Geek Mafia, Rick Dakan [books that read to you .TXT] 📗

had left for him. They reached the outside just as Winston and a woman named Lily were standing above Raff and pounding away at him with their bats. 

Then, from their right a figure came running forward. It was the man in the shadows, and he had an automatic pistol in his hand. He started firing, releasing three very loud blasts into the night air. Chloe and Paul both ducked for cover inside the locker. There was a pause and then more shots followed by shouting. 

“Everybody back off!” the gunman shouted. “Back off or someone else gets a bullet in the head!”

Paul peeked out from behind an overturned box to see the man help Raff to his feet. Two of the batmen were on the ground and one of them was bleeding badly. He heard a car starting up and assumed this was Kurt, making his own escape. “Hold it right there!” the man with the gun shouted. “We’re coming with you.”

Raff and his guardian angel shambled out of Paul’s line of sight. A few seconds later he heard car doors opening and closing and then the Cadillac kicked into gear and peeled out, headed for the front gate.

“Winston!” Chloe shouted from Paul’s side. She ran out into the alleyway towards the bleeding figure. The gunman had shot Winston. Paul ran after her.

Winston’s Crewmembers were already at his side, pressing their hands against the wounds. He gurgled nonsense, but at least he was still breathing. They pulled the bandanna from around his head and saw a nasty wound along the side of his neck. The bullet had missed anything vital, but even the grazing shot had torn out a large chunk of flesh. Another bullet had passed through his left bicep. The third shot was still inside him, just below his left shoulder blade. There was a chance it had penetrated his lung.

“We need to get him to a hospital!” cried Chloe, lifting Winston’s head carefully off the pavement and cradling it in her hands. He breathed hard, in terrible pain. 

“We’re on it,” said Lily, pulling down her own bandanna and reaching for her two-way. “Help,” she said into the handheld, her voice serious but calm. “Now! Now! Now!” From five rows over they heard an engine turn over and start.

Paul stood over the bloody tableau, dumbfounded. How had it gotten this bad? How had  someone gotten shot? He replayed the last minute over and over again in his brain, all the while transfixed by the horror of Winston’s blood seeping out onto the ground. The image of the stranger with the gun kept sticking in his head. The lighting was poor, the situation insane, but something about him was familiar. He wasn’t a crewmember, but…

A white, beat up Suburban hurtled around the corner and came to a screeching halt. It was more of Winston’s crew, a man and a woman that Paul recognized from the drum circle on the beach. They leaped out of the truck and came running towards their fallen leader, the woman with a first aid kit clutched in her hands. They shoved Lilly and Chloe aside and started tending to their patient.

Chloe stood up and retreated from the scene. “You need to get him to a doctor.” She said. “No bullshit.”

The woman with the first aid kit was using scissors to cut away Winston’s clothing and expose his wounds. “I am a doctor,” she snapped. 

Lilly, who seemed to be in charge now that Winston was down, took Chloe by the arm and patiently walked her and Paul back towards the truck. “Kelly knows what she’s doing,” she said. Her presence and composure had a soothing effect on Paul. She seemed so certain of everything she said. “He’ll make the call now. If we can treat him we will. If we have to we’ll take him to the ER.”

“But…“Chloe started to say.

“We’ve got to discuss something else though,” Lilly continued without letting Chloe interrupt her. “What are you two going to do?”

“What do you mean?” asked Paul. 

“We’ll take you with us if you want.” Lilly rubbed Chloe’s shoulder with affection. “I know you and Win are close and he told us to help you guys out. So if you want, you can come with us.” Chloe didn’t reply.

“Come with you where?” asked Paul.

“Into the wind. I’ve got to pull us out of this thing now – making sure Win’s ok is all I care about. We can’t help you get your money back right now. Maybe in a couple of weeks we can regroup.”

“In a couple of weeks Raff and the money will be long gone,” Chloe said. “He knows where it is now and if we don’t get it fast, he’ll get it himself, no problem.”

“I’m telling you I can’t help you on this Chloe,” Lilly insisted. “I’m sorry but…”

“No, I know, it’s Ok. You’ve done more…” she looked back at where Kelly was working on Winston’s wounds. “Sacrificed more than I could have asked. But I can’t let Raff get the payoff. Especially not after this.”

“We don’t have to do this, Chloe. It’s just money,” said Paul. 

She turned on him. “It’s not just money Paul. It’s your future. It’s maybe the only future you have.” She paused and then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce embrace. “I’m so sorry, Paul, but I don’t know what will happen if we don’t have that cash to work with.”

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Isn’t it enough we’re alive after all that just happened?”

“Have you already forgotten? Why we’re here? The cops are after you. Your credit is ruined. You’re a wanted man. And maybe, with the whole crew behind us, those would’ve all been surmountable obstacles. But Raff’s poisoned them against us. Kurt’s presence here proves that. Without them helping me, I can’t save you this time. We have to run and that takes money.”

Paul thought about this. He was scared. Scared that she was right and worried about what that meant he had to do next. With everything coming apart around him, she was his only source of stability and support left. To see her scared and starting to come undone made it even worse. He thought about the times she’d already saved his ass; in the boardroom with his partners, in the restaurant with Frank, on the highway with that PI…

“Christ!” he exclaimed. “Oh fuck…”

“What?” Lily and Chloe said together, looking around for some new danger.

“That guy with the gun. Fuck. That guy! I know that guy. It was the fucking private eye from the highway and that money pick up.”

“Are you sure?” asked Chloe.

“Yes. Absolutely sure now.” And he was. Even in the bad light he’d recognized the man’s frame. Although he’d never gotten a good look at the shooter’s face, he’d heard his voice, the same voice that had threatened him on the side of highway 17.

“What the fuck was he doing here?” Chloe asked, of no one in particular. Her eyes were unfocused, her mind deep in thought, calculating this new piece of information’s ramifications.

From over where Winston lay, they heard Dr. Kelly say in a loud voice, “Ok, on three. One. Two. Three.” They looked over to see four of Winston’s crew lifting him and carrying him towards the truck. Lilly broke off from their conversation and ran over to help them.

“How’s he doing?” she asked Kelly. 

“It’s not as bad as it could’ve been. Nothing vital hit. Two through and throughs and the other is lodged in his back. I think I can get it out, but I need better light and conditions. We need to go. Now.” The others were already loading Winston into the back of the van.

“Ok, go,” Lilly said. “I’ll take the other car and meet you at the safe spot.” Kelly nodded and then rushed back to the truck. 

Paul and Chloe stood and watched the van disappear out of sight, following the same path Raff had retreated down just a few minutes before. “What’s it going to be?” Lilly asked them. “You coming with me or not?”

Paul looked to Chloe for confirmation and they both silently agreed. “Not,” he said. He wasn’t ready to give up yet.

“Ok,” Lilly replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. “Good luck.” She gave them one last look and then scooped her bat off the ground and started to jog off into the darkness.

“Lilly, wait a sec,” Chloe shouted. “Can you do us one last favor?”

“Sure,” she said, “What is it?”

“Can we switch cars?” Chloe asked.

“Why?” 

“Raff bugged and put a tracker in ours and I haven’t deactivated either device yet. We need a clean vehicle.”

Lilly thought about this for a moment. “Then he’ll be able to track me, won’t he?”

“Yeah, but he’s not looking for you.” Lilly didn’t seem to buy this line of reasoning. “I know it’s a pain in the ass, but we need to move fast and I don’t have time to put that thing up on a lift and go over it. And I know you don’t either, but…”

Lilly held up a hand to stop her. “No, it’s ok.” She pulled a key ring out of her pocket and tossed it to Chloe. “It’s Win’s car anyway. He’ll be pissed if he finds out I didn’t give it to you when you asked.”

“Thanks, Lilly!” Chloe said, tossing Chloe her own keys. “I really appreciate it.” 

She took the keys and climbed into Chloe’s car. From the open window she said, “Green Jetta, parked in the lot across the street.” Then she tore off into the night. 

Without looking back, Chloe and Paul set off at a run for the exit. They knew they didn’t have much time.

When Filo finally regained consciousness hours later, he had no recollection of what had happened. Everybody had just disappeared. As he stumbled to his feet he noticed the pool of blood in the middle of the alleyway. With no idea whose it was or where his friends were, he ran, his head pounding. It took him another hour and a half to make it back to the main Crew house. When he arrived the locks had been changed and the place was stripped bare. The Crew had gone.

CHAPTER 36

“Where are we going?” Paul asked a few minutes later. “The real storage locker is that way.” He pointed toward a freeway onramp. 

“We need a place to plan first. Besides, if he knows where it is then he’s got it covered. He’ll have the place staked out.”

“I knew we should’ve gotten the money first,” he said. 

“If we’d done that they would’ve caught us there instead of where we had reinforcements. Raff would have the money and we’d have our heads cracked.” She pulled the car into a Denny’s parking lot, shut the engine off and turned to face Paul.

“First let’s talk about this private eye fucker,” she said. “You’re sure it was him? I never got a good look at his face.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Abso-fucking-lutely. What I don’t know is what it means. How did he get there? Why was he helping Raff?”

“I think he was always helping Raff.”

“But he was with the CFO when I went to pick up the money. He’s the guy who tackled me in the park. He can’t have been working with Raff then…?”

“Why not?” said Chloe. “Why couldn’t he have been working with Raff all along?”

Paul had no answer for this startling suggestion. Could that be possible? Had he been planning this ever since