Patriots & Tyrants (7 page)

The door vibrated again. "Declan. It's Brendan. I need your help."

Withdrawing the Walther from his waistband and concealing it behind his left leg, he walked to the front door. He stood to the left of it and reached over to turn the doorknob allowing the frail wooden door to open on its own as it always did if it wasn't latched properly. As the door creaked open Brendan Regan came into view, standing front and center with a look that could curdle milk. Even in the dimly lit hallway Declan could see his face was bruised and bloody. "I'm sorry man. They made me."

"Get outta the way you git!"

Regan was struck in the back of the head with the butt of a pistol. Declan dropped back and brought the Walther up as the large man fell forward into the apartment forcing the door the rest of the way open with his weight. "I'm sorry man. I'm sorry man," the giant whined as he lay face down on the floor crying.

"I know you got a gun you mick!" someone with a high pitched voice yelled from the hallway. "If you know what's best you'll toss it out here. There's more of us than there are of you!"

Declan stayed silent with the pistol aimed towards the hallway.

"You make me come in there and you're gonna get worse than your friend on the floor got!"

Regan whined in response and Declan listened to the sounds in the hallway. By the way the man's voice echoed and the lack of footsteps he was certain that the goon was alone. "You talk pretty big for a guy at a major disadvantage," he said.

"Yeah and what disadvantage would that be?"

"This one," Declan said moving his aim down and a little to the left before pulling the trigger. The report of the Walther echoed through the apartment and a bullet tore into the sheet rock beside the door frame opening a broad hole. The sound of the goon falling to the floor preceded his scream, "Ah Jesus man!"

Declan moved forward and rounded his way through the doorway with the pistol aimed. On the floor beside the door, gripping his leg, was a sorry looking man with bulging eyes and loose, jaundice colored skin. Declan recognized him as Rory McLeish, a part time errand boy O'Rourke used to run messages back and forth to his contacts in the mob. Kicking away the Smith & Wesson 9mm the man had been holding, he gripped him by the collar and tugged him into the apartment.

"Jesus, you shot me man!"

"Shut up," Declan said pushing him into the recliner. "You should know better than to come after a man with more mouth than muscle."

"Ah fuck you ma…"

Declan brought the butt of the Walther down across the right side of McLeish's face. "Be nice."

McLeish spit a mouth full of blood and at least one tooth onto the floor and sat whimpering, holding the wound on his leg tightly.

Keeping the pistol aimed at McLeish, Declan walked over to where Regan lay. "Can you get up?"

Regan nodded and gingerly stood from the floor with Declan's assistance. One of his eyes was nearly swollen shut from the beating Reid's goons had given him. Declan grimaced at the site, feeling bad for getting him involved.

"How many more are there?"

The gentle giant wiped his face with his sleeve. "Two more at the front door downstairs and two more in a car outside."

Declan slammed the door shut now that Regan was out of the way. "Is Reid with them?"

Regan nodded.

"Good. Then we'll just sit and wait for him. Get a shirt from the dresser in the bedroom there and tie his leg up. He's bleeding on my furniture."

Regan moved into the bedroom and just as Declan thought, they didn't have to wait long. A voice shouted from the landing between the second and third floors.

"Alright McIver! There's four of us and only one of you! The cops are on their way so you either leave now with us or this becomes a standoff that won't end very well for you!"

The voice belonged to Sean Reid and Declan knew it. "Aye, still got your man up here! I'd hate for anything further to happen to him," he called out.

"I don't care what happens to McLeish! Why do you think I sent him up first?"

Declan smiled and laughed. He'd known the answer to that threat before it even left his mouth. He winked at Regan who stood in the doorway of the bedroom with a shell shocked look. "I'm easily amused," he said. "Let's get outta here."

Responding to the question on Regan's face, he continued. "The fire escape, c'mon."

"But they're watching it. They'll shoot at us."

Declan shrugged. "Then we'll just have to shoot back." Having prepared for scenarios like this in both the IRA's training camps and with the Russian Spetsnaz, Declan was confident he could handle anything Reid could throw at him. The first mate of a smuggling ship and his three hired leg breakers might be enough to frighten most civilians, but they were badly outmatched with a man who'd been trained to take down entire governments from the bottom up.

"He's going ou…" McLeish tried to yell out but was stopped by the grip of the Walther as Declan blasted it across his face again.

"I told you to be nice. Now I'm going to have to shut you up for good."

"Ah Jesus man no," McLeish whined assuming he was about to die.

"Forget his leg. Put the shirt in his mouth and tie it around the back of his head."

Regan rolled the white t-shirt up and went to work. "Who's in charge now you little bastard?" Regan said to McLeish as he punched him in the eye with a meaty fist.

"Feel better?" Declan asked as he moved to the curtain and opened the window.

"Yeah, actually I do," Regan said.

After McLeish's gag was secured Declan said, "I'll go out first and cover you, when we get to the bottom there's an old fence at the end of the alley. Hidden behind some pallets there's a door that leads out to the other end of the alley."

"Okay," Regan said nervously rubbing his sweaty hands together.

With the Walther aimed towards the goons in the Cavalier, Declan ducked out of the window onto the rusted fire escape. Immediately the man in the driver's seat of the lookout car noticed him and reacted by opening the door and getting out. Staying low, Declan waited as Regan climbed through the window.

"Hey! Hey! He's on the fire escape!" the goon on the street yelled as he reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a revolver. Several pedestrians walking along the sidewalks on either side of East 5th Street darted into buildings or took off running in the opposite direction. Breaking into a short run the man stopped at the edge of the alley and aimed. Declan fired first with the Walther and the man's chest burst open at center mass, his body falling straight back onto the concrete sidewalk.

"Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn," Regan said as he moved down the aged fire escape faster than he'd probably moved at any time in the last twenty years. With the Walther aimed up the alley, Declan followed. From across the street the second goon in the lookout car bent over the vehicle's roof and aimed his own revolver. His first two shots pinged off the metal railings of the fire escape and Regan continued to swear as he switch backed down the staircase. Declan fired the Walther twice into the driver's side door of the vehicle causing the lookout to duck for cover and allowing Regan to reach the bottom of the fire escape. A metallic squeal filled the air as the last staircase descended from its dormant upright position under Regan's considerable weight. Rounding the last switchback, Declan heard the sound of his apartment's front door splintering in from a forceful kick. Taking the remaining steps three at a time, he turned and aimed his pistol upwards just as Sean Reid's pallid face appeared in the third floor window. Declan fired his fifth shot out of the Walther's six round magazine in Reid's direction, his expert aim assuring the bullet hit his intended target and didn't go through the roof of his apartment into someone else's. Wood from the weathered window sill exploded as the bullet impacted and Reid's face disappeared back into the apartment, taking cover.

"C'mon," Declan said as pushed Regan towards the picket fence that blocked the alley about three quarters of the way between 5th and 6th Streets. With his eyes darting between the apartment window and the man taking cover behind the lookout car his mind began to focus on exactly how they were going to get completely away from the area. In the distance, he could hear sirens approaching. Soon Reid and his goons would only be half the problem. Being confronted by a legion of police officers and hauled off to jail would be the other half.

Two gunshots jarred his mind back to the immediate situation as they slammed into the concrete wall a few inches from his shoulder. The lookout goon was up and firing again. With only one bullet left Declan knew he'd need it if Reid popped his mug out of the window again before they were clear of the alley, having the high ground meant that Reid had the best chance of taking them out. He reached out and pulled Regan down behind a dumpster that stood along the opposite wall and provided them cover from the lookout shooter, several more gunshots sailed over their heads. Declan kept his eyes fixed on the third floor window, so far Reid was a no show. Hopefully, he thought, the man was running down the steps and out of the apartment building in an effort to avoid the police himself. While O'Rourke's mob connections likely had more than a few people in the police department on their payroll, getting caught at the scene of a gunfight in the middle of South Boston wouldn't be an easy thing to explain away.

"What're we gonna do?" Regan asked still breathing heavily from the run down the fire escape. His face was covered in sweat and Declan was hoping he didn't have a heart attack.

"I've only got one round left so unless you've got a magazine full of bullets for a Walther PP stuffed in one of your pockets we're going to have to make a run for it."

"Oh damn."

"The door leading out of the alley is there," Declan said pointing to a pile of weather beaten pallets that were stacked against a high picket fence about twenty yards from them. "Behind those pallets is a door that leads to the 6th Street side of the alley. Once we're through that door the alley opens up and we can cut through a parking lot completely out of their line of fire."

The whole time he was talking Declan kept his eyes fixed on the window of his apartment. If he could be sure Reid was no longer in the apartment he was confident he could take down the lookout shooter with his last remaining shot and then they'd be free to run. But as long as Reid's position was unknown, the bullet needed to stay right where it was.

"Alright, on the count of three we're going to push this dumpster out into the alley and run for it. That should give us some cover from the shooter at the car. I'll bring up the rear keeping my sights on the apartment window, you with me?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Regan said wiping his bruised forehead free of sweat.

"Alright. One — two — three!"

Declan grabbed a hold of the dumpster and pushed. With Regan's help the heavy green box scraped across the rough pavement. Several gunshots sounded and Declan heard them clang against the metal. Another one passed over their heads and struck the wall causing dust and chunks of concrete block to pepper them. "Let's go!"

With Regan in the lead and running like a linebacker on a tying drive, Declan ran sideways, his eyes darting between the fence and his apartment window as they crossed the twenty yard distance in what seemed like a few seconds. Regan tore into the stack of pallets with a growl and they came crashing to the floor of the alley, exposing a rickety door. With the Walther aimed at the window Declan saw the barrel of a pistol protrude from the sill. Firing his last bullet, the side of the window frame exploded and the hand holding the pistol disappeared inside. Hearing the hinges squeal as Regan pulled the door open, Declan pushed him through to the other side of the alley and followed as three more gunshots sounded and pieces of the fence were torn loose by the impacting bullets.

"Alright we're through, this way!" Declan yelled as he took the lead and ran across a small parking lot located behind an apartment building. Running down the drive between two buildings, Declan stopped when he reached the sidewalk of East 6th Street. Regan was ten yards behind him trying to keep up. When he arrived on the sidewalk, he grabbed Declan's shoulder for support and bent over huffing.

"Don't get too comfortable. We're not out of this yet," Declan said placing the empty Walther into the waistband of his jeans. The sound of police sirens had grown louder and Declan looked back in the direction they'd come. Blue and red flashes began to light up the sides of the apartment buildings along East 5th Street. "Time to go."

Starting out in a jog, Declan moved across East 6th Street and entered a narrow alley that ran between two houses. Regan followed. "Where are we going?" he asked as they entered the backyard belonging to the house. Tall trees shaded the yard and hid them from view as they moved through on their way to East 7th Street. At the end of the yard a four foot chain link fence delineated one property from another and Declan placed his hands on it, hopping over easily and then turning to help Regan. Declan moved to another section of fence and jumped over as the sound of a dog barking in the house and lunging at the home's backdoor drew his attention.

"Hey! I told ya guys not to be cutting through my yard!" an older man yelled from the door of a broken down garage that sat beside the house. "Hey! You deaf?"

Declan ignored the man and helped Regan over the second fence.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you!" the man said picking up a baseball bat and coming towards them. Just as Regan cleared the fence the man swung the bat at him. Stepping between them, Declan caught the bat in mid swing and pulled the Walther from his waistband. "We need your car."

The man released his grip on the bat as he stared down the barrel of the Walther. "O — Okay."

The door to the silver Honda CR-V parked in the driveway was open and Declan backed towards it. With the keys already in the ignition he turned over the engine and waited for Regan to enter the passenger side. Once Regan was inside, Declan tossed the Walther towards the vehicle's owner. "It's empty. We'll leave your car at Andrews Station," he said as the weapon landed at the man's feet.