[b]From Chapter 2:[/b][i]
Getting out of the car, I surveyed the building in front of me. The old feed shop sure looked like a fixer upper, but it blended in perfectly with the rundown feeling I sensed from the buildings surrounding it. It sure didn't seem like the kind of place you'd put a safe house, but maybe that's what made it safe, I mused.
I waited patiently for Syd and Eric to join me on the sidewalk before we approached the house together. About 10 feet from the safe house, my fingers started itching. Looking around quickly, I spotted three goons taking aim at us. "Get down!" I yelled, pulling Sydney to cover while they started shooting up the place.[/i]
[b]Chapter 3: On the Trail[/b]
The bullets followed us to our hiding place on the other side of the car, so I looked around desperately for someplace we could hole up until they got bored of shooting at us. Catching Eric's eye, I saw him gesture from his spot behind a garbage can to an open door just to his left. I eyed it for a moment, lining it up with the shooters' line of vision. Once I was sure they couldn't see us if we kept low, I nodded curtly and he ducked inside.
"Sydney," I whispered harshly once he was safe, "you see that doorway behind us?" She glanced back and nodded silently. "I want you to get in there. Eric's already inside and I'll be there in a minute okay?"
I watched her while she quietly scooted into the building, then I turned back to make sure we hadn't been found out yet. Once I was positive they were clueless, I opened the driver's side door and grabbed the spare guns from the glove compartment and under the dash. Then I moved inside myself, only to be met by 110 pounds of angry woman. "Well Hot Shot, guess what. There's no way out of here except for the way we came in. What are we going to do now?"
"Now we wait," I told her, taking a quick survey of our surroundings. We were in an old store, it looked like it might have been a company store for the boys working at the warehouses and factories in the district. The worn counter was covered in dust and cobwebs hung from the open rafters; obviously it had been abandoned a long time ago.
"Wait for what? Their mothers to call them for dinner?" she asked sarcastically, drawing my attention back to the situation at hand.
Eric started to answer her, but I put my finger over my lips in a silent request for them to be quiet. Yep, there it was-the tell tale click of a hammer against an empty chamber. "We wait for that," I whispered, moving the door so I could overhear their conversation.
"Hey Vinnie," one of the goons asked, "you think we should go in, make sure we shut them up?"
"Nah, leave 'em be Willie," Vinnie answered. "If they're not dead, we scared them good: Those gumshoes won't be giving us anymore trouble. Now let's beat it-Mister Sloane wanted us back by 5:00 to help with his special project, remember?"
"Vinnie's right, Mister Sloane won't be very happy with us if we're late," the third man chimed in.
"Yeah I know Eddie. Okay, let's get out of here then."
I looked at Eric, shaking my head at their ignorance. He just grinned and whispered, "Sounds like the lights are on but nobody's home, eh Vaughn?"
"Tell me about it," I agreed, looking around the small storefront once more. "So what's next?"
"We follow them, of course. If Sloane has Jack, they'll lead us right to him. Are they leaving on foot?" he asked.
"Do you hear a car starting?" Sydney replied sarcastically.
I looked at her, surprised. I'd almost forgotten she was there when Eric and I were planning, and from the look of her she knew that. I winced, reminding myself that a dame like her doesn't like to be ignored. "Sorry Sydney," I apologized. "I wasn't trying to leave you out."
"That's what you say Vaughn but." Her voice trailed off when I slowly crept forward to where I could peer around the car at Arvin's boys. "Vaughn! What are you doing?" Sydney hissed. I waved my hand, motioning for her to be quiet, but she was having none of that. Sparks in her eyes, she opened her mouth with a quick rejoinder, but Eric clamped his hand over her kisser before the words came out.
"Quiet Bristow," he ordered. "Do you want them to know we're watching them?"
Mutely shaking her head, she grabbed his hand and pulled it off her mouth, shooting him a glare in the process. I bit back a grin at that, then turned back around just in time to see our quarry turn the corner.
"Let's move," I commanded softly. "Quietly, just up to the second corner, then we wait to see where they go next." We snuck out of our hiding place without a sound and walked down the street as quickly and as stealthily as possible. When we got to the next corner, we waited until our prey went around the next corner before taking chase once more.
It was clear from the get-go that the boys had no clue they were being followed. We were too far back to hear what they were saying, but they were laughing and talking like they were out on a lark. "They aren't too smart, are they?" I muttered.
"Of course not," Sydney replied sweetly-almost too sweetly. "They are men after all." I shot her a sour look at that but she just smiled.
"Would you two love birds quit with the chit-chat?" Eric demanded. "This job is hard enough without listening to your bickering the whole time."
"Well! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Sydney muttered.
I groaned, knowing that had been the wrong thing to say. Sure enough, Eric whirled around to face her, fire in his eyes. "Listen up Doll Face. I got woken up in the middle of the night-when it was still dark out-because Vaughn wanted to talk about this case. Then to add insult to injury, he told me you wanted us at the office [i]early[/i]. So I get there, but it's not early enough for you. No, you have to grouse about that and everything else for the rest of the morning, so forgive me if I'm not in the finest of moods."
She stared at him for a moment with her sable eyes before replying softly. "You're right Eric, I'm sorry. I haven't been very nice this morning. I'm concerned about my father, but I have no right to take it out on you."
He nodded, pacified by her apology. "Look, I know you're upset, and we'll do everything we can to find your old man. Let's get back on track, what do you say?"
Subdued, she bowed her head in acquiescence and we were on our way again. As luck would have it, the goons were still on the same street they'd been on when that whole scene went down. If we'd have lost them, all hell would have broken loose again. We watched while they took the next right, then slowly followed them.
I felt it just before we turned the corner by the old railway station-that prickling sensation you get on the back of your neck when you're being watched. I cast a surreptitious glance behind me, but no one was there. The uneasy feeling wouldn't go away though, so I turned the corner and motioned for Eric and Sydney to follow my lead.
Instead of moving down the block like we had before, we stepped inside the station and waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later we heard footsteps and whispering as our tail tried to figure out how they'd lost us. We watched as they cautiously slunk around the corner, obviously looking for us.
Once they had passed our hiding place, I stepped out behind them alone, holding my pistol in front of me. "Hey fellas, you looking for me?" I asked casually.
Getting out of the car, I surveyed the building in front of me. The old feed shop sure looked like a fixer upper, but it blended in perfectly with the rundown feeling I sensed from the buildings surrounding it. It sure didn't seem like the kind of place you'd put a safe house, but maybe that's what made it safe, I mused.
I waited patiently for Syd and Eric to join me on the sidewalk before we approached the house together. About 10 feet from the safe house, my fingers started itching. Looking around quickly, I spotted three goons taking aim at us. "Get down!" I yelled, pulling Sydney to cover while they started shooting up the place.[/i]
[b]Chapter 3: On the Trail[/b]
The bullets followed us to our hiding place on the other side of the car, so I looked around desperately for someplace we could hole up until they got bored of shooting at us. Catching Eric's eye, I saw him gesture from his spot behind a garbage can to an open door just to his left. I eyed it for a moment, lining it up with the shooters' line of vision. Once I was sure they couldn't see us if we kept low, I nodded curtly and he ducked inside.
"Sydney," I whispered harshly once he was safe, "you see that doorway behind us?" She glanced back and nodded silently. "I want you to get in there. Eric's already inside and I'll be there in a minute okay?"
I watched her while she quietly scooted into the building, then I turned back to make sure we hadn't been found out yet. Once I was positive they were clueless, I opened the driver's side door and grabbed the spare guns from the glove compartment and under the dash. Then I moved inside myself, only to be met by 110 pounds of angry woman. "Well Hot Shot, guess what. There's no way out of here except for the way we came in. What are we going to do now?"
"Now we wait," I told her, taking a quick survey of our surroundings. We were in an old store, it looked like it might have been a company store for the boys working at the warehouses and factories in the district. The worn counter was covered in dust and cobwebs hung from the open rafters; obviously it had been abandoned a long time ago.
"Wait for what? Their mothers to call them for dinner?" she asked sarcastically, drawing my attention back to the situation at hand.
Eric started to answer her, but I put my finger over my lips in a silent request for them to be quiet. Yep, there it was-the tell tale click of a hammer against an empty chamber. "We wait for that," I whispered, moving the door so I could overhear their conversation.
"Hey Vinnie," one of the goons asked, "you think we should go in, make sure we shut them up?"
"Nah, leave 'em be Willie," Vinnie answered. "If they're not dead, we scared them good: Those gumshoes won't be giving us anymore trouble. Now let's beat it-Mister Sloane wanted us back by 5:00 to help with his special project, remember?"
"Vinnie's right, Mister Sloane won't be very happy with us if we're late," the third man chimed in.
"Yeah I know Eddie. Okay, let's get out of here then."
I looked at Eric, shaking my head at their ignorance. He just grinned and whispered, "Sounds like the lights are on but nobody's home, eh Vaughn?"
"Tell me about it," I agreed, looking around the small storefront once more. "So what's next?"
"We follow them, of course. If Sloane has Jack, they'll lead us right to him. Are they leaving on foot?" he asked.
"Do you hear a car starting?" Sydney replied sarcastically.
I looked at her, surprised. I'd almost forgotten she was there when Eric and I were planning, and from the look of her she knew that. I winced, reminding myself that a dame like her doesn't like to be ignored. "Sorry Sydney," I apologized. "I wasn't trying to leave you out."
"That's what you say Vaughn but." Her voice trailed off when I slowly crept forward to where I could peer around the car at Arvin's boys. "Vaughn! What are you doing?" Sydney hissed. I waved my hand, motioning for her to be quiet, but she was having none of that. Sparks in her eyes, she opened her mouth with a quick rejoinder, but Eric clamped his hand over her kisser before the words came out.
"Quiet Bristow," he ordered. "Do you want them to know we're watching them?"
Mutely shaking her head, she grabbed his hand and pulled it off her mouth, shooting him a glare in the process. I bit back a grin at that, then turned back around just in time to see our quarry turn the corner.
"Let's move," I commanded softly. "Quietly, just up to the second corner, then we wait to see where they go next." We snuck out of our hiding place without a sound and walked down the street as quickly and as stealthily as possible. When we got to the next corner, we waited until our prey went around the next corner before taking chase once more.
It was clear from the get-go that the boys had no clue they were being followed. We were too far back to hear what they were saying, but they were laughing and talking like they were out on a lark. "They aren't too smart, are they?" I muttered.
"Of course not," Sydney replied sweetly-almost too sweetly. "They are men after all." I shot her a sour look at that but she just smiled.
"Would you two love birds quit with the chit-chat?" Eric demanded. "This job is hard enough without listening to your bickering the whole time."
"Well! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Sydney muttered.
I groaned, knowing that had been the wrong thing to say. Sure enough, Eric whirled around to face her, fire in his eyes. "Listen up Doll Face. I got woken up in the middle of the night-when it was still dark out-because Vaughn wanted to talk about this case. Then to add insult to injury, he told me you wanted us at the office [i]early[/i]. So I get there, but it's not early enough for you. No, you have to grouse about that and everything else for the rest of the morning, so forgive me if I'm not in the finest of moods."
She stared at him for a moment with her sable eyes before replying softly. "You're right Eric, I'm sorry. I haven't been very nice this morning. I'm concerned about my father, but I have no right to take it out on you."
He nodded, pacified by her apology. "Look, I know you're upset, and we'll do everything we can to find your old man. Let's get back on track, what do you say?"
Subdued, she bowed her head in acquiescence and we were on our way again. As luck would have it, the goons were still on the same street they'd been on when that whole scene went down. If we'd have lost them, all hell would have broken loose again. We watched while they took the next right, then slowly followed them.
I felt it just before we turned the corner by the old railway station-that prickling sensation you get on the back of your neck when you're being watched. I cast a surreptitious glance behind me, but no one was there. The uneasy feeling wouldn't go away though, so I turned the corner and motioned for Eric and Sydney to follow my lead.
Instead of moving down the block like we had before, we stepped inside the station and waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later we heard footsteps and whispering as our tail tried to figure out how they'd lost us. We watched as they cautiously slunk around the corner, obviously looking for us.
Once they had passed our hiding place, I stepped out behind them alone, holding my pistol in front of me. "Hey fellas, you looking for me?" I asked casually.