"Head shots!" Andy Flynn ducked as the gunmen sprayed the scene with automatic gunfire again.
Bullets ripped through the colorfully wrapped packages that he'd dropped on the sidewalk. He'd always worried that he was taking his life in his hands when braving the LA crowds at Christmas, but he wasn't expecting yet another case this week interrupting his vacation. This time it wasn't even in Venice Beach.
"Captain, they have body armor on. Don't waste your bullets on anything but head shots." He gave her a quick glance. There was a small cut on her cheek, probably not from the gunmen but from when he'd thrown her to the sidewalk when the shooting started. Otherwise she looked okay, not even especially panicked by the situation.
Andy was plenty panicked for both of them. Outnumbered and outgunned, their only option was playing defense. The robbers had fully automatic weapons. In the distance he could see one cop on the ground in a pool of blood. Another was still firing from the limited protection of his vehicle. He hoped the kid had the good sense to retreat and wait for reinforcements.
"Sharon, get off the phone. They're not giving up. Full body armor. We gotta aim for the head."
A ricochet struck the Santa sign next to him and reflexively he fired at the closest shooter, his actions accomplishing nothing except drawing unwanted attention to them.
Sharon Raydor cupped her hand over her cell phone, "I'm aware, Lieutenant. Calm down. Just let me get an ETA on SWAT from dispatch."
"Whatever their ETA is, it's too damn long," Andy yelled, noticing the advance of two of the gunmen towards their position behind a large concrete planter. He tried again to take one of them down without success.
He and Sharon had exited the toy store after Christmas shopping for his new step-grandchildren and walked right into the middle of a gun battle between masked bank robbers trying to get away and a couple of LAPD cops finishing a late takeout dinner in their patrol car. Wrong place, wrong time.
"We need to move before we're pinned down here! Come on! Sharon, let's go." For a split second he regretfully considered the packages on the ground a few feet away. Tomorrow was Christmas eve and at this rate he was never going to get his shopping done.
Sharon disconnected the 911 call and exchanged her cell phone for her gun. Firing a couple of shots as a distraction, she followed him back into the now deserted store, the glass from the front windows shattering as their movements were tracked.
"There's a traffic accident that's causing a delay in the rollout, plus high winds aloft – I caught something about air support being grounded. We're on our own for the next ten or fifteen minutes. Taylor is setting up a perimeter though."
"Wonderful, I was hoping they'd escape...as in leave. Now they're trapped just like us." He took a breath. "I heard news helicopters overhead, how bad could the weather be?"
"Bad enough. A storm is moving in." Sharon shrugged. "The more immediate question is why didn't the robbers leave the scene after the robbery? It seemed to me that they fired on that patrol car without any warning, before the alarms sounded. Why take that chance? They could have just left. Why are they forcing a continued confrontation with us?"
"The hell if I know," Andy grumbled. "Maybe they just like killing. Maybe those automatic weapons make them feel invincible."
Leaning forward, they were watching the front doors from behind the sales counter, their guns drawn and braced on the polished wood surface as they waited.
"How much ammo do you have left?" Andy asked. "I'm asking because I don't have much."
Usually he and Provenza got into these crazy situations together. They always made it out because they could anticipate each other's reactions. He wasn't sure if his current state of extreme unease was just due to the gunmen. He and Sharon had no history together, no shared experiences to draw on. He understood that in this circumstance they were dependent on each other, but it was awkward. They had no established rhythm.
"Almost a full clip, plus one in my purse."
"Really?" Okay, so maybe she brought something different to the table than Provenza. Considering their dash into the store, he admitted she could also "run" – something his partner refused to do.
He gave her an admiring glance. "You carry an extra clip in your purse?"
"Yes, since Rusty started getting those letters," she confessed without apology. "I also have some pepper spray, but I don't think that's going to be helpful in these circumstances."
A quick movement at the door was their only warning before the noise of rapid fire filled the room and the wood of the counter splintered in front of them. A line of stuffed reindeer were felled without resistance.
Sharon held her position, took a quick breath and squeezed the trigger - once.
The noise stopped.
"Damn!" Andy looked from her to the dead man in the front of the store. The mask had a hole in it just above the eyes. He knew she was a good shot, but that was better than good. "Don't say that was a lucky shot."
"Okay, I won't." She paused then added, "No bean bags this time. He's not going to be waking up."
Andy shrugged. "Works for me."
