The blackness behind him split apart as a door behind him swung open to a wind swept tarmac whipped with yellow rain. There were three armed men in rain slicks waiting and they had good cover. This had a lot of potential to get really ugly.
"How y'doing Alex? Still trying to be a good guy, huh?" Bayer asked. Even with my pistol's lasersight off he kept avoiding my aim point but I kept trying. Still feeling sorry for the hostage, I winced as I tried to make this shot count. There was no way that this bastard was going to get away and I really wanted him to get the benefit of the entire slug minus the shield.
"Still doing what you're told, huh Alex?" he taunted. "Don't you ever get tired of being the bald man's bitch?"
That surprised me enough to stop moving, but I wasn't going to answer. How in hell did he know that bald man? I told myself that I should just fire and take him out, to hell with who I hit first. The 12 mm would punch through hostage and him without a problem, but I wanted answers first. I also really didn't want to kill the body shield.
"Ever wonder why he wants me dead?" he asked again.
"You've always been a piece of shit and it's caught up with you?"
"It's because I know too much about some of their dirty operations. Stay back Hiss!" He said, motioning to K'rth. At least for now, neither of the dynamic duos had rushed him and I was thankful.
K'rth came up on my shoulder and the closer we got to him, the better chance one of us would have for a clear shot. He knew it and picked up the pace of his retreat.
"I really will shoot this guy!" he said.
"And I'll shoot you."
"Then my boys will shoot all of you and everyone dies. Doesn't solve anything."
"Then give it up."
"I'm dead anyway."
"Maybe you shouldn't have fucked with Cloak."
Bayer laughed and shoved the pistol harder upward into the man's chin and the hostage's face was so red that he looked like he was about to have a coronary. His close shaven head was covered with sweat and blood and his eyes darted wildly looking for a way out. I couldn't read him to tell if he was one of theirs or not, but he looked scared to death.
"You ever wonder why they didn't kill me earlier? I've got a finance chip. It's not like they didn't know where I was 24/7."
"Right."
"I do. It's 8:53:12 right now. Check your watch."
"I don't need to know what time it is," I said. I still couldn't get the angle on him to take the shot and we were running out of room.
"Now it's 8:53:16."
"You can count seconds. I'm happy for you." We were out of room and he was almost at the door. We were at close range with at least three guys who had superior cover because I had hesitated. I was giving our advantage away with every step.
"Oh, screw it," I muttered as I stopped and decided to go for anything I could hit. He stepped completely behind the guy and put the weapon to the back of the man's skull, dragging him backwards. The man in coveralls was whimpering and pleading with me to do something.
"Don't you want to know why they really chose you?"
"Yeah. Why did they?"
"Come with me and I'll show you. It'll be just like old times."
What a line of bullshit. I remember that was one of his finer qualities.
"There are no 'old times'. I couldn't stand you then and hate you right now. One more step and you're dead, hostage or not."
"If you were going to shoot, you would have already," he laughed. "You're a poor negotiator and you're soft!"
I shook my head and began to squeeze the trigger, but that was when the hostage made a move for Bayer's gun. He spun around, shoving the pistol upward towards Bayer's face and the two men danced backwards as they fought for it. They slammed to the side and backwards into the wall near the doorjamb, sending small crates and debris falling to the floor.
Something chirped near me and I jumped out of my skin, losing my aim. When I glanced around for the source, Bayer and the "hostage" dove out the door and vanished. I dropped into a crouch and fired, catching an Interceptor in the stomach. He fired a burst into the wet concrete as he tumbled backwards, but someone pulled him clear. K'rth shot hit that one also, but they got the door slammed shut and something hit it and clamped in place. I cursed and didn't rush forward. I had screwed up royally and was kicking myself.
The chirping had been my cell phone and it had gone silent again, with its display saying "unknown number" or some crap like that. This was either a really pissy example of Deus Ex Machina or else Cloak had been monitoring and decided to fuck with me some more. I turned off the damn ringer again then shoved it back into my pocket with a little more force than it probably needed. That was when McNeil got in my face.
"Why didn't you take the shot? You had him!" he yelled.
"I wanted answers."
"Or maybe you're just too fucking weak to pull the trigger!" he snapped back.
"At least I wasn't the one hiding behind the crates so someone would come and save my sorry ass!"
K'rth intervened before I could hit the bastard and pushed McNeil backwards into Casper. He also gently blocked me with his shoulder and left me straining to get past. I knew that I was simply angry with myself for letting Bayer get clear, but if McNeil wanted to volunteer as a punching bag, that was fine with me. He had earned it anyway.
"You want some of this Cole? You want some of this? C'mon! Come ON!" he yelled as Casper, and now Gael pushed him backwards too.
"Let me go," I said to K'rth because I couldn't get free from his grasp until he let me. He's got hands like vice grips.
"It's not worth it," he said, looking down into my eyes. "There will be opportunities later, so let this one go. Focus on what must be done."
"It's going to be open ground out there. Easy shot for me if we get the door open NOW," Nix said, looking at McNeil and myself.
K'rth stepped back and let go of me, and then looked at the both of us.
"You both must control yourselves, or the DarkNight cell will get away. Decide."
I nodded and replaced the rounds in my Blitzer while McNeil started to work on the door. Since the stupid bastard wasn't through it by the time I was finished, I grabbed a handful of elastic strapping ties and a pair of small crates, then set them onto a powered floor jack. Even as angry as I was, I still managed to drive it better than whoever had brought the forklift through here earlier and wheeled it to about ten feet from the door.
"Move it asshole," I said but he just looked at me like I was speaking gibberish. Shrugging, I killed the power and wound a tie around the throttle before I shifted it into gear. Checking to make sure he was still there, I shrugged again and made sure everyone else was behind cover. When I flipped the electric switch into on, the unit hummed to life and rolled towards the door. Meanwhile, I took cover next to K'rth and waited. I think dumbass must have gotten clear too.
The jack bumped the door and whined as its wheels ground to push it open. A moment later there was an explosion and a flash of heat and debris, followed by the sound of rain and distant roars. Whatever they had put on the other side of that door had taken both it and a portion of the wall out to reveal amber concrete swept by sheets of yellow rain. If we had been impatient and kicked the door open, that frame charge would have turned us into another statistic.
I pulled my hood up and started running, trying to cover my ears against the booms and roars of lifting shuttles at the same time I protected my eyes. Even though that bastard only had a minute or two on us, I couldn't see him or his men in the downpour. The open space and echoing sounds left me disoriented and lost, but Nix bounded up and playfully nosed me on the arm. I followed her as she tracked her prey into the darkness and held my Blitzer low with both hands.
She was enjoying the hell of this and I was glad that at least one of us was having fun.
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