Gangs Aren't My Style (A Black Death Novel)

Chapter 80 - Guilty

Gangs Aren't My Style

Book I of the Black Death Trilogy

PART FOUR :: Leave The Front Line Behind

Chapter 80 - Guilty

The thoughts were jumbled in James' mind, the memories flashing across his vision even as he stared straight ahead. Their pictures played across his mind's stage, the performers and their actions real even if he was no longer physically present in the scene with them.

The fake wall crumbled beside him, large chunks of slender, brittle plaster raining down onto the floor of his office. James sprung up from his desk in surprise, hurriedly swiping the gun he always carried with him out from under the back hem of his jeans, but he was too late. Agents flooded the room, their masked faces hidden behind protective goggles and helmets. He rushed to push the small panic button placed strategically under the desk but, not wasting a second, they acted immediately and grabbed his arms, slamming him into the wall.

James groaned out in pain, feeling his face scrape against the hard exterior of the wall. Hands were quickly patting him down in search of hidden weapons and others kept him locked firmly against the paneling even as more agents poured into the room from the escape passageway. They kicked fallen bricks with each step into the room, the second wall behind the partition of plaster obviously having been utterly destroyed, its collapse most likely having caused the annihilation of the wall hiding it from view. They had found the entrance beneath the foliage and debris coating the outside of the seemingly normal rock formation.

Submachine guns and assault rifles were held at the ready, all pointed at him. A set of handcuffs were clasped firmly around his wrists and his teeth locked together in response, knowing that there was nothing he could do against so many of them. The grinding of teeth could be heard as the men then clasped similar chains around his ankles. The short lengths of chains between his feet caused him to shuffle as the agents forced him along, two of them holding onto his arms with iron grips as the others formed a circle around him.

He tried to pull from their grips, testing just how strong they were, but the guards only moved closer as a result, their hands clenching around his arms to the point that James was certain they would leave marks behind in their wake. Dragging his feet, he attempted to slow their progress in the hopes of his men somehow noticing the danger and rising to construct a reliable counterattack.

"Halt."

The command came from behind him, the men immediately ceasing their steps and parting to let the speaker through. With the guards unwavering grips restraining him, James couldn't turn his head far enough to see the approaching presence other than to see the shifting of the agents in his peripheral vision.

The punch came unexpectedly, catching him right in the jaw and forcing his head further into the direction it'd been straining to turn, his attacker having come from the other side. Blood ran into his mouth as the skin on the inside of his cheek split against his teeth, leaving a bitter taste as the crimson essence flowed over his tongue. Still James lifted his chin up, keeping his head held high as the man finally stepped in front of him.

"Police Commissioner," he hissed, his voice devoid of any form of respect for the man before him. James' eyes never left the cowardly man before him as he slightly turned his head to the side and spit blood out at his feet. Lowering his eyes would only prove to the commissioner that he had won but the man had done no such thing. If arrested, every headquarter and operation of this gang would be planning out how to break him out or acquit him.

"You think you're so tough, do you?" the police commissioner asked, his tone mocking as if he knew exactly what James had been thinking. "Well, maybe you should know that there won't be a cavalry coming to save you this time boy, because every other known operation of Black Death is being invaded as we speak. Every single one. There will be no one left to save you."