The drive to the warehouse was uneventful, and Will arrived at 8:50 p.m. He parked the car on 9th Street – directly across from the warehouse – and sat quietly for a moment, staring at the building. Out here on the dimly-lit and deserted street, with the steering wheel clenched tightly in his hands and a cool breeze blowing in through the window, Will felt a certain peace and security. But once he stepped into that building...all bets were off. Hank was right to be concerned. Who knew what Moe would do?
Will looked at his watch. It was 8:55. Whatever else happened, he knew exactly what he had to do: tell the truth and get Claire safely the hell out of there. Will calmly got out of the car and made his way across the street to the front entrance of the warehouse. As he climbed the few steps to the entryway, the door opened and one of Moe's men walked out and held the door open for Will.
"Thanks," Will said politely as he entered the building.
The man remained silent and closed the door. Another man was standing in the lobby and held up his hand as Will approached.
"Put your arms up," the man ordered.
Will obeyed and then suddenly felt a pair of large hands patting down his sides. A moment later, the man who had opened the door completed his weapon search and stepped back.
"He's clean," the man stated, nodding to his pal.
"Alright, let's go," the other man ordered, motioning for Will to follow him down a hallway.
Will was escorted by the two men through a series of hallways until they finally entered a large, spacious room littered with crates and boxes, not unlike the Emporium. At the far end of the room, Moe Salley had his back turned and was talking to Jasper. A short distance away, Claire was sitting in a chair with her hands tied behind her back. She saw Will enter the room and her eyes lit up, but she remained silent.
"He's here," Jasper said quietly, giving a little nod.
Moe turned around slowly and stretched out his arms in feigned welcome.
"Nice of you to join us, Irving! And right on time too. I like that," Moe greeted as he met Will in the middle of the room and put his hand on Will's shoulder. "But I'm wondering something..."
Suddenly, Moe gave Will a swift, hard punch to the stomach.
"Why the hell are you alone?!" Moe shouted as Will doubled over and then dropped to one knee, trying to catch his breath.
Claire winced as she watched helplessly.
"I thought we made it clear that you were supposed to bring the old man with you," Moe continued, turning and walking back to where Jasper was standing.
Moe nodded and the two men who had escorted Will each moved to grab hold of one of Will's arms and help him up. Jasper took a few steps toward Will and waited.
"As you can see, I kept my end of the bargain...she's doing just fine," Moe stated in an annoyed tone. "So I'm gonna ask you this only one time. Where is the old man?"
Moe slowly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Claire.
"You want the truth, right, Moe?" Will said firmly. "So I'll tell you the truth...I was there at the Emporium that night. Hank was with me, and yeah, we were there to rescue Arthur...Only we didn't get to. Someone else beat us to the punch...A black automaton broke in through the skylight and almost killed Jasper here...It would have, too, if I hadn't shot it in the shoulder. It threw Jasper aside and broke into the little room where you had Arthur stashed. It took him and jumped back up through the skylight. Needless to say, Hank and I got the hell out of there."
Jasper eyed Will carefully as Moe lowered his gun.
"You expect me to believe that story?" Moe sneered. "How do I know that automaton doesn't belong to you?"
"There was someone else there on the roof. Ask Jasper," Will noted, turning to Jasper. "You heard him tell the automaton to kill you...and you heard the gunshot, right?"
"Ummm..." Jasper began to say.
"Shut your trap," Moe interrupted, pointing and scowling at Jasper.
"Whether you believe me or not, it's the truth," Will stated confidently. "I don't know who took Arthur or where he is."
"You were helping the girl...you were at the Emporium and know what happened...a tin can took my guy...you got a tin can...that makes me think it was you," Moe reasoned. "Maybe this is all just one big set up."
"I can't prove what I'm saying, so there's nothing I can do to convince you. If you're gonna kill us, then get on with it," Will said calmly.
Moe eyed Will carefully for a few moments.
"Fine, have it your way," Moe said as he pointed his gun at Claire once again.
Moe hesitated, but Will remained silent and composed.
"Wait a minute...I have a better idea...Give me his gun," Moe said, turning and putting his hand out to the man holding Will's right arm.
"He didn't have one," the man answered.
"No gun? You got balls, kid! I'll give you that," Moe said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's a shame you turned out to be trouble like your old man."
Moe turned back to Claire.
"Sorry, sweetie," Moe apologized, shrugging slightly.
Suddenly, a door on the side of the room opened, and a man entered and hurried over to Moe.
"What is it, Danny?" Moe asked as he turned and lowered his gun.
Danny whispered something into Moe's ear.
"What the hell is he waiting for?! Tell him to join the party!" Moe exclaimed.
Danny rushed back out the way he had come in, and Moe turned back to Claire.
"Lucky you," Moe chimed before turning to Will. "Looks like things are about to get a bit more interesting!"
The door opened once more, and this time, Julius escorted Arthur into the room. Danny followed behind, carrying a medium-sized box.
"He showed up at the club and demanded to see you, boss," Julius shared as he entered.
Claire saw her father and could not resist the emotions that surfaced.
"Father!" Claire exclaimed.
"Claire!" Arthur returned as he made a slight attempt to break away from Julius' grasp.
Moe gave Julius a quick nod, and Julius released his grip.
"I'll give you two a moment," Moe stated as Arthur rushed over to Claire's side.
Arthur only had time to put his arms around Claire and whisper something in her ear before Moe grabbed him and pulled him away.
"I changed my mind," Moe snapped. "Let's get down to business."
Moe pushed Arthur back over toward Julius and Danny who each took hold of one of Arthur's arms.
"No more shenanigans, Arthur," Moe said angrily as he took aim at Claire yet again. "I want answers...now! Where are the plans?!"
"Everything you want is in that box," Arthur stated, motioning with his head toward the box that Danny had brought in.
"What's in there, Julius?" Moe asked, still pointing his gun at Claire.
"A piece of equipment and a bunch of papers," Julius answered. "They look like plans to me."
"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. We'll see about that in a minute. But first, I want Arthur here to tell me a story," Moe said, turning back to Arthur. "I wanna know who broke you out of the Emporium. I wanna know about that black tin can. And I wanna know how you got back here."
"You should know by now that I don't tell stories," Arthur quipped.
"Wrong answer!" Moe shouted as he fired a shot that missed Claire by only a few inches.
Claire cringed but remained calm.
"You're gonna tell me what you and Irving over there are up to, or my next shot won't miss," Moe threatened.
"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, looking at Will with a puzzled expression. "I don't even know that kid. You're a fool, Salley...You have no clue...And if you take another shot at my daughter, I'll blow this place sky high!"
"The hell you will," Moe shot back.
"There's a bomb in that box. I can make it go off at any time. Don't bother asking how," Arthur explained coolly. "If you let me and Claire go right now, you'll live to see another day. If not, I'll take great pleasure in knowing that you will never be able to hurt her or anyone else again."
"Seems we've got ourselves a bit of a standoff here," Moe said with a smirk. "I have to admit, I never expected this from you."
"So what's it going to be?" Arthur asked. "Like you said...no more shenanigans..."
Moe slowly looked around the room as he pondered the choice he was now forced to make. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard as the side door flew off its hinges and hit Danny squarely in the back of the head, knocking him to the floor and killing him instantly. Atticus followed the flying door into the room like a bolt of lightning and landed on top of Danny. The next few moments were a blur.
Julius and Arthur, who were the closest to the initial brunt of Atticus' wrath, both fell back and scattered to find cover. Moe and Jasper quickly turned their attention to Atticus and began to open fire. As Atticus skillfully dodged the spray of bullets, crossfire began to come from the broken doorway as an unseen assailant joined the fray. The two men who had been babysitting Will now forgot all about him as they left to join the fight. Will gingerly made his way through as much cover as he could find, inching toward Claire who had tipped her chair over and was hunkering down to avoid being shot.
Moe was the next one to go down with a shot in the shoulder. Julius rushed to help him, but was quickly intercepted by Atticus, who laid him flat on his back with a piece of pipe that had been lying nearby. One of the men who had been holding Will was shot and killed by the unseen gunner. The other man began to make his way around the right side of the room in an effort to either flank Atticus or flush out the gunner. Jasper succeeded in helping Moe find cover behind a large metal desk, where they then took up a position and continued shooting. Will finally got to Claire and pulled her safely behind a large stack of crates where he untied her hands.
"Where's my father?" Claire anxiously asked.
"I don't know," Will replied. "I think he may be on the other side of the room."
"We can't leave without him," Claire said.
"It's too dangerous, Claire," Will argued, taking her hand. "We have to go!"
Claire looked at Will with pleading eyes, but she knew he was right. They would be lucky if they got out of this alive. She nodded, and they began to make their way back toward the main entrance of the warehouse.
Meanwhile, Atticus had caught sight of the man trying to make his way toward the broken door and had nimbly maneuvered to cut him off. The man was just about to round the corner of the opening when Atticus landed in front of him, disarmed him, and then bashed his head into the wall, killing him. Julius, who had finally regained consciousness, fired several shots, two of which hit Atticus in the back without seeming to do any major damage.
Will and Claire were just about to make it to the main hallway when Claire spotted her father lying motionless on the floor on the opposite side of the room.
"Father!" Claire exclaimed as she pulled on Will's hand to stop him.
Will turned to look and saw Arthur open his eyes, give Claire a sad smile, and then shake his head "no". Suddenly, Will heard Moe shouting.
"Don't let them get away!" Moe ordered Julius.
Will turned to see Julius take aim in his direction. Instantly, Will pushed Claire into the hallway and covered her with his body as he heard a shot ring out. He quickly slammed the door closed with his feet.
"Let's go!" Will urged once he knew Claire had not been shot.
Will led the way back through the series of hallways toward the main entrance, checking over his shoulder from time to time to see if they were being followed, but there was no sign of Julius or anyone else. At one point, Claire stopped him.
"You're bleeding," Claire noted, gently touching Will on the shoulder where his jacket was torn and bloody.
"What?" Will said in surprise as he checked himself. "Hmmm...that last shot must have grazed me. It's just a flesh wound though. I'll be ok."
Will took Claire's hand again and continued on.
Back in the warehouse, a voice called out from the darkness beyond the broken door.
"Arthur, let's go!" shouted the voice. "Art! Come on!"
Atticus had moved to intercept Julius who had, in turn, retreated back toward Moe and Jasper.
"Get out of here!" Arthur shouted as loudly as he could. "I don't have much time. I've been shot...Claire made it out...I'm going to finish this!"
"No, Arthur!" the voice yelled. "Atticus, get Arthur out of there!"
Atticus turned and began to move swiftly toward the spot where Arthur lay dying.
"No, Atticus!" Arthur shouted. "Leave now! Get Jim out of here. That's an order!"
Atticus hesitated for a moment, and received several gunshots as a result. Instantly, he switched directions and bounded out the broken doorway.
"Art, no!" the voice shouted again.
Will and Claire finally reached the car and quickly got in. Will started the car, made a quick U-turn, and began to drive away when the warehouse suddenly exploded, sending a shockwave throughout the area. Will hit the brakes, and both he and Claire looked back in utter shock.
"No!" Claire screamed in agony as tears began to flow down her cheeks.
Claire turned away from the horrific scene and began to sob as she put her head in her hands. Will stepped on the gas and sped away, anxious to get Claire away from what seemed like the stuff of only nightmares.
"Father..." Claire whispered as Will reached over and gently took her hand in his and squeezed.