Chapter 269: Lets Make a Trade

Anya kept watch over Uri while I went across the street to tool up. I came back with the 10 mm glock on my hip, the hammerless .38 revolver in one of my jacket pockets, the .410 gauge derringer in pocket of my jeans and a recently acquired switchblade knife on the other side. I bought the knife for fun during a recent trip out of the country. I didn't think that I was going to be having any fun that night, excitement for sure, fun no.

I also carried the shotgun cane, since I had to have a cane anyway. I didn't so much need to walk with it, as it made getting up and down much easier. Also it made getting in and out of cars better. I lost my balance some since the leg just chose to give way now and then. The cane made the staggering me look less like a drunk.

"I'm riding with you," Anya said.

"He said he would kill her if I didn't come alone, so we have to at least pretend to play along."

"We can pretend with me hidden in the back seat. If the shooting starts, and you know it will, even one more gun can make a difference. Remember for lack of a nail the battle was lost. So don't let the battle be lost for the lack of one bitch."

"Only if you promise to shoot Uri in the head, if I can't," I suggested.

"That was my own plan love," she said smiling.

"Then let's pack up Uri for his great adventure." We duct taped Uri's hands gagged him with the same tape then put the black cloth bag over his head. "I have got to get some of these bags," I said to Anya.

"Christmas present, I promise," she said.

The cruiser wasn't bullet proof but it did offer some protection. I parked it so that the cruiser was between me and the building. I figured any snipers they had would be in the building.

Somewhere, I had no idea where, Vlad would have his team. Their only job was counter sniper fire. Whoever drove up was my problem. I could only return sniper fire, if I knew the sniper was shooting at me otherwise i would be shooting at my own people.

The problem was we all over estimated the kidnappers. We assumed, since they were in the company of pros, that they would act like pros, not so, They chose the parking lot because it was a wide open space. They were concerned about cops, not an ambush by old farts with rusty guns. So when four people in ski masks came from the sedan, I was surprised. I knew Vlad saw them, he was too much the pro not to watch everything. Suddenly it looked as though I had the only snipers. The clowns had parked their car so that it wouldn't be between then and me. Which meant they were standing around exposed to the building. It was going to be a shooting gallery, when it started. If I died first, which was possible, I could rest easy knowing they were right behind me.

"Where is the girl," I asked of them in general.

"We decided that killing you, would be easier," he said.

"Oh my, you just made the biggest mistake of your life." He had obviously been watching too much American television. I pulled the Glock and began shooting. I only needed one of them alive. One out of four didn't seem so much to ask.

I went to my knees early in the firefight. I felt a hammer blow to my chest and a burning pain in my right arm. I knew that I have been hit. I also knew I took two of them with me. Okay maybe Anya got one of them. Hell she probably got the first one as well. She had her pistol out before I even started to go for mine. The move was her go signal.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Find one alive and get us the hell out of here," I said.

Then as a second thought I said, "Check the trunk of their car."

"Nothing in the trunk," she said.

Anya pressed a piece of cloth against my arm and said, "Hold this. It's just a flesh wound. What about Uri."

"Killed in the firefight by his own people," I said "Make it happen. Get the angle right."

Anya shot him twice, with one of their guns, from about ten feet away. He was standing beside my cruiser, when he died.

We were trying to make the trade when it went south. He got shot in the crossfire. It was my story and I was sticking to it. Jennifer would have the jury crying, if I got the girl back.

"Three dead or dying," Vlad said. "We have to go. One of them has a flesh wound."

"No executions, we have to look like the good guys, but make sure we take the only one who will ever tell a story." The crew loaded the lesser wounded one into my cruiser with Anya watching over her. Two of the others were dead outright. The last one left behind had to be helped along with a hand over her nose and mouth. Yes there were two men and two women.

We had the second woman in the back of the cruiser. It was going to be a strange night. We drove back to the drugstore condos. Anya was squirting antiseptic cream into the hole in my upper arm muscle. "If this thing turns septic, you are going to the hospital," Anya demanded.

"Maybe Jeff's clinic," I said.

"Who is this Jeff," she asked.

"A doctor who owes me a favor. If he will do this big a favor in return is questionable, but who knows. For now you can stitch it up and pack it with antibiotic creme." I said it swallowing a Vicodin

"You have quite the first aid kit here," Any observed.

"Yes my first aid kit has a needle and thread, along with all kinds of gauze and tape. It is almost as good as the ones from an ambulance. Remember I know a shit load of paramedics from the cop out." I said.

"Some of them in the biblical sense no doubt," Anya said with a laugh.

While Anya watched I walked to the work bench and found a small round file. It was the kind my dad called a rat tail. I opened the breach of the Glock and ran the file in and out of the barrel several times. Yes it was painful to do with the bleeding arm, but I wanted to make sure the inside markings were completely altered. At least enough to create reasonable doubt.