Read #2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love Page 51
Chapter Forty-two
Red Brick Street
5:59 P.M...
The next road over from Brownstone Street...
Red Brick Street was for the most part empty. A tall iron clock chimed six times as a stray brown cat scurried up a Transgenic Maple and scanned the road below. Something stalked it from the shadows, and it was something that didn't belong in the city. A breeze rustled the leaves of the maple and parted the veil of green that concealed the feline and within the safety of the tree, the cat turned its attention above. A large raven cawed from the dark sky like an omen of death, then the cat hissed at the black bird, and it hissed till a howl sounded across the neighborhood. The feline lay low on the branch, hiding from the foreign invader as the wolf walked across the vacant lot to the tree, looked to the cat, then to her brother in the feather. The raven floated on the wind and then soared with the drafts. The house behind the wolf burned as sirens blared in the distance, and she sniffed the air filled with the scent of smoke and petroleum as hunger rumbled her stomach. The wolf studied the feline, knowing this dinner had evaded her and stood still as the breeze brushed her thick fur. She would not be able to resist her hunger or her blood lust for much longer.
Across the street...
Nikolai and Natasha stood at the back of the Cadillac and stared inside the open trunk, and Natasha winked at the thing in the trunk.
"Tasha, the bodyguards and the Phoenix will be waiting for us." He spoke over the transmitter of the Winnow Mask as he lifted the Tommy to rest his elbow on his side.
"Yes, I know." She glanced at two of the small canisters she retrieved from the backseat. "These will make things more fair, that is, more fair for us, and do not forget the Phoenix has a friend. The woman who mocked us with the piece of candy must also be eliminated."
"I have not forgotten about her, and her death should be easy enough to write off in our report for Voice." He looked to his sister. "When the time comes, do you want to take care of her?"
"Yes, she is mine and the Phoenix is yours." She looked to the canisters. "Will these be enough to break their lines?"
"Those and the surprise I picked up from Wayfaring Lane should be enough, my sister." He reached into the trunk and grabbed the thing. "Time to go, my friend." Nikolai curled his lip and in his best impression of a gangster, said, "Time to bring this show to an end."
Down in the subway...
Johnson waited at one of the corners across the hall about fifty feet from the bottom of the second set of stairs. The lighted passage stood behind them along with the first platform and the subway track, and he glanced at Daniels who knelt beside him and took aim for the steps. Andrews waited at the other corner, watching the hall, and Andrew glanced at the grenades and spare magazines in his duffle bag.
"I hear someone coming," Johnson said. "Get ready!"
They tensed as seconds then minutes went by, and for a moment, they thought it was a false alarm till a sound grabbed their attention. A small object clanged down the second set of stairs like a tin can, and it landed at the bottom of the steps, rolled in their direction, and hissed opened, spraying white smoke. The fog-like substance thickened till it created a cloudy wall, and then a wave of bullets fired from the stairs. They ducked around the corners, taking cover, and after the metal barrage, they blindly shot into the smoke. They heard a muffled cry and someone fall to the concrete floor, and a large hand fell out of the smoke, holding a Glock 19.
"Did we get one of them?" Daniels asked.
"Looks like it," Andrews answered. "Be careful though, there's still a second Closer out there."
"Do not shoot," Natasha yelled as she came out of the smoke, holding her side.
"Raise your hands and kneel," Andrews shouted.
She lifted her hands and knelt as if in pain as blood covered her one hand and side. "Do not shoot," Natasha repeated and glanced at the man beside her. "My brother!" She bowed her head and sobbed. "You have killed my brother."
Andrews and Daniels cautiously moved toward them as the smoke slowly dissipated, and Johnson covered them from the corner. Natasha continued sobbing then she lifted her head and wailed then her cries turned to laughter. Andrews and Daniels stopped about six feet from her.
"Fools!" she yelled and dove to the floor.
The smoke dissipated enough that they could see a third figure had appeared at the top of the stairs.
Andrews looked to the man on the floor. He was dirty and wore worn clothes. "He's a vagrant," he said and yelled, "Johnson, it's a trap!" Andrews raised his gun, but it was too late.
Nikolai turned his Tommy on them and opened fire from the top of the stairs. His attack took down Andrews and Daniels.
Johnson opened fire as Natasha threw a second canister across the hall toward him, and the white smoke blocked his view. He pressed the button on his earpiece and yelled, "Andrews! Daniels! Are you all right?" There was no answer, so Johnson franticly repeated, "Andrews! Daniels! Are you all right?" There was still no answer.
They had been tricked. The hand that fell out of the smoke didn't belong to the Closer. They must have kidnapped a bum then forced him to hold the gun and walk down the steps, and they fell for it. Johnson grabbed his duffle bag and cursed, "Hathor!"
The poor guy was hidden by the veil of smoke, and they shot him. The female Closer must have smeared his blood on her hand and placed it to her side as if she had been shot, and now his men were dead. He ran for the platform and then in the direction of Melissa and the children; he had to reach them before the Closers did.