Caught In The Crossfire

Chapter 6

Max floored the gas pedal, trying to get as much speed out of the his BMV as he possibly could. He risked a look in the rear-view mirror but he was relieved to see that Inés, David & Alberto were keeping up in the unmarked police car

They had left the highway where they had spent the last hour & 10 minutes abiding by the speed limit a half hour ago & were now heading east through a wide, grassy field.

"How much longer?" Inés's voice sounded over the radio speakers.

"I'd say about another hour."

"That area seems somewhat abandoned. It was specifically an acid processing plant that was later found to be a drug trafficking checkpoint. The only thing of interest is the old warehouse. Why would Wolfe be keeping a base there?" David asked.

"Because it's the perfect place," Max replied pushing his shoes harder against the accelerator. "He's got a warehouse & the processing equipment at his disposal, not to mention the old dealers who have probably turned into mercenaries. Since the place was shut down, no-one would think to look for him there."

Max glanced at the road map. Another 40 miles & they should make it. He only hoped there would be enough gas to get them there and also to a hospital should the need arise.

***

20 minutes later found them outside the area. All of them dressed in black jumpsuits, boots & black gloves to hide their camouflage against the clear night sky. Most of the area was taken up by the huge warehouse, with smaller buildings that housed the processing labs clustered around its vicinity. Max spoke quickly to everyone.

"You're in charge of finding Miranda. I'm going after Wolfe."

"But isn't this whole thing about getting Miranda out of there? Why are you going after that guy?" David asked.

"Because," Max replied. "If we don't take care of him this time, he'll come after us again.

You have no idea how dangerous he is. Just rescue Miranda, wherever she is & get yourselves out of there. You hear?"

"Ok,"

"You guys will keep radio transmissions coming every 10 minutes.

***

About a half hour had passed since they had split into teams & Max was getting a little too impatient. He rounded the corner at a brisk pace & found exactly what he'd been looking for.

***

"If you were a psychopath who's after Max, where would you keep Miranda?" David wondered aloud as he & Alberto ducked behind another stack of crates. They were with Zorro, a police dog, tagged along silently in front of them, sniffing the ground.

"I don't know, David," Alberto replied. "I'm not a psychopath." David shook his head in disgust.

"You're not helping," he whispered. Alberto shrugged.

Zorro took another sniff of Miranda's scarf that Max had brought for him, then turned back to the ground, making sure he had the right scent. Five seconds later, the little bloodhound was scampering across the main storage area of the warehouse at top speed, barking excitedly the whole way. The two police officers then ran off after him, as quick as they can but they were fighting to keep up with the dog's limitless energy.

***

In the gloom of the room, Max could see a blurry outline of a human figure, roughly his own height, maybe an inch or 2 shorter but with a stockier build & larger hands, with his back to Max who then flattened himself against the wall & slid towards the unsuspecting guard. The man remained a statue. Max paused about 3 feet away. Then Max made his move. He let go with a flying kick, catching the man at the base of the neck. A groan escaped the guard's lips as he turned around in time to receive the left hook Race had waiting for him. The guard recovered quickly, throwing Max a right, left, & another right hook consecutively, each blow landing somewhere on his face. Max recovered & took another shot, lashing out with his foot at the guard's midsection. The man doubled over in pain, clutching his abdomen.

Max performed a sweep, knocking his opponent to the ground. He seized the collar of the

guard's shirt with both hands, heaving him off the cold floor & slamming his head against an even colder wall.

"You tell me where Wolfe is & I just might let you walk out of here with your brain still inside your skull," he hissed as he held the muzzle of his gun to the man's temple. "Most of it, anyway." The man nodded vigorously.

"He's in his room. Its corridor 8, second left, third door on the right. I can take you there," the guard replied. Max knew by his voice that he could be no more than 17.

Child labour, he thought bitterly. had stooped to a new low this time. "You're not taking us there. You are going to get in the closet that's on your right & you will stay there while I lock the door. You won't make any noise. Got it? Good. Now move," Max commanded, not moving the barrel of his gun. The guard stepped nervously into the closet after handing his captor the keys, obediently sitting on the floor while Max locked the door & slammed it shut.

***

"David to Max, do you copy?" David said as he pressed his earpiece, hoping Max would answer. The static crackled onto the line. "Max!" He turned to Alberto. "No-one's there."

Zorro skidded to a halt in front of a large metal door on the wall opposite the way they had entered. David shuddered at the identification on the door. Freezer Unit.

The dog's frantic clawing at the metal told him Miranda was in there. Of all places, this psychopath had to pick a walk-in freezer. They cursed in their mind and they were wondering on how they were supposed to get her out of this one. As there were no visible locks & the steel door was over a foot thick but there was something on the wall caught his eye. A closed metal panel about the size of a circuitbreaker, the door held by a simple latch.

David flung the thing open, strangely relieved. The panel had the words 'Door Release' printed in chipping black paint on the inside of the metal cover. On the other side of the door was a small multi-coloured keypad; obviously used to enter an access code. A big wide grin spread across David's face as he stared at the multi-coloured wires in the door release that crossed each other like a cross-stitch pattern but it wasn't obviously where they were supposed to go. Already he pictured, in his mind, that where the right connections would be to get the freezer door open. He removed 2 wire clamps from his belt.

After giving Zorro an affectionate scratch on the head, he set to work. Alberto caught on, pulling his own set of wire clamps from his belt, & began his own tinkering.

***

The room wasn't difficult to find, it was nothing more than an old, abandoned storeroom.

Max stopped and he hesitated he scanning the room, his eyes fell onto the door at the end of the corridor. He wondering that confronting Wolfe was the best thing. His team might be right about simply going after Miranda & leaving it at that.

Max wondered if he might be letting his own anger and the thirst for justice is get in the way of proper judgement. Sure, Alex's supposed death had been a thorn in his brain for many years & he had been friends with guy but maybe leaving this go & concentrating on his compañera was the wiser choice.

No, Max told himself. I'm doing this for everyone. I can't have this psychopath as a constant threat to my family & I. With a new resolve, he flung the door open. Max started to wonder if the guards had been wrong. He barely recognized the man standing against the back wall.

"Hello, Winter," Alex grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "I was wondering what took you so long," he said as his voice filling the room. "It's rude to be late, you know."