Shadows Across America Page 23

  “Ethan: now! Now!”

  Fortunately, he’d anticipated his partner and fired blindly through the glass in the direction of the parking lot. The window was smashed into glinting smithereens. He waited a second to find a target, but when he couldn’t see one, he fired again, more to cover Suarez than aiming at anything in particular. Ethan pulled the trigger, and the gun thundered into the night in an angry explosion of fire and powder. The explosion was so huge that he couldn’t see if he’d hit anything.

  Suarez heard Ethan’s shots and took advantage of the time they gave him to hide behind the sofa and reload his shotgun. The space in front of him had grown calm once more, returning to the misleading but magnificent silence of the shadowy night. Nothing in Suarez’s reduced field of vision was moving, but he strained his eyes, scanning for any sign of life. Nothing. Even the animals seemed to have gone quiet. His deafened ears were oblivious to the night breeze. Everything seemed to have frozen in time. In front of him, Johanna’s inert body lay staring up at the ceiling as her blouse soaked up blood. He cursed her for having forced him to kill her and reassessed his situation, knowing that the open warehouse was unsafe. He tried to decide whether he should withdraw to the passage.

  Silence fell upon the darkness once more, and Ethan looked out the window, trying to size up the situation. Everything had gone still. The area had returned to a state of tense silence. It had become a void, filled only by the sound of crickets chirping in the distance. In the darkness he made out the shapes of the cars but didn’t detect any movement. He listened but heard nothing. Someone might be crawling along the ground, but he couldn’t see where they were. Time crept on, slow and thick. Something was happening, but he couldn’t tell what it was. His world had grown deceptively calm. He tried to decide whether to jump outside, but he knew that the move would be risky without cover. Then he heard running, leading him to believe that one of them had taken shelter among the cars, unless he’d hit them already. But that would be hoping for too much. He stayed still, believing he couldn’t be seen, peering into the darkness in an unsuccessful attempt to make out the shapes. Then he heard the muffled sound of a car being unlocked and a door opening. He stepped forward and fired in an attempt to prevent the inevitable. Suddenly, brightness filled the room, glaring off the walls, lighting him up and blinding him at the same time. Ethan dropped to the floor, still seeing spots as he tried to avoid a couple of erratic shots that buzzed past his forehead. He crawled away from the window, blinking to clear his vision. The shotgun got lost somewhere along the way, but he made sure that he still had his pistol. There was more movement outside while he tried to find shelter. They were losing their initial advantage.

  Suarez heard the shots and saw the passage light up. He realized that they’d returned to the cars. He wondered where to go. His and Ethan’s position was rapidly getting worse, and there was nothing they could do about it.

  Everything froze again. The parking lot outside was still completely dark apart from the two beams of light shining into the side of the warehouse. Now they were in a passive role; if the light hit them, they would be exposed. Fortunately the beams weren’t wide. Now they were stuck in another hiatus that didn’t work in their favor. There was nothing they could do but hide while their enemies took the initiative. Considering the risk presented by the large, unprotected space in front, Suarez decided to head for the central door, dragging the cushions with him like luggage he couldn’t do without. From there he could cover both entrances, and Ethan could cover his back. If he stayed in the room, he’d be risking an ambush. He got to the threshold in time to see Ethan’s shadow coming out of the lit room and crossing the passage, but he didn’t dare to call to him. Where was the kid running off to? If he left the corridor, he’d be exposed on both sides. Was he a coward after all? As this thought came to him, he heard a new wave of shooting begin. It was all starting up again.

  Ethan was pinned to the floor under the beams from the headlights, looking for the door while he regained his vision. To his left, he heard Suarez move. In front, he heard the muffled sound of a trunk opening. Whatever they had in there, it wasn’t going to be good. He tried to think of a way to tip the scales in their favor. They didn’t have much time, and the next attack would probably turn out badly for them. Without thinking too hard, he pulled himself out of the lit room in which he was trapped and slithered across the passage on his stomach to the other side so as to get back into the shadows. When he got to the rooms on the other side, he got up on all fours just before he saw Suarez next to the central door. Feeling safer, he took a deep breath.

  Then all hell broke loose over their heads. A sheet of fire stunned their senses while the glass and walls were pockmarked with bullets, filling the space with spreading dust and smoke and reducing visibility to almost nil. The walls of the passage itself were ripped to shreds under the concussive fire. The bullets ripped through the entire building, embedding themselves in the opposite wall. Ethan was happy to have gotten out of there in time, although the bullets were still whistling around him, tearing through the inner walls as though they were made of paper. Trusting that the outer wall would protect him, he crouched under the window, another narrow sliding one that had been torn to shreds by the volley of fire.

  Suarez covered his head with his hands, pressing himself as close to the ground as he could. The bullets streamed in and hit the passage, covering him in dust. He recognized the rat-a-tat of an AK-47 assault rifle, or the goat’s horn, a favorite of drug dealers and other lowlifes, but he knew that this was just covering fire to keep them pinned down while the attackers planned the final assault. The sound of an engine gave him a clue as to what form that might take.

  Ethan realized that the only way to turn things around was to go out and face them head-on. He knew it was risky, but he sensed that staying in the building would only court death. The shooting stopped again, and he took advantage of the lull to jump out the window, ignoring the shards of glass that stuck into him along the way. He fell behind the hidden facade, where the blanket of darkness was still undisturbed, a very different scene from the commotion and gunfire on the other side. He looked each way to make sure that no one else had decided to come around the back and saw that he was alone. He went around to the back door.

  When the firing stopped, Suarez knew that they were ready to attack, and the noise of the engine seemed to echo his thoughts. He heard it rev while still in neutral until it charged forward with a devastating crash announcing the destruction to come. The 4x4 burst into the building, tearing away the door. It continued several feet, followed by a cloud of dust that blocked out everything before settling to make outlines visible once more. There was another brief pause, but that was then broken by indiscriminate fire from the Kalashnikov. Again, the main warehouse was filled with the hellfire of bullets and ricochets, and all Suarez could do was curl up in his sheltered position. He was sure he was safe until he found a way to respond. To the rear, another hail of bullets destroyed the back door, which buckled like a paper napkin once the lock had been blown away. The passage was now a horrific no-man’s-land crisscrossed with bullets that crashed all over the warehouse in showers of stone, splinters, and metal shards, forcing him to crouch under the remains of the door, which was collapsing upon itself. Trapped between two lines of fire, blinded and suffocating, he turned as best he could toward the new threat, knowing that it would be the end of him.

  Ethan heard the car smash through the main door and the rattling of the first wave of gunfire, followed a few beats later by footsteps running around to the door at the rear, where another volley of fire began with the screeching of bullets against metal and the creak as the iron sheeting buckled. From his position in the shadows he saw the attacker’s shape and the flicker of sparks from the gun until he heard the door give way and crash loudly onto the floor. The attacker stepped inside. Ethan knew that this was his chance and followed him, firing as he went. The man was caught by surprise and tried to take co
ver while turning to fire at this new target. Suarez, however, still trapped in his fragile shelter, took the opportunity to fire all his remaining shells in that direction, almost blindly, still taking fire from the other side. He fired again and again until there was too much smoke to see anything. The gunman, caught in crossfire, was hit several times in the side and stumbled back outside, but Ethan was now in position and began shooting. The shots hit the ambushed man, and Ethan kept walking and firing. Like them, the man was wearing a Kevlar vest, making the blows painful but not deadly. Realizing this, Ethan aimed higher, between the man’s eyes. The next shots went straight through his head, and the man fell before he could take another step. Meanwhile, Suarez was still holding out in the fetal position while withering fire rained down on him from the front. But then this salvo came to an end as well. Ethan was crouched down, breathing heavily, a few feet from the body, the stink of cordite in his nostrils, his throat bone dry. He was gasping, and when he held up his gun, he saw that he was trembling uncontrollably. Then he realized that another cease-fire had fallen. The silent night reasserted its dominance.

  But things weren’t yet calm: the reverberations from the shoot-out could still be felt, and no one dared move. The ringing in their ears maintained the illusion that the chaos was still going on, even though the night was now quiet. Nothing happened for almost a minute while the survivors waited for someone to make the next move. Ethan tried unsuccessfully to get control of his trembling body. This was the first time something like this had ever happened to him; it was as though he’d lost control of his hand. Finally, a shout rang out in the unnatural mist.

  “Diego!”

  But no one answered. The warehouse remained quiet for a few more seconds while Ethan and Suarez wondered what to do. Suarez slowly turned his shotgun toward the headlights, knowing that he had no more shells left, and Ethan, unseen in the shadows six feet away from the smoking corpse, recovered enough control over his body to identify the new threat and reload the gun as stealthily as he could.

  Unexpectedly, as they planned the next move, the 4x4’s wheels started to spin again, and it reversed, struggling to escape the surrounding structure, which made a creaking sound like a chain about to snap. Finally, it forced its way out like an animal breaking free from a trap, and they heard it circle around in the dirt, change gears, and then drive alongside the building before speeding down the dirt track toward the main road, briefly lighting up Ethan in its headlights. A second later, it was just a pair of red dots disappearing off into the dark. This development took them both by surprise. Ethan stepped back into the passage. Everything was quiet now, although the ringing in his ears wouldn’t stop. Behind him, the body was bent over its weapon. Inside, the dust and smoke floated in whimsical shapes, making it even harder to see; in front of him was the kidnapper they’d captured, still tied to his chair but lying on the ground. He’d been hit by fire from his colleagues. Moving on from him, they saw some of the partition walls now barely existed anymore while those still standing were riddled with bullet holes. The door in the center was hanging on one hinge, torn to pieces. Suarez was still crouching under it like a cat. Ethan mimed to him to stay still and walked through the dense atmosphere to where he was. He came out of the larger part of the warehouse, which was just as dark and misty as the rest, and looked at the ruined door in the darkness. While Suarez stood up, Ethan went outside and found the results of the first shotgun barrage: another body lying about twelve feet from the door, its stomach blown open. It looked as though the man must have dragged himself along the ground before dying. Ethan walked around the perimeter, checking every nook and cranny, before coming back into the parking lot. The remaining cars were shot up. Using the light on his phone, he saw a trail of blood that stopped where the fleeing SUV had been. Behind him, he heard Suarez coming over, dusting himself down, and proudly reloading the shotgun.

  “That’s why the bastard escaped. You got him.”

  “Or you did.”

  “One of us at least.”

  “How badly was he hurt?”

  “Judging from the way he was driving, not badly. But there’s blood; we definitely got him. Four dead bodies and not a scratch on us. I think we may have used up all our luck for the next few years.”

  “I hope that we won’t have to test it like that again. Do you know who they were?”

  “Of course, the rest of the gang. It was the deputy chief who got away. The way I see it, they came for a group meeting, and when he saw that he was the last one standing, and wounded, too, he decided to beat feet. He was the most dangerous one to leave alive.”

  “The good news is that he doesn’t know who we are.”

  “Yes, and that’s why we need to get out of here right away.”

  “You’re right.”

  “You saved me. You did well—thank you.”

  Ethan didn’t reply. He was humbled and gratified by the compliment, like a child being praised by his teacher. But Suarez wasn’t done. He pointed to the man who’d dragged himself away from the front door.

  “He’s still alive.”

  Ethan looked at the unmoving body. “Did you see his stomach? He won’t last long.”

  “Sure, but we can’t take the risk. Go and see if the girl’s still alive. I’ll take care of this.”

  Ethan nodded and walked to the back entrance to pick up the weapon he’d dropped. Suarez strode over to the last survivor, who appeared to be unconscious. He peered down at him with disgust, then gave him a push, but the man didn’t react. “Hey, you.”

  The man couldn’t hear him. Suarez lifted the barrel of the shotgun, which was still red hot, and put it against the man’s eyebrow, burning the skin. The wounded man, woken by the terrible pain, opened his eyes in bewilderment. He had no idea what was going on.

  “Hey, rapist. It’s easy to abuse little girls, isn’t it? You motherfucker. Listen to me.”

  The dying man, faint from blood loss, tried to say something, but it only came out as shapeless wheezing.

  Suarez put the barrel against the man’s nose and stood up to give himself some space. “I wanted you to know.”

  Ethan heard the shot while he stepped into the makeshift cell, fearing the worst. To his surprise, however, he found the mattress tipped over with the girl still tied up, lying unmoving but safe beneath the mattress with no obvious wounds. He untied her ankles, and she curled up in pain and fear. When he released her, her face twisted up in absolute terror. Sweat, dirt, and dried blood had accumulated on her bedraggled clothing and above the gag, which Ethan removed with brief words of comfort so as to avoid giving himself away.

  “Don’t worry; they’re dead.”

  The girl burst into tears, trembling as she got up. She clung to his hands but didn’t open her mouth. Ethan realized that her terror hadn’t just made her cry; the bottom half of her clothing was soaked through. He put the mattress back on the bed and sat her shivering body down before going back into the front room to take a bottle of water from the fridge. He gave it to her. On his way, he saw Suarez head off toward his vehicle. A few minutes later, he parked by the door to pick up the briefcases with the money and the computer. The girl allowed herself to be led into the back seat, where she collapsed in exhaustion. They pulled away and took her into the city without saying a word. The car floated over the silent, empty freeway as though in a dream, until the first traffic lights brought them back to reality. Suarez coughed and murmured.

  “We lost.”

  Ethan didn’t say a word, but he nudged Suarez’s shoulder, wondering how he could possibly say that after everything that had happened. Then he thought he saw a smile beneath the mask.

  “The game.”

  He pointed to the streets, which were pregnant with silent bitterness. Ethan smiled too. Suarez stopped the car at a corner two blocks away from the public attorney’s office.

  Turning to the girl, he said, “This is the most trustworthy public official in the country; you’ll be safe with t
hem. Go there, and tell them everything that’s happened. They’ll help you.”

  She got out, still bewildered. Unable to believe what had happened, she didn’t even manage to thank them. Or, for that matter, say anything at all. She stumbled for a few feet and turned back toward them like a frightened puppy, but they waved to her to go on. She nodded and obeyed like a sleepwalker. When she’d made it halfway there, the two officers guarding the building saw the state she was in and ran to help. Before they got to her, Suarez pulled away with a screech of rubber, and they disappeared in the opposite direction. Suarez told Ethan that he would take him back to his house. He could pick up the car tomorrow. Then they remained silent for the rest of the ride. Ethan didn’t know whether it was because he was still trying to take in what had happened or because he hadn’t yet even begun to. He tried to remember what he had been thinking about, but he couldn’t. It was as though he’d been empty for the entire journey, as vacant as the light of the passing streetlamps. Suarez pulled up outside the gated compound. Ethan got out, still dressed fully in black but with his face clean and uncovered. Suarez said goodbye with a slight nod, like a work colleague, but Ethan couldn’t allow it to end so coldly.

  “What a night, Suarez. Hey . . . you can come in if you like. I’m sure I have something to eat.”

  “Many thanks, but we need to check ourselves for wounds and see to your arm. It’s covered in glass.”

  “You never stop, do you?” Ethan got back into the vehicle, and they passed through the gate.