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.