Caught In The Crossfire

Chapter 1

Max Winter & Alex Wolfe drew their guns as they entered the silent warehouse. The concrete walls were lined with foam rubber as was the ceiling. The sheets of material were piled everywhere, creating a crude maze. Max went ahead as a strange smell pushed into his nostrils. It was bitter, sickening. Whatever was causing it was definitely on the floor & Max's boots, along with Alex' and it made wet sticking sounds as they stepped in it.

"You smell that?" he asked his partner. Alex nodded.

"It smells like kerosene to me." Max followed his work friend into the rank, shadowy depths of the main storage area. A dusty mist which covered the floor along with the kerosene & the strong stench of mildew combined with the fuel made his head swim.

An hour worth of searching brought them to nothing as they were about to call the whole thing off when they heard a loud scream which sounded from the back of the warehouse. Alex broke into a run, heading through the dark storage area & into a narrow corridor, splashing kerosene on his black boots & the hem of his jumpsuit legs. Max sworn at him to wait but Alex seemed not to hear. Max suddenly sprinted after him, following him down the corridor, spying a room with the door open at the other end of the storage area.

5 barrels of TNT were stacked against the far wall of the room. Max didn't think much of it at first, as he skidding to a halt behind Alex who was at a large door at the end of the hallway from which the screaming started again. As Alex yanked open the heavy wooden door & pointed his gun into the room & the 2 men stepped in cautiously, it hit him like a lightning bolt. He knew they had walked straight into a trap. The kerosene. The TNT. It all made sense especially when they found no-one in the room because it was a tape recorder sat on the floor, playing a soundtrack of screams.

Alex turned to run out the door again but the wooden thing slammed in his face & locked, & no sooner had it done so then it erupted into bright, hot and glowing orange flames which spread quickly over the kerosene-soaked floor. Max clambered up onto the desk against the far wall, an 8-foot tall steel menace that the fire wouldn't touch. He pulled a coughing Alex up with him, then leaned on the wall to reach the small window above the desk. He threw a hard punch at it & cringed at the sound of shattering glass. His fist was bleeding heavily as he swung his legs out the window & grabbed the branches of a nearby tree with his feet. Alex reached up to take Max's hands when a very loud explosion sounded from the other side of the warehouse. The TNT! Max screamed silently at himself. Alex, startled, let go of Max & toppled backward off the desk & into the inferno. Max let out a yell as his feet slipped from the branch. He landed with a sickening crunch of breaking bones. Gasping for air & shivering from the rivulets of sweat that ran down his body, he looked up in time to see the warehouse collapse from the explosion & Alex Wolfe cremated beneath the night sky.

***

Max bolted upright on his bed. He had dreamed about that night before & each time, it became more frightening, though a man like Max Winter would never admit he was scared. Firstly, Christian, his best friend, would never let him live it down & second, how was he supposed to be a police officer if he was afraid of his own nightmares? He looked at the book he'd been trying to read before he had dozed off in the boiling Mallorcan heat, slightly amused: Dante's Inferno. He wondered if Dante had him in mind when he wrote that story. Slipping off the couch as the morning sun streamed through the window, Max asked himself the same question he had for 12 years: had Wolfe actually died? He had a bad feeling which he didn't want to know.

***

After an unsettling night sleep, Max miraculously manage to get up at the same time as always before having a quick shower to wash away the sweat then he got dressed. Since it was Wednesday and it was midweek treat day he went to Carmela's, a small bakery which everyone who works with him likes, to get a some of ensaïmadas and other special local delicacy.

Max arrived at work just as the overnight staff were going home and some of his work friends were already there. As he started to walk down the corridor to go to his desk where his partner was waiting for him. When suddenly he walked into someone sending papers all over the floor.

"I'm so sorry, it's my fault." Max said to the person that he banged into when he looked up, he felt his mouth drop and saw a pair of an angry pair of eyes looking at him. "Scheisse!" It was Inés Villegas, the chief of Palma Police.

"Thanks," said the woman, she was about 5'6 with shoulder length naturally wavy auburn hair and brown eyes. "We just got a hit on our suspect," she paused. "Blake, Winter, my office ahora." She barked at them to go to her office.

***

After a quick update on the case and they were allowed to leave. Inés was watching them very carefully, she saw as Miranda left, that Max who was behind her, pushed her along & out the door by her bum which made Miranda give Max a look that didn't go unnoticed

Ah I knew it Inés thought to herself You don't give that sort of look to someone who is 'just a colleague nor do you put your hand on their 'derriere', Inés realised that Max and Miranda's relationship was more than just work partners. Why didn't they just admit they are hopelessly in love Inés thought and spare the rest of us all the soppy glances and goo-goo eyes? Before she got back to resorting paperwork. Anyway, paperwork, joy.