Hell Bent

by Arlene Knowell

  The faint sound of footsteps entered the room. She quickly wrapped her hands back around the gun and readied herself for what she knew was ahead. What was this man thinking? Why would anyone in their right mind do something like this to try and prove a point? After all, she hadn’t done a thing to Sanback. She was being punished for being Pete Austin’s sister. Sometimes having a brother like him was punishment enough.

  The beam of a flashlight danced at the crack beneath the closet door. She held her breath and blinked against the brush of the hanging clothes against her cheek. It was possible that he might think that she wasn’t home. Not likely, but possible. His footsteps moved across the room, and she was proud that she hadn’t taken a seat beside the dresser. If she had then this would all be over. Either the killer would be shot, or she’d realize she didn’t have the guts to kill and she’d be his prisoner. The steps came back toward her and she struggled to take very light, silent breaths. The movement stopped as if the intruder had a sudden revelation as to her location.

  She held the gun steady and waited. Her father’s words echoed through her mind. Center the widest part of the body, squeeze and don’t stop 'til it's empty. The door knob jiggled, then turned. She went numb, and she knew at that instant that she’d be willing to kill, and it looked as if she would have to. The closet door opened. Hidden behind a suitcase she held her breath, hoping above all else that she wouldn’t be forced to kill him.

  “There you are,” the haunting voice sighed.

  He shined the flashlight into her face and chuckled when she squinted from the glare.

  “Don’t come any closer.” Her voice trembled but her hands held a firm grip on the gun. She’d never known a fear so real or overwhelming. Pat and Pete weren’t going to walk through the door and save her. It also wasn’t likely that Gunny Newhope or the police would arrive before she was forced to pull the trigger.

  “Let’s go for a little ride,” he said, moving into the closet. “Too bad your brothers aren’t here to save you.”

  When she cocked the hammer on the .38 Special she’d received for her seventeenth birthday, and raised it toward him it was too late for Sanback to turn away. She squeezed the trigger, anger rushing through her body like the eruption of a shaken soda. Warm blood splattered her face as he grunted and arched back. She squinted against the feeling of his life’s blood running down her face, but it wasn’t her fault, he’d pushed too far. She squeezed the trigger again, her hands struggling to hold the gun steady and low. The shots rang out one after the other. She exited the closet like a cornered dog launching toward his attacker. Sanback continued to stumble back as each shot slammed his body.

  Gunny Newhope bolted through the door toward the gunfire. Sanback fell across a cedar chest at the foot of her bed. Three times the hollow snap of the gun signified the cylinder was empty.

  The distant sound of a siren caught her attention when the gun snapped the third time. Part of her hoped that he was dead. Another part didn’t want to see herself as a killer.

  “Ms. Austin, are you okay? Put the gun down.” Newhope reached for the light switch when his flashlight beam found Sanback slumped across the piece of furniture.

  Tears streamed down her face as she held the gun rigid in front of her. She squinted in the light, unable to believe what had just happened. Her Dad told her to shoot to kill if she ever had to raise her gun, and she had.

  “Put the gun down,” Newhope asked a second time, more forcefully.

  Screaming cop cars slid to a stop outside her door and the sound of running police officers filled her ears. Then, “DROP THE GUN!” one yelled as if she were three blocks

  away.

  She glanced toward Newhope then the other men, whose guns were pointed directly at her. She was scared and confused. She didn’t know these men and she didn’t need them to yell at her.

  “Is he dead?” she asked, laying the gun on the night stand and collapsing on the bed to keep from dropping to the floor. Of course, he was dead, but for her own satisfaction she needed confirmation.

  “Yes, he’s dead,” Ed Valley, the second MP said.

  “Get your hands up,” the policeman ordered. “All of you.”

  Newhope snapped his attention toward the police officers. “Put your weapons away. We are military policemen, the dead guy is a Navy man from our base. He’s been stalking Ms. Austin.”

  She cupped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t even know him.” Her eyes searched the dead man at the foot of her bed.

  “Your brothers, where are they?” Newhope asked, then turned his attention back toward the police officers. “Your sidearms. Put them away.”

  “Pat is on a mission and Pete is in the middle of Hell Week.” Her eyes focused on the civilian policemen as they holstered their weapons.

  “Let’s get you into the living room. I’m going to arrange a room for you in guest housing on base until your brothers are home.” Newhope reached for Mindy’s arm and guided her into the living room.

  “NCIS is on the way to clean this place up,” Valley supplied as he made eye contact with Newhope.

  Mindy nodded, figuring that this was where she’d get thrown into jail and they’d throw away the key. Sanback forced her to kill him, that bastard. Anger clouded her vision as her heart broke. She’d taken a human life. She was scared out of her mind that she might be dead right now if not for training received from the military men in her life.

  “Thank you, I don’t think I can stay here. Let me grab a few things and I’ll be ready,” she said. She stood on legs as weak as wet noodles.

  “You cannot leave the scene.” A civilian policeman

  name French said. “Our detective will need to speak with you.”

  “The man killed is military, the case belongs to NCIS.” Ed Valley corrected French.

  “He may be military but he was killed in my jurisdiction,” French argued.

  “We’ll see.” Ed Valley nodded. “That man is property of the U.S. Government. It isn’t likely that the city of San Diego will be doing the investigation.”

  Mindy huffed, it seemed that now she had too much help. It was too bad that they hadn’t all gotten here a minute earlier. But they hadn’t. In fact she’d just killed the man they were arguing over.

  She moved toward Pat’s bedroom. She’d make do with a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from his drawer. If she had her way she would lock herself in the security of her assigned room and wouldn’t stick her head back out until one of her brothers knocked on the door. She stopped short of the door and looked at Newhope. “This sounds silly, but will you come with me?”

  Newhope cleared his throat and drew in a long slow breath. “You did everything in your power to keep from having to kill him. I can tell you that if I heard someone picking my lock, there would be a hole in my door.”

  “I kept hoping you’d get here before he found me.” She cried as she walked into Pat’s bedroom, realizing how much she missed the security of him being around.

  “I’m sorry. I got here as quickly as I could,” he said, resting his hand on her shoulder. Even that innocent touch sent shivers of desire straight to her core.

  She turned toward him, her eyes drawn to his as if by magic. “I’m not blaming you. I was just hoping.”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  She flipped on the light switch and looked around the room. Her brothers’ rooms always looked like someone had just moved in. There was no personality visible in their spaces. A simple full size bed was in the distant corner of the room. It had no head or footboard, but that was the way Pat preferred it. The simple, small black table beside his bed held two things, an alarm clock and a handgun. She turned toward the old tattered filing cabinet that Pat used for a dresser. She pulled the top drawer open and snagged a pair of shorts from inside. The closet was a testament to the man who owned it. Perhaps his room had no personality but it was easy to see by his perfectly pressed uniforms that he was a man who was a stickler for regulations. �
�I never thought I’d say it, but I miss my brothers.”

  Newhope stepped closer. “Would you like for me to try and get in contact with your brother at BUD’s? I still have a couple of friends over there and I could get a message to him.”

  Her eyes traced slowly up his body. “No, he’d be in a terrible mood. Hell Week does that to him.”

  Newhope stepped back. “Well, there is no need in telling you that there is no way to get in touch with the one who’s out on a mission.”

  Mindy brushed a tear from her cheek and forced a weak grin. “I know. I’ll be okay.”

  “You can call on me if you need anything.” He pushed his hands into his pockets.

  “Thank you.” And she meant it because something told her the next few days would be very long ones.

  He stepped back further and allowed her access to the door. “You’re welcome.”

  “Let me get my toothbrush and I’ll be ready.”

  Mindy braced herself on the bathroom door frame as the reality of having just killed a man set in. Newhope moved closer as she folded against the crushing pain of what had happened. “Oh God he’s dead.” She sobbed, wrapping her arms around Newhope. “I killed him.”

  “You had no choice,” he reassured, giving her a light, awkward pat on the back. “You did the right thing.”

  She had done the only thing she could to stay alive. That didn’t make it any easier, however, when she thought about taking a life. Fighting the helpless feelings invading her body, she realized she was hanging onto Shane Newhope like an ornament on a Christmas tree. “Oh God, I’m sorry.” She pulled herself away and wiped the tears from her face. “My dad and brothers forgot to tell me that dealing with after effects of killing would be harder than the actual deed.”

  “Listen to me,” he said as he stepped into the bathroom with her and closed the door behind him. “That guy was a piece of shit. If you hadn’t killed him he would be dead now anyway.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “How so?”

  “Me,” he answered, his eyes searching hers. “He would have never made it out of here alive.”

  “Thank you.”

  ~ * ~

  When they returned to the living room, there was a battle of jurisdiction in mid-swing. There was a tall man, a detective with the San Diego Police Department, who was adamant that the case belonged to his precinct. A much shorter man with a Northeastern accent was obviously the head agent with NCIS. It was just as obvious that the NCIS agent wasn’t going to back down when it came to the death of a Navy man.

  Mindy felt the sting of the agent’s eyes on her. “NCIS Special Agent Nate Armstrong.” He held out a badge showing his shield and credentials. “You must be Melinda Austin.”

  Mindy glanced at the badge then turned her attention toward Shane. She desperately wanted to leave the house and never return. She needed him to save the day and be her voice.

  “Agent Armstrong, I’m Gunnery Sergeant Shane Newhope. I have secured Ms. Austin a room at the VOQ for the night. Can she leave?”

  “Gunny, we’re going to have to ask a few questions now while the incident is still fresh in Ms. Austin’s mind.” The agent tweaked his brows, as if Newhope should have known better than to even ask. “Ms. Austin, please have a seat.”

  Mindy followed the agent to her sofa and sat where he pointed. Was this agent so naïve as to believe this episode would ever be anything other than fresh in her mind? She could still smell the gun powder, and taste the fear. She could hear the grunts Sanback’s body had released as vividly now as she did at that moment. Perhaps the agent didn’t know it, but he could ask about this night ten years from now and it would be right there in her mind waiting to flood back into her soul.

  Mindy wasn’t sure that she liked Nate Armstrong. His personality was a bit too overbearing for her. He looked more like a bookworm than any NCIS agent she’d ever seen. His small round black rimmed glasses made him look like a cross between Buddy Holly and Woody Allen. She noted that he was constantly rubbing his left index finger against his thumb, which made her wonder why someone in his position had so much nervous energy.

  “Ms. Austin, I’ve seen the previous reports that Evan Sanback had been stalking you for some time.” Armstrong reached into his pocket, pulled out an ink pen and clicked the button on the top.

  “Yes,” her voice quivered, her nerves still raw.

  “Did he ever physically touch you?” Agent Armstrong arched his brows and poised his pen to write.

  “No. Why…Why does that matter?” Her nervous fingers fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt.

  “No reason. Just a few things I need to get clear for my report.” He wrote a few notes while she watched.

  Detective Danny Hughes of the San Diego Police Department cleared his voice and Mindy turned her attention toward him. “Ms. Austin don’t be intimidated by his questions. You did nothing wrong. The constitution clearly states that you have a right to defend yourself.”

  Armstrong shot Hughes a piercing glance. “I would have assumed that the phone call you got earlier was from your chief telling you that this case belongs to NCIS.”

  Hughes huffed and cocked his head to the side. “Your man is dead in my jurisdiction. It may be your case, but I have every intention of being here to aid the civilian victim.”

  Mindy wanted to laugh but there was nothing funny about the situation she was in. No matter how much of a pissing contest the two investigators had going, fact remained that she’d been forced to kill someone. She liked Detective Hughes because he wasn’t about to let the cocky NCIS agent get a thing past him. Hughes reminded her of the lead character on her favorite television series. Hughes may have been a detective rather than a doctor, but he reminded her of Dr. Gregory House.

  “Just stay out of my way,” Armstrong warned.

  The NCIS team busily moved about her home. A woman entered the living room using a hand held video camera and a man dusted the front door for prints. Two other men pushed a gurney through the living room holding a black

  body bag. Sanback.

  “Your brother knew the victim. He was the actual target when the stalking began, correct?” Armstrong asked as he turned his attention toward the squeaking wheels on the gurney.

  “I guess Sanback was using me to get back at my brother who was his instructor at BUD’s.” Her jittering nerves were settling somewhat but she wondered about the questions the agent peppered at her. Did he think she killed Sanback on purpose or would he believe that it was self defense?

  “And Mr. Sanback blocked you in the parking garage near your workplace?”

  “He did, but I managed to get away and find my brothers.” She answered then watched and listened as Shane Newhope interrupted the conversation.

  “We spoke to Mr. Sanback and impressed upon him the importance of leaving Ms. Austin alone.” Gunny Newhope nodded at a report he held out for the agent to inspect.

  “Good. I need to see the scene and take a few notes in there. We should be able to close this in a few days. Ms. Austin, please don’t leave town until we can close out the case.” Agent Armstrong piped as he rose to his feet and reached for Gunny Newhope’s hand.

  Mindy nodded. She wasn’t leaving town she had no where to go but to her parent’s house and that wasn’t an option. Her father would find a way to blame this on her being weak, she didn’t need that.

  The woman with the video camera pointed it toward Mindy. “What are you doing?” Mindy asked as she turned her face away. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that she looked like hell. There were probably mascara lines down her face and her eyes felt as if they were swollen half closed.

  “Just documenting your disheveled appearance for our records.” The woman replied with a kind tone and removed the camera from Mindy.

  Mindy furrowed her brow as a feeling of denial rushed through her body. She hadn’t been raised to ever be disheveled. Austins were known for their iron grit and heroic bravery, her father had said so many
times. Disheveled. Just the thought of it was a disgrace.

  “We can go now.” Newhope nudged Mindy to get her attention.

  She looked up at him, at first confused. She glanced at all the activity in the apartment before she brought her eyes to meet Newhope’s again. “She called me disheveled. Maybe I’m confused or even scared stupid, but disheveled sounds helpless.”

  Gunny Newhope placed one hand on her upper back and pointed with his other hand toward the front door. “Trust me, she knows you aren’t helpless.”

  ~ * ~

  Gunny Newhope escorted Mindy to her room at the VOQ. Although she wasn’t afraid anymore, she still worried that even if the NCIS investigation cleared her, she might not be able to move forward from having killed. A part of her was hollow, like the vast open space of a canyon. She wasn’t sure anything could ever fill that emptiness. She’d pulled the trigger, not once but six times, and it had come as naturally to her as brushing her teeth. She had intervened on God’s plan, and had taken a life that may have had big plans for the future. Did Sanback have any family? Would they hate her once they knew the full story? Would they be willing to hear the full story? She couldn’t dwell on it. Dealing with the guilt of having taken a life was enough without adding the guilt associated with his family into the mix.

  “Do you think you’ll be okay?” Gunny Newhope asked. “Would you like me to check the quarters before I leave?”