How the Quick Run

Part 5

On the far east side of the city, Cook parked his car on an empty street in front of a two-story house with a steep front stoop and red-brown bricks that were nearly crumbling. It was narrow and dark. None of the lights within had been turned on despite the grey clouds that blocked the sunlight. With one hand in his coat pocket, Cook walked up the stone steps that had lost their sharpness with age. A metal gargoyle had been installed directly above the black painted door. It hung over Cook, its wings tucked back and its body in a ready-to-spring position. He hit his gloved knuckles against the front door twice. Then he looked straight into the mouth of the gargoyle where a mirror caught his reflection. It bounced across another set of mirrors into the house where Greenlee stooped to confirm his visitor's identity in the final mirror, which was placed a few inches lower than his eye level. After a moment, the deadbolt was slid aside and the door was opened. Cook lifted his hand from his pocket, holding his pistol, and he shot Greenlee square in the chest.

The pop of the small gun echoed off the walls as the man fell backwards with a thud. Cook stepped over Greenlee as he gargled something that sounded like a curse and closed the front door. Two more pops filled the air, leaving three expanding red spots in the front of Greenlee's shirt. Then Cook headed down the hall, opened the second door on the left and entered the room Greenlee had been using to temporarily store his belongings while in hiding. A four foot tall safe stood to one side, in between an open armoire of men's clothing and a large leather suitcase. Cook leaned close as he turned the safe's dial to the numbers two, four, three, and six. The safe door swung open, and leaning upright atop a metal case and a pile of papers and envelopes was a large black gun. Cook picked it up, smiling. It was a heavy piece. He held it in both hands by the grip and foregrip. A drum magazine was located in the middle of the nearly three foot weapon. After admiring the gun, he opened up the metal case that had sat beneath it and found the accompanying ammunition. Then he glanced around the room, searching for something. Taking the case of ammunition and gun with him, he moved across the hall to a bedroom. He pulled the green, lace-trimmed cover off a pillow and placed the gun within it. The butt protruded slightly, but he moved on. As he left the bedroom, Cook paused by a pile of framed photographs on the dresser. On top was the black and white portrait of a woman with dark hair and a slight smile that caused her cheeks to dimple.

"Sorry the timing didn't work out here, sweetheart," Cook said to the photograph. "At least your spirit won't have to linger with him though."

Once more Cook stepped over Greenlee's body, as well as the pool of blood that had spread around his torso. Going down the steps to to his car, he saw a woman walking a stroller nearby on the same side of the street. She gave him a cautious look but averted her eyes as he passed her. Cook placed the gun and case of bullets in his car, then drove off.

With Golden Bob on foot behind them and one of the gang's cars getting closer, Parker and Mora ran around to the back of the one of the buildings next to the train tracks. There were three loading bay doors and one standard entry. Parker pulled unsuccessfully at the entry door, and Mora took her lock picking kit out of her purse.

A few seconds later, they entered the building cautiously, re-locking the heavy metal door behind them. It was quiet and dark inside. The only light came from the row of windows placed high in the north and south walls. Stacks of pallets and large wood containers filled the thirty foot tall space. Guns in hand, they walked down the middle path that split the building, glancing down the sides where the path branched out, sometimes with a way out in sight, sometimes not.

"We'll stay by the door, around that corner," said Mora, pointing back the way they came. "Wait for the door to close behind them before shooting so they can't run out and we know how many there are."