The Hitman: Dirty Rotters (31 page)

“
I ain’t going in there
with that tiger.”

“
Fine. They can open the
door themselves. All we need to do is buy time for the women to get
closer to us.”

I looked away from Frank then. I had
more important things to see. I kept my focus on the two Russian
men approaching and hoped to God that I was right.

“
These guys have guns,”
Frank whispered. “I wonder if
they’re
winging it.”

I felt my face get hot. I forced my
mouth shut and kept watching the two men heading our way. Uzis were
slung around their shoulders. They approached the train casually
though. I could almost make out smiles on their ugly mugs, and it
seemed as if they were joking with each other. Maybe planning their
night of celebrations.

I never made those type of plans.
Something always went wrong. Better to keep it simple. Go with the
flow.

“
Send one of them back to
get the money, then send the other one in here to me.” Frank said,
then stepped back to the side, out of sight.

The conductor opened the door and I
stepped into view, my hood drawn over my head and shadow masked my
face. I already figured that most of the Russians that saw me
earlier were dead. I didn’t recognize these two. Still, I didn’t
take much of a chance when they came within ten feet, stepping from
the asphalt onto the gravel.

The shorter one smiled and spoke in
Russian. He said we were late and that they needed to hurry up and
load the cars onto the train. He told us to drive forward to lineup
the ramp with the flatbeds. The taller one asked where Vladimir
was, then the money. I spoke in Russian and told the two men which
boxcar had the money, and that Vladimir was behind me, pouring a
round of vodka.

They talked to one another for a
moment, then the taller one walked towards the back of the train
and the shorter one stepped forward. He was coming aboard. He
wanted to talk to Vladimir. Or maybe a shot of vodka.

I whispered to Frank, “Here he
comes.”

I stepped back out of the way. The
Russian made his way up and in and was dropped like a rock before
he noticed Frank’s fist flying out of the shadow.

“
Now you have a gun,” Frank
said. “That’s planning.”

I said nothing. I bent over and slid
the Uzi off the man’s shoulder. I turned to the conductor and said,
“Rope?”

The conductor shook his head then
produced a thick roll of duct tape. It would do. We taped up the
Russian’s hands and feet and covered his mouth. I knew how much it
was going to hurt peeling that tape off. It was going to be the
least of his problems though. Frank’s punch had broken his jaw
underneath his right cheek.

“
Where’s Sally?” Frank
said.

I looked out the door to the warehouse
lot. “Look for yourself.”

Frank turned from the shadow and
peeked out beside me. We both stood looking at the line of women
being escorted away from the smaller office building. I made out
Palo easily enough, as well as Sally. Three other women walked as
well, with Ivana bringing up the rear. They were all in new
clothes, short skirts and skimpy tops. They were all dolled up,
ready for sale.

They were escorted over to Andrik’s
side, then they stopped. All eyes on the train.

Then through the parking lot came six
luxurious vehicles. Shiny and expensive sport cars and large SUVs.
Maybe close to a million dollars’ worth. They lined up in front of
the ramp. The drivers exited and walked over to Andrik’s
side.

“
Now what,
Frank?”

Frank gave me a wink. “Now we wing
it.”

Frank walked to the door and exited
the train. I followed, one hand on the machete, the other pressing
the Uzi close to my side. Frank had his cannon out and ready. He
was huge and menacing. I kept at his side, watching the faces of
those standing before us.

“
I’ll take the fat guy. You
take the rest.” I said.

“
The other guys are cops,”
Frank groaned.

It was eerily quiet.

Then the screaming began, behind us in
a boxcar.

A vicious roar from the tiger
followed.

Then bursts from an Uzi.

I looked at Frank. He looked at
me.

Everyone ran.

Chapter 26

All hell broke loose.

The white tiger sprinted from the
train and into the lot with bloody paws and an arm dangling from
its mouth. It ran into the mess of Russians sprinting for cover and
tackled one to the cement, tearing into the guy’s unprotected back
with its razor sharp claws in a gruesome mauling. Guns fired
rapidly, everywhere. The women split up. I saw Ivana running Palo
back towards the office building. I saw another Russian leaving the
office, opening fire at the tiger. Sally and the other women were
taken by a Russian to the building on the left, the one with the
side room where Anna wanted to slice me.

Anna!

She wasn’t there. I had been too late
to save her.

Andrik jumped into his car and
screamed for his driver to get them out of there. The driver got in
the car and I heard the engine come to life. All around us, the
night was filled with gunfire and screams. And a ghostly-white
tiger, seemingly bulletproof, gave us one giant
distraction.

Frank fired a shot and dropped one of
the men taking Sally and the other women away while the tiger
ferociously tore through a few men like a wrecking ball. The tiger
had no mercy. It was almost biblical.

“
Sally!” Frank
screamed.

“
Get behind me!” I said to
Frank.

Bullets whizzed past our heads,
probably inches away from shattering bones and exploding lobes and
cortexes. Yellow blasts lit the foreground like fireflies. Frank
fell in line behind me, screaming in defiance. I stood walking,
flexing my wings around us in a protective shield. I wasn’t going
to die. Certainly not there.

Then, as if guided by the hand of God
himself, the tiger cleared a path and sent men
scrambling.

Frank raced after Sally. I let him go.
It was why he was there. I ran forward, heading after Palo, seeing
the roadblocks form ahead of me. People were going to
die.

Then the tiger was shot and went down.
A man stood over him, raising his arms in triumph like a safari
hunt photo. I grew real hot then. I opened fire and he went down. I
like tigers. That one especially.

Tires squealed and smoked from the
Rolls Andrik was in as it sought to back out. I opened fire on them
too. I sent a burst of rounds screaming from the Uzi into the black
Rolls-Royce, shattering the windshield and blowing up the tires.
The driver slumped down out of sight. I figured he caught rounds to
his chest. I didn’t check. I didn’t care. Smoke drifted skyward
from the engine. It wasn’t going anywhere.

Andrik stepped out of his Rolls aiming
a pistol at me. I stopped near the passenger side door, eight feet
away.

“
I should kill you now!”
Andrik yelled to me.

“
Do it, Nabisco!” I began
walking towards him. Every limb I had went numb. Adrenaline pumped
through me so fast and hard that I felt nothing. Nothing but
heat.

I saw his gun muzzle flash brightly.
Once. Twice. Three times. Bullets whizzed past my head. I saw his
pudgy face twist in lines of anguish each time he missed. He was
nervous. He needed more crackers.

I could feel my wings stretch out to
my sides for several feet. I felt huge. Indestructible.
Immortal.

I aimed my Uzi at him as he kept
firing. Andrik ran out of bullets. He yelled. I saw evil in his
eyes, a look that should have sent me shivering. But I sent one
right back. Checkmate.

My trigger finger went to work. I shot
his right hand before running out of bullets. I cleared his door
and stopped. Andrik was bent over screaming terribly, clutching his
bloody mess of a hand against his chest. Past his toad-like body, I
saw Anna in the backseat. Her face had small cuts on it, maybe from
fingernails. Her left eye had swollen shut and her face was
streaked with tears. Her hands were bound with rope. She wasn’t
dressed like the others. She wasn’t going to make the
trip.

“
Anna?”

Her head slowly turned to me. Her eyes
held a distant look. I wasn’t sure she saw me. “Anna? Come on out
of there.”

Anna had gone to someplace safe in her
mind. She was possibly drugged, maybe so she couldn’t fight back. I
kept repeating her name until I saw a look of recognition. I saw a
look of shame in her eyes that fizzled away to a look of hope. Her
lips parted slowly, but instead of talking, she just
cried.

I grabbed Andrik by the left ear and
threw him down to the pavement. I kicked him a few times in the gut
before Anna spoke. She was exiting the car, moving
gingerly.

“
Wait.”

She held out her hands. I used the
machete to cut the ropes about her wrists then I gave her the long
knife. She was good with knives.

“
Are you okay?” I
said.

Anna nodded. She looked fierce. “I
will handle it.”

She looked down at the squirming pig.
Andrik was scared. The look in Anna’s eyes would’ve scared any
man.

“
I am going to enjoy this,”
Anna whispered to Andrik.

“
I have to get Palo,” I
said quickly.

“
Thank you, Mr. Hitman.”
There was sincerity in her voice.

I left Anna with the machete. I
sprinted to the office building. I didn’t look back. I didn’t want
to see Anna’s handiwork. I was squeamish when it came to
blood.

The gunfire had ceased. Before
reaching the office door, I looked left and saw nothing of the
others. There were only dead Russians scattered around.

Go get her,
Frank.

I took the office door handle and
yanked it open, stepping into the office and hearing right away a
muffled scream from the basement. The garage entrance was at the
right side, end of the hall. I knew where the basement door was. I
ran to it. I had no weapon of any kind. All I had were my wings.
Which really meant all I had was faith that I was
protected.

I gained the basement door without
conflict and stepped through. I was met by a Russian in all black
aiming a Glock at me.

“
Dasvi-”

I kicked him in the head before he
could finish telling me goodbye. He dropped and tumbled down the
steps. I think his neck broke. He didn’t move and the way his body
was twisted around, I was sure he was dead. Regardless, his weapon
had dropped on the first step and I picked it up.

I reached the floor. The room was lit
up bright. It smelled strong of perfume.

Frank would have stopped to think
about what to do. I ran straight for the bedroom I figured they
were in.

As I moved past the kitchen
area, someone shot at me. It was a big blast, a shotgun of some
sort. I heard a round chamber quickly,
click
click
,
and then another shot exploded. A section of the couch blew up
beside me. Slugs. Buckshot or even birdshot and I would have been
dead.

I dove forward then rolled
up to the wall beside the eating area, just out of sight. I heard
another
click
click
then a huge blast, then a
section of the wall ahead of me disintegrated, showering me in
drywall powder and splintered wood.

Subtle noises followed. I crept close
to the corner, stuck my gun around it, then fired everywhere.
Everything went quiet then. I wasn’t sure I had hit him.

Then I heard a voice from the
kitchen.

“
Help me.”

It was a woman’s voice, soft and
filled with uncertainty.

I looked around the corner carefully.
I saw no one in the kitchen. The table had a few shotgun shells on
it. The woman’s voice called out from behind the island. I stood
still for a moment.

“
Please.” It called again.
It was dry and lacked urgency.

My gun aimed in the general direction.
I moved in closer. My heart was in my throat. Then I saw a figure
rise slowly up from behind the island. It was Ivana.

“
Please, help
me.”

Ivana could
talk?

She was hunching over with her hands
down and out of sight as if they were clutching a wound on her
thigh. I had shot her.

“
I thought you couldn’t
talk,” I said.

Her eyes flashed a look
that I would never forget. Aside from her not speaking, there was
much more about Ivana than anyone knew. I wondered how long her
charade had went on.
Who else did she
betray? What was the price?

“
He’s dead,” she
said.

Her head motioned to the floor beside
her. I stepped in closer, slow and easy. Ivana’s facial expression
never relaxed. I knew it wouldn’t. Not until she finished what she
started.