Irish Throwdown (What Happens In Vegas Book 4) by Matt Lincoln (short books for teens .TXT) 📕

as he looked out the window curiously. “Though I did have my suspicions that this could be some kind of trap. It’s possible whoever sent the package used a fake address or wanted to lead us into an ambush.”

“Well, I suppose we’ll find out when we get there,” Seamus replied.

I frowned as I glanced out the window. Honestly, I’d been expecting to find some kind of factory or warehouse. The drugs must have been manufactured somewhere, after all. Seamus was right, though. There was nothing around us for what looked like miles. It had been a while since we passed any houses, as well.

Then, as we crested a hill, something began to come into view in the distance.

“Is that another castle?” Junior asked incredulously.

As we got closer, I was able to confirm that the building we were approaching was, in fact, a large stone castle similar to the one the police office was located in. It wasn’t nearly as big and impressive and honestly looked more like an oversize stone house than a castle to me.

“Aye, that it is,” Seamus answered as we drove up to the gate. “Though it’s pretty puny, to be honest. It’s not all that unusual to find out here on these old dirt roads. Ireland had a rich history, and a lot of the old castles and lodges are still around today. Like the Garda station, some of them were converted into modern buildings, but many of them are too unstable and are just left to rot away. It’s actually quite sad.”

“This one doesn’t look like it’s rotting away,” I noted as I looked over the large structure.

It was obviously old. Anyone could tell that just by looking at the cracks and holes splintering up along the walls and by the moss and ferns that were trailing all along the building’s exterior. But modern doors and windows had been installed all over the castle, and, even more damning, I could see cars parked on the other side of the closed gate.

“No, someone’s definitely been using it,” Callahan agreed. “I’d wager an old castle out in the middle of nowhere would have plenty of space and privacy. Perfect for a group of drug traffickers to operate out of.”

“Maybe we should call for backup,” Junior suggested. “I can’t tell how many people are inside, but I doubt the four of us have great odds against whoever’s in there. Castles were literally designed to withstand attacks from outsiders.”

“That’s a good idea,” I agreed, though it seemed obvious now in hindsight. We were two hours outside of the city, and I had no idea if there were any rural towns nearby that would have officers available equipped to deal with something like this.

I was about to ask Seamus if there was any backup we could count on nearby, but before I could get the words out, a metallic crack resounded through the car.

“Take cover!” Callahan yelled just as a barrage of bullets burst through the front windshield. I crouched into the footwell and ducked as low as I could into the backseat.

My heart was racing as I listened to the sound of bullets tearing through the metal body of the car. We were riding in a large police van, but it wasn’t an armored military vehicle, so the shell was taking a beating.

“We can’t just sit here forever!” I yelled over the sound of the gunshots. “We’re sitting ducks!”

“Aye!” Seamus yelled back. “As soon as there’s a lull, throw the doors open and use them for cover. We need to fight back, or they’ll take us all out right here.”

I waited tensely for the bullets to stop. As soon as they did, I threw the door open as Seamus had instructed and drew my weapon. I peeked carefully around the edge of the door, but I couldn’t see anyone at any of the entrances or windows.

“Should we move in?” Callahan called.

Before anyone else could answer, the surrounding silence was broken by a rumbling creak as the wrought-iron gate slowly swung open at the front of the castle. As soon as the gap was wide enough, a massive black armored jeep came rushing through, directly toward where our car was parked.

“Move!” I barely managed to call as I jumped to the side and out of the way just as the car rammed into our van. The large vehicle flipped over twice before coming to a stop in a ditch in the side of the road, on its side with half of its windows smashed out. Unfortunately, this left me completely without cover, which wasn’t lost on the men in the car.

They immediately began to fire, and I scrambled away from the narrow dirt road before turning around. I could see Callahan on the ground a few feet in front of me. I couldn’t tell how badly he was injured, but he was immobile, and I assumed he’d been shot. The van had been shoved to the side of the road, and I didn’t have any visuals on Junior or Seamus.

I watched as the armored jeep sped away, down the road and out of sight, and I cursed in frustration. I stood and lifted my gun toward it, but it was moving away too quickly for me to get a good shot. I turned around to go check on Callahan, but Junior came sprinting out from behind the van before I could. He ran toward Callahan and got to him just as another, smaller vehicle came speeding through the gate directly toward where Junior was attempting to lift Callahan off the ground.

I lifted my gun and fired at the sleek black car, first at the windshield and then at the tires in an attempt to get it to stop before it struck the pair. My shots hit their mark, and the car spun out as its front left tire exploded.

While Junior dragged Callahan to the relative safety of the grassy hill just off the road, I rushed toward the car, making