Black Brick - Part One Read online

  BLACK BRICK

  PART ONE

  Dan Decker

  Text Copyright © 2015 Dan Decker

  All rights reserved

  Published by Xander Revolutions LC

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  For my wife, son, and family.

  Contents

  Dedication

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  BLACK BRICK PART TWO

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  I couldn’t silence the alarm bells ringing in my head as Bruce Andrews and his date walked out of the restaurant. They were heading to the ballet, but weren’t going to make it.

  With a glance towards my partner Shannon, I dropped enough cash on the table to cover the bill.

  Shannon was staring after Andrews and I almost reminded her to not break cover but I thought better of it when I saw the silent snarl on her lips. I headed towards the door instead.

  I was nervous now that Andrews was out of our sight. He had just made a lewd comment to his date and she had giggled. Shannon growled and I shook my head.

  Our surveillance team had planted a bug on Andrews earlier in the day and I was beginning to wish that they hadn’t. Ignorance would have been useful. We couldn’t be expected to stop something if we didn’t know about it. When Andrews made his next comment I almost removed my Bluetooth ear bud altogether.

  “I’m gonna let her kill him,” Shannon said as she darted past me and waited for me to open the restaurant door, I zipped up my coat before grabbing it. “I swear I will. I don’t care if he thinks she’s an escort, nobody should have to put up with that kind of abuse. I hope she tortures him too. I’m gonna watch and enjoy every minute. This smelly city will be better without a scumbag like him.”

  Shannon had a point but I almost shushed her until I saw that nobody was close enough to overhear.

  The blonde woman couldn’t have been okay with the way Andrews had been treating her during dinner, though by her laughter you would have thought he had her enthralled. No woman would appreciate being compared to differing varieties of dogs. It was an act, it had to be.

  This was the reason I wasn’t sticking around to finish my caramel covered brownie and ice cream. Instead, I now stood out in the cold keeping tabs on a detestable man.

  Andrews should have figured out his date had hidden motives, but he was as dumb as he was crude. We would have to break our cover to keep him from getting killed because protecting him had been part of our orders as well.

  “Instead of letting her kill him,” I said, “we could leak his actions to the media. The blogosphere will ransack him and Diggon will be forced to do something about it. Give it a week and he’ll be gone.” My arm brushed against the bulge of my pistol as I spotted them half a block away. I hadn't planned on using it tonight, but now I wasn’t so sure.

  “We should have requested a closer table,” Shannon said. “I could have recorded them on video and posted it to YouTube.”

  “We could have live streamed the whole thing,” I said. I’d wanted to use the hidden camera on my ballpoint pen for months. Anytime I needed to make a video I usually went for my phone because I forgot about that feature.

  “Getting him fired won’t be enough,” Shannon said. “We’ll make sure everybody he knows gets a copy of the surveillance tape in their inbox.”

  When Andrews had explained what he wanted to do after the ballet, all the while referring to his date as his little mutt, Shannon had turned red and I had been forced to grab her hand because I didn’t like the way she’d been holding the knife. I had never known Shannon to stand by while someone disrespected a woman. She also didn’t break out of cover too often. Either way, I hadn’t wanted to take the chance.

  “How about this?” Shannon asked. “We’ll shoot him in the knee and bring her in. If she knows what we need, good. If not, no harm done.”

  I shook my head. “Not worth the risk. What if Diggon is on to him and she’s here on their behalf?”

  “She’s the buyer.”

  “Yeah, I’m not going to trust your instincts on this one. We’ll play this straight and follow our orders exactly.”

  There were a lot of unknowns at the moment that were making me uncomfortable. I’d forgotten how many months we had been keeping tabs on Andrews, but today was the first time this woman had surfaced and the timing was too convenient.

  Our analysts had just found evidence that Andrews had been stealing money from Diggon in addition to selling information.

  If we knew, chances were good that Diggon top executives had learned of it too. A company with that many government contracts had to be spying on their employees as well.

  The street was well lit and despite the low temperature there were a surprising number of people about. I took Shannon’s hand as I glanced around. We were supposed to be a young couple out for a pleasant, though chilly, spring evening on the town. I hoped we were pulling it off, but I was far too tense to expect that we did.

  “Jake!” Shannon said in a whisper while squeezing my hand. I felt her breath quicken as she wrapped her arm around mine. “She's not alone.”

  A tall broad shouldered man crossed the street in front of us and followed after Andrews and his date, the tall man’s eyes were glued onto them in a way that caused my hackles to go up. I hadn’t been able to spot an obvious weapon hidden beneath his thick coat, but the way he walked and the alert expression on his face was enough to mark him as a threat.

  I walked to the curb and pretended to be waiting for the crosswalk light while Shannon turned sideways and used me as cover while she kept on eye on them.

  “Another has joined up with that big guy.” Shannon leaned in close as she whispered, her blonde hair swaying in front of me. I could feel the warmth of her breath on my ear and tried to not let it distract me, but it was hard. I hated that we had to hide the true nature of our relationship when we weren’t on assignment.

  Hoping to clear my head, I went through a mental checklist. My compact pistol in my shoulder holster already had a round chambered. Steeling myself against the cold, I unzipped my coat so I would have easier access to it. An extra ammo magazine was in my right pocket and a spare subcompact pistol was in the left. I also kept another subcompact pistol in an ankle holster that wasn’t company issue.

  I took pains to keep other team members—including Shannon—from knowing about it. It wasn’t that I had any reason to suspect my teammates, trust just didn’t come naturally to me.

  There hadn’t been much expectation of any gun play tonight, so I’d grabbed my standard issue Glock 23. I preferred weapons with a bit more firepower than the silenced Sig Sauer Mosquito I carried when I knew I would need to keep things quiet. The Sig Sauer was a .22 caliber and the Glock was a .40 caliber. The subcompact pistols in my pocket and on my ankle were .40 calibers as well, the Glock 27.

  Shannon hadn’t brought a silenced weapon either, so if it came to a gunfight, we’d have to get out quick.

  I tried to tune out the feed from Andrews’ bug to focus on our surroundings, but was sucked back in when Andrews said something coarse. I hoped he would see through her ruse. It would be much easier if he came to his senses and ran. I hated saving such a revolting man.

  “They’re turning down an alle
y,” Shannon said. “The two men followed.”

  I cursed.

  We approached the alley as quick as we could without running and stopped at the entrance to listen. Andrews was close enough that I didn’t need the earpiece to hear him pleading for his life. He offered money and said he’d give them anything they wanted.

  A man laughed while the woman cursed, calling Andrews a name that I couldn’t quite make out. There was a thwack and Andrews screamed.

  “I go left,” I whispered to Shannon, “you go right.”

  “You’ll back me up if I take Andrews out, right? You know, fog of war and all that.”

  I snorted but Shannon’s smile sent a chill down my spine. “Don’t you go vigilante on me. Stick to the mission.”

  “We’re protecting a dirt bag.”

  “We usually are,” I said, pulling out my pistol and wishing for a silenced weapon.

  I should have waited another couple of seconds. A man was passing by that I hadn’t noticed, when he saw my pistol, he lifted his hands above his head.

  Growling, I motioned for him to continue on his way. Once he had gone, Shannon turned to hide what she was doing and pulled out her pistol.

  “Whose trigger happy now?” she asked.

  I shrugged. Things like this happened when I became too focused.

  I didn’t like the thought of the scare I’d given that man, but there was little I could do about it now.

  I took a breath and put him from my mind, stamping down the guilt I felt at the alarm I had caused him. Several deep breaths later, my focus returned and I was ready to go around the corner.

  I had a bad feeling that when we did, people would die. I tried to ignore it but the face of a man that I’d killed several months ago came to mind. He sometimes kept me awake at night as I played the event over and again, analyzing what I could have done differently. I shook my head. It hadn’t been my fault, but even though I knew it, my subconscious had not yet accepted it.

  I made eye contact with Shannon and we turned the corner.

  Chapter 2

  A single bulb lit the alley. It was enough to see but left everything in shadows. Garbage cans littered either side and there was a wide half frozen puddle right in front of us.

  Andrews was crumpled in a heap on the other side of the icy water with his date standing over him, the eager to please smile replaced with a snarl.

  The broad shouldered man was on the left and he was pointing a gun at Andrews. We had the element of surprise and our surveillance target was in danger so our training kicked in.

  I shot the big man as Shannon fired at the other. The twin explosions in the confined area made my ears ring. Luckily, the one with the hidden ear bud wasn’t affected as badly.

  I thought about the surveillance team listening in and wondered how long it would take for backup to get here. Protocol dictated that they call the gunshots in to Black Brick, our base.

  They wouldn’t provide much help though. When backup arrived, they would be careful before getting involved. While we worked for the government, we didn’t advertize our presence when local cops showed up.

  Our operation ran in a dark grey area and it was best to keep out of entanglement with law enforcement.

  Andrews screamed again, the ringing in my ears made his voice sound far away. I could also barely make out commotion from the street behind us as people responded to our gunfire.

  The woman raised her hands as I walked forward through the puddle. The man that I shot wasn’t breathing and the one Shannon had taken out was moaning. A roll of duct tape had fallen out of the pocket of his coat and was rolling away.

  What kind of man had the big guy had been? Did he have a family? Children?

  I looked away from the men and focused on the woman.

  “I don’t blame you for wanting to kill Andrews,” I said. “My partner would help you if she could, but we need him alive.”

  The woman straightened. “Just get it over with. Make it a clean shot to the head.”

  “Hopefully we can avoid that. We just have a few questions. Tell us what we need to know, we may let you go.” I might as well have not said the last part because I could tell she didn’t believe me. “Who do you work for?”

  She didn’t reply. Despite her predicament, the woman was resolute and alert, almost as if she were in control of the situation. She stepped away from Andrews, keeping eye contact with me as she did.

  “Stop,” I said as the woman reached into her purse. Andrews crawled to his feet. There was blood on his face and he was wet. When he moved to leave I jabbed my pistol into his back. I couldn’t help but think that was less than he deserved. “Freeze, if you know what’s good for you.” Now that we'd broken cover, we'd bring him in for questioning too. Either these two would make a deal or we'd turn them over to law enforcement.

  “Advice for the future,” Shannon said to Andrews. “Any woman that lets you talk to her like that has an agenda. Also, I’m gonna find you and kill you myself once this is all over.” She motioned to the woman. “Down on your knees.”

  “Shannon,” the woman said. “This isn’t how this is going to go. You can have Andrews, but I’m walking away.”

  I tried my best to not let my surprise show. Shannon took a step towards the woman, a snarl on her lips. “Down on the ground!”

  “Careful,” I said to Shannon. I'd almost missed it. A small smile had flitted across the woman’s face when Shannon had stepped forward. “She’s gonna jump you.”

  “Shut up,” Shannon said to me while motioning with her pistol to the woman. “On your knees. Now.”

  The woman sighed in resignation, bent as if to kneel, and then lunged toward Shannon. She locked arms with Shannon and pushed the gun up into the air just as Shannon pulled the trigger.

  “I’d rather not shoot you too,” I said to Andrews while looking for an opening to take down the woman. From my peripheral vision, I’d notice him looking toward the street. “But don’t make the mistake of thinking that we’re here to rescue you. I just need you alive. There was nothing in my orders about you needing to have functioning knees.”

  I lined my pistol up several times, hoping for a shot, but each time things shifted and my bullet would have hit Shannon as well.

  There was a sound overhead and I saw a man peeking off one of the roofs from three stories above. I frowned. Had we attracted the person’s attention with the shooting or had they been there before?

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman grab Shannon’s pistol. I cursed and almost fired on instinct but was glad I hadn’t. The next moment Shannon was in the way and would have taken a hit to the chest. She wore a bullet proof vest but I didn’t want to take the chance.

  There was the whispered cough of a silenced weapon from overhead and blood spurted down the woman’s throat.

  She dropped Shannon's pistol and clutched at her neck, trying to speak, but only a gurgling sound came out. I already had my pistol pointed up but I could no longer see the man. I could sense that he was still there and kept looking.

  Andrews broke into a run and I stuck out a foot and tripped him. He hadn’t even landed before the hidden shooter took him out with a shot in the back. As Andrews fell, something skidded out of his pocket and hit the wall but I didn’t look to see what it was.

  By that time, I’d moved up against the wall of the building where the shooter was located and was in a kneeling position. Landing in the puddle, I aimed my gun up towards the roof, prepared to shoot at anything that moved. Everything was still except for the man Shannon had wounded, he was moaning softly.

  The seconds ticked by as I scanned the area while water seeped into my pants.

  “Shannon, get under cover.” She hadn’t moved since the woman had been shot. I wasn’t even sure if she noticed that Andrews had gone down as well. When she didn’t respond, I repeated myself.

  She looked over at me. The light cast much of her face in shadow but I could see the whites of her eyes. Her m
outh hung open and blood splatter from the woman covered her grey coat.

  It wasn’t the first time we’d been shot at during an operation, but it was the closest Shannon had ever come to flying bullets.

  “See the shooter?” Shannon asked, shaking off the stupor and retrieving her pistol from the dead woman before ducking up against the same wall I had.

  “Briefly, just before he started.”

  “Why didn’t you take him out?”

  “Made a mistake.” He hadn’t looked like a threat at the time, but now that I had a chance to think about it, I knew I’d read the situation wrong. A sane person wouldn’t have been curious about an alley full of gunfire; no, they’d have gone for cover.

  My eyes focused on the object that had fallen from Andrews’ pocket. A cell phone. I didn’t dwell on it because his phone had been bugged for months and we had a copy of everything on it. The street we’d come from moments before was deserted.

  My eyes returned to the phone.

  That wasn’t Andrews’ phone, he had a smart phone. With a look back at the roof—still no shooter—I scooted over to the device and picked it up. It was cheap, like the kind of phone you could buy, make a few calls, and then throw away. Chances were Andrews’ surveillance team knew about this other phone as well, but I put it into my pocket just in case.

  A car screeched to a halt on the street. Flashing red and blue lights reflected off the alley wall.

  I swore under my breath and began to move in the other direction, keeping to the shadows.

  “Beltran is gonna be mad,” Shannon said, “he’ll make us pay for this.” She was referring to our boss, Jeff Beltran.

  “Probably,” I said, not relishing the idea of showing up at Black Brick with this to report.

  “Kill me,” begged the wounded man. His gun lay several feet away but it wasn't within his line of sight. We should have disarmed him earlier. In the heat of the moment neither of us had thought about it.

  I kicked the gun further away. If he had a chance at living, I wasn’t going to take it away. I’d seen enough death for one day.