The Shooter

by Peter O'Mahoney

  “The system failed you.” I agreed. “And you blamed the defense lawyers for it.”

  “I blamed everyone. Waltz and Hudson knew Jeffery Stone was guilty. I could see it in their eyes. They knew it, and still, they attacked me on the stand. That’s where the system fails. Nobody in the system was there to defend me.”

  “You made your stepfather and his lawyers pay. But why Larry Fittler?” I asked.

  “I was raped by my stepfather, and then I was raped by the justice system,” Robbie said. “Don’t you get it? I went to the police, I went to the courts, and the system failed me. How could I have evidence of that crime? How could I be expected to gain evidence of it? My only evidence was my testimony. I sat in that courtroom and was questioned by Jeffery Stone’s defense team. Anthony Waltz and Clarke Hudson, and their young assistant, Larry Fittler. They laughed as they questioned me. They laughed! Of course, I couldn’t get all my answers straight! I was ten years old, and that prick raped me! How was I supposed to react? And they were laughing at me in court!”

  “What did your mother do?”

  “Nothing! She was obsessed with Jeffery’s money! She sold me out. How could I live like that? She sent me to live with my grandparents after I made the accusations. She wouldn’t believe me! Nobody believed me!”

  “Anyone else on that list?”

  “Fittler was it. He was the last one on my list. He was a junior assistant to Waltz for my trial. After that, I was out. I was gone. But you had to ruin it, didn’t you, Jack? I had a plan to skip town to Alaska and lay low for a year.” He moved closer. Close enough to lunge at. “Everything was perfect, and I was about to start packing.”

  “Was it worth it?”

  Robbie’s eyes closed briefly as his mind took him back to a moment of power, followed by peace. He exhaled. “Absolutely. They deserved to pay for what they did to me. I deserved justice.”

  At that moment, there was a loud knock at the front door. Robbie was distracted. I saw my chance, a fleeting moment of possibility.

  I jumped up, blocking out the pain throbbing in my head and lunged for the gun, flinging the broken piece of porcelain in Robbie’s face at the same time.

  But Robbie’s reflexes were good, his eyes were open, and he was ready. I pushed at his arm, throwing him into the sofa.

  He raised his hand, firing the gun on impulse.

  Five shots were fired as he fell backwards.

  And I felt one of the shots nick my thigh.

  Chapter 33

  “Jack!” Casey shoulder-charged through the front door once she heard the gunshots. “Jack!”

  I looked up. Robbie had run out the back door. It was swinging open. Casey sprang into the room, gun drawn, and head bandaged.

  “Casey.” I gripped my leg, checking for blood. There wasn’t much pain, but I wondered if that was because of my dazed head. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to save your butt, apparently.” She had her gun pointed at the back door, which was left swinging open by Robbie as he fled. “You hit?”

  I took my hand away from my thigh. There was blood, but not a lot of it. I pulled at my jeans and looked at the wound. It was only a graze. “Nothing a small bandage couldn’t fix. The shot only scraped my thigh.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?” Casey kept her gun focused on the back door. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself and start running after him.”

  I stood and the pressure on the leg hurt a little, but it was nothing major.

  “He’s the killer, Casey, and he’s armed,” I said and began to check the back door. I peered out and checked the surroundings, spotting Robbie’s shadow climbing over the waist high fence. I signaled to Casey behind me. “Robbie!” I called out. “It’s over.”

  He didn’t stop to look back, racing down the street.

  I signaled to Casey that it was time to go, and she came out with her weapon pointing straight. When she saw the coast was clear, Casey charged forward, leaping over the fence first and I followed.

  Before Casey could fire a shot, or even call his name again, Robbie McAdams was in the front seat of his sedan, roaring out of the parking spot on the side of the road.

  “My truck,” I yelled to Casey as the car raced past us. Within seconds, I was in the driver’s seat of my truck, with Casey in the passenger seat. Fueled by adrenaline, I screeched the tires of the truck after Robbie.

  “Mind filling me in?” Casey yelled as she gripped the door.

  “Jeffery Stone was Robbie’s stepfather. Stone raped Robbie as a child and got away with it in court.” I threw the truck around corner after corner, in pursuit of the serial killer. “Waltz, Hudson, and Fittler were all part of the defense team that got Stone off the charges. They were all his targets. This was all a personal vendetta.”

  “DiMarco?”

  “Not involved. Robbie runs the website, ‘D-TAL,’ and DiMarco uploads the videos. DiMarco doesn’t even know Robbie.”

  “He was after justice,” Casey said as she was thrown around the car. “You should let him go, Jack. Let the cops deal with it.”

  “I won’t let him get away. Not after he attacked you.” I gripped the steering wheel and yanked the truck out of the street and onto the four-lane main road. “And if he gets away now, we’ll never see him again. His plan was to disappear into the wilds of Alaska as soon as Fittler was killed.”

  Robbie’s sedan was four cars in front. I floored the truck to make up the distance. The speedometer moved past 75 miles an hour. Robbie must’ve seen me closing in and took the next turn, screeching in front of another vehicle. I followed.

  “Slow down, Jack!” Casey gripped the edge of her seat. “Don’t lose it!”

  “Hold on.” I gritted my teeth as I yanked the steering wheel. “And buckle up.”

  I thundered my truck past the traffic on the off-ramp, and flew across the next intersection, speeding through the red light. The traffic crossing the intersection broke hard, their horns howling through the night air. One car clipped the back of my truck, but I didn’t stop. I thundered the truck harder, faster, dropped it back another gear.

  Robbie was barely fifty yards away from us. His sedan weaved through the traffic on the main road. I followed, determined to catch him.

  “He killed them all, Casey.” I grunted. “For revenge.”

  “Where’s your weapon?”

  “He took it,” I said. “There’s another one in the glove compartment.”

  Casey leaned forward while being thrown around in the fast moving truck, and opened the latch. She removed the gun, checked to make sure it was loaded, and then passed it across to me.

  I put the gun in my holster, and then dropped the truck back another gear, roaring through the gears with aggression. The sedan turned sharply onto a side street. I gripped the handbrake, yanked the steering wheel, and followed. My truck slid across the road, almost out of control, until the tires gripped and raced forward. The speed bump in front of us did little to slow us down.

  Lights flashed past. Cars pulled out of the way. Robbie was closer now.

  Robbie’s driving was erratic. I could see that he was reaching across to the other side of the car, trying to reload his gun at the same time. He was inches away from crashing numerous times.

  I closed the gap again, flooring the accelerator, thundering past cars on both sides of the road. I got close to his sedan and clipped the back corner of the car. Robbie’s vehicle slid and weaved, until he regained control. Robbie wasn’t stopping, and nor was I.

  “Jack!” Casey yelled as we narrowly missed a pole. “Watch out!”

  I ignored her. Robbie was the target. We sped through the streets, building after building zipping past us. I passed cars with disregard for safety, full of anger. I planted my foot on the accelerator, almost pushing it through the floor. I gripped the steering wheel tight. My vision was focused. Casey continued shouting at me, but it was white noise to me now. With my foot on the floor, with no margin for error
, I tested my truck and my driving ability. My body was thrown side to side, slamming against the door, as I raced around another corner. Robbie’s sedan was slowing around the corners. I closed the gap again. My truck was faster, more capable. I pushed the truck harder. Dropped it back another gear. Thundered the engine.

  A car pulled out of a side-street. Robbie’s sedan clipped it at high speed. He began to lose control.

  The back end of the car was beginning to spin down the road.

  “Jack!” Casey screamed. “Watch out! Jack!”

  The tires of the sedan slipped. Robbie’s car began to move sideways.

  He had lost it. The sedan hit the side of another car before the front corner of the sedan caught the edge of a pole, launching him into a spin.

  Then came the impact. He hit another car at high speed. The sound of the crashing metal was deafening. Robbie’s sedan flipped and landed onto its roof, still spinning, grinding down the road.

  I slammed on the brakes. My truck slid to a halt.

  The sedan was upside down in the middle of the road, beaten and broken. I leaped out of my truck, searching the smashed wreck. I could see blood. A lot of it.

  “Robbie!” I shouted. “Robbie!”

  Casey leaped out of the passenger seat.

  I waited for a response, but then came the gunshots. Six shots.

  “Casey!” I yelled. “Get down!”

  Chapter 34

  I hit the pavement hard.

  The sound of gunshots had reverberated down the street, echoing around us, and I felt the instant pain in my shoulder. Hit twice in one day. That’s got to be lucky.

  “Jack!” Casey called out from behind the truck—frustration, anger, and worry all packed into a single word. “Jack! Are you hit?”

  I was sprawled on the sidewalk, arms and legs out wide, the searing agony spreading to my entire left side. Reaching down to feel the top of my shoulder, my fingers came away slick with blood.

  “Casey!” I called back. “You hit?”

  “I’m clean!”

  She was behind my truck, next to the back tire. I could see her shoe from my position on the sidewalk. I crawled a few feet to take cover against a blue USPS mailbox. The air in the street had changed, and I knew I had to force myself to be the center of Robbie’s attention. Taking a moment, I drew a breath, the feeling in my left side disappearing by the second. I was seated on the sidewalk, leaning my back against the mailbox.

  “Robbie!” I yelled out. “Stop this! Killing anyone else is the worst thing you can do right now!”

  I caught sight of Casey moving to the front of my truck. She leaned her head around the front and signaled to me. I gave her the thumbs up, but the pain in my left shoulder was searing. I leaned forward to look at Robbie’s upside-down car. I could hear him trying to struggle out of the wreckage.

  “Robbie! Enough!”

  “Don’t come near me!” Robbie called back. “Either of you! If anyone starts to come near me, I’ll start shooting into the street!”

  I looked around the street. Most people had taken cover. They were prepared. The traffic on the street had come to a standstill, thanks to the accident, but on the other side of the street, still in range, were a group of five people, all with their phones out taking videos. I tried to signal that they should take cover, but they didn’t move.

  I had to take control. I couldn’t let anyone else die. I let the breath come, slow and deep.

  “Robbie, be smart,” I called out again. “This isn’t the way you want this to end. There’ll be uniforms swarming all over this place in minutes. You don’t need to go down like this.”

  “Stay away, or I’ll shoot you! Nobody cares about me! Don’t you get it?” I could hear Robbie continue to struggle under his car. “Humankind has stopped caring about each other! Nobody cares anymore. They need a defender. They need a hero. They need someone to bring the bad guys to their knees and not ever let them get back up. To stand in front of the innocent and make sure they’re protected and aren’t forced into a life they don’t deserve. That’s me! The world needs more people like me! The world needs people like me to stop those money hungry grubs!”

  I could feel the pain beginning to burn through me and my shirt was beginning to become heavy with blood. I listened, but I couldn’t hear sirens. I leaned forward to check on Robbie again. I could see that he was almost out of the car. His torso was out of the front windshield but he was struggling to get his legs free. I spotted the gun in his hand.

  “You should be on my side, Jack!” Robbie continued. “You want to help keep the innocent protected. All the innocent people. The victims, the wrongly convicted. This should be your job. You should care!”

  I could feel the last of my energy draining slowly, ebbing away. I pressed my hand onto the front of my shoulder. My mouth felt fuzzy, and I could smell the sickly stench of blood all around me.

  I looked to my left and saw Casey crawl around the truck. She had her weapon drawn and could see Robbie was almost free. She looked at me and I shook my head. I couldn’t risk her. Not now. Not again.

  She glared at me. I shook my head again.

  “Drop the gun, Robbie,” Casey called out. “It’s over!”

  Finally, I could hear sirens in the distance.

  But Robbie was free. He was out of the car.

  I leaned across and could see that he was standing, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. The gun was dangling in his right hand, ready to be used in an instant. His clothing was covered in blood, and it was dripping onto the pavement.

  “Robbie!” Casey called again. “Put the gun down!”

  I shook my head again, and tried to call out to Casey, but I could barely speak. The darkness was coming to engulf me. The last of my energy was leaving me.

  I looked back to Robbie. The true extent of the crash became clear. He still had shards of glass sticking into his arms.

  He looked at my truck. To where Casey was sheltered. He lifted his handgun. He was focused. Determined.

  I could see the smile start to drift across his face.

  “I won’t let the system rape me again, Jack!” He called out to me, but he was facing my truck. He was turned towards Casey. “I won’t let the system use me again!”

  He aimed his weapon.

  I rolled forward. My gun was drawn.

  “Casey!” I yelled. “Cover!”

  Robbie fired at my truck. He fired at Casey.

  From the sidewalk, I fired back.

  Robbie’s arm fell slack, and the gun fell to the ground.

  He looked in my direction. His face was confused and contorted, and, for a split second, he looked so sad, lost and alone.

  He fell, his face smashing into the edge of his car.

  And then, my world went dark.

  Chapter 35

  The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the whiteness of the walls in the bright room. I knew that smell. It was disinfectant. I heard the beeping next. Then, I noticed the woman slumped next to me on a cushioned chair, focused on the glowing screen of her mobile phone.

  I lifted my head side to side and lifted both arms, my left hand had a drip inserted and my right hand had a heart rate monitor attached to my finger. But mostly, I notice the dryness of my throat and the dull ache in my shoulder.

  “Casey,” I said, feeling like I was shouting but hearing only a scratchy whisper come out.

  Her head whipped up and she stood up quickly.

  “Howdy there, partner, about time you showed up. Things were getting boring around here. I was getting tired of having my ass whipped at online Chess.” Her smile was sincere, large and warm.

  “I need a drink,” I whispered, but she was already there, pouring water into a glass and holding the straw close to my lips. I took five long sips and then let my head fall back on the pillow. “What happened?”

  “Well, as usual, you’ve managed to find a way to get yourself an extra few hours’ of sleep.” Casey start
ed to laugh at her own joke but then winced and stopped. She held the back of her head for a moment, and then sat back down.

  “Robbie. He’s…?” The memories began to flood back to me.

  “He survived. Took a bullet to the shoulder, and another to the chest, but the paramedics managed to keep him alive. Currently, he’s locked up in a prison hospital. He’s not going anywhere soon.”

  I stared at the ceiling, the breath coming and going from my lungs slowly. “How long have I been out?”

  “You’ve been in and out for almost two days. The doctors keep checking on you, but they’re happy with your progress. The bullet went clean through your shoulder, and you lost a lot of blood. The paramedics weren’t sure you were going to make it. It was touch and go for a while. You were in the operating room for about five hours. You’ve got fifteen stitches in your shoulder and another five in your leg. You managed to get shot twice in one day, Jack. That’s got to be a record for you. And you’ll have quite the scar on your shoulder, apparently.”

  “I love a good scar. Makes me look tough.” I grinned and looked at Casey. “Cubs win?”

  Casey smiled. “Yeah, they got a win last night.”

  “And you? How are you feeling? Have the docs cleared you?”

  “They gave me the all clear and I’m as fresh as a daisy. Zippy. Zappy. Rejuvenated. Feeling great, and, just as well, the doc says that you’ll be out of action for a few weeks. Someone has to run the business for you.”

  “I’ll be back tomorrow. Can’t keep a good man down.”

  “Or an idiot from saying stupid things, apparently.” Casey’s smile was broad.

  I laughed but it hurt my chest, forcing me to cough and wince. Casey rested her hand on my wrist. “Settle down. There’s no rush, Jack. Everything is taken care of.”

  “What’s going to happen to Robbie?”

  “He’s been locked up. It’s a done deal.”