Becca XXX: Dangerous Cargo Ch. 13

Authors note: - This is a follow on to the previous episodes of Becca XXX Dangerous Cargo. Please read them before reading this or you will not understand the plot or characters.

KNOCK -KNOCK....

The sound of a man's fist banging against my door was almost as deafening as my own heart pounding in my chest.

Lexa and I stood still and silent in the darkness of my hallway. After our blissful lovemaking, this was a bad end to a beautiful night. We were both still naked. Lexa had a kitchen knife in her hand and I had my trusty Russian nine-millimetre silenced pistol.

I held my hand up to Lexa to tell her to keep quiet. We had to make this look natural and it was my flat we were standing in, so I took charge.

Having already peered through the spy-hole, I knew that the guy at the door had a pistol in his hand. Three of his friends were with him, knocking on other doors in the tower block. They were all looking for me and they were all armed. One had a sawn-off shotgun; one had a pistol and the last guy had an MP7. That told me that they were The Lees. Only The Lees had that model of weapon.

At this time of night, anyone knocking on doors would expect the occupant to be in bed. That meant that there would be a brief delay between his knock and the door being answered.

KNOCK -KNOCK....

It was louder this time as he became impatient.

I pictured myself being woken from my bed in the early hours of the morning. I'd be bleary-eyed after being woken from a deep state of sleep. Sleep patterns run in cycles of light and deep sleep throughout the night. At two o'clock in the morning I'd have been away with the fairies so I had to make it look and sound convincing. I would have woken up and then trudged to the door to switch the light on.

I stomped my feet on the floor to fake the sound of my footsteps. I then nodded at Lexa who switched on the hallway light.

"Who is it?" I asked tentatively, trying to sound sleepy.

"Open the door. It's the police," he lied.

I peered through the spy-hole as my act continued.

"You don't look like the police," I said. "What do you want?"

"Just open the door, lady."

"Show me some ID. first," I replied. "This is a bad neighbourhood. I don't open my door to strangers."

"I'm an undercover police officer. I don't carry ID. Now open the door or I'll have to force entry."

He wasn't very good at lying. All police officers were made to carry ID. His act was paper thin.

I looked at Lexa and she put her mouth to my ear and spoke quietly. Contrary to popular belief, the sound of a whisper travels further than a quiet voice. A whisper is at a higher frequency and higher frequencies travel further than lower ones.

"We need to take him out quickly and quietly before he alerts the others," she said. "Open the door and control his weapon. Drag him inside and I'll do the rest."

I nodded.

"Just a minute," I said through the door.

I undid the chain and took a deep breath as I visualised what I was about to do. After seeing him through the spy-hole, I knew that the guy was right-handed. I also knew that the door opened inwards from my left to right. That meant that his weapon-hand was going to be nearest to me as I opened the door. I practiced the movement required in my mind and finally opened up.

As soon as the gap was large enough, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room. Lexa kicked the door shut and I rolled the guy's wrist up and around as I pushed down on his shoulder to control him.

Lexa moved in and stabbed the kitchen knife straight through the back of his neck, killing him instantly. His spinal cord was severed within a split second of me opening the door and I doubted he even knew what had happened. We controlled his descent to the ground, to keep the noise down and Lexa pulled her knife out of his neck. Surprisingly, there was very little blood. She hadn't severed an artery; it was a clean, silent kill.

"Take his weapon," I said softly. "I'll check the corridor."

As Lexa took the guy's pistol, I switched the lights off and peered out into the corridor again. His mates were still checking the other flats and they seemed oblivious to what we'd just done to their friend.

"There's still three of them left," I said. "They seem unaware."

"Good. I need to go for the MP7. This

will be too noisy. Stealth is our best weapon right now."

She was right and she was definitely on my wave length. Going out there all guns blazing would be a suicide mission and it would endanger innocent people. Tony had once told me that the greatest victories are the ones you never have to fight and he was right. If we could stay silent, maybe the rest of The Lees would walk on by without even realising what had happened.

Lexa disappeared into my bedroom and I heard her moving the blanket out of the way and retrieving the sub-machine gun. Ironically, I now wished that I'd kept them both in my flat instead of hiding one for my own protection at my storage unit.

She was back in a flash and I watched her check that the weapon was made ready. She pulled the cocking lever back and checked for shiny brass in the breach. I'd already told her it was made ready, but it's always best to check. I'd have done the same in her position.

"Only shoot if we have to," she said quietly. "The walls in this place are paper thin and we don't want any collateral damage."

"I know, but let me do the shooting. The MP7 is quiet, but not as quiet as this," I replied, holding up the Makarov.

"Ok. Keep watch on the corridor, I need to get dressed."

She placed the weapon on the kitchen counter and moved back to the sofa. Within seconds she had her short skirt and shirt back on without bothering with any underwear. She just needed the bare minimum to cover her naked flesh so she left her bra and panties on the floor.

She slipped her boots on and then looked out of the window to check the courtyard below. She wasn't at all happy by what she saw.

"Shit," she said.

"What is it?"

"We've got more visitors the we thought. It's not just the three assholes in the corridor we've got to worry about."

"How many?"

"There's two vans parked up and nine or ten guys, all armed. Plus, the three left in the corridor. You've certainly pissed off a lot of people, Becca," she replied, turning back towards me.

"I try my best," I laughed.

"Hurry up and get dressed," she instructed. "We've not got long before they realise their boyfriend's gone missing. The others are on their way up and we need to be out of here before they arrive."

Lexa picked up her gun and took over at the spy-hole as I rushed to the sofa and pulled my T-shirt and yoga pants back on. My shoes followed and in less than a minute I was ready to go.

"Bring the grab bag," said Lexa. "We're going to have to take these three guys out and then make a run for it."

I ducked into the bedroom and picked up my bag containing my laptop, iPad and other sensitive equipment. There was no way I was going to leave that behind; we had to leave this place sterile. I also picked up two black hoody's and threw one in Lexa's direction.

"Put that on," I said. "You're practically glowing in the dark in that white shirt."

I slipped one on too as more shouting and screaming echoed down the corridor outside my door. I heard a male voice asking questions to a petrified neighbour.

"Where is she? Which flat is she in?" he bellowed.

Lexa was watching it all unfold only metres away from our side of the door.

"They've got your neighbour," she murmured. "They're showing her your picture."

"She lives at flat fourteen-G," she shrieked. "Please, just let me go. This has nothing to do with me."

She'd given them my flat number and I knew they were now heading our way without Lexa even having to tell me.

With my rucksack firmly over both shoulders, I moved to the front door. We were going to have to fight our way out after all. Lexa had the MP7 pulled into her shoulder and two spare mags stuffed into the pocket of her hoody. She looked sexy as hell in the darkness.

"Move behind the breakfast bar," I said to her. "I have a plan."

She nodded, knowing that I was fully capable of taking charge of the situation. My plan was to remain stealthy for as long as possible and pick them off silently one by one with the Makarov. Lexa moved behind the breakfast bar. She positioned herself in the corner behind the cast iron oven which would offer good cover from fire. Once she was in position, I looked through the spy-hole one last time.

I speed read the corridor and tried to anticipate what was going to happen next. The guy with the sawn-off was staring in my direction and his two friends weren't far behind him. One had an MP7 and the other had a pistol - probably a Glock like his friend. They gave each other a nod and Sawn-off approached with purpose. I tried to tune in to what they would be seeing and feeling. They'd be worried about the absence of their friend, but thrilled about finally knowing where I lived. They'd see my door shrouded in darkness with a small spy hole in the centre. That was going to be my trump card.

I flicked the light on, counted to two and then switched it off again. Human nature is a marvellous, but predictable thing. Sawn-off would have seen the flicker of light in the spyhole; on and then off. It gave me two advantages. One, he would know someone was in here and that he'd have to come and investigate. It would make him a little more apprehensive which gave me the upper hand. Secondly, the spyhole could be viewed from both sides of the door. He wouldn't be able to resist looking through it to see if he could gain a tactical advantage over me. Unfortunately for him, I was standing to the side of the doorway and he'd see nothing but darkness.

I waited.

I heard his footsteps getting closer.

I waited.

I saw his shadow in the light which shone under my door from the brightly lit corridor.

I visualised him pressing his eye against the spy-hole and peering inside. He'd look like some sort of pervert trying to see a woman undressing through a keyhole.

I felt his movement stop as he took a good look around and I knew it was time.

I placed the muzzle of my silenced pistol against the spyhole and squeezed the trigger.

Phut.

One round was all it took to end his life in an instant as my bullet entered his brain through his eye socket. There would have been almost no resistance to the bullet's path as it passed through his optic nerve and out of the back of his head.

I didn't hang about for the retaliation which I knew was about to come. I leapt across the hallway and into the bathroom. The cast iron bathtub would protect me from the hail of bullets which I knew was about to thump through my front door like angry wasps.

I dived into the bath just as they let rip with all they had.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.

The guy with the pistol fired first with a barrage of hot lead.

Phut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut.

The MP7's weapon signature followed it up with less noise but a greater rate of fire. Splinters of wood and plasterboard showered the room as the rounds punched through the wall and door as though they were made from tissue paper. They continued their trajectory into the kitchen, hitting glasses and crockery and shattering them all over the room.

Some of the rounds even made it to the window opposite the door, smashing it and letting the wind and rain blow into my flat.

Lexa was safe behind the oven and I was fine lying in the bath.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.

Phut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut-ut.

Splinter-shatter-smash.

More rounds rained in as the two amateurs continued their spray-and-pray tactics. They were hoping to hit something by blindly firing a barrage of bullets into the room.

Finally, the noise and firing stopped and silence descended upon my apartment.

I dared a glance over the rim of the bath towards the kitchen. Lexa was peering around the side of the breakfast bar to check on me. I gave her a thumbs up and she gave me one back.

"Do you think we got her?" I heard a guy shout from outside the door.

"There's no way she'd have survived that," said his partner.

"Should we wait for the others. They're on their way up in the lift?"

"No, fuck it. Let's finish this once and for all. We can claim the glory."

I heard the MP7 being reloaded followed by the pistol. They were going to have to check the room to make sure I was dead. Maybe they'd get some brownie points for being the ones to kill the bitch who'd killed Brian. They had no idea that there was two of us and that we were waiting for them.

I got onto my knees in the bath tub and aimed my Makarov into the hallway. Lexa saw me and nodded, getting the MP7 into her shoulder. She remained hidden behind the breakfast bar, but poised to jump up and return fire when I made my move.

The guys in the corridor were quick to follow up and I heard the door being kicked open by one of them. The wood splintered and the door burst open. I couldn't see anything at first, but I kept my weapon aimed through the bathroom doorway and waited for them to appear.

I heard tentative footsteps enter the room, treading on the broken glass with a loud crunch.

I waited and pictured the scene in my head. I knew that one guy would enter the room while the other would wait outside in the corridor. It was completely the wrong way to carry out a door breach and room clearance. This was no time for them to be cautious; speed and aggression were required to control the situation. They shouldn't have sent one guy into the room and he shouldn't have been creeping in. What they should have done is burst in and cover separate areas of the room before sweeping through and killing everything that posed a threat.

Step-step. Crunch-crunch.

The barrel of the MP7 appeared in the doorway, pointing towards the kitchen. It glinted in the light from the corridor. It twitched left and right, but it didn't look into the bathroom where I was hiding.

Step-step. Crunch-crunch.

More of him started to come into view with every passing second. I saw his left hand on the fore grip, then his left shoulder and finally the target I was waiting for.

I had limited ammunition in the Makarov; eight rounds to be precise. I knew I might need every one of them if we didn't manage to escape the second wave of reinforcements whom were coming up in the lift.

I aimed the long black silencer just below his ear-lobe as he stopped in the doorway. He was expecting to find a dead body or for someone to jump out from behind the breakfast bar.

What he got instead was a bullet through his neck. He never knew what hit him.

Phut. Splat.

I sent a single round with pinpoint accuracy straight through the base of his skull. He dropped like liquid with a loud crump.

As soon as he was out of the way, Lexa popped up from behind the breakfast bar with her weapon in her shoulder. Her whole concentration was focused on finding her target through the reflex-sight and squeezing off two rounds.

I watched her stop momentarily and fire off a double-tap.

Phut-phut.

I heard the last guy hit the floor and I knew she'd killed him.

"Target down. Moving," she said.

That was my cue to get out of the bath and follow behind her to give her cover. We knew more men were coming up in the lift and I hoped we could escape down the stairs before they arrived.

As I passed the guy with the MP7, I told Lexa to stop.

"Wait one," I said.

She dropped onto one knee and hid behind the doorframe, pointing her weapon down the corridor towards the lift.

I bent down and picked up the weapon. I'd heard the guy reloading it before he had breached the room, so I knew that it had a full magazine. That didn't stop me from checking the chamber for shiny brass. It was always best to make sure. I then clicked the fire-selector back to single shot. Spray-and-pray wasn't my style. Finally, I took a spare mag out of his pocket and stuffed it into the front pocket of my hoody. My Makarov went into the waist band of my yoga pants and I pulled the MP7 into my shoulder.

"Ready to move," I said.

"Roger that. Moving."

Our communication was short and concise. We only said what needed to be said and nothing more.

She was about to step out into the corridor when I heard the ping of the lift arriving.

Ping.

Our main escape route was blocked off so I had to make a snap decision.

"Shit. Targets front. Go left," I said quietly. "It leads to the back stairs and fire escape."

"Roger that. Moving."

She checked left with her weapon and then moved out of the room. I stopped briefly in the doorway and then followed her.

"THERE SHE IS," I heard a shout from the direction of the lift. "KILL THE WHORE."

Thud-thud-thud.

Thud-thud-thud.

I barely made it out of the room as pistol rounds stitched into the door frame where I'd been standing.

I dived across the corridor and put my back to the wall as Lexa continued her cautious approach to the opposite corner of the building. She knew the importance of finding us an exit. I could hold them off on my own.

Thud-thud-thud.

Thud-thud-thud.

More rounds pumped into my empty flat and I waited for them to stop before returning fire. We couldn't have loose rounds flying around the tower block in case they killed someone in one of the other flats.

Human beings naturally shoot at chest height which means that is also where their eyes are focused. I lay on the floor with my weapon and peeked around the corner.

I saw two men hiding behind the door frame which led to the lift. I took aim and squeezed off three rounds.

Phut-phut-phut.

The guy on the left reeled backwards as my four-point-six millimetres punched through his centre mass. I twitched the weapon right, but I was too slow and the other guy had disappeared behind the door frame. At least it would slow them down for a minute or two.

I pulled back behind the wall and checked on Lexa. She had made it to the far end of the corridor and shouted up to me.

"Clear. Move up."

I sprinted towards her and slowed down as I approached. I then dropped to one knee and turned my sub machine gun back in the direction I'd just come from. If anyone was brave enough to stick their head around the corner, I would be the last thing they ever saw.

"Take the lead," said Lexa. "You know where you're going in this shithole. I'll watch our six."

Watching our six meant she would defend us against anyone coming up from behind. It worked like the hours on a clock, with twelve being dead ahead and six being behind us.

"Roger that."

I twitched a glance around the corner which led to the right. We needed to get to the end of the next corridor and then turn left down the rear stairwell.

"Clear. Cover me. Moving," I said.

I heard her move around the corner and aim her weapon down the corridor while keeping an eye behind us. I crouched low with my weapon up, ready to fire if I had to.

Stealth was still our greatest weapon so we needed to stay out of sight. If the enemy couldn't see us; they couldn't shoot us either. I crept along, keeping to the right of the corridor. It gave me a better viewing angle to the left. The rear stairwell had been built to meet fire safety regulations. If the main stairs were on fire, this one could be used as an escape route.

The door to the stairwell was closed and had a small window in it at head height. I shuffled over and chanced a peek over the top. The lights were on and it looked clear, but that didn't mean that it was safe.

"Move up," I murmured to Lexa.

I saw her dark, sexy figure keeping low as she scurried up towards me. I kept my weapon trained on the area behind her in case our new friends decided to show their faces. The three shots that I'd fired had slowed them down, but they would be determined to come after me. It was just a matter of time.