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Chapter Nine: Gun!

It quickly became obvious the two men had come for Baldwin and not anyone else who might be staying at the apartment building.

That's when the penny finally dropped on what he'd been forgetting all this time.

He should've considered the fact that Annie making a sudden trip to Hawai'i would be suspicious in light of her husband's disappearance. Somehow, TruBuild had realized what her trip indicated and followed her, which had led to him. And he'd been stupid enough to lead the bad guys to Baldwin.

At no time had he noticed anyone tailing him, so he wouldn't be surprised to find a tracking device somewhere on the Ferrari – if he lived to check, that is.

Pretending he hadn't noticed the two men who had just started towards them, Magnum turned around – unconcerned with leaving his back exposed with Rick close by.

"Aww man," he said, making sure he sounds a little like he's whining. "I forgot my ball cap! We need to go back and get it."

Looking confused, Baldwin said, "But—" while at the same time Rick yelled, "Gun!"

"Go!" Thomas said, pulling Sam along with him as he drew his gun and headed towards the nearest cover – a large dumpster pushed up next to a wall.

When he heard the first gunshot, he ducked reflexively, hoping none of them had been hit by the bullets aimed their way. Rick's gun answered the shots with some of his own, while Thomas continued to shield Baldwin.

Somehow they made it to cover without being shot, and Thomas handed Sam his phone.

"Call the police and then get between the dumpster and the wall."

After Baldwin nodded, Thomas joined Rick in defending their position. When Rick had to reload, he slowed his rate of fire, trying to conserve ammunition.

Magnum heard his name yelled only seconds before he was tackled to the ground as he heard two gunshots coming from behind their position. He wasn't sure why Rick was taking so long to get up off the ground, but knew they couldn't dawdle or the other shooters would take advantage. As he got back into position, he saw that the dude who had tried to flank them from behind had been killed, and was thankful for Rick's skills as a sharpshooter.

He immediately spotted another guy trying to flank them and starting shooting, managing to hit him with what looked to be a kill shot. Thomas then moved back to his original position, hoping Rick would finish reloading soon. He'd only brought one spare clip, not having anticipated a firefight. Even with conserving his ammunition, it didn't look good for them unless the cops arrived soon.

When one of the two attempted to gain an advantage, he managed to hit the guy in the side. He was down to the last few bullets when he finally heard sirens heading towards their direction.

The one uninjured goon picked his cohort up off the ground and started dragging him away, which left him with an opening he couldn't resist. He wasn't the marksman Rick was, but at this distance he was fairly accurate, and he shot the final man in the leg which brought the two down in a heap. With the sirens closer than ever, Thomas broke cover from the dumpster, and held his weapon on the two men, kicking away the gun the one man had managed to keep hold of when he and his fellow bad guy had fallen.

The cops arrived a minute later, and Magnum held his hands up in surrender until one of the uniformed men recognized who he was. All the while, he wondered where Rick was, but assumed his friend was making sure Baldwin was safe.

Thomas told the police there were two more friendlies behind the dumpster before calling out to Rick that it was clear. He expected to see a grinning Rick come out from behind cover with Baldwin in tow, but instead Magnum heard the architect give life to a waking nightmare.

"We need an ambulance!"

Magnum sprinted back to the dumpster and saw Rick sitting up against it, unconscious and bleeding from a wound to his upper chest. He was momentarily struck dumb at the sight, only regaining his senses when he heard:

"Ambulances are already on the way."

Thomas threw himself down to the ground, uncaring of the spike of pain in his knees. He took the shirt Baldwin thrust in front of him and pushed it into the wound as hard as he could in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The action made Rick groan and shift position, allowing him to notice a smear of blood on the dumpster.

Leaning Rick forward slightly, he discovered an exit wound and the damage it had caused. A police officer with a first aid kit joined them.

"Bullet went through," he said.

The officer grimaced and nodded, quickly getting out a bandage to apply to the exit wound. Together, they worked to slow the bleeding, as they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

The world around him faded away as he focused on Rick, willing his friend to fight, to stay alive. He wouldn't be able to bear losing another of his best friends so soon after Nuzo, especially when he was to blame for getting Rick hurt. Just as it was his fault he hadn't prevented Nuzo from being taken or being found before his friend had been killed. He made a promise to himself that if Rick lived, he would never again ask for help on a case from one of his friends.

Please, brother. Live. You—

Thomas was pushed aside mid-thought by a medic, who asked what happened as she began to treat Rick. He tried to answer, but temporarily lost the power of speech once he saw the blood on his hands.

Blood that he was responsible for.

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Next time: Chapter Ten: Waiting

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Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are my fault.

Thanks for reading!

*Please do not repost or use this or any of my other works on another site or app without my knowledge or consent. FanFiction and Archive of Our Own are the only two sites (as AZGirl on both) where my fiction should be posted. Thank you!