Keeping Lily (Disciples 1)

Sticking up from his crouch, Andrew fires three rapid shots. No doubt the thump I hear is the body of the guy shooting at us hitting the floor.

“Moving!” Andrew shouts over his shoulder as he advances.

I’m directly behind him, watching his angles.

I hear Simon bitch loudly from behind. “Fucking hell. They put a hole through my fucking coat.”

A man pops up from the back and I put a bullet through his throat before one from a man behind me makes his head explode.

“Snipers reporting from the back, we have them pinned down. Sending group D to bring heavy fire on them,” Simon yells to me.

Nodding my head, I yell, “Move forward!”

It’s a slow, steady march towards the back of the store. Sending groups up and to the sides to eliminate any surprises takes more time than I am comfortable with, but it’s unavoidable. Bodies are beginning to stack up from all the men they have sent to defend against us.

Once we reach the main door to the back, I look back to Simon. “How are we on a police presence?”

“Not on the radar, for the moment, but I don’t know if that can hold forever. We need to quiet this down quickly.”

Putting my gun to work as we make it through their small dock station, I watch as the men trying to escape through the back are gunned down immediately. A lone old man stands completely still, thrusting his hands in the air.

“Where is the girl?” I yell at him in Japanese. Raising my hand, I backhand him as hard as I can. Flying to the ground, he sputters as he points to a door off to the side. It has a small sign reading Basement on it.

Throughout all the gunfire my earpiece has been bursting with men yelling in Japanese as they tried to muster a defense against our onslaught. They only begin to panic as they figure out that they are now surrounded from above. From what I can hear, the men speaking in rapid fire sentences don’t have an exit.

Walking to the door, I kick it in as I yell, “Drop your weapons. All of you.”

Screaming out my name, I hear Lily, “Lucifer!”

There is a loud rattle of metal weapons hitting the bottom of the stairs, but from the earpiece I hear them say, “Drop a bunch, but as soon as they come down start shooting. We can try and get Lucifer.”

“Start coming up one by one. If I have to come get you, you die.”

“Fuck.” Men mutter in Japanese and English.

“No way guys, kill this fucker!” Marshal starts to plead with the men around him. He sounds like he is on the verge of tears.

“Shut the fuck up, pussy! This is all your fault!” Bart yells at him.

My smile is slowly growing wider. The stupid fucks aren’t even going to put up a fight with us when they come up. It’s my turn to play.

Each man slowly comes up the stairs. Quickly frisked, they are lined up.

Looking over to Simon, I say, “Pull all teams back except those watching out for the police. Any Yakuza wandering around the city are to be rounded up. Ten-thousand-dollar reward per one, but they must be proven Yakuza.”

Bart and Marshall are the last two left down in the room. Motioning Andrew to follow me, I stop the train of men on the stairs and head down. I hear Simon moving the guys once we are past to keep the prisoners in check.

Bart is against the wall in the basement, his hands down, hanging empty at his sides. Marshall is standing next to Lily with a gun to her temple.

“Hello, love,” I say looking into her eyes. She is so beautiful even now, beaten and bruised, her eyes shine to me.

“Shu…Shut the fuck …Up.” Marshall stutters. “I want… I want out of here or she… dies.”

Andrew looks from me to Marshall. “You want me to kill him, sir? Or do you?”

“I have him.”

“Good, I want Bart all to myself then.” He grins as he motions to Bart to turn around.

Looking at Marshall, I walk toward him and Lily. “Give me the pistol, Marshall.”

His hand is shaking as he tells me, “No!”

I take the last step before I strike out for him with the side of my pistol. Connecting with his temple, I watch as his body crumples to the ground.

Leaning down, I untie Lily’s ropes and pull her up to my chest. Her head rests on me as she sobs quietly.

I hear Andrew in the background using a zip tie. Turning us to face them, I watch Andrew pull Bart away from the wall then escort him up the stairs.

Andrew is a rare breed of man. His loyalty is absolute, as is his desire to seek vengeance on any who touch those he works for.