The Pursuit of Emma, Dave Moyer [best contemporary novels txt] 📗

came a confusion of noise and blue lights. A police car had raced around the corner and into the warehouse, screeching to a halt on one side and two police officers jumped out. They were armed and wearing full bullet-proof gear. The sirens stopped but the blue lights continued to flash.

‘THIS PLACE IS SURROUNDED. PUT YOUR HANDS UP IMMEDIATELY,’ said a calm voice over the police speaker system.

The Kozlovs turned on us at once.

‘Smart move, bringing the police. Do you think that will stop us?’

‘They are not with us,’ I whispered back. I gave them an honest look and I think they began to believe me.

‘They must have followed you. Fuck!’ spat Vitali. They dived around the back of the van and the two of us followed.

‘Igor, what if they have the place surrounded? We will never get out!’ Vitali was beginning to look nervous for the first time since I 'd held a gun at his face. They were feeling trapped. Welcome to the club.

‘What do we do?’ said a thick Russian voice, from their thick Russian crony.

‘COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP. FINAL WARNING!’

Igor glanced around the side of the van quickly.

‘It is just one car. Looks like two guys. We take them out and drive off. Simple.’

‘What if there is back-up outside?’

‘Then we take them out too. Listen to me. I will not rot in a jail cell. Not me.’

Igor took his gun out and pretended to walk towards them. He got a few steps away from the van before firing at the police car. A window smashed and both police officers dived for cover, but no one was hurt. Yet.

It took a few seconds for the bullets to be fired back. Both police officers drew weapons and fired them in our direction. Igor threw himself onto the floor and slid back behind the van. A bullet hit the side of the vehicle and all of us hoped the ewers would stay intact.

‘You two go that way,’ called Vitali, talking to his fellow Russians, and pointed in the opposite direction to the way he was moving. They spun out either side and rained bullets down on the police car. It lasted several seconds and as quickly as it began, it stopped. We waited in eerie silence for a second to see if they were successful and at first it seemed possible. The silence and the Russian’s hopes were broken by the sound of gunshots in our direction.

We were stuck in a stand-off. The police were protected by their car, although it was taking some severe bruising on the one side. We were safe as long as we stayed behind the van. The conflict lasted another few minutes with neither side really affecting the other. The Russians had not been prepared for a full-scale war and were beginning to run out of bullets.

‘I swear to you Thomas, I will save two of these bullets to put in both of your heads,’ Igor spat at me, angrily.

‘Yeah, bringing the police won’t protect you,’ chirped in Vitali.

‘I didn’t bring them. They must have been following us. Probably since Amsterdam!’ I shouted back as they opened fire, once more.

‘Either way, you’re dead as soon as they are!’

The driver spun round once more, having just reloaded his gun with his final round. I didn’t know his name but I could see how eager he was to impress the bosses. You kill two police officers and maybe there is a promotion in it for you. At first he had been cautious, only throwing his arm loosely around the corner of the van. But as the stand-off continued his courage grew and he decided to take a step to the side and get a good look at what he was firing at. It would give him a good chance to hit somebody but it had its drawbacks. Potential death, for one.

As the driver spun round, he didn’t even have to focus his view before a bullet had struck him in the shoulder. One of the policemen was particularly accurate. He let out a whimper and fell backwards on to the floor. Igor turned his attention and saw his colleague fall down. He shouted out a name in Russian and slid over to him. They looked more like friends at this stage than criminals. Perhaps they were both.

Igor was whispering quietly in the ear of the driver. Were they praying? Vitali didn’t know what to do. His gun was now empty but he raced over, picked up the driver’s gun and sent a few shots over the bonnet of the van. Wasted shots and he knew it. He decided to save his last few.

Emma and I had been standing pressed up against the side of the van whilst all of this had been going on. We were safe, although a little shaken by proceedings (as you could imagine). This was all about to change.

Vitali charged at us and held his new gun an inch away from Emma’s forehead. The movement was so quick that it took us by surprise, and she had no time to move.

‘THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!’ he shouted. ‘Time to die.’ I had to do something. I pulled my gun from under my jumper and held it to the side of his face.

Check.

‘Put the gun down. I will kill you,’ I breathed quietly.

From behind me, the cold touch of steel brushed my temple and I could just see in my peripheral vision, Igor holding his weapon to my head.

‘Not before I kill you,’ muttered Igor.

Checkmate.

We had no way of getting out of this one. I might be able to take down one but not both. There was no way Emma and I would both get out.

‘If you kill us, you will never get out of here. I can get you out of here but you leave us alone forever,’ said Emma quietly. ‘Our lives for your freedom. That seems fair. Or you can kill us and rot in jail for the rest of your lives. Your choice.’

There was a silence. Once again we had a small window of opportunity. They needed us one more time.

‘How the hell do you get us out of this?’ Igor asked, desperate for us not to be lying.

‘We cause a distraction. We will walk directly to them, turning ourselves in and you get in the van and drive out. Simple.’

‘Why would you turn yourself in? This is a trick!’

‘How can it be?’ Emma replied softly. ‘We would rather be alive and face some jail time than die here today. But if you ever come within a hundred miles of us in the future...’

She left the sentence hanging in the air but we all knew exactly what she meant. I was beginning to see how brilliant she was. In times of crisis she rose out and began showing who she really was. It was incredible.

The Kozlovs thought this was a perfect plan. So what if we got arrested? They would send someone to kill us within days, whether we were in prison or free. They knew it and we knew it. But it was a start. Igor lowered his gun tentatively and I followed suit. That just left Vitali. With a grunt he did the same and soon we were all breathing a little more easily. Death was something I was getting used to being threatened with, but as far as I can tell, it never gets easier.

‘Right. I’ll go first. You guys get into the van and get out of here when we get in the car. They will be happy to have some of us, and my guess is they won’t go after you guys before you can get away.’

Emma smiled and kissed me on the cheek before walking out slowly. This was the hardest bit. She had to convince the police she was not a threat, but walking slowly and raising your arms just gives your opponents an easier target to hit.

Emma made it a good way out into the warehouse before the speaker system was used.

‘KEEP YOUR HANDS UP AND STAY WHERE YOU ARE.’

Emma kept her hands up but continued to walk towards the police car.

‘DROP TO THE FLOOR AND STAY WHERE YOU ARE,’ came the voice of the law.

Emma continued with her pace, arms aloft and head held high.

‘EMMA STOP,’ I yelled but she didn’t hear me. Or if she did, she didn’t listen. She continued walking as before.

‘FINAL WARNING. DROP TO THE FLOOR!’

Emma, in all her beauty and glory, marched on towards the sunlight and towards the danger.

‘STAY WHERE YOU ARE!’

There was no sound for a second and then…gunshots! Three insignificant bullets were fired in quick succession of each other. I screamed before I had heard the third, but it was no use. The bullets hit her square in the chest and knocked her off her feet. Emma was thrown to the floor and crumpled over, completely lifeless.

‘EMMA!’ I screamed, my lungs filling with air and propelling it out at full volume.

Both the Kozlovs had heard the noise and seen her fall. For a moment they said nothing staring at me; they knew what I had been through.

‘Give me your gun,’ I said quietly, but forcefully.

Neither of them moved.

‘GIVE ME YOUR GUN!’ I said again.

Igor blinked and handed over his weapon.

‘Tom... what are you...’

‘Get out of here when I shoot.’

‘Tom... you don’t have to...’

‘Wait until you hear my shots!’

‘Tom! We are even. You are truly a man of honour.’

Everything had gone out of focus for me. Their words meant nothing anymore. Nothing did. Behind me, I could hear them readying themselves to leave but it seemed another world away. I pulled out my gun until I held one in both hands and took a deep breath. For Emma.

I ran with full speed at the police car, crossing half the warehouse before they knew what had hit them. I was spraying bullets everywhere and destroying the car in front of me. I knew I wouldn’t have many bullets left but I wouldn’t stop until they stopped me. It didn’t take long.

The first bullet caught me in the bicep, ripping my flesh and spinning me around. I remained on my feet but struggled to balance. Blood was swimming out of my arm and although it should have hurt, I felt nothing. I marched on with my good hand still firing before a bullet caught me straight in the stomach.

This knocked me onto my knees. I was broken. Inches away from Emma’s lifeless body, I dragged myself so that I could be near her. It was impossible work but two bullets wouldn’t stop me. A third did, however. The third bullet caught me square in the chest and sent me tumbling over Emma and laying there to rest.

As the third bullet had shredded through my clothes, my eyes began to close and (somewhat stereotypically) everything faded to black. Chapter Thirty-One

‘She will always be remembered.’

Whoever said it doesn’t hurt being shot if you are wearing a bullet-proof vest was talking bollocks. It doesn’t help that one of the bullets missed my vest and hit me in the arm (my actual arm). Forgetting that for one second, the two that caught me in the torso hurt like hell. I don’t know how