I was staring out the window, thinking maybe I could get a lock on where I was if I had a good look and if I focused on something I wouldn’t focus on the fact that I had to pee or that my life might soon be over.
That’s when I saw the top of a big, blond head and a pair of eyes, the wild mass of hair tamped down by night vision goggles.
Tex was peeking through the window.
Holy crap.
No sooner had I seen him then he was gone.
“What are you lookin’ at?” the shooter asked me, turning to look out the window.
The other shooter came in. They were both big guys, kind of in the bent of Goon Gary and Terrible Teddy, wearing slacks and dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up. No ties.
One of them, the one who talked on the phone, was older, his brown hair peppered with gray. The other one who was left to watch me had sandy blond hair, may have been cute at one point but now looked like he was careening headlong toward middle age.
“He agreed. He’ll do the swap, the girl for the diamonds,” Phone Guy Pepper Shooter told Watch Guy Sandy Shooter.
“She was lookin’ at something outside, I’m checkin’,” Sandy Shooter told Pepper Shooter.
Pepper Shooter looked at me while Sandy went outside.
“Your boyfriend out there?” Pepper asked me.
I shook my head and kept my mouth shut. I hoped Tex was long gone and calling 911. I feared that Tex was close and planning Armageddon.
Pepper went from window to window, standing at the side and looking out. He was beginning to look a little less professional and serious and a little more panicked and desperate.
“Fucking Nightingale!” he spat and turned to me, pulling his gun out of the waistband of his pants and pointing it at me. “Did you see him out there?” he yelled.
“No,” I answered, not telling a lie since he was talking about Lee and I didn’t see Lee outside. Therefore, I’d die without at least that lie darkening my soul.
Pepper didn’t hold a gun like Rosie, he held it steady and with practiced ease and he was scaring the shit out of me. So much so, I totally forgot I had to pee.
“What were you lookin’ at?”
God, I was such a moron. Why couldn’t I be cool, like in the movies? Whistle and pretend I didn’t see anything, then calmly communicate an entire escape plan to my rescuer using only my widened eyes and a couple of jerks of my head while my kidnappers were turned the other way.
“I wasn’t looking at anything. There’s nothing to look at so I was looking out the window.”
He kept holding the gun pointed at me. He didn’t have to say what the gun was saying pretty clearly, talk or lights out.
“Listen, I have to use the bathroom,” I blurted. “Seriously, I had three Fat Tires before you guys stun-gunned me. I think all that electricity did something to my bladder. Usually, I can hold it but I totally have to go.”
He kept staring and pointing the gun and the other guy came in. Pepper didn’t move an inch, didn’t even look at Sandy when he came in.
“No sign of anyone,” Sandy said.
“You wouldn’t find sign of Nightingale if he was out there, asswipe. He’s smoke.”
Sandy looked from Pepper to me.
“Why do you have a gun on her?” Sandy asked.
“You said she saw something,” Pepper answered. “I think if I put a bullet in her kneecap, she might tell me what she saw.”
Holy crap!
Sandy was just as shocked as me.
“Jesus, Rick. Have you lost your mind? We’re supposed to turn her over for the diamonds and not with a bullet in her fucking kneecap. You think Nightingale’s out there as smoke? You put a bullet into his woman and he’s gonna hunt you down and skin you alive.”
“She’ll be breathin’, he’ll have to make do. All the rest of her parts will be workin’, she doesn’t need her kneecap to fuck,” Pepper Rick replied.
That’s when I quit breathing.
I guess he hadn’t forgiven me for mouthing off a few days ago.
Then, the front door flew open and both Pepper Rick and Sandy whirled toward it. Nothing was there but something rolled across the floor.
Both men and I stared at it as it bounced across the floor, hit the couch and rolled back and then came to rest a couple of feet away from the couch.
It looked kind of like a grenade.
Of course, I’d never seen a grenade so it could have been something else.
No sooner had the first thing come to a rest then something else bounced across the floor. It also looked like a grenade but its sides were smooth and it was leaking white smoke.
“Is that what I think…?” Sandy started to say.
Then the first thing exploded.
I was right, grenade.
Smoke and dust were everywhere, I was choking on it, blinded by it and I couldn’t move.
There was coughing, shouting, thuds of flesh against flesh, someone came at me and then my chair was tilted and I was dragged across the room.
I looked behind me but my eyes were tearing from the dust and smoke. It was torture, I couldn’t wipe them without the use of my hands.
Nevertheless, I swear I could see a blurry version of Tex behind me, wearing what appeared to be a World War II gas mask.
He pulled me out the backdoor and righted the chair. He did something behind my back that made the rope fall free, pulled the mask off his face and shouted, “Run!”
I wasted no time, jumped up and ran. This was not easy. I was stiff and sore from sitting tied in the chair. I had my hands cuffed behind my back, I was still coughing and choking and could barely see. And I was wearing flip flops, not exactly the chosen footwear when running for your life.
You do what you have to do, especially when doing nothing might mean you’d never have the opportunity to see Lee’s cabin in Grand Lake. I ran for all I was worth, keeping the blurry vision of Tex in my sights.
We got half a block when I heard gunfire. Tex whipped around and batted me with a beefy arm sending me sprawling headfirst into some bushes. I heard the ratchet of a shotgun and then, “Boom!”
The bushes were tearing at my skin as I rolled out. There was more gunfire then another “Boom!” I thought I saw Tex, both feet planted wide, presenting a huge target, like the madman he was, looking oblivious to the flying bullets and calmly reloading the shotgun.
I had rolled onto my back and I was like a turtle, trying to push myself this way and that, entangled half in the bushes, my arms pinned behind my back. I heard the squeal of tires, shouting, gunfire and another “Boom!” more gunfire and I saw Tex do a scary jerk backward and then go down on a knee.
“Jesus Christ!” I heard Hank shout. “Lee, she’s here!”
I think I focused on what could have been Hank looming over me, but I still couldn’t see. Then I was hauled up and Lee was there. I could tell because I could smell faint traces of leather, spice and tobacco.
“Hold your arms back as far as you can, wrists wide and keep them steady,” Lee ordered.
I did as I was told and felt a strong hand wrap around my forearm and then a gunshot that made me jump but also made my arms fly out beside me.
Free at last.
Regardless of the pins and needles running up my arms, my hands went straight to my eyes and I swiped at the tears running freely from them.
“Don’t rub, you need to rinse the gas off your face. You okay?”
I nodded but said, “Tex.”
Lee’s blurry head looked to Hank. “You got her?”
“Yeah,” Hank answered.
Then Lee took off.
I staggered to where Tex was now sitting cross-legged in the grass, holding his shoulder. I still couldn’t see very well but I dropped to my knees beside him and wrapped my hands around his good upper arm and held on. I had no idea what I was doing but it would have taken a crow bar to pry me away.
There were sirens and the squad cars would slow but Hank was signaling them to continue dow
n the road and they sped off.
Mr. Kumar showed up out of nowhere carrying paper towel and bottled water from his store. I let go of Tex long enough to pour water over my face and on my hands. When my vision cleared sufficiently, I could see that Tex was bleeding so I ripped open the paper towel and pressed a big wad of it against his shoulder.
I saw we were in Tex and Mr. Kumar’s neighborhood. If we’d made it the last half a block, we would have been at Kumar’s corner store. The shooters took me nearly right to Tex.
Was I lucky or what?
Was Tex unlucky or what?
I saw the flashing lights of a squad car that screeched to a diagonal halt in the road.
Brian Bond and Willie Moses angled out of the car and came jogging up to Tex and me.
“Holy shit, Indy. What the fuck?” Willie asked.
Willie was a friend, graduated High School the same year as Hank. Still in uniform, he preferred it that way. He wanted action, not a desk. And anyway, the uniform looked good on him, real good. He was tall, with perfect, smooth-as-satin, black skin, a beautiful white smile and a body made of pure muscle. He was a full scholarship wide receiver for the University of Colorado, he was good but not good enough for the NFL. Just like Hank, he graduated college and went right to the Academy. He taught me how to play poker, badly on purpose, and beat me every time we played. I’d met Brian a couple of times, but he was barely out of rookie status.
“Call an ambulance,” I said to Willie.
Brian answered, “It’s two minutes behind us.”
“Let’s get you up,” Willie grabbed my upper arm.
“No, no way. I’m not letting go until the ambulance gets here.” I was trying hard not to cry and pressing the now soaked-through-with-blood towel against Tex’s shoulder. The blood was coming fast and there was a lot of it. In normal circumstances this would make me gag and possibly vomit but I was fast acquiring new skills, including adrenalin-fueled nursemaid.
“Now you’re bein’ a girl,” Tex said. “Soon you’ll be slobberin’ on me. It’s just a shot to the shoulder. Shit, I’ve had worse than this.”
I looked at Tex. He was pale, his eyes were in a permanent wince and his voice betrayed the pain. I decided to communicate in a way he’d understand.
“Well, excuse me!” I shouted. “I’ve never seen anyone shot in the shoulder. I’ve never seen anyone shot at all! News flash, Tex. I am a girl and I’m not fucking letting go until the fucking ambulance gets here. Do you fucking hear me?”
Willie let me go and took a step back.
“All right, no need to get all PMS about it,” Tex relented, then his eyes focused beyond me and I looked over my shoulder.
Lee strolled toward us, one of his arms down, a gun held loosely in his hand. He was pushing Sandy forward with the other hand and Sandy’s arms were cuffed behind his back. Lee shoved him into the yard we were all occupying and Sandy went down, hard, to his knees.
“This one of them?” he asked Tex, not looking at me.
“Yep,” Tex answered.
“He shoot you?” Willie asked.
“Shot at me, and Indy. The other guy nailed me though.”
Brian and Willie were no longer listening. They only heard “and Indy” and then half the night air was sucked into their lungs and Brian and Willie’s eyes narrowed on Sandy.
Almost worse than shooting a cop was shooting at a cop’s daughter.
Sandy just bought a first class ticket up Shit Creek.
It was then, the ambulance came.
* * * * *
I made the ambulance crew allow me to ride in the back with Tex. I did this by having the hissy fit to end all hissy fits. Until they wheeled him away in the Emergency Room, I stuck by his side. Tex allowed this mainly because he’d witnessed the hissy fit and knew I was hanging on by a thread. There were times when you humored a woman, even if you were a crazy man unafraid of flying bullets, and this was one of those times.
Tex told me in the ambulance that Kumar lived a couple of houses away from the one I was taken to and saw them unload me. As was apparently practice in the ‘hood, Kumar went straight to Tex and Tex gave him my card and told him to call Ally and ask for Lee. That was how Hank and Lee got there so quickly.
Detective Jimmy Marker, who had long ago caught me underage drinking, bought the case and questioned me in the hospital waiting room. Jimmy was somber and trying not to look as pissed off as he actually was. When I was eight, Jimmy took me to a father-daughter day because Dad was on duty. We did the three-legged race together. I suspected he would have preferred to be escorting Sandy, wearing cuffs and ankle shackles, down a very long, steep flight of stairs.
The questioning took awhile because half of the Denver Police Department came through the waiting room to see if I was okay. I’d amassed a lot of buddies on the Force, half of them had babysat me and the other half had partied with me.
Then, of course, there was Kitty Sue and Ally’s hysterical arrival with Malcolm and Dad dogging their heels.
Kitty Sue wasn’t crying and carrying on, she was shouting and carrying on. Gram told me often enough growing up that in times of emotional strain, shouting was just as good a release as bawling. Both of them made you ugly but only one of them ended in red, puffy eyes and a blotchy face. Kitty Sue was the wife of a cop, she’d long since learned that teary hysterics would get her nowhere but yelling captured attention. Men as a whole didn’t know what to do with tears, but they’d do anything to make a woman stop yelling.
Mr. Kumar had come to the hospital too and he didn’t seem to know what to make of these goings-on so he remained quiet and tried to be invisible. Jimmy questioned Mr. Kumar after he questioned me.
Once Jimmy left, I finally went to the bathroom and, I kid you not, the relief was so immense I nearly cried.
Then I told everyone I was waiting for Tex to get out of surgery. I did this in a way that no one said a word in protest. I still had the cuff bracelets on my wrists and a goodly amount of blood on my body from cuts from the bushes and possibly also from Tex. I wasn’t in a state, physically or mentally, to be trifled with.
I sat down next to Mr. Kumar, grabbed his hand and held on tight. Mr. Kumar didn’t seem to mind this, but then again, he’d witnessed my hissy fit too.
Everyone else settled in for the long haul.
On Kitty Sue’s command, Dad and Malcolm went in search of refreshments and hideous machine coffees were passed around. Kitty Sue and Ally hung close to Kumar and me. Lee and Hank had disappeared.
I’d lost track of them during my hissy fit but waiting for news of Tex, moments of clarity came to me. Memories were jogged and pieces started floating together.
I was pretty pissed off I’d been kidnapped again. I was also pretty certain I was about five seconds away from losing a kneecap. I’d never paid a lot of attention to my knees, but after inspecting them closely in the waiting room, I decided I liked them just the way they were.
I’d been afraid, afraid for my life, afraid for my kneecap and although I’d been nearly blinded by tear gas, I’d seen Tex take a bullet for me.
Being afraid made me mad. It made me mad that I’d been kidnapped on the doorstep of my home. It made me mad that Kitty Sue was hysterical. It made me mad that Malcolm stood glancing at me every few seconds as if he wanted to say something but thought I was too fragile to hear it. And it made me mad that my Dad sat across the waiting room wearing his worried expression.
And as I ciphered the bits and pieces of the puzzle that had been floating around me for days… pieces of the puzzle I’d been too stupid to fit together, I became pretty fucking angry.
The thing was, I was pretty certain that Lee had played me.
Lee and Hank walked into the waiting room and everyone looked at them. Lee’s face was stony. Hank looked angrier than me and he shook his head in negative once to Malcolm and Malcolm’s face became even tighter. At the silent communication, Dad cursed loudly.
I guessed (correctly) Pep
per Rick got away.
Hank walked right up to me, pulled me out of the chair and gave me a tight hug that stole my breath.
Lee stopped at Dad, Malcolm joined them and they started to have a quiet discussion that I couldn’t hear.
This made me mad too.
Hank came to hug me but Lee barely even looked at me.
Jerk.
I mean, he might still be mad at me for what I’d said at the barbeque, but I’d just been kidnapped, for God’s sake. That deserved at least a pat on the shoulder.
Hank let me go because the doctors came in and said Tex was okay. The bullet entered at the shoulder, breaking the shoulder blade and ricocheted out a second hole.
They said if we were quiet and didn’t stay long, Mr. Kumar and I could go and visit Tex together.
Tex looked out of place, too peaceful and way too big for the bed. I didn’t know what to make of him without his night vision goggles.
I barely knew this man at all, and he’d saved my kneecap.
He came to groggy, opened his eyes and they focused on me.
“You’re a fun date, what’re we gonna do tomorrow night?” he asked.
After he asked the question, he fell back to sleep hearing my stunned laughter.
* * * * *
Mr. Kumar drove to the hospital and took himself home. Ally took Kitty Sue home while Hank drove the rest of us. Malcolm sat in front with Hank and I sat sandwiched between Lee and Dad in the back. It was clear they were my honor guard.
Dad held my hand, tight, and Lee had his arm along the backseat of Hank’s 4Runner which meant it also ran along my shoulders. This was not a show of affection but so we’d have more room.
No one said anything. There was nothing to say.
Hank stopped in front of Lee’s condo building and Lee unbuckled and slid out, then unbuckled me and grabbed my arm, pulling me out with him.
I was a little surprised. I thought he was still pissed about what happened at the barbeque. I was pretty certain I was going home that night, not to Lee’s. Furthermore, I wanted to go home. Lee might be pissed about me and my stupid mouth, but I had more reason to be angry.
“Liam,” Dad called and Lee kept his hand on my arm but bent at the waist to look in the backseat.