They moved in that direction, making sure they made no sound. Once they got near the office, they stood outside the door, listening to what was going on. Someone was definitely rooting around. And it sounded quite messy.
Bridge and Nicole started communicating with their hands, though it was an animated conversation. It was quite the hand argument. Bridge initially wanted to go in alone and have Nicole wait where she was, but she wanted them both to go in together. After arguing with their hands for a minute, she finally relented and gave in, even though she thought it was a mistake.
With their plans settled, Bridge took a deep breath, then quickly snuck inside the room, putting his hand on the wall to feel for the light switch. He finally found it and flipped it on. A man clad in black attire, including a ski mask, suddenly turned around from the corner of the room, where he was rifling through the file cabinet.
“Whatcha doing?” Bridge asked, a smug look on his face for interrupting the burglar’s plans. He then looked at the rest of the room. “Look at this. Was this really necessary? You made a mess of it.”
The masked man stepped away from the cabinet and toward the center of the room. He then pulled out a gun and pointed it at Bridge, who immediately did the same. They stood there, guns pointed at each other in a standoff.
“Get out of my way,” the man said.
“Can’t do that,” Bridge replied.
“I’ll kill you if I have to.”
Nicole then appeared in the frame of the door, getting down on one knee to change the angle that the masked man had to shoot on. It would have been difficult for him to take out both people before they opened up on him.
“Don’t think you will,” Nicole said.
“What are you doing here?” Bridge asked.
“Probably the same thing you are,” the man answered.
“Who are you?”
The man tilted his head. “That’s on a need-to-know basis.”
“What happened to Darren Bevell?”
“Did something happen to him?”
“Is he dead?” Bridge asked.
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“I feel like we have a gap here.”
“Step aside and let me pass and no one has to get hurt.”
“Right now, the only one getting hurt is you.”
The man shook his head. “I can take you out right now.”
Bridge shrugged. “Maybe so. But if you do that, you’re not leaving here either. Because she’s an excellent shot, and she’ll kill you before you can do the same to her.”
“I’m OK with that. Because I’m not being taken, I’m not answering questions, and I’m not getting stuck here.”
“So what do you propose then?”
“I told you. You let me pass or me and you won’t see another sunrise.”
“You’re willing to go down for whatever this is?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“So what’s it gonna be?”
Bridge took his hand off his gun and motioned toward the door. The masked man slowly started walking in that direction.
“Give me space,” the man said, not liking how the two of them were crowding the door.
Bridge took a few steps back, while Nicole got to her feet and also moved back a little. As the man got near the door, he gave a final look to Bridge.
“Maybe next time.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Bridge said.
He suddenly lunged at the man, grabbing a hold of his neck. The two started wrestling around, eventually dropping to the floor as Bridge pulled down his opponent with him. They gave each other a couple of punches, neither of which had any mustard behind it and were easily shrugged off by both of them. After a minute of rolling around on the ground, they got back to their feet, where they started exchanging shots. Bridge got in a couple, then the man got in a few of his own. Bridge was actually stunned for a moment and dropped to one knee as he clutched his stomach. The man moved in to continue his assault, but Nicole spun the man around and started delivering a few shots of her own. She used her background in jiu jitsu to kick him a few times and keep him off-balance. At one point, though, he grabbed her leg and gave her a powerful right hand that landed flush on the side of her face, knocking her down.
Bridge regained his energy and rejoined the fight, with both men getting in an equal number of shots. After several minutes, the man finally got the upper hand on Bridge, picking him up and slamming him down on a small wooden table by the door. As he picked Bridge up, Bridge put his hand on the man’s head and pulled the mask off of his face. Bridge then went crashing through the table, breaking it apart into pieces. The man quickly looked around for his gun, though he didn’t initially see where it went. And he wasn’t staying around to look for it. Nicole looked up and saw the man’s blond hair. It wasn’t a military or government cut, but it wasn’t long either. She only got a short glimpse of his face before he sprinted out of the house as Bridge and Nicole lay there in pain.
Nicole was the first one back to her feet, though it felt like someone had taken a hammer to her face. She put her finger on her left cheek, though it hurt to touch it. She then looked down at Bridge, who was moving, but barely. It felt like he’d just been in a three-round MMA fight and got dominated the entire match. Nicole rushed down by his side, holding the back of his head.
“Are you OK?”
Bridge let out a moan. “I think this is what it feels like.”
“What?”
“To be run over by a truck.”
“You didn’t get run over by a truck.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“You did get your ass beat though.”
“Well, I didn’t notice you doing your MMA thing over
