Revenge (10 page)

On a busted workbench, he emptied the bag and took an inventory.
 
There was two more clips in addition to the mostly empty one in the gun.
 
There were five more firecrackers sitting next to the gun.
 
Pitiful armory to take on killers, but he didn’t have much choice.
 
When he was still in the MC, they had a room full of shotguns, pistols, and even a few fully automatic weapons.
 

Mercer checked his watch.
 
It was just shy of five o’clock.
 
He made a map of the town of his head, thinking about strategic locations.
 
He recalled the little grocery store on Market Street.
 
In high school, they would climb on top of the dumpster and get on the roof of the one story building to drink and smoke pot.
 

He packed the firecrackers in his saddlebags and shoved the gun into his jacket pocket.
 
He didn’t like carrying it that way, not because he was afraid it might go off, but because if he got searched by the cops, he’d be right back in police custody.
 
It was a risk he’d have to take.

Ten minutes later, he was behind the grocery store.
 
He’d made it without incident.
 
He didn’t see any of the MC thugs and only one cop car, which he avoided by heading down an alley.

The grocery store was long deserted.
 
Run out of business a long time ago by the big chain store on the other side of town.
 
The mom and pop places just couldn’t keep up.
 
The dumpster was gone, but there were still some wooden crates out back.
 
Mercer stacked them up and hoisted himself onto the roof.
 
He watched several cars go by, then heard the sound of motorcycle engines.
 
Two of them were riding down the street, scanning the area in search of Mercer.
 
He recognized these two as Bingo and Charlie.

He had hoped to handle them one at a time, but he quickly changed up his plan.
 
He placed two of the mortars on the edge of the roof and lit the fuse on each.
 
He aimed them at the men and they shot off.
 
One hit Bingo in the chest, blowing up in his face just like Glass, but Charlie managed to swerve and get out of the way in time.
 

Charlie stopped and got off his bike to check his friend.
 
“Shit, Bingo.
 
Get up.”

He tried to help the man up and Mercer jumped from the top of the building.
 
He wanted to land on the man and cripple him, but they were too far out.
 
Mercer hit the ground hard and stumbled.
 
He rolled on the pavement and got up quickly, but Charlie was on him.
 
Charlie grabbed him and threw him into the side of the building.
 
With lightning fast reflexes, he delivered two punches to the gut and one to the jaw.

Mercer was briefly dazed.
 
The hits were coming too quickly for him to retaliate.
 
As Charlie pulled back to hit him again, Mercer wrapped his arms around the big man and pulled him to the side.
 
They struggled against each other, slamming into the large plate glass window, falling through and shattering it.
 

Mercer picked himself up, but Charlie was having trouble.
 
Mercer’s leather jacket had protected him from most of the glass, but Charlie was wearing his MC cut, which was just a leather vest that left his arms exposed.
 
There was a large piece of glass hanging out of the crook of his arm.
 
Charlie pulled the glass out and threw it down, but his arm was bleeding badly.
 
He charged Mercer, but Mercer had enough time for him to grab his gun and put three shots into the big man.
 

Charlie dropped to the floor.
 
Mercer came up to him and grabbed his hair, lifting his big head up.

“Where’s Tank?”

“Fuck you, asshole,” Charlie wheezed.
 
It sounded like he couldn’t get enough air.
 
Mercer figured he had gotten him in the lungs.

Mercer dropped his head and put another bullet into the back of his skull.
 
Then an old cash register exploded behind him.
 
Mercer looked out the broken window and saw Bingo back on his feet, gun in hand.
 
Mercer ducked behind some shelves.
 
He heard Bingo crunch shards of glass as he stepped in.

“You little prick.
 
You killed two of us and fucking half blinded me with that bullshit.
 
Can’t get my ears to stop ringing.”

Mercer used the man’s handicap to his advantage and moved down the floor.
 
He didn’t risk poking his head around the corner, but saw the shadow move across the floor.

“You can keep hiding, but I’m gonna find you and rip you apart with my bare hands.
 
I swear the cops are going to find you all over this fucking piece of shit town.”
 

Mercer slid back against the far wall.
 
Listening to Bingo’s voice and seeing the shadow on the floor, he had a pretty good idea of where the man was standing, even though he couldn’t see him through the shelves.
 
Mercer braced himself and fired until the clip was empty.
 
He watched the shadow fall and came around the corner.

He had hit Bingo twice in the legs, but he was still alive with a gun in his hand.
 
He fired at Mercer repeatedly.
 
One bullet went through his jacket and another shattered a light above his head.
 
Glass rained down on him, cutting his face and head.
 
He ducked behind the shelves again and pushed the whole thing down, trapping Bingo beneath.

Bingo’s body was trapped underneath the collapsed shelving, but his head and arm were still showing.
 
Mercer kicked the gun out of the man’s hand.

“You’re an asshole, Mercer.
 
Fucking asshole.”

Mercer kicked the man in the side of the head and he let out a howl.
 
“You come chasing me across the goddamn country to kill me, and
I’m
the asshole?”

Bingo spit blood.
 
“That’s right, you’re the asshole.
 
You don’t like what the MC is doing so you steal our fucking money and take off.
 
Fucking piece of shit is what you are.”

Mercer kicked him again.
 
“Tank makes a mockery of our MC, sells poison to children, and endangers our way of life, and
I’m
the asshole.”
 
When Mercer kicked him again, blood and teeth flew from Bingo’s mouth.
 
“Fuck you.
 
You don’t know what it’s like to be part of something bigger than yourself.
 
You only know greed and misery.”

A phone started ringing in the room.
 
Mercer searched out the sound and found a cell phone in Charlie’s pocket.
 
The caller ID showed it was Tank.

“Hi, Tank.”

There was silence over the line for what seemed like hours.
 
Then Tank’s deep voice rumbled, “Mercer.
 
How you doing?”

“I’m a little banged up, but I’m doing much better than your boys.”

“I have to admit I’m impressed.
 
I brought my best with me and you’re still standing.”

“I am.
 
Hang on one minute.”
 
He slid the clip out of the gun and put in a full one.
 
He pointed the gun to Bingo and fired.
 
He put the phone back to his ear. “That sound was Bingo leaving this world.
 
I’ll say this once, Tank.
 
Leave town now and never let me see you again, and this’ll end here.”

“That’s not going to work for me.
 
Not only do you have my money, but you’re still alive.
 
How’s that going to look to everyone if I let you live?
 
It’ll be sending a message that it’s OK to take my money.”

“Then feel free to tell everyone you killed me.
 
I really don’t care, but I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“If that’s the way you want to play it, fine, but I’m gonna stay in town and have some fun with your girl here.
 
Danni is a strange name for a girl, don’t you think?
 
I guess she’s pretty enough to make up for having a boy’s name.”

Mercer’s heart was beating out of his chest.
 
“Bullshit.
 
You don’t have her.”

Then there was a rustling as Tank put the phone to her mouth.
 
He heard Danni cry, “Mercer.
 
Please.”

“Let her go, now!” he screamed into the phone.

“That depends on you.
 
We’re sitting at her place having a nice talk, but it’s not going to stay nice for very long.
 
You got ten minutes to get here before things turn ugly, Mercer.”

“I
gave him 10 minutes.
 
If he loves you, he’ll be here in five,” Tank said, prowling Danni’s apartment.
 
“Of course, if he doesn’t love you, maybe he won’t show up at all, but I’m betting he’ll be here soon.”

Danni sat upright in her chair.
 
She wasn’t tied down, but she still felt like she couldn’t move.
 
Tank was the biggest man she had ever seen.
 
He was over seven feet tall and seemed to have muscles atop muscles.
 
There was something else about him that scared her.
 
It wasn’t just his size.
 
There was something about him, something that told her he was the monster that had been hiding under her bed when she was a child.
 

He sat in the chair across from her, but even sitting, he towered over her.
 
“You scared, honey?
 
I figure you’re scared.
 
I scare all the ladies until I do my thing.
 
Then they love me.
 
You want a chance to love me?”

“Don’t fucking touch me,” she spat.

He laughed.
 
“You got balls, lady.
 
I can see why he likes you.
 
Mercer always liked his ladies spunky.
 
I like my ladies spunky too.”

Danni’s skin crawled.
 
He really was a monster.
 
She had done exactly what Mercer told her to do.
 
She took her truck back to her place and locked the door behind her.
 
A little later she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and without a knock or any warning, the door came crashing in and the monster was standing in the doorway.
 
He was straight out of her nightmares.
 
He even knew her name.
 
He said hello to her, told her to have a seat, and then made his phone call.

She looked at the clock.
 
It had only been a few minutes since she cried out for Mercer over the phone.
 
She regretted doing it now.
 
She should have shouted for him to run, that nothing could save her and he should save himself, but the fear had taken her and she wanted the man she loved to help her.

“Six minutes,” said Tank.
 
“I guess he doesn’t love you as much as I thought.”
 
Tank got up from the chair and peeked out the door.
 
“Wonder what’s keeping him.”

Tank moved back towards her.
 
The window exploded as Mercer came crashing through, landing on Tank.
 
They both fell to the ground.
 
Mercer was on top of Tank and got in two solid punches to the jaw before Tank lifted a giant arm and hit Mercer in the head.
 
Mercer saw stars and his head went fuzzy.
 
Tank pushed him off, then easily lifted him into the air.
 
He threw Mercer against the wall, shattering several pictures as he bounced off and fell to the floor.
 

Tank lifted him by the jacket.
 
“Mercer.
 
Don’t go out on me yet.
 
We got some things to talk about.”

Mercer’s eyes were out of focus.
 
Tank slapped him in the face, bringing him around.

“Where’s my money, Mercer?”
 
Tank slapped him again.
 
“Come on boy, I don’t have all day.
 
Where the fuck is my money?”

“Gone.
 
Spent.
 
Lost it at a casino.”