Death Comes Ashore

by Corinne O'Flynn

  Weapon in hand, she made her move.

  Corey crouched as she inched her way toward the sniper. Being barefoot helped her feel the ground before shifting her weight and accidentally stepping on a branch that might snap or dried leaves that would crunch. She bent lower as she grew closer.

  The sniper wore green camouflage shorts and a pale tan tank top. He lay on his belly, watching the house through a hand-held scope, checking the gun’s sights every few seconds.

  Movement near the house caught Corey’s eye. She crouched lower, waiting.

  Kojak stepped through her dog door and into the yard. She sniffed as she meandered around the yard until she found the perfect spot to do her business.

  The sniper trained his rifle on Kojak, tracking her movement across the yard.

  Corey’s heart clenched in her throat at the sight of her beloved dog being stalked this way. Her own vulnerability forgotten, Corey charged at the sniper, the rock held high.

  He heard her coming and rolled onto his back, wand drawn, the rifle forgotten.

  Kojak, hearing the commotion, barked at the fence. “Get away from my dog, you asshole!” she screamed, bringing the rock down.

  The sniper turned and threw a spell at Corey, hitting her arm. It tore a gash across her biceps and she flailed. Corey tried to keep her grip on the rock, but it slipped and only grazed the side of his head.

  She kicked him in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him. Her hands heated as she fought the man, a swirl of red and blue energy outlining the tips of her fingers.

  He brought his hands down to block another kick as he tried to point the wand at her again.

  “You get the hell away from my house and my dog!” She punched him, the light around her hands covering her skin like a pair of mis-matched gloves. When she hit him, her hands swiped right through him like they were not even there.

  The man smiled as he realized her magic had misfired. He brought his wand hand up and pointed it at her, a surge of electricity shooting from the tip and hitting the tree next to her like a bolt of lightning.

  “No!” She dropped to her knees and grabbed the rock again. She spun on her knees and hit him again, this time catching his hands, snapping the wand that had been raised in defense. Her mind was white with fury. All rational thought had left her when this animal, this monster, had put her Kojak in his crosshairs. “You get away!” she screamed, landing another blow with the heavy river rock, this one to his jaw.

  The man’s arms fell to his sides. Corey let the rock fall, her chest heaving with exertion. She dropped to her knees and lay in the grass, her gaze drawn to the pink and orange clouds burning across the sky as the sun finally set.

  Chapter Thirty

  Corey helped Alicia through the gate in the back yard fence. They had to stop to say hello to Kojak, who waggled her backside and pushed herself against Corey, her devotion to her master absolute. Corey scratched the dog’s head and bent to nuzzle a kiss.

  Kojak rolled onto her back, her body swaying back and forth as she requested belly rubs but was unable to contain her full-body excitement.

  Corey rubbed her hands over Kojak’s muscular chest, feeling the dog’s heart thunder beneath her hand. To think how easily that sniper could have stopped this precious heart, how one whim on the part of that stranger could have taken Kojak from her. All it would have taken was a tiny squeeze of a single finger… sometimes she really hated the world.

  Corey glanced over the back fence where the sniper lay unconscious. She shivered, scrubbing Kojak’s chest with both hands. “You’re such a good girl. Who loves ya, baby?” Corey stood and put an arm around Alicia’s shoulders.

  The dog sat up, watching Corey. “Kojak, this is my friend, Alicia.”

  Kojak woofed and turned to give Corey’s legs another pass, her tail spinning wildly.

  Alicia leaned over, cradling her broken arm. “What a sweet dog.”

  Kojak moved under Alicia’s hand, getting a full side rub in the process.

  Inside the house, Corey pulled the ropes even tighter around the sniper’s chest, forcing him to sit up straight against the back of the heavy oak chair. His head rolled to the side as he swam in and out of consciousness. From the look of it, she’d broken his jaw. His rifle, armed with a tranquilizer dart, lay on the kitchen table. “What is it with you people and the drugs?” Corey kicked the chair, rousing the sniper.

  “Mfffr blrrrsh.” His words were lost in his swollen mouth.

  She tied his hands to the back of the chair, stretching his shoulders to the limit. He passed out again. She checked his pockets for ammo, and found a sleeve of tranquilizer darts, another wand, but no bullets. She tossed the darts onto the table next to the rifle and tested the knots, assuring the sniper’s hands would hold. “There. You’re not going anywhere.”

  They moved to the living room where Alicia sat on the corner of the sofa, her head back and her eyes closed, cradling her arm. Kojak lounged at her feet. Corey went to the bathroom in the back of the cottage and returned with the first-aid kit and a bottle of ibuprofen. She handed Alicia a trio of the orange tablets. “Here, I’ll get you some water. See to that cut on your leg.”

  She selected a glass from the drying rack on the counter near the sink and filled it from the tap. Walking back to the living room, Corey heard a click and a hiss. Something like static. Short and muffled. She stopped mid-stride and listened. She checked the sniper; he was still unconscious.

  Kojak, sensing her master’s unease, walked over to Corey. “Kojak, come girl. Heel.”

  Corey placed the water glass on the counter and walked through the house with Kojak at her side. They inspected each room in the small cottage, checking the windows and closets as they went. When Corey came back to the kitchen, she turned out the lights.

  “What is it?” Alicia opened her eyes and sat up on the couch.

  Corey shook her head. In the dark, she listened for a long moment. Nothing.

  She touched Kojak’s head. “It’s all right. Thanks for keeping watch with me.”

  Corey stood and lifted the house phone from its charger on the counter. She dialed Young’s number. When nothing happened, she looked down at the phone in her hand. Pressing the buttons produced no sound. She put the phone to her ear again. The line was dead.

  Static crackled again. The same muffled hiss and click.

  It was coming from the kitchen. From very near where Corey stood. She stepped into the center of the room, waiting. When it came again, Corey was ready. She moved toward the sound and found herself standing right in front of the sniper.

  She patted him down, checked the multitude of pockets in his cargo shorts. Nothing.

  Crackle. Hiss. Hiss. Crackle.

  Corey’s blood curdled and she reached under the collar of the sniper’s t-shirt and pulled out a coil of wire connected to a rubber earpiece.

  Crackle. Hiss. Hiss. Crackle.

  It was the sound of a radio transmission. Someone was trying to communicate with the sniper.

  Corey crouched so her head was next to the sniper’s shoulder. She pulled the wire from his shirt and pressed the ear bud into her ear.

  Crackle. “River One, we approach. Status?” Crackle.

  Kojak went rigid, her attention on the back door. The dog shuffled through the kitchen, poking her head through the dog door at the back of the house.

  Corey’s throat clenched. “Kojak, come!”

  Kojak growled a deep, low rumble. The sound sent ice up Corey’s spine. “Kojak! Come!”

  The dog woofed once and bolted through the back door and out into the yard.

  Corey turned back to Alicia and saw a point of red laser light tracking across the wall above the couch.

  “Alicia, get down!” Corey hit the floor and commando-crawled over to Alicia, who had dropped to the carpet. She grabbed her friend and dragged her through the living room, back toward the kitchen and into the back room. Alicia yelped in pain as she shimmied across the floor on her broken a
rm.

  The window in the living room exploded as bullets tore through the tiny cottage, shredding the curtains and reducing the ancient window frame to splinters. The roof pop-popped as it took its share of the metallic rain.

  “Kojak!” Corey screamed for her dog. Her breathing sped up as anxiety threatened to overtake her. Sweat beaded on her forehead and between her shoulder blades as she fought to steady her breath. She blew out slowly.

  Not for the first time, she wondered at the wisdom of living in such a remote spot. Her need for security at home had led her to this old cottage at the end of the one-lane road. Hers was the only house this far down the road. Her landlady’s family had a place on the lot adjacent to Corey’s, but the house sat empty now that the old woman had gone to live with her daughter’s family upstate.

  Corey had found comfort in replacing the window clasps with new, solid ones and adding double locks on all the doors. Her security system was top of the line. And yet, as she crawled across the floor toward the back door, she could feel her pulse race and her vision going black as panic threatened to overtake her. She needed to get Kojak inside.

  Get a grip. Get a grip. Kojak needs you. Alicia needs you.

  Corey wiped the sweat from her eyes. “Kojak.” She got to her knees and peered out the small glass pane in the back door. Kojak lay on her side in the middle of the yard, a single dart poking through her flank, the bright spray of stabilizer fabric at the back of the dart pulsing with the dog’s heartbeat.

  Kojak was still alive.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Seeing her dog laying unconscious in the yard snapped Corey back to reality and the task at hand. Kojak was alive. The dog was alive, though the sight of her precious Kojak laying in the open yard was almost too much to bear.

  She needed to stop this. She needed to get help.

  Corey crawled to the bedroom and slid under the bed, pulling out a slender black case and dragged it to the back room where Alicia crouched on the floor.

  “What are we going to do?” Alicia ducked as another stream of bullets hit the front of the house.

  Corey tapped the wall behind them. “This room is cement block. We’re safe here, for now.” She had the cement installed shortly after moving in. It felt like such an indulgence, building a pseudo safe room. But this wasn’t the first time she’d found solace here.

  Many nights she woke in a panic, unable to shake the anxiety. Sometimes, being able to corner herself into this impervious space was the only thing that calmed her down. She thought back to all the times she cowered in this corner, fighting the heat in her body, the panic that she knew now wasn’t actually panic. She felt like a fool.

  Corey crawled back through the hall and into the kitchen, grabbing the sniper’s rifle and the sleeve of darts from the table. Shots burst through the front door, splintering the door frame and tearing up the floor. The sniper had been shot multiple times. Blood oozed from wounds in his chest and legs and dripped onto the floor.

  It sounded like a single shooter out front. But she couldn’t be sure. And someone else had to have shot Kojak out back. So, at least two shooters.

  My god. Poor Kojak.

  She hurried back to Alicia and opened the suitcase. She removed a small .22 pistol and a pair of night-vision goggles from the form-fitted foam. She handed Alicia the pistol. “Just point and shoot. It’s only good for close-up, so don’t fire until you really have to, understand?”

  Alicia nodded, moving the fingers of her good hand around the gun, letting her other hand support the grip.

  Corey switched the goggles on and looked through them, checking the hall and the portion of the kitchen they could see from their vantage point. The dark house lit up in shades of computerized green.

  She handed the goggles to Alicia. “Keep your head down, don’t brush against the curtains. See if anyone is moving around out there. Go slow.”

  Alicia got up on her knees and checked the window with the goggles. Corey watched her scan slowly right then left.

  Corey set up the rifle, using the tripod legs to secure the gun in place with the muzzle pointing down the hallway toward the kitchen. She wished she had her Glock .40. And her phone. And her truck. Damn this entire freaking day.

  Alicia gasped. “Someone’s there. I see him. Oh my god, Corey. I see him!”

  “Shhh. Let me see.” Corey took the goggles and pressed them to her eyes, easing herself into position next to Alicia.

  “By the gate, to the left a little.”

  Corey trained the goggles to the left of the gate and let out her breath, steadying her hand. There. Movement. It was one guy, crouching behind a bush. They were coordinating their attack. Coming at her from two sides at once. It’s how she would do it, too.

  The front door opened with a prolonged squeal from the damaged hinges.

  She turned to Alicia. “Be ready. Deep breath,” she whispered.

  Corey put the goggles on the floor and motioned for Alicia to back away from the window. Corey got down on her belly, inching the rifle against her shoulder. She squinted and lowered her eye to the gun’s sight.

  Footsteps crunched on glass in the front room. Alicia breathed in once, sharply.

  Corey blinked slowly and waited, her finger on the trigger of the rifle. She had no idea what was in these darts, but she prayed it was as strong as what they had used on Greg Cullen. Her mind replayed the security video, trying to count off the seconds it took to disable Cullen. It seemed like the same amount of time it had taken to disable her. Ten seconds, maybe twelve?

  If the person in the kitchen had a gun, the darts wouldn’t work fast enough. She would only have time for one shot.

  A figure stepped into the hallway. He was a short man with a bald head and a light colored sport coat. Vladimir. The man in white.

  He had his hands at his sides.

  “I know you’re there, Inspector Corey Proctor with the dog called Kojak.” His Russian accent made his words seem to drip from his mouth. “I can’t believe we meet again. After so many years.”

  Hearing his voice made Corey want to curl into a ball and cry.

  “My woman outside wishes to shoot you full of holes. But I think we should talk first, yes?” He shrugged his shoulders and something shiny dropped into his palm from inside his sleeve.

  Corey steeled herself, let her finger slide into the curve of the trigger. “You think you’re James Bond or something?” Corey squeezed.

  A single dart shot through the hall and hit Vladimir in the belly. A slight puff of dust from the gun’s discharge filled the air. Corey rolled to her side, out of the hallway. She pressed her back against the wall and pulled out the case of extra darts. There were four left, each one lined up neatly next to its twin.

  She wouldn’t have time to load the gun again, line up another shot.

  The back door burst inward in a shower of broken glass and wood. A blonde woman dressed entirely in black stood in the doorway, her attention on Alicia.

  “You!” She took a step toward Alicia, her hand reaching for her gun. “My god, girl.” She had an accent like Vladimir’s, the word girl coming out like “geerl”. “You have been such a trouble.”

  A bang from the .22 echoed through the small space. Corey heard the bullet hit the ceiling. Alicia missed. The woman hadn’t seen Corey lying on the floor behind her, had no idea she was there.

  A moan carried through the hall from the kitchen. “Antidote.” Vladimir croaked from the floor. His voice slurred under the power of the sedative. “Bring the antidote…”

  The woman cocked her handgun, pointed it at Alicia. “One minute, old man. I am busy.”

  Antidote? There was an antidote to counteract the effects of this drug? Kojak…

  Corey grabbed all four darts from the metal case and bunched them in her fist. She stood up and pulled her arm back, being sure to put all her force behind the darts. “Hey.”

  The woman turned as if by reflex. She lowered her gun for a fraction of a
second before her brain registered the incoming danger.

  Corey swung hard. Her arm came down in a perfect arc. The woman raised her gun.

  Bang!

  Corey spun and lost her balance, landing on the floor. She turned and looked up at the woman, wondering if this person would be the last thing she’d ever see.

  The woman gasped as she fell back against the wall, her knees buckling as she clutched at her throat. Four shiny darts stood out from the woman’s chest, just above her heart. Blood ran from a tiny hole in the center of her throat. It pulsed as it dripped down her chest. Her head lolled to the side, her eyes drooping as if in a doze.

  Alicia sat with her back in the corner, Corey’s .22 pistol quaking in her hands. She blinked several times, her chin quivering as she gasped for breath. “I did it. I did it.” Alicia smiled as if just now realizing she was still alive.

  Corey crawled over to Alicia and took the .22 from her. She felt at once proud of her friend for defending herself, and heartbroken that this beautiful girl with the good heart and the bright future had been brought to such a dark place in the world.

  “You did good, Alicia. You saved us.” Corey grabbed Alicia’s hand and squeezed, pulling Alicia out of the corner. “Help me find the antidote.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  A search of the dead woman’s body revealed a metal case of syringes, each labeled with a red sticker across the barrel written in what looked to be Cyrillic. They also found a cell phone. Corey dialed Young and handed the phone to Alicia while she ran outside to Kojak in the backyard.

  She pulled the dart from Kojak’s flank and placed it on the grass, bending to lay her ear to the dog’s side.

  Kojak’s heart rate had slowed to a faint pulse. Her breaths were ragged and shallow. “Hold on baby. I’m going to fix you up.”

  Corey sat on her front porch, drinking Gatorade while wrapped in a blanket courtesy of the PIO’s emergency response team. In front of her house, eleven patrol cars, three ambulances, the MDE’s van, and four official department SUVs were parked at odd angles, their lights strobing red and white and blue in a totally uncoordinated display. At least they’d cut the sirens.