Chapter 45: H-Day

Harlow

Sitting in the Mega Mart parking lot, I watched the heist unfold in the reflection of my rearview mirror. I’d parked near the gated entrance that led to the loading dock. It was surrounded by a chain-link fence where I could see several Seventh Circle members pacing near five semi-trucks.

Bonnie, Blayze, and Gunner kept watch from the adjacent parking lot so their bikes wouldn’t draw attention. Stella and Stitch, on the other hand, were already inside working undercover as dutiful Mega Mart employees. And for the next fifteen minutes, everyone else took turns walking inside and getting into position.

Tank was the first to go inside, followed by Shorty, then Butch. They all definitely blended in with the rest of Mega Mart’s typical clientele, wearing things like cargo pants and T-shirts with stupid phrases on them.

Goldie and Wyatt went in together. From the moment they stepped out of their van, they assumed the role of a bombastic couple and pretended to bicker as they made their way inside the store.

By now, I was starting to sweat. Not because I was nervous, but because my car was getting hot. I’d left the engine off so I wouldn’t cause any suspicion, so I rolled down both the driver and passenger side windows to let in some fresh air. As I did, I saw Cyrus and Red walk inside the store together. Without their cuts, no one paid them any attention.

Cyrus

The moment I stepped through the sliding doors, I was blasted by the cool air of Mega Mart’s industrial air conditioning system.

“There he is,” Red said, pointing at Stitch, who wore a blue vest and greeted people as they entered.

“Welcome to Mega Mart,” he said to Red and me as we approached. But instead of just waving to us, he shook my hand. “I hope you find everything you need.” He had slipped me a key card, which I placed in my pocket. Red’s eyes widened as we slowly walked up to one of the main aisles.

“Hey, be cool. You’re acting like you’ve never been to a Mega Mart before,” I said.

“I haven’t,” he replied, soaking it all in. “I buy local, so I never come here. Holy cow! This toolset’s only ten dollars!” He grabbed a box of tools and brought it with us.

As we continued toward the back of the store, I spotted Tank, Butch, and Shorty each pretending to shop. They maintained a good distance from us as they headed in our direction as well. But when I turned back to Red, I noticed he had grabbed more stuff.

“This twenty-pound turkey is only seven bucks!” he said enthusiastically.

“There’s no way you’re going to fit that on the back of your bike.”

“I’ll make it fit.”

As we neared the Home Improvement aisle, I could hear Goldie and Wyatt pretending to argue before we turned the corner. They were both sitting in electric shopping scooters, yelling at one another.

“Well, I say we should get the dual-flush toilet!” Goldie shouted.

“And I say the single-flush works just fine!” Wyatt fired back. Taking her cue off me and Red approaching, she initiated phase two of their plan.

“Then I want a divorce!” Goldie rammed her shopping scooter into Wyatt’s, then backed up and went speeding down the nearest aisle.

“Hey! Get back here!” Wyatt followed behind. Customers and employees looked on in shock and confusion.

That’s when I saw Stella grab a nearby wall-mounted phone and call for security over the loudspeaker. The four Mega Mart security guys on duty ran after Wyatt and Goldie, who had just made a lap around the store. While they were distracted, Tank made his way into the security control room to turn off and erase today’s security footage.

Meanwhile, Stella led Red and me to a nearby changing room where she had stored away extra employee vests. “I’ll meet you at the loading docks,” she said as we went inside and changed. The vests were a little snug on us, but they worked.

When Red and I made it to the back of the store, I used the key card to get us into the restricted area where the Mega Mart inventory was stored. As we waited for Shorty and Butch to join us, I realized that Red was still carrying his toolset and turkey.

“Seriously?” I said.

“What? These are really affordable.”

“But you’re not even paying for them.”

Red smiled when it dawned on him. “Oh yeah.”

When Shorty and Butch arrived, also wearing employee vests, we all casually walked to the loading dock, where Stella was already flirting with the Seventh Circle members. They were carrying sidearms, but their focus was on Stella’s ass, and they didn’t notice Shorty and Butch walk up behind them. They soon found themselves staring down the barrels of guns, and Shorty disarmed them while Butch forced them all into a nearby storage room.

While that was going down, I started searching the trucks with Red. We quickly found the boxes we were looking for using a black light. A yellow “X” illuminated when the lights hit them. I was awestruck when I picked up one of the kilos of heroin. One brick of powder in my hand was worth more than $30,000. People died and killed for the stuff. Moving quickly from one truck to the next, we found a total of 165 kilos of powdered death in the marked boxes.

I nodded to Stella once we had it all, and she waved for Harlow to join us. Then Stella went inside to let Goldie, Wyatt, and Tank know that we were good to go. Shorty and Butch went to get their bikes and wait with Bonnie, Blayze, and Gunner while Red and I loaded the smack into Harlow’s car. All in all, it took us about ten minutes.

“Ok,” I said to Harlow. “We’re good to go. The others will escort you out. I’ll catch up with you on the highway—” But just then, the sound of gunfire rang out. A sharp pain burrowed into my skull, and I found myself on the ground. Touching the back of my head, I felt blood. I’d been shot.

“Cyrus!” Harlow shouted.

Momentarily stunned, I could barely make out Harlow being pulled from her car by an additional Seventh Circle biker. He pushed her aside, hopped behind the wheel, and took off with her GTO.

Harlow leaned over me. “Cyrus! Say something!”

Red and the others gathered around as well. I sat up after everything stopped spinning.

“Ouch!” I said, rubbing the back of my head as the bullet worked its way out. “Where the hell did he come from?”

“No idea,” Red said. “There was one more than Madoc’s henchmen said there’d be.”

“Are you alright,” I asked Harlow, who looked a bit shaken up.

“I’m fine, but he took my car!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” I said, standing up. “Let’s get ‘em!”

A few minutes later, Harlow and I were flying down the highway on my bike in hot pursuit. Everyone else followed behind us.

Morning highway traffic was heavy as people headed into work, but I raced my way in-between cars and trucks with ease. Soon, I spotted a green spec swerving in and out of traffic ahead. It wasn’t long before we were right behind him.

Fortunately, the driver didn’t seem to notice us riding his a**. He was too busy trying to pass a truck ahead of him. And that’s when Harlow decided to do something I’d never expected.

“Pull up on the passenger side!” she yelled in my ear.

“Are you crazy?” I shouted back.

“Do it! I’ve got an idea.”

With no other options, I did as I was told and started driving on the narrow shoulder. Harlow then motioned for Red to do the same on the driver’s side. Before long, both bikes were next to the car doors, close enough to touch them.

“Stay close,” she shouted. But before I could respond, Harlow reached out and gripped the roof of the car. In one swift motion, she kicked her legs through the open window.

“Holy sh*t!” I exclaimed.

I watched her feet make contact with the driver’s face as she swung into the car while Red pulled the driver side door open. The impact caused the driver to fall out the door and onto the highway. Harlow quickly grabbed hold of the wheel and kept it steady as she pulled the driver side door closed. She looked over at me and gave me a wink. I still couldn’t believe what I’d just seen.

“Piece of cake!” she yelled.

Piece of cake. Right. It wasn’t the cleanest of getaways, but all in all, we were back on track. Which meant it was time to get down to the final piece of business: taking out the vampire.