BULLET-CITY

Part-10

        Two squad cars, followed by a black Cadillac Escort, came screeching up to the fourth floor of the garage, lights blazing. From the two squad cars jumped several men wearing FBI-issued Kevlar vests, weapons drawn. Out of the Escort appeared Diana and Frank, each wearing the same vest. Diana quickly drew her weapon. Upon seeing Vince, Frank shook his head and let out an audible sigh.

        "Boy, am I glad to see you guys," said Vince, carelessly swinging the gun in his hand.

        "Kick your weapon towards me and put your hands behind your head!" ordered Diana.

        Confused, Vince spread out his hands and furrowed his eyebrows. After a moment Vince remembered he was holding a bloody gun and was surrounded by five dead men and a prisoner.

        "Crap," he muttered.

        In one fluent motion Diana charged him. With three swift moves she managed to knock the wind out of him, throw him to the ground, and disarm his gun. Meanwhile, the other officers where untying Drake and ripping the tape off of his mouth.

        "Do you know who you just killed? This is Miles Cove, a city official to Mayor Kobe," said Diana.

        A forensic scientist was examining the bodies.

        "The way these bullets landed there's no doubt we have our arms dealer. I can't say for sure, but these seem to be the same bullets."

        Diana yanked Vince to his feet

        "It was him!" Yelled Drake hoarsely. "He killed them all! He was going to deal with me, but luckily you guys showed up." Drake then began to choke and passed out.

        Frank timidly spoke up, "I can vouch for him Diana, he's my--"

        "I don't care what he is," scolded Diana, "sometimes the people closest to us are the ones we least expect. And I don't have time for this, take him down to the station for questioning."

        Vince was speechless. He looked over at Laura, still frozen behind the pillar. "He...he was try...trying to save me," she managed to choke out.

        Diana followed Vince's glance with her eyes. She motioned for Frank to come over and take her place.

        "Make sure this scum doesn't move a muscle and cuff him," Diana slowly walked towards Laura.

        "What are you doin' man, this is pretty heavy. You know I'm innocent," Vince whispered to Frank.

        Frank did not speak for a moment. He didn't have to, his face said it all.

        "Let's just go down to the station, I'm sure we can clear all this up," said Frank finally.

        "Guy, I've never seen these people in my life, I just heard gunfire and came runnin'. Ask the girl, she'll tell ya."

        While Diana was helping Laura to the Escort, one of the FBI agents stood by her and whispered into her ear. She nodded and yelled for Frank to hurry up. It was then that Vince noticed the large crowd that had gathered. Along with Drake, there also appeared another familiar face. It was one of Bruce's thugs, a large muscular man with a short mohawk. He smiled widely at Vince as a FBI agent questioned him.

        After going over all the options in his head, it was clear to Vince that whatever was going on between the two syndicates was a set-up, one that he was caught in the middle of. There was no way out and the best solution was just to stay put...clearly.
"Sorry buddy," whispered Frank remorsefully. He put the cuff on Vince's right hand and told him to turn around.

        Then Vince saw it. As quick as he could, he wound up his left arm and threw a fist into Frank's eye. Vince slid Franks gun out of its holster. With one cuff still dangling from his wrist, he reached out and grabbed Laura. Using her as a human shield, he aimed Frank's gun at Diana.

        Laura screamed and struggled wildly to break his grip. Vince felt her slipping away. If the circumstances had been different he would have let her go. If he gave himself up he would be thrown in prison for who knows how long until they found... if they found, this arms dealer.

        Vince knew better, but he still did it anyways. He quickly released Laura. Taking the dangling cuff on his right wrist he cuffed her opposite hand making his grip more permanent.

        "Vince, don't do this," pleaded Frank.

        Smirking with a half grin, Vince winked at Frank. "Burnin' like the fire baby."

        Vince made a run for the exit, but was cut off by two policemen. It was hard enough to fight two-on-one with both hands, let alone one hand. One of the policemen threw a punch. Laura quickly moved out of the way, leaving Vince open for a shot in the face.
Stunned, but not broken, Vince backhanded one of the men behind him, and threw Laura like a boomerang into the man in front of them. The man behind them threw another punch, clearly aiming for Vince, but accidentally hitting Laura instead. The man was taken aback for a moment.

        "Hitting a lady now are we?" Using the opportunity, Vince plowed into the man, laying him flat out. He pulled Laura along with him down the stairs as quickly as he could.

        He couldn't go back now. All he could do was prove his innocence. Where to start, he did not know. He was already in too deep. However, he took solace in the fact that this Laura girl would help. After all, she did owe him for saving her life...