Time Pirate 3, page 18
“No, you did all your work,” Joe said as his frown deepened.
“Great,” I said, and I moved to stand up. “Am I good to go, then?”
“Wait,” Joe said as he held a hand out. “I want to ask, um, everything else is okay?”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I returned his frown.
The question felt insincere, and I got the feeling my boss was trying to stall me from leaving or something. Or maybe just trying to scare me into performing better, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“You seem… distracted,” Joe said slowly.
“Well, like I said, I’m probably just tired,” I said with an edge of annoyance in my voice. “I spent all weekend being sick. That’s not fun, you know.”
“I know.” Joe nodded.
“Right, well, I just need a good night’s sleep,” I said as I pushed myself to my feet. “I should probably get home and do that. Am I good to go?”
Joe hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded again and stood up.
“Yes, of course,” he said as he rounded the desk and grabbed his keys. “I am leaving, too. Come on, we walk together.”
I masked my annoyance as I waited for my boss to lock up his office. Then we ascended the stairs together, and at the atrium, we paused.
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I hiked my bag up on my shoulder.
“Yes, tomorrow,” Joe said.
He stared at me until I felt uncomfortable, so I nodded and headed for the door. I crossed the atrium and made it to the glass doors, but then I peeked back, and Joe was nowhere to be seen.
“Weird dude,” I muttered to myself under my breath.
I stepped out into the DC air, which was thick with the smell of car exhaust fumes and boiled hot dog water. The sidewalk was busy as ever, and I held my bag close to my body as I zigzagged through the crowd until I reached the parking lot. I figured I should stop off at Joan’s townhouse for some more clothes before I headed back, so I texted Joan when I got in the car and let her know I was heading back to Richmond via the townhouse. Then I linked the phone to Bluetooth and put one of my own rock playlists on before I finally buckled up and headed out of the parking lot.
I took a right turn out of the parking lot and pulled to a stop at the first red light. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel in beat to the music and glanced around as I waited for the light to turn green. My eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, and my heart started pounding as I saw a black SUV that was sitting at the red light three vehicles behind me.
It looked like the SUV that chased me last week.
The light switched green, and I felt my palms dampen with sweat as I accelerated. I kept my eyes glued to the rearview mirror as I switched lanes. The SUV was staying farther behind than before, and like they were trying not to get made.
I suddenly grinned as an idea came to me.
I accelerated quickly and took the next left turn. Then I drove down the crowded street and checked to make sure the SUV had followed me. Once I saw them turn onto the same street as me, I banged my fist on the steering wheel excitedly.
“You motherfuckers want a chase?” I said into the rearview mirror. “Well, you’re going to get one.”
Chapter 12
I continued to drive like I didn’t know I was being followed, and I kept one hand on the steering wheel while I used the other hand to call Craig. The call went straight to voicemail, which meant he was probably in the middle of important police business.
“Shit,” I muttered before I disconnected the call. “Looks like I’m on my own.”
I remembered what Craig had told me a while ago, when I’d gotten into an altercation with some criminals while picking up Emily’s fake passport from the dodgy area of town. An area of town so dodgy, police didn’t bother to investigate every shooting incident that occurred.
I glanced at my bag in the passenger seat, where my gun was zipped inside.
I kept one hand on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road as I leaned over and unzipped my bag. I blindly fished around inside the duffel bag until I felt the cold, hard metal of my .38. I laid the gun across my lap as I grabbed the steering wheel again, and I checked my rearview mirror to see the SUV was still behind me but hanging back and trying not to be noticed. I took the next left, which led us closer and closer to the bad neighborhood where I’d bought Emily’s passport.
The SUV didn’t seem to notice I was a step ahead of them, so I decided to play into it more. I rolled my windows down and cranked my music up. I even stuck my hand out of the window and air drummed along to the beat, so it looked like I didn’t have a care in the world. All the while, I discreetly shot looks in my rearview mirror to try to get a glimpse of the driver. I noticed a second shadow behind the tinted windshield, and I couldn’t help but grin. Obviously, they’d sent along a second goon since just one didn’t get the job done last time, and I felt a strange sense of pride knowing I needed at least two Russian mobsters on my tail.
The traffic light ahead of me turned yellow and then red, so I slowed to a stop while I eyed the SUV in the rearview mirror. They let two cars separate us at the red light, but they didn’t let me out of their sight. When the light turned green, I took the next right, and the more I drove, the worse the buildings around me got. They turned from well-maintained expensive office buildings, to smaller businesses with fading paint jobs, to full-on dilapidated buildings with broken windows and hanging shingles.
“That’s right,” I muttered as I watched the SUV follow me down an even dodgier street. “Keep coming.”
Now that we were off the main roads, it was harder for the SUV to look like it wasn’t following me. There were no cars between us now, but the SUV kept a respectable distance behind the Volvo.
I took the next right, and there was a run-down building on both corners of the street. After the run-down buildings were several vacant lots with busted-up chain-link fences and overgrown grass. The lot on the left had a few abandoned, burned out cars in it, and I decided to seize the moment. I checked my rearview mirror to make sure the SUV had followed me, and once it took the turn onto the street, I slowed my driving and let the SUV get much closer. Then I suddenly swerved to the left and slammed on my brakes. In one quick motion, I unbuckled my seatbelt, pulled my gun up, leaned out the window, and squeezed off two shots at the approaching SUV.
The driver slammed on the brakes as one of the bullets embedded itself in the hood of the SUV. The other bullet went wide and sailed into the abandoned building across the street.
I heard angry screaming from inside the SUV, and suddenly the wheels spun and skidded against the pavement as the black car peeled away. The driver gunned it and sped past me, but I wasn’t giving up without a fight. I aimed the barrel of my gun at the back left tire and squeezed a shot off. Seconds later, the SUV jerked wildly to the left and then spun out as the bullet took out the tire. I watched as the SUV spun to a stop, and I held my breath for what was about to come.
I quickly stepped out of the Volvo, and I kept the barrel of my gun raised and leveled at the SUV. I expected the occupants to jump out immediately, but the SUV just sat there. I frowned and considered approaching the vehicle, but until I knew who or what was inside, it was better for me to keep my distance.
Then I saw a flash of movement behind the windshield, and my grip on the gun tightened as I prepared for the showdown. Sure enough, both of the front doors of the SUV flew open a moment later, and two angry-looking men emerged from the vehicle with pistols raised.
They ran toward me with their guns raised, and they started shouting at me in a foreign language. They looked exactly like the evil henchmen in every mobster movie I’d seen. Bulky, angry, and bald.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I shouted as I kept my gun aimed at them. “I don’t know what you’re fucking saying!”
The men continued to scream at me angrily in what I was pretty sure was Russian. I continued to scream at them that I couldn’t understand what they were saying, until one of them said something I recognized.
Petrov.
My blood ran cold as I registered the name of my boss coming from the mouths of these mobsters. All of my suspicions were confirmed in that moment, and I knew my boss was behind this little cat and mouse game.
The mobsters must’ve noticed my hesitation because their screaming got louder, and they were suddenly a lot closer than they were a moment ago.
“Fuck it,” I said.
I aimed at the nearest henchman, and I pulled the trigger.
The angry, bald man jerked back as the bullet lodged into his shoulder, and he screamed in pain. His friend reacted instantly by firing a shot off at me, but I anticipated that, so I flung myself to the ground and rolled to the other side of the Volvo. From the ground, I aimed at the second henchman’s foot and squeezed off a shot, but the bullet ricocheted off the road and disappeared into one of the vacant lots.
“Shit,” I muttered. I only had two more bullets, so I had to use them wisely.
I heard the uninjured henchman’s footsteps approaching fast, followed by the crack of a bullet being fired from his gun. I heard the bullet land somewhere behind me, and I peeked over the hood of the Volvo quickly and fired another shot in the henchman’s direction. That one also went wide, and I was down to my last bullet.
I was definitely going to need a new gun if the Russians were after me.
Another bullet soared over my head, and there was more angry Russian screaming as the injured henchman rejoined the fight, with blood dripping down his arm and off his fingertips. But he held his gun in his other hand and fired off a shaky shot in my direction. I threw myself on the ground again and took aim underneath the Volvo. I took more time than I probably should have aiming at the uninjured henchman’s foot, but it was worth it, because when I pulled the trigger, the bullet seemed to take off a few of the fucker’s toes while he screamed in pain.
Now that I had no more bullets left, I quickly holstered my gun and looked around for a makeshift weapon. I spotted a softball-sized chunk of concrete next to a pothole nearly the size of my face, and I snatched up the piece of rubble, stood up, and chucked it as hard as I could at Bloody Shoulder. The concrete spiraled through the air and smashed right into Bloody Shoulder’s nose, which also exploded into a kaleidoscope of blood.
Toeless let out a roar of rage, and he started limping toward me with his gun raised, but he seemed to be in too much pain to trust himself to get a shot off.
Which I could use to my advantage.
My brain worked faster than I could keep up, and before I even realized what I was doing, I’d reached into the open passenger side window of the Volvo and yanked my duffel bag out. With both hands, I launched the duffel bag at Toeless’ face. He instinctively caught the bag and stumbled backward, and I took that opportunity to hurl myself at the evil henchman.
We both grunted as we tumbled to the ground, and I tossed the bag to the side and sank my elbow into Toeless’ face while he struggled underneath me.
“Yebat!” Toeless screamed in fury.
“Oh, my fucking god!” I pummeled my fist into the bulky man’s abdomen. “I told you I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
I sensed motion to my right, but before I could glance over, I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against my temple. Bloody Shoulder had his gun pressed against my head as he spoke to me in Russian, but he hadn’t immediately killed me, which meant they wanted something more than my death. Maybe Joe had ordered them not to kill me. How kind of him.
“English, motherfucker,” I said. “Do you speak it?”
Again, my mind instructed my body what to do before I could even keep up, and suddenly I was moving. I swung my right arm backward and knocked the barrel of the gun away from my temple. I used the momentum from the jerk to launch my upper body backward, and I swung my legs up and kicked Bloody Shoulder away from me.
I quickly scrambled to my feet and lunged for the gun that Bloody Shoulder had dropped when I kicked him. Then I hovered over the two henchmen and swung the barrel between them.
“Alright,” I said with narrowed eyes. “I have some fucking questions for you two.”
The men started shouting at me in Russian, and I almost shot them just to shut them up.
“Enough!” I snarled as I waved the gun threateningly.
This shut the two men up, but it didn’t magically make them understand English. I motioned them both to their feet, and they begrudgingly followed my orders, but Toeless had to lean against Bloody Shoulder’s unbloodied shoulder to keep himself upright. I took a few steps back from them, just to be safe, but I kept the gun trained on them.
Before I could interrogate them any further, another blacked-out SUV suddenly appeared around the corner. The tires screeched loudly on the asphalt, and the vehicle took the corner without slowing down and almost spun out in the process. The henchmen and I watched with slacked jaws as the SUV righted itself and then sped down the street, but then it swerved and aimed its hood directly at me.
“Fuck!” I screamed as I was forced to throw myself out of the path of the SUV. Then I covered my head with my hands in anticipation of a big crash.
The SUV screeched to a stop right before it barreled into my Volvo. The back door flew open, and I heard more Russian shouting as Bloody Shoulder and Toeless hobbled for the door. I stood up and squeezed off a couple shots at the SUV, but the door slammed shut, and the vehicle peeled away from me.
But not before I caught a glimpse of the driver.
I couldn’t be totally sure because I only saw his profile for a second while the door was open, but I would bet all my money that it was Joe Petrov driving.
I lowered the gun as I watched the SUV speed down the street and narrowly avoided the second SUV already in the road. I memorized the license plate as it receded, even though I was sure the SUV would be stripped and abandoned before my shift at work tomorrow.
Once the second SUV took the corner and disappeared, I sighed as I looked around at the mess we’d made on the street.
The Volvo had a bullet hole in it, as did the remaining SUV, plus there were trails of blood all across the asphalt.
I glanced around again as I gathered my thoughts. I figured the first thing I should do is secure all the other firearms at the location, so I searched around for Toeless’ gun, and once I found it, I wiped both of the henchmen’s guns down so my prints weren’t on them. Then I weighed my options, but ultimately I decided the best thing to do was to leave the guns with the shot-out SUV. What I didn’t need was an investigation to follow this shooting and for me to be found with two possibly illegal firearms.
I tossed the two guns into the open window of the SUV, and then I searched for any evidence that linked me to the scene of the shootout. Once I grabbed my duffle and was sure there was nothing else, I had no choice but to get back in the Volvo and drive away from the scene of the crime. I had to resist the urge to call Craig and let him know what happened, but I couldn’t risk getting my detective friend in trouble. If this did come down to an investigation, phone records from my phone to his right after the crime wouldn’t look good for either of us.
Instead, I drove right out of the city and headed toward Richmond. I decided against going back to the townhouse in case there were more of those fuckers lurking in the shadows. All I could think about was getting back to Joan and Emily and holding them in my arms.
Once I merged onto the interstate, I carefully called Joan through the car’s Bluetooth.
“Hey, babe,” Joan said when she answered the phone, and I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“Hey,” I said, and even I could hear the relief in my voice. “Are you and Emily at your family’s house?”
“Yeah, but we were just about to go--”
“Don’t,” I interjected forcefully. “Sorry, I just mean, um, I think you should stay there. Behind the gates.”
“Is… everything okay?” Joan asked slowly.
“Probably better to talk about it in person,” I said. “But don’t worry, I’m safe. I’m on my way to you now. Just please stay at your family’s estate until I get there. For me.”
“Of course,” Joan was quick to reassure me. “We’ll stay here, but you’re gonna owe me. My family is driving me up the wall.”
“I promise I’ll make it up to you,” I said with a grin. “Tell Emily I said hi, and I’ll see you two beauties soon.”
“Okay,” Joan giggled. “See you soon.”
We disconnected the call, and I cranked up my music to try to calm the adrenaline that was still coursing through my veins. The long, smooth surface of the highway hummed beneath my feet in a relaxing melody, and soon my hands stopped shaking from the adrenaline surge of the shoot-out as my mind raced with possibilities.
So, it really looked like Joe was out to get me. But not get me, get me. I figured if those three Russian mobsters really, really wanted me dead, then I’d be dead. Which meant they didn’t want me dead, but they clearly wanted something from me. That something, of course, was the watch, but they also didn’t seem certain that the watch was in my possession. If they were, what was to stop them from just jumping me and taking the thing? If they weren’t, they were definitely still keeping an eye on me and hoping I’d lead them to it.
Instinctively, my eyes flicked to my rearview mirror, and I scanned the vehicles behind me. I didn’t see any big black SUVs with tinted windows, but maybe they’d decided to switch things up after I took one of the vehicles out of the fleet. Paranoia bubbled inside me, and I scanned the faces of the drivers behind me for anyone who looked Russian or mobstery.
I shook my head as I realized I’d just drive myself crazy inspecting every single car in my vicinity. The sky in front of me was darkening, and I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me as the adrenaline finally faded. My stomach grumbled loudly as my appetite came rushing back to me, and I still had an hour to get back to the Giles estate. I cranked the music up even louder to drown out my rumbling stomach, and I kept a close eye on my rearview mirror as I made the rest of the drive.
