Page 33 of So Smitten

“Let me guess,” Roman said sarcastically, “Turk killed them all?”

Michael grinned again. “All of your doubts will be erased when Turk makes Ceasar bleed out just like his namesake.”

Roman glared at him and said, “Maybe you and me will go after the dogs go.”

If only I were so lucky, Michael thought.

“You’ll have to forgive Roman,” one of the other men said, “He’s still pissed that Franco got eaten alive by that pitbull.”

The three others laughed. Roman continued to glare at Michael.

“Hey, didn’t Vinny find that dog?” the woman asked.

Michael forced himself not to react.

“Yeah, he did. He was really proud of himself, too. That was the last dog he picked up for us, huh?"

“Yeah. That was Vinny.”

Well, well, Michael thought. So Roman lost a fight because of a dog Vincent Mariano found.

In his earpiece, Faith said, “Got it, Michael. That our guy?”

“Yeah?” Michael said, answering Faith’s question and framing it as a question for the benefit of the gangsters. “What happened to them?”

“Someone killed them,” one of the other men said, “bad. Hey, that wasn’t you, was it, Roman?”

Roman sneered, and in his earpiece, Michael heard Faith say, “Two minutes, Michael. When you hear us get inside, act like you’re running away with the gangsters. Then find us. We have your handgun and fifteen officers that Garvey assures me will be more than enough for thirty gangsters.”

Michael really hoped it didn’t come to shooting, but it was nice to know that if it did, he’d be able to participate. “All right, boys,” he said, “let’s talk business.”

***

Faith heard a yelp of pain and a cheer as she and Garvey burst into the warehouse. She had just enough time to see a surprised Rottweiler lift its head from the corpse of a pitbull before the officers on the other end of the warehouse started firing.

It was a perfect raid. Most of the outlaws scattered, never even thinking about their weapons.

But a few did, and as Faith’s luck would have it, they were on her side of the warehouse. She and Garvey dove behind some crates that served as makeshift bleachers and fired back at a half dozen gangsters who, like so many did, somehow felt that holding their guns sideways would make them more deadly.

Fortunately, all it did was make them less accurate, allowing Faith to subdue them without having to kill them. She and Garvey rushed forward and Garvey pointed her own handgun at the wounded gangsters and warned, “I’m Satan with a sunburn compared to her, and I can’t aim for crap, so if you decide to get stupid and fight me, I’ll just aim for the chest and keep firing until you stop moving, capisce?”

Faith left her and moved across the warehouse. A few other groups of criminals had found cover and were engaging with the officers. Faith’s path brought her to a group of four officers engaging with seven such criminals.

She looked around wildly for Michael and Turk as she took cover and returned fire. They were nowhere in sight.

“Come on, Michael,” she said, “For Heaven’s sake, hurry up.”

One of the gangsters lifted himself above his cover and aimed his weapon squarely at her. She fired once, the bullet impacting his shoulder and sending him spinning to the ground with a cry of anguish.

The other criminals dropped their weapons and lifted their hands. Faith left them in the care of the officers and moved on.

She saw Turk and Michael then, running vaguely in their direction while trying to make it look like they were running away. When they drew close, they veered directly toward Faith. One of the gangsters shouted and pointed, and Faith had enough time to see three men and a woman turn to Michael in shock. They glared, and Faith realized those were the organizers."

“Roman is the one who looks like a bodybuilder.”

Faith identified him and radioed Garvey. “Michael and I are going after the suspect. Have your officers cover us.”

She handed Michael his gun, and the two of them ran after Roman, who glared at them a moment before turning to run.

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