Claire Gulliver #06 - Carnage Goes Coastal

by Gayle Wigglesworth

  There was a pause.

  “Oh, darn, I can’t believe I just picked up the phone without even thinking about it. They train us and drill those instructions into our head and then the first time I get a break I forget everything.

  “You’re right, I shouldn’t be calling. But, I just got so excited I wanted to tell Dad.” Again there was a pause. “Well, as long as I called, I may as well tell you. If Dad can’t help me I know you’re a good substitute.

  “Claire, I found him!”

  “Who? You found who?” Claire asked cautiously even though she felt her heart start to race as she felt a smidgen of hope.

  “Scott. I know who he is. And you’ll never believe this Claire. He’s a senator. Scott is a United States Senator. I saw him on television tonight. He’s shaved off his beard and he looks very different. But I recognized his voice immediately. His real name is Scott Ellington and he’s the junior senator for Delaware.

  “Claire, are you near your computer?”

  “No, but I can be. Just a minute.”

  “Okay, sign on and go to Google and type in U.S. Senators. Have you got it?”

  “Just a minute, I’m not as fast at this as you are. Okay, it’s up.”

  “Type in Delaware. See? Click on Scott Ellington and his website will come up. Have you got it?”

  “Yes, yes, here it is. Karen, are you sure this is him?” Claire was having a hard time assimilating all this. “He looks so nice. And look at all these causes he supports....”

  “But that’s him. I looked at those too. See that he’s anti-abortion? He sure didn’t act that way when he insisted I abort Jamie. And believe me, he’s not so nice. Somehow I need to get to him and tell him to stop! I need to convince him that killing me, and little Jack, won’t keep us quiet.”

  Karen apparently got a brilliant idea from what she just said. “That’s it, Claire! I only need to convince him the way to keep Jamie secret is to make sure neither of us die.” Then as other ideas came, “Yes, because if either of us die for any reason, a testimonial will be opened making our whole story public. That’s it, Claire. What do you think? Will that work?”

  Claire was nodding her head. “Yes, that might make him stop and think. That’s a great idea, Karen. You could write down or even video tape the whole story and then mail it certified mail to someone with instructions to open it if you die. That could work.”

  “Yeah, but how am I going to get close enough to him to tell him about it. I don’t imagine I could just waltz into his office and talk to him...”

  “No, you can’t do that, of course. It would be far too dangerous for you to show your face in his vicinity. If he’s as evil as we think he is, it would be too much of an opportunity for him to do you harm.

  “Your father would be happy to deliver the message to him, of course, but I don’t think we should wait a moment longer than necessary, do you?” She paused just a moment before announcing, “But since your father’s not available, I could do it for you.”

  “You? You’d do that? Just drop everything and go talk to him?”

  “Of course, Karen, I love you and little Jack. I miss you. I want you both safe and back in our lives. And Mom does too, and Mrs. B. Just think how wonderful it would be if this terror was finally gone and you could lead a normal life again.”

  They were both quiet for a minute imagining what life could be like again.

  “Claire, what do you think I should include in the package besides the story?”

  “Well, definitely you need to include a copy of Scott’s picture and a statement that this is the man, who claimed he was Scott Hendricks, and who fathered your son. And you should take some Q-tips and swab inside Jack’s mouth and yours, put them in baggies, label and seal them. The swabs can be used for DNA evidence. And type up an account of everything, including all the deaths that have occurred and the dates of each incident. At least the ones we know about.

  “And Karen, I know I said to send the package certified mail, but now I’m thinking you need to be a little more detailed than that. I think you should send multiple packages. In each package include a copy of the picture, the written detailed account or a copy of the video with the DNA samples. Send the sealed packages with instructions on what to do with it if you should die in any manner. You need to do that tomorrow. Don’t wait. Send three or four sets.

  “Who can you trust to follow your instructions?” Claire asked Karen.

  Karen was quiet a moment, thinking. “I guess I’ll send one to Chuck. He’s the U.S. Marshal watching over me. I should send one to Dad. I have a lawyer in town, I’ll send him one. Who else?”

  “That sounds like you’d be covered. Hmm, maybe you could send one to Scott. That should help focus his attention on keeping you alive.”

  Already Claire was accessing the Vantage Airlines website. “Okay, Vantage has a flight leaving here at noon tomorrow and arriving at National at nine p.m. That should give me enough time to get coverage at the bookshop and make my calls.”

  “But will they have a seat for you?”

  “Karen, did you forget my magic Vantage VIP card. They’ll get me on even if they have to throw the pilot off to make room. It’s a powerful little card. As soon as I hang up I’ll call them on their twenty-four hour line. And I’ll call the Lickmans first thing in the morning. If anyone can get me access to Scott, despite all the security surrounding politicians, it’ll be the Lickmans. And besides I’d love to see them again. You remember who they are, don’t you?”

  “Yes, the president of Vantage Airlines, the people who invited you to visit Washington D.C. The man whose life you saved. I loved that story you told me, Claire.”

  Now Claire accessed a blank screen and prepared to write some notes. “Karen, let me make a note of some of the facts so I can really sock it to Scott. Tell me again how many people died in that fire at your apartment building and give me the address and the date the fire happened.”

  Karen, her voice reflecting her distress, recited the numbers while Claire wrote them on her computer.

  “Let’s not forget the two men killed in my driveway.”

  “Okay, enough already!’

  Claire nodded. “Okay, you’re right, it’s too much carnage. Now Karen, tomorrow you’re going to get those envelopes off. And Karen, it would be a real good idea if you took those envelopes to a notary and had them notarize your signature across the sealed flap. That way there would be no question that you had made up the packages. Now don’t let anything delay you in getting those packages off. If we had only known who he was before, we could have done this at the beginning and avoided a few deaths.

  “Give me your phone numbers so I can reach you if I need to. Oops, no, that’s a bad idea. We don’t want to take too many chances now when we’re so close to making you safe. Can you give me the contact number for your U.S. Marshal instead? And Karen, don’t forget to notify him immediately. He needs to know you breeched security.

  “And watch out. Be very careful. Even though we’re hoping we can end this, it is still very dangerous for you. We both remember how dangerous it can be.”

  CHAPTER 40

  It was just a small noise, but it brought her out of a deep sleep with her heart already thudding painfully in her chest. She sat up in bed, looking wildly around the dark room. That’s when she heard the low rumble of Harley’s growl in Jamie’s bedroom. She didn’t wait to question her instincts. Kay leaped from her bed and raced across the room to the tall dresser against the wall. She opened the top drawer and lifted out the heavy pistol she kept there out of Jamie’s reach. Her other hand grabbed the loaded magazine and rammed it into the pistol’s handle. She had turned and retreated to the wall just behind the partially opened door to her bedroom when the high pitched warming on the alarm system started. If the code wasn’t punched in the alarm was going to sound in forty-five seconds.

  It all happened very fast. The dark figure crept through the door of the bedroom and shot two rounds, pfss
t, pfsst, into the mound of bedcovers almost before she realized he was there. Then the alarm started its ear shattering whoooee, whoooee.

  She couldn’t wait any longer. She sprang out from behind the door just the way she had been practicing all those hours at the Karate Palace. When her swinging arm brought her hand down on the figure’s extended arm with every bit of strength she could muster, the heavy pistol she held hit his forearm with a loud crack of breaking bone. The wicked looking pistol, elongated by the ugly silencer attached to the barrel, dropped from the figure’s now useless fingers.

  He couldn’t contain a small scream of pain, and turned his head toward her, the whites of his eyes showed his surprise. She didn’t hesitate. She swung her arm again, perhaps not quite as hard, but nevertheless, when the barrel of her pistol connected smartly with his head he dropped instantly to the floor just as his gun had. She wasn’t comfortable with the gun lying so close to him, so she kicked at it and watched it skid across the hardwood floor where it slipped out of sight underneath the bureau.

  She ran to the phone docked on the night table. She was moving fast now, because she was certain there was another assassin somewhere close. It had been her experience they always came in pairs.

  Once more she was pressed against the wall just inside her bedroom but on the opposite side of the door from where she hid the first time. From her new position she could watch the guy on the floor, who still wasn’t moving, and she could see down the dim hallway. No one was getting past her to reach Jamie’s room on the other side of hers.

  She quickly jabbed nine-one-one on the keypad, her eyes jumping around trying to watch in every direction.

  She had always expected this visit. She had been preparing for it for almost four years, since the time those men showed up at the house in Bayside. But still their arrival was a shock! She tried to understand how they could have gotten here so soon? She knew it was her fault. She had breached security tonight. But how had they arrived within hours of that breach? Apparently they had just been waiting, she decided, and judging by the speed of their arrival, they had been very close.

  “Help! Please help me. Someone has broken into my house with a gun. I’m here with my child and I need help. The man who shot at me is now unconscious on the floor. I think there is another one. I need help fast.”

  The operator spoke in a calm voice as she said the police were on the way. “Please stay on the line with me until they get there. They are approaching your block now. They can hear your alarm.”

  “I can’t go to the door to let them in. Tell them I can’t...” Kay said frantically in a low voice, realizing what a conundrum she was in. “I’m holding my gun on the man on the floor. I can’t leave because I’m protecting my little boy. Can your officers go around to the backdoor and come in the same way this man did when he broke in? And tell them to turn on the lights as they come in so I can see their uniforms. I’m not putting down my gun until I know the police are taking over. I’m afraid there are more assassins, they usually come in pairs.”

  “You have your gun in your hands?”

  “Yes, I hit the man on the head with it. And I think I broke his arm. He may need an ambulance.”

  “Are there other guns in the area?”

  “Well, just the assassin’s. It’s on the floor under the bureau.”

  “Okay, ma’am the police are now in the house.”

  “Yes, I hear someone.” She couldn’t control her screechy voice. “Tell them to turn on the hall light so I can see them clearly.”

  The hall blazed with light so Kay could see the blue uniforms coming her way.

  “POLICE! PUT DOWN YOUR GUN SLOWLY, AND KICK IT AWAY FROM YOU.”

  She did as she was told, but didn’t take her eyes off the man on the floor in front of her, even though he still hadn’t moved. The nine-one-one operator told her she could hang up, so she did.

  Two uniformed policemen crowded into the bedroom holding their guns with both hands ready to shoot if necessary.

  Kay asked if she could turn on the light and at their nod she reached out and flipped on the light to reveal the man in a heap on the floor near the bed. The officers looked at her with a strange expression on their faces. Perhaps they felt a little foolish for their gung ho entrance only to find a woman, barefoot and wearing pajamas cowering against the wall.

  “I think he might need medical attention. I need to check on my son. He’s sleeping in the next room.”

  They nodded. One of them had retrieved the pistol from the floor and was sniffing the barrel to see if it had been fired, when Kay slipped into Jamie’s room.

  “Shush, Harley, good boy.” His growl sounded serious as he watched the policeman hovering in the doorway behind her, his gun at ready in his hands while he looked the room over carefully. Harley calmed down as soon as Kay patted him on the head. When she peered closely at Jamie she saw he was still deeply asleep, the howling alarm had not even penetrated his dreams. She shook her head at this demonstration of the innocence of little children. He obviously felt completely safe. She backed out of the room slowly, telling Harley to “Stay!” as she closed the door.

  Her police shadow nodded when she gestured toward the closet. She quickly opened the door and grabbed a robe to cover the pajama bottoms and the sleeveless tee she was wearing as pajamas. Finally she turned her attention to the policeman who was trying to question her.

  The bedroom was now filled with people. The paramedics were bringing in a wheeled stretcher and several more uniformed policemen were searching the bed for the bullets fired from the assassin’s gun.

  “Ma’am, would you like to put your code in the system and turn off the alarm?” one of the policemen shouted at her with a pained expression on his face.

  “Oh, sure.” She wasn’t even hearing it by that time, but when the code cut off the wailing alarm the silence was a relief.

  “We need to ask you some questions.”

  Kay nodded, moving to the side out of the way of the EMT’s. “Can we go into my office?”

  The policeman followed her down the hall. She stopped suddenly. “No one will disturb my son and the dog, will they? It would scare my son, and I don’t know how the dog would react, but he would probably attack if he thought anyone was threatening Jamie.”

  The policeman gestured to the man behind him who turned around and went back down the hall.

  “No, we’ll tell them that room is to be left alone,” he assured her as they all filed into Kay’s office and found places to sit.

  “Do you have a permit for this gun?” The policeman asked gruffly as he held up her pistol which was now enclosed in a baggie.

  She nodded, pulling out the file and thumbing through the papers until she found the document and handed it to the policeman. Just then another man came through the door, this one in civilian clothes. One of the policemen bounced to his feet. “Detective,” he greeted him.

  Kay jerked in surprise to find the detective was none other than Steve from her karate class. He took the vacated seat and studied Kay’s face carefully. “What happened here tonight, Kay?”

  The others looked surprised that Steve knew her, but seemed to expect him to take over the interview. He was apparently more interested in hearing her story than just asking her questions. He was the only one who was not surprised that she had broken the man’s arm and rendered him unconscious.

  “Why didn’t you just shoot him?”

  That question surprised her and she thought about it a minute before answering, “I don’t really know. I’m a good shot. I practice every week and I usually hit the target just where I want to, but, I guess I really didn’t want to kill him. I really don’t want to kill anyone. There have already been too many deaths.” She sat up straight, and clarified that statement. “But I would have. If he had made a move towards Jamie’s room, or if he had come up off the floor in a threatening way, I would have shot him dead.”

  Steve nodded. Apparently he found her explanation
plausible.

  “Did you know that man, Kay?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve never seen him before.”

  “You called him an assassin when you spoke to the nine-one-one operator. You said they came in pairs. Why do you know that, Kay? And what did you mean by too many deaths?”

  Suddenly she seemed to remember her status. She looked at Steve carefully and said soberly and carefully, “I’m in the Witness Protection Program. I need to contact the U.S. Marshal as soon as possible. He will tell me what I can tell you.” She gave him Chuck’s number and sat there scolding herself for waiting so long to contact him. She realized all her careful training was starting to seriously unravel. Obviously, she had not been trained as well as they all thought she had been.

  CHAPTER 41

  “Miss Gulliver, right this way. Here, let me take your bag. Just follow Marianne. There is a cart waiting for you.” She handed Claire’s rolling bag to the woman waiting on the jetway. “And Miss Gulliver, thank you so much for flying with us today.”

  Claire hurried up the ramp after Marianne and her bag, aware the rest of the first class section was following behind her, wondering who she was to deserve such treatment. Marianne stowed her bag on the back of the little electric cart and helped Claire into the seat before starting the cart and heading for the exit. “There is a car waiting for you already, Miss Gulliver. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  Claire shook her head. She loved traveling on Vantage as they always went overboard in treating her as a special person just as the VIP card she carried signified she was. But sometimes she admitted that it embarrassed her. It wasn’t like anyone else in life went out of their way to treat her like a queen. And other passengers stared at her, not understanding why she got so much attention. But the Lickmans and subsequently their whole airline treated her this way, because they insisted if it hadn’t been for her actions all those years ago, there would be no Vantage Airlines and no David Lickman.