READER'S ROCK LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE VOL 2 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2014 Vol. 1 Issue 7 January 2014 | Page 83

Excerpt
tossed the place professionally.

maybe more. I heard ‘em running.”

My DOP kit was cut up the same way
as the travel bag. They’d even taken
the tops off the shave cream and
deodorant cans.

I heard car doors slamming, a big
motor starting, and suddenly a
Suburban was behind us. An
automatic began burping and bullets
started hitting the Ford and the cars
on both sides. I slid under an
Explorer as a line of bullets stitched
up the pavement where I’d been
laying. The Suburban driver hit the
gas; the big SUV peeled rubber and
took off. My ears were ringing from
the slugs hitting the pavement next to
my head. I hadn’t been hit.

“What’d you have they were looking
for?” Riggs asked as he holstered his
gun.
“Nothing, this is more to piss me off
than find anything. Of course, they
didn’t know that when they started.
Whoever it was made a hell of mess.”

From Chapter 23 of The Talus Slope:
At the Embassy Suites we parked in
the back lot and went to my room. As
I got out the key card, Riggs quietly
said, “I’ll go in first, Mr. Scott. You
hang back while I check it out.” I
nodded, opened my jacket and took
out the Beretta. Riggs’ eyes opened
slightly wider, he nodded, took out
his own gun, and said, “Unlock it.” I
slid the key card, opened the door,
and stepped aside.
Riggs had his Glock 9 millimeter in
the approved two-handed grip as he
entered. I followed him in, staying at
the door as he slipped down the short
hall. He stepped quickly around the
corner into the room swinging the
Glock from side to side. He turned
back toward me and said, “You’d
better come in. It looks like you’ve
had visitors.”
I holstered my gun, walked in, and
surveyed the mess. The few clothes
I’d hung in the closet were on the
floor. My carryon bag had been cut
up like the intruders had been looking
for secret compartments. All the
bedcovers were thrown aside and the
mattress and box springs were
displaced. Whoever broke in had

Riggs nodded as he glanced around.
“Let me call this in. We’ll get a team
out here. Maybe we’ll get lucky and
get a handle on somebody. Right
now, the only ones we know are the
Feng brothers. We don’t know
anybody else.”
I crammed my clothes into a laundry
bag, Joe hung the Do Not Disturb
sign on the door and we walked to the
front desk. Joe stepped up, flashed his
badge, and told the desk clerk to
leave the room undisturbed. An FBI
forensic team would be arriving in a
few minutes and would need to be
admitted. The clerk looked uneasy as
he agreed.
We headed toward the back lot and
the Ford. As I walked past the big
sedan, I heard the crack of a pistol
and a bullet whirred past my ear.
Riggs yelled, “Down!” I hit and
rolled. From under the car, I saw
Riggs scrambling around to face the
rear. I pulled the Beretta and jacked a
round into the chamber. I could hear
someone running although I couldn’t
tell how many. Riggs whispered,
“You okay?”

“Riggs---you still all right?”
There was no answer. “Riggs?
RIGGS?” There was only silence. I
rolled out from the Explorer and ran
around the Ford. Riggs was lying face
down between his car and a Cadillac
CTS coupe next to him. There hadn’t
been enough clearance for him to get
under either car. There was a line of
bullet holes in the middle of his back
from his belt to his head which was in
pieces. I didn’t have to check for a
pulse. I knew he was dead.
I pulled my cell and punched 9-1-1.
When the emergency operator came
on, I told her my name, where I was,
and that I was with a dead FBI agent.
She sounded shook up. She said
police cars and ambulances were
being dispatched. They would be
there within three minutes. I told her
we didn’t need the ambulance. She
told me to stay put and wait for the
police. She didn’t need to tell me
that…my legs were too weak to go
anyplace.

I stage whispered back. “Yeah. What
about you?”
“Okay,” he said. “I only heard one
round but there’re at least two guys,

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