Free Abduction by Michael Kerr

right, planning to take out the guy behind him.
    Lenny made a single croaking sound, like that of a startled grackle, as he jerked backwards into Alan, who instinctively fired his handgun and unintentionally put a bullet into Lenny, which tore through his liver and erupted from his belly, to plow through the side of Logan’s rucksack before compacting with the concrete pillar and mushrooming.
    Alan fell to the ground with Lenny on top of him, and sucked in air between his gritted teeth as Logan stamped down hard on the wrist of his gun hand and forced him to release it.
    Fluidly, seemingly with casual and relaxed movements, Logan stooped, picked up Alan’s gun by the silencer-elongated barrel and swiped the butt across his left temple, and then the right in an arc reminiscent of a pendulum on an old-fashioned clock.  He relieved both men of their cell phones and wallets, which he planned on adding to his now holed rucksack.  On a whim, he kept the silenced handgun and tucked it in the waistband of his pants.
    Vince heard what he knew was a muffled gunshot.  He smiled, and then speed dialed Alan’s number.
    “Yeah?” Logan said as he made his way back towards the front of the building. There was a moment of silence.  “Cat got your tongue, Vince?  Did you think that those two assholes would be able to take me out?”
    “Okay, Logan.  Enough.  I’ll send Jade downstairs with the kid.”
    “You and Larry stay where you are.  Give the phone to Jade and tell her to keep the line open.  I want to see her get in the SUV with the girl and start it up.  And make sure that she is unarmed.  I’ll talk to her and tell her where to head for, while you two organize an ambulance for your buddies.  I think one is probably dead, and the other will be seriously concussed.”
    Vince handed the phone to Jade.  He accepted that sometimes you had to bite the bullet and regroup.  Not all missions worked out.  Logan was a force to be reckoned with.  He had them in a bind, and may even be considering calling the police.  This debacle needed to be ended, and the sooner the better.
    Vince whispered to Jade, told her what to do, and then he and Larry followed her out of the apartment and down the stairs.  Kelly was fast asleep in Jade’s arms, oblivious to the events that were taking place.

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    LOGAN expected a double-cross.  He stayed well back in the shadows behind the wall, from where he could keep the main door and the nearest side of the building and walkway in sight.
    Jade reached the door, opened it and came out hesitantly, carrying Kelly.  She looked around nervously as she walked over to the small lot and climbed into the SUV.
    “Listen to me very carefully, Jade” Logan said into the phone.  “Whatever Vince told you to do could get you killed.  I need for you to make a monumental decision if you want to get through this in one piece.”
    Jade said nothing, just waited for him to spell it out.
    “Start the car and go back out onto Sauer Drive.  Approximately a hundred feet past Starbucks on the other side of the street is the old pickup from the motel.  The little girl’s mother is inside it.  Park next to it, get out and hand Kelly over, then go wherever you want to.  I’ll be following you until you make the handover.  Got it?”
    “Yeah, but why are you doing this?” Jade said.  “What the fuck do you care about the girl or her mother?”
    “They needed help, and I’m it.  And if you were a decent person you wouldn’t have to ask.  Now move.”
    Jade switched the engine on, drove out of the lot and along the alley, to make a left on Sauer Drive and approach Starbucks.  She passed by it and slowed to walking pace.  It was make your mind up time.  Did she do what the man had told her to, or follow Vince’s instructions?  Either way was a gamble.
    Logan followed on foot, jogging back to the street, hoping that what he had said would be enough to convince Jade to hand