Rogue Alliance (21 page)

             
“Yeah, I’ll bet.”

             
Victor
pulled Shyla closer.

             
“
Are you feeling okay now?
” he asked,
“maybe I shouldn’t have dragged
you along after all. You should stay in the car.”

             
She nodded.

             
“Yeah, maybe you’re right, Victor. The headache has passed but I
still
don’t feel quite myself.
Besides, I don’t want to intrude on your business meeting.
I’ll just wait in the car and enjoy the sunshine. I don’t mind. It’s better than waiting on the plane.”

             
Victor looked pleased. Brennan looked suspicious.

             
They pulled into the
industrial quadrant of town; buildings which had been around for decades
and had played a role in the growth of the city. Most still bustled
with activity and production, a
few w
ere abandoned and desolate.

             
She waited until Victor and Brennan slid out of the limo, walked across the empty parking lot and into the side door of the building before she pulled out her cell phone. Grateful that the divider window was up to keep her conversation private from the driver, she dialed Eli Straton’s personal number.

             
“Eli
,
here. What’s up, Shyla?”

             
“No time to chat, Straton. Victor and his right hand man are meeting Ricardo downtown for a little ‘come to meet Jesus’ co
nversation. I need you to send
unit
s
to
Third and Convention in the industrial district.”

             
“Whoa, whoa, wait. What’s going on?”

             
“Jesus, Eli, this is no time to question me, just send your guys down here before it gets ugly and Ricardo winds up like his girlfriend.”

             
“I’m on it, Shyla, just hold on a sec.”

             
Shyla waited while he put his cell down and made the call.

             
“Okay. They’re on the way. Now fill me in.”

             
Shyla gave him the run down.

             
“So where are you now?”
Eli asked.

             
“I’m outside in the parking lot with our chauffeur.”

             
“Good, stay put.”

             
Shyla heard shouting from within the metal building.

             
“I gotta go, Boss,
”
she said.

             
“Shyla, wait…”

             
She hung up the phone, opened the
car
door and bolted acros
s the parking lot. Going into a
situation like
this without a gun was possibly suicide, but her call to duty was too strong
to ignore
.

             
The side door where Victor and Brennan had entered was heavy. She pulled it open and was surprised when she saw only an empty warehouse
, not a place of work
. She should have known Victor was purposely misleading the conversation.
He was probably the one who suggested the meeting place, not Ricardo.

             
Staying low, she crept along the far wall inching toward the one set of stairs. There
was movement above.

             
She took each stair quietly, holding her breath, listening for any clue as to what exactly was happening up there. When she reached the top it opened up and a long hallway stretched the length of the warehouse. It looked like it had once been the offices of the old abandoned building.

             
Again
,
the sound
of
an argument reached her ears. Voices were raised in anger and she knew immediately that there were more than just Victor, Brennan, and Ricardo. Ricardo had been smart enough to bring a few friends. Shit, this was going to get out of hand fast. She hoped the units would arrive soon.

             
Like a panther, she crouched down and followed the sounds.
When she came to the third office on the right, there was a dusty window which looked in. Daring to sneak a peek, she caught sight of what looked like a stand off.
Victor and Brennan stood side by sid
e with their backs to her
.
She noticed Brennan’s rigid stance and thought he looked ready for action.

             
Ricardo stood facing them with two of
his
street thugs on
each side. There were three more on the far left side of the room with weapons aimed directly at their guests.

             
“You’ve got a lot of nerve Ricardo,
” Victor said,
“
stealing from me, lying to me, and now having your goons hold me at gun point. Not cool, not cool at all.”

             
Even with guns point
ed at his head, Victor was
an arrogant ass, thought Shyla. He seemed to have no fear, or maybe he thrived on it, she wasn’t quite sure
which
.

             
“What did yo
u expect me to do,” Ricardo asked
, red-faced and wild-eyed, “just show up and let you off me like you did Sammy?”

             
“Now you know I didn’t have anything to do with that
,
Ricardo. But that really doesn’t matter, now does it? What matters is that you and I have business to settle and that’s what we’re going to do. Now why don’
t you calm
down and have your guys put their guns away.”

             
Ricardo looked frantic.

             
“Nope. No way,
”
he said.
He raised his revolver.

             
Shyla’s mind was racing. She needed to turn the ta
bles on the situation fast. S
he noticed that the office was lit only with one fluorescent light
straight above; w
ithout it, the room would
be nearly pitc
h-
black. The
re
were no windows to the outside.

In one swift move she burst through the door and flicked off the light, kicking the door shut behind her to prevent any light from filtering in. Ducking down she scampered against the wall before anyone could take aim.

             
“What the hell?” she heard Ricardo say. There was a lot of cussing and commotion but no one fired their weapon. She was breathing heavily and hoping her eyes would adjust just a little. But then again so would everyone else’s.

             
There was a guttural choking sound to her left not far from where the three men had been standing against the wall.
Someone dropped their gun and it clanged against the linoleum floor.
The distinct crack of bone
rang out and
she imagined a punch landing on a jaw or cheekbone.

             
Her eyes began to adjust and she was able to make out the hint of shadows moving in rhythm to the violent scuffle which was taking place. She heard footsteps approaching her in a dead sprint. Jutting out her right leg she took down one of Ricardo’s men. He landed hard
while another man ran past and threw open the door. Thin, gray light filtered in allowing only slight visibility. Now the shadows were much clearer.

             
The man she had tripped looked her direction and with a vicious glower on his face he reached out and grabbed her by the leg pulling her to him. She didn’t fight it. When she was close
enough
she raised an elbow and brought it down hard on his right temple. He flinched and blinked. She brought her elbow down again and again until his body went slack.

             
Once again
,
she turned toward the sound of a fight. At first she thought that
Brennan was being attacked by the other two of Ricardo’s friends, but a closer look revealed that it was the two men who were being attacked by Brennan. He was moving at an incredible rate, his movements almost too quick to distinguish. He was fluid and violent.

             
She scrambled across the floor hoping to get to one of the guns
that had fallen in the commotion
.

             
The sound of sirens tore through the dark.

             
“Shit. The cops,” someone said.
Suddenly everyone scattered.

             
Heart pounding in her ears, she glanced up to see Ricardo
dash toward the door. A gun shot rang out and Ricardo suddenly jerked to floor grabbing his left side down low.
             
“Agh,” he groaned
.

             
She looked back and saw Victor aiming his gun at Ricardo’s head.

             
“No, Victor!”

             
The lights suddenly flickered on. Victor
turne
d and gave her the oddest l
ook as p
olice officers rushed into the room.

             
“Get your hands up,” they shouted.

*

             
Though most of the
police officers recognized her, they protected her identity and handcuffed her with the rest of the men. They escorted her out of the building first.

Outside, the glaring sun was nearly blinding. The chauffer was already cuffed and in the back seat of one of the cruisers. They pulled her aside and began questioning her.

One by one, officers began to file out of the building with their arrests. Paramedics had already entered the building to address the
injured.

             
When Victor emerged
, hands cuffed behind his back,
his jaw was set and
defiance
was
in his eyes. He refused to look her direction. Brennan remained calm and alert.

             
Ricard
o was strapped to a gurney and
frantic.

             
“I
didn’t do anything,” he yelled, “t
hey were gonna kill me. Arrest them, not me. I’m telling you, I didn’t do anything.”

             
He was looking back an
d forth between the two EMT’s
who
were at his side. She could tell he had only a flesh wound. He would be released by nightfall and locked behind bars.

             
Shyla wanted to get out of sight. She started to turn a second too late.

             
“Hey. Hey you,” Ricardo shouted.

             
She didn’t have to look to know
who he was shouting at.
Pausing, she chanced a
glance
at him,
anyway
.

             
“
I know you,” he shouted,
“
I’ll talk to you
! You know me!
Let me go and I’ll tell you anything you want to hear.”

             
Her head felt like it was
going to explode.
Everyone
, including the other officers
,
stopped in their tracks
and stared
at her expectantly.
The look on Victors face was like steel. Brennan’s expression showed recognition and understanding.
She turned and sli
d into the back of the cruiser
, out of sight.

             
What a goddamn mess.

TWENTY
-TWO

             
Shyla’s
footste
ps echoed down the hall as she
fo
llowed the security guard to
the vis
itor
s
’
area. She dre
aded seeing Victor, but
she needed to see him face to face. After the incident th
e day before, she assumed he
a
t the very least had some questions
.