Chapter 23
Concealing myself behind the small space behind the door had been the most difficult thing I could have ever done especially since I had to hold my breath and keep my gun hidden in the most uncomfortable place which by the way you do not want to ever know, however it was satisfactory when I managed to catch the gunman completely off guard in the open space of the passageway. He was in between two walls and a short running distance away from the open bedroom. No place to find cover and if he ran towards the bedroom then he'd have outrun my bullets which was not possible unless he was somehow Superman.
The gunman had made the fatal error of ignoring minor details and from my experience with the CIA I'd learned the hard way that you should never disregard any detail in the battlefield.
He had reluctantly dropped his weapon but it was too close to his feet for my liking.
"Kick it away," I ordered. I was standing a meter away from him. He did just that. "Now place your hands in the air and slowly turn around"
"What are you. A cop?" the man scoffed but still turned to face me with his hands above his head, just as I had ordered. This man was about my height, he was bulky but that was to be expected, I couldn't see his face clearly in the dark but from the few glimpses that I had of him from our shootout in the corridor I could remember that he had blue black hair. Didn't matter though because his features didn't matter to me.
I had a lot of questions going through my mind and since I clearly had the upper hand it would be better if I used this opportunity to ask him a couple of questions.
"So this is how it's going to go. I ask the questions. You. Answer. If you give me a whole load of bull I'll kill you. If you try anything that I don't see fit I'll not hesitate to kill you. Am I clear?" I said
"Alright normally I wouldn't even talk to you but since you've intrigued me in some way I'll give you the satisfaction," the man replied and I got a tiny section of a French accent but it was hard to tell.
"How bout we start with your name," I said
"Fine by me. My name is simply Lucas Grey," he replied
"Lucas Grey?"
"Yes. Now how about you introduce yourself as well just to make this fair?" he shrugged his shoulders. My gun was still pointed at him, my aim never faltered from him. I thought about his suggestion, guess it wouldn't hurt for him to know my name at this point.
" Jake Harper," I said
"Jake Harper. Hm. Never heard of you," the words rolled off his tongue with a coldness that I could recognize as loath.
"You killed my mates," he stated with an accusatory tone.
"Yeah well maybe they'd still be alive if you hadn't attack me and my friends," I snapped
"I will kill you Jake Harper"
"You're kidding right. I have you at gunpoint and you think you're going to kill me?"
"Fine even if you kill me you'll still end up dead. This battle youvwjust stepped in is merely just the surface of the true war, no one can stand in the way of the organization no one and those codes will be retrieved and once again our nation will be have gained power once more," he said with a maniacal seriousness that made the hairs on my back stand.
Now new questions had come to mind. What the hell was the organization? Why would they want the codes? I had a feeling that I already knew what the codes were going to be used for and I really really hoped that I was wrong.
"So what the hell is the organization?" I asked
"The Tonitruum Agency," he replied
"So tell me who the remaining players are," I demanded
"Oh there are a lot of players," he clicked his tongue, "but there's one man in particular who has a bone to pick with you for killing his best friend."
"Oh yeah. And whole might that be?"
"Spencer Crane," he said it as if he was expecting a reaction from me
"Can I be honest with you?"
"Yeah sure," he replied
"I don't know who that is man," I said honestly.
A radio beeped from the man's coat.
'Lucas do you copy?'
"So that's Spencer huh?" I said
"Yep," Lucas replied
"Alright I want you to give me the radio very slowly got that?"
He nodded and very slowly dipped his right hand into his coat's pocket. As he did that I hardened my senses and my guard was as high as ever, for all I knew Lucas could be reaching for a switchblade or a mini pistol, I just couldn't take chances that would end in my demise.
Meanwhile the potted plant in the corridor had been so torn to pieces that it wouldn't stand on the floor in perfect balance with one side of its pot completely blown up. The plant toppled to the side and hit the floor flat, it's potted shattering in the process. The sound of it wreckage resonated all the way to my ears which distracted me.
I subconsciously turned my head to take a small look into the corridor through the open door at my side. I had momentarily taken my eyes off Lucas for not more than two seconds, it wouldn't be enough for and escape but it sure as hell would be enough for him to retaliate.
I felt hit me on my chin, the bastard had thrown his damn radio at me. My chin stung from the impact and I felt Lucas' hand tag at my gun hand just as the radio hit the floor. Using his free hand, Lucas jabbed his fist at me side. I groaned and retaliated by sending my left knee into his gut. He grunted and still held my gun hand captive. Lucas jabbed again at my side and thus time just below my ribs.
Pain travelled up my entire side like a seismic wave. The passageway which we occupied was filled with the sounds of grunts and moans as we fought for control over the gun.
He propelled my hand such that my gun was pointed to the ceiling, my finger was still curled around the trigger. I squeezed and the gun went off causing a portion of the ceiling and dust to coat itself all over us.
I closed my eyes to prevent the dust from getting into my eyes and blinding me.
Lucky for me Lucas hadn't thought that way. He was blinking rapidly and as thrashing at me rapidly. His knee hit me in the shin, his free hand was clasped around my collarbone and he was pushing his thumb into my skin at point.
I shouted something so animalistic that even I myself had no idea what I said and I pushed my head forward as hard as I could. My forehead landed on the bridge of his nose where I heard a crack.
My head hurt at most but it was nothing compared to what Lucas was feeling. His nose had sunken in a little and blood was dripping from his nostrils all the way down to his chin. My attack forced him to fall back a few feet from me which gave some room for me to send my foot to his knee.
With a shout of agony Lucas was pushed further back and was now falling to the floor on his back. Lucas still held onto my hand with an iron grip that sent me toppling over with him. I hit the floor hard with my left shoulder. I howled as the pain shot all over my body. Seems Lucas had now positioned himself so that his right shoulder was supporting his side as he faced me. He sent his left fist at my jaw and got a direct hit.
I felt my jaw vibrate and for a second I thought it was going crumble. I could taste the blood in my mouth but I could also feel that my teeth were still in tact.
He pushed the gun towards me with his right hand while we recoiled his left hand to punch me again. I took the opportunity to hit my fist on the spot where the his left arm connected with his shoulder. The impact had numbed his arm giving me a couple of seconds of respite and with all my strength I pushed the gun away from me. The gun was vibrating between our opposing forces and for a moment it seemed the gun was moving to neither side, not that I'm complaining about that or anything.
Lucas must have come to the same conclusion so he decided to ram his uninjured knee into my own which weakened my push of the gun. It was only for a few seconds but Lucas had used it well, he'd pushed the gun with so much effort that it's barrel was pointing right under my chin. My eyes widened as the gun went off.