65
ANSON
Stash pulled a radio from his pocket, brought it to his lips, and pressed the transmit button. “Who fired?”
An ungodly amount of time slipped by before there was a response. Finally—
“It came from downstairs.”
I didn’t recognize the voice, but that didn’t really matter.
From her pocket, Detective Moss produced a radio of her own. “This is Moss. We heard a shot. What’s going on down there?”
Different voice. “Murdock, here. We took incoming fire. Single shot breach through a window from a rooftop on the southeast side. Silenced. Probably some long-range rifle. Carmichael took it in the vest. He’s winded but okay. Louden returned fire. That’s what you heard. Over.”
Detective Moss bit her lower lip. “Louden, do you have eyes on the shooter?”
Crackle of static, then: “I did, but I think they went to reposition after taking that initial shot. I don’t see anyone now. Please advise. Over.”
She glanced over at the Kid, then said, “We have reason to believe they’ve taken up position all around the exterior and may be preparing to breach. They’re wearing body armor and carrying assault rifles. Over.”
“Understood.” This came from Murdock. “We have the market secured. Lights are out and we’re on night vision.
We tried to close the exterior security shutters, but no joy.
They’re roll-down electric, and we haven’t been able to locate the switch.
If you have someone up there who knows where to find it, that would be fantastic. Over.”
Detective Moss looked over at Stash, who softly shook his head. Lou didn’t know either. She thumbed the radio button and replied, “Location unknown. Over.”
From the bed, the Kid flipped the laptop back around and began to type away at the keys with some newfound fervor. A few seconds later, a smile edged his bruised face and he looked up.
Detective Moss’s radio crackled again. “I don’t know how you did that, but thank you. Shades deployed. Windows are secure.”
The Kid’s smile grew wider. “They’re wired into the building’s security system.”
“What else can you get to?” Vincent asked him.
The Kid looked back at the screen. “Not much. Lights. Sprinklers. Main breakers.”
“You can control all that from there?” Detective Moss rounded the bed to get a closer look. Whatever was on his screen only appeared to confuse her.
“That’s the raw source code,” the Kid explained.
“I’m guessing it doesn’t make much sense if you don’t know what you’re looking at.
” He pointed at the top left corner. “Everything is organized by module and MAC address. Once I have that, I just need to send a call method to adjust the parameter and—”
“Okay, stop,” she said, shaking her head softly. “I believe you.”
“All that did was buy time,” Vincent pointed out. “We need a real plan.”
Detective Moss raised her radio again and spoke. “Patrol, we have active engagement on the exterior, no less than a dozen assailants, including at least one sniper last seen in a building to our southeast, possibly repositioning. What are your current twenties? Do any of you have visual? Over.”
She waited as the seconds ticked by, her finger hovering over the transmit button.
I exchanged a look with Vincent.
I tried not to look at Stash.
If Meagan was working with the mob, there was a good chance Stash was, too.
She may be his ex-wife, but they were obviously still close.
We certainly couldn’t trust him. I wasn’t so sure we could trust Lou, either.
I knew from talking to Twill that those who participated in his escort service did so willingly, which meant he wasn’t as bad as the traffickers, but he certainly had one foot in their camp.
What would it take to bring him completely into the fold? Probably not much.
Detective Moss pressed the transmit button on her radio again. “Patrol, do you copy?”
Paul’s face went stone white. “They took them out, didn’t they? All of them.”
“That’s not possible,” Moss replied, even though we all knew it was. It was very possible. She pressed the button again. “Murdock? Are you able to raise patrol? My radio isn’t getting through. Over.”
Murdock didn’t respond, either.
Three more shots rang out in quick succession. Semi-automatic fire. Pop! Pop! Pop! That was quickly followed by a single shot, then six more, rapid fire.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Paul muttered, echoing the cadence, his hand absentmindedly scribbling on the pad at his side—these nonsensical doodles of police cars and buildings with bullets flying everywhere.
Some battle brewing in his head and oozing out to the paper.
I half expected him to draw Superman swooping in from above, or maybe his favorite female lead, Maybelle Markel, in full army fatigues and carrying a bazooka.
The Quick had gotten oddly quiet. Nobody made a sound. I heard nothing but Paul’s pencil and my own breathing.
Three more shots, then nothing.
Complete silence down below.
Detective Moss’s eyes were glued to the floor as she reached into her pocket and took out her mobile phone. She keyed in a number, then frowned at the display. “I’m not getting a signal. That’s not possible—there are towers all over this part of town.”
“Signals can be blocked,” the Kid said softly. “Radio and cell phones.”
She thumbed the mic on her radio again. “Murdock? Louden? Carmichael? Anyone read me? Over.”
When nobody answered, Stash leaned toward Lou and quietly said, “Make sure everyone who has a weapon is in some kind of defensive position. Tell everyone else to go to the cafeteria, particularly the kids. That’s our most insulated room. Nobody gets in there. Understand?”
Lou gave him a quick nod and disappeared down the hallway at a run.
Stash then looked at Vincent. “You’ve got a gun, right?”
Vincent nodded.
“I’m heading to the south stairs. I need you boys on the north side backing up Pudge. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes,” Vincent told him. “But—”
“But what?”
“You know we can’t hold them back forever. Not against that kind of firepower. We need a Plan B.”
Stash offered a weak nod, and something became abundantly clear. While he understood Vincent was right, he also knew there was nothing else we could do. There was no Plan B.
He bolted down the stairs, spouting orders into his radio. Orders, I was fairly certain, nobody could hear.