Shaun laughed and stepped forward. "Come up here, man. Both of you. When you're at the bottom of the stairs, my boys will let the girl go."
"Fine. We'll come up the east side stairs. I see any of your boys anywhere near it, I start shooting. Let the girl go and she can come over to the east side as well. That cool?"
"Cool."
I nodded to Sophie, who followed me. I was proud of the fact that she hadn't said a word since we came in. There was no point in creeping up the stairs, they were open to the center of the club on all sides. Instead, Sophie and I took them at a quick but even pace, making sure my Glock in my left hand was visible, but not pointed in Shaun's direction. I wanted him aware but distracted, not fearful.
When we reached the second floor, my eyes swept the walkway, spotting two other men. Shaun was smart, he knew me. In normal circumstances, five on one would be odds I would walk away from. "All right Shaun. Let her go."
Shaun laughed like I'd just told a funny joke. "Come on, Snowman, you think I'm stupid? I know how good you are. I let this bitch go, and before I can count to ten I'm a dead man. No way. Drop your guns, and then I let her go."
Now, I could have talked more. I could have dropped the guns. But one of the main personal rules of my training is that once you're in the zone, you just go. I felt that familiar, welcome coldness drop over my emotions, and I went with it. Squeezing the trigger on the Glock in my left hand, I put a round in the head of the man on Shaun's left before my right hand even cleared my other Glock from its holster. It is one of the secrets of my success, I'm not only almost totally ambidextrous with my hands, but with my eyes as well. I put a round in the thigh of the second bodyguard while my right hand snapped into place, firing as soon as I could. There was an instant when Shaun could have gotten the drop on me, while I was shooting his guards. If he had just raised his pistol in that split second, he could have gotten a shot off at me. Instead, he hesitated, torn between shooting me and trying to use Tabby as a human shield, and in that hesitation I had him dead to rights. The round took Shaun in between his eyes, the 9mm hollowpoint turning the back of his head into a giant bloody flower petal of bone, hair and skin. It took less than two seconds.
I whirled and dove while Sophie flattened herself on the floor. Rolling over a table in front of me I came up firing, catching one of the corner men before he could get a shot off at me. The second man was smarter, moving before trying to fire, and it took me an extra three seconds to find him and put a round into his shoulder. He spun, crashing over the railing to fall to the club floor below, head first. The dry twig sound of his neck snapping told me all I needed to know.
Suddenly there was a boom behind me, and I spun, both pistols ready, but it was already over. Sophie huddled on the floor, the pistol type shotgun I'd given her tight in her hands, smoke rising from the barrel. I'd never seen or even heard him, and he crashed to the floor, the deer slug obliterating most of the right side of his chest.
It was only then that sound came back into the world, and I realized the high pitch screaming in my ear wasn't my overtaxed nerves going nuts, but Tabby screaming hysterically. I swept the room with my eyes, then ran over and knelt next to Sophie. "You all right?"
She looked at me, her eyes calmer than I expected them to be. "Yeah. You?"
"Yeah. Get Tabby, I'll cover the room," I said, kneeling next to the man who had snuck up on me. I was curious, I hadn't had someone sneak up on me in years. Sophie started off, and I caught up, making sure the back of the club didn't have any more nasty surprises, then checked Shaun's body, taking his cell phone out of his right front pocket. Tabby was still in hysterics until Sophie pulled her into a hug, and between the two of us, we carried her out of the club. She passed out on the way to the truck, which I was grateful for. It made transporting her easier since she was already in a state of shock.
* * *
It was even more difficult two weeks later. "You're sure about this?"
It was the third time Sophie had asked Tabby since bringing her home. We were in her apartment, and while I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, I was still armed. There was no time I'd left the belfry in the last two weeks that I wasn't carrying something. We'd brought Tabby there, trusting her to keep the secret, to give her a chance to recover and adjust to the situation. I'd then spent the last week giving her a crash course on how to survive if organized crime was interested in you, and how to cover your tracks. Finally, I'd placed a few calls, and made a few inquiries to try and give her a bit of security in other ways too. Still, I agreed with Sophie. Tabby should have taken a vacation, preferably one of multiple months at least in a city far away. Europe would have been nice.