by Liz Thomas
She twisted the lever and pushed the door open. Stewart was immediately in her view. Lying there on the hospital bed with his leg suspended in a wire contraption, keeping it elevated.
Stewart slowly turned his head toward her, expecting to find a nurse or doctor standing there. His look of surprise was evident.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said.
“Yes, Stewart, you will,” Annie countered.
“What the hell are you doing here, Annie?” Stewart said. “Come to see the product of your boyfriend’s handy work?”
“Stewart, you hit me. You’re lucky you got off as easy as you did.”
“Lucky?” Stewart yelled at her. “Lucky? Do you know that the doctor told me I may never walk the same again? You call that lucky?”
Annie looked down. As much as she hated him for what he had done, she felt bad that the damage was that bad.
“Stewart, I am sorry you’re hurt so bad. But you know you started it.”
“So, is that why you came, Annie,” Stewart said, shaking his head. “To tell me I started it. That’s rich.”
“No, Stewart,” Annie said. “I actually came to ask you why you are trying to have me killed.”
Stewart lowered his eye lids. “Have you killed?”
“My apartment? The mall?” Annie glanced up at the television mounted on the wall. “I know you’ve seen the news.”
“I saw the news about the mall shooting, and the interviews with your boyfriend. A real hero that one.”
“I was there, too, Stewart,” Annie said. “And you’re man nearly killed me before Kip shot him. I was the target. Thanks to you. How much is my insurance policy?”
Stewart shook his head. “What the hell are you talking about? What insurance policy? Are you telling me you think that I am trying to have you killed?”
Annie shook her head at him. “Give up the innocent school boy act, Stewart, you fucking prick!”
Stewart started to laugh. “Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!” He laughed more and harder. “You came here to accuse me of trying to have you killed? Oh, that’s good. Listen to me hitch, I wish I had thought of it. I really do.”
For a moment, Annie was on the verge of believing that she might have made a mistake. His act was very good.
“Stewart, you and I both know you’re behind it.” Annie said, a little less forcefully.
“I wish I was, Annie. Not for any insurance money, but just for the sheer joy of watching you die. But, you crazy cunt, I don’t have any insurance policy out on you. So watching you die would be the only benefit, believe me.”
Annie started to think now that maybe they had all made a huge mistake. If Stewart was behind the attacks, he would have confessed it to her, just to see her hurt. Annie held her mouth open because she could not think of what else to say. She took a step toward his bed.
Then the window shattered and the wall exploded directly behind where she had been standing. Annie immediately fell to the floor, screaming out all of the air she had in her lungs.
Stewart also started screaming as the room began to erupt in drywall powder and glass. The TV disintegrated above Annie’s head, and then she could see the mattress bounce as bullets impacted it. Stewart’s screaming stopped and Annie looked up to see his hand fall limp over the edge. Just then the door flew open and uniformed men poured in. the first two took shots directly in their chest and they fell backward into the second two. The door swung back closed and the shooting stopped.
Annie laid on the floor beside Stewart’s bed screaming and crying. “Help me! Help me!” She reached inside her blouse and tore the microphone from her chest, screaming into it, “Stewarts dead! Stewarts dead!”
Then the door to the room cracked open. The officer on the outside called into her.
“Stay Put, Ms. Beecher. You have full cover. The shots are being fired from across the street. We have men on their way there now.”
Seconds later the door pushed open and Kip ran in, stepping over the cops that were lying on the floor just outside.
“Annie, come with me, quickly.”
The four cops leaped up and followed him in, grabbing him and forcing him to the floor, where they handcuffed him. Two of the cops stepped away and caught their breath as they pulled off their bullet proof vests.
Then Lieutenant Porter rushed in the room.
“Let him up!” he yelled at the deputies. Confusion abounded. The cops pulled Kip to his feet as Porter ran to Annie and helped her to her feet. “And un-cuff him.”
“Are you alright, Ms. Beecher?”
Annie nodded and cried at the same time, turning to look at Stewart. He had several bullet wounds in his chest and leg. He was still.
“The shooter is gone. He fled the building before we could get a team in there.”
“That’s great. That’s just great!” Kip exploded. “You said there was nothing to worry about. All would go smooth!”
“Mr. Jones,” Porter said sternly, “we were working off of information you and Ms. Beecher here gave us. We had no way of knowing you were being survielled. And clearly, your theory of Stewart here being behind the attempts on Ms. Beecher’s life was a little off, wouldn’t you say?”
Kip calmed slightly as he watched Annie sob over Stewart’s lifeless body. He went to her and hugged her. Annie threw her arms around Kip and held on tight, unable to look at Stewart’s body any longer.
The hall outside the room filled with hospital personnel, and a doctor pushed his way to the front and through the door.
“Is there anyone in need of medical attention?” he asked.
Porter looked over at Stewart’s lifeless body in the bed. “Not anymore,” he said.
Kip and Annie both stayed at the hospital for hours while the paperwork, interviews and depositions were taken. Then, finally, Porter approached and told them to both follow him.
He led them back to his car and drove them both back to the station. Once in his office he had them sit at his desk.
“Is there anything else I need to know? From either of you?” Porter asked them sternly.
Kip and Annie looked at each other. Then they looked back at Porter. Kip spread his hands.
“No,” they both said at the same time.
“Lieutenant, why do you ask us like that? What is up?” Kip asked.
“Well, just the small matter of the department spending considerable recourses on a tip from you two that turned out to be totally off base,” Porter said. “And a man died.”
“Look, Lieutenant, it was a hunch.” Kip said. “After the incident the other night it seemed reasonable.”
“Yes!” Porter said. “And after the incident the other night, it also seems very convenient, don’t you think? And why the hell are you sporting a gun, Kip Jones?”
Annie looked at Kip as he leaned forward and pulled it from his belt. He placed it on Porter’s desk. “It’s fully registered.”
Annie leaned forward in her seat, her face turning red. “Lieutenant, I am not sure what you’re implying, but it was a reasonable assumption. Stewart started that shit the other night, and Kip put an end to it. He was an abusive husband. It was entirely possible that Stewart had been behind these attacks.”
Porter leaned back in his chair, relaxing. “Alright, look. I may be off base here. But I have to explore all possibilities. It’s clear you’re not behind the shootings, since one or both of you are the targets. Which I am afraid brings me to the next point.”
Both Kip and Annie raised her eyebrows at him.
“Which is, there is still an assassin out there and we have no clue as to who it may be. I am afraid you’re both in grave danger.”
I might go out like Tupac, great!
Kip looked at Annie, then back to Porter. “What do you suggest we do?”
“Get the hell out of town,” Porter said.
Kip and Annie looked at one another again. Then Kip said: “It just so happens that we are heading to Afghanistan to
morrow morning.”
Porter leaned forward in his chair again. “You don’t say?”
“The USO has asked us to do a show for the troops over there.”
Porter crossed his hands in front of his face, his elbows resting on his desk.
“Okay, this may work out well, then,” he said. “Give us some time to track down some leads.”
“Oh, so we have your permission to leave town?” Kip said, sarcastically. Annie nudged him with her elbow.
“Sorry,” Kip said. “I was just really worried about you. Made me a little edgy.”
“Yes,” Porter said. “You do have my permission to leave town. In fact, I heartily recommend it.”
“So, are we done here then, Lieutenant?” Annie asked him.
“Annie,” Porter asked, “is there anything in your past, besides, the recently deceased Stewart, that might shed some light on why anyone would want to kill you?”
Annie looked up in thought, and shook her head.
“You’re a biographer, is that right?” Porter asked.
Annie nodded. “That’s right.”
“Any sensitive projects you’ve worked on, maybe found out too much?”
“The last and only big thing I’ve had published is the book about Senator William Murphy. It was published earlier this year,” Annie said.
“That’s interesting,” Porter said.
“The book was boring as hell, Lieutenant,” Annie said. “There was nothing in there that could cause any scandal.”
“Okay, well, you’ll let me know if you think of anything right?” Porter asked.
“Of course she will, Lieutenant. Can we head on out now?” Kip asked.
“Yes, but I want a car to take you home. And I will be placing protection outside your door for the night until you leave tomorrow.”
“Fair enough,” Kip said, and he looked at Annie. “And greatly appreciated.”
Kip stood and reached for his gun. “May I?” He asked Porter.
“I am afraid you’re going to need it,” Porter said.
Kip and Annie made it back to the hotel without incident and were escorted to the hotel room. As Kip entered and closed the door behind them, he looked for the notebook on the floor where it was when he left. It was not there. Annie saw him scan the floor with his eyes.
“Better Than Me” By Hinder
“You read it, didn’t you?”
Kip did not answer. He went to the kitchenette and poured a glass of Jack Daniels and downed it in one gulp. “It’s been another long day Annie,” he said.
“I wrote what I wrote before I gave it as much thought as I should have,” she said.
Kip turned around and faced her. He had the bottle on his hand. He skipped the glass this time and just tilted the bottle into his mouth.
“What do you want me to say, Annie?”
Annie thought for a moment. “That you believe what I just told you. I will not write what you don’t want written.”
“It’s not really about that, Annie. I am not even sure I care about what goes in the book or what stays out anymore. Mainly I just feel betrayed. You wrote that entry in your notebook after we had made our agreement.”
Annie nodded. “Yes, I did. But like I said, I hadn’t thought it fully through. And it was before.”
“Before what?”
“Before I started to realize I was having some feelings for you.” Annie said. “Before I began to learn there was more behind the rock star.”
Kip took another swig and a commotion broke out just outside his hotel room door. Kip pulled his nine millimeter from his belt and chambered a round. He rushed to be at Annie’s side, which made her feel secure.
Then the door swung open and the officer that Porter had assigned to watch over them stuck his head in. “There is a Jack, Stabbs and a Lock here to see you. Do you know them?”
“You don’t listen to rock and roll, do you officer?”
“Strictly a country guy, sir,” The cop said.
Kip laughed. “They are part of the band. Let them in.”
The cop threw open the door and the three guys strutted in, all scowling at the cop as they walked by. Then they were followed by Becky and Becky, the two naked girls from the club on the night of their last concert event.
Jack tossed Kip a bottle of Jim Beam, which Kip caught despite having his hands full of a bottle of jack and his gun. Kip had never dropped a bottle of alcohol. “Nicely done, sir,” Jack said, nodding appreciatively.
“Jacky, what the hell is going on?”
“Well, it looks like we are going to be in a shithole for the next week, so we thought we’d have a little going away party here,” Jack said. “Do you know there ain’t no alcohol over in Afghanistan? What kind of a fucking country doesn’t have any alcohol?”
Kip nodded. “Like you said Jacky, a shithole country.”
“Anyway,” Jack continued, “you know, you’ve got the biggest room out of all of us, so we thought, well, you know?”
“Sure Jacky, I am on board. Hell, I’ve already started,” Kip said as he held up his bottles of Jim and Jack in one hand while he tucked his gun back into his belt with the other.
“Alright then!” Jack yelled. “Stabbs and Lock, we need tunes and more girls!”
Lock went to the phone while Stubbs went to the stereo.
“And Becky and Becky, you know what to do!” Jack added.
Becky the blonde and Becky the brunette commenced to undress while they danced.
“Nope! Nope! What have I taught you girls? Come on, you know the drill!” Jack yelled at them.
Becky and Becky then started to undress each other. Before long, they were completely naked and dancing across the floor.
Jack looked at Kip and Annie and smiled. “What can I say, I have them trained. I should open a school!”
Kip looked over his shoulder at Annie. Annie smiled but it was very reserved. “So, what do we do, now?” she asked.
“We’ll talk more about this tomorrow,” Kip said.
“You mean, tomorrow on the plane?” Annie asked.
Kip smiled at her. “You’re still invited, Annie. You have to go. You’re in danger here and you have nowhere else to live. Besides, you’re my biographer.”
Annie’s smile turned south. “I was hoping you would say I was more than that,” she said.
Kip winked at her. “Like I said, we’ll talk more tomorrow. This isn’t really the time or place anymore.”
“Party Hard” By Andrew WK
Just then one of the Becky’s danced in between Kip and Annie and grabbed her hand, pulling her along. Annie started to dance along with the two Becky’s.
Kip dropped back onto the couch and pulled his gun from his belt, letting it fall on the table. Soon Jack was there beside him tilting his own bottle. Then Stabbs ran to the door and pulled it open. The officer in the hall stepped aside and let three more girls in. When they saw the two naked Becky’s they immediately started pulling their clothes off.
Jack called out from the couch, “You got it girls. This is not a clothing optional party. Let them drop where you stand.”
Annie caught Kip’s and Jack’s eye as he made the last comment. And Jack amended his last comment. “Except the biographer!” and he let his voice trail off in disappointment. “She does what she wants, apparently.”
Kip laughed and so did Annie, who suddenly flashed Jack her tits. Jack took a deep breath and hollered, “Woo-Hoo! It’s going to be a great night, fella’s!”
Kips hotel room saw much debauchery again this night. Little of it involved Kip or Annie this time, although they both drank way more than should have been physically possible, just as the rest had. Annie flashed her tits several times throughout the evening, and Kip pretty much stayed on the couch and enjoyed the scenery. When he woke, he was in the exact same place he passed out, on the couch and curled around the bottle of Jim Beam that Jack had provided him.
Jack was on the coffee table, fully nak
ed, except his socks. When he got up to survey the room, he found Annie on the carpet with her head on Blonde Becky’s belly, both snoring.
When he staggered to his room, he threw open the door and found the other Becky and the rest of the girls littered around the floor, with Stabbs and Lock in the center of them all. Again, all naked.
Kip clapped his hands and startled them all awake. “Hey Gang,” he said. “It’s five thirty. We have got to get our asses to the airport to meet Lydell.”
Brunette Becky croaked out disapproval. “I don’t have to be at any airport, do I have to get up?”
“I don’t give a shit what you do,” Kip said smiling. “But you, and you!” He added, pointing to Lock and Stabbs “Get your ass up. We have to get moving.”
Jacky called from the coffee table. “You’re mighty fucking chipper for someone who didn’t really even want to go.” He rolled onto the floor and pushed himself up to his knees. He looked down at his dangling pecker. “Why the fuck am I naked?” he said to himself.
Kip laughed. “Who knows why you do what you do, Jacky. All I’ve got to say is, that pizza delivery guy will never come back to this room.”
Jack looked up at Kip as he walked to the freezer and pulled out an icepack. He tossed it to Jack and took out another and put it on his head.
“You’re joking right?”
Kip didn’t answer, he just relished the cool frozen block on his forehead.
“Hey, Kip, you’re fucking joking right?”
“I never joke around when it comes to your sex life, Jacky,” Kip said.
“Fuuuuuck!” Jack said and stumbled to his feet.
Kip went over and nudged Annie with his toe. She stirred to life and groaned. “Time to get up, baby. We have to be at the airport in an hour and a half. Luckily for you, you’re already packed. Just grab your shopping bags from the other night. It’ll do.”
Annie realized she was sleeping on Blonde Becky’s belly. “Oh my God, is there going to be a biography about me, now?”
Kip pointed to his temple. “I am already writing it up here.” He said.
Kip went to the front door and let the officer in. It was a different cop than was there last night. They must have switched places overnight. As Kip’s vision cleared from the light in the hallway, he realized that the new guard was deputy Sparks, the cop that was the real hero at the mall.