CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 11: AMBUSH

"You gonna be okay, Crypto?" my partner asked me as I headed to my car. "I know a place that might hire you temporarily."

"I'll be fine," I told him.

"Okay. Just give me a call if you need anything."

"Sure thing."

"Stay safe out there."

"You too," I said as I got in my car. I wondered why he would tell me to stay safe when I wasn't going to be on the job. I questioned whether he was part of the mafia. The boss did say I wasn't the only cop who worked for him. Could my partner be one of them or was I just being paranoid. After all, he had taken a bullet from a mafia member and told me where he had gone so I could get him. He couldn't be one of them.

As I drove home, I got a call from Uncle Blade. He hardly ever called so I answered even though it was technically against the law to be on the phone and drive, but I put it on speaker.

"Hey, Uncle Blade," I said. "What's up?"

"Are you on your way home?" he asked. He sounded distressed.

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"I just need you to come home, okay? Remember what we practiced." He hung up.

A million scenarios ran across my mind, but I knew one thing. Either Uncle Blade knew I was in trouble or he was in trouble.

I pulled in front of our house but didn't see anything suspicious. No unfamiliar cars were parked nearby, but when I came to the door, I checked to see if it was locked. Uncle Blade always locked it even when he was inside, but it wasn't locked this time. I figured there was an ambush waiting for me inside. They probably saw my car pull up and were waiting just behind the front door. If it wasn't for Uncle Blade, I would've gotten back into my car and sped away, but I couldn't leave him if he was in trouble. Now I understood why my uncle had told me to remember what we practiced. It was about time all that training was put to use.

I opened the garage and instead of going through the door from the garage to the house, I grabbed a crowbar, went to the backyard, and peered in through the sliding glass door. I didn't see anyone, but I guessed one guy would be at the front door, one now by the garage door, and one guarding my uncle, most likely with a gun. That was assuming there were only three of them.

I passed the glass door and hid just beside it so I would be out of sight if someone decided to check it out. I called my uncle and listened for his phone to ring so I would have an idea of where he was.

The ring came from the side of the house and I followed it to Uncle Blade's bedroom. The call was declined and I poked my head up to look through the window.

Sure enough, I saw my uncle sitting on his bed with a stranger holding a gun to his head. They were both facing the door which was the opposite side of the room from the window.

Uncle Blade had taught me how to control my power better which helped me focus it on the gun. It exploded and the stranger dropped it with a shout. I ducked down and made my way to the backdoor as the others I assumed went to check on their buddy.

The tried the door, but it was locked so I used my keys to get inside. I tried to be quiet but underestimated how loud the sliding door was. One guy jumped out at me, but I was prepared. I smacked him down with the crowbar.

"He's over here!" another guy shouted from the kitchen.

A thud came from my uncle's room.

"A little busy here!" another guy responded from down the hall.

I smiled. My uncle no longer needed my help.

"I'll give you five seconds to get out of our house!" I shouted.

"Not a chance!" the guy closest to me said.

He came at me with a frying pan. I swung my crowbar at his face, but he blocked it with the pan.

"Really? A pan is your weapon of choice?" I asked him.

"It's a shield!" he said as he charged at me.

I held the crowbar up and he used the pan to push me into the wall. He was stronger than he looked, but I had practiced wresting with Angelo who was much stronger than me.

I pushed the pan up and ducked under as the guy hit the wall. I took out his legs with the crowbar while he was off balance and beat his back.