Chapter Eleven
I see Mick’s car pulling up to the building and know that there’s only one weapon I currently have.
His car.
I shed a tear at what I must do.
I push the car up to sixty as I turn into the parking lot of what looks like an abandoned factory. Deciding that I don’t want to die, I slow down quite a bit as I grab Copper and hold him against me as I run the car right into the back of Mick’s.
By the time I actually hit him, I am not going too fast since I really don’t want to kill myself and Copper. Oh, and Lane. Thankfully, it isn’t enough to deploy the airbags, so I hop out and run for the passenger door of Mick’s car.
Lane and Mick are still trying to recover from the hit as I grab the door handle, but it’s locked. Their airbags had gone off and they’re trying to battle them as I beat on the door.
“Lane, he’s a bad guy!” I yell.
Lane turns his head in my direction as Mick turns to me. I quickly duck down but keep hitting on the door until Lane unlocks it.
“Lane, he’s lying to you,” I say as Mick comes around the side of the car with his gun drawn. I hadn’t even seen him get out, but now I’m quite concerned. “Hi…”
“What the fuck did you do to my car?” he growls, clearly horrified when he sees the damage. I am slightly mortified, and it isn’t even my car.
“I’m sorry about that but…you know…?”
Lane steps out of the car and grabs onto Mick, sliding his hand over his neck as he draws it tight. In just as fluent of a movement, Mick brings his gun up and aims it at me.
“If you do anything stupid, I will shoot Felix,” he says.
“So, you’re working for them,” Lane states.
Mick laughs, and I question when this became a comedy. I see nothing funny about having a gun aimed at me again . “Didn’t you wonder how your cover got blown?” Mick asks.
“I knew someone within the department blew my cover, I just couldn’t figure out who it was,” Lane says.
“We can stand here all night, but I’m sure Red’s men have heard the mess and are already headed here,” Mick says. “Let me go or I’ll shoot Felix.”
I look up at him from where I am crouching on the ground.
I can’t help but question what I can do to help the situation since everything I have done so far has been very helpful.
Suddenly, there’s a flash of movement and Mick looks up.
It’s only Copper, but Lane must have heard it as well because he drops his weight down.
With Lane’s arm around Mick’s neck, it throws Mick’s balance completely off and his shooting arm goes up as he stumbles back, and then falls.
Mick lands on top of Lane, but Lane’s grip never loosens.
“Fass!” Mick struggles to get out and Copper’s ears perk up.
He bolts as I leap for the leash, but it slides right between my fingertips as the dog launches himself at Lane.
He grabs the arm that’s not around Mick’s neck and yanks at it.
Lane howls out as I realize that just maybe I shouldn’t have brought a police dog to a fight against his owner.
Mick has stopped fighting by the time I race over, and Lane is being surprisingly calm with a dog attached to his arm.
“Aus!” Lane shouts and the dog hesitates. “Aus! Fuss!”
Copper releases and whines as he looks between the three of us nervously.
“You okay?” I ask hesitantly.
“Good idea, Felix. Bring the police dog,” he says as he pushes Mick’s unconscious body off him.
“He’s really sorry,” I say with a grimace as I pet Copper’s ears back. “It’s good you knew the words to stop him, though!”
“I was just shouting shit at him. Thank God I’ve worked with him before or he probably wouldn’t have listened to me. I don’t even remember if those are the right words. Now let’s go.”
I look at his torn hoodie. “Your arm alright?”
“It’s fine,” he says.
I grab Copper’s leash and Lane’s hand as I rush for the car Mick had been driving. It appears to have had the least amount of damage, so all three of us pile into it.
As I get in, I see that the key is not in the ignition.
“Lane, the keys are gone,” I say.
“Go check his body.”
I start to get out of the car when I see a handful of people coming out of the old factory. They’re walking with a whole lot more confidence than I am currently feeling. A large percentage of that confidence probably comes from the guns quite a few are holding.
“Lane…there are currently about six people with really large guns heading this way. What do we do?”
“Where are they at?”
“Like...three o’clock.”
“Okay, get out. Can they shoot you if you’re on that side?”
“I suppose not,” I say as I push the car door open and crawl out. I tug Copper after me while Lane crawls over the middle console. I hear a bullet hit the window and Lane grabs for me.
“Lane, we’re going to die,” I realize as he pushes my head down.
His arm is protectively wrapped around me as he ushers me forward. I know it’s supposed to make me feel safe, but I still feel like I’m going to die.
“No, we’re not. We’re fine,” he says, so completely calm. Just like he hadn’t been betrayed by his partner, choked him out, been chewed on by a dog, and been shot at. Just like this is an everyday thing.
God, I hope this isn’t an everyday thing with Lane.
“Lane…I’m kind of scared,” I say.
“It’s okay,” he says. “Just scoot on over to the next car, and we’ll try to get it going, alright?”
I nod and shimmy my way along the side of the car. I open the car door before reaching in and grabbing the key. I turn it and the car screams. Not to life. It just screams.
“I think I ruined it.”
“Okay. New plan. What’s closest to us?”
I look around, but my attention is completely focused on the men heading our way. “The men trying to kill us.”
“Felix.”
I look to my left, away from the men promising pain and death, and scan the grounds. I see a small building, maybe a maintenance building, just to the side. “Building thirty feet from us.”
“Okay. We can handle that,” he says.
“We can?” I ask because I’m pretty sure we can get shot up pretty good in thirty feet.
“Yes. Now, they’re not going to want to kill me. They think I know something that they need to know. So, they’re going to try and catch us. I’m going to shield you with my body because they probably won’t care if you die or not.”
“Splendid,” I say.
“We’ll be fine,” he says. He’s so confident that I almost believe him. Almost.
“Lane, you might as well just give up. Where do you think you’re going to run to?” a man says. It sounds like Red, but I am not too eager to stick my head up to see if it is.
“Ready?” Lane asks, completely calm.
“Sure,” I say. “Please don’t let me die.”
“I won’t.”
I take his hand in my right hand and Copper’s leash in the other. “What’s going to keep them from like…shooting our legs?”
“Luck,” he says. “Ready? Go.”
I take off running, pulling him after me as I wait for the pain of being shot and then, ultimately, murdered. It wouldn’t be long now.
I hear a few shots as Lane pushes me forward. We slip around the corner of the building where I look over at Lane. “We’re alive.”
“For the moment, yes. Now tell me what you see?”
“Um…a fence surrounding the property.”
“You’re joking.”
“No. No, I’m not.”
“Okay,” he says much more calmly than he should be when death was literally right around the corner. “Is there a door to get into this place?”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
I run over to it, dragging him and the dog with me.
The door is locked, but it has a glass pane, so I grab a rock and smash the window.
The glass shatters, and I wrap my hand in my sleeve to knock the glass away.
I reach in and feel for the handle before unlocking it.
Quickly, I yank the door open and look around inside.
It’s clearly used for storing things that no one seems to ever want access to again. The only thing not in a box or shoved on a shelf is a lawn mower sitting by the garage door.
“Um…just…like a mower and stuff.”
“Okay, I want you to go inside and start it. Then run back out here.”
“What? Why?”
“Distraction. They’ll think you’re planning a getaway with something. They won’t realize it’s a lawnmower. Go.”
I run inside and jump on top of the lawn mower. I turn the key and thank God it starts. I pull the lock off it and push the levers forward. As it begins to move, I jump off it and race back to the door while the lawnmower runs into everything in its path.
“Okay,” I say as I grab Lane’s hand.
“We’re just going to move to the next side of the building,” he says.
“Alright,” I say as I pull him with me so we slip around the side. I hear shouting behind us as I slow down, just out of sight.
“Move slowly until you can see the area where they had been standing,” he says. “Keep your back pressed against the building and slowly move forward.”
I do, but I’m terrified the distraction inside isn’t going to be enough and they’ll know we’re just fucking with them.
My heart is pounding so loudly I’m positive I won’t hear anyone over the sound, even if they banged a gong right next to my ear.
I slow when I see the area they had been, but it’s clear.
So, I keep moving until I see one man standing watch next to Mick’s cars.
“There’s one man standing next to Mick’s car.”
“Just one?”
“Yes.”
“Which way is he looking?”
“Away from us. The way we ran.”
“Perfect,” he says as he pulls Mick’s gun out. “Have you used a gun before?”
“What? NO! Not going to happen!”
“Okay,” he says. “Then I need you to be my eyes. If I can’t hear him then I can’t tell where he’s at,” he says as he steps up behind me, his chest pressed against my back as he wraps his arms around my front and holds the gun with both hands.
“Put your hand on mine,” he says. I slowly set my hand on top of his and wrap my fingers around them.
“Wait…if we shoot this, won’t someone hear?”
“Not with the noise of the lawnmower. There’s a suppressor on this gun that will make it a little quieter. Give me your other hand.”