Chapter 25
Before Lucas had pulled the trigger that would have inevitably blown my entire face off, I had bent my neck further back beyond it's limit in an attempt to try and save my life. To be honest with you I thought it was a pointless effort but I guess I was wrong because the moment I heard the shot and felt the pain that cut through my chin as a result of the bullet's passing, I knew I had made it. The pain wasn't something to appreciate but it was good because pain tells you that you're still alive but I couldn't help the reflex that took over after that.
I could feel my heartbeat quicken and I involuntarily held my breath as my body went on a rampage to survive. My free right hand was hitting anything it could find on Lucas and to be honest I welcomed the motion because it would be the thing that would possibly guarantee my survival.
After a few poundings Lucas seemed to have had enough because now he too was fighting depending on only the instinct to survive only that his blows were more efficient than mine. His fist was slamming my cheek and with each blow my push on the gun was becoming weaker and weaker just as before. I couldn't fight and push at the same time in my current state and I knew it would be only a matter of time before Lucas had the chance of properly finishing me off, this was a desperate situation and as they say: desperate times call for desperate measures.
As he brought his fist down the second time I bit down on it as hard as I could. I could fight back so my best option would have been for me to hold his hand in place which would render him unable to fight for a few moments. Doesn't sound like a lot of time right? To be frank with you, it really wasn't a lot of time but on the battlefield it could either mean life or death. Lucas tried to yank his hand free but I but down harder like a hungry lion holding onto it's prey only that a lion would have enjoyed tasting his blood while on the other hand it was purely disgusting to me. The Tang of Mercury spilled onto my tongue and I had to fight hard against the temptation to spit it out.
I used my now unoccupied hand to assist my gun hand in pushing it towards Lucas.
Sure Lucas could push back my single hand but two, the odds were pretty slim. After a few efforts of pushing, my two hands seemed stronger than Lucas' single hand.
The barrel of the gun was pointing directly at his throat.
"You're a prick Harper!" I heard him yell.
I couldn't yell but I sure as hell wasn't going to let that one slide so I but down even harder.
"Mother_" I pulled the trigger before he could finish and blasted a bullet through his throat. The floor behind him was painted with his blood and Lucas tried to scream but only found himself gagging and spitting on his own blood just as some was spilling out of the hole in his throat. I released his hand and spat out the blood that had accumulated in my mouth. Lucas eyes looked at me with bewilderment before they stared out at nothing in the darkness.
I'll be honest with you, it wasn't a pretty sight at all. I rose to my feet with wobbly knees and the SIG was still in my left hand.
I leaned onto the wall and finally begun taking in deep breaths. With one last look at Lucas' body I headed to the kitchen to wash my mouth as well as clean the deep cut on my chin.
I winced as I used a cloth to wipe at my chin, at this point I was pretty sure my previous wounds were open again but I couldn't think about that right now.
"Jake you there?" I heard Aubrey speak through the earpiece.
Wow, how the heck did that not fall off? I mean honestly after the smacking I received on my face I would have been sure that it would have fallen off but then again if I managed to evade a bullet that was directly under my chin I guess anything was possible.
Ouch! Just thinking of my chin makes my neck and chin hurt.
"Yeah?" I replied
"The room belongs to Andrew Bailiwick," he said
"Well I'll be damned," I said surprised
"And you better hurry up in there because an alert went out when you broke the lock," he said
"I'm guessing a bunch of guards are on their way up here huh?"
"Uh huh"
"How long do I got?"
""About 5 minutes"
"Shit," I said. This room was a freaking puzzle on its own. It could at least take me 15 minutes to thoroughly check the place but no the universe always gives you the littlest time it can muster. I took a few moments to think and decided it was best I start looking in the bedroom. After meeting Andrew Bailiwick it was a good gamble that he kept most of his prized possessions in his bedroom so that he could show off to his nightly visitors if you know what I mean.
I stepped over Lucas' corpse trying my best not to step in his blood and entered into the master bedroom.
The place was as impressive as you could think it was. A large four poster bed in the center of the room, a carpet that circled the bed, a walk in closet at the end of the bedroom, a private shower room with a large tub and shiny walls. A large window that stretched out from the ceiling to the floor that overlooked the city's night lights.
There was also a bedside table with a half filled bottle of champagne and two empty wine glasses. There were also pictures and real genuine paintings on the walls but since it was dark I couldn't make out what those paintings actually were.
I began my search behind the paintings hoping I would find a safe of some sort. Then proceeded to the closet, maybe it had a hidden compartment somewhere. I shook my head after finding nothing.
"Damnit where the hell could it be," I murmured to myself as I sat down on the bed, the bedside table was right beside me and it was at this distance that I noticed that it was designed with a lower compartment drawer whose door swung sideways.
"Mmmh," I hummed as I swung it open. "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle," I said as I noticed the dark safe door.
It consisted of a lever that pulled downwards and a digital keypad.
"Shit," I pressed on my earpiece, "Aubrey do you read me?"
"Reading you loud and clear," he replied
"We got a problem," I said
"And what might that be?" this was the first time I heard Rick speak through the earpiece.
"The case might be in a digital encrypted safe," I said
"Can you tell me the model?" Aubrey said
"I can't man all I know is that it has a digital keypad with numbers ranging from one to zero," I answered even though I knew that wasn't helpful at all.
"That gives us 65 possible digital combinations…," I could hear Aubrey mumbling.
"Aubrey?" I said but he kept on mumbling. "Aubrey?" he kept on mumbling. "Aubrey!"
"Yeah," he replied
"Say I shoot the keypad…what are the chances of the electrical system malfunctioning and opening the door?" I asked
"Well…to be honest the chances are pretty slim so I don't think we can risk_" before he could finish the sentence I aimed and fired my SIG at the keypad without a second thought.
"What the fuck!" Rick, Aubrey, Dash and Harriet said in unison.
I know it was a reckless move but we didn't have time to think and investigate on what Bailiwick's passcode could be, I could only hope that the slim chance would dominate the large chance of it being locked up permanently. Holding my breath I grabbed the lever and silently prayed which was pretty ironic if you ask me I mean I just killed no I slaughtered men mercilessly and now I was praying to God for his help.
I pulled the lever down and released a sigh of relief when it opened with ease. I parried the safe door open and looked inside, there it was.
"Good news guys…I found the codes," I said
I reached in and grabbed for the case. It's shiny metallic surface was mildly dented but all in all it was in good condition not that I liked that because honestly I thought it would be better for everyone if the codes could just turn to dust right now.
I stood up straight now I was carrying the case by it's handled in my right hand while the SIG was in my left but then I felt kind of awkward so I switched the items. The gun in my right and the case in my left, I was good to go.
"Alright I'm heading down…never mind," I heard the elevator ping. "Damn it I won't make it down without a shootout"
"What about up?" Harriet asked
"Nah," I replied with a shake of my head as if she could see me.
You might get why I asked to go down because that was an obvious route but what did she mean by up? Well the team came up with a backup extraction point (if that's even a thing) where I'd head to the roof top and Jerry and Dash would be swooping down in the black Bell Jet chopper that would whisk me away like a damsel who had just been in distress. The plan would have been viable if not for the buildings security crew that was already on my floor and would soon be swarming in, the men in blue were probably already on their way in a squadron of white police cruisers.
"How far out are Dash and Jerry?" I asked after a few seconds of thought. The was no way I could shoot my way through I mean I could but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself afterwards. The security crew was only doing their job so it wouldn't actually be fair if I killed them for that. I know what you're thinking, so Jake Harper does have a moral compass after all. Well yes of course I do even if I had killed the mercenaries back at my house and even here but I didn't polishing off those punks, after all they were probably guilty for more atrocities than I could count so the world was probably safer with them dead, sounds cold doesn't it.
"We're about thirty seconds out," Jerry replied
"Alright. Aubrey? I need you to give them a new pickup point," I said just as five men poured from the elevator into the corridor.
They all wore matching uniform, a white buttoned shirt which they tucked into a pair of black trousers, they also wore a utility belt with a radio holster, a bunch of keys and a black baton held in their hands.
One of them was fat and African American with black shirt hair, the other one was a blonde with a large black beard, the other one was white with black long hair, the fourth had a shiny head almost as if he never had any hair at all and the last one was African American with an afro. They all held a shocked expression on their faces when they saw they destruction of the corridor as well as the holes that were obviously made with a gun or guns depends on how good their investigative skills were.
The blonde was shouting in his radio while the other made their way towards my open door, they might have thought that they were moving professionally but to me they were moving like amateurs. We're seriously going to go after me with nothing but a bunch of clubs? It was stupid if you asked me, they had already noticed the bullet holes so why get yourself killed.
I aimed my gun and fired two shots in their direction. Warning shots. They all laid on the ground. Smart decision.
All the while I was counting the seconds, when I reached forty five seconds, I bolted towards the bedroom firing a single shot at the large window and kept running towards it. I could hear the elevator ping again signaling the arrival of armed reinforcements, it was now or never.
I covered my face with my right forearm as I smashed through the window. It was a risky move and I regretted it as soon as felt the wind hit my face. For a few moments I felt weightless just like back at the car crush.
Broken pieces of glass were flying around me as I was falling from the top most floor of the empire state building while holding a SIG Sauer P226 in my right hand and a brief case holding nuclear codes for the American warheads in Turkey that were aiming for Russia. My brain wasn't thinking straight anymore.
Above the noise of the wind I heard the sound of rotors spinning. My hands reached out in desperation for something that could keep my suspended in the air. My eyes were blinded for the time being so they weren't very helpful. My right arm wrapped itself against something cold. It was metallic and my elbow kept my propped up on it.
"Crazy sonofabitch!" I heard Dash shout above me. I looked up and managed to see a blurry face which was no doubt Dash's. He was leaned out of the helicopter's door. One hand outstretched to me and the other holding onto a metal bar inside the helicopter.