Chapter 9: Break Stuff

It was sheer willpower that kept Sara from continuing to contemplate Ian’s warning when they reached the club that night. They had quickly stopped over at Van’s apartment so he and Deaq could change into their pricey black Armani suits the headed to Ryde. As the three of them pulled up, they held back from going inside until Van explained her cover.

“Okay, this is your cover,” he began, looking straight at her with those beautiful clear blue eyes she was beginning to fall for. “You are Heather Winter, my girlfriend who wouldn’t take no for an answer tonight because it’s our one year anniversary, and you wanted me to take you out. When you meet Gallo, I will do the introductions, you just act pretty.”

“Hey, I don’t act,” Sara quickly shot him down. “I’m not ‘Jenny from the block,’ okay? I don’t like being looked at; I don’t like being just an object. 

“This wasn’t my idea, okay? Go yell at Billie when this is all over,” Van shot back. “Just stick to the cover. When Gallo starts getting aggressive, then you can turn into a bitch.”

“Whoa! Now you’re calling me a bitch?” Sara barked. “I saved you ass, buddy! How dare you go calling me a bitch?”

“Alright, guys, enough!” Deaq interjected before this fight grew to enormous proportions. “We have a job to do. Now is not the time to fight over something as stupid as this.”

Sara folded her arms across her chest, breathing steadily to get her temper in check as the valet opened her door and let her out of the car. The three of them stepped into the bouncing club where the party was just getting started. Deaq led them through the crowd to one of the VIP rooms upstairs where Gallo was already waiting for them.

Van wrapped his arm around Sara’s and pulled her beside him. She glared at him, wishing that this act was already over with so she could kick his ass. “Come on, my Lady,” he said with a snicker.

“Now you’re mocking my friends?” Sara almost yelled as they approached Gallo, but was soon quieted when she realized that the moment of truth was upon them. Instead of making a big deal out of what Van said, she merely dug her heel into his foot. He yelped in pain and shot her an angry look before proceeding to step into the room where Deaq was waiting for them. Van limped in, Sara at his side, a sly smile on her face.

Gallo stood up from his seat and looked at her suspiciously. There was a hint of recognition on his face, but the fact that Sara looked so utterly different confused him enough to keep his mind going in circles. “Good evening, boys,” he said in his cocky voice. “Who’s the pretty lady?”

“Gallo, this is my girlfriend, Heather. Tonight is our one year anniversary, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer when I told her I had business to attend to,” Van said, eyeing Sara to make sure she didn’t make any stupid remarks.

Gallo took her hand and gently kissed it, sending razors down Sara’s back, making her stomach flip with disgust. She wanted to pull away so badly when he said, “She’s a beautiful catch. You really shouldn’t have brought her along.” That last comment really made Sara sick. Ian was right; Gallo had been planning an attack that night, now she just wished she had taken his advice when he told them to stay away.

“Well, she wouldn’t leave me alone, so I had to,” Van replied, looking in her direction again to see Sara roll her eyes.

“When will you finish with this business you need to attend to, baby? I wanna go to dinner,” Sara wined like a little girl to make her cover believable even though on the inside she cringed at the thought of ever going out with Van. He was not the wonderful guy she once thought him to be. Instead, he was a stuck up little brat that had to have everything his way.

“Soon, babe,” Van replied, snapping Sara out of her thoughts and bringing her back into the current situation. She cringed again, this time at his reply. “Why don’t you step outside so we can finish business?”

The comment almost set Sara off, but remembering her cover, she bit back her pride and answered, “Sure, just make it quick, okay? I’m hungry.” Van nodded as she let go of his arm and walked out the door, her anger quickly changing into fear. Now outside, she pulled the gun from its hiding place and cocked it so it was ready to use.

Inside, Van and Deaq stood face to face with Gallo, their eyes never breaking contact as the tension in the room reached a fevered pitch. “I made the delivery,” Gallo said in a measured voice. “Now show me the cash.”

Van and Deaq looked at each other, then Deaq walked over to the wall where a modernistic painting was nailed to the wall. He pushed the painting aside to reveal a safe. After punching in the numbers, he opened the door and revealed the wads of cash that were inside. Gallo’s face lit up when he saw the money.

“One million dollars, large bills, as you asked,” Van replied. “We want to see the product.”

“Follow me,” Gallo beckoned as he headed for the door after Deaq bagged the money in a briefcase.

Sara heard footsteps and quickly holstered her gun just in time to see Gallo, Van, and Deaq walk out of the room. She grabbed Van’s arm and made sure that Gallo saw her do it. He didn’t object and kept leading them to the back of the club. A truck was waiting at the loading dock. Sara noticed Deaq slip his hand into his pocket and start fiddling with something inside. She knew it meant that Billie and her SWAT would be here in seconds, but those seconds were too far away. It was at this time Gallo decided to make his attack.

As the back door to the truck opened, several men appeared in front of them pointing automatic rifles at their heads. Gallo grabbed Sara and pulled her away from Van. He and Deaq held up their arms as two other men began to pat them down looking for weapons. As they pulled the guns out of the waistbands of their suits, Sara took the opportunity to grab her gun and place it against Gallo’s neck.

“Never underestimate the power of a pretty girl,” Sara said as Gallo held his arms up. Then the standoff began.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your name was Sara Pezzini,” Gallo evenly replied, keeping his voice in check.

“Well, surprise, surprise,” Sara answered, shoving the gun up against his temple. “Call your men back, Gallo.”

“So, you’ve been relocated to LA. How convenient?” Gallo shifted his position to better adjust to the gun being held against his face.

“Call your men back, Gallo,” she repeated, but it came out more like an order.

“We’ve found ourselves in quite a predicament, haven’t we?” he asked, his voice still calm and collected. “You shoot me, and my men shoot your boys over there.”

Sara risked a glance over at Van and Deaq to find that both were staring at her intently. She didn’t want a fire fight tonight, but she didn’t want Gallo to get away either. Before she was even able to make up her mind about what was the best possible solution to this situation, she heard several screams erupt throughout the club. Billie and her team were in the building advancing towards them. The distraction proved to be a valuable one.

Van and Deaq turned on the men that had taken their weapons and knocked them out as an explosion of fire power erupted from the truck. The loading dock was in chaos as Sara pushed herself away from Gallo and loaded her gun so she could take aim at the men that were now trying to kill her. She fired several rounds and managed to hit a few of the armed gunmen, but was soon overpowered. She slid behind a support beam, panting as she tried to think of what to do next. Billie was on her way, but this would soon end up getting her or her partners killed, so Sara did the only thing she could do, call upon the Witchblade.

As it materialized on her wrist into the gauntlet, Sara slipped out from her hiding place and slowly began to walk towards the men that continued to shoot at her. Their bullets harmlessly deflected off the Witchblade as she shielded herself with it. The men began to retreat, their fear rising. As Sara came up in front of them, she used the Witchblade to slay the first three in line. The others scattered like cockroaches. Without conscious thought, she took out several more men, her eyes gleaming with victory as the Witchblade took over her mind. But Sara soon realized she needed to get back to reality and forced herself to concentrate.

Bullets were still flying from all directions as Van took aim at the men in the truck. As he peered out from behind his support beam, he saw something that would put him in utter amazement and confusion. Sara stood in the middle of a retreating group of men, a very large sword and metal gauntlet encasing her right arm from her hand to her elbow. It deflected the bullets that were being relentlessly shot at her. Suddenly, she turned the tables on them, and all hell broke loose. She swung the sword at the men, killing them instantly as she continued to walk towards those that were retreating. Once they were all dead or maimed in some shape or form, the thing on her wrist disappeared, leaving the room completely quiet.

Van stood up and walked over to her, his face devoid of emotion as he looked at the immense amount of blood that had been shed in those few seconds. Sara turned to find him behind her, his eyes giving away what he had just seen. She frowned, not knowing what to tell him as Deaq came up beside them.

“What the hell just happened?” Deaq asked as he gazed at all the bodies at their feet. “Did you do all this by yourself?”

Sara remained speechless as she turned away, hiding her face from the sheer terror that someone had seen the Witchblade in action, someone who could potentially cause her a significant amount of pain.

“Freeze!” came Billie’s high pitched voice as she and her SWAT team entered the loading dock area, guns drawn. Seeing the many dead bodies on the floor, all eyes turned to Van, Deaq, and Sara. “How did you manage this?” Billie asked in disbelief as she lowered her gun and continued to stare at the horrible scene.

“It was…” Van began to say, but when he caught Sara’s distressed green eyes, he quickly added, “Gallo.” He instantly began to wonder why he had just covered for her, but soon realized what kind of trouble she would be in if he had told Billie exactly what happened.

“Too bad he wasn’t one of the men killed tonight,” Billie observed as she continued to take everything in. “And let me guess, you gave him the money?”

“Yeah,” Deaq sighed. He knew what they were in for now.

“Good,” she unexpectedly replied. He and Van shot a strange look in her direction. “Radioactive dye, remember? Uh… sometimes I forget how stupid you two can be.”

“Radioactive dye?” Sara questioned, unable to figure what she meant.

“It’s our way of keeping track of things,” Billie clarified. “Let’s get back to the office and I’ll explain further."

Chapter 10: Repercussions

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