13-Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda...

13

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

“Well this is a conundrum.” Barbie said, as she stared at the waiting room.

In the center was what used to be the scrappy, red head with the bag from earlier.  She was now a beaten mess, lying on the floor with a coffee table wrapped around her.  The room told a story of a brutal fight.  She lost, but she had put up one hell of a fight.

“She’s still breathing,” one of Barbie’s soldiers said, squatting over her.

Barbie didn’t look at him, instead her attention was drawn to the trail of blood moving through the door into the back office.  “The flash drive?”

The soldier shook his head.  “No, she’s clean.”

“Then finish her and be done with it.”  Barbie said.

The soldier stood and leveled the machine gun at Patty’s head and…

Suddenly a loud crash came from the direction of the doctor’s rooms.

“With me.  Let’s move.”  Barbie’s commands were concise and without doubt.

She and her soldiers moved out of the room and Patty’s life had been spared.

****

Creegan stumbled through room after room without direction or purpose.  He moved out of instinct and the belief that if he stopped, he wouldn’t be able to start again.  His sight was slightly blurred and every inch of his body hurt.  All he could think about was getting back to Maggie and escaping with her and the money.  It had to work out this time.  It just…

Creegan’s thought process stopped as he crashed into a rolling supply table that was sitting in the hallway.  The thing tumbled, making a huge crashing noise and he barely managed to not fall with it.  Somewhere toward the back end of the hospital, a burst of desperate gunfire sounded.

There were killers in the building.

Armed with guns.

Maggie.

Damn it, pull it together.

Creegan checked himself.  The arm wound had begun to stop bleeding, thanks to clotting and the soaked bandage Maggie had made the night before.  None the less, he had lost enough blood to feel light headed.  His left eye had swollen shut and was probably a deep purple by now.  Most of his knuckles were broken and his right wrist and hand where broken and swelling up.

This, coupled with the other bruises and scratches were a sure sign that Creegan was in bad shape.

He took a deep breath.

He couldn’t give up.

He moved down the hallway with a purpose.  Find Maggie.  Find an exit.

****

Rockwell could hear the gunshots behind him in the hospital.  “Hold on buddy, I’m coming!”

He was talking to himself and attempting to sprint, but with his foot, it looked more like a desperate hobble.  Either way, he had still made the exit and could see the car five feet away.

He didn’t have the keys, so as he moved to the back end, he put the gun to the lock and fired the large .357 round into the mechanism, popping the trunk.

As the trunk came open, he pulled away the material covering the place where the spare tire should be.

There was no tire.

There was only Bess.

As Rockwell laid eyes on his prize possession, a madness came over him that could be seen on his face.

****

Barbie looked down at the cart, knowing instantly what had caused the crashing noise. The winner of the fight behind them was just up ahead.  She gave her men hand signals, and they moved with her down the hall like a cloud of killers.

The blood trail was getting thinner.  The bleeding was stopping.  Barbie could tell from the distance between drops.  They would have to catch him or her, soon.

Gunfire.  Another series of shots and none of them from the MP-5’s they were carrying, but a semi-automatic pistol of some sort.  This led Barbie to become confused.  Was there more to this than they had observed?  Had Kenneth and his team been dropped? Maybe they should have done more recon…

Doesn’t matter.

She reassured herself, realizing that everyone’s destination was the same.  Whoever they were tracking was trying to find the gunfight.  She could tell, because those shots sounded closer.

Suddenly, the blood trial stopped and Barbie put up a fist.  Her men all stopped in their tracks.  She looked around for some trace of the target, but didn’t see him.  The six of them were standing in the hallway about fifteen feet from the stairwell in front of them. They were surrounded by open doors to different rooms.

He has to be right around here.

As soon as she had this though, one last small caliber gunshot broke the silence.  It had come from the room to their immediate right.  Barbie gave a quick series of hand gestures and the six men took flanking positions in the doorway to the room where the shot originated…

****

Maggie stared as Stone twitched as the small caliber bullet hit him.  He then stopped moving and Maggie watched for a half second to make sure he wasn’t going to come back to life and jump her from behind like some monster at the end of a Wes Craven movie.

He didn’t move.

No surprise resurrection today.

Maggie turned to the bag lying on the floor and opened the zipper to make sure.

Maggie heard the climax of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in her head as she saw the crisp stacks of money inside.

She smiled and pulled the strap over her shoulder.  She dropped the small hand gun into her pocket.  All she had to do was walk out the door.

She walked out the door.

She found herself surrounded by men in suits with machine guns.  One beautiful blonde woman was standing in front of her, smiling.

“You must be Maggie,” She said as she smiled.

Maggie frowned, frustration running through her.  “This is getting fucking ridiculous!”

Barbie ignored the random comment.  “Now I want you to reach into your pocket, very slowly, and pull out the flash drive.”

Maggie’s face dropped, deflated.  She had come so far, only to fail when she was so…

That’s when she saw him.  He was hiding in the doorway across the hallway behind the six mercenaries.  She should have known.  After all, that’s why she picked him.

Jim Creegan.  She wondered if anything could kill the man.

He shook his head at her as he moved into position to make a move.  Maggie grabbed the bag and pulled it to her chest, clutching it like a mother would a child.  “No.”

“No?”  Barbie was confused.

“No, you’re going to kill me anyway.  Just get it over with.”  Maggie said, squeezing the heavy bag.

Barbie smiled.  “Well you are right about that, have it your way.”

They all steadied themselves to execute her via firing squad.

Creegan readied himself to make his move.

The door to the stairwell kicked open.

Everyone turned in surprise.

****

Bess

 To call Bess a gun would be a gross understatement of the facts.

Bess was an AA-12.

She resembled an M-16 assault rifle, but shorter and thicker. Instead a banana clip, she bore a large drum (like the Tommy gun) and a big scary barrel.

The AA-12 is a fully automatic shotgun.  The drum of ammo holds twenty shells of scatter-shot, and it can empty its clip in less than five seconds.

Bess haunts the nightmares of any who lay their eyes on her destructive power.

She is the scariest fucking gun ever invented.

****

Creegan remembered the gun from the RTA incident.  He remembered the sounds of thunder and the absolute damage it inflicted on everyone in Rockwell’s path of destruction.  He knew everyone in that hallway was going to die.

****

Barbie turned her head toward the idiot at the end of the hall.  He wore Hawaiian print button-up shirt and a cheap Wal-mart fedora on his head.  In his arm, he held some kind of strange-looking gun.

There was smile on his face from ear to ear.

“What the fuck are you?”  She asked, genuinely curious.

****

Rockwell smiled at them.  All eyes were on him.  “Honey, I’m the mother fucking end of your world.”

Rockwell snapped Bess up and pulled the trigger.

In his head, he could hear the climax of Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

****

Creegan saw Rockwell’s gun come up and move.  Putting all of his remaining energy into his actions right here and now, he sprinted across the hallway as the thunder began to sound from the mouth of Bess.

He lowered his shoulders and hit Maggie, colliding with the bag of money she clutched to her chest.  The force lifted her off the ground.  Creegan leaped and the two of them flew through the doorway behind Maggie.  They crashed to the ground and Creegan wrapped Maggie in his arms, clutching her to his chest, shielding her with his body as the seemingly endless booms sounded in the hallway.

As suddenly as it had begun, it ended.  There was a clang of shells hitting the ground and then silence.

Creegan breathed hard, staring at the door, waiting to see if anything happened.

“You think they’re all dead?”  Maggie asked.

Creegan shook his head.  “Don’t know.”

“Jim Creegan.  You still fucking alive?”  Rockwell’s voice called from the hallway.

Maggie sighed and Creegan muttered a curse word.

“Yeah,” Creegan answered finally.

“Maggie with you?” Rockwell asked.

Creegan stared at the empty doorway considering his response.  “Yeah.”

“For fuck’s sake, do you two ever die?!”  Rockwell said, frustrated.

Creegan didn’t respond to that, instead he waited.  Rockwell was seemingly thinking about something.

“Okay.”  Rockwell yelled, “I’m calling it.”

Creegan looked at Maggie, confused and Maggie shrugged.  “You’re calling it?”

 “I’m done, Creegan.”  Rockwell sighed.  “I’m all done.”

Creegan looked at Maggie and they decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.  They stood and moved out through the opposite entrance, to the room and down the hallways to the exit.

****

Rockwell heard them go.  He then carefully moved through the field of dead bodies.  The shotgun had literally dismembered them; the hallway was covered in gore.  A stray shot had caught Rockwell in the stomach and he was bleeding a decent amount.  He could hear sirens in the distance and knew all that gunfire would bring the cops.  Either that or Elmo had called them.

He moved into the room where he had left Stone.  His eye caught Stone, lying on the floor.

“Told you I’d be back for you.” Rockwell said.

Stone grinned.  “That you did, brother.  I guess we are finally even for that time in Baghdad.”

Rockwell grinned.  “It was about time I got you back for that.”

Rockwell limped over and took a seat on the floor, back against the wall.  Stone was lying across from him.  “What’s with this laying on the ground shit?  We have to get out of here before the cops arrive.”

“Don’t think that’s going to happen, Rockwell.  I think you have lost it.”

Rockwell raised his eyebrow.  “I am a crazy mother fucker, but what are you getting at?”

“Well, for starters, I’m fucking dead.”  Stone responded.

Rockwell frowned.  “I know.”

Rockwell saw Stone for real now.  He wasn’t talking or lying down to take a break.  His eyes were open and staring without perception at the ceiling.  Stone had a small hole in his head and was lying in a pool of his own blood.

Stone was dead.

Rockwell had been too late.

Rockwell lit a cigarette and leaned back.  He decided to wait for the cops.

He was done.

****

Maggie and Creegan moved down a hill into someone’s backyard.  The house was empty and they decided to take a breather.  They could hear the sirens in the distance and knew the cops were all over the hospital.

They had done it.  Gotten in and out with everything.

They needed a bus ride to the airport and then, the sky was the limit.

“I can’t believe we did it.”  Creegan said, catching his breath.

Maggie turned and looked at him, smiling.  “You did it, not me.”

She rose and caught her breath walking over to him.  He smiled as she did and took her into his arms and they kissed.  It was a long and deep kiss.  A kiss for a winner.  Creegan had finally won something.  He felt accomplished.  He had come out of this situation with the spoils and the woman.

Things were looking up.

The kiss broke and Maggie looked up into Creegan’s eyes.  “Creegan, I’ve always liked you…”

Creegan’s smile turned to a frown as he heard the single small caliber gunshot.

“But I love money.”  Maggie finished her statement.

Creegan now felt the bullet deep in his abdomen and the strength seeped out of him.

He staggered and fell backward, landing in the grass as his breathing became ragged.  His head dropped to his right and he watched her hoist the bag over her shoulder, pocket the small gun and turn.

She walked away.

She didn’t look back.

(Season 1 ends here)

12-Stone Cold

12

Stone Cold

Maggie wasn’t waiting around to see if Creegan could put Patty down or not.  As far as she was concerned, it was over and with better results than she could have hoped for. Both the flash drive and the money were in her position.  She just had to get out of this building and she was set.  She could finally move on with her…

Her train of though and her smile vanished into thin air as she turned the corner at the end of the hallway and found herself staring down the barrel of a gigantic revolver.  On the passive end of the gun was the grinning face of madness staring at her from under his fedora.

Rockwell.

“The bag bitch,” Rockwell said, pulling the hammer back on the large gun.

Stone seemed to materialize behind her, a Glock in his right hand.  “Hands in the air!”

Maggie frowned as she slowly raised her hands.  Her brain went into overdrive as she tried to figure a way out of this.  “Just hold on guys.  I know we don’t have good history…”

“Good history?” Rockwell scuffed.  “Bitch, I got a limp.”

Stone grabbed the heavy bag with his left hand and pulled it off her shoulder and put it on his own.  Maggie felt emptiness, as he did so.

“You don’t have anything left to offer,” Stone said from behind her.

Rockwell wiggled his eyebrows in excitement.  “And that means I get to make a canoe out of your head… then your boyfriend’s.  Finally!” Rockwell said as he pressed the cold barrel to her head.

Maggie’s brain settled on a long shot. “The flash drive!”

Rockwell raised his eyebrow.  “The what?”

“The flash drive, I have the flash drive!”  she said, probably louder than she need to.

Stone moved around to Rockwell’s right side.  “Bullshit, you traded it for the money.”

Maggie shook her head.  “There are Cleaners headed into the building.  Patty saw them while we were making the exchange, so I grabbed the money and bolted.  I still have the flash drive.”

Stone and Rockwell seemed to consider this.  Maggie began to get her confidence back.  “And who said Creegan was my partner?  I don’t see him around anywhere.  Maybe your duo needs a woman’s touch?”

Stone shrugged.  “We need to get the flash drive back for The Muppet anyway.”

Maggie shook her head.  “You're going to give it to him?  You boys think too small.”

Rockwell lowered the gun.  “Explain.”

Maggie smiled.  “My pleasure.  Whoever owns the drive, owns The Muppet.”

Rockwell and Stone realized what she was saying and seemed to consider this.  It was going to work.  Maggie was going to get out of this alive, and with two brand new soldiers who, most likely, could get her out of here alive.

Stone and Rockwell turned back to her.  T hey both raised their guns.

“No deal.” Stone said, calmly.

Maggie’s face dropped.  “What?!  Why?!”

Rockwell grinned, “Well that’s simple.  You’re a lying bitch and we don’t trust you. Unlike Creegan, we have no love for your lady parts.”

“We also prefer the field work.”  Stone said, calmly.

Maggie shook her head accepting it.  “You have just got to be kidding me.”

That was when Rockwell caught the movement out of his right eye.  He spun toward the hallway junction to their right, seeing the big guy in the suit with the MP-5, just in time.  He spun and fired the giant gun twice in rapid succession.  Both bullets caught the guy in the chest and he staggered backwards, his figure depressing the trigger in a last, desperate effort to kill the thing which was killing him.  The gun fired, one deadly burst sweeping through the hallway.

Stone yelled in pain as a bullet found its way into the right side of his pelvis just above the thigh.  The bullet shattered his hip bone.  Stone’s source of balance and stability failed and he tumbled backwards, bringing his gun up as he fell.

Maggie turned and ran, disappearing back down the hallway.

The man who Rockwell shot, hit the ground.  Dead.  Another suit peeked around the corner and Stone began pulling the trigger.  Chunks of the wall were dislodged by the shots.  The suit ducked back around the corner and Rockwell grabbed Stone by the hand, bringing him back to his feet and supporting him with his shoulder.

Rockwell began to help Stone stumble back the way they came in the opposite direction of Maggie.  The suit wild fired the MP-5 around the corner but the bullets hit the wall and roof meaninglessly.  The action was only to give him cover to get to his downed partner.

****

Kenneth ducked back around the corner just in time to avoid the cover fire from the two down the hall.  He had gotten only a glimpse of the situation, but it was all he needed. His man was down and probably dead.  The two had a giant hockey bag, which was probably the money.  They found the secondary target.

He put the gun around the corner and blind fired in order to give himself cover to peek around the corner again.  The two were gone.  They would be retreating.  One of them was wounded.  His other four men stood behind him with guns at the ready.  He gave a hand gesture to move with him around the corner and they did.

Kenneth stepped over the body of his man.  One of the suits behind him asked quietly, “Sir, what about Burt?”

Burt was the one on the ground.  “Make sure he’s dead, more for the guys who don’t fuck up.”

The man shrugged then popped a single shot into Burt’s forehead

Kenneth led his team around the corner.  The hunt was on.

****

Maggie was a lot of things, most of them very bad.  She was not stupid, however.  While Creegan had slept, she had walked through the hospital and mentally mapped it out in her head.  She knew how to move and where everything was, which gave her a leg up on everyone else in the building.

Everyone who was trying to kill her.

She was not ready to give up on her money.  She had come too far to just walk away. Instead, she kept low and moved, room by room, alongside Rockwell and Stone without them knowing.  It wasn’t hard since Stone’s leg seemed useless and it took everything Rockwell had to keep him standing while carrying the bag and watching for the team of Cleaners who followed behind.

The duo zigged and zagged a couple of times and she had to make a risky crossing of the main hallway.  She did it, just in time, as she watched the five man team come around the far corner.  All were moving at a crouch, guns at the ready.

Rockwell and Stone were out of their league.

Maggie had to watch and wait.

She would get an opportunity.

She would take it.

****

“Alirght, head through those doors!”  Stone yelled at Rockwell, through gritted teeth.

Rockwell shook his head, “Can’t stop, we won’t make it!”

Stone shook his head. “We aren’t going to make it!  Now, go into that room!”

Rockwell frowned and veered through the doors.

“Alright, now put me against that wall.”  Stone gave the order.

Rockwell frowned.  “Stone, we have to-”

Stone cut him off.  “Just do it!”

Rockwell did what he was told.  Stone adjusted, leaning his back against the wall.  “Now kick over all these beds and make them face the door we came through.  And hurry.”

Stone said this as he pulled the Walther out of his back holster and set it in his lap.  He then did the same with the Derringer, and then checked his ammo in the Glock. Seven shots till empty.  Rockwell shoved over the beds one by one, each making a crashing noise.

“We are taking a stand, huh?  I like that.”  Rockwell said and smiled.

“No,” Stone replied.  “I am.  You’re going to go to the car and get Bess.”

Rockwell’s frown turned to a smile.  “You said I couldn’t use her no more.”

Stone nodded and smiled.  “I let you keep her, didn’t I?”

Rockwell nodded, “Alright, I’ll be right back.”

Stone shook his head.  “Take the money with you, moron!”

Rockwell shook his head as he sprinted out the back entrance to the room.  “No way, there would be no reason to come back then.

“Asshole.” Stone said, now only talking to himself.

****

Maggie had already crawled in the front entrance to the large curtained examining room.  None of the curtains were drawn, but after Rockwell had overturned all the beds, it was easy to find a corner and become unseen.  Not to mention, the lights were off and, although it was still daylight, the room was toward the center of the hospital.  This cast shadows everywhere.

She had heard the end of Rockwell and Stone conversation and shivered.  If there was anything in the world she would rather not see again it was Bess.  She sincerely hoped this was all over by then and she was out of here with her money, or at least her life.

As it was, she was rooting for Stone.  In his condition, he would be the easier one to take the money away from, as long as she could do it before Rockwell returned…

…with Bess.

****

Kenneth and his men arrived at the room and stopped at the sliding door, peeking in.  He saw all of the beds knocked over and knew that Rockwell and Stone were set up in the room for a showdown.  They were expecting the Kenneth and team to move in through the front and sweep the room.  At which point, they would attack Kenneth’s team from behind the beds or out of the shadows.

Amateurs.

Kenneth motioned to his four subordinates, to have them move in through the front and sweep forward, two to each side of the room.  He decided to move around to the back and would take Rockwell and Stone from the flank when they sprung the trap.

Kenneth would kill both the marks and get the money.  Most likely, a couple more of his men would die, making his take even bigger than he had anticipated.

It was a good day.

****

Stone heard them come through the sliding glass door.  It made a swishing noise as the air adjusted.  Stone had pulled himself directly behind one of the tables and was lying on his back.  The Glock was in his right hand and he held the Walther in his left.

He remembered Baghdad and his Army days; hiding behind a dinner table so he could get close enough to his mark to cut his throat.  Knowing then, that he had a talent and that talent was the planning and execution of the murder of other human beings.

If only he could have been an artist.

He peeked around the table, lying completely motionless as The Cleaners moved through the room, two on either side, cautiously checking behind each bed, guns at the ready.  They were professionals.

Stone would have to be fast.

Stone would have to be faster than he had ever been before.

The two on his side moved over the bed in front of him, and he knew it was time.

Stone took a big breath then exhaled, clearing his mind and steadying his hand.

He then sat up, fluidly bringing the Glock up on his targets, deciding which one of them would be faster.  He saw recognition in the one man’s eyes in the millisecond that it took him to pull the trigger.

Stone fired three quick shots into his center mass and the man went limp.

The other went to bring his gun up but Stone swept his arm to the right, making the pinpoint adjustment, emptying the clip into the man’s chest.  The second reared back and stumbled over the bed, crashing to the floor.  His MP-5 made a short burst into the ceiling.  The slide on the Glock locked into the reload position and Stone swept his body around.

He had to be faster than ever before…

Stone brought up the Walther with his left and aimed down the sights, firing twice at the first man.  He immediately corrected his arm to point at his final target.  No time to make sure that he even dropped the first, he pulled the trigger desperately as the tension had built in his chest.  He had to make sure.

The gun went empty.

Both men were dead.

Stone sighed in relief.

He dropped the pistols and he grabbed the bed and pulled himself to his one good foot, gripping only the Derringer in his hand.  He had just killed four men in half a second, while wounded.

Damn, he was good.

He heard three shots from behind him.

The bullets hit Stone in the back and he crashed to the floor, stumbling over the bed that had been his lifeline.  The Derringer dropped from his hand and hit the floor, sliding into the shadows.

Stone hurt everywhere.  Blood was free-flowing out of his body.  He had just painted his masterpiece, only to die directly after.  He frowned at the realization and became frustrated.

He heard his unseen attacker laugh as the suit walked around the bed, standing taller, machine gun clutched loosely in one hand.  He looked down at Stone and smiled, “Damn, man.  That was some shooting.  I don’t even think I could shoot that well.  Too bad I had to shoot you.”

Kenneth looked down and brought the gun up.  “I should thank you.  You just made me a lot of money.”

Stone closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

It never came.

Inside, he heard his Derringer go off three times and opened his eyes to watch the surprised look on Kenneth’s face as he staggered backward, blood coloring his white undershirt.

Finally, he fell to the ground.  Dead.

This made Stone happy.

It also worried him.

He heard the foot steps behind him and Maggie walked past.  His Derringer was in her hand.  She walked to the bag of money and picked it up, slinging it over her shoulder.

She then looked at Stone and cocked her head to one side, curiously.

Maggie then walked over to Stone and pointed the gun at his head.

“Like I said, Stone, you think too small.”

One final shot rang out.

11-High Noon

11

High Noon

“Mother-fucking TWICE!”  Rockwell was screaming at the top of his lungs from the back seat of the Grand Marquis.

“Rockwell, give it a rest ,will you?”  Stone said back to Rockwell as he drove with one hand, the other holding a Kleenex over his bleeding nose.

Rockwell, as expected, ignored his partner.  “What the fuck is going on?  How does some shit, ex-football dick get the better of us?  TWICE?!”

“Luck.  It was dumb luck.” Stone replied out of deep, frustrated anger.

“He shot me in the foot!” Rockwell hollered.  “With my own, fucking gun!”

Stone’s phone rang. “Shut up now.  It’s The Muppet.”

Rockwell got quiet and leaned over the back seat to listen as Stone answered.  “Stone.”

“New plan, I have negotiated a hand off at Noon tomorrow.  I’m going to be handing off the money to the currier in a couple of hours.  The meeting is at some unfinished hospital.  I want you two to show up and bring me back the money and that fucking flash drive.” Elmo Kincaid’s voice was hard with a hint of desperation.

Stone heard it, “So, why should we bring all that money back to you?”

Stone heard the anger on the other end.  “Are you serious?  You’re going to fuck with me right now?”

Stone managed a grin.  “Seems like the best time.”

There was a sigh of acceptance on the other end.  “Alright, you each get ten percent of the money you recover, which is half a million.  I’ll consider you both in, again.”

“So we get the best jobs?”  Stone confirmed.

“Yes, yes, you crazy mother fuckers.  Now get me my shit back!”  Elmo yelled into the phone.

 Stone nodded and Rockwell did a mock fist-pump.  “Deal.  What’s the address?”

****

Creegan watched out the front widow next to Maggie.  They were standing in a second floor waiting room.  A large four pane window facing the front of the building was where they watched.  Luckily, the glass was tinted, so anyone on the outside wouldn’t be able to see them.

Creegan checked the time on the wall.  It was 11:54.  “You told them to enter through the front, right?”

Maggie didn’t look over at Creegan.  “I told Elmo to have the courier walk straight down the middle of the front parking lot and through the front door, buts let’s face it Creegan, if they wanted to come in the back, who’s going to stop them?”

Creegan was silent, she was right, after all.  There were only two of them.  If Elmo decided to send an army, they would be cooked.  Creegan and Maggie would have to rely on the fear of the unknown.  If Kincaid knew it was just the two of them with the flash drive and no backup plan it would be a cinch for him to finish this relatively cheap.  But Elmo didn’t know.  He didn’t know who really had the drive or were it was.  He had no idea how many people were working with Maggie.  He knew, literally nothing.

He has to play this conservatively.

Creegan reassured himself, but somewhere deep inside Creegan knew there were going to be surprises.  When it came to Maggie, nothing was easy.

Another three minutes ticked off the clock.  Creegan had just begun to get nervous when he saw her, a squat, hard looking red head in a leather jacket.  She walked to the edge of the parking lot with a hockey bag slung over her shoulder.

“There.”  Creegan said and pointed.

Maggie shook her head, “Kinda hard to miss her, don’t you think?”

The woman dropped the bag then pulled up her jacket and shirt as high as her sports bra and began to slowly rotate.  “What’s she doing?” Maggie asked.

“Showing us she’s unarmed.”  Creegan replied.

After the red head had done one full circle, she re-hoisted the duffle and began to walk across the lot toward the entrance.

****

Rockwell and Stone waited, a couple of rooms down.  They had swung over to Rockwell’s place and patched up his foot as well as picked up some supplies.  Having snuck into the back entrance of the hospital a couple of hours ago, they decided to wait to make their move until both the money and the flash drive were in the open.

“The courier’s here.  It’s the Irish woman.”  Stone said, watching the red head come up an escalator and meet Creegan and Maggie at the top.

“Bet she’d be a great lay,” Rockwell said absently.  “That or her vagina would bite your dick off.”

Stone turned and frowned at him.  “Get your head in the game.  It’s almost time.”

Stone backed away and began to check each of his four guns; two Glocks in shoulder holsters under his coat, one Walther PPK in a belt holster on his backside and a Derringer in a boot holster.  Rockwell checked his big .357 and then belted a bunch of speed loader’s to his right thigh.

“So we have to get the flash drive and the money, right?”  Rockwell asked.

“Yep, and take out Creegan and Maggie.” Stone replied

“That’s a fucking given,” Rockwell said motioning to his foot.  “But that still leaves the question of the Irish woman?”

Stone racked the slide on his automatic and looked at Rockwell.  “Looks like the luck of the Irish just ran out.”

Rockwell raised an eyebrow then started laughing.

Stone frowned, “What?!

 “Have you been waiting you whole life to say that one?”

Stone’s frown became a scowl.  “Fuck you.”

****

The three of them moved slowly back into the waiting room, Creegan and Patty’s eyes locked on each other as they moved.  Once inside the room, there was a long silence.

“Where’s the flash drive?” Patty took time to try to control her accent.

“Where’s the money?”  Maggie quickly replied.

Patty raised an eyebrow, then looked slowly at the bag, then back to Maggie.  “How many Irish women do you know that play hockey?”  Patty’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Maggie’s face scrunched. “I meant, let me see it.”

Patty eyed Creegan who had taken a stance to the left, between the two women.

Patty suddenly dropped the bag on the waiting room table and unzipped the top.  As the zipper peeled away revealing the contents, Maggie’s face lit up.  All of her thirty two teeth showed as she moved in for a closer look.  Stacks of hundred dollar bills lined the inside.  Maggie instinctively reached inside and Patty lashed out, grabbing her wrist. Creegan snapped to attention but didn’t make a move.

“The flash drive.” Patty said sternly.

Maggie nodded, her eyes going back to the money.  “Okay.”

Maggie stepped back and began to bend down to reach.  “It’s in my shoe.”

Patty watched as she slipped her hands into her pockets and into the brass knuckles that made her job possible.  If something was going to happen is would be-

“What the fuck?”  Patty looked outside the window and saw the van in the parking lot.  She also saw the twelve, heavily armed suits getting out.

Creegan became confused, “A duck?  Where?”  He turned and looked out the window.  “What the fuck?”

Creegan turned back around just in time to see the flash of metal.

****

“Well, that was simple enough,” Barbie noted as she watched through the window as the red head walked through the front door of the hospital.

 Kenneth nodded from the driver’s side.

“Lock and load, boys,” Barbie said as she pulled out a Glock while everyone else picked up MP-5’s.  They were nasty, little fully-automatic machine guns with banana clips.

The clicking and clacking of pre gun battle filled the car and Kenneth took the van into the parking lot.  Barbie turned around, “Kenneth use five of them and you boys take the back. The other five of you come with me into the front.  Our primary is the flash drive on the dark haired woman, secondary is the hockey bag of money on the Irish woman.”

All of the men nodded or answered.

Barbie opened the door as Kenneth brought the van to a stop.  “No prisoners.  No witnesses.”

****

Creegan was completely taken off guard by Patty’s right hook.  The blow, complimented by the brass knuckles, sent a shockwave through Creegan’s whole body.  Creegan spun on his heels like some kind of Looney Toon and hit the floor.  The world circled Creegan and he struggled to maintain consciousness.

Maggie watched shocked, as Creegan hit the floor.  One punch had seemed to end it.  She turned back toward Patty with utter fear in her eyes.  Patty slowly stepped onto the table, then down in front of Maggie.

“One more time, before I get rough.  I want to flash drive.”  Patty’s voice was full of intent.

Maggie’s eye’s narrowed.  “Look we can work together, you and I.  Lets walk out of here with the money and the flash drive, split it in-”

Patty grabbed Maggie’s hair and pulled her head back.  Maggie screamed in pain and shock.  “None of that, woman-to-woman, sister shit, girly.  I want the drive.”

Suddenly, a hand gripped Patty’s arm and pulled it away from Maggie’s hair.  Creegan was standing in front of Patty with fire in his eyes and blood from his lip.  They stared at each other and Patty tore her arm away as the two stared at each other.  There was an understanding of what was going to happen next.

Maggie looked back and forth between the two, realizing that some kind of silly warriors understanding was occurring.  She wasn’t going to wait.  She grabbed the bag of money and slung it over her shoulder.

“Don’t get too attached, lass.  I’ll be gettin’ that back once I’m done here.”  Patty said to Maggie without turning from Creegan.

Maggie didn’t respond as she ran out of the room.  There was another second and the clock on the wall switched to 12:01.  Patty and Creegan advanced, Patty throwing the first jab with her right .  Creegan tried to avoid it, but it still glanced off his jaw, and the brass knuckles made it sting more than it should have.

Creegan’s jaw had been tempered from years of abuse and he moved through the blow without blinking and delivered a brutal right forearm blow to the side of Maggie’s head.  She staggered backward into an end table.  Creegan wasted no time moving in and cocking his arm back for a killer left cross.

Patty knew that Creegan would have the power advantage.  A good blow from Creegan might end her.  She straight punched the top of Creegan’s left thigh full force.  The knuckles digging in.  The blow made Creegan yowl and stagger backwards as the muscles in his legs reacted to the blow and cramped up.

Patty pushed forward to capitalize.  As Creegan bent over and grabbed his leg, Patty brought a big left hand in a downward arc.  Creegan managed to get his hand up and stop the punch.  Patty was ready for the block and shifted her feet bringing a right uppercut.  The blow caught Creegan flush on the nose.  Patty felt it break.

Creegan grunted and retreated, falling backward over the middle table to the other side.  Blood began to flow, freely from his nose.  Creegan rolled backward again, after hitting the ground trying to gain some distance between himself and the Valkyrie that was assailing him.

She stepped over the table, again on the offensive but as she stepped down Creegan saw an opening and took it, shooting in, like an amateur wrestler, and grabbing her around the waist.  She began raining hammer fists down on his back.  The blows hurt, but not enough to make Creegan let go.  Creegan roared and picked Patty off her feet and rushed her backward getting three or four steps of speed before crashing her back first into the dry wall.  It cratered and broke around her as she was imbedded in the wall.

Creegan felt her rib crack under the pressure of his big shoulder.  He was on an adrenaline rage and began to mercilessly uppercut Patty’s damaged ribs.  She wailed in pain with each of the violent blows.  She knew she had to do something as the pain was blinding.  Anymore of this and she would lose the ability to stand.  Suddenly, she remembered the blood from Creegan’s shoulder when he and Patty had fled his apartment.

Patty roared like a feral dog and cocked her right hand back, striking Creegan’s shoulder and the bullet wound with all the force she had.  Creegan screamed in pain and Patty wound up and struck the same spot.  Creegan took one step back, then brought his whole body into a straight punch.

Patty, however, saw it coming a mile away and ducked.  Creegan’s hand struck the wall with full force.  He felt his hand shatter as the connection was made.  Creegan screamed in pain and Patty moved in, bringing a huge upper cutting left to Creegan’s abdomen followed by a right hand to the chops.

Creegan lost his breath, then almost went out as Patty’s hook connected to his temple. His knees went weak as he staggered, Patty limped in and Creegan’s desperation kicked in, he stepped forward and caught her boob with a left-hook.

“MOTHER FUCKER!”  Patty yelled in pain as she staggered backward and stumbled over a chair, onto the ground.

Creegan went to one knee.  The blood was running down his left arm from the reopened bullet wound.  His right hand throbbed, his nose leaked blood and his left eye was swelling shut from Patty’s first blow.  He was having a hard time breathing with the damage done to his nose and literally everything on his body hurt.  He saw Patty pulling herself to her feet on the other side of the chair.

“You have got to be kidding me.”  Creegan mumbled through the blood dripping from his chin.

Patty brought herself to her feet, somehow.  It hurt to put any weight on her left foot.  She had at least two broken ribs, maybe more.  Her left eye was beginning to blacken and shockwaves of pain ran through her body from her chest.  She had never fought like this.  She had never had to.

Creegan stood, slowly, and limped forward, his hands coming back up into a lazy guard. Patty took slow, painful steps toward Creegan, her hands coming up.

Last round.  They heard the bell.

Creegan threw a lazy haymaker, trying to make something happen while seeing double.  Maggie ducked the blow and threw a long jab into Creegan’s mid section.  Creegan visibly felt the blow and Patty stepped in, jabbing him in the mouth again.  Creegan felt his lip break open, deeper.  He staggered and fell to one knee.

Patty cocked her right back for one more final punch.

This would end it.

Creegan pulled himself together.  In the seconds before the blow, he somehow scoured the remains of his energy and pulled it all into one last move, knowing this blow would put him out.  As Patty launched her punch, he rose.  Using his left to stop the punch, he snaked it around her arm and caught her wrist in his under arm.  Creegan then brought his right hand up and locked it with the left.  He then locked his forearm against Patty’s elbow on the wrong side.

Creegan then flexed with everything he had, pulling up on the arm.  Patty’s elbow was forced inwards and up.

A loud and audible pop could be heard throughout the room.

Maggie screamed as her elbow popped.

Creegan maintained his grip of her arm with his left and pulled her in closer.  He then brought his right forearm into her face.

Then, again….

          …Then, again….

                    …Then, again…..

He broke her nose and busted her lip, her left eye almost totally closed and purple now, Creegan lost track of how many times he hit her.  He was working on instinct, now.  He suddenly bent over and picked her up onto his shoulder, then dumped her off, sending her crashing into, and through, the waiting room table.

Wood splintered as she crashed down.  Creegan fell into a kneeling position above her head, then raised his hand and cocked his fist back to strike when Patty’s hand came up loosely.  At first glance, it looked like she was trying to protect herself but Creegan knew better.

She had conceded.

He relaxed his fist and then his body and fell backward to the floor.  The fight had been mere seconds but it had felt like an eternity.  His whole body screamed at him.  It begged him to remain on the floor but he couldn’t.

Slowly, Creegan picked himself up.

Patty’s hand had dropped and now she just lay there breathing.

Creegan dragged himself toward an exit as the sounds of gunfire sounded through the hospital.

It was never simple.

He had a job to finish.