Instinctual 2 (21 page)

“I assure you I just want to talk. I’ll leave my man here under the faithful watch of your goons as assurance. They can even frisk me and remove all my weapons.”

The Gladiator cleared his throat but Gary didn’t look.

The Lord cocked his head, his eyes still locked on Gary, pondering the offer. “You would unarm yourself to go with me for a chat? Is that wise?”

“I want to prove to you that I don’t want any more trouble.”

“Stand up!” The Lord turned sideways and motioned with his head for one of the men to frisk Gary.

Stavros stepped forward, gun aimed as Gary stood. Starting at Gary’s feet, Stavros patted one hand up each leg, finding the bulge in Gary’s left ankle. Lifting the pant leg he discovered a boot knife tucked flush against the Achilles tendon. He placed it on the coffee table, continuing his search. Another two handguns were pulled from the waistband of Gary’s pants before Stavros seemed happy that there were no more weapons. He motioned with his gun for Gary to step aside.

“Now you!” he threw at The Gladiator. “Stand!”

The Gladiator looked lethal but said nothing as he stood and when all the guns and knives were removed, the pile looked like a small arsenal.

The Lord shook his head, clucking his tongue. “You look like you were about to start a war!”

“Well, it always pays to be prepared,” mumbled Gary.

“Indeed.” The Lord pointed to The Gladiator. “You sit.” Then he pointed to Gary. “You come. Let us pay a little visit to your spy. Let me tell you my plans for our friend and may I add though, if you try anything, I’ll shoot you dead without even thinking about it.” He pulled his own handgun from inside his jacket.

Gary held up his arms. “You have my word.” He knew his word meant jackshit to the criminal but he said it anyway. He gave The Gladiator a quick nod as if to say, ‘I’ve got this handled,’ before being led at gunpoint back out into the stark prison, relieved to be in the presence of only one shithead. He was biding his time. Phase A of his very incomplete plan that he’d only thought up moments ago had gone off without a hitch. He had the first man he was going to kill on his own. That was The Lord’s first mistake.

Both men walked in silence to Jake’s cell. Phase B was just about fulfilled. Getting the keys to open the cell had been easier than Gary thought it would be. It had been thrown in his lap and he wasn’t going to waste a second of his good luck.

The Lord pushed Gary into the bars of the cell just to the left of the padlock so he could still hold the gun to his target’s head while unlocking the cell with the other. With a click the lock opened and they were in. Gary could hardly believe his luck and needed to get closer to Jake to see what sort of a state he was in or even if he was still alive.

“Go on. Take a look,” The Lord urged, forcing Gary over to the bed.

Gary recoiled as his eyes found the bloody mess between Jake’s fingers. He pivoted to The Lord, using every morsel of constraint not to lunge at the man. “What have you done?”

“Just a little reminder about disloyalty,” The Lord sneered.

“Why didn’t you just let the guy die? Surely it would have been kinder.” Gary could have sworn he saw a flicker of something human in the evil man’s eyes but then it was gone. “What are your plans for him?”

“I kept him alive for my own selfish reasons which are none of your concern. As for my plans? Well, I’m going to keep our patient here for a while and teach him some respect. Something I should have done a long time ago.”

Gary could read between the lines. He knew without a doubt that Jake was The Lord’s unfortunate son. The fact that he’d been kept alive to endure some sort of punishment was despicable. It was not going to happen.

Both men were standing side by side looking down at the body, The Lord still making sure to have the gun pressed into Gary’s right side. “What are you thinking?”

Gary was going for broke. Even with a gun aimed at him he couldn’t hold in his revulsion any longer. “I’m thinking that you are a sick fuck for treating your own son like this. He may have been a spy in your Organization but he wasn’t and still isn’t aware that you are his father. You’ve cut off his finger! What sort of a father does that to his own son?”

Gary felt the cold gun barrel push in harder as The Lord turned. “Bravo! You’ve worked out that this man here is indeed my son. How very clever of you! You’ve been doing your homework. As a matter of fact, I only just found out the imposter is my offspring a little over a week ago.” In a second The Lord’s voice had gone from relatively low-key to brutal. “You think cutting off his finger is severe after he dishonestly wormed his way into my family in order to destroy it? How dare you! He got off pretty lightly, I would say, considering I let him live!”

Gary grimaced and turned his head away to avoid the stagnant cigar breath on his face.

The Lord gripped Gary’s arm fiercely and pushed him into the corner of the room. “Now! If you don’t have anything else to say, you can stand there until I administer my patient his medication. Make a move and it’ll be your last.”

Gary stood still, adrenalin peaking. He needed to find a weapon and act soon or Jake would be left to undergo whatever sick, twisted torture The Lord had in store for him. He thought hard while watching Jake’s captor pick up a fresh syringe off the counter that ran along the side wall behind him and tore the wrapper off with his teeth. He momentarily placed the needle down, picking up a bottle of clear liquid while again using his teeth to unscrew the lid. He then placed the bottle on the counter, picked up the syringe, all the while using one hand. With his thumb he pushed back on the syringe to suck up the liquid through the needle until it was full.

Eyeing a small scalpel on the metal cart beside the bed, Gary decided that when the chance arose, he’d go for it and strike in an area that would incapacitate the asshole long enough to get the gun away. Then it would be a fair fight.

Once the meds were given, The Lord moved towards Gary, gun aimed dead center on his chest. “I think we’ve spent long enough here. Our other guest will be wondering what has happened to us. As far as a negotiation goes, there will be no negotiating. This is my son and as his father, I will be keeping him here. If you have a problem with that then I suggest you tell it to the barrel of my gun.”

Grabbing Gary’s right arm and pulling him towards the cell doors, he failed to notice Gary’s hand swing onto the trolley to pick up the scalpel that silently sat on some tissues. He wasted no time bringing the sharp instrument up and into the side of The Lord’s neck, hoping to hell he hit the carotid artery.

Stunned, The Lord dropped the gun and staggered away, pulling out the small weapon that was lodged deep in his neck.

In the next second Gary was upon the ailing criminal, fist pummeling into his enemy’s face again and again until the big man lost his balance and fell to the floor. As Gary went for the gun on the floor, The Lord brought a foot up and kicked Gary in the knee-cap, a crack sounding from the left leg. Gary screamed, dropping to the floor backwards as The Lord regained his composure, turning onto his stomach to reach for the gun which had slid under Jake’s bed. Why was the fucker still fighting? He should be unconscious at the very least.

Pain tore through Gary’s knee but he didn’t have time for weakness. If The Lord got his hands on that gun it would all be over.

As the criminal reached for the weapon, Gary twisted around on the floor, throwing his chest down on The Lord’s back and head, ignoring the burn from the bullet graze, grabbing the arm that had reached for the gun, trying to hold it out straight so it couldn’t be aimed back at him.

The Lord grunted out, “I should have killed you while I had the chance.”

“That error is going to cost you,” growled Gary as his fingers squeezed the Lord’s hand. The Lord managed to push him off, elbowing him in the face.

A smarting throb tore across Gary’s face, his nose taking the brunt of it, broken for sure. Warm liquid trickled from both nostrils down into his open mouth, taking in air from the struggle. His head was pounding from the blow but it didn’t matter. If he stopped he’d die. One arm was pinned underneath him, his only option was to use his right leg as a weapon. As he saw The Lord turn on his side to take aim again, Gary kicked as hard as he could into the man’s groin.

The Lord howled, still grasping the gun, but faltering momentarily.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you take your last breath,” The Lord bit out as he screamed in pain while re-positioning the gun. It wasn’t even a second and his finger had pulled the trigger.

All Gary felt was instant, excruciating fire in his chest as he doubled in on himself. He fought losing consciousness as he grit his teeth, sucking in his breath.

Thankfully the bullet-proof vest he was wearing would stop the shot from being fatal but it still hurt like a bitch. He clutched at his chest, rolling onto his back.

The Lord had dropped his gun, and was groaning on the floor, his hand moving to the wound on his neck, obviously thinking that his shot would prove fatal to Gary.

Catching his breath for a few seconds, Gary drew his last ounce of energy from the tank, grabbing the gun, which had practically been dropped at his feet, and although in great pain from his own wounds, he pushed himself up, the agony from his shattered knee nothing compared to the intense torture in his chest. Pointing the gun between the eyes of the man he’d been wanting to bring down for years, he spat, “Say your prayers, you slimy insect!”

“Fuck you!” said The Lord, whose arrogant eyes were now lit with a sliver of fear. “Kill me if you have to but there are others to take my place. It’s not over.”

“None of your men are walking out of here alive. I don’t give a fuck who’s next in line on your throne, you piece of dog shit, I’ll keep fighting as long as I have a breath in me. Taking out you and your clones will throw your family into turmoil, but not for a while. They have to find you first.” Gary was just about to fire but thought of something else, “Oh, and another thing. You didn’t deserve the privilege of having a son. Being a father is a gift, not a burden. This is for Jake and his mother!” With that, Gary pulled the trigger, lodging a bullet deeply into The Lord’s skull, leaving a neat hole, dead center. The man went limp, eyes vacant.

Gary pocketed the gun, leaving the lifeless lump on the floor, moving to the bed where Jake was. His body lay still. Gary pressed a finger to the carotid pulse and felt the blood pumping through Jake’s veins so quickly he was sure he had tachycardia. He needed to get him out to the chopper immediately.

Hopping to the door of the cell, he opened it as wide as it would go, trying not to put much weight on the leg with the broken patella before turning and grabbing Jake’s bed, making sure he was totally disconnected from everything, including the heart monitor, and then pushing him out into the hallway. The sound of the metal door clanging shut was music to his ears, knowing that the rescue mission was almost complete. Now all they had to do was tie up the loose ends and get home.

He used the bed to help take some of the weight with his arms as he tore down towards the entrance, wincing every time his foot touched the ground, a loud, rattled wheeze sounding into the quiet from his chest wound.

The Gladiator was still holed up with two gunmen so there was no way he was leaving with Jake on the helicopter. He had to finish this.

The gurney was hard to maneuver through the prison as he turned into the large empty room with the checked tiles, almost running to the door that would lead outside. The medics would be wondering where the hell he was. He hoped they’d obeyed his orders to stay locked inside the chopper.

He still had a long way to go and was sweating all over from the exertion and injuries, trying to breathe through the lava pit inside him.

It was great to be outside in the breezy night, smelling fresh air laced with sea salt.

The stony ground made for a bumpy ride but that was the least of his problems. He wouldn’t settle until Jake was safely in the chopper and airborne.

Once he was clear of the building and heading for the helicopter, the door opened and one of the medics climbed out, seeing the gurney being rushed towards him. He ran towards Gary to assist.

“He’s in a bad way. I need to stay behind and finish what I’ve started so I need you to get this man back to La Spezia hospital pronto.”

“Yes, sir. Are you okay?”

“As okay as can be expected from being shot at.”

“You need medical attention, sir.” The medic was looking at Gary’s swollen knee, busted face, and the hole that had ripped through his shirt with the bullet lodged in the vest underneath.

The woman on board alighted then, bringing with her a bandage. “Here, sir. Let me wrap that knee for you. It will help immobilize it.”

Gary really didn’t have the time to be strapped up but nodded at the woman as she bent to her knees and started wrapping the bandage. A small splint had been placed flush against his skin at the side. It only took a minute as she secured it with a small, metal-toothed clasp.

Her eyes moved up to his chest and then face. “Sir?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, just get Jake out of here.”

Both medics grabbed an end of the bed each and proceeded to lift it into the chopper, the legs collapsing as they pushed it inside. Gary hovered, not ready to leave until he knew Jake was safe.