Fools of us All - Chapter 10

Seeing large men with guns pointed in my direction, I did what any man would do in that situation - I raised my hands above my head and peed my pants. Only a little, though.

I peeked over at Caz and saw that she was playing the whole situation totally cool. Lowering my hands, I tried to adopt a similarly cool poise, my arms crossed. I wished I was larger so I could at least try to look intimidating, but that really wasn't an option. I mean, sure, I'm tall, but there wasn't much of me to look at besides that. I played some sports, and was rather well co-ordinated, but I was nothing like the two hulking behemoths standing before me. One was easily six inches above six feet, and the other was only an inch or two shorter. They had muscles just bulging out from underneath their t-shirts, and they held themselves like they knew how to use them. Not that they needed muscles with the size of the guns they were holding. They had to be the largest handguns I have ever seen.

"Well well well," rumbled the taller of the two. "It looks like we've found the strumpet we were sent to retrieve." He had a slight British flavour to his voice.

"And it looks like she's found a boyfriend." The shorter one's voice sounded like it was a powerful engine, idling underneath the hood.

Silence descended on the group. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, so I said the first thing that popped into my head. "Who in tarnation are you guys, and do you work out regularly?"

This seemed to startle them a little. Caz still hadn't said anything, hadn't moved in fact. She just continued to stare at them, betraying no emotion.

The taller one looked at his partner. "Hey Ike, the little bugger seems to think that he is entitled to some answers." He faced me again. "You aren't entitled to a thing little man. Now shut your trap before we shut it for you. Permanently." He turned and faced Caz again, obviously ignoring me. "Now missy, are you going to come with us quietly, or do we have to do what we love doing best?"

This finally provoked a reaction in Caz. She smiled. "I bet you wouldn't be nearly as confident without those silly handguns to hide behind." Casually she leaned against the window ledge, appearing relaxed.

Ike raised his eyebrows slightly. "Tank, it would seem that she doesn't want to cooperate after all."

"Ah, but she is right," Tank holstered his gun. "We don't really need them for her. Besides, I prefer the hands on approach."

Ike shrugged and put his gun away as well. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and approached Caz. "Now come along lady. We're not supposed to hurt you, but accidents do happen."

This is where I learned just how quick Caz was. Before I even realised what she was doing her hand whipped out and something flew across the room, smashing into Ike's forehead. He went down in a tangled heap, moaning softly.

Tank's gun was quickly in his hand and he squeezed off two shots, both missing by a hair. I dove to the side, taking cover behind a desk. I looked out from behind my cover and watched as Caz darted in close before another shot could be fired. She hit him with a flurry of punches and kicks that seemed to stagger him, but it wasn't enough to knock him down.

With surprising speed he reached down and caught a hold of her hair, lifting her straight up. Calmly he placed the gun right against her forehead. "You're going to pay for that. Oh I won't kill you. But I will watch you bleed for a while." He moved the gun down, sliding across her chest and pausing briefly on her stomach. "Now, this is going to hurt," he said with a savage grin on his face.

With a small sigh I leapt from where I had silently crawled. I knew that I could never take him in a fair fight, but I figured I would be able to do something if I got him by surprise.

I tackled low, hitting him right on the side of the knee. I could hear something snap and then all sound was drowned out by the scream of anguish coming from the large man. He collapsed in a heap around me, his gun falling to the ground. I untangled myself from him, feeling a little impressed by the success of my manoeuvre.

Caz rose from where she had fallen and knelt in front of Tank who was now whimpering softly to himself. She carefully picked up the gun, holding it with distaste. "Who hired you?" Obviously, for all the disgust she seemed to hold for the weapon, she was also trained in how to use it, and more than willing to prove it.

Tank could sense it as well. "I, I don't know. It was a phone call, money deposit in our account, never met the guy." He spoke between gasps of pain.

Satisfied, Caz rose to her feet. "Tell him I won't be found again. Not that easy." With that she delivered a hard kick to his jaw, silencing him into a peaceful slumber.

Pausing only briefly to retrieve the mysterious globe that she had used to disable Ike, she went to the window. "Are you coming or not," she said before jumping to the ground below. I looked around and realised that I didn't want to be here when anyone showed up, so I followed. This had been a heck of a day so far.