Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of the TV
series Viper. I am merely using them in
this story. It is intended for non-profit
use only.
Joys of Hazard
Cole
and Westlake sat in the viper waiting patiently for the deal to go down. A local informant of Westlake's had told
them about a high-powered drug dealer named Dorian coming to Metro attempting
to set up shop. He was meeting with several
local dealers and suppliers to set up a network for distribution of heroine and
cocaine. The meeting was supposed to
take place in an abandoned building in the older portion of the warehouse
district.
The
viper team was parked behind an old semi trailer diagonal to the warehouse,
which gave them an excellent viewing location.
"Westlake,
are you sure about this? We've been
sitting here for two hours!" Cole stated as he cracked his neck. Cameron glared at him slightly.
"Look…Eddy
is a reliable source. If he said that
Dorian's gonna be here, he'll be here," Westlake answered firmly. Cole gave her his trademark lopsided grin,
and Cameron couldn't help but return the gesture. She'd come to like that goofy looking grin from her partner.
They
both became serious when they saw three black vans pull up in front of the
warehouse. Cole released the probe to
recon the meeting, and they waited to see what would happen.
Ten
minutes later, a black limousine pulled up behind the vans, and Cole zoomed in
on the occupants.
A
man in his early thirties stepped out. He had short, black hair and wore a long, black trench coat.
"That
must be Dorian," Cole stated.
"Yeah,
he fits the description that Eddy described," Westlake confirmed.
"Frankie,
Dorian's here. Have the locals surround
the area; we'll wait to see what goes down here," Cole stated.
"Right
Cole," Frankie replied from the compound.
Cole
moved the probe to one of the skylight windows to observe what happened
inside. They could see Dorian speaking with
some of the local dealers. He had one
of his associates open a briefcase. One
half had at least a million dollars in cash, while the other had two kilograms
of cocaine.
"Gentlemen,
I look forward to working with all of you, and I'm sure that we'll have a very
profitable future together," Dorian laughed.
"I'd
say that we've seen enough," Cole said sarcastically.
"What's
the plan?" Westlake asked.
"All
right, I'll take the defender through the front; you take the back in case any
of them make a run for it," Cole stated. Westlake grinned at him.
"Oh
sure, leave me the mopping up job while you have all the fun," she teased. She went to open the door, but Cole took her
arm.
"Hey,
watch yourself, Cameron, something about this doesn't feel right; it's too
easy!" Cole stated worriedly. Westlake
smiled at him reassuringly.
"Hey
Tom, relax, I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself," she said firmly. Cole grinned at her as she headed for the
rear of the warehouse. There was
something weird about that exchange; Cameron never called him by his first
name.
"Frankie,
it's me. Westlake's heading for the
back entrance; I'm gonna go pay these boys a visit," Cole stated.
"Gotcha,
Cole, I'll have Metro PD on standby for back-up," Frankie replied.
Cole
revved up the defender and roared through the front wall of the warehouse,
taking Dorian and the others completely by surprise.
"This
is the police, throw down your weapons, and put your hands on your head," Cole
ordered as he opened the weapons' panels. Dorian only smirked at him.
"We've
been expecting you," he sneered. Suddenly, over twenty men appeared from behind the stacks of crates and
opened fired on the defender.
Cole
tried to see through the parry of bullets. These weren't normal bullets; they were armor piercing.
"Dammit
Frankie, it was a trap; I'm a sitting duck in here," Cole growled.
"Cole,
get the hell out of there," Westlake ordered from her headset. Cole threw it into reverse only to be
confronted by a forklift raising his rear tires off the ground.
"Frankie,
my rear wheels are useless now, and I can't change to four wheel drive without
them on the ground," Cole stated. "These guys are firing armor-piercing bullets, and the Defenders armor
is not gonna last long."
"Metro
PD will be there in less than two minutes, Cole, hang on," Frankie said
nervously.
"Frankie,
there has to be something I can do," Westlake demanded.
"No
way, Westlake, you'll be turned into Swiss cheese," Cole answered. "Wait a minute…Frankie direct the probe
towards the ceiling and fire its laser. I'll do the same, and we'll bring the house down on these guys."
"Gotcha
Cole," Frankie stated. The two men
directed the defender and probe's laser beams to cut open the metal roofing,
and it came crashing down on the gunners. Westlake looked at the men crushed under the roofing, and she managed to
set the defender's rear wheels back down on the ground.
"Nice
shooting, partners," she quipped. Cole
noticed a group heading out the back, and Dorian and his men driving off in
their limousine.
"Westlake!"
Cole directed.
"I
see them," she replied.
"You
take the stragglers; I'll take the big fish," Cole stated and roared out of the
warehouse.
"Cole,
be careful, you've got damage to every major system in the defender; you shouldn't
even be doing this!" Frankie said firmly.
"I
got no choice; if Dorian escapes, he'll skip the country, and we'll never find
him," Cole replied.
As
Westlake chased after the three men who took the back door, she was met by a
swarm of Metro officers who had apprehended them. She took a minute to catch her breath and hoped that Cole was as
lucky as she was.
Cole
raced through the night trying to catch up with Dorian's vehicle.
"Frankie,
talk to me, where are they headed?" he asked.
"Towards
the southwestern part of Metro, there's a small airfield there, and I'll bet
that Dorian owns one of the planes," Frankie answered.
"Right,
I'm on it," Cole said firmly.
Ten
minutes later, Cole spotted the black limousine. They were about two minutes from the airfield, and Cole activated
the defender's weapon systems. He fired
the machine guns at the tires, but they bounced off.
"Frankie,
we got a problem, Dorian's limo has armor-plated tires, not to mention
bulletproof windows," Cole explained.
"Try
to get in front of them and cut them off," Frankie advised.
"I
don't have time. I'll have to try the
static pulse," Cole said firmly.
"Cole,
don't do it! The defender's systems are
nearly shot. The static pulse is an
extremely powerful burst that rapidly decreases in power after it launches so
that it doesn't harm the occupants of the vehicle it disables. If that generator backfires, it'll take out
the defender and you with it," Frankie said worriedly.
Cole
could see a plane on the runway of the airport, and it was ready for takeoff.
"Frankie,
I've got no choice. If I don't try it,
Dorian's gonna escape, I'm sorry." Cole
charged up the static pulse generator to its full power. He targeted the limousine and pressed the
button.
Seconds
later, Frankie heard a blood-curdling scream over the com.
"Cole!"
Frankie screamed. "Cole, are you
there?"
"Frankie,
what happened?" Westlake demanded as she came up on the com.
"Westlake,
Cole was chasing Dorian towards an airfield on the outskirts of Metro. None of his weapons worked so he tried to
use the static pulse. I tried to warn
him that with the defender's systems severely damaged that the static pulse
could backfire and take him and the defender out instead," Frankie blurted out.
"So,
what happened to him?" Westlake asked. Frankie could hear the apprehensive and almost fearful tone in her
voice.
"I
don't know. He fired the pulse
generator, and I heard a scream, but since then, nothing," Frankie said
sadly. Westlake felt her heart nearly
stop.
"Frankie,
give me his last location. I'm about
ten minutes from there and get an ambulance out there immediately," Westlake
ordered.
Ten
minutes later, Westlake climbed out of the police car she'd ridden in and
gasped. There was the defender on the
side of the road. It looked badly
scorched, and Westlake could see the dings from the bullets.
She
approached the driver's side door and opened it. Thomas Cole's body spilled out on the pavement. Westlake was immediately at his side.
"Cole…Cole
can you hear me?" she demanded as she rolled him over. His arms and legs were badly burned, and his
jacket looked like it had been melted to his skin. His hands were a charred black, and his face and neck were burned
as well. Cameron gulped at the body in
front of her but quickly checked for a pulse. Her heart lifted when she found it, but it was very weak and getting
weaker.
"Cam…Cam…Cameron…"
a voice choked out. Westlake looked up
at his face to see Cole's eyes open but just barely.
"Cole!"
she said happily and put a hand on his forehead. She almost thought that she saw a smile on his face as his eyes
closed.
"NO!"
she demanded and shook him till his eyes opened. "Dammit, Cole, you're not leaving me; you hear that!" Cole tried to laugh, but it came out as a
ragged cough instead.
"Are…are
you…are you okay?" he coughed up. Westlake chuckled at him. Here
was her partner lying in a scorched heap, and he was asking if she was okay?
"Yeah,
I'm fine," she replied. "We got the
bastards!" she said with a winning smile.
"And…and
Dorian?" Cole coughed out. Westlake
contemplated how to answer him. She
placed her hand on his burnt cheek, and she saw a relief in his worn out eyes.
"When
you're healed, we'll get him together, okay?" she said as a tear rolled down
her cheek. Cole grimaced from the
extreme pain but raised his hand and wiped away her tear.
"Get
him for me, Cameron," he said softly, and his eyes closed.
"Cole! Don't you dare!" Westlake ordered and shook
him violently, but Cole didn't budge. "Damn you, Thomas Cole, don't you dare do this to me!" Westlake roared as she felt her eyes
watering. "Where the hell is that
ambulance?" she shouted.
As
if on cue, the ambulance pulled up, and the paramedics ran to check on Cole's
body. They quickly loaded up his prone
body with Westlake at his side, and they raced off into the cold, dark night,
heading for Metro Hospital, which was a good half-hour away.