Chapter 6

Taylor could hear the gunfire before he rounded the corner, in spite of the midday sounds of the city. The SUV had been driving like a bat out of hell, weaving in and out of traffic, making it hard for Taylor to follow. The only thing that had worked in his favor was that people drove like maniacs in Caracas, so his keeping pace far enough back was unlikely to draw suspicion.

That and the mercs were more focused on their task than on losing a tail. Taylor pulled halfway up on the sidewalk on the inside of the corner, so he could see the street but wasn’t in the line of wherever the fire was coming from.

Four houses down from the corner, several black SUVs were pulled up in front of a worn-down tenement house, with the SUV Taylor had been following heading to join them. There were maybe a dozen mercenaries in the street, peppering the upper floors of the building with bullets while several more were banging away with a metal entry rammer at what appeared to be a barricaded door.

And not making fast progress.

There were also several bodies on the ground next to the SUVs that were already there, which were themselves riddled with bullet holes.

As Taylor watched, muzzle flashes appeared from one of the top windows, dropping another merc. The SUV Taylor had been following screeched to a halt behind their friends’ cars and the guys piled out, firing more shots into the building.

The downstairs door started to give, and it was obvious to Taylor that if she couldn’t get out through the bottom floor, there was only one other way out. He gunned the engine, swinging the jeep into a narrow alley beside the next building over. Tires screeched as he braked hard, jumping out before the vehicle had fully stopped.

He barely paused as he burst through the rickety door into the building, gun in hand. Even as he entered, he could see the mercs break through next door and pile into Bonnie’s building. It was now a race to the roof.

The startled residents, who were huddling on the bottom floor trying to avoid the gunfire, stared at him open-mouthed as he took the stairs two at a time. One of them, an old man, shouted at him in Spanish, but Taylor ignored him, laser-focused on getting up the stairs.

He burst through the access door and onto the roof, skidding to a halt and bringing up his gun as movement caught his attention, a thin figure in a black jacket landed on the far edge of the rooftop, rolling to absorb the impact.

She came up, weapon in hand, pointing her gun at him. He had his aimed at her.

Neither fired.

“You asked for me,” Taylor said. “If I wanted you dead, you’d have been bleeding out in that market. We need to move.”

Bonnie only took a second before she lowered her weapon, and the two of them took off. The mercs were hot on her heels and on the roof before they cleared the access door. Bullets sprayed behind them as they vaulted down the stairs.

Taylor and Bonnie thundered down the stairs, knowing the mercenaries would be right behind them.

“We need to...” Taylor started, but his words were cut short as they rounded a corner and came face-to-face with two mercenaries charging up the stairs.

Time seemed to slow. Taylor’s gun was already up, muscle memory taking over. He squeezed the trigger twice in quick succession. The first merc’s head snapped back, a red mist erupting behind him.

Bonnie reacted a heartbeat later, as the second merc stumbled, clutching his chest before tumbling backward down the stairs.

“Nice shot,” Taylor grunted.

Bonnie didn’t respond, pulling something off her belt and throwing it up the stairs before continuing past the bodies. Taylor wanted to warn her, to tell her that people lived here, but it was too late. The grenade went off, and Taylor picked up the distinct smell of white phosphorus. This whole building would be on fire shortly.

Not that there was anything he could do about it.

They reached the ground floor, the sound of screaming residents mixed with the shouts of the mercenaries above them as they hit the sudden blaze in front of them. If they were stupid, they’d try and jump through the fire, but white phosphorus spit burning chunks for a few minutes after it went off, making it a hazard. If they were smart, they’d retrace their steps and try to make their way back down through the other house.

As Bonnie and he approached the door, Taylor could hear shouting in Russian. Not right outside, but close by, meaning the guys upstairs were yelling at whoever was still outside.

They were going to have company when they opened the door.

“Go,” Bonnie said, seeing him pause. “I’ll lay down cover, then follow.”

Taylor hesitated, “How do I know you won’t just disappear?”

“I called you, remember? Plus, we’re out of time. Now go!”

Taylor gritted his teeth, then nodded. He crouched low and burst out of the door, sprinting for the relative safety of the building’s corner. Gunfire erupted behind him as Bonnie opened up on the men still by the far building, who had already started moving toward them.

Reaching the edge of the building, Taylor spun and brought his weapon up.

“Come on!” he shouted, firing past her.

Bonnie turned and ran, staying low. Taylor continued firing until the chamber clicked empty, forcing the mercenaries to hold their cover.

As she reached him, Taylor grabbed her arm. “Jeep. Now.”

They sprinted to where he’d left the vehicle. Taylor jumped behind the wheel while Bonnie vaulted into the passenger seat. The engine roared to life and Taylor stomped on the gas, tires squealing as they tore down the alley. He yanked the wheel hard, skidding onto a parallel street as the mercenaries came around the corner, sending a wild spray of bullets after them.

Taylor had just started to slow down and was about to make a turn onto another street to ensure he lost them when he saw one of the black SUVs come tearing out of the alley behind them, swerving wildly onto the street. Chaos erupted as civilian cars smashed into each other in an effort to avoid the SUV and ran up on sidewalks causing pedestrians to panic and run in all directions.

“Hold on,” Taylor said, as he smashed the accelerator of the old jeep down and began weaving through traffic. Even as he caused civilians to lay on their horns and swerve to avoid him, it became immediately obvious this jeep was not a good escape vehicle, struggling to maintain high speeds even as the SUV, now joined by two others a little further back, began to close on him.

Bonnie leaned out the side of the jeep and fired a few times. Considering both the vehicle she was in and the one pursuing them were swerving through traffic, she made some incredible shots, as bullets cracked the windshield of the pursuing SUV.

Unfortunately, that was all it seemed to do, missing the driver, who had been her real target. Taylor jinked left and right, trying to find an option to lose them, since just swerving onto a side street would slow him down more than it would them.

They were persistent and decent drivers, managing to miss the mangled traffic he was leaving in his wake. The SUV continued gaining on him, finally catching up. Taylor was blocked in by a large box truck and, for a moment, couldn’t swerve aside, letting the SUV smash into the rear of the jeep, jolting him and forcing him to grip the wheel hard to keep from losing control.

“Hold on,” he warned, spotting a narrow alley up ahead.

He wrenched the wheel, smashing into two trash cans and sending them careening down the tight passage. Behind them, the lead SUV attempted the same turn but took it too wide and smashed into a street vendor’s cart, scattering some kind of cooked food and metal debris.