When he spotted the Montana tag on the back of the other car, he knew.
The rain beat down on him as he dialed 911 and took off running toward the house. The three rings it took before the operator answered felt like infinity.
“911. What is your emergency?”
He gave his name and said their address twice so the operator could get it down. “Intruder with a gun and my girlfriend is in the house with him!” He didn’t know that for sure, but it was an educated guess and would likely get deputies there faster.
As he made it into the clearing, he heard a gunshot and saw a muzzle blast through the living room window. “Shots fired!” he screamed. “Shots fired! Get here now! I have a gun and I’m going in after him!”
“Sir! Don’t go in!”
As he heard a double shotgun blast, he screamed, “Fuck that shit! He’s killing them! I’m going in!” He didn’t bother hitting end as he pounded through the kitchen door. He shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and held the gun with both hands.
He spotted Mandaline first. He didn’t take time to figure out why she was naked, because she was screaming and pointing up the stairs. He grabbed her and yanked her through the doorway and into the kitchen. On the stairs, he spotted Brad trying to get Sachi downstairs.
Above them a man sat up, pointing a gun at them.
“Get the fuck down!” He prayed he didn’t hit Ellis or Sachi as he fired, emptying the gun into the intruder. He rushed up the stairs, past Ellis and Sachi as he dumped the empty clip and slammed the fresh one into the gun.
At the top of the stairs the man lay splayed back in the hallway. He couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought he’d killed him.
He found the man’s gun and picked it up, backing down the stairs as he kept his gun trained on him. At the base of the stairs he put the man’s gun down and grabbed his cell phone. He could barely hear, but the 911 dispatcher was yelling at him.
“I think I killed him. We need an ambulance, I think she’s hurt.” He didn’t want to take the time to explain that he thought Sachi had been injured or who she was. He just wanted to see an ambulance in his yard.
Now.
“The driveway’s blocked by three cars,” he told the dispatcher. “Fucker parked there and we couldn’t get around him.” His hand holding the gun trembled. He flipped the safety on it and lowered it.
The guy wasn’t moving.
He looked into the kitchen where Brad and Mandaline were bent over Sachi. She was moving, and appeared to be talking, but he still couldn’t hear very well. “I’m putting the phone down but I’ll keep the line open.”
He was aware of the dispatcher trying to tell him not to do that, but he did it anyway. He picked up the guy’s gun and took it over to the table, where he broke open the cylinder and dumped the other five rounds in it.
Mandaline had a shirt or something pressed against Sachi’s shoulder. He was aware of the rain finally slacking off outside. “Where’s your keys?” he asked her.
She looked up and pointed through the living room door. He walked back in there, his foot hitting something. He reached down and picked up the Maglite. It came on, and when he trained the light at the top of the stairs the guy looked like he hadn’t moved.
He found her purse and keys and took them back to her. “Get some clothes on. Then move your car and turn the lights on so they shine through the door.” She jumped up to do it. Brad took over holding pressure on Sachi’s wound. It looked like it was through her right shoulder.
He knelt down beside Sachi as the ringing in his ears began subsiding a little. He kept the light from shining in her eyes, but couldn’t see any other injuries on her other than the shoulder wound.
“What’s with the naked stuff?” he teased. “You trying to move in on our girlfriend?”
Sachi looked up at him, then gave him a pained laugh he knew meant she couldn’t be too seriously injured. “Fuck you. Boss lady wanted skyclad rain dancing.” He put the gun in his pocket and took her hand. She squeezed, painfully. “Fucker better be dead, chief, or I’m never taking you skeet shooting again.”
The Element’s headlights illuminated the kitchen. Mandaline ran back in and dropped to her knees next to her.
“I think he’s dead,” he said.
Sachi looked toward the living room. “What the fuck you in here for, then? Watch his fucking ass! Haven’t you ever watched a goddamned horror movie?” She dropped his hand. “Fucking move your ass!”
He stood and walked back to the doorway, where he trained the flashlight up the stairs again.
Still in the same position.
He slowly advanced, watching for any sign of movement. When he got to the top of the stairs he saw the man had no face left.
He reached down anyway and felt for a pulse in the man’s throat.
Nothing.
He made his way back to the kitchen. The sirens sounded louder now, like they were close to their driveway. “He’s dead. Dead-dead.”
Sachi looked at him for a long moment. “You sure?”
He nodded.
She nodded back before she burst into hysterical tears.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A deputy fished the keys to the dead man’s car from his pockets and moved the vehicle so they could clear the way for the ambulance to get through. The first three cruisers to respond had simply plowed through the palmetto bushes and thin saplings next to the driveway to get around the vehicles.
Another deputy accompanied Mandaline and Sachi to the hospital in the ambulance. Ellis and Brad stayed behind and answered round after round of questions until the detective in charge was satisfied. Ellis’ gun was taken into evidence, as was Sachi’s shotgun.
Ellis successfully stifled a snicker. They better hope they give it back soon or she’ll be livid.
The good thing was the bullet had only been a .22 and luckily gone through Sachi’s right shoulder without hitting any bones or a lung. Two hours after Sachi was admitted, Mandaline had completely sobered up and was allowed to rejoin her friend at her bedside after they’d both been questioned again by deputies.
With a good dose of painkillers in her, Sachi’s eyelids drooped as she looked up at Mandaline. “You okay, boss?”
She choked back a sob and grabbed Sachi’s good hand. “You damn idiot! What the hell did you think you were doing trying to draw him away from me? And throwing yourself in front of me?”
Sachi smiled. “Job security. You can’t ever fire me now. Not only do you luuubs me, you’d feel too damn guilty.”
Mandaline let out something between a sob and a laugh as she laid her head on the bed and laughed until she cried, then laughed some more.
“Hey, boss. Don’t drown us,” Sachi mumbled.
Mandaline sat up and blew her nose. “You okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. How the fuck am I supposed to shoot skeet with a bum shoulder? Fucker. Couldn’t have shot me in the ass or the leg. Nooo. Had to shoot me in the shoulder.”
She knew what Sachi was trying to do. Mandaline realized she had to short-circuit her now, or her friend would struggle later trying to keep it buried.
“Sachi. He could have shot you in the head or the spine.”
She fell silent. “Yeah,” she softly said. “That would have sucked.”
She grabbed Sachi’s good hand again. “Let. It. Out.”
She looked into Mandaline’s eyes and took a deep breath. She started to speak, stopped, then tried again. “He’s really dead?” she softly asked.
She nodded. “Really.”
“Dead-dead?”
“Dead-dead. I heard them talking about needing the Medical Examiner to be called. Everyone’s said he’s dead. Dead-dead. Really dead.”