Chapter 5- Just Not My Day

(Sunday 6:40am) A slight creak and Chance was awake in a flash, reaching for his gun. He had slept in spurts, waking every 30 minutes or so throughout the short night. Even getting up a couple times to make sure all was well. But this new noise had him awake instantly and on high alert. He moved quietly to the window and peered outside carefully without moving the curtain. It was just getting daylight, but he saw nothing. He swiftly turned and started towards the bedrooms and down the short hallway. But it was already too late; a large blond muscle looking guy had one hand holding a gun to Daniels head and the other hand covering his mouth. Daniels eyes were opened wide but he wasn't struggling. Two other guys appeared from the other bedroom behind Kado and Nori, still in their pajamas, with a gun trained on both of them as well.

"Drop your weapon or the boy buys it." growled the overgrown dude

Chance tossed his weapon to the floor.

"Well now" said the big guy to Kado. "Seems you squealed to someone, didn't ya? No worries, we can take care of him too. Too bad you just couldn't keep this quiet."

"Tie them up," he ordered to his two goons.

The were rapidly tied with their hands behind their backs, pushed outside to an unmarked white van, and practically tossed inside.

Kado looked at Chance and said regretfully. "You were right, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you last night."

Chance nodded to him as the guy from the front hollered at them to shut up and waved his gun in warning. Twenty minutes later they arrived at an old warehouse near the docks. They were pushed inside the building and then into a small room inside the main room. Kado and Nori were tied sitting down to two chairs back to back, with Chance and Daniel back to back in the other two chairs. They were tied very tight, and left alone, with a guard right outside the room they were in.

Chance finally asked Kado the question he had wanted to ask since last night. "So, what do you have on these guys that has kept us alive so far?" He could see Kado, but Nori was out of his line of sight.

Kado looked towards the door and then whispered. "They think I took pictures and video of them on my cell phone in the homeless guy's room. The night they roughed me up, I hinted that I had 'evidence' hidden and if something happened to me it would come out."

Chance smiled, "Let me guess, you don't have any evidence, do you?"

"No."

"So if they find out, we're toast."

"Basically."

"Then we have to get out of here. They weren't exactly thorough—my phone is still in my pocket. If we can just work our way loose. Anyone have any slack at all?" asked Chance hopefully.

He was interrupted as the door swung open and the big blond guy came back into the room. "The boss wants to see you," looking at Kado. He then untied Kado and escorted him from the room.

Hours passed before Kado was returned to the room, mostly in decent shape. He had a few cuts and bruises but seemed all in one piece. Chance had made little progress on working his way loose. Nori was understandably upset and had bouts of sobbing during Kado's absence. Daniel on the other hand, while he had not uttered a word, was constantly working on getting loose. Chance could feel him moving behind him constantly. Hopefully they had not tied the child as tightly as they had the rest of them. Once Kado was back trussed up with the rest of them, he shared what had happened. The "boss" had turned out to be one of the doctors, though Kado still refused to name him, just calling him "that doctor." He had wanted him to turn over his evidence in return for letting them all go. Kado had refused and they had knocked him around a bit, threatened him, Nori, and Daniel over and over again. The doctor had just ordered them to bring Nori into to join them for some 'fun' when his cell phone went off. He had left the room and then minutes later the big guy had escorted Kado back here.

Chance wished like heck he had called Winston last night. They were at a standstill on getting loose, no backup, and no real options if they did work loose. He tried harder to work at least a little slack into his bindings. But he only succeeded in rubbing his wrists raw. They all settled into silence once more.

About an hour later Daniel surprised everyone by saying. "I'm loose." Nori gasped with relief and Kado gave a small half laugh and said "That's my boy. Now hurry and work the rest of us loose."

Daniel turned and started on Chance's ropes first, but it took him some time to loosen them up enough that Chance could work his way out. Daniel went to Nori, and Chance was headed to Kado when the door started to open. It was too late to ambush whoever was coming in the door, so Chance charged towards the door. As the guy swung the door fully open he pulled him inside, punched him in the side of the face with all his might, knocking him out cold, and he fell with a thud. Another guy was right behind him so Chance threw his head down, ramming into the guy and knocking him backwards. They scuffled around on the floor for a moment, and then the other guy rolled away, reaching for his gun holster. Chance rolled as well in the opposite direction and took cover behind some stacked boxes. He had to lure this guy away from the room so Daniel could get his parents loose. He did his best to make noise the guy could follow and he retreated down the aisle. Boxes were stacked about 10 feet high on each side. If he could get the guy's gun they would have a decided a decided advantage. He looked up at the crates, and then tested them to see if they would hold his weight. A little wobbly, but it could work. He climbed up as fast as he could, and then waited for the gunman to pass underneath. It didn't take long—he crouched to spring, but the gunman must have heard him and dodged sideways as Chance was in the air. He missed hitting him fully, but managed to grab at him on the way down. He landed flat out on his right side with the guy's jacket in his hands. The crash to the floor stunned him slightly, but not enough for him to loose hold of the guy. He kicked up into the guys face, knocking him over, then rolled on top of him and finished him off. Chance then scanned the floor for the missing gun. Nada. He looked under the crates, not there either. He scanned the floor around them and still came up empty. 'Where could it be? This is just not my day.' He thought, but his thoughts were interrupted by a yell.

"You want to see this boy live to see hi next birthday, you had better show yourself." Hollered the big guy.

If he turned himself in they were dead, maybe he could sneak up on the guy……..

(Present) Chance stopped his story there and looked at Winston. He had already told them what had happened at the warehouse. Guerrero had joined them during his story and made notes throughout.

As he stopped, Guerrero had looked up. "Well, we know you got away." He collected his notes and stood up. "I'm going to get started on the money angle. If there are crooked doctors at that hospital they will have left a money trail." as he headed back down the stairs.

Winston remained, and looked at Chance. "Do you know where Kado and his family are? Are they still on the run?"

Chance shook his head, and finished filling Winston in on the rest of the missing time…..

(Sunday 2pm) They had been on the run for over an hour running from warehouse to warehouse in an attempt to make it off the docks. They had relieved the two thugs of not only their money and weapons, but also their clothes. Kado now had one of the guys clothes on, a little baggy but wearable, and Nori had one of the guy's shirts on- she was too tiny for anything else to fit. Daniel was still running around in bare feet and penguin riddled pajamas. Once they could get to a public area they could catch a cab. Kado was going to send Nori and Daniel via train to her brother, and Chance was going to find a pay phone where he had could call in the cavalry. He had been disgusted to find his phone destroyed after he had landed on it trying to bonsai the guy from the top of the crates. It was just NOT his weekend. He also wasn't sure who to trust. If this plot went further up the ladder than two crooked doctors, then even the cops maybe even be after them.

Before they made it off of the docks a white van appeared, slowly canvassing the area. 'Great' he thought, 'just great.' They had to get Daniel and his mom to safety. He thought about his options and made an instant decision. They were going to have to split up. If he could draw their attention and head in the opposite direction—maybe Kado could get them to a train station. Chance ducked back behind the building they were using for cover and quickly explained Kado his plan.

"Ok." said Kado "As soon as I get them safely on their way, I'm coming back to help you."

Chance wanted to argue that point, but there wasn't time. With a "Keep them safe." Thrown over his shoulder he ran in the direction of the van. Now to catch their attention and make them think he wasn't alone. He pulled out the gun they had claimed from the warehouse, and took a shot at the van's tire. Direct hit. Now they would have to follow him on foot. He headed back the way they had came, back into the dock area. Hopefully he could give these guys the slip. Too late he realized he should have had Kado contact Winston. There had not been enough time to think about that. He was on his own once again. Just like old times.

(Sunday 4pm) He had finally been trapped. Apparently the gunmen had called in for reinforcements, and had gotten plenty. He was trapped on 3 sides by them, and the 4th side was water. It was early April and while the temps were warm, the water would still be pretty cold, which was one reason he hadn't jumped yet. Kado had had 2 hours now to get away—unless the bad guys had split up, they should be somewhere safe by now. He peered out over the edge of the dock; it was about 4 feet to the water. If he went in he would be in the water a long time as there was no easy way out. Best to stay put for the moment. His 'moment' was short lived as the tall blond guy appeared briefly to his left. 'What did they have to do to get rid of that guy? His head must be made out of brick' he thought. He fired a shot in his direction to give him a chance to retreat behind a forklift close to the building. He had no cover between him and the right side of the building now. If someone came around that corner he was unprotected. It was going to be water, or a sure shot in the back. He took several deep breaths in preparation for the shock of cold water that he was about to hit. He pushed off the forklift and planned to dash the 12 feet of empty space between the forklift and the edge of the dock. He took off, but only made it to the end of the forklift when he was clothes lined by the big guy who had made it to the other side of the forklift while he was psyching himself up for the plunge. He landed flat on his back, but rolled away, and swung back to his feet. The big dude kicked his gun away, which he had lost once again, then surprised Chance when he threw his own gun away with it. The surprise faded when the blond pulled out a knife.

Chance stood up straight and said, "What….is this payback for earlier?"

The guy just grinned and glanced to the corner Chance had been concerned about defending. Sure enough, another gunman had appeared, but was just watching them. 'Great' he thought. 'I beat this guy, I'm dead. I let him win, I'm dead. This day just keeps getting better and better.' The big guy stepped towards him and Chance dropped into a fighting stance. He wasn't going down easy no matter the situation. He dodged a knife slash to the body by stepping sideways and planting a kick to his opponent's unprotected ribs. He was rewarded with a grunt from the big guy. He then went low for a leg sweep, but his opponent was savvy and avoided the sweep, twisted sideways, and slashed Chance's shoulder with his knife. There was no immediate pain as Chance dropped down low and contacted the guy just about the ankle. It sent him sprawling but he was up again in a flash, still with knife in hand. He came at Chance with knife raised, Chance threw a kick at him which the guy blocked, using the contact to push Chance backwards. He then swung his knife again while he was off balance. Chance bent backwards as the knife barely contacted his face, slashing it lightly. He caught the guy's blade hand in the process and tried to force him to loose the knife. He kicked at the guys legs while holding the knife at bay, but the big guy used his other hand to grab him around the throat. He voluntarily dropped the knife and brought his second hand to circle his neck. Chance took the opportunity to grab the guy's arms with both hands and kicked both feet into his ribs. The impact knocked the guys hands from his throat, but made him raging mad. With a roar he kicked out at Chance, catching him in his bad knee. There was a slight pop and Chance dropped like a rock to the ground, grabbing for the bad knee. The big guy saw this as his opportunity and started raining kicks to his midsection and head. Chance did the only thing he could do and rolled away towards the water. As the giant reached down to grab him he grabbed his shirt and used the force of his roll to throw the giant off balance and forward over him. Too late he realized he was closer to the dock edge than he thought. He felt himself roll into thin air. The plunge into water shocked all the air out of him, and he realized that swimming with one almost unusable leg was not going to be pretty. His head broke through the water and he had one gasp of air before hands pushed him back underneath. He struggled valiantly to break the hold on him, but he just didn't have enough air left to fight. Slowly his fighting came to and end and he surrendered to the cold darkness that overtook him…..

TBC

I want to thank IheartSam for that review. I was halfway through this chapter and a bit discouraged because I had posted 2 chapters and no one had reviewed. Was wondering if the story just wasn't interesting to anyone. But that review re-energized me and got me back on track We still have a little more past to catch up on then its back to the present. Please keep those reviews coming—even if it's just a "Like it, want more"