The Independents (20 page)

Bishop
slowly
lowered one end of the garden hose down the exhaust pipe until a ticking noise indicated it had reach
ed
the fan blade. He fed
another few inches down
the tube
until
the end of the hose
jammed
the fan
.
He paused, listening for any sign that the sound had been noticed, before
he cut the
garden hose so that it was just long enough
to reach the propane tank sitting beside him on the roof.

Bishop double-
checked
that
the valve was closed and then proceeded to unscrew the
snap-on
safety connector used
by
all outdoor grills. Once the connector was removed, he took a small hose clamp, scavenged from the Ranger’s garage, and secured the end of the garden hose as tightly as possible. The propane was stored at about 175 pounds of pressure. He knew the hose was rated at about 50 pounds max and hoped it would hold long enough for the tank
to empty. Propane is
heavier than air, but dissipates
quickly. Bishop wanted a nice cloud of the explosive gas covering the kitchen floor below. Hopefully, a pilot light would do the trick, but he was ready even if it didn’t explo
de
on its own.
Little by little
, he loosened the valve and released the volatile
gas into the hotel’s kitchen.

Bishop had no idea how long it would take to empty the tank or for it to ignite. He moved quickly away from the exhaust chimney to the other side of the roof, keeping his pro
file very low. He checked his watch, opting to
give the gas exactly on
e minute to ignite. If there were no blast
within the next 60 seconds
, he would go back and
“
help it along.
”

It took about 30 seconds for the
half-filled
tank to empty
, releasing
a cloud of explosive vapor
that spread
across the kitchen floor.
Somehow, the sinki
ng gas missed the pilot light on the gas stove. It was one of Estebon’s men who pushed open the swinging kitchen door that caused the gas to ignite. The motion of the door being pushed
open fanned a wave of the gas toward
the pilot flame on the kitchen’s hot water heater.

Bishop
expected a loud blast and a fire. He was complete
ly
taken by surprise when the roof of the kitchen buckled upwards and the entire hotel shook underneath him. The noise of the explosion was followed almost immediately by the hotel’s fire alarm.
Bishop started
making his way to the
front of the building.

Estebon had been deep asleep when the explosion occurred. He awoke with a start a
nd bolted upright in his bed. Disoriented
, he
initially
thought he wa
s back in Colombia and
under attack. It was
the claxon
of the fire alarm that cau
sed him to snap back to reality
. He
was reaching for his pants when
the sprinkler system came on.
It sputtered, ran for a few
seconds,
and then sputtered again. With only the solar backup system there wasn’t enou
gh water pressure to make a difference
.

Bishop was peeking over the roofline of the hotel’s entrance. Confused people
pour
ed
out
the front door
. He watched carefully for
the Colonel
’s granddaughter or Estebon to
exit
, but so
far,
he couldn’t pick them out of the crowd.

Estebon threw open the door to his room only to be met with a hallway full of smok
e and two of his guards breathing thru
handkerchiefs over their faces. His first reaction was to reach for his pistol because he thought the
masked
men were there to kill him. Once he realized
who
they
were, he barked an order for
them to get ever
yone out of the hotel. He pushed the evacuees out of his way
,
as
he
headed
do
wn the hallway, toward the sentry
outside the hostage’s room. “Get her out
,
and take her
to the Hummer,” he commanded. The guard n
odded and opened the door to retrieve
the
girl, who was now struggling to catch her breath.
Estebon continued running for the front door.

Bishop watched as people continued to pour
out of the burning building. He
headed back toward the kitchen area, carefully avo
iding the weakened roof. He slipped over the
edge
, jumped
down onto the dumpster and then
dropped to
the ground. After checking
to make sure he hadn’t been noticed, he began pushing t
he heavy trash container toward
the front of the hotel.

The Hummer was parked in the handicapped spot closest to the lobby
. Estebon exited the main entrance to the lodge,
and immediately three of his men rushed over for orders. His first response was not an order, but a q
uestion.
“Are we under attack? What is going on?”

“There was an explosion in the kitchen. Other than that, we
’ve
seen no sign of any attack,”
a guard responded.
Estebon scoured the surrounding area
,
looking for clues about
the cause of the explosion, when his
hostage
,
followed by the coughing guard
,
reached the driveway
.
He motioned for the guard to get
Samantha
into the Hummer and for another of his
men to follow. Estebon turned back to the hotel,
and like everyone else,
was
mesmerized by the spreading fire - the flames now clearly visible through the
windows.
No one noticed the l
arge steel dumpster sluggishly roll
around the corner
.

Bishop knew the parking lot slanted downward
and
away from the hotel. He gave the dumpster one last good shove. The
thing was three times as heavy as normal because it was “bear proof.” The walls,
hinges,
and doors were all heavy, thick steel and the wheels were oversized to allow movement and emptying. Bishop walked along behind the rolling shield as
gravity
steered
it directly at the parked Hummer.

Estebon saw the dumpster rolling toward his position and didn’t know what to make of it. He motioned for one of his men, but no words came out of his mouth. He
turned to look for the hostage
and saw the guard un
locking the Hummer door with the girl in tow.

It suddenly became clear to Estebon something was wrong
. A
warning was rising in this throat
,
when Bishop popped around the corner of the dumpster and began firing.

While he was outnumbered
30
to 1, Bishop had the element
of surprise and
the distraction of
the fire. He
placed the red dot of his rifle
scope on the chest of the guard opening the Hummer door and fired twice. Before the empty shell cases had even hit the ground, he pivoted and fired at the man next to
Estebon who
was
trying to raise
his MP5 sub-machine gun. The dumpster came to rest against the front fender of the Hummer
,
and Bishop swept up the young girl and threw her inside with
the smelly trash. He
pulled the keys fro
m the dead guard’s hands and stuffed
them in his dump pouch.

The
already anxious
crowd gathered outside the hotel turned into a scrambling, screaming mob almost instantly
. Most of the men were armed
only
with pistols and Bishop ignored them.
Automatic fire pinged off
the dumpster as B
ishop took cover
behind it. Sparks flew
as the
Colombian’s shots ricocheted off of the heavy
,
steel trash container.
Mothers who had been merely panicked over missing children in the fire escalated to desperation with the increasing gunfire. Two screaming women sprinted
directly in the line of fire being aimed at Bishop. The shooter insti
nctively raised his weapon in order to avoid spraying
the women. Bishop killed the man before he could bring his barrel back down to aim again. That shot
prompted
the rest of the Colombian
s
to
realize they were completely exposed
. The hotel had
been their headquarters, their bunker, and a burning building could not shield them.
As two
of the men looked for
cover, Bishop appeared over the top of the dumpster and took them both out of the fight.

It was only a short time before the
advantage
of surprise
expired
,
and Estebon’s men started to regroup. Bishop did his best to ensure they did so under the worst of circumstances. Estebon had somehow managed to
run a
nd take refuge behind the large stone pillars supporting the awning at the front of the hotel. Bishop saw the man snap around the pillar and fire two shots with his pistol. A hail of 5.56 NATO bullets tore into the limestone pillars. Dust, shards of stone and bits of rock were flying all around Estebon’s hiding spot. It seemed as though Bishop intended to saw through the pillar using his bullets as a blade.

Bishop wanted the
man
badly
,
and it was almost his undoing. Hi
s focus on the boss allowed
two of the guards to move into a flanking position, hoping to catch Bishop from behind. Bishop was saved by his rifle locking back empty. When he reached for a full magazine,
the movement of
the two men
caught
his eye.
Bishop slammed the full magazine into his rifle, slapped the
release,
and shot the two men on the run.

Seeing that
Bishop was distracted
, Estebon
ran
,
zigzagging
in retreat,
around the corner of the hotel.

Only light, random fire was now coming in Bishop’s direction. He knew it wouldn’t be long before Estebon reorganized his forces and came back at him
. Bishop
reached into the dumpster
,
pulled the shaking girl out by the shirt
,
and li
terally threw her into the back
seat of the Hummer
screaming;
“Stay on the floor
!
” as he slammed the door. He pulled the keys out of his pouch and ran to the driver’s side, randomly shooting at anything that moved. He threw his rifle into the front passenger seat and pulled his pistol. He managed to get the keys into the ignition and start the motor when Estebon
and five of
his
men rounded
the corner of the hotel.

Bishop put the big SUV in reverse and slowly let the Hummer roll backwards. The dumpster followed it down the hill. Bishop stuck his left arm out the window and fired a few wild shots from his
pistol just to give the pursuer
s something to think about.
Bullets continued to thump into the dumpster protecting the front of the Hummer.
When he had rolled about 50 feet down the parking lot hill, he gave the engine some gas and pulled away from the rolling trash bin. He backed up as quickly as
possible and once they had travelled
a reasonable distance, he yelle
d
, “H
old on
!”
and cut the wheel hard.

The front end of the
S
UV
swung hard
right,
with
the tires
smoking on the pavement. Bishop slammed the transmission into first gear and floore
d the accelerator, cutting
the wheel all the way. The back glass of the Hummer exploded inward
,
and Bishop automatically ducked
,
although he knew it would
n’t
do any good. He watched as sm
all holes appeared in the glove
box door, each one seeming to get closer to his body. Everything was moving in slow motion
,
and it
felt
like the Hummer was taking all year to get up any speed. Another round from the pursuers hit the passenger side glass. Bishop was trying to drive on
the narrow park road while barel
y keeping his head above the dashboard. Foam from a seat somewhere was now floating through the interior and the
screen of the
expensive navigation system  exploded right in front of Bishop’s face.