Page 87 of Shadows Reel

Axel lifted his radioto contact Randy again when he heard a grunt from behind him and scuffling shoes on the alley pavement. The Blade heard it, too. Someone was approaching them from the gloom, from deep within Gum Wall alley.

Axel clipped the handheld to his belt and drew a flashlight from his blazer pocket and turned it on. He choked down the beam and shined it behind them.

Two disheveled men were shuffling toward him and both stopped and held up grimy bare hands against the bright light. They were homeless men, obviously, and Axel caught a glimpse of several makeshift tents farther down the alley.

The vagrants were Black men, both in their fifties or sixties. They wore several layers of clothes, which made them appear bigger than they actually were. One had an impressive snow-white beard and the other was so dark-skinned Axel could barely make out his facial features.

The bearded man growled, “This is our alley, motherfucker. You need to getgone.”

Axel and the Blade exchanged glances. Axel tried not to shift his eyes toward the covered cache of weapons against the alley wall, so as not to direct their attention to it. The bearded man took another step toward them.

Then, where Randy was supposed to be stationed at themouth of the alley, came a shout: “Seattle PD. What’s going on back there?”

Axel felt himself get lit up by the cop’s powerful flashlight. He couldn’t yet see the cop because of the bright light, but he could hear static coming from the man’s radio. Axel’s eyes adjusted and he could make out the form of the policeman coming straight down the middle of the alley. The man had his hand on the grip of his sidearm.

Axel had been the leader of his unit because he could adjust on the fly to changing situations on the ground. His men valued him for the ability and trusted his leadership. Axel Soledad didn’t panic. Instead, he adapted to the situation.

And this was a situation, he thought. But it was also an opportunity, given the players. Planets suddenly aligned.

If the homeless men were protesters on the street, it would be better. But this would do.

With one smooth motion, Axel raised his Glock and fired at the cop. He fired off three rounds low to hit the man in the front of his thighs and then he swung the gun up and put three more in his face and neck. Axel avoided firing center mass since it was likely the cop was wearing an armored vest.

The cop went down hard as the concussion from the shots echoed throughout the alley.

To the Blade, Axel said, “Bring me his gun.”

For a second, the Blade was stunned by what he’d witnessed. Then, as he had in the field, he obeyed.

Axel swung around and bathed the two homeless men in the light of his flashlight. “You two—freeze where you are.”

The men were frightened and confused. The bearded one hopped almost comically from foot to foot.

“We don’t mean no trouble, man,” the other one said. “Tell me you didn’t just pop a cop.”

The Blade appeared with the downed policeman’s service weapon. Another .40 Glock 22 with fifteen rounds in the magazine.

Axel executed the two men with three shots each from the cop’s gun, then handed the weapon back to the Blade.

“Wipe it down and put it in the cop’s hand.”

The Blade hesitated a moment, then a crooked grin formed on his mouth. “Oh, I get it,” he said.

Axel tossed his own weapon toward the bodies of the two men. It clattered on the pavement and slid into the bearded victim, where he lay in a heap.

When the Blade reappeared, Axel said, “Let’s load up the cache and get the hell out of here.” Then: “Where in the hell did that weasel Randy go? I’ll kill him if I find him for deserting his post.”

Axel threw open the back of his van and the birds inside erupted. He didn’t care. He and the Blade started stacking the middle aisle with guns.

—

Randy passedthe Asian bodega and glanced inside. The man was still behind the counter, but Randy didn’t want to ask to use his phone.

No doubt the man had heard gunfire seconds before. No doubt gunfire at night wasn’t all that unusual.

On the street, a large white van hissed by. Water sprayed out from beneath its tires and Randy sidestepped to avoid getting splashed. He looked up in anger and recognized the van from the trail cam photos he’d seen earlier. He could see two figures inside through the rain-smeared windshield. One Black, one white.

Painted on the side of the van was:

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