Palmer Glass—in the flesh, but wrapped up in bandages from the waist down like a mummy not quite finished.
I’m too surprised to move. Just yesterday I saw this guy taking pellets from a shotgun and go down screaming. Just yesterday I’d thought the next time I saw him he’d be hooked up to a spider web of IVs being force-fed chemicals in a hospital. I never thought I’d see the same guy again, but there he is the same as ever, just a little out of commission.
“You gonna move any time today, Q? Or you really expect me to go over to you?”
“Son of a bitch,” I say, and throw my arms around him. “Never thought I’d see you looking the same way after yesterday.”
“You really expected that I’d let those assholes keep a piece out of me and get away with it?”
“That was a hell of a lot more than a piece.”
“Pieces, then. But nothing more than B-B gun stuff. Honestly, Q, you’re not getting rid of me so easily.”
“Bolt said the doctors thought it’d be eight months.”
“Doctors. What the hell do they know? You ever known a doctor take a bullet?”
I let him go and turn around to look at all the guys we’ve got lined up. Crash is over on the side, talking with Nail. Bolt and Kirill are with a group of four other guys I’ve only seen maybe one other time. Young ones from the looks of it, just fresh out of their teen years. And next to these guys, another three I’ve never seen before.
Bolt sees Palmer and me with each other and comes over, putting out an arm that I take.
“Good to see you in one piece,” he says. “Mob man said you’d gone to do recall.”
I nod and look over at his little group of four. “Who’ve we got?”
“One contract kills. Took down a coke dealer just a few weeks ago. They may look like kids, but they fight like animals.” He points, naming them off one by one. Dephonso. Saint. Chisel. Vat. I memorize the names and run them through my head a few times to make sure they’ve stuck.
“And over there, the real kids. Plenty of practice at the firing range, but they’ve never seen the field before.” He runs through the last few guys for me. Ash. Blondie. Key. And Theo, talking to one of them in a voice I can’t hear. Prep-talking.
“They look nervous.”
“Weren’t we all the first time? Anyway, I’ve already said something to them. They’re a lot less antsy than they were an hour ago.”
“You think they’ll pull through?”
“I wouldn’t have brought them here if I didn’t. They’re excited to be working with you and mob man. You guys are practically celebrities to them, you know?”
“I didn’t.”
“Hey, Q!” Nail catches me scanning the guys and comes over. The hand he slaps on my back almost knocks me over. “Watcha got for us? The guys are getting curious.”
“Get them all over here, and I’ll tell you.”
Bolt motions to the two groups of guys to come gather over by Theo’s car. I go through the basic layout of what I’ve just inspected. Number of guards. Entrance points. Objective. The works. No one says anything until the very end.
“That’s it, then?”
“From all that I saw, yeah,” I answer Palmer.
“Eight guys with automatic weapons. One confirmed psychopath and one girl.” I catch a side grin from Palmer. “We’ve had worse.”
“In terms of numbers and size. This is different—we’ve never had to do a rescue before.”
“You think it’s much different? It all comes down to shooting the bad guys.”
“While not shooting the good one. But it’s not you guys I’m worried about. It’s Oren.”
“Whaddya mean?”
“If he gets wise to the fact we’re there for Maya; if he gets pinned down with her, first things he’s gonna do is put the gun barrel to her head to keep us from getting any closer. And if he thinks even for a second that he’ll lose her, you can be sure he’ll put a bullet in her head sooner than have us come and take her.”
Everyone goes quiet. Probably thinking what a whole new can of worms this is compared to other times.
Finally, Bolt pitches in, “You said these guys probably got all four sides covered, yeah? I don’t see how adding the girl changes anything. The best bet is to bring their attention to one side heavy enough that they forget about the others. You keep that up long enough and keep it up hard, they’re gonna put all their strength in one corner instead of watching their backs. So when they do that, we’ll have a guy standing ambush at the back. That way when your guy tries to escape, we’ll be there waiting for him.”
“Flush him out, sure.” I nod. “We’ll do two teams of five and six on either side. Sandwich him in. Right team will go first to draw fire and left team after that.”
I look at Palmer, and he shakes his head. “I’ll have to be a cheerleader for this one, Q.” He says it like a joke but I know how disappointed he is. No one likes getting left out of a fight when he knows his brothers are going to be in danger.
“I know,” I say.
“But that still leaves my daughter in danger,” Theo interrupts. “Are you telling me the best option you have for her still amounts to putting her right in the middle of a hail of gunfire? This is absurd.”
“Bolt is right, unfortunately,” I say. “This is still the best option for getting Maya away from even more gunfire. Isolate her and Oren.”
“But now you’re going back on what you said before. Do you honestly think she will be in less danger with Oren than in the house?”
“No—not at all. Which is why we need to make sure we take him down as soon as we can. Flush him out into an ambush. Give him no time to turn on her. That’s the reality.”
Theo gives me a look that could rip steel. I face him right back. “It’s a choice between a bad decision and a worse one. That’s the best we can do.”
He stares and starts to shake his head slowly. “I don’t want to accept that,” he says, quieter. “I can’t accept that. But it would appear I have no choice.” His eyes get softer. “I’ve put my trust in you to keep my daughter safe these past few months. Not once have you given me reason or cause to doubt your confidence.”
I nod. “Then it’s settled.”
“Almost,” Theo says. “Maya may be your charge, but she is still my daughter. Fathers must look after their children. I will be the one to shoot down Oren Kroll when the time comes.”
“Are you sure?”
“I have to be. Although it’s not often that those who have been wronged the most are the same who have the ability to administer justice.”
It’s difficult to know where this is coming from. If Theo is acting out just because he wants revenge or because he thinks he can deal it. But I can’t argue. It’s his daughter.
“Okay. Bolt—you’ll go with him and make sure all goes well?”
“Sure thing.”
“The apartments have these little lawns in the back, with covered porches. I betcha once we get inside the building Oren’s going to try going out that way. That’s where you need to be when things get hairy.”
“Okay.”
“Alright then.”
Everyone waits like they’re expecting some last inspiring speech or motivational words or something Hollywood like that. I even start to expect something, even though I sure as hell don’t like speaking in front of other people. And when you’re about to go light up a house—when you know you’re going to be rushing into a bunch of bullets flying all around you—how do you even start to describe all that in a few words?
The simple answer is, you don’t. You let your guns speak for you.
“Greenhorns group up with the experienced ones. Make sure you’ve got plenty of ammo. Pack Items for close range: it’s going to be crowded in there. We head out in ten.”