Savin' Me ⚣ ✓

XVI.

James's POV
"It doesn't look open." I noted. I tried grabbing a few fries from Sarah's drive through bag.

"Well yes James, it's 1 am. What china shop would be open at 1 am?" Sarah replied, slapping my hands away from her food as she zoomed her binoculars in on the entryway of the shop.

We had been sitting here for the past 3 hours.

The owner of the China shop has switched the open sign off, but we still saw movement inside the store.

"What are we waiting for again?" I asked her.

"For something shady to happen." Sarah replied simply. I couldn't help but give her a chuckle.

I was missing a new episode of How To Get Away With Murder for this. If someone didn't walk through this China shop with a visible gun or something, NYPD was about to see this two week notice.

The rest of the street was completely dead by this time now. I couldn't help but think Sarah's red Prius stuck out like a sore thumb in this vacant lot across the street. She insisted we take her car though, and I thought fuck it. Not my mileage, you know?

My phone vibrated again in my pocket and I didn't skip a beat with checking the text.

It was from Killian. Be safe tonight. I'll drop by later to bring you your jacket.

A large smiles crept across my face. Will do. I replied. Rest up and I'll let you know when I make it home tonight. I was pulled out from my thoughts by Sarah's sudden outburst.

"There!" She shot out, pointing to two men that were walking down the street. They were both in some high end suits, and as the wind blew one of the men's blazers back, the handle of a gun came into view. They made their way into the China shop.

Well, God, you really came through tonight didn't you... I thought to myself. Only 3 fucking hours later but whatever.

Sarah and I got out of her vehicle immediately. We started slowly advancing towards the China shop, but froze dead in our tracks as we heard a very distinct sound.

The sound of a gun going off.

Sarah bolted into action as she drew her weapon and ran towards the store. I followed in suit as two more shots were fired off.

"This is officer Conway requesting back up at 98th and Horton." I called into my dispatch radio. Sarah took her position at one side of the China shop door, and I went to the other end. She started the countdown with her fingers...

3...

2...

1...

I busted through the door first, gun raised. "This is the police! Guns down and hands in the air now!" I called out. There was a man who had his gun pointed at an older man. I almost instantly recognized the older man as the China store owner. He had a shot gun pointed at the man with the 9 millimeter. There was another body laying lifelessly on the floor. It looked like an elderly woman.

"You called the fucking cops, old man?" The guy with the 9 mil spat out as his weapon never faltered.

"I don't know why the fuck they're here, but they're not with me." The old man replied.

"We said drop your fucking weapons!" Sarah shouted at both men. Suddenly there was another gunshot from somewhere else in the room. I felt a sharp pain from my left shoulder as both Sarah and I dropped to take cover.

"Fuck." I hissed. Sarah looked over at me alarmed.

"You hit, Conway?" She asked.

"Just a scratch." I shot back. It felt like more than just a fucking scratch.

Sarah peeled her head up and shot a round of bullets in the direction of the second guy who shot at us. We heard him cry out in pain but as I peeked around the front counter, I didn't see the third guy anywhere in sight.

I gave Sarah a signal, telling her I was going to go out and around the back. He had probably slipped out through the back door trying to get away. She gave me a nod. Before reloading her weapon.

I crouched down low and went back out onto the front street. I could hear some fumbling around the building on the left side. Staying as close to the wall as I could, I peeked around the corner. The guy that had shot at us, was now making his way around the back and out into alley.

"Freeze!" I shouted, but as soon as he heard me, he took off running. He didn't get far though, from the gunshot wound Sarah had inflicted on his right leg. As I closed in, he turned around and started shooting. I quickly took cover behind the large back alley dumpster.

"I said freeze!" I shouted, but another bullet ricocheted off the dumpster. I sat up and shot aimlessly into the dark.

I heard another muffled groan and everything went quiet.

Proceeding into the dark alley sounded like a bad idea, but I needed to make absolutely sure I had got him.

I heard sirens blaring in the distance. The cops were almost here.

I made it down to the back door, but something knocked the wind out of me as I fell to the floor. The motherfucker had hit me square in the chest with a wooden pallet.

It didn't take long before I was back on my feet. From the scarce lights in the back alley, I could just make out the figure as he stood, bleeding a few feet from me. He had knocked my gun out of my right hand and it had slid under the dumpster.

Fucking great, I thought to myself. The motherfucker was the same height as me but he definitely won in the weight department.

I took an offensive stance as we circled each other.

He was the first to move. He charged forward and ran into me, slamming my body against the garbage bin. My hands reached up and both my elbows came down hard on the area where his neck meshed into his collarbone. I heard something crack as he cried out and let go in pain.

I didn't wait for him to recover, as my right fist connected with the side of his face. He stumbled back again, trying to gather his bearings. I gave him a powerful kick straight into his stomach and that finally brought him down.

I got on top of him, and with one more swift right hook, I knocked him unconscious.

Police cars pulled up on both ends of the alleyway moments later.