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Quick and Dana both shook their heads in agreement. They didn’t speak much on the thirty-minute drive there. All of them knowing they were venturing into dangerous drug and gang territory. Once they turned onto Murphy Ave. they saw a group of shady men posted outside a D&M Liquor store, smoking weed and drinking from brown paper bags. The way they followed their vehicle with their calculating gaze was more than a little unsettling. Most dealers could recognize law enforcement right away, no matter what vehicle they were in.
“We need to make this fast, boss,” Dana said, his Sig Sauer resting in his lap. “Word will travel through here in no time.”
“I know,” Duke assured him. Quick slowed down and turned onto Bluff Street, parking a few houses down from where their skip was supposed to be.
“I say we go knock hard, count to three and bust in. If we sit here too long, we’ll become a target,” Quick advised, checking his own weapon, removing the safety.
Duke did the same. His guys were right. Eventually, someone would approach them, they had to do their business and get the fuck out of there. “Alright fellas. You know the drill. Quick, me and you in first, Dana, watch our six.”
They got out and quickly jogged the half-block to the rundown townhome with boarded-up windows on the lower floor and broken ones on the upper. The front door was practically hanging off the hinges and Duke had a sinking feeling the occupants weren’t worried about security. There were people out on porches along the way. Most of them young and gang affiliated, made obvious by the colors they wore. Duke just prayed they stayed out of their way as they did their jobs.
When they’d all bounded up the few steps onto the rickety porch, Quick was fast to beat on the splintered door and yell their identification. Duke counted down: “Three, two, one!” Quick reared back and kicked the door as hard as could with his large, steel toe boot, and the door flew into the house with them charging in right along with it.
“Bail recovery agents! We are armed!” Duke yelled, his voice deep and intimidating.
The first level was rank and musty. The ratty furniture in what should’ve been the living room looked like it’d been eaten by rodents. The small television was ancient and had several beer and liquor bottles on it, same as the crates along the walls. There was no one in sight. Dana yanked one of the boards off the missing window to allow in some light, and to also enable them to see if anyone was approaching.
There was the sound of hurried footsteps upstairs and Duke and Quick ran towards the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Bounty recovery agents! Aaron Williams! Aaron Williams, come out with your hands raised! We are armed!” Duke shouted; his weapon aimed in front of him. The large townhome had another level above the second floor. Duke looked over the bannister and Dana gave him a thumbs up. Quick cleared another room, coming out kicking debris and rubble out of his way. People were inside the dwelling, but the agents didn’t know where. It was possible they’d gone up to the third level, but Duke and Quick continued to clear all the rooms on the second floor.
The bathroom was empty, but the cosmetics that lay strewn across the rusty countertop had Duke’s antennas up. There were possibly women inside, too. Quick kicked open another door, this time into a bedroom, and a woman came flying out at them, armed with a baseball bat. Her piercing scream was loud enough to be heard down the block. Fuck! Duke aimed his weapons at her but she kept coming.
“Guys run!” she screamed to the house’s other occupants.
Duke brought his arm up to block the first swing, the blow catching him so hard on his forearm he would swear he heard the bone crack. He grabbed the bat on the second swing and tried to yank it from her grip. She was heavyset and strong. She may have been high as well, because she didn’t go down when Quick yanked her by her knotty hair and pulled her away from him. Duke yanked at the bat again and this time she lost her grip. Quick had her in a headlock, barking at her to get down on the ground.
Duke was grasping his forearm, grimacing in pain when he looked up and saw angry, three full-grown men emerge from the back room. The one he immediately recognized as their bounty raised a shotgun and Duke hollered for Quick to get down. They both dove into one of the empty bedrooms and fired back. The men would have to come past the room to get to the stairs, so Duke and Quick scrambled to their feet, ducking on each side of the door as bullets riddled the walls around them. The sound of glass shattering had Duke diving into action. He had left Dana downstairs and he couldn’t leave him to fend for himself. Duke stuck his arm out the door and fired a couple rounds, the sound of the woman’s cry assured him he’d hit someone. He’d hoped it hadn’t been her. “I just want Aaron Williams!” Duke yelled. A man charged by the door and Quick ran after him while Duke provided him cover fire.
