Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Any guesses on the number of shooters?” Charlie inquired.
“Well, it sounded like just one, but it escalated to at least four shooters damn fast. How do you want to handle it?”
“The calls have started coming in to the police,” Kairo confirmed.
“They’re going to have trouble getting close,” West countered in his usual calm, cold tone. “We’ve got people still running out of the restaurant and stopping traffic in every direction. I’m not seeing any blood yet, so this might not be an indiscriminate shooter.”
“Kairo, keep tabs on the cops. We need to know when they’re within a couple of blocks of West’s location. Ed, you’re on the move. I need you ready to support West—” Charlie barked out orders over the clatter of keystrokes.
“I’ve got eyes on the shooters,” West interrupted. “Two have emerged from the building and are on foot. Three bodyguards have also hit the street and opened fire. Should I provide cover? Intercept? Shit! One is down.”
“Cover and intercept,” Charlie shouted before the other could be lost.
“On it.”
Charlie raced to grab his phone and keys from where he’d left them on the coffee table in the living room. He didn’t know who these people were or what kind of beef they might have with Benicio Perez, but they might be able to provide some valuable information. If not, they could always hand them over to the local authorities when they were done with their interrogation. They had no interest in getting involved in a turf war or drug war or whatever the fuck Perez was into. They needed to make sure Little Shit and his family didn’t have anything to do with Thiago Vergara.
He jumped into one of the two rental cars they’d reserved and sped across town. He might have memorized the route to the restaurant after spotting the possible Will thanks to driving it at least three times a day for the last two days, as if he might spot the man again. No such luck. But it did mean that he didn’t need some navigation app giving orders. His attention was on the updates he was regularly receiving from West and Kairo. Ed was currently bitching about being stuck in traffic.
Being in La Boca gave Charlie an advantage over Ed since San Telmo was slightly north of him while Recoleta was significantly north of West’s location. Their clever sniper managed to fend off Perez’s bodyguards without giving away his hiding spot and give the surviving troublemaker some breathing room to escape.
“New problem,” West announced to the group.
Charlie swallowed a curse. Of course there was another problem. “What’s up?”
“My new friend took a bullet to the abdomen. Doesn’t look good. We need a doctor.”
Charlie sighed heavily. The four of them could patch up most of the basic wounds and set bones on the fly, but digging bullets out of organs was tricky business. Their chance to get information was shrinking by the second. “Hospital then.”
“He says he’s got someone who can handle it. No hospital. He’ll give directions, but I don’t think he can handle being on the back of the bike with me.”
“We didn’t rent a motorcycle, West,” Charlie bit out as evenly as he could manage.
“I borrowed it.”
“I’ve got your location. I can give Charlie turn-by-turn directions to you. He’s only six blocks away,” Kairo interjected before Charlie could snap and demand the obvious question of why he didn’t “borrow” a car instead. They needed to get this job done quickly. The first signs of boredom among his crew always manifested as restlessness and petty crimes because they had the skills to get away with them.
Charlie followed Kairo’s direction to West’s location while also getting updates on the approach of the cops to the area. Kairo might have also been playing with the traffic lights on the way, creating a few more traffic jams to slow up the police while opening up avenues to Charlie.
After five minutes, he drove behind a strip mall where most of the shops were already closed for the night. He flashed his lights twice, and West stepped out from where he was hiding behind a dumpster. They stopped for a moment to toss a too-pale, bleeding man into the back seat, then raced off.
“Who are you? Why are you helping me?” the stranger demanded.
“We’re helping you because Benicio Perez is currently on our shit list,” Charlie replied, flashing his most winning smile in the rearview mirror. “Considering the little shootout you had in his restaurant, we’re guessing he’s on yours, too. We help you stay alive and you help us by giving over some information we need.”
The man’s dark eyes darted from him to West before he gave a jerky nod. “Okay, but doctor. I need to get to the doctor first.”
“Not a hospital? Most docs can’t dig out a bullet,” West grumbled.