Slayers (Jake Hawkins Book 1) (21 page)

Sam paused.
“
I
’
m sorry I let you down, Jake.
”

The rest of the journey elapsed in silence. The van bounced and rocked over uneven ground. There was muffled chatter from the driver
’
s compartment on the other side of the partition.

They must have found the weapons
, Jake figured. It wasn
’
t as if they needed to look very hard. Sam hadn
’
t been anticipating a raid in the slightest, and as a result the suitcases full of guns had been strewn carelessly across the cabin.

The van came to a halt. The doors flung open, and light flooded in. Jake and Sam were withdrawn at gunpoint. The policemen were taking no chances. Across from them, Jake saw Crank and Felix step out of an identical van, and past them Thorn, Link and Zoe dropped down out of a third. They were separated individually, and two policemen were assigned to each person.

Jake was frogmarched through a courtyard into a rectangular granite building that had no remarkable characteristics about it. They took him through an empty reception area into whitewashed corridors. He was struck by deja vu, plagued by the same feeling as when he had been led through the corridors of the police station back in Melbourne. Now, though, he was in
much
more trouble. The atmosphere was different too. The precinct back home had been accompanied by an air of cleanliness, of authority. This place was dark and dank and gave off the scent of negligence.

The two officers thrust him into an interrogation room, alone, and the door was locked. There was no sound whatsoever from the other side.

He studied his surroundings. This room was completely different to the interrogation room in Melbourne. It was small, cramped. The flaking concrete walls looked damp. There was a rickety desk in the centre of the room, barely long enough to fit two people. One wall was taken up by a full-length mirror. Jake had seen enough television shows to know that it was most likely one way glass.

He sat at the desk and slumped forward. He had been caught red-handed in a foreign country with a plane full of weapons. There was no good outcome to this situation.

Jake bowed his head low and tried to control his anxiety. He tapped his heel against the floor like the shaking of a machine gun barrel and took deep, controlled breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

Calm down, Jake. Calm down.

There was a loud
click
as the door was unlocked from the other side. It swung open and the chief of police
–
Andreas
–
stepped into the room.

“
Hello,
”
he said.

Jake placed his head on his forearms and began to sob. Through sniffles, he watched Andreas cocking his head inquisitively.

“
What is wrong?
”
the man asked.

Jake managed to work up a few tears, simply by concentrating hard enough. They trickled down his cheeks, and one fell onto the table
’
s surface.

“
T-those men ... they took me ... wasn
’
t my idea ... please ... not my fault. Not my fault. Not my fault
…”

Jake took a quick glance at Andreas through watery eyes. The man looked genuinely concerned.

“
Calm down,
”
Andreas said.
“
We do not have the full story from anyone yet. We will start with you.
”

He sat down opposite Jake, on the other side of the desk. His coat had shifted and his tie was spilling out onto the surface. Jake watched him raise a single hand. He was staring at the mirror.

“
I have started recording this interview,
”
he said.
“
Now, what is your name?
”

“
Kale.
”

“
Do you have a last name, Kale?
”

“
Jennings. I
’
m Kale Jennings.
”
Jake sniffed.
“
Please, oh please, this wasn
’
t my idea.
”

“
How come you were on that plane, Kale?
”

“
They
…
they took me
…”

“
What do you mean?
”

Jake muttered something, then buried his face in his hands.

“
What was that?
”
Andreas said. He leaned forwards.

“
I said
…
I
’
m sorry for this, Andreas.
”

Jake burst up off his chair. He threw his handcuffed arms around the chief of police
’
s throat and with one hand wrenched his tie around behind his neck. Andreas didn
’
t even have time to react. The fabric dug into the man
’
s flesh and cut off his windpipe. Jake tugged Andreas to his feet and spun him around to face the security camera.

“
Open the door!
”
he roared into the camera.
“
Or I
’
ll break his neck!
”

There was nothing. No response. Silence.

Jake was prepared to wait a minute or two for a response. Andreas was struggling, but the pressure Jake was applying to the man
’
s throat was not lethal. Simply a threat.

“
What the
…”
The man swore.

“
Your friends had better be here soon to save you,
”
Jake said.
“
Because I really have to get out of here.
”

It took another minute. Jake slacked off his grip a little, enough to keep Andreas alive, but kept applying tight pressure.

All of a sudden, the door swung open. He found himself staring directly down the barrel of a pistol. A policeman was taking up the entire doorway. It was a stalemate. Jake was using Andreas as a human shield, and the policeman was shaking too much to even consider taking a shot.

Jake was the first to move. He ducked low behind Andreas and shoulder-charged into his back. At the same time, he released his grip on his tie. Andreas stumbled forward, completely off balance. He came hurtling so fast that the policeman didn
’
t have time to move. The two collided and fell into the side of the doorway.

Jake didn
’
t hesitate. He dived out after the two men. He came down on top of Andreas, grabbed two handfuls of his shirt, spun him around and threw him back into the interrogation room they had come from. Andreas crashed into the table. Jake lashed out with his right foot at the inside door handle. With a bone-jarring jolt, the handle broke free and clattered to the floor. Jake slammed the door shut, trapping Andreas inside.

The other policeman had taken a hard fall, whiplashing his head back against the concrete. He was scrabbling around on all fours, completely disoriented. Jake reached down and heaved him to his feet by the collar and snatched the pistol the man had dropped up off the ground. He pressed it into the side of the man
’
s temple. It was clearly loaded, for the man froze and turned white as a ghost. Jake set off with him down the corridor.

“
Where are my friends?
”
he asked as they walked.

The man didn
’
t speak English; he let out a feeble whimper. Jake felt a stab of guilt, but he ignored it. This man would live, but Wolfe might not. There were greater problems to worry about than hurting a policeman
’
s feelings.

“
Friends,
”
Jake repeated, gesticulating wildly.
“
Where?
”

The man seemed to realise. He could have just pretended not to understand, Jake thought, yet he must have wanted this whole ordeal over as quickly as possible. Having a gun pressed to his temple was not enjoyable.

Jake was led down to the end of the hallway. A left. Two rights. Down a flight of stairs.

They descended into the depths of the police station and the corridor opened out onto a row of holding cells. The cells held, in order: Zoe, Crank, Thorn, Felix, Sam and Link.

“
Kid!
”
Felix cried out.

There was a single guard keeping watch.

Jake decided to act psychotic. There was nothing worse than a madman with a gun. He screamed incoherencies and tapped the pistol against his hostage
’
s forehead. The guard, an elderly, dark-skinned man, became intimidated almost straight away. He went wide-eyed, unsure of what to do. With reassuring words from Jake
’
s hostage, the man lay down on the concrete floor and tossed a ring of keys out in front of him. Jake picked them up without releasing the policeman
’
s collar. He gestured for the policeman to unlock each cell.

There was a split second in time in which the man refused to move, rooted in place, but it only took one look at the pistol pointed at his face to give in to the demands. Jake quashed a sigh of relief. He had no intention of using the weapon.

The policeman moved past each cell, using a different key each time. The occupants stepped out into the hallway. One by one, each man clapped Jake on the back and muttered words of praise. He shrugged it off.

Zoe leapt from her cell and wrapped him in a tight embrace. He breathed her scent and smiled. Maybe everything was going to work out after all.

“
Our guns,
”
Felix said, taking control of the situation. He mimicked the firing of a machine gun.
“
Where are our guns? Do you know?
”

Silence.

“
You help us, we leave you alone and go into the rainforest,
”
Felix said.
“
You don
’
t help us, we stay here and cause all kinds of mess.
”

When Felix was making demands, he possessed an aura of persuasiveness that was hard to resist. The policeman nodded with vigour and motioned back up the way they had come. Felix led the way, with Jake at his heels.

“
Where is everyone?
”
Jake asked as they moved through the hallways.

“
The station must be short-staffed,
”
Crank said.
“
All the cops must be spread out through the city.
”

“
He says it
’
s through here,
”
Felix said. The eight of them bustled through a doorway and into the evidence room.

The room was large, filled with rows upon rows of metal shelves arranged in an organised grid. Jake counted at least twenty sets to the far wall, against which lay a row of trestle tables. Their weapons were piled high on the tabletop. He saw the seven Snowdogs, the collection of suppressed pistols, the grenades, the knives, and finally the six hiking packs full of jungle survival kit. Everything was there.

If their gear had been processed and filed away, it would have taken hours to locate. But it hadn
’
t been processed yet. Like Crank said, the station was short staffed.

Link let out a long exhale.
“
It
’
s our lucky day.
”

They were ready in less than two minutes. Jake slung a hiking pack over his shoulder and armed himself. The other men did the same. By the time they were done, everyone except Zoe and the hostage looked like a human weapon, complete with an assortment of killing tools. Zoe had been in possession of a single backpack full of belongings on the plane. It too had been confiscated, but now it was draped over her shoulder.

“
Now what?
”
Jake said.
“
We can
’
t get out of here without going through the foyer. They
’
ll raise the alarm and we
’
ll have the whole police force on us.
”

“
We just need to make it to the jungle,
”
Thorn said.
“
They
’
ll never find us in there.
”

“
Those vans that they brought us here in,
”
Zoe said.
“
Can we steal one of those and dump it?
”

Everyone turned to look at her. Felix gave a wry smile.
“
You don
’
t mess around.
”

Link said,
“
Best idea we
’
ve got so far.
”

“
Alright then,
”
Sam said.
“
Let
’
s do this, boys.
”

They left the evidence room, locking the cop who had helped them escape within. Felix patted him down before they left to make sure he was unable to raise the alarm. Not that they would need to be stealthy for much longer, anyway. They fled and ran through the maze of corridors. Jake led the pack, attempting to recall the route out as he moved.

The door to one of the offices up ahead opened and two police officers stepped out, each clutching a mug of steaming coffee. They looked up and saw seven people advancing towards them, all but one brandishing an array of weaponry. Jake saw their eyes widen in shock.

He too panicked, but he knew he had to keep his composure. Asserting dominance was key. Right now, they had the element of surprise. He puffed his chest out and strode forwards purposefully, at the same time pointing a finger to the floor.

“
Down,
”
he ordered.

The two men saw all four barrels of his Snowdog aimed their way, and got the message. They flattened themselves against the linoleum floor. Neither of them tried to reach for the handguns at their belts. They were outgunned and outnumbered. The group moved on.

Crank bent down to disarm the two men. Jake ran ahead, down to the end of the corridor, with the other men keeping close behind him in a tight pack. He turned the corner. There was a wooden door blocking their path. Through the adjacent glass, Jake saw it led into the foyer. A policewoman sat motionless at the desk, facing outwards. It was hard to tell from behind, but it almost seemed like she was sleeping. Other than her, the whole place was empty.

“
Ready?
”
he asked.

Zoe was hyperventilating. The tension was too much for her. She sucked in air with an animalistic fervour. Her eyes were wide, flicking across her surroundings.