CLASS ACT (A BRITISH ROCKSTAR BAD BOY ROMANCE) (41 page)

He brandished his handgun. “Someone else is here.”

My first thought was to get Kelly to safety. However, I didn’t know whether or not there were more enemy combatants. I guided her under a desk in the living room. “Stay here. You see someone come from the front, then take aim!”

“Got it-”

A hail of bullets filled the room. They made mincemeat of the furniture. I took cover behind a wall. The sound was as loud as jackhammer. “Son of a bitch is using an assault rifle!”

I glanced over and saw my assailant.

It was a one eyed-man holding a military grade assault rifle.

It was Sergei Petrov. “Damn, it’s Sergei!”

“How’d he get in here,” Kelly asked amongst the gunfire. “He didn’t come through the front.”

I fired off a few rounds that forced Sergei to take cover. When my gun was empty, I didn’t bother to reload. Instead, I used Colman’s gun to fire a few more shots. That’s when I noticed bits of broken glass next to a window. “He got in through the scaffolding!”

Kelly slid her gun across the floor to me. “You need it more!”

I prayed she would make it out of this firefight alive. I took Kelly’s weapon as a backup after reloading my gun. Petrov had me out-gunned. The only thing going in my favor was that he was using an inaccurate firearm and had no sidearm that I could see. However, it was going to be a battle of attrition which I would eventually lose. The man had a squad’s worth of ammunition strapped to him.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a pin being pulled. I hadn’t heard it since my days in Afghanistan. “Take cover Kelly! He’s got grenades!”

Kelly curled into a ball inside the desk. A series of large explosions of shrapnel filled the room. Thankfully, Sergei had overthrown the grenades. Much of its intense blast was localized in the next room.

“I’m alright, how about you?” Kelly yelled. I sighed in relief that she was unhurt. “Jackie, he got in through the scaffolding. Can’t he use it to get out?”

It was a plan. I let out a series of rounds at Petrov until the gun was empty. “Wait for my signal!”

Kelly dusted herself off and got ready to sprint. “Okay!”

I was down to the gun Kelly had given back to me. I waited for Petrov to fire his weapon at us. However, it never came.

I peeked over the wall and saw Petrov angrily swat at his firearm. An assault rifle looks imposing but it’s meant for suppressive fire than for kill shots. It gets enemy combatants to hit the ground. You need a long-range rifle or a sidearm to finish the job. There’s also the fact that full-auto can eat through your ammunition or jam your gun.

“His gun is jammed!” I said, feeling the rush of adrenaline. “Now’s our chance! Run and I’ll cover you.”

Kelly got up. “Let’s go!”

Together we rushed past Petrov and toward the scaffolding used by the window washers. The Russian cursed at us as he tried to fix his jammed assault rifle. The man needed to learn the value of a good, reliable handgun.

The two of us jumped into the scaffold. I peeked over the edge to see Petrov still struggling with his weapon. It would only be a matter of time before he unjammed the gun and open fire on us again.

“How does this thing work?” I asked in bewilderment over the electronics before us. “Do we pull a rope?”

Kelly pointed to a panel. “Up or down?”

I heard Petrov’s gun click. “Up! There’s an elevator on the roof.”

She pushed the button. “Going up!”

It was just in time as our assailant let loose a volley of bullets. They tore through the metal of the scaffold. I felt a sharp pain in my arm but I could deal with it later.

I watched Petrov disappear as we arose.

A streak of blood lined his cheek.

One of my shots had just missed his head.

He was the one who ordered my mother’s death.

I’d get him next time.

Finally, we escaped Petrov and reached the roof. Kelly pointed to the elevator shaft. “There’s our way out.”

We raced to the elevator and opened it with the keycard I had. Thankfully, it hadn’t been damaged in the gunfight. “They might be expecting us to get off on the maintenance level. Let’s hop off the second floor and use the staircase.”

Kelly nodded before her eyes widened in surprise. She was unharmed but covered in debris and dust. “You’re bleeding, Jackie!”

I saw some blood tricking down my right bicep. “It’s a graze. The one you pulled out of me earlier was much worse. I’ll live.”

“We’ll have to make sure it doesn’t become infected,” Kelly said, her medical training kicking in. “That Petrov did some real damage for a guy with one eye.”

“He’s got skills but no sense,” I chucked. “He could have had us dead to rights with a more accurate weapon. However, he likes to go in heavy and loud with automatic weapons. That’s just his style.”

“At least we got what we came for,” she sighed. I brushed some debris off her face. “You have that laptop right?”

I took it out of my jacket and waved it. “It’s still intact. At least one thing came out of there without a scratch.”

After the excitement of the gunfight, the elevator ride down felt like an eternity. We got off the second floor and used the fire escape to leave through the back. We left just before the police and firefighters arrived. I didn’t know whether Petrov escaped as well. Knowing my luck, he probably got out without a hitch.

I turned on the car and began driving us to my safe house. “Mission accomplished.”

Kelly murmured. “He died anyway…”

“Who?”

“Colman died after I spared him,” Kelly said, staring out the window. “Petrov killed him. What was the point?”

There was a pause for some time. “You made a choice, Kelly. That’s something no one can take away from you. Whatever happened to Colman was out of your hands. It proves you’re a better person than him. Than me, even.”

Kelly turned to look back at me. I wasn’t the type of guy you came to when you needed to pour your heart out. However, I could see that my words had made an impact on her. “Let’s go home, Jackie.”

I had never thought of my safe house as a home, especially for someone other than me. “We could do with a little rest.”

The ride home quiet. We listened to some news reports about the mysterious attack. A body was found that was identified as Harold Colman. There was no mention of us so the security recordings must have been scrambled as I had planned.

As we reached the entrance to the safe house, I knew something was wrong. My sixth sense was going off. Kelly saw the look on my face. “What’s wrong, Jackie.”

I got my gun out. “Someone was here. Stay quiet and follow me.”

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw that the door was unlocked. I prepared to breach my own safe house. With gun in hand, I opened the door.

With two men standing by his side, a wheelchair bound man waited for us in the living room. He looked gaunt as his Italian tailored suit hung off him. I knew that man.

And the old man in the wheelchair knew me. “Hello, Jackie.”

I kept my gun pointed at him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He chuckled before coughing. Then, he dismissed his bodyguards who quietly left through the front door. I heard them close the door. “Can’t a grandfather drop by to say hello to his last remaining family member?”

Kelly glanced at me. “That’s your grandfather?”

“And the Don of the Pastore family,” he added. “I suppose proper introductions are in order. I am Joseph Pastore, head of the Pastore family. And you must be Kelly Chambers.”

She looked at me again before speaking. “You know me?”

“Everyone knows about you,” the elderly man laughed. “You’re the powder keg that’s blown up half the criminal underworld. Anyone worth a damn has to deal with Gregori and his little army tearing up this city as he tries to hold onto his money. Now, you’ve blown up a penthouse in uptown.”

“What do you want?” I asked, lowering my gun. “I made a deal with Frank. The Black Fang brought the police to my doorstep. That makes them fair game.”

“Please, everyone knows you needed an excuse to go to war against Sergei Petrov,” he sighed. “Don’t think you’re on some righteous crusade to purge this city of the profane Black Fang. You just used the death of the girl’s father to investigate the Russians. It’s bad enough with that stunt you pulled trying to take down Krause. Now, you’re starting a war that can set this city back to the Stone Age.”

“It’s still within our code,” I argued. “Why are you even here?”

“Because you’re starting a war that might never end,” he continued. “The Black Fang has declared a blood war on everyone who stands in Gregori’s way. It’s bad for everyone’s business. The Russians are turning a blind eye to Gregori so they don’t look weak. The Armenians are skirmishing with the Irish Mob. All of the great Italian families are a hair trigger away from declaring war on each other due to their entangling alliances. It hasn’t been this bad since the sixties. Hell, the prohibition might look like a picnic with what could come.”

“The Black Fang brought the war to us,” I spat back. “Sergei killed my mother. Now, the Black Fang are the only thing that stands in my way from avenging her death. I won’t let anyone stop me.”

He glared at me. “Don’t forget you still work for me. I get the final call.”

“I kill people for you and you stay the fuck out of my person life,” I growled. “I’ve been nothing but an attack dog for you. That’s been our relationship for years. What’s this about? Do you want Kelly?”

The man laughed as Kelly stepped behind me. “Well, Gregori might call this whole blood war off if someone hands him the girl.”

I stepped forward. “Over my dead body.”