The guy just stood there; he did not comply with the order to leave. Time to ramp it up, Grant decided.
He moved his light jacket so his pistol was visible. In peacetime that would be the crime of “brandishing” a firearm. But this wasn’t peacetime, anymore.
The guy looked at the pistol, and then at Grant. His eyes got big. Without saying a word, he backed away from the gun counter, turned around, and walked out. Grant followed him out and watched him get in his car and leave.
When Grant was outside in the parking lot, he listened to the sirens in the distance. It seemed like every cop and fire truck for a hundred miles was downtown at the capitol fighting the protestors.
The customers were out of the store. Bobby was getting them out of the parking lot. When the store was empty, Chip came out of the back room which was where the inventory was kept, secretly. Special Forces Ted was with him. Chip looked around. He saw Grant, the rest of the Team, and Ted. All trusted guys. He came over to them. He had a pistol on his belt, too; a 1911.
“Thanks for the help, guys,” Chip said. “I need three or four of you to secure the parking lot. I will be bringing in my truck and Ted’s. We each have U-Haul trailers on them. We have a little inventory to move out tonight. Like, all of it. The rest of you can help us move some heavy things into the trucks. Be discreet. Those in the parking lot can have rifles handy, but not slung over your shoulders.”
Chip grabbed his gun inventory logs that ATF required him to maintain. He looked at them and laughed. “I guess I better have these in case things calm down and the law is enforced again.” Chip shook his head, indicating that he doubted things would return to normal and those laws would ever be enforced again.
He looked at the guys. They were risking their lives to help him. “Thanks, gentlemen. Let’s get to work.”
Pow asked, “Who has an AR with them?” Grant, Scotty, and Bobby raised their hands. “OK, you guys make sure no one gets within a hundred yards of here. Be on the lookout for anyone who seems to be watching us. They might be casing the place. Tell customers we’re closed. Cops can come here, but I’d rather they didn’t. I’m not going to ask you to shoot a cop.” Nice. This was for real.
Grant, Scotty, and Bobby went out to their vehicles to get their ARs and mag pouches.
Grant kept the safety on. He was pretty amped up, but he didn’t want to hurt anyone by mistake. He went around to Scotty and Bobby. “Safeties on, guys?” They both nodded.
Grant used his car as cover. It was on the street and he had a good view of anyone coming the main way down the street and into the store. He could keep his AR on the car seat and remain discreet.
Bobby had his truck across the street from Grant and was doing the same. Scotty moved his truck to the other side of the store entrance, which faced a back street, so he could get anyone coming from the other direction into the store. Grant and Bobby had a perfect crossfire set up. That was interesting because neither one of them talked about where to position themselves; they just naturally set up in a crossfire. And they both had a good angle on Scotty’s position to help him out.
Once they were set up, Grant was just watching. Everything. So were Bobby and Scotty.
Chip and Ted went out to their trucks with the U-Hauls, which were parked on the street a block away. They wheeled them into the parking lot which was finally empty. As soon as they pulled in, the door of the store came open and there were Wes and Pow with big plastic tubs. They looked like the tubs of parts Chip kept in the storage room. Grant focused on his job of watching the street to make sure no one came by.
After a few minutes, a car came down the back street toward Scotty. Grant figured that it could be a harmless guy or, because he was coming from the back street, it could be a decoy for an attack on the main entrance. Grant and Bobby grabbed their ARs out of their vehicles and got them ready. Scotty flagged down the car. He talked to the driver for a minute and then he turned around and left. Scotty flashed Grant and Bobby the thumbs up to show that everything was OK.
Wes, Pow, Ted, and Chip were loading Chip’s U-Haul like mad men. Then Chip moved his truck a little and Ted moved his into the front of the store. They repeated the loading. They now had fewer plastic tubs and more rectangular cardboard boxes which held a rifle. Finally, lots of small rectangular boxes which held pistols. Then cases and cases of ammo. They looked pretty heavy.
An SUV came down Grant and Bobby’s street. It was coming down Grant’s side of the street, so Grant signaled that he would talk to the driver. He also signaled for Bobby to hide in his truck for surprise backup, if necessary.
The driver of the SUV could sense that things were a little unusual. The wailing sirens added to the surreal environment. Grant signaled with his left hand for the car to roll down its window. He kept his right hand on his pistol, which was partially showing. Grant figured the odds of being prosecuted for brandishing were pretty low when what’s left of the police were busy fighting off protestors, and possibly rioters, three miles away at the capitol.
The driver rolled down his window. He didn’t look fazed by the sight of a man with his hand on a holstered pistol. He was probably a gun guy who knew that Grant was not some amateur. Gun guys aren’t usually scared of other gun guys. Someone with their hand on a pistol is not something unusual to them.
Grant used his confident, but not asshole, voice to say, “Where you headed?” He was trying to sound like a cop so the driver would assume he was and might listen more to what he told him to do.
“Gun store,” the guy said. He kept both hands on the steering wheel, yet another signal to Grant that the driver knew what he was doing; and knew how to avoid getting shot.
“It’s closed,” Grant said. “Try back tomorrow.” Grant stared at the driver as if to say, “Seriously.”
“OK. Thanks,” the guy said. The driver paused and looked at Grant’s exposed pistol. “Things hairy enough out here to need a pistol, huh?” He answered his own question by saying, “I guess so. Downtown near the capitol is a frickin’ mess right now. That’s why I wanted to come get a case of ammo.”
“You and lots of others,” Grant said. “That’s why the store is closed for a while.” Grant hated lying to people, but sometimes circumstances just called for it.
The driver nodded and said, “Have a good evening.” He then looked at how he would get out of there. He said, “I’ll turn around up there and come out the way I came in.”
Grant nodded. He looked over to Bobby and motioned that the SUV would go up the street, turn around and then leave. Bobby understood, gave the thumbs up, and then gave the signal to Scotty, who gave a thumbs up. Hours and hours on the range using hand signals to communicate allowed them to do this effortlessly.
Grant didn’t want to give away the positions of his two colleagues, but he didn’t want them to shoot this guy, either. When Grant got the thumbs up from Scotty, he turned back to the driver and said, “That ought to work. Have a good evening.”
The driver did exactly what he said he would do. The turnaround was smooth and careful. On the way back out the main entrance, the driver waved at Grant. He waved back.
Grant was glad he didn’t get shot or have to shoot anyone. Wow. This was for real.
He had a funny thought: How many other lawyers were doing this tonight? Actually, with all the protests and mayhem in the country, probably quite a few.
Chip came out of the parking lot and signaled that the trucks were loaded. He pointed to Bobby first, and then motioned for him to come into the store. He signaled for Scotty and Grant to stay put. Bobby walked into the store and came out a few minutes later. He signaled for Grant to go in next. Grant put his AR on the car seat, locked the door, and walked into the store.