block the blow, but instead, seeing Steve’s exposed rib cage, snaked in with the Taser and triggered the button.

              Steve dropped like a sack of bricks, piling up on himself then toppling over. Alex wasted no time grabbing two more sets of plasticuffs and zipping up Steve. Because he had been Tasered he expected Steve to be out for a bit but did not want to take any chances. Alex wasn’t quite sure who Steve was but did not want to take any chances. He hurried to the bathroom, got a wash cloth and stuffed it into Steve’s mouth then pulled a pillow case off a pillow and jammed it over Steve’s head.