It was now or never. If Willie got his wits back together, I was a dead man. I raised the sword, shouted, “Hey asshole,” and lunged across the room.
Willie was quick, but seemed confused. He swiveled his body toward me, raised his gun, and snapped off a shot. The sound was deafening, and something plucked at my pant leg. Before he could get off another shot I gave a flick of my wrist and brought the sword down.
The blade struck the barrel of the pistol sending it flying across the room. I then slammed the hilt of the sword into Willie’s face. Something crunched, Willie cried out, and slid to his knees spitting blood and broken teeth onto the floor.
I raised the sword over my head and was going in for the kill when three shots rang out from the other room. Tanya screamed, and I turned and started toward the office. Willie had more fortitude than I gave him credit for. He grabbed my leg, twisted it, and when I fell to the floor he scrambled on top of me.
“You son of a bitch.” He let out a triumphant yell, and reaching up he twisted his fingers into my hair. His eyes were wild and it felt like he was screwing my head off. When I tried to pull away he slammed my head against the floor. “You’re a dead man, Darling.”
My ears rang and I made an effort to raise the sword. The blade caught under the leg of the table. I felt helpless. Willie laughed at my efforts, and slammed my head against the floor again. He let go of my hair and I fought to throw him off me, but he hung on like a bronco rider glued to the saddle.
Reaching across my body he slapped the sword from my hand and moved his face close to mine, whispering, “I’m going to beat the living shit out of you, Darling. I’m going to do it for Frankie, and for my brother. After that, I’m going to have some fun with the darkie girl you seem to be so fond of before I kill her.” His breath was foul, and his lips were coated in his own blood. He reminded me of a killer clown that inhabited my nightmares when I was a child. I wondered if the nightmare would return after this night.
I tried again to buck him off. He backhanded me across the face and grabbed my ears. His blood and spittle drooled onto my face as he lifted my head and prepared to slam it a final time against the floor.
I felt light-headed and was having trouble catching my breath, but he was over confident. Focusing my thoughts on what would happen to Tanya if I died; I felt a surge of energy.
I waited until he reached the top of his arc, and then I snapped my head forward.
There was not a lot of strength behind the motion, but I heard his nose snap when my forehead connected. Willie cried out and loosened his grip on my ears. I kept pushing with everything I had left in me, and still I couldn’t shake him from my chest.
With blood pouring from his nose and mouth, Willie changed tactics. He rolled off me and scrambled across the floor toward where his gun had landed.
My chest burned and my head throbbed. I was having a hell of a time keeping my balance, but I knew if Willie got his gun it was all over. In desperation, I reached out, caught his ankle, and pulled him flat onto the floor.
Again, Willie was much quicker than I expected. He kicked at me with his other foot and grazed my ear. My grip was tenuous at best, and his next kick freed his leg. We both struggled to our feet. He was faster than me, but when he reached for the gun his shoe slid in a pool of his own blood. He went down onto one knee.
While Willie struggled to regain his footing, I was fighting my own battle. My head felt as if it had been split by an ax and I was having trouble concentrating. Another hit to the head and I’d be out.
I snatched up the sword as Willie dove for his pistol. It looked like he was going to win the race. I was worn down both physically and mentally. With my last reserve of strength, I thrust the blade out in front of me and sprang forward.
Willie grabbed the gun, but before he could bring it up I plunged the sword into his chest.
Willie’s eyes opened wide, he dropped the gun, and collapsed onto the floor. I was exhausted. All I wanted was to lie down and go to sleep, but sleeping wouldn’t help Tanya. Reaching down, I snatched up the pistol and made my way across the room to the office door.
I had been trained on the proper way to enter a room when someone might be waiting with a gun, but I was too tired to think straight. Instead, I fumbled with the doorknob, threw open the door, and raced into the room with the gun held out in front of me.
Destiny and Tanya were gone. Elvis was standing over Dom’s body, staring down into his lifeless eyes. When he heard me behind him, he turned. “She shot him without a second thought.”
“Destiny?”
“Yes,” Elvis said. There were tears in his eyes and a quiver in his voice. “He was the gentlest soul I ever knew.”
I knelt down on one knee and touched Dom’s neck looking for a pulse. It confirmed what I already knew.
“He’s dead,” Elvis said.
“I’m sorry.” I stood and put my hand on his shoulder. “Where’d Destiny go?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about the other girl, Tanya?”
“I thought she was going to kill us all. Gail took the girl and said to tell you to go back to Tanya’s house and wait for her call. She said if you were not there when she called, she’d kill Tanya. She said you have an hour.”
“I’ve got to go,” I said. “Do you think you can handle the police?”
“What do I tell them?”
“Tell them the truth, but don’t let them know where I’m going. I’ll call them when I know Tanya’s all right. Can you tell me why they were here in the first place?”
“Gail said they didn’t have any other place to go. Plus, she’s obsessed with those damn diamonds. She can’t seem to think of anything else. She asked me again if you were going to give them to her.”
“What did you tell her?”
Elvis let out a low laugh. “I told her yes. You told me earlier that Gail was going to kill the other girl if she didn’t get them back, so I told her what she wanted to hear.”
“You lied to her?”
Elvis nodded. “I didn’t have a choice. I thought it was the only way to keep us all alive. You know, I had a vision that Gail was going to die tonight. If I’d even suspected Dom might get hurt, I’d have sent him away. My predictions are always open to interpretation, but I had a vivid sense that she was going to get shot.”
Elvis looked up into my eyes. “I was afraid she’d kill me, but I still should have been able to do something to save Dom. I know you don’t believe it, but I’m a real psychic. I should have seen this coming.”
I started toward the door, and then looked back at Elvis. “You can’t blame yourself for this, any more than you say I can’t blame myself for Celine’s death. Now you need to call the police, and I need to make sure Destiny doesn’t kill Tanya.”
Chapter 30
Despite the assurances I’d offered Elvis, I couldn’t ignore my own rising guilt. I knew I was the one responsible for Dom’s death, not Elvis. It had been my plan for him to make some noise and create a diversion. He’d died as a result. I was determined not to add Tanya’s death to my growing guilt trip.
Waiting for the police was not going to help anyone. Over the past several days I had seen what Destiny was capable of. There was no doubt in my mind she would do exactly what she threatened to do. If I wanted to save Tanya I had better get my ass in gear.
It was no surprise to me that the bicycle I’d left lying in the grass was gone. This left me without transportation. It only took a quick glance down at my tattered and bloodied shirt to rule out a taxi or a bicycle cab. They would take one look at me and either take off or call the cops.
Despite the fact I was exhausted and battered from my battle with Willie, I had to jog the mile or so to Tanya’s house. Because I looked like hell I chose to avoid Duval, which would have been a slightly more direct route. I ran with my head down along Simonton Street up to Olivia. The few people I crossed paths with stepped around me. I suspect they took me for one of the many homeless who wander around the island.