Dying For LA by Ian Jones (best adventure books to read TXT) 📗

spot any movement anywhere in the yard but there was nobody there. Reed had moved up so he was lying on his elbows next to him.

‘Anything?’ he asked.

‘No.’

John had another sweep.

‘Clear!’ he called out and he and Reed stood up slowly, surveying the scene.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

It was bad, but it could definitely have been a lot worse.

There were three dead SWAT officers, including Oakes, and two injured, one of which was the young man driving the car. He had ducked into the footwell and been hit twice in the arm and the shoulder, but he would live.

The remaining officers tended to the injured and got on the radio. Louisa and the corporal hurried across, they had got behind the car as soon as the shooting started, amazingly there were no more casualties. The men working over at the tyre place had gathered at the front, staring,

Still carrying the gun John walked fast over to the gates and looked in, pulling on the chain. Reed joined him and gently pulled him away.

‘You know we can’t go in right John?’

John looked at him but pulled on the chain again.

‘We can’t do it John. This is LAPD business now. We are gonna be on the unwanted list real soon.’

Reed was right and led John away. Within minutes the cavalry arrived. Three more SWAT vans along with a massive armoured truck with heavy bull bars across the front. Several cruisers and a couple of ambulances. The SWAT officers secured the scene, parking a van across the gates and monitoring it constantly. John, Reed, Louisa and the corporal sat on the ground across the road watching.

Eventually the chain was cut and the armoured truck rolled through and parked inside. After a while officers streamed in but there was no opposition, just a lot of police everywhere. John stood up when to his dismay he saw Captain Truman stalking toward him, Chief Brady following. Truman stopped and sneered.

‘Well, trouble just follows you around Mr Smith. Now I got to talk to three families, tell them their loved ones ain’t coming home.’

Reed leapt to his feet indignantly and towered over Truman.

‘You know what, it was fucked from the start. Your man Oakes was the biggest asshole I ever saw. He did not listen to anyone. So blaming this on John is all bullshit. We tried to stop it. But he just carried on anyway, and he had no idea what he was doing.’

Truman stared up at him speechless and was clearly relieved when Chief Brady steered him away.

‘I think Dennis, that it will be me doing the talking. Why don’t you go and see if we’ve got the all clear to go inside?’

Truman glared angrily at John then stormed off.

Brady turned to John.

‘Feels like I’m forever apologising for him. But I am sorry John, he had no call to speak to you like that. None of this is your doing.’

John shrugged, he didn’t want Brady to feel any worse than he would be right now, with three officer’s bodies being taken away right in front of their eyes.

‘I’m sorry but Tom is right Chief, I don’t like to say it considering what’s happened here but Oakes was just not the right man for the job.’

Brady looked sadly at him, then slowly shook his head.

‘Yeah, I already heard that. But it’s kinda hard to take in. These guys are supposed to be the best.’

John looked across the road, surveying the scene, watching the hive of activity

‘I’m sorry for the lost men Chief. And the guys that got hurt. And I’m sorry that this keeps happening whenever I am involved. But we had no idea who was in there. We tried to make that clear. All we had was just one definite name; and we saw him with four other men go into that yard. They must have set up a lookout, I saw men on that bridge. They just started shooting,’ John said.

‘This is one hell of a mess. And one thing we all know for sure is they are long gone,’ Brady replied.

‘Yeah. And they will have got rid of the mobiles, so it’s back to square one,’ John told him, looking at all the police officers everywhere.

‘Come on. I’ll get you inside. Take a look for yourselves. But watch where you walk, there will be the CSI guys in there and they don’t like it when we trample all over.’

Brady led the way, and the four of them walked into the yard. If anything, it was even bigger inside the gates, and they made their way across to a narrow brick building.

Truman was standing outside and John studiously ignored him as they approached. A young uniformed officer was watching and walked over to Brady.

‘This is where they were living Chief,’ he told them, gesturing at the open door.

They followed him in.

They had walked into a grubby, simple reception area, with a door open at the back behind a filthy beige counter and stairs to their left.

There were two men in white suits with masks working, examining the floors and the walls, poking into drawers. There didn’t seem to be any clear distinction to where anyone could walk so John wandered over behind the counter and looked into the room. It was bathroom, with urinals, toilet cubicles and some showers. Everything looked tired and well worn and John saw a damp towel hanging on a peg just inside the door. So they had been recently used, which made sense if the men had been living here.

He walked out and then went up the stairs. Now he was in an open space, more stairs directly in front of him. There was dust everywhere, battered furniture dotted around and an old television on a table. Toward the back was a glass-partitioned wall, which looked like an office. There was more activity here, and John looked closely at some open trunks on the floor.

Guns, in two of the trunks.

Mostly assault rifles, a few handguns. Different makes and ages, none were new.