Quick Recap: Nicky was tricked into going into the Clarke Science Building which was set to explode. After managing to escape, he finds where Delfino is hiding.
Chapter 9: Face to Face
The snow was still falling hard but I managed to get across the quad to get to the writing center. The light that I saw was still on. The door was locked but it was glass so I used Viagra’s bat to smash it in.
If there were guards, they were bound to hear that. I didn’t have a gun, only the bat. I’d have to play hide and seek with them until I could get one off of them.
There was a stairway to the left of me, but that seemed too obvious. I went through the hallway to find another staircase. It seemed a little too quiet. All I could hear was the sound of the wind howling through the door I busted open. I expected somebody to come running after me shooting up the place. But it didn’t happen.
I found another staircase and started climbing up them. I walked slowly, holding the bat up in case I had to score a home run with someone’s head. Delfino was on the top floor of the building. I didn’t why he was here, or at the college in general, but I wasn’t about to let him get away.
I finally reached the top. I headed down the hallway and towards where I saw the light from the quad. Just then I was greeted by two goons with guns. I started running as they started firing away. Luckily, I was at a corner and rounded it just as bullets started piercing the wall. I had to think fast. I needed a place to hide. I opened the door to a room inside. I quickly but quietly closed the door. Standing against the wall, I waited for them to pass.
But unfortunately they were smart. They checked each room for me. So as they came into the room I was hiding in, I gave them a surprise.
With all my might, I swung the bat and smashed the first guy in the face. He immediately hit the floor with a shattered skull. The second one came after him. I nailed him in the stomach for his curiosity. As he hunched over in pain, I gave him a shot across the back and he slumped to the floor too.
I took a moment to catch my breath. I was starting to think that there wouldn’t be any guards and then two just popped out at me. I leaned down and grabbed the goons’ guns. I was going to be prepared in case there were any more surprises for me.
I continued walking down the hall. I came to the room where I saw the light. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to approach Delfino, so I figured I’d just wing it.
I kicked the door open and waltzed in with my gun pointed. There he was; Andre Delfino, sitting at a desk. At last we met face to face.
“I told you I’d come to you,” I said to him, my gun pointed straight at his head.
“Listen, this wasn’t my idea. I set this up, but it wasn’t my idea.”
I couldn’t believe it. This big, tough criminal was actually pleading with me.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked.
“No, someone high up is giving the orders. I think he’s even with the government.”
He was just trying to buy time. I wasn’t selling.
I cocked the gun. It might as well have been a signal.
Just then from behind me, three men in suits came bursting in with AK-47s. Delfino got up from his seat and started to run pleading, “No, no please, NO!!” His pleas were drowned by the blasts from the guns. He quickly became covered in a blanket of his own blood as he fell to the cold floor.
The killer suits then turned their guns toward me, but before they could fire, a man’s voice called out from behind them, “Hold your fire men.”
The suits parted like the Red Sea and another man in a suit came between them, followed by more suits. “Hello there, Mr. Badd. My name is Jack Harper.”
“How do you know my name?” I asked with growing suspicion.
“Oh, you’ve made quite the name for yourself in the past few hours. Now, I would ask you to put your gun down, unless you would like to have the same treatment as Mr. Delfino.”
I looked at all the men with AKs in their hands. There were at least ten of them. Even I knew when I’d been out-gunned. I dropped my piece.
“All right, now what the hell is going on?”
“Well,” said Harper, stepping closer, “let me answer your question with a question. Have you ever heard of the drug Ricochet?”
“No.”
“Of course you haven’t, because it is not even on the streets yet. And it’s easy to make, it can even be made in a college science lab, which that idiot Delfino was dumb enough to do. He wasn’t supposed to do any of this, but he’s incredibly stupid. Now I have to dispose of these illegal new drugs without it coming back to me.”
He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a needle with a green substance in it. He was quick. He grabbed my arm and plunged the needle into my skin. Harper pressed on the plunger and the liquid entered my veins.
When he was done he pushed me away. I had fallen for another trick tonight, the “I’m gonna be friendly and explain everything” trick.
The drug started to work its magic. I started feeling very weak and dizzy. I fell over as Harper and his men watched. I barely remember him saying, “We’re done here.”
I passed out shortly after. But it wasn’t over. I was about to go on the ride of my life.
