[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

A loud thud shook the van as the front passenger tire dipped into an unseen hole about three feet wide, slamming the rubber up against the top of the wheel well. Quinn gunned the engine. The vehicle lurched forward, pulling itself back onto level ground. But the damage was already done. The tire was blown. And from the screeching, it sounded like the axle might be bent.

Quinn cursed under his breath and stopped the van.

'We can't stop here,' Orlando said.

'We don't have a choice,' Quinn said, emphasizing each word. 'The van is done.'

As he turned off the engine he glanced out his side window back toward the other two cars. They were still parked near the entrance to the site, but there was activity now.

The driver of the Volvo was walking over to the other sedan. A window rolled down, and the driver seemed to listen for a moment. A second later he turned and shouted something at the Volvo. The rear passenger doors of the Volvo flew open, and two men jumped out. They ran across the field, not straight for the van, but parallel to it.

'Out, out, out,' Quinn said.

The van had come to a rest at an angle that shielded the passenger side of the vehicle from the BMW and Volvo. Orlando shoved the door open, then slipped outside. Quinn quickly followed her.

As soon as he was outside, Quinn reached into his pocket and retrieved the remote triggering device. He turned the safety off and moved the channel switch to B. To ensure he didn't set the

explosives off prematurely, he held the device in his left hand. Across the field, another car door opened. 'Quinn?'

It was Borko.

'Quinn! Enough already, hey? You had a good run! But give it up, my friend! You have no chance!'

One hundred feet from where they stood, the woods encroached on the clearing. Quinn nodded toward them.

'You first,' he said to Orlando. 'I'll distract them. The moment you're in position, blow the van.'

He could see the hesitation in her eyes. 'We go together,' she said, then held up her gun. 'If we get to cover, we can pick them off. We won't have to set off the explosives.'

'That's not going to work,' Quinn said.

'Dammit, we can at least try.'

Quinn nodded tersely. 'Fine. We'll try. But if it's not working, we blow the van.' Orlando smiled weakly. 'Quinn, you're finished! Do you understand?'

Borko's anger was starting to bleed into his voice, 'Put down your gun and come out where I can see you!'

Keeping the van between them and the sedans, Quinn and Orlando began running toward the woods.

'You would think I'd have lost my patience by now!' Borko continued. 'You have done a great deal of damage! But it is only business! I understand this! Just as I am sure you'll understand I cannot let you get away!'

The trees were only ten yards away now. 'Borko, over here!' another voice called out from Quinn's right. 'They're almost to the woods!' Quinn glanced over his shoulder. He saw one of Borko's goons circling around the van. 'Run,' he said as he pushed Orlando in front of him.

They sprinted for the trees, Orlando a step ahead of Quinn. The forest was less than fifteen feet away when a sharp, burning pain ripped across Quinn's left thigh, knocking him into Orlando and dropping both of them onto the ground.

'Go!' he yelled at Orlando. It felt like his leg was on fire.

She pulled herself up again and began to run. As she reached the woods, she turned, a look of panic on her face. Immediately he realized what was wrong. She was no longer holding her gun. He could see it on the ground about a body's length in front of him. Too far for him to reach, and too far for her to come back. Yet that looked exactly like what she was about to do.

'No!' Quinn yelled. 'Run!'

A bullet slammed into a tree next to Orlando's head.

'Run!' Quinn yelled again.

This time she listened to him and quickly disappeared into the forest.

Quinn took a deep breath, then reached down to check his wound. He expected to find his leg shredded, but the bullet had only grooved a line across the back of his thigh, never fully entering the muscle.

He could hear the sound of running feet. He was never going to make it to the woods. He had to set off the explosives. Only when he went to push the button, the trigger was no longer in his hand.

'Turn over.' The voice came from only a few feet away. 'Slowly.'

Quinn did as he was told, trying as hard as possible to keep the pain that was screaming at him from showing on his face. As he finally rolled onto his back, he thought he felt something hard under his right arm. His triggering pad. But it was too far up, near his elbow. He couldn't reach it without being noticed.

Borko's man stood just to the side. In his hand was a pistol aimed at Quinn's head. 'I got him!'

Less than a minute later, the BMW rolled to a stop several feet away. Quinn looked over. First the front passenger-side door opened, and the driver from the Volvo got out. Then the back door followed suit, and out stepped Borko.