Runaway ✔

130 • Kozik

Glass shattered and rained  down on the ground. There were big thuds as bullets hit a closet and the wall on the opposite side. In an impulse Kozik pushed the Croweater on the ground and shielded her off with his own body. Soon he however realized neither of them would be safe this way. He pulled his gun and crawled to the window. His heart was raging in his chest. The last shooting he had been involved in, nearly killed him. It felt like he was tempting the gods by doing this again, but he had no choice. Waiting for help was no option; they would barge into the house and kill them as well. Very carefully he stood up, peeking through the window. He counted at least nine men who were heading for the door. 

"Fuck," he grunted. "Gotta be ten at least. I keep 'em busy, you grab the machine gun next to the door." As soon as he had instructed Chibs, he started firing. He hit one man in the leg before they scattered around to find shelter. 

Kozik however knew they were fucked. There was no way they could keep away ten men with only two of them. From the corner of his eyes he saw his brother take position at the other window, already pressing his phone against his ear to call for back-up. It would take a while before the others would be here, hopefully they could keep Maddox's men at bay. 

Kozik didn't understand how they could have taken them by surprise. To avoid a situation like this, they had rigged cameras to various trees. Still they had came out of nowhere. He took a deep breath and peeked outside. As soon as he saw a movement, he pulled the trigger. He however lacked a good sight and feared they would walk around the house. Chibs and he couldn't stop this together, not without making any preparations. 

Again his eyes glided across the terrain. There were far too many trees, they hadn't picked a convenient place at all. Generally it was a place to hide, not a place to defend against a group of armed men. He fired the gun again when someone ran from one tree to the next. Sweat was soaking his hands and he stepped aside when a volley of bullets came at him. 

An idea came up. It was a big risk, but they had to do something. "Wait!" Kozik yelled. "You want Dana, right?"

A silence fell. Kozik used their confusion to beckon the blonde Croweater to come. Her face was pale and there were traces of tears on her cheeks, but she pulled herself together and crawled towards him. 

"Trust me," he whispered, putting all the confidence in his voice he could gather. He wrapped an arm around her throat, pulled her close and held the gun against her head. Then he stepped in front of the window, the girl in front of him. 

"One step closer and she's dead."

The girl petrified underneath his arm, her eyes wide in shock. 

"Sssh," he whispered, "they won't hurt you."

There was some buzzing in the background. "You're bluffing!"

Kozik made a mocking sound. "You think? Your boss wants her in one piece, right? Mine however..." He shrugged his shoulders. "He's gettin' tired of seein' all his men end up behind bars or in a coffin, all because of a dumb whore."

He could feel their hesitation. 

"Give her to me and we will leave you alone," someone shouted. 

Kozik took a long time to think about it, trying to do anything in his power to buy time. "I don't think you're in a position to make demands. You won't shoot as long as she's serving as a shield and everyone who dares to make a move, will end up with a bullet between his eyes."

Kozik's breathing calmed down a bit. He heard some mumbling; they were probably contacting Maddox. He was glad the man himself wasn't around ; he immediately would have known this wasn't Dana. But his men couldn't think of a reason why there would be another girl in the safehouse. 

"We're not leaving without the girl," someone shouted. "My boss wants to talk to her."

"Then bring me the fucking phone," Kozik taunted. 

Two arms were lifted in the air, as a gesture of surrender. Kozik let him come closer. the thought that Maddox was waiting on the other end of the line, made his blood boil. 

The man stepped forward, the phone in his hand. Right when Kozik snatched the device out of his fingers, the man yelled: "It ain't her!"

At the same time, Kozik pushed away the girl and put a bullet in the man's head. Blood drops splattered in his face and he jumped aside when his buddies started to fire their guns. 

Kozik pressed the device against his ear. "You will never see her again, you will never her hear voice again. She's somewhere you will never find her, with a man she loves so much she forgot about you a long time ago." He felt so much rage and revulsion for this man he spitted out the words. "She's happy without you. And the body you desire so much, is right beneath the lips and hands of someone else now. You lost her, coward. She chose a real man."

Kozik ended the call with a satisfied feeling. He turned back to the window and started firing again. During the short call Chibs' machine gun had rattled continuously. In the background he heard the rumbling of motorcycles. His lips bent into a smile. A few more minutes and they were no longer the ones who were trapped.