The Law of Three

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Bachelor Party

 -- New York City --

They holed up in the basement of an abandoned apartment building. Roland and Irina had kicked in the windows and hauled the remnants of his force underground. The place reeked of urine and rat feces.

Sarkey stood guard by the window. Maria and Jamie rested on the floor.

“We need medical attention.”

“So who should I send out to get a doctor? First Aid supplies?” Roland responded.

Irina did a quick check of Maria, Sarkey and Jamie. They looked beat to hell. Jamie had incurred the worst beating but all of them needed stitches and cleaning up. To bind wounds they’d had to tear up what clothing they had on. She glanced at Roland. His bruised face and swollen wrists couldn’t go unnoticed.

“Tell me I don’t look as bad as you,” Irina asked.

“Not as bad as Jamie. Not as good as Sarkey,” he answered.

“Thanks a lot,” Jamie sneered.

“We’ll have to risk it, Roland.”

“Every cop and Fed in New York City will be looking for anything suspicious,” Jamie broke in. “Too many dead fellow officers in the last few days. I guarantee you the words already out. They’re shaking every snitch in the city. All you need is for a civic-minded citizen or someone needing some reward money to see any one of us looking like this and that’ll be it.”

“So what do we do?”

“We wait for dark then move out. It’ll be safer then.”

“Never heard you say that before,” Irina scoffed. “Where do we go?”

Before Roland could think of an answer Sarkey called from the window.

“We got company.”

Roland limped to the window. It hurt to breathe. He wondered if he had any broken ribs.

“Look down the street to the right,” Sarkey motioned with a hand covered in dried blood.

Hers or theirs?

Roland spotted figures moving in the hazy light of the early morning. They carried weapons.

“Also there,” Sarkey added, pointing up the street.

The gunmen had them boxed in.

“I’m sure they’ll have the back covered as well,” Irina mumbled, despondent.

“Ammo?”

“Clip and a half a piece if we’re lucky,” Sarkey replied.

“I almost wish they were cops,” Roland sighed.

“Why?” Sarkey asked.

“Because the Toksoba won’t take any prisoners,” Irina answered for Roland.

“Help Maria and Jamie to the front windows. They might as well die fighting,” Roland ordered.

“I’ll take the back,” Sarkey volunteered.

“How did they find us so quick?” Irina asked.

“Five wounded people fleeing a gun battle leaving a trail of blood,” Roland replied. “I’m surprised it took them this long.”

Roland sighted down the barrel of his gun and waited.

 --

The word came down from the Director of the FBI. Take down the Cuman Union Compound. The NYPD were only too happy to comply, but the States Attorney held up giving the go ahead as they put together a case that would convince a judge to issue a search warrant. They didn’t want to take any chances that any evidence they uncovered during the raid might be excluded from court proceedings because of sloppy paperwork. They wanted convictions to put an end to the Union’s reign of terror.