Dance Moms Bodyguard (8) JoJo and Talon

Chapter 17 : Counterpart

Dropping the tray, he ran up two flights of stairs to the fifth floor. The library was nowhere to be found, the place was an open-air coffee lounge under renovation. He knew he was tricked.

"Found the General?" a familiar voice asked.

A few tables away stood the same dark hair woman. Her hand fully extended, pointing a 443 Grach with a long silencer.

"I've been waiting for you. Morris." the woman said. "I was told to bring you in."

"Who are you?"

"Slava Rukavishnikova."

"Sorry! You need to run that by me again." Morris barely caught the long name.

"You're on the rogue list."

"You're with Orion?" the man blinked.

"European Branch." she nodded. "You need to come with me."

"Where's the General?"

The woman fired a shot, her silencer hissed, the bullet flew pass Morris' ear by an inch, and he knew it was a warning and not by accident. This woman could handle a gun.

"Don't make it difficult." she said coldly.

"You're making a mistake!"

She fired again, this time Morris ducked, the wall behind him blew off a chunk. He kicked over a table, sending a tray full of cutleries towards her, as she raised her hands for cover, he grabbed the table cloth, throwing over her like a net.

With her vision blocked, the woman fired randomly to keep her enemy away. Morris grabbed her from the side, caught her shooting hand and slammed her to a glass door, crushing her with his own mass.

"I'm not your enemy!" he had one hand pinning her gun to the glass, the other elbow applying force to the back of her neck. "Drop the gun or I'll break your neck!"

"Not before I stab you with my... HEEL!" she stomped hard.

Morris cried out as he felt a stabbing pain, as if her spiky heel has just went through his foot, but he didn't back down, enduring the pain and sent a punch to her guts.

The two struggled until they saw a red laser beam sweeping from the other side of the glass door. They both dived away before the glass was shattered by rapid fire.

"THEY are the enemy!" Morris shouted, drew out his own gun.

Judging by the sound, the intruders were using silencers too, meaning they were not with the authorities. Morris and Slava took cover behind a line of service carts, assessing the situation.

"Six with semi automatics." Slava reported, studying the reflection from a steel cart.

"Kiparis, thirty rounds!" Morris dodged a bullet.

"Hundred and eighty rounds." Slava dodged another. "And spare clips!"

"I make you a deal!" Morris yelled under the gun fire. "Help me find the General. I'll let you take me in!"

"I'm taking you in whether you like it or not!" Slava yelled back.

"Tell it to them!"

Morris detached a propane tank from under the service cart, the hose began hissing out the smelling gas. He released the brakes on the wheels, kicked the cart away with his feet. From the shooters, it was someone moving away using the cart as shielding, they aimed at the moving cart and fired, unaware of the flammable gas inside.

The bullet struck a spark, igniting the pressurized tank and turned into a fireball, sent out a powerful shock wave that knocked down people within the vicinity.

Morris and Slava came out from hiding, shooting at everything that moves. Morris emptied his gun, picked up a Kiparis from the dead and fired, across the room he saw Slava did the same, but with a giant shadow rising behind her.

Before he could give out the warning, the young woman swung her elbow high and back, striking the attacker on the nose. She sent a back kick to his groin, and then like a judo expert she caught his arm and slammed the attacker to the floor with a heavy thump, her moves swift and precise, knocked down the man twice her size.

With all the enemies down, they returned to their stalemate, this time with guns pointing at each other.

"How about our deal?" Morris asked.

"I don't trust you!"

"Do you know who I am?"

"They called you Talon of the Cold!" the young woman answered like the name was a warning itself.

"Then you know I'm good with my words."

"Your credits are high."

"And you'll get all of it, once you help me find the General."

Sound of people coming up from the stairs, shouting in confusion.

"What do you say?" Morris asked one more time.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

"I don't expect anything less!"

Quickly hid their guns, Slava let out a fearful scream, throwing herself at the first man showed up.

"Oh My God! They have guns!" she cried like a frightening girl. "They were trying to rob us!!"

"It's okay! It's okay!" Morris embraced her to play along, pointing away from the people. "They went that way!"

Seeing men ran the way he pointed, Morris and Slava quickly made their way downstairs.

"I need to find the General." Morris dusted the debris off his clothes.

"Siwanov is not here." Slava retouching her hair.

"Are you sure?"

"Why did you think I'm here? I figured you're looking for him. I followed the guest list here. He didn't check in."

"Then I need to find JoJo and get out of here. Go wait for me by the service entrance." Morris instructed.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy!" she touched her olive thigh, where she kept her Grach.