I was proud of Chad's quick-thinking and restraint. Sure, he could have just shot him, but do you have any idea of the legal problems we'd have to get through, even for a justified shooting? In a split-second, that feeling changed to pain. And oh, shit, it hurt!
Guess what? That move doesn't always work the same way it does on TV and in the movies. If the angle's wrong, guess where the knife goes? Three guesses and the first two don't count.
Chad's face went white. He brought the leg doing the kicking down at an unnatural angle, standing on the side of his left foot, rather than the ball of it. Didn't slow his speed down any, though. His arm reached out and grabbed the offending wrist that was no longer wielding the knife, seeing as how it was now protruding straight through his foot, twisting said wrist up and back as he slapped a handcuff on it.
"Fucker!" screamed the pimp. "That hurts!"
"Good! Keep screamin' and I'll break it for you! Son-of-a-bitch!!" exclaimed my new husband, as his foot turned downward and the knife made a bit of contact with the ground. Didn't seem to bother Chad that much, other than the involuntary 'son-of-a-bitch!' but my stomach cramped and fell out of my body.
Spike, during this rousing melee, had already cuffed the ho's hands behind her back, despite her outraged screams.
"You asshole! You 'sposed to be protecting women come runnin' atcha gots a knife-holdin' maniac coming after 'em! And you cuffin' me?! For real?!?!"
"Oh, yeah, sweetheart, for really real!" Spike confirmed, moving her—okay, maybe not so gently—towards the Beemer. He opened the back door and shoved her inside.
"Ariel! Can you—"
"Yeah, I got it," I confirmed, moving to the other side of the Beemer, on guard against any door flying open and any ho hauling ass out of it.
No longer encumbered by the ho, Spike sprinted over to Chad and the pimp and finished the handcuff job. He'd just about gotten back to the Beemer when the back door flew open and the ho flew out. I've never been athletic, don't get the wrong idea. But my husband had a knife in his foot, which I just incidentally felt as though it were sticking in my own, and this was my wedding day, for God's sake! My wedding night!
"Oh, hell no!" I shouted, and took a flying leap straight at her, my arms around her middle. I lay there holding on through the shouts and flailing arms until Spike scooped her off me.
"Some damn," he said mildly, putting her back in the backseat. Both his hands finally being free, he pulled his keys out of his pocket and clicked the locks. He held his hand out for me, and I pulled myself up, limping as I headed towards Chad.
"Oh, shit, that flying tackle mess up an ankle or a leg, hon?" Spike asked as he followed.
"No, that's fine."
"Then what—oh, shit! You're not, are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Never mind. Of course you are." We'd reached Chad by that time, and with me on one side and Spike on the other, hobbled him over to the car.
"Okay." Chad was pale, but obviously in full control. "So, here's the deal. You take the bike back, I'll glare at 'em over the front seat and dare 'em to move and baby girl'll drive the Beemer—"
"Sorry, son, that won't work," Spike interrupted. "We'll have to leave the bike. I'll call in, get a patrol car to come out and grab it, got a few favors I can call in. One of the guys'll ride it back."
"No point in all that, easier just to—"
"Magic Man," said Spike. I started. You mean that wasn't just my nickname for him? "You taken a good look at your wife yet?"
"What—" Chad turned to me, his hand reaching out to turn my chin towards him. I could feel the beads of sweat running along my hairline, and knew they had nothing to do with heat. I couldn't see my reflection but I was sure I was paler than he was. I knew my eyes were wide as saucers. "Shit!!"
"Oh, yeah," said Spike mildly. "You are in so much trouble now, Magic Man. You got two fronts to guard. 'Cause what happens to you—she feels. Be nice if you could shield a little there, I'd hate for her to pass out before I get your ass to the ER."
"No ER. You still got your own ER, know you do. How else would you still have favors to call in?"
"First things first. Get in the damn car, I'm calling ahead to have a welcoming committee out front at the LEC. And then I'll take a look in the private ER. No promises, though. Depends on where that knife is exactly, whether we stay there or head to the Medical Center. You're in my territory now, son."
We all piled in the car. I was feeling a little better. Chad must be—what had Spike called it? Shielding.
We were pulling away from the Western Courtyard when I heard the low whisper under his breath.
"This did not go at all the way I planned."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Spike was in process on Chad's foot in the private ER when I started at the sound. Chad's cell phone. Ringing in his jacket pocket from the chair across the room. A ringtone I'd never heard before.
"Shit! Get that, baby girl!"
"Man, I am stitching a foot here! To hell with the damn phone!"
"I need that call!"
I scrambled for the phone while Spike threw up his hands and stopped work momentarily.
"Far be it from me to interfere with a man and his informant!"
Informant? I raised my brow and frowned as I handed Chad his phone. Of course it was. Why else a special ringtone?
"Whatcha' got for me?" Short, sharp, to the point. "No. Keep an eye out the next day or two. Pay attention to any pattern, any movement. I'll be there soon as I can. You give this to anybody else, I'll—"
A loud squawk of protest came sounded from the earpiece.
"Good. Long as you remember that."
Chad clicked the phone shut and looked at me. "Baby girl—"
"We're doing Vegas some other time, right?"
"I'm sorry but—"
"But that call was from somebody who shall be nameless but whose function is spelled i‑n-f-o-r-m-a-n-t. Who just told you where somebody was you been looking for. For a while. And you trust his information because you own his ass. How'm I doin' so far?"
"Pretty damn good, I'd say," said Spike. "All right if I continue this repair job while you two fight?"
"We're not going to fight," I said. "It's our job. We're going to go get him. Whoever it is."
"No, we are not. You're a fledgling bounty hunter, baby girl. In training. You can go on the preliminary run to verify. You are not going in for the take-down."
"We'll see about that," I declared.
Spike started whistling the tune to "Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight".
* * *
We sat in the silver Equinox, shrouded in night shadows, across the street from the dilapidated house in the decrepit neighborhood of one of the worst sections of Marietta, watching for movement.
"At least it was convenient," I said.
"Convenient?"
"Close to the airport. Picking up the car and all. At least it was handy."
"True."
"How long you been after this dude?"
"Zander Stevens. Not your average bad-ass. Lots more going on with him than drug-dealing, that's just what he got caught at. Been after him a long time. Other folks been after him a lot longer than I have, spooked him and he went to ground. Nothing worse than a bad bounty hunter. Once you get the scent, you got to run 'em till you get 'em. You let up, they get away, takes 'em awhile to get comfortable, start moving enough for you to find the trail again. Figured he'd come back here eventually. Seems to be his abode of choice. Comfort zone or something. Why I had some eyes looking in the neighborhood."
I stared at the house. Something in the air. The whole neighborhood screamed despair, poverty, hopelessness. But there was something else, too. Something I couldn't peg. But it wasn't coming from the neighborhood as a whole. No, it was specific. Located squarely in that house.
And it wasn't just me, I thought. Chad felt it, too. I could feel him feeling it, just as I knew he could feel me.
"Baby girl."
>
"What, Magic Man?"
"Whatcha' think?"
"Don't know. There's something different about that house. I know there is, but I don't know what. Can't read it. Can you?"
"Nope. Always known it was there, felt it when I first started tracking him. But I think I know what we need to translate it."
"Yeah? What?"
"A ghost whisperer. We know any good ones?"
I laughed softly. "Well, now that you mention it, I might just be able to hook us up with one."
Chad turned the key and the Equinox hummed softly into life. He pulled away from the curb, just another shadow amidst other shadows.
"We're going back to civilization, get us a hotel room, get some rest." He grinned. "Among other activities. And we'll call Stacy early in the morning and ask her to drive up here and translate for us."
Chapter Twenty-Three
I called Stacy from the warm comfort of Chad's arms in an Alpharetta Best Western king size bed at 7:00 a.m. the next morning.
"Hey, Antsypants! You got any plans this weekend?"
"Whassss—what time isss it? Jezzzzzzzzz, Ari, it's 7:00 o'clock! In the mornin'! And it's Saturday!!!!!"
I grinned at the progression of degree of wakefulness in her voice.
"Yeah, well, just be glad I didn't call you last night. At 2:00 a.m."
"Where the hell are y'all?"
"Alpharetta."
"Nevada's got an Alpharetta?"
"Alpharetta, Georgia."
"What are you doing back already?"
"Long story. We were kinda hoping you'd drive up."
"Because?"
"Because we need a ghost whisperer."
* * *
The house looked worse this time than it had in the wee hours of the night before. Rain'll do that. It sat in darkness, and that something that neither Chad nor I could peg was even more palpable tonight. I turned in my seat to keep a constant view of my little sister's face as she sat in the back. I'd never seen her while she was in the grip of her own special power and I didn't intend for anything to happen to her, no matter what she sensed.
Her face drained of color.
"So many," she whispered.
"Stacy?"
"So many. He's used it. Many times. Over years. Death house."
"Stacy!"
She was almost in a trance. And I was almost climbing over the seat to get to her. Chad's hands held me back.
"Leave her alone, baby girl! Don't interfere!"
"He takes them. The lost ones. Inside that house. And they never come out."
"Stacy!"
"Baby girl!"
"Who are you?" Stacy asked.
"Stacy, you know who we are!"
"She's not talking to us, baby."
"Leanne. Such a pretty name. Such a pretty girl. You had no business out on the streets at fourteen, Leanne."
"Oh, shit!" Chad exclaimed. A tall man in a heavy nylon coat and a knit skull cap was walking up the street, his head and shoulders hunched against the drizzle. He headed to the door of the house.
Stacy came back to us in a rush.
"Chad! That's him! Don't let him go in! We have to get him. Now!"
"Not so loud, honey! We need back-up, we'll stay and watch while I call this in—"
"No!! He has a girl in there! Still alive! Leanne told me! If he goes in—by the time anybody gets here—we have to stop him now!"
Chad looked between us and closed his eyes briefly. I could feel his frustration. A serial-killing drug dealer to take down and two novices to worry about.
"Lord help," he said. He leaned over and kissed me hard and quick and opened the door. "Ariel, get your ass over in this seat and get the hell out of here while Stacy calls 911. We're at
1191 State Street. Do you hear me?" He didn't wait for an answer. Probably because he knew the one he'd hear. I turned the key but not to crank up, only to lower the window so I could hear them. I hoped. Stacy was already on her cell.
"We're at
1191 State Street in Marietta. We have—" Oh, God, don't tell 'em, honey, they'll never believe us, I thought, but I underestimated my little sister.
"…we have a break-in attempt, somebody's trying to break in our house, he's got a gun, please hurry!"
She clicked the phone shut. The man stopped, head up, all senses alert as Chad approached, a predator sensing danger.
Chad's hand moved inside his jacket. I knew it was on the Glock in his shoulder holster.
"Hey, buddy, I'm lookin' for Zander. Somebody told me he's the man to see if you want the best. Can you help me out here?" I strained forward. I could barely hear.
"You not lookin' to score, man. You get yo' ass on gone, do you know what's good for you."
"Hey!" Chad threw up a hand. Not the one on the Glock. He kept walking towards Zander. "Chill, man! All I want is a little piece of action." He was closer. Zander, high-alert mode activated, debated whether to run, hold, or attack. I could feel his indecision vibrating in the air.
"No, man. You lookin' for me." I saw the material of Zander's coat change shape under the street light. It poked out in a straight line. The line of a gun barrel. I heard the retort of the gunfire at the same moment I saw a blackish-red flower bloom on Chad's shoulder. Almost simultaneously, I heard two more gunshots. Much louder gunshots. Two blackish-red flowers bloomed in Zander's chest. A look of amazement crossed his face. And then he fell.
I was out of the car and running, Stacy hot behind me, as Chad staggered. He fell forward just as I reached him, the blood pumping furiously. Arterial blood. Had to be. He looked at me and said, "Twice, baby girl. You always shoot twice. Once to take 'em down, once to finish it."
I caught his arms just as he fell, and we went down together. Not because I wasn't strong enough to hold him up. At that moment, the adrenaline was pumping so furiously I could have held him up had he weighed much more than he did. We went down together because he was passing out from the sudden massive blood loss. And so was I. Without losing a drop.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Somewhere off in the shadow lands where Chad and I floated, I heard sirens. My sister's urgent voice. The shouted orders of the responding officers. Not everything. Bits and pieces of running, jumbled voices.
"Miss, calm down. …what went down…yes, an ambulance is on the way…"
"…my sister and brother-in-law…private investigator, you'll find his ID at the hospital…that man…check the house! You have to check the house….where's the fuckin' ambulance?!" Oh, yeah, Stacy was getting hot.
"Miss, it's on the way…house…swat team…."
"…don't need a swat team…need a forensic team…check under the house…ambulance…Don't you dare try and separate them, you don't understand…." I felt her kneeling beside us, her arms around us.
Another somebody was beside us too, one of the officers, I assumed. "I need more padding! Pull all you got from both cars…move your asses!"
More sirens. A different tone. Ambulances.
"No! You do not separate them!"
Tell 'em, Stacy. You go, girl!
"Where the hell's she hit?"
"That's the thing. She's not!"
"Vitals are as bad as his, she's gotta be hit somewhere!"
"She's not! You work on him!"
"Get the plasma going! Gotta replace the blood!"
"Move your ass out of the way! I go with them! Don't you dare try and stop me!"
And through it all, I felt Chad slipping, fighting back, slipping, fighting back. I latched on with a psychic vice grip and pulled with everything I had. And entered total blackness.
* * *
I was floating somewhere. I didn't know where. Somewhere black. Somewhere soundless. I didn't know how long I'd been there. And out of the darkness came light. A pinprick at first. I felt a hand grabbing mine, and though I couldn't know it or actually feel it, I knew it. And felt it. Another hand was grabbing Chad's hand. And tugging. Then a buzzing noise. A voice. Furious.
Intense. Insistent.
"You listen to me, Mister! You get your ass back here and you bring my sister with you! Do you hear me?!?!"
I opened my eyes. An ER trauma unit. I was on a stretcher, Chad on a stretcher beside me.
"Stacy? Chad?"
"Oh, my God! Thank you, thank you!"
"You can stop shouting now, darlin', I hear you."
Chad's voice.
"Okay, Miss, we've gotten some blood back in him, he's stabilized. And I don't know what the devil that's got to do with your sister's condition but since she's back, and he's back, we got to knock him out again, take care of that shoulder. Can you let us do that now, you think?"
I laughed. My little sister had apparently raised some holy hell in our absence.
"Baby girl, you okay?" His voice was stronger already.
"I'm fine, Magic Man." I was, in fact, sitting up on the stretcher, hampered by the IV, though why the heck they'd thought I needed one or what it was, I didn't know. "Can y'all get this thing outta me?"
The doctor stepped over and ripped off the tape. "Stay still." I felt the foreign object leave my skin with a stinging sensation. I stood and moved to the head of Chad's stretcher, stumbling a bit. Stacy steadied me as I leaned over and kissed him.
"Hell of a honeymoon, Magic Man. You behave and let them take care of you. We'll be here when you come back."
"'Kay. Love you."
"Love you."
I watched as they wheeled him on to the ER. Another doctor spoke.
"Your husband's a lucky man, Mrs. Garrett. He's alive because the officers kept pressure on that shoulder long enough for the paramedics to start replacing some of the blood loss. Close to bleeding out there."
"You're telling me," I said.
"Damnedest thing I ever saw. You, I mean. You wouldn't care to explain that, now would you?"
"Oh, I wouldn't mind. But you wouldn't believe me."
"Probably not." He nodded. "Well, let's get you two settled in the right waiting room. You sure you're okay?"
"As long as he is."
"You're not gonna pass out when they start the anesthesia, are you?"
War-N-Wit, Inc. - The Witch Page 10
