Suddenly Single

by Larry Brown

  The light on the alarm panel by Harry’s lit up bright red but not enough to wake him from a deep sleep. The installer wanted to have a buzzer go off, but Harry said absolutely no way. He didn’t want to be jarred awake every time a deer came onto his property.

  When Harry woke up the next morning, he saw the red light. The alarm system was pretty neat. He could see the time of the incident in this case 3:42 am and the location over by the garage. He congratulated himself on the no buzzer decision.

  Chapter 16

  He had not returned Andy’s call yesterday. He had put it off. Lord, he did not want to be involved in any sort of women’s movement. But he knew he had to call her.

  “Andy, Harry Blake.”

  “Thank you for calling me back Harry. How are you?”

  “I’m well and you?”

  “I’m great, Harry. Let me tell you about our women’s group.”

  Before she could go further, he interrupted, “Look here, Andy, I haven’t done any public speaking in years, and quite frankly, I have no interest in being involved with some sort of movement.”

  Andy covered the phone so that her laughter could not be heard.

  “Harry, let me explain. Based on our first meeting I thought you would be perfect for us. I mean you were a successful business executive. You are a famous author. You would bring a totally different insight to our group. I thought you might make some opening remarks about our group and then take questions. The whole thing would be certainly less than an hour, and then we will feed you while we wrap up. It will be a memorable event, I’m sure of it.”

  Harry’s chin had dropped to his chest, his eyes were closed and his head was turning back and forth. How could someone so attractive be so…so…so… whatever.

  “Oh, I’m in charge of setting the date so I decided I would make it fit around your schedule.” Under his breath he said, “Oh shit.”

  “What did you say, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you.”

  “Nothing, not a thing.”

  “Please Harry, think about it, check your calendar, and let me know as soon as you can.”

  Harry hesitated and finally said, “Okay.”

  “Now second subject; I was going to invite you for the farm tour on Saturday afternoon, but Clay tells me you don’t do anything on Saturdays during college football season. So, how about after church on Sunday afternoon. I froze the leftover lamb stew and unless you, how did you say it, unless you were ‘pulling my chain,’ you did like it.”

  “No, no, I was serious, the stew was great, and Sunday will be fine. I probably won’t be able to get there until one o’clock or so. Is that too late?”

  “Perfect, I’ll see you then. One last thing, please try to have a date for me on Sunday.”

  Harry didn’t answer the request.

  “I’ll see you then.” He wondered what he had gotten himself into with this woman.

  Chapter 17

  Hector knew before they reached the end of the blackened street what his new plan would be. His four men were all talking at the same time about how impossible it would be with all the perimeter lighting and motion sensors. Hector finally shouted, “Quiet! I have the plan ready for our next assault.” The four men sat quietly waiting for Hector to explain.

  The next night at the same time they pulled the lowrider into the same spot in Harry’s neighbor’s driveway as the previous night. Hector put his men two by two and sent them through the trees into the opening and quietly under the house’s eaves. He followed before the perimeter lights went out. Hector believed that since there were no alarms, no inside lights that came on, and doors opened that nothing happened inside that would alert the old man.

  He then sent them to their assigned locations staying close to the house not breaking the eaves and resetting off the outside lights. Two men at different doors on the back and downstairs, one up the side stairs and Felipe at the front door. Hector would be behind Felipe and would only enter if there was trouble or after they completed their mission. After a time he was sure everyone was in place, he blew one quick burst of a whistle. All four men broke the glass on their doors at the same time.

  The loud buzzer went off beside Harry’s bed. He was awake instantly, rolling out of bed to look at the screen on the alarm panel. He was taken aback – four doors breached at the same time. He first thought there might be a glitch in the system, but then he could hear noises in his house. He could hear the alarm loudly pulsating and see lights flashing down the hallway to the master suite.

  In addition to upgrading his alarm system, Harry had mounted his shotgun on his beds sideboard, plus he had two additional shells mounted on each side of the stock of the double barrel shotgun. He had also mounted the .38 Ruger beside the shotgun. Harry decided maybe the porch was his best option. He stepped into his bedroom slippers but did not bother with his pants and eased out the door from the bedroom to the porch. Two steps onto the porch he could see into his great room and further into the dining area and ultimately his kitchen. The scene was eerie with the strobe lights flashing and the alarm blaring. He could see masked men moving toward the dining area and the location of his gold coins. He decided to go further down the porch to the entrance to the dining area. Halfway there the alarm stopped, but the strobe lights kept flashing.

  He remembered he had forgotten to press the button on the alarm panel to have the automatic call to the sheriff’s department. But he also remembered the call would be made automatically if the alarm had not been manually turned off. Thank goodness, but he had lost four or five minutes which could mean his life. He crouched behind a big plant on the porch and saw four men standing by his gold coins all holding weapons.

  The assault had gone just as Hector had planned. The man on the side and Felipe reached the edge of the great room and dining room at the same time. The man from the side had already spotted the coins. The two men from downstairs came up together minutes later, and now they were together at the table displaying the coins. The men were tense and looking in all directions expecting to see the old man at any time.

  Harry now realized he had made a mistake. The porch was definitely the wrong place for him to be. If they saw him, it would only be a matter of time before they got him. He was afraid they would see him if he tried to return to the bedroom. He needed a distraction. He could think of only one thing. He eased the shotgun through the leaves and against the glass in the direction of the four men. He turned his head and fired both barrels. The explosion was deafening. Harry could not afford to stay and see the results. He headed for the bedroom trying to remain crouched as he went. He heard four or five gunshots exploding behind him.

  As he passed the great room, he looked toward the front door and saw a man entering and moving toward the other men. Harry made it to the bedroom; he eased in and quietly closed the door. He realized he was shivering and he slipped his pants on and reloaded the shotgun. Harry was not comfortable waiting for them to come for him there. He eased down the hallway toward the bathroom. He had to cross the hall out to the great room and rest of the house. From the entrance to the bathroom, he could see straight back to the bedroom in case they came in from the porch. To his right, he could see the rest of the house and all the way to where the four intruders had been standing. He could only see the back of one man who was now near the table containing the coins. The strobe lights were still flashing, and the whole scene was frightening.

  Harry could hear the man talking but could not understand the language. From different positions, the other four men slowly appeared and stood in front of the last man. The man was obviously in charge and giving instructions. Then two men picked up the box of coins and started moving toward Harry’s office and the side entrance.

  The four men had been standing next to the coins trying to decide their next move since they had not encountered the old man nor had they heard from Hector. Then the room exploded with glass and buckshot spraying everywhere but doing no real harm. The four ducked for cover and
fired at the door where the blast originated. They waited for return fire, but there was none. Then Hector showed up. Everyone started talking at once, and Hector held one finger to his closed lips to quiet them.

  Then Felipe spoke, “Are we going to go get the old bastard?”

  “No, you are going out the side entrance and to the car. Quickly, I will join you in a minute,” stated Hector.

  The four left with the coins out the side entrance and to the car. Hector watched and made sure they were all out the door. His first instinct was to find the old man and kill him but the more he thought about it he had a better idea. If this was only stolen property, the efforts of the law would be much less intense. Murder would cause a lot more excitement. He knew he was right about this. That’s why he was the leader.

  Harry had watched the four men disappear and watched the other man watch them. Then the lone man started walking toward Harry. Harry took the safety off the shotgun. The man stopped, pointed his pistol in Harry’s direction, and said, “Bang, bang,” turned left and headed out the front door.

  Harry’s heart was pounding. Was it over? He moved cautiously down the hall to the great room. He could see the man was gone and the front door was closed. He went down to his office and saw the entrance to the outside closed. He looked out of the glass and could see no sign of the man, but he knew they must be parked in the neighbor’s drive. Then the thought hit him, he might try to block them or at least follow them. He made a mad dash to the garage for his car.

  Chapter 18

  Harry roared out of his garage and up his driveway. As he turned left onto the street, he saw the lowrider also turn left onto the road with lights off. Harry’s lights had come on automatically. He hadn’t even thought of that. Too late, now they knew he was behind them. One hundred yards ahead the street dropped steeply down into a wooded valley: about twenty yards of flat road and then straight back up a high hill. The left side of the road fell steeply down toward the lake, and the right side was straight up a hill into a wooded area with no homes. As the lowrider and Harry’s car started down the hill, they could both see the flashing lights of a squad car coming down the other hill towards them. It was Morris Canady who had been on patrol when the call came in from dispatch. The dispatcher had told Canady that it was an automatic call and they had not been able to get a response from Harry. Everyone in the department now knew Harry because of the time he spent interviewing and talking with them as he gathered details for his latest book. Everyone in the department really liked Harry.

  Morris Canady saw the lowrider with lights off and he was pretty sure that was Harry’s car behind it. The question was, had they stolen Harry’s car or was Harry in pursuit? He wasn’t sure which was the best thought. He decided he was not going to let them pass. As he approached the bottom of the hill he swerved left as far as he dared and then turned hard right and slammed on the brakes. He was now blocking the road. With the steep banks on both sides of the road, there was no way a car could pass. The only problem was he was exposed big time in the driver’s seat. He immediately slid to the passenger seat and grabbed his shotgun. He was out the passenger door. He leaned in, got the mike to his radio and switched to broadcast. By now the low rider had stopped and so had Harry’s car. At this point, Morris was giving thanks for how bright the street lights were.

  Inside the low rider Hector, in the passenger seat, turned to Felipe, who was driving, and once again pressed his finger to his lips to indicate he did not want him to speak. The three men in the back were all talking at the same time about what were they going to do. Hector quieted them and explained it was five against one; Harry didn’t count. If Harry were a threat, there would have been action in the house. Hector said the old man is afraid and not to worry about him; he explained the plan and told them to go. The doors to the low rider opened and the three men in the back got out with their hands raised but not dropping their guns. They spread out with one on each side of the road and one in the middle. Meanwhile, Hector and Felipe stood behind their respective doors.

  Harry waited to see what would happen. He watched as the three walked at a very slow pace toward Morris Canady. Canady was yelling into the mike for the men to drop their weapons. When the three men were about 20 yards from Canady, Hector and Felipe each fired one round at Canady. Neither shot found its mark, but it caused Canady to duck down behind his car. When he ducked, the three men started running and shooting towards Canady. Then Hector and Felipe turned and started running up the bank into the woods.

  When Harry saw this, he jumped out of his car and headed past the low rider. He decided on the man on the left was his first target. The man’s back was to Harry. Harry was trying to run, but at 72 it wasn’t much of a run. But he was moving toward the man, and he fired his first barrel without stopping. It got the man’s attention. He turned to shoot, but Harry dropped to one knee and the last few steps he had taken made the difference. When the second barrel from Harry’s shotgun exploded, so did the man’s chest.

  Meanwhile, Canady was taking care of his business. He slipped to his right around the front of the windshield and fired the 12-gauge and almost decapitated the middle man. Seeing this, the man on the right froze momentarily in shock. By this time Canady and Harry both had him covered, and he offered no further resistance. Canady cuffed him and locked him down in the back seat of the cruiser.

  Clay Hardaway’s big black Tahoe, lights flashing screeched to a stop behind the squad car, to be followed quickly by a second squad car driven by Will Jackson. Clay sprinted around Canady’s car, 12-gauge in hand followed by Will Jackson who had gone around the other side service weapon in hand.

  “Relax, it’s over, well almost. There’s two more who went up the bank and into the woods.” Canady paused turned to Harry and said, “You crazy old man you could have gotten killed.”

  Canady handed his shotgun to Will Jackson turned walked over to Harry and gave him a huge bear hug, “But you no doubt saved my life.”

  Hardaway was surveying the scene, two bodies obviously dead; one man locked up in the squad car and a line of neighbors at the top of the hill behind Harry’s car. Hardaway was shaking his head trying to figure out what to say. Will Jackson finally spoke. “Hey, Harry we are going to rename your street the OK Corral.” Everybody grinned but Harry who was now down on one knee and trembling.

  Chapter 19

  After a few minutes, Harry recovered enough to walk up the hill and assure his neighbors he was okay, and everyone could go back home. Harry walked past his car, retrieved the keys from the low rider’s ignition, and opened the trunk to find his box of gold coins intact and unharmed.

  Hardaway sent Will Jackson to patrol the road on the other side of the woods where Hector and Felipe had fled. He also called dispatch for reinforcements to help Will Jackson. Hardaway and Canady questioned the man who was locked down in the back of the squad car. They were surprised to find out he was Guatemalan and not from one of the Mexican gangs. They had all assumed, because of the low rider, it was some of the Mexicans. After seeing Hector and Felipe abandon him and his two companions, he was quick to give up both Felipe and Hector. MS5 and the dream of New York and MS13 now out of the question. Canady left for town with the man who was now begging for help for his cooperation regarding Felipe and Hector.

  Hardaway called Al Johnson for a tow truck, an ambulance, and the coroner. He then followed Harry back to his house to get the details on the home invasion. At the house, they decided to make coffee before doing anything while they waited for Al. Previously they had removed the coins from the low rider, and now they were back in their proper place on Harry’s table.

  “Harry, you have got to get these coins out of here. This is crazy.”

  “No way, José.” Harry fired back.

  “Dammit Clay, this is America. This is my home. You don’t tell people with expensive artwork they can’t display it. I will not be intimidated by a bunch of punk gang members. Screw them all; we’ll get every damn o
ne of them.” Harry was now pissed, and he began to reflect on the earlier happenings.

  They were in the kitchen with Harry sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen island. Clay had been there so often, he walked to the cabinet, took out three coffee cups, and poured two full. He served Harry and sat down two stools away to wait for Al.

  A short time later, Al Johnson arrived and filled the 3rd cup with coffee. He looked at Clay and spoke, “The tow truck has gone with the car, and Jesse is doing his thing with the bodies and the EMTs are there waiting on Jesse.”

  Hardaway nodded and wanted the three of them to walk through the house and then sit down to put on paper the events of the evening.

  After examining the lake house’s damage, both Hardaway and Johnson were impressed with the planning and execution of the assault.

  “Harry, it’s a good thing you had that alarm system upgraded. Also, dispatch said the call they received was the automatic one and not the one initiated by you. Why would that be, Harry?” Hardaway asked.

  “I forgot, too busy getting my guns and trying to figure out what to do: four entries at one time. At first, I thought it was a glitch, but then I could hear the bastards.”

  “But what about the perimeter lights and alarm that sounded giving you extra time before they started breaking the glass?”

  Harry looked away from the two men and sheepishly said: “I keep that buzzer turned off so that when deer come on the property in the middle of the night, it won’t wake me.”

  Al grinned but didn’t speak. Hardaway smiled, closed his eyes, and shook his head. Hardaway then said, “Harry, you damn fool, you’re going to get yourself killed. And speaking of getting yourself killed, what were you doing in a firefight in the street with these thugs and Morris?”