The Irish

                                    

                                          
Thea couldn't risk the sirens but she had the accelerator to the floor, her car swinging in and out of lanes haphazardly as she overtook every vehicle that was in her way. Her phone was connected to her car, Bens laughter, Brian's pain filled screams as his brother tortured him, her wife crying and begging for it to stop blasted through her speakers. It was harrowing but Thea still found comfort through the noise. Carla's voice was still reassuring to her despite what the young woman was clearly going through right now. Every time she spoke or cried out, the cop knew her wife was alive and that she still had something to fight for.
"I'm at the roundabout." She spoke calmly and clearly.
"Good, your missing all the fun! Take the third exit then the second left. it's a long road but I'm sure you'll find us."
Dial tone.
He'd ended the call. Why had he ended the call right at the last minute? He wanted to know her movements, make sure she didn't tell anyone but why cease communication now? She slowed right down, she didn't even know if this was really Ben's location or if Carla would be here at all but she had to go ahead, whatever was waiting for her.
The road turned into a smaller gravelled track, forcing her to go even slower which made her nervous but gave her time to peer through the windscreen for any signs of life. She brought the car to a stop and made a decision. Something is out there waiting for her and it knows she's coming but she could still have an element of surprise. Unfortunately that meant ditching the safety and cover of her car. She checked all her mirrors before exiting the vehicle and got her bag from the boot. She used the drivers door as cover while attaching her night vision goggles and held her breath when they whirred into life. Trying to hear over her heartbeat was not an easy task but she tried hard and couldn't hear anything or see any movement. Half crouched, she began moving as fast as she could along the track. 
Quietly she edged closer to the end of the track and a three storey property came into view. All its windows were boarded and it appeared abandoned but at least five cars outside and most importantly, a dark blue transit van. Helped by her night vision goggles, she expertly crept through the trees when she saw them. There must have been at least ten heavily armed men waiting for her. It was the Irish, she'd recognised them straight away. Three of the men she'd spent a lot of time with during her previous undercover operation but then they had been little fishes in a big pond. Now she'd put half of their gang inside, they'd stepped up and they were here for her. They wanted revenge.
Strangely she smiled, if they'd had wanted to get to her through her wife they'd have killed her by now. It made her feel happy that they were after her and not her wife. Yes, she had to get her away from Ben urgently but Carla wasn't in imminent danger. It fuelled her, made her determined to see her wife again, hold her wife again and she knew what she had to do. She'd have to be a crack shot, work quickly and methodically but it was possible.
The gang members began passing around bottles with rags hanging out of them, testing their lighters while they waited for her car to arrive. It was an ambush and they thought they had the upper hand but Thea was going to do everything she could to ruin it.
Lying flat on the grass, she crawled over to a better vantage point. They'd formed a semi circle in front of the entrance to the building, exactly where her car would've pulled up. It was dangerous but she had to get closer, the range on her gun wouldn't make the distance so she crawled to a tree ahead, the side of the building in front of her and a clear view of the gangsters on one side of the semi circle. Taking deep breaths she stood and aimed her gun. These shots had to be perfect, she wanted kill shots to the three criminals on the right and that would hopefully give her enough time to get round the back of the building, find some cover and pick the remaining seven off one by one.