Witnesses

Chapter 9

"He enjoy the work?" Hawthorne said before he could stop himself, but to his surprise, Blackwater nodded.

"He did. Too much, looking back." He said. "We went with another man and a woman, Frank Allen and Helen Campbell. Frank was a safecracker, one of the better ones in the crew. And Helen...she was a great actor, but she could shoot it with the best of us."

"There was one last one though..." Miles said, and his face soured. "James Matthews. A man who loved talking shit and ended up getting into more trouble then he was worth."

"He caused your current run of bad luck?" Hawthorne guessed, but the gunslinger shook his head

"No, that was all of us." He said. "You don't stiff our gang on a deal and live."

"Aaaalright then." Hawthorne said slowly. "Continue."

"Thank you," Miles said. "So we went down there, made sure we were well armed. Got ourselves some dynamite. Place didn't seem well guarded, but I guess that didn't matter with what came next."

"What happened?" Hawthorne asked, and the other Witness's face darkened.

"The law." He said bitterly. "Someone had tipped them off. I don't know who, but I swear I will kill them if I find out. Halfway through the job, we ended up getting trapped in the building."

"And you got caught?" Hawthorne frowned.

"It wasn't that simple. We were barely through the heist when they had ended up coming in." Miles said. "Matthews, Campbell, and I ended up having to hold them off while Allen and Clay tried figuring out a way out. I know what I said about Matthews, but I'll give him his credit. He was fast on the draw. Complete garbage in a fistfight, but with guns, he was inhuman."

"So how did Miller do it?" The magician frowned, and Miles sighed.

"Clay ended up eventually blowing his way out of there." He said. "He and Allen tried giving us cover fire, but only Campbell, himself, and Matthews got out when they broke in. I ended up trying to hold the cops off."

"And you failed?" Hawthorne guessed.

"I did," Miles grunted. "Halfway through raining down suppressive fire, I ended up catching more then a few wounds. Allen had to try dragging me out of there himself, but we ended up getting left behind and caught on a rooftop. That's when he came."

"Miller," The gunslinger sneered. "If there was ever a man who I had wanted to beat more, it would be him. Came up there himself carrying nothing but a rifle and his own two hands."

"He beat you in a gunfight?" Hawthorne asked incredlously

"In a way." Miles said grimly. "Allen and I both got the first shots off, but he managed to hide behind cover. There also happened to be a water tower up there. Draw your conclusions."

"He destroyed it," Hawthorne said.

"I nearly got sent to my death right then and there." Miles growled. "Allen had only barely grabbed onto me in time, and after that, we got our asses beat barehanded. It was the most humiliating experience of my life."

"I see," Hawthorne said, then motioned for him to continue, but Miles raised a hand.

"No more, for now." He said. "Assuming I don't survive this, you can get the rest of the story from Miller. Right now, I need to focus on this coming fight."

"Right," Hawthorne said, before looking up towards a nearby balcony. "Do you know where he is in particular?"

"If I'm lucky, he's still at–" Miles was cut off as the sky darkened. "Well that's not good."