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Able ran into the suite: “Gotta go, gotta go... They’re yelling at us, we’re loaded, everybody’s lined up behind Sovern, we gotta go...”
Cartwright nodded at Shofly: “What about her?”
“She’s gonna call Boyadjian, she’s heard us...”
Letty lifted her cane, as though to hit Shofly in the face again, and when Shofly lifted an arm to fend her off, Letty hit her forearm, hard, breaking it, and Shofly screamed and Letty bent over her and said, “It’s broken. Get the hotel to call the hospital for you.”
Able, shocked: “Jesus, that was cold.”
“Taking her out of it... or as you guys would say, taking her offline,” Letty said.
Baxter: “Forget her, she’s down. We gotta move, let’s move...”
He followed Able out into the hallway as they heard the elevator ding again, and a moment later Patty Bunker, in the next suite, shouted through the connecting door, “They’re here. Two of them, they’ve got Minis, they’ve got suppressed Minis...”
Kaiser shouted, “Everybody stay put” as Letty yelled, “Baxter and Able are out there.”
Kaiser yanked the charging handle on the M4, let it snap back, lifted the barrel to neck height, popped into the hallway and instantly fired a burst down the hall. Then he popped back and said, “They’re down, hope to God they weren’t cops.”
Cartwright pushed past him into the hall, followed by Letty.Able and Baxter were twenty feet down the hall toward the stairwell, frozen in place, backs to the walls.
Cartwright and Letty trotted down to the bodies. The two men wore body armor and had been carrying Mini Uzis; Kaiser had shot them at the neckline, above the heavy armored plates that protected the midsection, shredding the softer armor above the plates and also hitting their unprotected throats.
At that moment, Longstreet called on her radio: “I’m in the garage, there’s a car pulled up to the side exit where the stairs come down, a black Buick, I think it could be a getaway car...”
Letty took the radio from Bunker and called back, “Got it. Stay out of sight.”
Cartwright picked up one of the unfired Uzis and handed it to Letty, took one for herself, stripped an armload of magazines from the two bodies and looked up at Letty, who said, “If that’s their guy in the car, he could follow us. Let’s see if we can slow it down.”
“Gotta be quick, the cops will be coming fast.”
They both hurried toward the stairwell, Letty shouting to Kaiser as they went, “Cover the rest of our people...”
Able and Baxter followed them, Kaiser came last, walking backward, covering the hall with his M4, Bunker at his back. Letty and Cartwright left them behind as they ran down the stairs, and around, one fast flight after another, to the bottom.
Halfway down, Cartwright said, “That Kaiser is a treasure.”
“Yeah. Don’t tell him that, though. He gets a big head.”
At the bottom, they stopped and looked out the six-inch-square window on the fire door. A car was immediately outside, idling, and the driver had an ethnic similarity to the two bodies on Eight. He was looking at the door expectantly.
“That’s him,” Cartwright said.
“Tires first. If he shows a gun...”
“Right. You kick the door open, I’ll take the tires... On three.”
She counted one-two-three and Letty kicked the door and Cartwright was out and the man in the car hit the gas and Cartwright shredded his left front and left rear tires with two quick bursts from the Uzi, and he kept going, made the mistake of turning right, and Cartwright shredded the right rear.
The car continued grinding on, running the rims, slowly, but out of sight. “He won’t follow us on the freeway. Let’s get everybody out of the garage...”
Able ducked out of the stairwell, asked, “What was that?” and Letty said, “Never mind, get in your car, go, go,” and Baxter came out next, followed by Bunker and Kaiser, and they ran together toward the parking structure, as Sovern, riding with William and Melody, led the way out in William’s Subaru, five other cars trailing behind.
Baxter headed for the driver’s seat. “Everybody ready?”
“Wait for Kaiser... we’ll bring up the rear,” Cartwright said.
Baxter: “Barbara, you and Kaiser get in the back. I’m going to drop the back window in case you need, you know... to discourage someone.”
