“There are those small windows in that office.”
“They’re boarded up, though. And even if they can get through them, we’ll have someone on the outside there to cut down anyone who tries to escape. Then the only way for them to come in is back this way. And we’ll have everyone here waiting for them.”
“Everybody’s in place, boss.”
“What about the team outside?”
“They’re ready,” Selby answered. “They’ve got an eye on the front gate so that if they see a car lingering out there, they’ll come in behind it to prevent them from escaping.”
“Good. I have a feeling that’s where Ames will be. He’ll be in his car, behind the action, waiting for the sign that it’s safe to come in. Then our car will come up behind him and block his exit.”
“Assuming he’s there.”
“Even if he’s not, we could cripple his organization and take out whoever he has left. He’d be nothing to worry about at that point.”
“We should go and make sure you’re not around once everything starts.”
Mallette nodded, looking around one more time before he left. He was escorted to his car and got in the back seat. He was then driven down the street, and the car parked behind an unmarked white van. Mallette got out of his car and got in the back of the van. One of his men was in there, surveillance equipment all around, looking at a bunch of monitors.
“Anything yet?” Mallette asked.
“No, but we have clear views of the entrance points by the gates, as well as the building. If they show up, we’ll see them. No doubt.”
“Good.” Mallette sat down and looked at his watch. There was still about an hour to go before the supposed meeting was scheduled to take place.
While he waited, Mallette let his eyes and mind wander. He leaned his head back, and looked up at the roof of the van, thinking about that moment when he would have Ames standing in front of him. What would he do? What would he say?
Mallette closed his eyes, trying to picture it more clearly. There was no doubt in what he would do. In his vision, he had Ames standing in front of him, and Mallette put a bullet right between his eyes. Ames crumpled to the ground, with Mallette standing over his dead body. It was a pleasing thought for him. His eyes fluttered open, his mind then turning to Jacobs.
Mallette closed his eyes again, now thinking of Jacobs in front of him. This time, Jacobs was tied to a chair, unable to move. His arms were tied behind the chair, with Mallette walking around him, talking, almost gloating about his impending demise. Then, Mallette stopped pacing around the chair and stood in front of Jacobs. He pointed a gun at Jacobs, then pulled the trigger five times, hitting his prisoner in the chest with all five shots. Jacobs’ head instantly slumped forward as his chest became soaked with blood.
A small grin came over Mallette’s face, pleased with what he was imagining. He could picture both things happening for real. And soon. He wasn’t far away from putting the first part of it into action. He just needed Ames to show up first.
For the next hour, Mallette was in his own little world, scarcely paying attention to anything else. He barely knew anyone else was in the van with him at that point. And his eyes only looked at the screens a few times. His thoughts were all about Ames, and Jacobs to a lesser extent. But with Ames hopefully not too far away, he was most present on Mallette’s mind.
Mallette was broken from his trance when one of his men called his attention to a monitor.
“Looks like we’ve got action.”
Mallette snapped to attention and leaned in, looking at the monitors more closely. “What’s going on?”
The man pointed to one of the screens that was monitoring the back fence. “We’ve got movement there.”
Mallette squinted to see better. “Looks like one man.”
“Wait, look over here.” The man pointed to one of the cameras that was monitoring the side. “Another one there.”
“They might be attacking on all fronts.”
“Makes sense,” Selby said. “They don’t want to blast their way in from the front and give themselves away.”
The man at the controls pointed to another screen. “One of our guys just went down.”
“Here they come,” Mallette said. “Let’s hope they’re bringing the big dog with them.”
One by one, the guards stationed on the perimeter went down. It was all happening very quietly. The last man standing was the guard at the front gate.
“Why’d they leave him?” Selby asked, observing a bunch of men advancing toward the back of the building. “Doesn’t make sense.”
Mallette thought he had an answer, though. “It does if you think it’s being watched. In order to maximize the surprise, you leave the guy at the front standing. If you think he’s being watched, or there’s a camera there, that way nobody else is alerted when he goes down. If whoever’s inside sees him taken out, it gives them time to prepare for the attack, or time to escape. It makes sense to leave him standing if you can, at least until the assault is ready.”
They continued watching the monitors, seeing what looked like eight men advance toward the main building.
“They’re going in now,” Selby said.
Mallette pointed to the front gate. “Now watch for it. I bet he goes down now.”
Seconds later, the front guard was taken out, just as Mallette had predicted. They kept watching, observing the eight men go inside the warehouse.
“Is the audio on in the conference room?” Mallette asked.
“Already running,” Selby replied. “It’s on a continuous loop. Should we start moving in?”
“Yes, but hold off on firing yet.”
Selby turned to radio his guys to get into position.
“Come on, Ames, where are you?” Mallette said, staring at the monitor trained on the front gate.
Then the front gate was suddenly broken open by a car ramming through it. Then another car came in behind that one.
“That’s gotta
