“And if not?”
“Play it by ear. If you and Eddie feel threatened, take off. Don’t wait for us.”
“OK.”
They kept a safe distance away from Selby’s car, making sure they didn’t get an inkling that they were being tailed. They drove for about thirty minutes, ending up in a less populated area, more of an industrial spot.
“I think we’re getting close,” Franks said. “Looks like a good spot to me.”
Jacobs grabbed his weapons, checking them over. “Everyone get ready.”
They appeared to be getting ready to stop in the lot of a warehouse. There were only a few other cars there, but it didn’t look like a functioning business. The cars had to belong to Mallette and the rest of his men.
Thrower kept the van out of sight of the other car, near the entrance of the building. He and Franks then switched positions, that way Thrower could jump out of the car quickly with Jacobs.
They watched on the monitors as Tiffany was brought out of the car and led into the building. As Selby approached the front door, Mallette appeared.
He looked around, making sure they weren’t followed. “No trouble?”
“Easy as pie,” Selby said. “Nobody else there. I told you it’d work. Jacobs and the other guy are out and about. Left her completely unguarded.”
Jacobs stared at the monitor. “Yeah. Completely unguarded.”
Mallette still looked tense as if he couldn’t believe it was that easy. “OK. Take her inside.”
“What next?” Selby asked.
“Now we have to get the word out to Jacobs that we have her.”
“Don’t worry,” Jacobs said. “I know. And I’m coming.”
22
Jacobs kept watching on the monitors as Tiffany was brought into a room and put in a chair.
“When you wanna do this?” Thrower asked.
“I just wanna make sure I know where she is.”
“Go in, make a right, last door on the left, right?”
“Yeah.”
“We got her.”
Jacobs took a deep breath. Now was the time. Mallette and Selby were in the room with Tiffany. If they went in now, they could catch them by surprise. At least that was the plan. “Let’s do it.”
“Plan?”
“Get Tiffany and shoot whoever gets in our way.”
Thrower smiled. “My kind of plan.”
“Hit it, Eddie.”
“You want me slow and steady, or you want me rocking this thing?” Franks asked.
“Get us there as fast as possible.”
Franks laughed. “You got it, man. Here we go!”
Franks put his foot down to the floor. The van took off, driving into the parking lot of the warehouse at a speed that was probably too fast. He drove it almost up to the front door. It actually looked like he might crash through it at first, but he was able to slow it down just in time.
Just as they got there, Jacobs and Thrower jumped out of the side door. Almost immediately, they were met at the front door of the building by two of Mallette’s men. Franks, though, had a pistol between his legs, and fired at the men before they were able to do any damage. Both men went down.
“Ha ha!” Franks laughed. “You sons of bitches! I’ve been practicing, man!”
Jacobs and Thrower jumped over the dead bodies and raced into the building. They were quickly met by a couple more of Mallette’s men. One in front, and one to the left. Jacobs took the man in front of him while Thrower took the other.
Seconds later, Mallette rushed out of the room, seeing what the commotion was. “Fool! You led them right to us!”
Selby came out of the room and started firing at Jacobs’ direction. Jacobs took cover and returned fire. Selby firing gave Mallette a little bit of a cushion to escape. He took off the back way.
“Mallette’s gonna try to get out the back!” Thrower said. He tapped Jacobs on the shoulder. “I got him!”
Thrower took off down the hallway in front of them, hoping to cut Mallette off somewhere before he was able to escape. It left a blind spot to Jacobs’ rear, though, and another of Mallette’s men appeared.
Jacobs suddenly felt a burning sensation in the back of his left shoulder. He dropped to the ground, but quickly rolled over, finding his target and shooting back. Jacobs fired off several rounds, taking his opponent out. Another man appeared seconds later, though Jacobs easily disposed of him.
Though he was hurt, Jacobs didn’t have time to worry about it. Not with Tiffany still in danger. He turned his attention back to where Selby was. They had a back-and-forth exchange for a few seconds. Jacobs didn’t want to spend a lot of time waiting for the right time, though, and jumped out from behind the corner of the wall he was behind, sliding in the middle of the floor. He fired at Selby as he slid, hitting him a few times, none of which were in a lethal area. Selby was stunned, though, and a little off balance. One of the bullets penetrated his left arm, and another lodged in his left leg. He stumbled farther out into the hallway, where Jacobs was now able to get a clear shot at him. And he didn’t miss. Three shots to the chest, and Selby was now out of commission for good.
Jacobs picked himself up and ran down the hallway until he got to the room where Tiffany was. He kicked the door open, ready to fire if someone else was in there.
Tiffany quickly shook her head. “There’s no one else here.” She was relieved to see him. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Jacobs quickly untied her. As she got him, she saw the blood coming out of his shoulder. “You’re hurt. Are you OK?”
Jacobs barely looked down at it. “I’m fine. Mallette’s trying to escape, and Nate’s trying to cut him off. I gotta go find them. I’m gonna get you to the van first.”
Jacobs led her out of the room and down the hallway. He was ready for any surprises that might await them. Luckily, there were
