Page 36 of Dangerous Games

She throws her arms around my neck, squeezing me. “Dom, where is Jimmy? They said they’re going to kill him.” Nanette is frantic, sobbing as I lift her into my arms in a cradle hold. I stand for a second, listening, but I can’t hear anything over her sobs. “They can’t kill him. You promised me you’d protect him.”

“Shut up, woman,” I tell her, and she silences herself. I listen again and hear shouting. Someone has heard the noise I made and they’re coming. I set Nanette down, prying her arms away from my neck, and push her behind me as I turn toward the door. “I might have to shoot my way out of this, Nan. You need to stay behind me and do exactly as I say or we’re both dead.”

“Dom, the mole… is he here?” She clings to my back, grabbing handfuls of my shirt as I move toward the door.

“Yeah, he’s here.”

“Is it the man who took me?” she asks, not even trying to be quiet. It’s too late to be quiet anyway. Shit is hitting the fan outside this door. I open it and peek out. There is no one in the hallway now, but I can’t just make a run for it. If I do, Nanette could trail behind or be caught in the crossfire.

“Stay close to me,” I order, gripping her wrist with one hand and aiming the small gun from my waistband down the hallway. We get to the door of the production floor, and I look out onto the floor where a few guards are headed my way. “Go!” I hiss, pushing her past the door. She takes off, running to the end of the hallway and I turn my back to her, backing down the hall as quickly as I can.

“Fuck, Dominic!” Nanette squeals, and I turn around to see Leo grabbing her.

“Dom?” he asks, looking confused.

“Let her go, Leo,” I rasp at him, and my little brother obeys, pulling his own weapon. I know instantly he’s loyal as I back toward him until we’re shoulder to shoulder. Nanette twists a doorknob, but it’s jammed shut, maybe locked. She frantically pulls on it, whimpering as I address Leo. “We have a mole, Leo. It’s Nick for sure, maybe others. They’re hunting me.” It’s the fastest explanation I can give without any evidence to prove it to him, but he’s got my back.

“Go,” he tells me, pointing his gun down the hallway. “I’ll hold them off.”

Nanette yelps as I push her away from the door and aim my gun at it. The moment I pull the trigger I’m going to alert them to my location, but I have to do it. I fire the gun, blasting the doorknob and the door whines as it opens. Nan is the first one through and I follow her. Leo trails us, still covering our backs, and I hear gunfire erupting in the hallway. The room has a single window that I know leads to the alley behind the building. It’s where I was hiding before sneaking in.

“Get down,” I tell her before using my elbow to smash the glass. Nanette drops to her knees, covering her ears as Leo fires his weapon down the hallway.

“Fuck, Dominic, it’s Warren. He’s literally shooting at me.” Leo uses the metal door as cover as he continues unloading his gun. I pull the Glock out of my holster along with the spare clip from my pocket, and I slide them across the floor to him.

“Use this.”

Leo accepts the help when his gun clicks a few times—empty of rounds. He picks up the Glock and continues watching my back. Within minutes the police will be called and arrive, so I need to get out. After that, I’ll have to have my buddy at the precinct clean this mess up, but for now my concern is staying alive and keeping Nanette safe.

With my back covered, I bust the rest of the glass out of the window. Shards still protrude from the frame, so I slip my jacket off and lay it over the ledge. “Nan, we have to climb out.” I tell her. The window is high, but we shouldn’t get hurt if we’re careful. “I’ll go first.” I slip my gun into my waistband and lean out the window. There are no guards. It’s likely they are all being drawn inside to where the real fireworks are erupting.

“God, Joey too. Dominic, the whole place is shooting. Sven is shooting at Joey.” Leo sounds frantic, as if this is a complete shock to him. Sven did a better job at hiding the plot than I gave him credit for.

“Just keep the shots coming. The ones who are shooting at you are our enemies. The more we take out, the cleaner this family will be.”

“But they’re all family!” he shouts, reaching out the door to fire off another round.

“Just because they’re blood doesn’t make them family.” I gesture to Nanette to come to the window, then slide one foot out. As I swing my other foot out the window and lay across the ledge, reaching with my toes for the dumpster below, she clings to my hand.

“Fuck, you can’t leave me here.”

“I’m not leaving you here. Climb out the window and I’ll help you down.” The tips of my toes land on the edge of the dumpster. It’s a precarious position but I manage to balance for the moment. I stretch into the window and reach for her, but a gunshot resounds behind me, and I feel stabbing pain in my left shoulder. I fall into the dumpster, screaming in pain.

“Dominic!” she screeches, but she doesn’t look out the window. Smarter than I thought she was. It takes me a moment to get my bearings, and when I do, I sit up, ready with my gun. I peek over the edge of the dumpster and see two men approaching and a car rolling up slowly. Without a thought in my head, I call out, “This is Dominic. If you’re not with me, you're against me.” The men continue charging at me, which is proof enough to me that they are not friendly.

I reach over the edge of the dumpster and point my gun at them, and still, they don’t back off, so I fire three rounds, the first one hitting one of the men, and the second one missing, before the third hits the second man. I take a breath, wincing in pain. If they’d hit my right shoulder, I’d be in far more danger. Lucky for me I’m right-handed.

“Nan, you’re going to have to jump,” I shout up at the window, and before I can even repeat the phrase, her feet are out and she’s leaping on top of me. She lands with a loud crash and it’s my turn to yelp in pain. I still hear gunfire rattling off inside, but I’m more worried about the car approaching now. Whoever it is has seen that both of us are in the dumpster, and we’re sitting ducks. I have one round left in this gun, eight in the three-eighty, and nothing else but my knife.

“Dom, that guy driving the car, he’s the one who took me.” Nanette is suddenly quiet, her harsh whisper revealing her fear.

“What did he look like?” I ask, quite aware that the car is getting closer by the second.

“Scar above his right eye, blue eyes. He has scraggly brown hair.” She bites her nail, a habit I haven’t seen her perform in the time I’ve spent with her. Her description of Nick is spot on. He’s the mastermind behind this whole thing, and inside his men are dying. I’ll find out how many and who opposed me later on, but right now it’s time for me to stop hiding and take back what is rightfully mine.

“Come on out, Dominic. You’re not getting out of this alive. My men are inside slaughtering yours.” Nick’s cockiness infuriates me. I lift both hands in surrender as I slowly stand, knowing the nine-mil in my hand is nearly empty anyway. With one bullet left, I’ll need the three-eighty strapped to my back.

“Stay down, no matter what you hear,” I hiss at Nanette without even looking at her. As my head rises above the edge of the dumpster, I’m most in danger, but I have a feeling Nick won’t just blow my head off. He’s too cocky for that. He will rub it in first, talk himself up. So, I stand with boldness, gun pointed to the sky.

---