Chapter 11

 

Julia pulled her gran out of the way as Joe rushed around the dark little shop. He read labels and tossed items into a large basket.

“Don’t fire unless you have to,” Joe ordered Ed.

“They’re almost on us,” Ed said.

“Nearly there.” Joe lifted the heavy basket he’d filled and dropped it in front of the open doorway.

“What can we do?” Julia asked him.

His eyes were warm when he glanced at her. “Just do what you’re told. I’ll get you out of here in one piece. Trust me.”

Something passed between them, like an electric current riding on the air. “I do,” Julia told him.

He nodded and turned his attention to the basket.

There was shouting outside. The sound of running footsteps coming closer. Julia fought the panic bubbling up inside her. The sudden need to hide was almost too strong to resist. She looked at Joe and took strength from his calm, confident demeanour. He’d keep his word. She knew it. She did trust him—with her life. Her heart was another matter.

Joe swept everything off one of the tables. The table had been made from an old wooden door sitting on a couple of supports. Joe held up the thick wooden panel.

“It’ll have to do,” he said before spinning to Ed. “Everybody behind me. I’m going to light the basket and toss it out the door. Ed, you get the women up the ladder.” Joe pointed at Julia and her gran. “You two get your asses up there as fast as possible. We’ll bring up the rear.”

Julia felt a wave of dizziness at his command. He didn’t mean to leave them—did he?

“You’re coming too, right?”

“Absolutely.” It was a promise. She saw it in his eyes.

Without another word, he struck a match and held it against the string that trailed from the basket. Once it was sparking, Joe stood and kicked the basket into the alley. Fast as lightning, he grabbed the wooden door.

“Try to shield your eyes. This is going to give off powder. It will hurt like a bitch,” Joe said. “Julia, use your scarf.”

Julia yanked up the scarf as she grabbed his waist. Ed tugged Patricia in behind them. They cowered behind Joe, and the old wooden door, for the longest ten seconds of Julia’s life. And then the night exploded. A multitude of sharp, deafening blasts, made louder by the echoing effects of the narrow alley. Men shouted. Lights flashed. A thick yellow cloud filled the air.

“Run! Run!” Joe yelled.

As a group, they charged for the wall with the ladder attached, trusting blindly that Joe could see the way. He’d unholstered his weapon again and crouched behind the board, shielding them from the alley and the explosions.

“Boost them up,” he ordered.

“Already on it.” Ed grabbed Patricia around the waist and thrust her up towards the ladder. She grasped the rungs and started to climb.

As the dark mustard-yellow cloud became thicker, Julia lost sight of her grandmother.

“Your turn.” Ed pulled Julia to the ladder. Strong hands gripped her hips.

“Joe? You’re coming next, aren’t you?” Her voice trembled.

“Right behind you,” he said, but he didn’t look back.

“Up you go.” Ed didn’t give her time to prepare—he just lifted her high above his head.

Julia grabbed the third rung of the ladder and scrambled to get her foot on the bottom one. The cloud beneath her had grown too dense to see through. It looked like a war was raging in the alley. Lights flashed. Explosions burst and echoed through the narrow passageway. There was shouting and coughing. It was terrifying.

And Joe was in the midst of it.

Julia climbed, aware of the ladder shaking and creaking beneath her. She felt the sharp edges of the corroded metal bite into her palms. The scarf her grandmother had given her was pulled up over her mouth and nose, and still she felt her throat clog from the stinging powder Joe had released. It nipped at her eyes, making them water.

The ladder shook and shifted as someone climbed onto it beneath her. Joe? Please be Joe. Please be Joe…

“Hurry!” Her grandmother’s voice came from above, and Julia looked up to find her leaning over the flat roof, her hand extended ready to help Julia climb over.

Julia grasped the offered hand and scrambled over the cool brick onto the concrete roof. There was an eerie second or two of silence before a different kind of banging rent the air.

Gunfire.

“Joe!” Julia leaned over the edge. She couldn’t see anything. The alley was filled with dense yellow smoke.

“Get back!” Ed ordered as he scrambled onto the roof beside her.

He instantly leaned over the edge, a gun in his hand. “Joe. I’ve got your six. Move out now.”

The ladder shook and Julia held on to the top of it, comforted by the vibrations, knowing it meant Joe was on his way.

Ed aimed into the middle of the alley and fired.

There was shouting. Julia didn’t understand the words, but she understood the meaning. They were out to kill them. To kill Joe.

In the distance, sirens shrieked. The police were coming. Too late. Far too late.

There was a thud beneath them. The ladder groaned and then it stilled.

Joe wasn’t on the ladder.

He was back in that alley. In the cloud. With their attackers.

No! No, no, no, no, no…

“Joe?” Julia leaned over, craning her neck to see something, anything. He had to be there. He had to be safe. He had to.

A strong hand yanked her back. “Keep down,” Ed ordered.

“Joe!” She turned to Ed. “He isn’t on the ladder. You have to do something. He needs help. Help him.”

“He can take care of himself.” Ed aimed into the alley and fired off two more rounds.

The sirens became louder. Julia strained her ears, desperate to hear something, anything that would tell her Joe was still alive.

Thudding. Gunfire. Shouting.

“Joe?” Ed’s voice snapped through the chaos.

“Go!” Joe shouted.

Relief almost brought Julia to her knees, and then the word penetrated. Her eyes shot to Ed, who was grim. “What does he mean? Go?” Her hands started to shake, and she could feel the blood drain from her face.

“Joe? You sure?” Ed called again.

“Get them to safety.” There was a pause. A thud. A grunt of pain. “Go!” Joe roared.

Julia stared at the edge of the roof in horror.

Ed cursed and fired several shots into the alley. The sirens were on top of them now. Flashing coloured lights penetrated the thick haze.

“You heard the man.” Ed grabbed her arm and spun her away from the edge of the roof. “We need to get out of here.”

“No!” Julia struggled against him. They couldn’t leave Joe. No. No. It wasn’t happening. “No!”

“Julia, we need to leave.” Her grandmother grasped her hand. “Joe wants us out of here. We need to do what he wants.” Her tone was sympathetic but firm.

Between Ed and Patricia, Julia was dragged across the roof—struggling all the way.

“We can’t leave him!” The sounds of fighting, cries of pain and intermittent gunfire were deafening.

There was a war going on down in that alley. And Joe was in the middle of it.

“We can’t leave him.” Julia fought to get back to the ladder.

“No!” Ed snatched her around the waist and lifted her, striding forward with Julia’s feet dangling above the ground. “You can’t do anything to help. You’d make things worse. Joe is doing this to protect you. Don’t let him down.”

Patricia jerked a door open. It led to a stairway. Julia barely registered it. Her eyes were still in the edge of the roof leading down to the alley.

Sirens. Whistles. Feet pounding the ground. Gunshots. Wails of pain. Shouting. The sounds swirled around Julia until they formed one overwhelming cacophony of violence.

Ed carried her into the stairwell, holding her tight as he ran down the stairs.

“Joe!” Julia shouted.

All she heard was her own call echoing back to her.