The Final Showdown Pt. 1

Sarah woke up an hour or so before everyone got up to cook breakfast. She got up, took a shower, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and changed into one of Jack's very oversized shirts, it looked like a dress against her frame. Sarah happily walked to the kitchen to get breakfast started. When she came into the living room she could see that Jack was still sleeping, so she tipped toed towards the kitchen, trying not to wake him up. As soon as she got into the kitchen she immediately got to work. She even made a cute little signed to hang up for everyone that said:

Sarah's Menu

- Homemade Pancakes with a boysenberry lemon reduction

-Turkey bacon and regular bacon

-Scrambled eggs with pepper jack cheese

- Hash browns

- Homemade blueberry and chocolate chip muffins

-Fresh Fruit

-Fresh squeezed orange juice

-Coffee

Jack awoke to the wonderful smells of Sarah's food. He was excited to see what she decided to make for breakfast today. Jack quickly got up to go get ready. By the time Jack was done freshening up, Sarah was already setting the table. "It smells wonderful," Jack said with a smile as he entered the room. Sarah, a little startled, jumped and laughed. "Why thank you! I tried my best to make something really special this morning," Sarah said, smiling brightly. Jack looked over Sarah and smiled to himself at the sight of her in his clothes. He could wake up to this every morning, he said to himself. "Good morning you look beautiful today," Jack replied. "Awww thank you," Sarah said blushing. "You look very handsome today as well."

"How about you sit down and get yourself comfortable. Breakfast is almost ready and everyone should get up pretty soon," Sarah said, as she walked back to the kitchen. Jack just smiled to himself, as he went to sit down at the table. "What's for breakfast?" Jack asked, as Sarah re-entered the room. "I'm glad you asked," she said smiling. "I made a cute little menu to put on the table for everyone to see." "Wow you are just full of surprises, aren't you?" Jack said, smiling and looking over the menu. "Everything sounds good and I know it's going to taste even better." "You don't know that." "I do because you are the one making it," Jack said smiling. Sarah looked at him and the way the sun was coming through and kissed his skin, he looked like a GOD, and if she wasn't in love with him before she definitely is now.

He looked like perfection basking in the sunlight. Even his scars glowed beautifully. Sarah sat and admired the beautiful man in front of her. "He is so handsome," Sarah said to herself as her eyes twinkled with admiration. Jack sat scrolling through his phone and checking to see if he missed any important messages. Sarah was snapped out of her trance by the sound of Johnson's baritone voice. "It smells heavenly here Sarah." Sarah turned to smile at him. "Thank you Johnson and good morning." "Good morning Sarah," he said, returning her smile. "You got up just in time, breakfast is just about ready. I just need to put on my finishing touches and I'll be back," Sarah said leaving the room.

Mike woke up to the sun beaming on his face. "Mmm what time is it?" He asked himself, while rubbing his eyes. He rolled over to pick up his phone and he could see that it was 8:30 am. As he rolled back over there was a knock on his door. "Come in,"Mike said groggily. Ashley opened the door with a huge smile on her face. "Are you going to come and eat breakfast?" she asked, smiling down at him. Mike rolled over, slowly placing his feet on the ground, trying to shake off the cobwebs. When Mike finally looked up, he saw Ashley standing in the middle of the room smiling brightly. The sun was shining down on her, the sunlight was reflecting off her hair and skin, and her smile just seemed so warm.

Mike froze at the sight of her, he never knew she looked so beautiful. "Hello? Earth to Mike," Ashley said laughing as she bent down to face him. When Mike finally focused, he was staring Ashley in the face. Her gray eyes were so beautiful, he could get lost in them for hours. Mike immediately jumped back, after realizing that she was too close. Ashley fell out laughing. "What planet did you go to?" Ashley said through laughs. Mike smiled, as he got up and playful mushed her out the way, "I went to plant none of your business," he said as he walked past her and out the door. Ashley came out right behind him still holding her stomach from laughter. "You don't like when people get all up in your personal space huh?," Ashley said laughing. "That was payback for last night," she said, smiling menacingly.

Mike walked to the bathroom and closed the door. "Was she always that beautiful?" Mike asked himself. When he finally looked at himself in the mirror, he could see himself smiling and blushing. Mike slapped himself, "get it together Mike. You can't let nothing deter you from getting Sarah back." Mike took a deep breath and proceeded to get in the shower, trying not to smile. He was in a shower for a good 30 minutes before he got out. He walked over to the mirror, wiping the fog away, as he began to brush his teeth. When he was done, he wrapped the towel around his waist and used the other one to dry his hair. As he was coming out and drying his hair off, Ashley was coming around the corner to finally get in the shower and get ready.

As soon as Ashley turned that corner, she ran right into Mike. Ashley immediately screamed and profusely apologized. "Omg I'm so sorry," she said as she tried to avoid looking at his dripping wet body. Mike laughed as he walked past her, "your future husband's body looks amazing doesn't it," he says to her with a sinister grin, as he heads back to his room. Ashley immediately runs into the bathroom, closing and locking the door. She immediately pressed her back against the door frame as she placed her hand over her racing heart. "Omg his body is amazing," Ashley said as the image of his 6'4 240 pounds of pure muscle and 6-pack frame popped up in her head.

"Was he always that sexy? Shit I can see why Sarah chose him," Ashley said to herself as she smiled. "No Ashley," she said to herself, as she swatted at the air, trying to remove the thought cloud that popped up. "Focus Ashley. You cannot be thinking about that amazing body," she said smiling and blushing. She softly punched herself in the head. "Get it together girl," she said, as she ruffled her hair in frustration and got in the shower. When Ashley was done showering and getting herself together, she headed towards the living room. As soon as Ashley turned the corner she saw Mike and Johnson sitting on the couch and talking. Ashley looked over at Mike as he sat there, talking to Johnson about who knows what.

Mike looked up at her and smiled at her menacingly. Ashley jumped and quickly looked away, walking towards the kitchen. "Good morning Sarah, is breakfast ready?," Ashley says as she enters the room. "Good morning Ashley. Yes it is, you can go ahead and sit down at the table and I'll bring it right out," Sarah stated. "Let me help you take some of these things out," Ashley says smiling. "Are you sure because I can handle it," Sarah said. "Yea I don't mind," Ashley says as she picks up a few food items that Sarah had laid out and left to go place it on the table. Sarah smiled as she picked up a few more items and followed right behind her. "Breakfast is ready everyone," Sarah said, as she finally placed the last few items on the table.

"Everything smells good Sarah," Mike said. "Aww thank you Mike," Sarah says, smiling softly. Ashley tried to avoid eye contact with Mike as she sat down at the table, but when she looked up she could see Mike sitting right across from her, smiling. Ashley quickly turned her attention towards her phone. When Sarah came back from the kitchen, with the last few items and her menu, Ashley couldn't help but notice her outfit. "Sarah, where did you get that dress shirt? Ashley asked. "Oh this isn't mine, it's Jack's," Sarah answered with a smile. Both Mike and Ashley looked at each other and back at Sarah. "Mhm okay, I guess," Ashley said, getting angry. Sarah then placed her handwritten menu in the middle of the table and sat down. "Sarah, that is very creative," Johnson said as he looked over the menu items. "Everything sounds delicious," Mike added. "Well I hope it tastes delicious. I tried something a little different today," Sarah said shyly. "I'm pretty sure that it is going to be delicious. Everything you cooked is amazing," Jack says. "This is definitely one of the things I missed, while you were in a coma." He added.

"Ok everyone let's eat," Sarah said as she wiped away a single tear that escaped her eyes. "This food is divine," Mike says. "It definitely is," Johnson said in agreement. "You really should try becoming a chef because this is amazing," Jack added. "You guys are too good to me," Sarah said smiling, trying to hold back tears. As everyone sat and ate, all Sarah could do was look at them and smile. She was so grateful for meeting such amazing people that became her family and was willing to put their life on the line to protect her, and she would definitely do the same for them. This was the first time in her life that she ever felt whole. She was so happy, despite everything that has transpired, because if it didn't she wouldn't have been able to meet these amazing individuals that she loves and cares for deeply.

When everyone was done eating, Johnson and Mike helped clear off the table and wash the dishes. "So it's 10:00 am right now. How about we head over to the police station and talk with them and then we can go pick up both of your cars and head to lunch," Jack said. "Sounds like a plan," Johnson said, coming out of the kitchen. "Okay is everyone ready to head out?" Ashley asked. "Yea I believe so," Sarah responded. "Uhm, what about me?" Mike asked. "We can come get you on the way to get lunch," Sarah said. "So I can't come with you to the police station?" Mike asked, confused. "Unfortunately no, because you don't have the security clearance and it's too late in the game to try to get you one," Jack explained. "Plus I don't want to put you in any more danger," Sarah said, walking up and hugging him. Mike sent daggers at Jack as he hugged Sarah back.

"I understand," Mike said looking down at Sarah. Sarah smiled at him and said, "thank you for understanding. Can we also stop by my place while we are out. It's been a while since I've been home," Sarah said. "Yea sure no problem," Jack replied. They all got their things and headed out, while Mike stayed back at the house. "Hopefully this meeting goes well," Johnson said as they all got in the car. "Yea I hope so too, because they were very hostile when we were there yesterday," Ashley said. "Yea me too, because no one has time for that James dude attitude," Jack said as he pulled out and into traffic.

At the police station James and Jones sat at their desk going through all the records they had on both mafia gangs. "Did you find anything?" James asked. "I have a few places they could be, but I don't know if my intel is correct," Jones says. "How about you?" "I don't really have much but old locations, and I highly doubt they would go back to them after we raided them," James said. "True, but you never know," Jones said. The chief came out of his office and walked over to their desk, "do either of you have any good intel on these people?" He asked. "Unfortunately no chief, we only got a few things, but nothing concrete," James replied. "Shit!," the chief said, frustrated. "We need something, because we can't let them be the ones to come in and take down the two largest mafia gangs in this city, that we have been fighting so hard against for years," the chief stated.

"You're right chief, but unfortunately we don't have nothing and the things we do have, I don't know if it would lead us to anything," Jones stated. The chief huffed, as he turned around to head back to his office. "It already seems like it's gonna be a long day," Jones said. Just as James was about to respond, he looked up from his computer, and saw Jack, Ashley, Johnson, and Sarah walking in. James turned his face up in disgust and replied, "yea it's definitely about to be a long fucking day." Jones looked up at his partner, confused as to why he was making that face until Jack came up and said "did you miss me," smiling facetiously. James' eyes twitched as he tried to conceal his anger.

Jones stepped in between them trying to deescalate the situation. "Are you here to see our chief again?" Jones asked. "Yes we are, we have some intel and a few other things we would like to discuss with him," Jack replied, never breaking eye contact with James. "Okay why don't I tell him that you all are here," Jones says with a nervous laugh. "You all can sit down and wait right here. I'll be right back." Jack didn't even respond to Jones, he just kept staring back at James, as Jones awkwardly walked away to get the chief. *Knock* Knock* "Come in" "hey chief Sarah Jenkins and her people are here to see you," Jones said as he popped his head in the door. "You can send them in," the chief said.

Jones closed the chief's door and walked over to where Sarah and everyone was sitting. "The chief said you can go right in," Jones said as he escorted them to the chief's office. As soon as they started walking to the office, James got up from his desk to head in with them as well. "What do you think you're doing?" Jack asked, looking at James sideways. James didn't even respond, he just kept walking towards the chief's office, bumping his shoulder into Jack's and proceeded to sit down on the couch inside. As soon as they all entered the room and sat down, Jack told the chief, "I don't think he is needed for this meeting." The chief came from around his desk and sat down right next to James. "I don't think it would be a problem if he stays. Considering we all will be working together to complete this mission." Jack looked at the chief and then at James, mugging him in the process.

"I believe the chief is right, Jack. If we are wanting this mission to go off without a hitch, we are going to need to work together and trust each other. Especially since we are all putting our life on the line for this," Sarah said while placing her hand on his to get him to relax. "You're right Sarah," Jack said as he relaxed a bit. "Now that's out the way, what do you have for me?" The chief asked. "Well we don't have much when it comes to either mafia members' locations." The chief smiled, feeling like they were going to be useless. "But I do have a number that Mr. Harrington personally gave me a few months back when his rival gang stormed our office and told me to call him when I was ready," Sarah continued. The chief smile immediately dropped at the new information that Sarah just gave him.

"Wow whoopty fucking do, you got a phone number. What does that mean?" James said rudely. "That means-" "Jack it's okay," Sarah said, cutting him off while trying to hold him back from attacking James. "That means, I will call him and set a time for us to meet at an undisclosed location and when I meet him, I will be wearing an undetectable recording device and once I give the signal. My team and your team will storm the building and arrest him immediately. Does that give you better clarification?," Sarah said a little aggressively. James leaned back on the couch and said nothing. "Mhm that's what I thought. Now onto the other gang members, have you found any locations on them?" Sarah questioned.

The chief looked over at James to see if he would respond, but he didn't. He sighed as he turned towards Sarah to answer her question. "Unfortunately no, we have not had the opportunity to pinpoint an exact location for them at the moment," he explained. "Oh okay. Well you need to figure it out, so we can kill two birds with one stone," Sarah stated. James snickered, "we need to-" "you know what it's whatever man. Chief I don't think this bullshit alliance is going to work out," James said as he got up to leave. Jack just silently laughed to himself as he watched James storm out. "If you're gonna want this to work, you're going to need to check your employees, because with one little phone call, that position you're sitting in, can be taken away," Sarah said coldly.

"I'm sorry, let me go talk to him," the chief said as he got up and left. "That bitch ain't gone keep threatening me," the chief mumbled under his breath. "James imma need you to cooperate with them because if you don't, you will be jobless. I'm not going to lose my job and pension for you," the chief said through gritted teeth as he got in his face. "Now you take your ass back in their and play fucking nice," he said as he pointed towards his door. James stared the chief down as he stormed back into his office and did as he said. The chief composed himself, fixing his suit before he headed back in, while Jones watched on in shock. "Well this should be interesting," Jones said as he headed in after the chief. "Okay well since we have a somewhat solid plan, how about you call the number Harrington gave you and see if he answers," James said as he sat down.

Sarah pulled out her phone and dialed the number. Her heart fiercely pounding after each ring. "Hello," the person said as they answered the phone. "Mr.Harrington?" Sarah questioned. "Sarah is that you?" "Yes it's me." "It's nice to hear from you. It took you a while to finally call me," Harrington said. "Well fighting for your life and freedom will do that for you," she replied. Harrington deeply laughed, "I guess so." "I think it's time we meet, we still need to finish our conversation," Sarah said aggressively. "I guess I can give you that," Harrington said. "You guess?" Sarah pauses, "I'm a wanted murderer because of you and your rivals want my head," Sarah said slightly yelling, trying to contain her anger. "Well shit they want my head to," Harrington said matter of factly. "Look, let's cut to the chase. When and where can I meet you?" Sarah asked, getting agitated. "I'll text you a time and place," Harrington said as he hung up the phone.

Sarah was internally freaking out, as she stared out into the distance, still holding the phone to her ear. "What did he say?" Jack asked eager to know and snapped Sarah out of her trance. "Hm?" Sarah said. "What did he say?" Jack asked. "Shit was it even him?" James asked rudely. Jack shot him a death stare before focusing his attention back to Sarah. "It was him and he said he will text me a time and a place to meet," Sarah said, still out of it. "He agreed to meet with you?" James asked, astonished at the fact. "Yes he did," Sarah told him. "Wow," the chief exclaimed. "I can't believe it. We have been trying to get this man for years and you make one phone call and get him to meet," Jones said in amazement. "Since we got that out the way we need to make sure to be on our Ps and Qs when he finally sends a location," Jack says.

"Yes we definitely do," Johnson stated. "Hey Johnson, let's get some of your men to stand by with us at the meeting spot. We don't know what we're gonna to be walking into," Jack said. "Will do, I'll call them later to give them a heads up," Johnson replied. "Ok since we don't know when he will send a text, how about we call it a day for now, and when he texts Sarah, we will come back to get everything set up," Jack said to the chief. "Yea let's do that," the chief said.

"Ok let's go," Sarah said as she quickly got up and left. Jack, Ashley, and Johnson immediately followed suit. "Can you believe that bitch?" James said, pissed off. "She walks right in here and gets a meeting with the head honcho himself and we couldn't even get a meeting with one of his lackey's to save our lives," James huffed. "Well I hope this goes well, because if it does, it would be one of the greatest arrests in our entire careers," the chief said. Jack, Sarah, Ashley, and Johnson headed to pick up their cars from the hospital, then they picked up Mike, and headed to lunch.

Once they were done eating they headed over to Sarah's house. Once Sarah walked through the door, she immediately felt a sense of sadness. The last time she was home, she left as a regular secretary bored at life and now she's returning a woman whose whole life was a lie. Sarah walked in and looked at her home with a sense of melancholy. "It's been a while since I've been home and everything looks the same," Sarah said as tears rolled down her face. Jack walked over to her wrapping his arms around her to comfort her. "It's okay Sarah. Everything is going to be fine," Jack said. "I'm not crying about the mission," Sarah said looking up at him. "Oh I know. You're crying because home doesn't feel like home anymore, because the person you were when you lived here isn't the person you are now or ever truly was to begin with," Jack said, hugging her tighter.

Sarah slightly snickers, "you know me so well I see." "I guess I'm psychic," Jack says as he laughs. Jack felt a sense of relief when he saw Sarah cheer up. "Ok let me get a few things and we can leave. You don't mind me staying with you for a little while longer do you?" Sarah asked Jack. "No I don't mind at all staying as long as you like," Jack stated. "Thank you Jack." "No problem Sarah." "Did he just invite this bitch to live with him," Ashley said angrily to herself. "We need to hurry up and get this mission over with, so me and Mike can hatch our plan and separate them for good." Sarah spent about 30 minutes going through her things and packing things up. Once she was done she had about 4 large suitcases stuffed to the brim with all her items. "We can go home now," Sarah said smiling.

Harrington pulled up to his warehouse to check it out and see how his men were doing. As soon as he came through the door, he was treated like royalty. He immediately got his shoes taken off of him, with a glass of Jack Daniel's whiskey and a freshly cut cigar being handed to him in the process. Harrington walked down the hallway to his office and sat down on his chair, as if it was a throne. "Bring in my second in command so I can get my reports," he said, after taking a sip of his drink and lighting up his cigar. "Yes sir," one of his lackeys said, quickly leaving to bring him to Harrington. "Mr. Harrington wants to see," he said to Zack, Mr. Harrington's second in command. "What?! He's back?" Zack said happily as he walked over to his office. "Hey boss. We missed ya round here," Zack said, greeting him.

"Yea I missed you all too," Harrington said, getting up and hugging him. "So what's up?" He asked. "I need a report on what's been going, since I've been gone," Harrington stated. "Well DTS hasn't really been making any noise lately, but I heard through the grapevine that Sal is dead and Dom is the one who killed him and his mother," Zack said. "Wow, I guess anyone can be added to his kill list, probably even his own mother," Harrington said laughing. "Nothing else significant transpired?" He asked. "No, not much. Everything seems to be going smoothly," Zack stated. "That's good to hear. I'm going to be heading back out of here soon, if anything happens contact me," Harrington told Zack as he went to sit back down. "Will do, sir. It's nice to see you are back," Zack said before exiting.

Zack headed back to his post. "Where did you go?" Eli asked. "I went to go meet with our boss. He's finally back," Zack said. "Oh really? It's been months," Eli said. "I know right," Zack said as he laughed. "Maybe I should go say hi," Eli said. "You can, but you need to do it quickly, since he is going to head out soon," Zack stated. "Oh okay," Eli pauses, "Hey imma go to the bathroom real quick, I'll be back," Eli told Zack. "Ight," Zack replied. Eli quickly ran into the bathroom, making sure no one was inside any of the stalls or outside around the area, before he pulled out his phone to make a call. "Hello," a deep baritone voice said, answering the phone. "Boss, Harrington is back," Eli whispered. "Oh really," Dom said. "Yes but he is heading out to go somewhere soon, but I'm going to follow him," Eli explained.

"If you bring him to me, I'll make sure you are rewarded," Dom said before hanging up the phone. Eli happily placed his phone back into his pocket. "I'm going to make sure I'm the one to take your spot Sal," Eli said, smiling from ear to ear. "Rest in hell you son of bitch," Eli said as he exited the bathroom. Before Eli headed back to his post he needed to figure out a way to leave, follow Harrington, kidnap him, and to not get caught. "This is going to be a challenge," Eli said, scratching his head. Eli walked up to Zack to talk to him. "Aye im going to go say hi to the boss and then imma check out early," Eli said. "Oh ight. I'll see you later," Zack said. Eli quickly got to the front of the warehouse and just in the nick of time, because he was able to catch Harrington before he left.

Eli snuck out the back and ran to his car. Once he got inside he sat and waited for Harrington to leave so he could follow him. As soon as he saw Harrington turn out of the parking lot, he immediately pulled up behind him. "Man this must be my lucky day, he's out here riding around with no security detail. This should be a piece of cake," Eli said sinisterly smiling. Harrington drove for a few minutes before pulling into a gas station. Eli pulled in a few cars down to watch Harrington from a distance. Harrington hopped out the car and went inside. It must have been a quick transaction, because he came out as fast as he went in, if not faster. Harrington hopped back in the car, but stalled for a few minutes before he pulled off. When Harrington got back into the car, he shot a text to Sarah from his burner phone, telling her to meet him at a building on the outskirts of town in an hour and Sarah replied back with okay.

As soon as Sarah got the text she immediately ran over to where everyone was sitting. "He just texted me a location," Sarah said. "Damn. Shit about to get serious now," Ashley said. "Well we need to head back to the station to get everything ready. Johnson, call your people and tell them to meet us there," Jack said. They all quickly piled into the car as they were on a time crunch. As soon as they pulled up to the police station they quickly hopped out and went inside. They entered the building and walked straight to the chief's room, and before they could even enter, James was already hot on their heels. "He sent me the location and said to be there in an hour," Sarah said, getting right to the point.

"Oh ok. Well let's get our man ready so we can head out as soon as possible," chief said. "James called a few of our men and told them to meet us here now."James quickly left to make those phone calls. "So what are we going to do again?," the chief asked. "Sarah is going to meet with Harrington. We are going to be able to listen in with this device hooked up to her," Jack said, while pointing at the device. "While listening in, Sarah is gonna give us a signal when it's time to come in and arrest him," Jack explained. "Do you think he will notice it?" The chief asked. "No. We used these devices for deep infiltration operations so we can gather all the intel we need without getting caught," Jack stated.

Harrington pulled up to the abandoned building, getting out the car and walking in. "What is this man doing?" Eli asked himself. Eli quietly exited his vehicle and walked up to the building. He could see Harrington sit down at a table in the middle of the room. "Ok seriously what is this man doing? And who is he meeting," Eli said as he snuck around back to head into the building undetected. "Whoever he is meeting with, I'll make sure to capture them too," he said as he crouched down in a corner behind a pillar. He was in a perfect position, he could see everything clear, but Harrington couldn't see him. "While he is distracted I'm going to come up behind him and shoot him and whoever he is with," Eli said to himself.

Johnson proceeded to leave for a bit and headed back inside with his men. It took about 15 minutes for the other policeman to show up. Once everyone was present and accounted for, they proceeded to head towards the location. When they pulled up to the location. Everyone, but Sarah, surrounded the area. Jack dropped Sarah off about 2 blocks away, so Harrington wouldn't know it was a set up. Sarah walked until she finally reached her destination. Harrington had her meet him inside a dilapidated building on the outskirts of town. Sarah forced her legs to move as she was petrified of what was about to go down and what all could go wrong. As Sarah got closer she could see a car parked.

Once Sarah walked into the building, it was uncomfortably quiet. So quiet, she could hear her own footsteps and they were very deafening. Sarah inches in more and more into the building, scared this meeting was going to turn into a battlefield. When Sarah bent a corner she could see a figure standing off to the side. Her heart pounded in her chest. When she fully came around the corner she could see Harrington sitting down, smoking. Sarah's heart almost jumped out of her chest, she couldn't believe that Harrington was here. Sarah walked deeper into the room, where Harrington was. "Hello Sarah," Harrington said. "Mr. Harrington," Sarah responded back as she sat down. "It's nice to see you, it's been a while," he says, as he puts out his cigar. "I see you changed your appearance," he laughed. "I know you came for answers, so speak," Harrington replied

Eli couldn't believe his eyes. "I just hit the jackpot," he said to himself. Eli quietly pulled out his phone to text his boss Dominic. "Boss, you won't believe this shit. That bitch Sarah Jenkins and Harrington are here together." "Bring them both to me," Dom responded. Eli stealthily put his phone back into his pocket trying his best to not get caught. "Eli, you are gonna need to be methodical about this one. You can't fuck this up because if you do, you and Sal are going to be having a reunion," he said to himself, as he tried to calm his nerves. Eli ducked back behind the pillar, checking to see how many bullets were in his gun, before trying to quietly move closer to them.