Fatal Obsession

Chapter 103

  Aaron ducked as a fist aimed towards his face. He brought his fist up, landing a solid punch to the guy's midsection. He brought his gun up, squeezing the trigger. The tall figure dropped heavily to the ground; unmoving.

  He had been fighting non-stop since he entered the building. Half of Dirk's men were killed but Dirk was still nowhere to be found. He was probably holed up somewhere in this place.

"It's all clear on my side." Kevin's voice echoed in the earpiece.

"Come to the east side. The front is all clear but Dirk is hiding somewhere with more men."

"If we have no idea of his location, you need to be careful."

"I want you to..." Aaron saw the slight movement before dodging from the iron bar aiming for his head.

  The metal bar struck the wall with a loud bang. He ducked when the metal bar swung again in his direction.

  Exerting his foot forward, he landed a solid kick to the guy's chest, sending him flying backwards into the wall.

"Aaron, I'm coming your way."

  Aaron ran across to the stairs leading up, firing at the two men coming down the stairs. He bypassed the bodies and continued up the stairs.

"Meet me at the top of the landing."

  More sounds of gunshots were heard from the direction of the first floor.

"I think Dirk has a safe room somewhere in this place. It wasn't on the blueprint."

"He probably had it installed in secret."

  Aaron checked his gun then leaned his back against the wall. "I think I might know where he's hiding."

"How do we get inside?"

"I have some explosives in my bag."

"Do you want to take him alive?"

"Dead or alive. Either way he's coming with us."

"I'm two minutes away."

  Footsteps on the stairs were his signal to prepare for any danger. He waited with bated breath, his gun aimed and ready. When he recognized Kevin's gear, he let out a breath.

"We have two more floors to search."

  They searched the empty rooms, making sure none of Dirk's men were lying in wait. When each room was cleared, they slowly made their way up to the fourth floor. The long dark hallway had only one door, situated at the end.

"Do you think that door leads to the safe room?"

"No, but we should be careful. We haven't seen anyone and it's too quiet."

"What do you think is behind that door?"

"There's only one way to find out."

  With slow measured steps, they walked towards the door while Kevin kept a lookout behind their backs. The door had no markings, it was just a plain brown door. Aaron signaled to Kevin, who nodded his head. At the count of three, he grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. He shifted his body up to the wall just in case anyone started shooting. After a few seconds of silence, he swoop down low to sweep the room.

  He managed to shoot the two gunmen before they could aim their guns at the door.

"I see you're still fast as ever."

  They entered the room to look for anything that might be useful. Aaron paused when a banging sound caught his ears. He twisted around, trying to locate the source but it didn't seem to be coming from the room. He walked toward a pile of boxes, hearing the banging sound getting louder.

  Still holding the gun with his right hand, Aaron lifted the first box. A small metal cylinder banged against an overturned bucket. A thin string leading from the bucket caught his eyes. His gaze followed the thin wire and he froze when he recognized what it was.

"Kevin, I need you to slowly back out of the room." Aaron ordered as his feet carried him towards the door.

  Kevin didn't ask any questions. He inched his way towards the door, his gaze on him. A whirring noise suddenly echoed like the room.

"Shit... we need to run, right now!"

  Both turned at full speed towards the doorway, escaping just as the room exploded. Aaron used his body to cover Kevin's from the fallen debris.

  He felt a hot sting across his back but didn't utter a sound. He waited a few more minutes to make sure no more debris was falling before getting up.

"How did they know to set a bomb?"

  Kevin got to his feet and looked up at the floor. "What's the plan?"

"Find Dirk and get the hell out of here."

  The floor above them was still accessible, but they had to take their time to get to the other floor.

"The bomb was obviously planned to stop us from searching for him."

  The atmosphere on the fifth floor was more subdued. It was as though Dirk had gathered his remaining men to set up an ambush. The quietness unsettled him. He made sure to keep his eyes open, gun aimed and ready to shoot. When they cleared the fifth floor with no trouble, Aaron found it strange. There was no way Dirk knew what the police was planning unless...

"He's not in the house."

"What do you mean he's not in the house? Where could he go?"

  Aaron didn't respond instead he lowered his gun. "The mole that we have been searching for? Did you find out who it was?"

"Yeah, we did. Harold will explain everything to you when we get back."

  Aaron could detect something in his voice that told him he wouldn't like the news.