God skidded to a hard stop behind Syn’s truck and Hart stormed past them, stopping only a few yards from the front of the warehouse. He, Day, Steele and Tech gathered close behind the rest of their team with their weapons raised. Big Mike shuffled back several feet when he saw them, keeping his back to the building and Green directly in front of him.
Syn had a death grip on Ruxs’s shoulder while he tried to negotiate with the cornered dealer. “Take it easy. Think this through, Mike. You don’t wanna do this.”
“Back up! I’ll do ’em! You know I will.” Big Mike had a menacing scowl on his sweaty, pale face as he glanced around at his fucked situation.
A few members of his crew were either dead on the street or had taken off like cowards, and now his getaway vehicle had been blown up, his most loyal soldiers eliminated. There weren't many ways out of this situation besides death or life imprisonment. God already knew which option the ruthless gang leader was going to take.
“Move back and let me inside. Then send Joseph in... I just wanna have a talk with him. Officer Green here can chaperone. Then you can come in and arrest me,” Big Mike said to Syn. “It’s just a quick talk.”
“That’s not gonna happen and you know it,” Syn answered.
Hart’s crew filed out of their tactical vehicle like the precision unit they were and set up riot barriers in front of God and his team. The activity made Big Mike anxious as he yanked Green in close, keeping his head directly behind his, making it impossible to get a good shot. God noticed Ruxs’s firearm had started to shake in his hands as he leaned into him and urged for him to stay calm.
“Michaels. Do you have a shot?” God muttered into his earpiece.
Dinah—Hart’s sergeant and SWAT negotiator—took over trying to compromise but she wasn't getting anywhere. Big Mike was demanding they retreat to the other side of the street, which wasn't going to happen. Then he wanted to go inside the warehouse with the hostage... something else that wasn't going to happen.
“Negative. I do not have the shot,” Michaels gritted. “I repeat. Negative.”
His sniper didn't have the time to get into a better position. God's heart started to hammer even harder as one of his enforcers stood helpless in front of him with a gun at his head, and dread in his eyes, and the other one was to his left begging for him to fix this.
“Michaels. Where the fuck are you?” Ruxs seethed into their comms. He was losing his shit the more Big Mike panicked and jerked on Green.
“Get back! Move! One less cop in the world will make me a goddamn hero in the pen. So, back up!” Big Mike hollered as more officers closed in.
Dinah continued talking, her voice smooth and even. “Don't make this more difficult on yourself, Mike. Right now, you haven't hurt or shot anyone. Detective Green is still alive. That means you got a chance at a deal. You can let him walk away—”
“Fuck that! You guys think I don't know what you got on me? You think I don't know about the witness?” Big Mike cocked his weapon and shrugged. “I'm dead anyway, right? I might as well take this annoying motherfucker with me.”
God flinched at Ruxs’s devastated ‘no’ he wailed from beside him. Syn and Day grabbed Ruxs around his chest when he tried to break through the SWAT shields.
“Don’t you fucking do it!” Ruxs screamed as angry tears streamed down his cheeks. “I swear to god, man... don’t you fuckin’ do it!”
“Mark. It’s okay,” Green said, his voice shaky but his deep brown eyes blazing with strength.
“Please! Please!” Ruxs begged, sounding so broken and desperate that God ached for him.
“Michaels, take the goddamn shot,” God growled.
“Negative. That’s a negative,” Michaels stressed.
“We have snipers all around you, Mike. And they have orders to put a bullet in your head if you kill any hostages,” Dinah lied, her voice rising. “You don't wanna die right here. Not like this.”
“Fuck you, bitch. Death means nothing to me. I've seen every damn thing but heaven anyway.”
“Have you seen hell?” Dinah asked cautiously. “Come on, Mike. Just let ’em go. No one has to meet their maker today.”
Big Mike pressed his gun so hard against Green's temple that it was starting to form a bruise. “The kid. Right. Now. I'm gonna count to three... then I'm gonna do him.”
God saw the hatred in Mike’s eyes and he knew he’d run out of time.
“Noooo!” Ruxs screamed. Day, Syn and Steele were just barely able to hold on to their team member as he fought to get free.
“Are you gonna save his life or not? One...” Big Mike started.
“No, please,” Ruxs cried. “God, help him.”