A Not So Safe House
The woman was
furtively pacing back and forth on the sidewalk.
Had she not made a
false start toward the house,and likely, the front door, she
wouldn't have tripped the proximity alarm. I would have been alerted
later by the male creeping up toward the back deck and door
eventually.
What in the world
were they planning? They didn't look like operatives. Home
invasion? Probably. This was an unlikely neighborhood, but
desperation makes people do unlikely things. The house on the left
was 'occupied'. Had a couple of vehicles parked out front appearing
to be on their last legs. The house on the right was boarded up, or
so it seemed. Many a homeless person had wasted their energy trying
to get in. Feeling sorry for them, I would call a deputy who would
transport them to a homeless shelter in the city.
I caught sight of a
third person on the perimeter out front.
How was this going
to play out? I felt a bit sorry for them. I had an older car out
front, but appeared to be in good shape. The handicapped plate was
not a ruse. I could still perform my primary job. My next
evaluation was over eight months away.
The woman headed
toward the front door. She was emoting terror, wailing as she
approached. She wasn't doing a half bad job. She was loud enough, I
guess, to alert the man in back. She started to pound on the front
door.
My voice startled
her.
“My dear what is
the problem?”
She couldn't see a
speaker, so she just yelled in the direction of the door, “He's
trying to kill me!”
“Who?”
“My boyfriend!”
“Oh, my. We can't
let that happen. Just give me a moment. I'm not as fast as I used
to be.” Which was true. I suppose she was to gain entry and then
slip to the back. Upon finding the door, she would likely let that
accomplice in.
I tried to calm her,
assuring her I was on my way. In the meantime, I swiftly moved to
the back door.
“Please, stop,
sir,” I asked in a low but firm voice.”
He was a bit beefy.
Not much taller than I. I startled him. I had hoped he would turn
and run. I guess the open door behind me was too tempting. He tried
to tackle me. He might have been a football player in high school or
maybe college.
He didn't really
hear the first shot. He just saw splinters kicked up in the deck in
front of him. He made the additional mistake of raising his
shoulders, then with single mindedness continued to run at me. The
next two shots hit him squarely in the chest. The fourth hit him in
the head. It was not my intent, but he stumbled at the last second.
The two out front
were not alerted as the suppressor did its job. I'm sure they were
wondering what was taking me so long.
I quickly dialed for
a clean up crew. Then, I alerted my associates next door to pick up
the second man out front as soon as the woman was let inside my
abode.
I made it to the
front door just as the woman was showing visible signs of indecision.
She should have gone with her gut.
“I'm sorry, my
dear, I'm just not as fast, as I said. Where is your boyfriend?”
“Oh, thank you,
thank you,” she was effusive and trying to make her way in.
“Your boyfriend?”
“Oh,” I startled
her again. “He must have heard your voice on your speaker system.
He's still out there. He seems to be waiting.” She was having
trouble shifting gears between stage panic and participating in a
reasoned conversation.
I wasn't going to
make it easy on her. “Do you think he might wish to come in and
join you? You know, maybe some coffee. A moment to clear each
others heads. It might save you future grief.”
“I've seen him do
this before. I thought he would treat me different.”
“Would you like to
come in? I can call the sheriff's department.”
“Yes, I would, but
no, don't call the police, at least not yet. If he has a chance to
cool off, he might just leave.”
“You don't think
he might follow you home?”
“Not likely. He's
more of a “find a bar and drown his sorrows' guy. I found that out
Friday. Could I get a drink of water?”
“That might be a
problem at this juncture.”
She blinked her eyes
trying to sort out what I was saying. Her gut was telling her 'the
play' had gone south, but her brain was holding out it was still
salvageable.”
“You might want to
sit down.” I shifted my stance so the hand gun with suppressor was
visible at my side.
She gasped and sat
down. Tears welled up in her eyes. She covered her face and started
moaning.
I went to the
refrigerator. Pulled out a bottle of water. I then opened a
cupboard and pulled down two glasses.
When I returned she
was half out of the easy chair she had dropped in, ready to bolt.
I just shook my head
slightly. She looked for the hand gun, but saw the water and
glasses. She relaxed slightly.
I handed her a
glass, juggled the other one and opened the bottle. I then poured
some in my glass. I took it in one gulp and let her watch me. I
filled her glass and handed her the bottle.
After a few
tentative sips, she asked, “Where's Jake?”
“Which one is he?”
“He's the one I
was supposed to let in by a back door.”
“He's resting,
waiting for some associates of mine. They'll escort him to a nice
place and leave him alone.”
“I was afraid you
killed him. What about me and Billy?”
“Your boyfriend?”
“He's not really.
He said he needed a woman to help him and Jake get some money owed
them. I could have really used the fifty bucks he promised.”
“Why didn't you
take off? You gave yourself two chances.”
“What? You were
watching me?”
“Not the whole
time. You made a false start which alerted me. Jake would have
tripped up anyway. You just beat him to it and gave me time to
watch, figure out what might happen.
“You didn't answer
my question.”
“True. Billy is
with the gentlemen next door.”
“Is one of them's
named Hector? Talks with an accent?”
“You saw Hector?”
“No, but that old
pickup looks like one he drives.”
“That's what
tipped your gut, then?”
“I guess so. He
flirts a lot, but I've never heard a woman say she's actually went
out with him.”
“Maybe, he's
happily married.”
'Him, married?”
“Yes.”
She mulled this
over. “What happens to us? We all go together?”
“No. Each of you
is going to take a trip. Each will go to a different destination.”
“Will we see each
other again? I'd really rather not.”
“I suppose you
could run into each other at some point in the future, but it's
unlikely.”
“The folks picking
us up going to kill us and dump us?”
“You're more
likely to win the lottery than have one of my associates harm you.”
“What did we do?”
“Made some very
poor choices.”
