In The Company Of Monsters

Lockdown

Ian pressed his back against the wall and leaned out to peer around the doorway. He saw the splintered wood left by a round meant for him. Too fuckin’ close. The reminder of how close he came to death pissed him off. He wanted nothing more than to take that cop out, and get back to Victor’s place. There’d been talk recently of a big job going down, and he wanted a piece of that pie.

Peering around the doorjamb, he saw the crate where the cop was hiding. Or at least where he’d been firing from a moment before. He saw a flash of movement, and knew Jack was still there. For now, it was a stalemate. He’d keep an eye out, and let Victor decide the next move.

Robert lay on the floor, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gulps. Victor’s shot had been a good one. The slug had entered his abdomen, tore a nickel-sized chunk from his liver, then settled in metallic fragments in his lumbar muscle. The pain was blazing and just staying conscious felt like a massive achievement.

Seeing the wounded man suffering, Mitch felt the need to help, however he could. Like many others, he’d been forced to deal with battlefield injuries, despite not being trained for them. He started towards Robert, but Victor brought his revolver up, stopping him.

Mitch’s action drew Blair’s attention and she walked over to Robert, her high heels clicking in that sexy way they do, even when a man’s dying on the floor.

She looked down at him. Her time with Victor had taught her many things. How to properly grade the quality of cocaine. The best approach to set two enemies at each other’s throats. But also, a sense of when a gunshot was lethal. “He’s not going to make it,” she said.

“Prob’ly not,” agreed Victor.

“And we have a bigger problem,” she said, facing him. She tilted her head towards Ian and the door.

Victor laughed, a condescending chuckle. “It’s one cop, we’ll handle it.”

Blair shook her head. “Not what I mean. How is it there are cops here?”

In the excitement, Victor hadn’t stopped to consider that.

Blair let the silence hang.

Victor understood her meaning then. He looked over his shoulder at Ian. “Ian?” he asked her.

Blair met his eyes. Who else?

He sighed. “I knew someone’s been talking, but... I don’t know. Wouldn’t ‘ave put it on him.”

Victor stared at Ian, mulling over the possibility that he was a traitor. Victor first met him eight years ago, back in London, and brought Ian out to Seattle with him. He’d seen the man kill for him, which counted for much. The guy did keep to himself a lot, but Victor had assumed that was just his way. For the kind of work they did, the two had a long history. Hard to just throw that out.

He turned back to Blair. “So why's he stuck in 'ere with us?”

She shrugged. “A flesh wound, and that cop doing the shooting outside hasn't hit him once. All he has to do is march Ian out of here in cuffs...”

“...and into Witness Protection,” Victor finished.

Silence. And just like that, Ian's fate was decided.

Mitch couldn’t just stand by anymore. “Are you going to let this man bleed out?”

Victor crossed the room to stand over Robert. The cop did look to be circling the drain. The color had gone from his face, and his eyes seemed unfocused.

“Maybe.”

“I’ve got a med kit. At least let me patch him up,” Mitch asked.

“Fine.”