Into the Shadows (4 page)

I hurried over to the cover of a big tree
while pulling out my Glock, and was going to wait a few seconds
until they were in better range. The echo of gunfire erupted from
the east lawn, where Diego was. The outside floodlights came on and
then immediately went out, along with all of the interior lights;
they'd cut the power lines.

I snuck a glance at the intruders on my side;
they were moving up faster, I assume because of the gunfire. Still
using the tree for cover, I turned and aimed for the guy in the
middle. I figured targeting him would bring at least two others to
focus on me and not the mansion. I didn't have any moral qualms
about initiating combat on my end; they were the aggressors with
bad intent, and I was outnumbered. I aimed for the legs of the
middle guy and let off two quick rounds. He stumbled and dropped.
Go me.

Automatic fire ripped up the tree I was using
for cover, spraying shards of wood and bark everywhere. I spun back
into full cover. I thought they just had pistols; where did the
machineguns come from? I guessed small sub-machineguns or machine
pistols, which meant that those guys were well-funded. I started
drawing gunfire from two sources. I glanced out and saw one
intruder firing small bursts from tree cover. After another glance,
I discovered that the guy I shot was firing in my general direction
from his prone position. Only two of the five were moving to the
back of the house.

I didn't see the one who was nearest to me
when they were advancing; I checked my flank but didn't see
anything. I waited for a lull in gunfire and spun out to my left
again. The guy with tree cover had just reloaded and stepped out to
resume pinning me down. I had him in my sights before he could
fully raise his gun to a firing position. Pop, pop, pop - gut,
chest, head; he dropped in his tracks.

While the risk was low, I then fired twice at
the prone guy. He grunted as one or both shots hit him, and he
stopped shooting. Almost too late, I sensed something behind me. I
swung back hard and fast, elbow locked with my gun extended. The
back of my hand hit the wrist of the guy who snuck up on me. The
impact knocked my gun out of my grip, and loosened the grip he had
on his Mac-11. I gave a knuckle strike to his forearm, hard enough
to make him fumble his gun and lose it in a snow drift against the
tree. Good, we were both unarmed. Although he looked pretty bulky,
I thought I would have the upper hand. Not quite.

The guy looked surprised that I made him drop
his weapon. I took advantage of his hesitation and delivered a jab
to his jaw and a hook to his nose. I was about to press the attack
when he punched me in the chest with a big fist. I went sprawling
backward and landed on my back in the snow. Holy shit, he hit like
a truck. I didn't know how my nose punch didn't make him see stars,
like it would for anyone else. I scrambled to my feet as he came at
me. He probably didn't want to turn his back on me to find one of
our guns. Steroid boy could've crushed my skull with his hands
anyway.

From a crouch, I launched into his
midsection, hoping to knock the wind out of him. It was a good
spear, and I drove him back a couple steps, but he took it like a
champ. I hadn't fully stood up yet when he stepped in and landed a
shot to my cheek. It turned out that I was the one seeing stars. I
was on my back again, about ten feet from him. I tasted copper;
blood, either from my mouth or nose, or both. I couldn't worry
about that; I had to bring the fucker down.

His slow approach allowed me to get to my
feet again. I backed up to make sure my head was clear, and then I
went after him. I circled and threw debilitating shots that weren't
so debilitating on him. Kidney punch, jab to the eye, palm strike
to the ear, kick to the solar plexus - they only momentarily
stunned him. He swung a backhand that caught my shoulder and sent
me stumbling.

When he came at me again, I sidestepped his
swing and kicked with all my might into the side of his knee. It
crunched and gave out. The bastard only went down for a second
before rolling away with a grunt of pain and got back to his feet,
albeit hobbled. I moved back in and made a series of quick strikes
before he could lock his hands on me. I drove my boot into his
groin, threw two hooks into his hard stomach, and then grabbed his
hair and rammed my knee twice in rapid succession into his
face.

I took a step back. The fucker wouldn't go
down. He was wobbling like drunk on one good leg, with no idea
where or who he was, and his face looked like bloody gristle, but
he didn't drop. I took two steps behind me, located my gun in the
snow, and then walked back and shot him twice in the forehead. Then
he fell. If all of the intruders were on PCP like that guy, I was
in deep shit.

NEWCOMER

I heard gunfire inside. Craig didn't answer
when I called him, but Cordell whispered a reply. "Leo, you okay?"
I heard more gunfire in the background over the radio.

"Pretty much; give me the situation."

I looked at the flashes of gunfire through
the first-floor windows while he answered. "No answer from the rest
of the team. Landlines and power are cut. I'm intact. I have the
client, his wife, and most of his guests in the -"

"Wait a sec, Cord," I said over him. "I've
got more movement out here." From the back of the house, one of the
intruders came around the far corner. He more than likely was
checking on his partners. I found the Mac-11 and picked it up with
my left hand; my Glock was still in my right. I started toward the
returning intruder at a jog, raising both guns as I went.

Someone stepped out from behind the tree
nearest to the intruder. I had no fucking clue who the surprise
visitor was or how the hell he got there. I only saw a glimpse of
the newcomer while he grabbed the intruder and yanked him behind
the tree. All I could see was the tails of a long coat on one side,
and flailing hands and feet on the other. I cautiously moved in
their direction.

Literally two seconds later, the newcomer
came out alone from behind the wide tree. From forty yards off, he
looked in my direction for a quick second. Before I could react, he
darted toward the back of the mansion, out of sight. By his frame
and coat, he looked just like the silhouette I saw at the fancy
nightclub a couple days before.

I heard a faint, wheezing groan to my left.
It was the guy I shot in the legs, and apparently in the torso as
well. He was still lying there with bloodstained snow all around
him. Two holes in the side of his coat were releasing thin ribbons
of steam; cold air hitting deep, open wounds will do that. I
thought about putting the guy out of his misery, but decided I
needed all my ammo. He was going to bleed out soon, anyway. I
kicked his gun away from his twitching hand and ran after the
newcomer.

INSIDE

I moved cautiously around the corner and
looked for any movement. Out on the large flagstone patio was an
unmoving body. I moved closer to inspect; it was one of the meal
servers. I heard more gunfire inside, a few bursts. I tapped my
earpiece. "Cord, are you with me, man?"

He quietly answered two seconds later. "Hit,
I'm hit - not too bad. The client is next to me. We're in the
study, off the living room and foyer, front west corner. Dan is
pinned in the kitchen. I don't know if Craig was able to make a
call. I've already dialed 911."

"I'll do the same here in a sec." I took a
deep breath. "Okay, buddy, hold tight. With all the gunfire, I bet
cops are already coming anyway." I pulled my phone out of my pocket
and dialed 911, then brushed snow off of a retaining wall and set
it down. "I'll be there in a minute, Cord."

I crept across the patio and paused near the
hot tub. I didn't need its heat just then; my adrenaline was
keeping me plenty warm. I stepped over the dead server and to the
French door of the billiards room that was slightly ajar. Before I
stepped in, I thought of the blueprint we studied. Cordell was in
the study, cornering himself. Craig was in the monitor room, across
from the billiard room. Dan was on the other side of the first
floor in the kitchen, closer to the garage bays. No good plan came
to mind.

The best odds were to get everyone in a car
and get the hell out of there; otherwise it might become a hostage
situation. Since I had no idea where the intruders were or how many
were left, my plan was to adapt to the situation. That meant I was
going to wing it.

I slipped through the door, keeping low.
There was a body on the far side of the pool table. It was one of
the intruders; his neck was broken. I patted the body. No wallet,
just extra ammo magazines. There was another burst of gunfire
somewhere upstairs. I peeked out into the short hallway that led to
the large central family room. Directly across from me was the door
to the monitor room. It was open, and Craig's body was inside. The
windowless room stunk of burnt gunpowder, blood, and spilled
coffee.

I turned my head to look into the family
room. Two intruders opened fire at me, pocking the walls and
doorframe with bullets. Well, shit, they could see pretty well in
the dark. I dropped to my stomach, looked back around the doorway,
and unloaded half a magazine at the intruder shape that was in full
view. I pulled back to safety and heard a body hit the floor out
there. More gunfire erupted and automatic rounds chewed up the
walls and marble flooring just outside my doorway. If I didn't move
soon, one of 'em would've used a different door to the patio and
come back in behind me. Not good.

I heard one of the intruders yell, "Get in
there and finish them off!" He meant Cordell, the client, and the
others in the study. I didn't know how many intruders were left -
specifically, how many were waiting for me. Fuck it; I had to get
to Cord.

Once back on my feet, I peeked out into the
hallway again. By then, my eyes had fully acclimated to the
darkness; the dim glow of snow that shone through the windows
helped. I studied the shadows of furniture and didn't see anyone
lurking. Somewhere else nearby, another burst of gunfire went off.
With a gun in either hand, I charged out.

RESCUE

Bullets started flying. One intruder was
between a couch and the far wall. He was closest. And stupid, too;
my rounds ripped right through the cushions and into him. The
Mac-11 emptied, so I dropped it. I kept moving to the right along a
wall. Another guy was a few steps up the wide staircase, firing
wildly. Most of his bullets hit the furniture between us. I fired
back with my Glock in my right hand, pointing across my body as I
moved. We were both just blasting away, hoping for a lucky shot to
hit home.

A figure came quickly down the stairs behind
him. It was the overcoat guy, nothing but shadow and size. Just as
my Glock emptied, he gripped the intruder on both sides of his head
with big hands, and twisted. I heard the grisly crack of a broken
neck. The intruder slumped like a bag of bones. Overcoat guy spun
and ran back up the stairs; I never did get a good look at him.

More gunfire sounded in the next hallway to
my right off the main foyer, the one that led to the study. A woman
screamed. I stepped over two prone bodies, a man and a woman, while
trying to slap another magazine into my gun. I got to the corner of
the hallway just as another gunman came out. As he raised his gun,
I used the full magazine in my hand to strike him hard in the
trachea. Airway crushed, he dropped his gun to grasp at his neck.
While he stumbled out into the foyer making gurgling noises, I
looked down the hallway.

The door to the study was riddled with bullet
holes, but was shut. In front of it on the hallway floor was a body
with a dark puddle forming underneath it. I moved up to near the
door and knocked. A woman screamed again. I waited a couple seconds
until it was quiet again in there, and then said, "Cordell, Mr.
Everett, this is Leo. I'm alone. I'm coming in."

After reloading, I put my gun in my holster
and turned the handle. The door wasn't locked because it didn't
have one. I slowly pushed the door open and saw a large, sturdy
desk lying on its side, facing me. It had a few holes in it. Over
the edge of it, I saw the top half of Cordell's face, plus the gun
he was pointing at me. He saw it was me and relaxed. Six people
were huddled behind him, back into the corner of the room. They
were all well-dressed and terrified; two of the three women were
silently weeping. I noticed that Cordell had been hit in his right
hip and left upper arm. The others looked unharmed.

Big Cordell had already wrapped his tie
around his arm and pulled it tight in a slipknot. I scanned the
room and spotted a small throw pillow, then yanked the sheer drapes
away from the window. I used those to staunch his hip wound and
apply pressure. While I wrapped the drapes over the pillow and
around his big body, I said, "What happened here?"

"First of all," Cordell said calmly, "you're
hit, and you don't look so good."

I looked down at myself. There was a hole in
the arm of my leather coat - damn it - and a thin trickle of blood
came out on the back of my hand from under the cuff. After I gave
myself a second to calm down, I felt a burning sensation on my
upper arm. Cord then gestured to my face; I wiped at my mouth and
chin and felt myself smearing blood. "Nothing bad. What's the
story?"

"Mr. Everett, his wife and guests were moving
to the sitting room after dinner. Men came in from the garage and
started shooting. I think two more came in from the back. I ran Mr.
and Mrs. Everett in here, caught one in the arm. The other guests
followed. Mr. Morgan and his wife were at the rear . . ." One of
the women sobbed.

I tied the drapes off snugly. Cordell
grimaced but didn't protest - stoic motherfucker. "Okay, then
what," I prompted him.