Conjugated - A Jonnor Tale

Chapter Forty-two: An Unexpected Complication

Chapter Forty-Two: An Unexpected Complication

"They took Taylor?" Jude repeated, as if unsure of what he'd heard.

"Yeah," Domingo looked worried.

Jude felt worse than worried. "But Taylor is the one with the plan for getting us all out of here."

"I know," Domingo said, with a surprised expression. "It's an unexpected complication."

"I'd call the loss of the brains of the operation worse than a complication," Jude said. "We have to try to get them now, whether they lead us to Miguel or not."

"Okay," Domingo said. "Follow me, we have to hurry if we're going to try and intercept them." He broke for a pair of double doors at the side of the room, with Jude, Jay, and Nicole behind him. They burst into a hallway and ran to an end, where a door was marked EXIT in Spanish and English. Domingo burst through it into the garage, with Jude, Jay and Nicole piling behind him. Jude ducked instinctively at the sound of gunfire. He rolled behind a car with the others right behind him, Domingo whipped out a gun. "You armed?" he asked Jude.

"No," Jude said. "I'm a bloodhound, I don't carry a weapon."

"I can get over to them," Jay said. Ducking low, he scampered over to another car.

Domingo jumped up and fired two quick shots, he ducked back down as more shots came from the opposite direction.

"Let's split up," Domingo said, and dashed towards a car to the left.

Jude sighed and looked at Nicole, who was obviously very scared and had probably never been shot at before. "Let's just stay here," he said to her.

Domingo popped up and fired two more shots. At the same time Jay had made his way around the enemy shooter on the right. He ran forward, flipped over the hood of a car and then made a double roundhouse kick, knocking the shooter over with one foot and kicking the gun out of his hand with the other. He hit his head hard on the side of the car and slumped down, unconscious. "Got him," Jay called out to Domingo. "Don't shoot." He frisked the assailant for ammo and pulled out a clip, then fetched the guy's gun.

As Domingo ran up to him they heard tires squeal. Jay and Domingo sprinted through the garage with Jude and Nicole close behind them. A car was coming towards them, Jay aimed and shot out the right tire and then the left one. The car drifted to a stop and Jay ducked around a line of cars. Two men got out of the car with Connor and Taylor, both had guns that they trained on their hostages. Domingo kept his weapon trained on them but didn't fire.

They stopped at another car and the first guy, who was holding Taylor, opened the back door on the drivers side and pushed her in. The other guy holding Connor was about to do the same when Connor smacked the gun out of his hand with his right hand and lunged, pinning him against the car. The guy on the other side started to aim for Connor but Jay sprang out and with another double roundhouse kick knocked the gun out of his hand and sent it flying and knocked him down with the other foot. Then he shot out the rear tire and the window of the car. Connor punched the guy holding Taylor in the side of the head and she lunged forward and bit him on the cheek. He yelled in agony and she opened the car door and rolled out over him.

An SUV screamed to a halt in front of them and more men piled out with machine guns.

"We need to get out of here," Connor said to Jude and Nicole, who came up behind them. Taylor and Domingo joined them, and they hunkered down behind the car, using it as a barrier.

The back door of the SUV opened and a young Mexican man got out. His familial resemblance was unmistakable—it was clearly El Hermanito, the little brother.