A/N: You paid for the whole seat but you only are gonna need THE EDGE!
Sorry, I couldn't resist!
Man this action/suspense stuff is hard to write. I take back everything I said about thinking up a love scene LOL
Enjoy and please keep the reviews coming. Love to hear from new readers if everyone is liking it.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HOPE 2023 IS KIND TO US ALL!
"What's taking them so long?"
Kristoff was getting more and more impatient from the radio silence above them. Here they were sealed like sardines with a swath of civilians and just on the other side are the cops. Meanwhile this motley crew of would-be assassins have the whole hotel to run around in.
"They'd better handle Carlos, I'll tell you that" remarked Heinrich.
The people were pretty cooperative until an hour in where a few people were asking if they could begin taking small, supervised groups to the bathrooms. Kristoff reluctantly obliged and ordered Heinrich to take people, three at a time. Since the mens room and ladies room were so close together, the statuesque man stood with his semi automatic, loudly announcing to the folks behind the doors that they had just a couple of minutes to handle their business and be escorted back to the main lobby.
While he handled this, Franco stood his post as main crowd control, walking around the frightened guests along with Kristoff. The Dutchman and the German did not get along at first but they shared a mutual hatred for the scrawny O'Reilly and the creepy Burke. Not to mention the hot-headed Esperanza who apparently went rogue.
"I feel like the muscle," gritted Franco. "Some dumb ox with a gun and these three are the ones in charge!"
(Let any one of them square up against me! No guns, no fancy tech; just me and my mitts! They would be decimated.)
"I swear to God, Kristoff - after this is over, if I ever EVER run into any one of those motherfuckers...I'm gonna kill them!"
Kristoff gave him a stoic stare from across the lobby, silently urging him to keep his emotions in check. These people need to believe that they are in charge and that nothing will change that. If they appear disconnected, instead of working harmoniously, someone (likely the cops who escaped) will use that to their advantage.
Franco nodded, showing that he got the message. So far Kristoff and to a lesser extent Heinrich were the only ones he could trust in this operation.
Jade opened her eyes.
The flash and the bang were so quick and she couldn't move; so she reacted the only way she could.
"They hell is the matter with you?"
Burke ignored the question and just looked at the fresh hole he made in the wall. He then glanced down at his gun, the barrel still very hot from being fired.
"Esperanza has been compromised!" he stated.
"We don't know that!" protested O'Reilly.
"To hell with this whole thing!"
He brushed past O'Reilly aggressively and grabbed his bag with the detonators.
"Far as I'm concerned, the original mission is carried out! I'm gonna get what I came for and nobody, not even Renato himself, is going to stop me!"
O'Reilly remained where he was.
"No, I'm not gonna come with."
"What?"
"I said, no."
"Really?" Burke asked, rage in his face. "You're gonna split, after everything we've discussed. What I showed you?"
The ginger fellow would not budge.
"I am going to find the origin of that call and make sure Carlos or Esperanza is dead. Then I will meet with the boys downstairs. Burke; we have a way out! We've veered off from the plan enough! Let's quit while we're ahead and follow Renato's plan!"
"Aren't you tired of being some stooge for lowlifes like him?" Burke asked. "Being his little lapdog?"
O'Reilly was not interested in any of this. Not anymore. This has gotten out of hand. He was okay for a while but the professional that he had the privilege to work beside had been incapacitated. All bets were off now. This wasn't going to end well if they don't stick together.
"I'm. Not. Going."
Burke rolled his eyes.
"Fine."
The Irishman didn't have a chance to flinch before getting gunned down by his associate. Once right between the eyes.
He then looked over at Jade, who sat there wide-eyed and helpless.
"Guess its just you and me."
Burke grabbed the rolling chair and plopped his larger bag onto Jade's lap. It must have weighed like 30-40 pounds. He then duct taped the bag to her so it was affixed to her body.
"We're going on a trip," he remarked before pulling another piece of tape and pressing it over her mouth. "And you will be my little helper. Sorry about the tape but..."
He unzipped the bag to show Jade the high explosives stacked inside.
"...we don't want to kick off the festivities early."
Jade wouldn't, couldn't blink. She had never been more scared than right now and she had been through some shit.
This prick was above everything else wrong with him, completely out of his gourd.
Burke picked up a tablet that O'Reilly had been minding for some time. He examined the crude digital layout of the building, showing a dead spot for electronic signals localized in this space right above them.
"Motherfucker," he seethed. "You've been holding out on me!"
He looked down to the dead body, a pool of crimson pouring out the back of his head. His face was frozen in confusion and panic. Burke kicked him in the ribs.
"It's been right on top of us the whole time. But it was me who gave you and your partner the wrong room number. So I guess this makes us even."
Jade looked around the room with what limited range of motion she had. She was getting desperate. There was no plan; just hope that staying observant, not giving into the urge to faint, would somehow keep her alive.
"Fortunately for both of us, we don't have to go very far."
Burke dragged the chair him, Jade watching her leave the familiar control room backwards. Now she didn't know where the hell she was going but she knew it wasn't good because she was stuck his him.
"Okay, let's do it!" Agent Spencer barked into his radio. "Now we turn down the lights."
The city ordered the power company to shut down both grids and the street lamps, windows, everything darkened. It was so eerie to see a major city like Los Angeles, even a small portion, be bathed in black.
"Get your spotlights and night vision goggles ready!"
A little bit away, behind a squad car, Talmadge watched closely.
"Kid?"
"Yes sir," reported Officer Dillion.
"I want some gear on the double. I'm going in and the man in black doesn't need to know."
The young cop nodded and ran to grab some extra SWAT armor.
Five minutes later, Talmadge was clad in black, complete with helmet, and blended in with the other boys ready to charge the hotel.
There was a whole series of circuits throughout this building. The safety systems would be disabled last.
Tori's gait was hastened by the inexplicable blackout.
"The fuck?"
She held out her arm, trying to make sense of her surroundings. She was flying blind.
"What's happening down there?"
The sudden darkness snapped her out of her rage like a bucket of ice cold water.
"Oh God!" she sobbed.
The officer dropped to her knees and cried. Jade was really gone and she didn't have a chance to say she was sorry or that she loved her or even goodbye forever. It was all taken from her.
(How could I be so stupid? She was the best thing to ever happen to me and now she's dead! And its all my fault! What was I thinking? I'm just like my father-cursed to push people away, only to doom those stubborn enough to put up with my damaged ass.)
Tori was shaking like a leaf. She was driven by murder moments ago. Now she just wanted to die.
(Can't see a thing in this shit.)
She then raised her arm, the barrel of her weapon touching her chin.
(I can do something useful.)
White lamps illuminated in the distance on both side of the hallway.
A woman's scream alarmed Tori, who became aware of the light. She emerged from her room after the power was cut, only to be met with another woman holding a gun.
"TORI STOP!"
She turned away from the gun and saw Jordan, hastily bandaged up on her left side. Luckily she found a first aid kit shortly before the power failed and had been running after her partner ever since.
Tori wished she was that strong.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"
Before she could say anything in response, the redhead snatched the pistol and tucked it into her pants.
"How dare you?"
Tori looked up, her face wet from so many devastating emotions running through her.
"How could you leave me? Do you think Jade would want you to give up? After everything you've been through; what you survived? What an insult to the people who love you!"
Tough love wasn't the most popular approach for someone who was acting suicidal but Jordan was tired and was not prepared for the sight before her.
The half Latina collapsed into Jordan's lap. She soothed her partner, rubbing her back as she let it out. The separation had really been tough on Tori and this entire day had pushed her beyond the edge.
At this point a good amount of people gathered in the hallway in light of the confusion.
"Don't do it, child" said an older woman standing next to her husband. "I know things are bad but this isn't the way."
Tori took in the sight of all the people. She was reminded of the situation. Like a ton of bricks was dropped on her head.
The hostages. Innocent lives. They were counting on her. On them.
She began to stand and Jordan helped her.
Jordan took Tori's face in her hands.
"Are you okay, babe? Can you make it?"
"We're gonna stop them," Tori said. Her voice was less shaky and more assured. "We're gonna do it the right way. These people need us."
Jordan smiled and kissed her partner's forehead.
"Good."
She then handed Tori her piece back.
"I need to trust you, okay? Don't give me a reason to disarm by bestie ever again!"
Tori nodded.
"You PROMISE?"
"I promise!"
Jordan surveyed the crowd.
"Okay, everyone listen! You have been informed that we have an emergency. Sorry but it isn't resolved yet but we have people on the case right now. We're just checking on you folks, right Tori?"
"That's right. Everything is going to be alright. Just go back to your rooms and please keep your doors locked."
"Landlines are still working," added Jordan. "Keep by the phones and wait for instructions! We will also text everyone in the area with the all clear. Understood?"
The worried but calm guests nodded and they deftly retreated to their rooms.
Tori took a deep breath. She has to bury her feelings right now and focus on the mission.
"I guess we have our friends on the outside to thank for cutting the power."
Jordan nodded.
"That means the lobby is no longer off limits."
Tori looked on.
"And that our hosts will be making a break for it."
"Where to now?" asked Jordan.
"I remembered the guy at the front desk telling me that the security center was on the second floor. Right above the lobby."
The redhead cocked her gun.
"Sounds like a good place to start."