Jake slowly closed Toni's door and started walking down the stairs. He got to the bottom and stopped. Someone was following him down the stairs. He quickly moved to the side of the wooden banister and waited.
The steps were slow but deliberate. It wasn't Toni or Kurt, he thought. A shadow preceded the figure and came farther and farther and closer to the bottom of the stairs.
Jake slid his CZ-75 out of its holster quietly. The figure came into Jake's view. It was the old man from the third floor in his night clothes with a pillow under his right arm as if going to a slumber party. Jake quickly holstered his gun and watched the man walk right into the first floor apartment. Finally, he sighed with relief and went out the door.
Once outside and walking toward his car, he realized how presumptuous he had been. It was never bad to be too careful, he reassured himself.
There was a chill in the darkness. The dim yellow street lights made Jake's eyes work overtime trying to adjust.
He got to his car and stopped for a second pretending to look for his keys. Jake had noticed a blue BMW, similar to Herb's, with two dark shapes a block down the street, but the figures had disappeared. He was sure they had both crouched down. He got in and thought for a moment. What if those were the Hungarians and they just planted a bomb in his car? But why would they want to kill him?
He shook his head, started the car, and slowly pulled from the curb. He looked into the rear view mirror, but the car was still there.
After a few blocks, he turned right and continued driving slower than normal. He couldn't help wonder why those two men were outside Toni's apartment. Or were they even there? Were his eyes playing tricks on him? He had been up since before the sun rose, driven to Naples and back, and encountered Burt Simpson on the USS Roosevelt and then interrogated him. He had every right to be tired. His eyes had every right to be deceiving him. The bullet graze to his head still brought pain and dizziness.
He turned right again down a one way street. He shook his head to break loose his blurred vision. But he couldn't get those two men out of his mind. Why were they there? He had to find out.
Turning right again, he headed back toward Toni's apartment. Just before he turned back on Toni's street, he pulled over to the curb and stopped. How you going to play this one? Scanning his memory, he tried to remember the best way to confront trained terrorists, if that's who they were. If it came to firepower, he knew he'd be outgunned without Toni and Kurt. But there was no phone in the area to call Toni, so he had to move fast.
Jake pulled away from the curb and turned right onto Toni's street. The car was still there. No heads though. He stopped just two car lengths behind the BMW and turned off his lights.
The darkness made it difficult to make out anything. To the right of the car, across the sidewalk, was a high metal fence that ran for nearly the length of the block. The multi-unit apartment building on the other side of the fence had a security system with a speaker box on the fence gate. Jake could see from the fence to the building, so he felt fairly sure that the two men couldn't lurk in the shadows there and ambush him.
He sat and waited. It had only taken him a few minutes to drive around the block and come back. Long enough for the two men to leave their car.
"Shit!" he said aloud. Jake popped the seat belt and got out of his car. He pulled his gun, cocked the hammer, and ran up to the blue BMW. Nobody there. Terrible thoughts ran through his mind as he ran toward Toni's apartment. He should have known something was wrong. Shut up. Just get the bastards.
Jake reached the front door of Toni's building and slowly and quietly entered. If they had knocked on Toni's door she might have thought it was him having forgotten something. She could have just swung the door open. And then. Shut up.
With his gun leading the way up the stairs, Jake smoothly stepped upward. He knew every creak in the hardwood stairs. Every spot to watch for. His eyes quickly jutted downward and then back up again. His steps were sure. He listened carefully for any sound above. It was as if he were in the woods stalking a deer. Senses against senses. But deer didn't carry Uzis.
Then he stopped. He thought he heard whispering for just a second. Just a few words, but he couldn't make them out. Hungarian?
He froze. His gun pointed up to the last corner just outside Toni's door. Did they know he was there? That's it. Draw their fire to allow Toni and Kurt enough time to react.
Then Jake heard the sound of the door slowly swishing shut below him. Who the hell is that? Redundancy! An East Bloc trademark. If two could do the job, send four. Now he was trapped just above the ninety degree turn in the stairs. A team of Hungarians above him, and probably a back up team below him. He had to make the first move. Now!
He aimed his gun to the corner of the ceiling above him and fired a shot. The sound reverberated throughout the stairwell. He heard the men above him stir. Below there was no sound. Toni and Kurt had to hear that.
"Ciao," Jake screamed.
Around the corner above him came a flurry of flashes without sound. He dodged to his left and hugged the wall. Plaster flew from the wall where he had been standing.
Jake pumped off a couple rounds toward the flashing barrel.
Then Jake thought of the others below him. Did they know he knew they were there? He smashed his body as close to the wall as he could. Sweat streaked down the sides of his face. His heart pounded uncontrollably. What if those below were just visiting the old man on the third floor? Then the shots would have made them move, and they won't be there. You've gotta move. They've got you, Jake.
Now!
Jake swung around the corner, fired five shots quickly downward, and returned to his position on the wall. Two men. One hit for sure. Come on Toni, Kurt, I could use some help here.
Two shots rang out above him. And then the sound of heavy footsteps moving up to the third floor.
"Jake, is that you?" Toni yelled.
"Shit, yeah," Jake said. "Who else would shoot up your apartment. Is it clear up there?"
"Yes, hurry."
Jake ran up toward Toni's apartment. She and Kurt were standing with the door wide open, guns drawn.
Jake signaled with his hands that there were two upstairs and two downstairs. And that he had hit at least one downstairs. Jake popped his clip out and replaced it with a full one.
The door to the third floor apartment smashed in. Toni gasped and put her hand over her mouth.
Jake shook his head. "He's down on the first floor apartment," he whispered. "Kurt, stay here and hold those two from getting any closer. Toni, let's go."
Jake and Toni quickly ran up the stairs. Jake peaked around the corner. The old man's door hung open. He moved forward quickly with his gun cocked and ready to fire. He felt Toni just behind him. Jake had been in the apartment a couple of times, so he knew the layout. But the rooms were dark.
Now!
Jake flung himself through the open door to the living room carpet. Instantly, a barrage of flashes from behind where the sofa normally sat lit the room. Bullets thumped against the wall behind Jake.
Jake shot three times toward the flashes. He heard the distinct thud of bullet penetrating flesh. He rolled across the carpet a few feet.
Then from the kitchen came another barrage. Toni instantly fired four times and then scooted back behind the door.
Jake crawled behind a large, thick lounge chair. Had he killed the man he hit? He thought he heard a body hit the ground, but he wasn't sure. Now what?
Shots echoed up the stairway from Kurt's gun. It had to be his 45 automatic, Jake thought. The sound was much louder than all the 9mm shots fired so far.
Then at least five more shots came from downstairs. Not Kurt this time.
One more shot from Kurt. Then silence.