Chapter 25: Ambush

Hospital rules for checking out and leaving the hospital are considered sacrosanct by hospital administrators and the North Kansas City Memorial Hospital was no different. Jonas had observed the insanity of requiring patients to ride in a wheelchair even if they didn't need it. It doesn't matter if the person being discharged is probably the healthiest person in the hospital, including doctors and nurses. It doesn't matter if there is a good chance that someone is being set up for an assassination. It doesn't matter if the patient the hospital is discharging is in real danger of dying outside their front door courtesy of a high power rifle. Rules are rules and the patient must leave the hospital in a wheel chair. That's why two SUV's with blacked out windows completely screened the front doors of the hospital. A shrouded figure was quickly wheeled through the doors by a big man. Immediately upon reaching the SUVs the figure leaped from the wheel chair and into the backseat. The big man pushing the wheelchair turned it and shoved it back toward the front doors before quickly following the shrouded man.

Jonas had identified the lookout in the lobby of the hospital by his aura and covertly pointed him out to their police escort. Two policemen had bracketed the man and took his cell phone immediately after he finished his call. The man was quickly searched, disarmed, and arrested. They waited until after the call because the whole idea was to draw attention to Jonas and Max. They wanted to distract the cartel crew away from Mary and Pam. Max was on his cell phone to Mary as soon as they had closed their doors.

"Mrs. Connors, we reached the SUV's out front safely," Max said quietly into his cell phone. "Don't worry. We let their man in the lobby see us and make a call before the police arrested him so we should draw any pursuit. You have enough firepower with you in your convoy to stop anyone. Plus you'll have the police with you within a block."

Two other SUVs with blacked out windows received similar passengers at the loading docks where hospital supplies were delivered. Two other SUVs received three passengers at an exit identified as 'hospital personnel only'. All three sets of SUVs went in three different directions. The only difference between them was the last set, the one with three passengers, picked up a police escort within a block of the hospital.

"Thank you Max," Mary said fervently. She wouldn't have attempted to come to the hospital if she understood how dangerous it was. She wouldn't have exposed Pam to this kind of danger either. "Please tell Jonas I said thank you too."

"I will Mrs. Connors. Stay safe," Max answered before hitting the end button on his cell.

Jonas and Max were low in the third row of seats of the second SUV in the convoy that had left from the front of the hospital. Jonas reasoned that anyone shooting at them would assume they were in the seat immediately behind the driver. The third row windows were the gull wing type and were opened so a rifle barrel could fire through. Jonas made sure the military grade M-16 that Clevis had generously ensured was in the vehicle had a round in the chamber and was off safe. He set it to three round bursts. Max had his own M-16 supplied by Clevis and got his ready too.

Jonas searched the buildings facing the hospital and Max checked the hospital side of the street as they left the broad entrance of the building. Their SUV was armor plated on the sides and all the windows were bullet proof but that didn't give either of them a lot of comfort. Both of them knew that wouldn't stop a professional sniper using .50 caliber rounds. Something like a Barrett M82 would tear through the sides of the SUV as if it were tissue paper. Both of them knew from experience that the Cartel was armed better than any police force and most military units. Neither would bet that their equipment was better than the cartels.

Jonas was the first to spot them. He was focusing as hard as he could to see auras and he saw the bruised dark yellow of an evil person on a building rooftop half a block from the hospital. "Sniper, ten o'clock, evade toward him," Jonas called to the driver. Jonas figured the closer they got to the building the harder it would be for a sniper to get the right angle to get off a shot. He hoped they would be close enough to force the man to rise up so he could shoot down. Max relayed the information to Clevis so the police could respond. Their hope was that between Jonas firing back and the police rushing the building the cartel ambush would get nervous and miss their first shots.

Jonas tensed as both vehicles accelerated rapidly and swerved into the left hand lane. He could read the intent in the auras and could see their indecision at the unexpected movement of their convoy. One of the men raised himself and leaned over the parapet of the building roof and tried to aim. The man fired just after Jonas did and Jonas could see the man flinch. The snipers bullet hit the front of the SUV and must have hit the engine. Two shots of Jonas's three round burst hit the top of the building edge. The third shot hit the sniper but Jonas couldn't tell where. He could see the flare of pain in the man's aura as he fell back. The SUV swerved hard left and started losing power as smoke erupted from the hood. A second man rose to fire and Jonas didn't wait for him. Jonas fired and two of his bullets hit the sniper. One must have hit his head because Jonas could see the man's yellow black aura disappear like water being sucked down a drain. The SUV coasted onto the sidewalk in front of the building that held the snipers and came to a stop with a grinding sound. Jonas didn't know if that one shot the sniper got off was an accident or on purpose. Either way it had effectively stopped their SUV right in the killing field.

"Damn, damn, damn," Max muttered as both of them and the driver dived out the left side of the vehicle. Jonas covered the building roof top on their side of the road and Max watched the buildings on the other side of the road. The lead vehicle pulled to the curb about 30 feet ahead of them and the four men inside took up position to cover the roof tops on both sides of the street.

Seconds later; it seemed like hours, a pair of police cars screamed down the street from the hospital with sirens shrilling and lights flashing. Jonas glanced back and saw Clevis running down the street from the hospital with his pistol drawn.