Chemical Burn by Quincy J. Allen

dialed in a combination, and the other light went green. With a twist of the lever, she swung the door open.
    Within lay a silver briefcase, a large Ziploc bag, a Glock .40, and four clips. She pulled out the briefcase, put it on the bed and worked the combination for both latches. They flipped open and she opened the briefcase, exposing a military-grade, heavy-duty laptop. She pulled the Ziploc out of the safe, and I could see it contained a stack of passports, six wrapped bundles of hundred dollar bills and three bundles of Euros. She threw the bag in the case, following it quickly with the Glock and three of the clips. She pulled the Glock she had been using out of her belt, ejected the partially used clip into the case and slid the fourth, fresh clip from the safe into the weapon.
    “Let’s go!” she said, gasping for breath as she closed the safe.
    We both heard the sound of a big-block motor roaring down the alley and then tires squealing as a vehicle came to an abrupt halt behind my truck.
    “Nice work, but we’re not done yet,” I said casually as I went over and locked the bedroom door. I wasn’t even breathing hard.
    ***

Long Drive, Short Pier
    I heard the man who had given me the thumbs-up yell, “Stay with the car, I’ll check inside!” as he got out of the SUV. “Bennie’s on the way!” he added and ran towards the house.
    “Be careful, Dino,” the driver cautioned, getting out and standing in the door.
    Spattered with blood, I peeked through the glass patio doors from behind the wall. I thought I saw a MAC-11 in Dino’s hand as he stepped out of the SUV.
    That could be a problem.
    The MAC-11 is basically a bullet hose. They’re not very accurate past about thirty feet, and only good for short bursts, but you try standing in the middle of a hailstorm without getting hit. Everything in the house and yard would pretty much be within thirty feet, which made me quite worried about Natalia. I took a deep breath and looked at her. The plan I’d come up with for getting out in one piece was straightforward.
    “When I go, you wait till I hit the end of the porch, then you run, jump onto the truck and get in the far side. If I buy it, drive off.”
    We both heard Dino yelling in a panicked voice from downstairs. “Holy mother of god!—Vincent!—Guido!—Frankie!—JESUS! What the fuck happened in here?” He paused, I’m sure when he saw the carnage I’d made of his buddies. “Vinny? YOU UP THERE?” I waited another ten seconds for Dino to make his way to the base of the stairs.
    “Hurry, Dino! I’m hurt bad,” I yelled in my best Brooklyn accent. I flipped the vlain around in my hand so the straight blade now pointed down. I smiled at Natalia, slid open the door, and leapt through it. It took me two strides to cross the fifteen-foot patio, and Natalia was moving the instant my foot hit the railing.
    The man standing next to the SUV raised a MAC-11 through the open car window as my foot hit the railing of the patio. The Italian had good reflexes, I’ll give him that, but he still wasn’t fast enough. The barrel tracked me as I leapt into the air. A stream of gunfire filled the space behind me as I sailed over him. I flipped completely in a half-twist as the barrel banged into the window frame and stopped short. The burst continued harmlessly behind me.
    The poor guy watched in terror as I came down hard on the roof of the SUV and drove the four-inch stiletto blade into his forehead. The hilt split his head open, and the impact drove his body down off the knife. He crumpled in a twitching heap on the ground just outside the open door. I heard Natalia’s footsteps hammering across the patio. I turned to watch her hit the railing and jump.
    She crossed the eight feet of open space easily just as the patio door erupted with bullets and flying glass. She came down hard on the roof, continued her stride, and dropped to the far side of the truck. I heard Dino kick the doorframe open. I realized