Burn Bag - a Shadowboxer Thriller

Chapter Two

The guy set off alarms in his head.

One of those greasy looking weasel types, up to all sorts of nefarious undertakings.

Brill walked past him as the man leaned against the rough edge of a brick corner of a building.

He was being too obvious about watching it, staring at the door to the four story walk up in the middle of the block.

The windows were dark, empty, and the building looked abandoned.

Brill almost dismissed it as just a homeless guy looking for a place to squat.

There were thousands of them in the city, always on the hunt for a safe space to hole up for the night or weeks at a time.

Until some landlord or cop made the effort to move them along and they were on the hunt again.

Except this guy had nice shoes.

His clothes didn’t seem slept in, or sheathed in a layer of grime that multi-days of use seemed to create.

He was fresh shaven, and his black hair looked washed.

The man on the corner also had a gun on his back, fit for a right handed draw and an air of general menace.

Maybe he was low level gang or mafia, Brill thought.

He was watching the door to the abandoned building.

Brill glanced up and saw a shadow move in the window.

Maybe not so abandoned after all.

Maybe the guy was waiting for someone to come out, just a couple of common robbers stealing what they could from inside.

There was another guy on the far corner across the street, outside of a gray plain mini-van.

He was talking to the driver through the open passenger window, but Brill noticed his eyes kept darting toward the door.

The same door on the same building the other guy was watching.

Working in tandem, he thought.

He kneeled down to tie his shoe, and glanced over his shoulder.

All three were locked on the door, waiting.

Brill stood as it opened and an auburn haired woman stepped out. She glanced up and down the street, but didn’t seem to notice the three men or Brill on the sidewalk.

She was preoccupied with the bag in her hand, a canvas satchel with a lock on the zipper and short straps.

“Burn bag,” he thought as she took the steps two at a time and hustled up the street in the direction of the van.

The guy on the corner fell in step behind her, moving up fast.

The other guy at the passenger window smiled at the driver and pushed away from the door, turned as if he was going to leave.

He grabbed the panel door handle and slid it open as he turned, one simple, smooth movement.

The guy behind her began running.

She turned at the sound of footsteps, hand going to the small of her back as he reached her.

He plowed a shoulder into her side, sent her sprawling.

Her small .380 slithered across the concrete sidewalk and clunked into the gutter.

The man yanked the canvas bag from her shoulder, spun away and sprinted toward the van.

Brill stepped into his path.

Basically, it was the same  move he gave the woman, just a shoulder nudge.

But forward momentum and the angle sent plowed the runner into a parked car and bounced him off his feet.

He skidded along the sidewalk and Brill planted a toe kick to his chin.

The man’s head snapped back and cracked his skull against the concrete.

The canvas bag spun away, further up the street.

The man at the van danced forward, yanked it up and threw it into the open door.

He turned back toward Brill, and drew a small pistol from a shoulder holster.

“Wrong time, wrong place,” he sneered.

Brill couldn’t place the accent.

Then he didn’t have to as a bullet hole opened up in the man’s head.

He plopped over backwards.

The van squealed away from the curb and raced down the street with the door open.

Emma hopped up from her knees in the gutter and sent four shots into the back of the van as it raced away.

She spun around and aimed at Brill.

He held up both hands, as wild eyes flicked from him to the man on the ground and back again.

“Not moving,” he answered as she opened her mouth to tell him not to do it.

“They got the bag,” she kept going, almost to herself.

“You’re on a clock,” Brill said, keeping his voice low and calm.

“Are you with them?” the gun wavered between the man on the ground and Brill.

Sirens sounded faint in the distance, growing louder.

“If you stay here, we’re caught up with a lot of questions,” Brill explained. “I’ll go with you and you can ask all you want. Somewhere else.”

He did not want to be there when the authorities arrived.

He had a good ID, but he didn’t want to burn it by showing up on radar. He almost considered just walking away.

Brill was pretty sure she wouldn’t shoot him in the back.

He hoped.

But she looked scared.

There was blood on her chin where it barked against the concrete, and her hand had a slight shake to it.

He wondered if this was the first man she had to kill.

The sirens growled in a distinctive whoop whoop, the echoes made it difficult to determine just how close they were.

“Go,” she said as she looked around.

Brill stepped toward the guy he knocked down.

He bent and scooped out his weapon, and sent a bullet into the base of his skull, then kept walking.

He held the pistol out on an extended finger for the woman to grab it when she caught up.

“You killed him,” she said as she stepped next to him and took the proffered pistol.

“Just following your lead,” he said.

They rounded the corner and kept moving.

JAKE BURBANK -MYSTERY THRILLER SERIES

A PINT OF PROBLEMS

A FIFTH OF TROUBLE

A SHOT OF REVENGE

A DOUBLE SHOT OF REVENGE

TWO FINGERS OF JUSTICE

KNOCK OFF REMBRANDT

BOTCHED

THE JACK HOUSE SERIES

LOST WAGES

HOUSE RULES

ALL IN

SHADOWBOXER SERIES

ASSET – a Brill Winger Thriller

OPERATIVE – a Brill Winger Thriller

SIDEWAYS – a Brill Winger Thriller

CHOKEPOINT – a Brill Winger Thriller

DECREED - a Brill Winger Thriller

IN THE DARK – a Brill Winger Thriller

TRUE NATURE

NOMINEE

ELECT

DEEP STATE

DISAVOWED

CREDIBLE THREAT

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