Free Checkmate: The Baddest Chick by Nisa Santiago Page A

shouted.
    The men ran amok across the penthouse floor, shooting their weapons off and destroying priceless artifacts. “Find Eduardo,” Cross shouted.
    Eduardo and Andrea raced to the next room that had a secret doorway leading into an adjacent apartment room and toward an escape route. Eduardo clutched a heavy duffel bag, his bodyguard following right behind him. But as they turned the corner, just a few feet from the room, they were met with heavy gunfire.
    Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat!
    “They right here, son! They over here!” a young thug shouted.
    Cross ran up, and more gunfire was exchanged between Andrea and Cross and his goons. The hallway lit up like a Christmas tree. Cross was relentless.
    Edge returned fire with the submachine gun gripped in his hand. The deadly tool let loose a barrage of bullets like a firehouse hose. The walls were coming apart with bullets.
    “Go, Eduardo, go!” Andrea shouted, pushing Eduardo forcefully into the adjacent room and covering him with gunfire from his .50-cal.
    Eduardo kept his head low and sprinted across the hall and dove into the next room. He looked back for Andrea, but his right-hand guard was pinned down by heavy gunfire.
    Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak! Bak!
    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
    Cross and his goons moved in closer, pushing Andrea back. He was outnumbered and outgunned. The rage in the men’s eyes was evident that they came to kill and take.
    Andrea tried to hold them off as long as he could, giving his boss ample time to make his escape. He glanced back and saw Eduardo gone. His only job was to protect Eduardo. He nodded. Andrea rushed from behind the wall that he was taking cover and quickly fired a stream of shots at his assailants. They fell back, giving Andrea a split second to make his escape behind Eduardo. He rushed for the room feeling and hearing the bullets whiz by his ear. They missed him my mere inches. When he ran into the room, he right away shut the door and reloaded his weapon.
    Eduardo had pushed a mechanism that opened into a downward, short tunnel. He tossed the duffel bag back into the tunnel, removed a pistol, and yelled to Andrea, “Let’s go!”
    Andrea nodded. He was locked and loaded again. Eduardo had made his escape through the tunnel. Andrea had one foot in and one foot out.
    The door came crashing open, and the gunfire erupted again. Andrea quickly fired back, but before he could make it all the way inside, he was shot, catching a slug in his lower abdomen. He went berserk, shooting erratically and fell backwards into the escape route, with the door closing tight behind him.
    “Fuck!” Cross shouted.
    Once the doorway to the escape route had shut, Cross and his men didn’t know how to re-open it. He was fuming.
    “Fuck them!” Edge shouted. “Let’s get this money.”
    The team quickly ransacked the penthouse, taking whatever they could before the police showed up. They took money and drugs, and quickly made their exit, via elevator. Once they hit the lobby floor again, the men ran out with their guns exposed.
    The young boy left behind to watch the doorman was smiling. “What y’all got?” he asked.
    “We out!”
    But before they made their complete exit, Edge glared at the doorman. He pushed the man to the floor and pumped four shots into his chest and stomach. “Now we out!” he said.
    They bolted from the building and ran to their vehicles. The rain and thunder was still coming down, giving less visibility of Cross and his goons to any witnesses that happened to be around. Cross knew that they’d made off like bandits. It was the heist of all heists for them.
    ****
    Eduardo made his escape via the service elevator on the other side of the building and rushed out the back door carrying the duffel bag. Andrea was seriously wounded. He grasped his gunshot wound and stumbled behind Eduardo toward a parked SUV. He barely could hold onto his gun. Andrea collapsed into the backseat, bleeding profusely.
    Eduardo got behind the wheel