Disclaimer: Don't own Automan—wish I did. Please don't sue. Besides ya' wouldn't get anything outta me right now, anyway. All of the disclaimer see Chapter 1.
Ch. 9--Reinforcements Arrive
A silver Plymouth pulled up to the front of the apartment complex across from 378 N. Hill Street. Lt. Jack Curtis and Captain Boyd got out. Both had two-way radios in their hands. The captain put the radio to his mouth and said, "Unit one cover the rear entrance."
Jack had his own two-way on a different channel. He pressed a button and said into the radio, "Roxanne, we're heading in. Be ready to have the paramedics converge on the office building when I give the all clear. We may not have much time to get them out of there."
"Right, Lieutenant. We're all set to go here." Jack heard Roxanne acknowledge over the radio.
"Good." Jack turned down the volume of the radio and put it in his coat pocket. He turned to the captain to see if he was ready to go. When he saw the captain look to him, Jack nodded his readiness.
Both men entered the main hall of the apartment building. They looked for the manager's door. Once they found it, the captain knocked on the door. An elderly man answered the door. "Can I help you?"
Boyd and Jack showed the gentleman their badges.
"What's wrong officers?"
"How many residents are in this building?" asked the captain.
"Six. No, wait. Seven, including the young man who just moved in on the fourth floor."
"Which apartment did he rent?"
"Number eight, across from the old conference room of the old office building across the street."
Jack shared a significant look with the captain. This gentleman had just described the exact location of the hit man after Wally and Agent Mann.
"We need your help in evacuating this building quickly and quietly," instructed the captain with quiet resolve.
"Why?"
"Because your newest tenant isn't what he appears to be. He's a cold-blooded killer."
"He seemed so nice."
"Yes, well. We don't want him aware of our presence. We also don't want anyone else injured. If you could please quietly evacuate the other residents?"
"All right." The old man headed for the apartment across from his own. He quietly spoke with the man who lived there. They both headed up the stairs to get the other tenants to evacuate.
The residents came down the stairs quietly and in single-file. The captain silently directed them to the back door where he had a unit guide them to safety. The manager came up to the captain. "That's all of them, except the one you're after."
"Good. You better get out yourself, sir."
The old man nodded and left out the back door.
Captain Boyd and Jack took the staircase up to the fourth floor. A couple of feet before they reached the door of the apartment the sniper was holed up in Jack noticed something on the wall near the floor. He put his hand out stopping the captain's advance. "Wait, Captain," he softly said.
Boyd looked at Jack with confusion before asking just as quietly, "What is it?"
Jack pointed to a pair of small, barely noticeable sensors on either wall near the floor. "It's an electronic sensor. Sort of like an electronic trip wire. Wally once told me about how they work. It'll set off an alarm if 'tripped' warning him." He motioned for the captain to step over the sensors.
They carefully stepped over the sensors without setting them off, took out their guns, and took up opposite positions in the doorway. Jack broke in the door aiming high with the captain aiming low. They saw a young brown-haired man aiming a gun out of the open window toward the conference room across the street. Jack saw him get off one shot before the young man spun around upon hearing the door busted in and the captain yell, "Freeze! Police!"
The young man looked surprised that Jack and the captain had been able to avoid his early warning device.
"Drop the gun!" ordered the captain.
The young man looked from Jack to the captain. Jack saw the calculating look in the young man's eyes as he quickly gauged his chances against both Jack and Captain Boyd. The young man surrendered dropping the gun. The captain and Jack approached the gunman, and the captain handcuffed the hit man. Jack carefully picked up the gun with a handkerchief trying not to get his fingerprints on the gun before looking through the unfamiliar scope. He saw two figures on the floor. One's body was luminescent. The other's was only a faint outline. He put the gun in an evidence bag before turning to the captain. "Captain, I'm heading over to the building Wally and Agent Mann are trapped in."
The captain just nodded his approval.
Jack left the room at a run taking out the two-way radio from his coat pocket and turning up the volume as he ran. "Roxanne, all clear! Get those paramedics over there quick! He may have recently hit one of them! I'm heading over there right now!" Jack raced down the stairs and out of the building towards the condemned office building.
Roxanne was outside of the building Wally and Automan were trapped in helping the paramedics to set up for at least one incoming patient when she saw Lt. Curtis run past her on his way to the main entrance of the building. She was also trying to keep the curious residents from the apartment building from interfering with the paramedics. She hoped Wally and Automan were all right, but she remembered that Wally had been shot. She informed the paramedics that at least one person had been shot and had lost a lot of blood. Roxanne peered to the main entrance to see the lieutenant pause at the main entrance.
Jack stood for a couple of seconds in front of the main entrance door before barging in silently praying he wasn't too late. He didn't think he could stand to lose another good friend to another hit man.
A/N: Were Wally and/or Auto hit again? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out. Oh, and thank you for the reviews! They're my inspiration to keep writing. :)