and gathered near the curb.
Favor took out his earpiece and put it in his pocket. The others did the same.
Favor said, “Did you hear that?”
Totoy Ribera and the six men of his crew took up positions inside the bodega. Totoy was barking the orders, arranging the men in a rough semicircle, with fields of fire that converged on the door.
Santos and Arielle were seated on the floor near the table, both cuffed with plastic restraints. From where she sat, Arielle could see the laptop screen, the download counter still turning over. Nobody seemed to notice.
Totoy and the gunmen waited. Long minutes.
A car horn sounded outside, two quick taps on the button. It sounded close, just on the other side of the steel roll-up door.
The men all looked that way, toward the front.
Then came the sound of a key in the roll-up door, someone unlocking it. Several of the gunmen shifted positions, looking for cover. They all swung their guns toward the sound.
The door came up. It revealed the Mitsubishi, motionless, backed up to the door. The lights were on, engine was running. Nobody was in sight.
Several seconds ticked by.
The sound of rapid gunfire exploded from inside the Mitsubishi, a ripping sound like a clip being fired off in an automatic weapon, and the interior pulsed with rapid bursts of orange light.
In the bodega, one of the gunmen fired at the Mitsubishi, punching a hole in the rear window, and then everyone opened up, jerking off shots as quickly as they could, firing nonstop, creating a single, sustained, deafening roar of gunfire.
Bullets tore through the Mitsubishi, puncturing the body panels, smashing the windows.
Nobody heard the back door opening. Nobody saw Favor come through the open door in a crouch, his movements fluid and precise.
He pounced on the gunman closest to the door, knocked him unconscious with a single blow to the back of the head, then wheeled and sprang toward his next target. Mendonza and Stickney were through the door now, too, coming in behind Favor.
Mendonza crossed the floor with improbable agility, his mass perfectly balanced as he stepped in among the gunmen. He crumpled one with a vicious elbow to the side of the head. Without breaking stride, he smashed another in the face with the heel of his hand, launching a spray of blood and spittle and loose white teeth as the gunman spun and dropped.
Stickney seemed almost casual in his movements. He stepped in behind a man who was blasting the Mitsubishi with continuous fire from a 9mm automatic pistol. Stickney reached in from behind him, snaking an arm around his throat while grabbing the wrist of his gun hand. Stickney shook the gun loose, jacked the man’s head back, and levered him hard into the floor, facedown.
The assault was swift and furious. The gunmen were so intent on the Mitsubishi that they were overwhelmed before they saw what was happening. Only Totoy Ribera reacted. As the gunfire slackened, he glanced to his left and found Mendonza advancing toward him.
Totoy swung his pistol around. The weapon was still in motion when Mendonza’s roundhouse kick exploded into Totoy’s midsection, doubling him over, dropping him to the ground.
He was the last to go down. Only Favor and Mendonza and Stickney were left standing. They stood tense and poised, ready to spring, but the only movement was from a gunman who writhed on the floor, hands clamped around his face as he tried to hold back the flow of blood.
Firecrackers continued to pop in the Mitsubishi for several seconds. Then the shattered black hulk went silent, and the only sounds were moans and mumbled curses from the gunmen who remained conscious.
Favor and Mendonza and Stickney relaxed.
Favor opened his new balisong to cut the restraints from Arielle and Eddie Santos. The blade sliced through the tough plastic without resistance. He helped them both to their feet.
He said, “Time to move out, my friends. Let’s grab what we need. Al, you want to collect the hardware?”
Mendonza and Stickney went around the room, patting down the sprawled gunmen, picking up weapons and dropping them into a basket that Elvis Vega had used to deliver dinner.
Arielle went to the steel table and fitted the laptop into the padded case. The download indicator was still pulsing when she disconnected the cable.
Favor said, “Eddie, you coming?”
Santos shook his head. “I’ll deal with this. I’m a little old to run away from home.”
“Your choice.”
Mendonza knelt over one of the gunmen, lying prostrate on the floor, and bent to