No Burrows Left (1)

10:45 AM

The only thing Victoria could think about as she got into the red car was getting through breakfast and getting to the doctor. She felt weak and listless, and the fever wasn't going away.

Shifu got in on the driver's side and looked at her. "You sure you don't want to stay home and let me make something."

She shook her head. "No. Let's just go, so I can see the doctor."

He started the car but didn't put it in gear right away. When she looked up, she caught him staring at her. His expression was strange. She couldn't tell if he was concerned or angry at her. "Let's go, Liu Shifu," she said gently. "I've got an appointment."

He put the Calais into gear and backed out of the driveway. She glanced sideways at his profile.

She couldn't figure out if this was the good Shifu or the bad Shifu.

As he pulled out onto Sunset Street and headed toward the end of the block, she noticed the Christmas decorations on the neighbors' houses and worried about the upcoming holidays.

Shifu hated Christmas. It always made him surly and suspicious because it reminded him of all the things he hadn't had as a child. She worried that he wouldn't keep his black mood to himself this year and that he'd ruin the holidays for her and the kids.

She looked at him again as he signaled to turn left at the end of the block. "Liu Shifu?" she said.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Do you want—"

"Shifu! Look out!"

Screeeech!

Suddenly a big black shape appeared right in front of them.

A black bully van had drifted out onto the road ahead of them and was coming straight at them.

The van's brakes screeched, and it swerved right into their path, blocking the road ahead.

Screeeech!

Victoria felt the pull of their car as her husband stomped on the brakes.

"Oh, God! Shifu! Shifu!"

Her heart was pounding. Her only thought was that the driver had just had a heart attack, that he'd lost control of the van and was going to plow right into them.

Skrrrt!

Then suddenly men jumped out of the van with weapons drawn and pointed at them!

Seeing Shifu shifted off the brakes and pressed down on the accelerator, shifting gears, the car tore down the road bearing down the road at the van.

"So, that's how they wanna play this-"

Vroom! Vroom!

''Go! Go! Go! Take him! Take him down!"

Smith didn't wait for ATF Special Agent Ray Goger to stop the car they were in before he leaped out.

They had just driven by the Shifu house and seen Shifu getting into the red Oldsmobile.

Smith, who was in constant radio contact with the black van, had given the order to move in.

Skrrrrt!

Cars began screeching onto the scene and plainclothes officers spilled into the street. Another black bully van blocking the road behind Shifu.

Smith drew his gun and led the pack running down the street toward the black van to assist with the arrest.

Standing in the middle of the street, the red car speeding right at him, Paul Smith could see Shifu's large frame behind the wheel.

Options flew through Smith's mind: He could either jump out of the way and hope he wouldn't get run over, or he could shoot.

But as he gripped his weapon, he could see that there was someone else in the car with Shifu.

Maybe one of the kids, he thought. If he started off the shooting, the gunfire would be so heavy the person in the passenger seat would die for sure. Then there was the matter of stray bullets ricocheting off the vehicle.

This was a residential neighborhood; someone could get hit.

Wrooom!

But the red car was bearing down on him now, and it wasn't going to hit just him. Shifu was going to mow down every man in his way, men Smith had known and worked with for years. Paul Smith's finger tightened on the trigger.

Varoom!

The red car kept coming.

Woosh!

He started to squeeze the trigger, resolved to shoot, but then suddenly the red car bucked and began to slide. Shifu whipped it into a drift and swung the car into a 180 degree J turn.

Skrrrrt!

The three state troopers from the other black van—Detectives Pat Kane, Ernie Volkman, and Dennis Vecchiarelli— began running toward the car, shouting as they came. ''Freeze! Police! Stop the Car!"

But Paul Smith, who was now the closest man to the car as it began to slide and drift back the way it came, kept his eyes on Shifu at the wheel.

Suddenly Smith heard the unexpected sound of shattering glass amongst the spinning tires.

Shifu had smashed his elbow through the driver's side window, Smith instinctively shouted "Duck!" as he dove to the ground!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots rang out, as Shifu fired out the window as he drifted the car around.

The shots fired only a couple meters away ripped through the neck of one of the ATF agents beside Smith, who hadn't reacted in time, with the last two bullets hitting the side of the black van where Smith had just been stood.

The red Oldsmobile roared down the road back towards the house. Smith got up and fired back at the car aiming for the tires as he unloaded five shots from his pistol.

Missing, he looked back and saw Agent Goger, covering the neck of the ATF agent who had been shot, trying to stop the blood that was gushing from the poor lad's neck.

"Ambulance, someone call an ambulance!"

"Shit! This is gonna be a shit show!"

"Shot's fired! Shots fired! Shifu just fired at us and hit an officer, he's reversed and headed back towards the house! Be warned there's an unidentified passenger in the car! Aim for the tires, if possible!"

Smith scrambled as he screamed into the radio.

"Ray call it in and get an ambulance to come down, get Trainor and Cortez to move in and help cover this exit, I'm heading down to help the other side, we've got to keep boxing him in!" Smith called out turning Agent Ray as he ran down the road after the car.