Not Alone

by Frederic Martin

  “I get it,” said Bronco. He got up and walked Jack to the door. “You’re doing good—being smart. Keep being smart.”

  Right, thought Jack, like getting out of there.

  “Yeah, thanks. Later.”

  “Later.”

  Jack walked away relieved. Happy, actually. Bronco had eased his mind. He hadn’t reacted at all when Jack mentioned the kidnapping, and there was nothing unusual going on in his apartment. It seemed completely empty. Almost un-lived-in. No bloody murder scene or hostage drama. And on top of it all, Bronco had given him extra dope. That was like giving him free money. Bronco must have been doing pretty well for himself with his business.

  Jack turned and headed down the sidewalk the way Bronco had come and then remembered how Bronco had come out of nowhere. He looked to the right at the house next door. There was light coming from one shaded window in the back. As he passed the house, he saw a car backed into the driveway. That car looked familiar. It was like one that Bronco usually had in his driveway.

  Jack kept walking, but he was uneasy. He got to the corner and stopped under the streetlight. Bronco might have come from next door when he saw him. That might be Bronco’s car in the driveway. Of course, it could be anyone’s car, it was a silver Toyota. Only about a million of those around. But if it was Bronco’s, what was it doing next door?

  He should just forget it, but he couldn’t. There was just something that didn’t feel right . . .

  Will stared at the syringe. The end of the needle had a drop of blood on it. He looked at Blue’s arm. There was a needle mark with a trickle of drying blood twisting its way down her skin. He looked back up at Blue’s face. It was completely lax. He looked down at his hand pressed against her chest. It wasn’t moving. Somewhere in his mind was a voice saying, “she’s dead.” He shook his head and said, “No!”

  He ripped the duct tape off her mouth, leaving behind a crimson rectangle on her skin. Then he tilted her head back and parted her lips with his thumb. He held his cheek near her mouth but felt not even the slightest movement of air. Without hesitation, he took in a breath, sealed his lips over hers and blew. Some air squeaked out of her nose, but it felt like some went into her lungs. He tried again but this time pinched her open nostril closed with his right forefinger. It was like blowing into a wet air mattress with someone lying on it, but her chest moved so he knew air was going in. He pulled his face back from hers and he could feel a gentle waft of breath, and it was warm! It felt alive. He gave her three more breaths, waiting for her exhale between each, and then just before he gave her a fourth, she breathed in on her own! He watched her chest expand slightly, and then another soft breath. It was only then that he noticed the slight bluish tinge in her lips. He felt for her pulse in her neck. It seemed fast and weak, but steady. Oh God, oh God, oh God, thank you, he thought. Just keep breathing!

  He went to work on the tape holding her to the chair. If he got it off, he could lift her and get her out the door, down the hall and out. She wasn’t heavy but she would be dead weight. Once they were out, he could carry her through the backyards, and stay hidden, at least until the police got there. Why weren’t they there already? Had things happened that fast?

  Shit, peeling the tape was taking too long. It was wound around multiple times. He gave up trying to unwind it and just started tearing it off. He looked around the room again for something that he could use to cut it and saw a camera on a tripod on the dresser. Shit! She was being monitored! Bronco could be watching him right now! He jumped over to the dresser and turned the camera around. Maybe Bronco would think it fell over or something. Now he knew he didn’t have any time to waste. He started tearing at the tape so hard that soon there was blood coming from his fingers. He only noticed because it was making everything slippery. He got one of her arms free, but as soon as it was free, she slumped even worse. He cursed himself for not starting with the ankles. He tried to prop her up while he worked on her left ankle. It was impossible. She kept slumping over and he had to push her back up and try and hold her with his shoulder. He kept checking to see that she was breathing, and it seemed that she was but it was so weak. He gave her another mouth-to-mouth hoping that would help. He reached down to work on the ankle but she slumped over again!

  “Blue, wake up, I need your help!” He looked at her barely open eyes but they were vacant– a hundred miles away and her pupils were tiny—like pinpoints.

  Will was starting to panic. He had no idea how long it would be before Bronco came back. He tried to free the ankle again, but this time she overbalanced the chair and it started to tip. Will tried to catch the chair and right it, but he was at an awkward angle and all he could do was slow down the fall so Blue didn’t smack her head on the floor.

  Will cursed but stopped halfway through the curse. That had solved his problem. She was on the floor on her side, and now he could work at her ankles without her slumping all over him. She also seemed to breathe easier. He cursed again. He was an idiot for not thinking of that earlier and now he was running out of time.

  Jack looked back down the street. No sign of Bronco. It wouldn’t hurt to just take a quick look, he thought. He walked carefully back the way he came. When he got to the house, he cautiously walked up the drive. He could see that he had an escape route out the back yard of the house if he needed it. There was a side entrance to the house next to the driveway. Jack looked through the windows of the house. He didn’t see a light or activity, except a light coming from a half-open door in the hallway behind the side entrance. He tried the side entrance. It was open.

  This was stupid. What was he doing? Breaking and entering! He didn’t need that. He should just turn around and keep on walking. He hesitated for a moment but instead of turning around and leaving, he opened the door, slipped in quietly and listened. He could hear activity in the back room, probably the room with the lighted window. He crept cautiously down the hall, ready to run. He leaned his head carefully through the half-open door and then froze. He wasn’t quite prepared for the scene that met his eyes. “Will? What the hell . . . ?”

  Will froze. He felt his heart stop as he looked up and stared right into the face of Jack. Jesus! It looked like Jack was in on this.

  Jack suddenly stumbled into the room as if pushed and behind him came Bronco. Bronco took one step inside, looked at the scene in front of him and grunted. He took his shoulder bag off, squatted down and started to fiddle with something inside it.

  Will didn’t know what to do. It looked like Jack didn’t either. Jack seemed as confused by everything as Will was. Will glanced at the door. Jack had been pushed clear, leaving an inviting escape route. For an instant, Will realized he had the opportunity to make a run for it. He crouched, ready to spring, but he knew there was no choice. He couldn’t go. He wasn’t going to leave Blue behind. He wasn’t going to do that again. Ever. All he could do was to wait for the next thing to happen.

  And the next thing to happen was a strange sound, like a soda can opening, and at exactly the same time, he felt like someone gave him a punch in the chest just below his left shoulder. It knocked him off balance, causing him to rock back from his crouch, landing on his butt. He looked at Jack, but Jack was exactly where he was before, except now he was staring at Bronco’s hands. A strange burning was starting to surge through Will’s chest and shoulder and he gasped reflexively as the burning gave way to searing pain. He barely perceived what happened next. He was blinded by the sudden pain but he knew that Jack had taken a lunge at Bronco, knocked him over, and then Jack was gone, out the door. Bronco looked at Will gasping on the floor, hesitated for a moment, and then took off out the door after Jack.

  Will didn’t care! All he could focus on was the pain. It was growing unbearable! He struggled to breathe. He wanted to figure out what happened, but he couldn’t think straight. He must have been shot by Bronco but there had been no sound like a gunshot. Maybe it was a taser or something else. He was hoping it wasn’t a gun, but when he could foc
us enough, he brought his right hand away from his upper chest, where it had involuntary gone in a protective move. He saw blood.

  Will’s eyes started to lose focus and he felt himself rolling onto his right side, holding his right hand to his upper left chest. He didn’t want to pass out. Rolling to his side seemed to help, but the pain was still enormous! He sat there gasping in agony for a minute, or ten minutes, or forever . . . he had no idea how long. But slowly, the pain peaked, turned a corner, and moved imperceptibly from being unbelievably unbearable to being nearly bearable. Will started to breathe more evenly instead of in gasps. He tried to sit up but decided that wasn’t a good idea just yet. His eyes focused a little better, and then he saw Blue’s feet in his field of vision. She wasn’t free, but Will thought he could slide over and start working on the tape again, as long as he didn’t sit up right away. He slid himself over and used his right hand to work the rest of the tape off her right arm. He looked down. She was still breathing weakly, but the blue tinge in her lips had gone down—they looked pinker. He started working on her right ankle—it was hard with just one hand and the blood and sweat and pain. It didn’t matter though—having a mission was clearing his head and helping him focus on something else other than the pain. He felt like he could sit up a little and get a better angle on her ankle.

  He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he suddenly realized he had unbound her ankle. She was free. He eased her away from the chair. He was determined to get her out of there. He could do it as long as no one came back right away. Anything to buy time until the police came. The police! He had completely forgotten about them. He had heard noises outside—people yelling, a car door slamming, the crack of a real gun, and a car driving off . . . they must have come but where were they? Maybe they didn’t know to come to this house. He had to get them out of there and into the open where they could be found.

  He dragged Blue little by little toward the door. He didn’t feel like he could stand yet so he sat on the floor and scooted them both inch by inch. Before they had even gone a foot, he heard the back door open and steps in the hallway. Shit! He looked for something to throw. He wasn’t going without a fight.

  “Blue! Are you here?”

  Will couldn’t believe his ears. It was Chief Hannah! It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard in his life.

  “Chief Hannah! In here!” His voice sounded hoarse. He looked toward the door just as Chief Hannah eased herself through it, gun drawn looking this way and that.

  “Will!” she said in surprise. “Is there anyone else here? Are you alone?”

  “Just me and Blue, I think,” he croaked.

  Chief Hannah appeared to relax a little. She stopped scanning the room and turned her attention to Will and Blue and as she did, Will saw her eyes grow wide and heard her gasp, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!”

  After Jack had left the apartment, Bronco sat back and relaxed. He was actually glad that Jack had shown up. If Jack was questioned, the fact that he’d visited Bronco and didn’t see anything suspicious would divert suspicion away from him. Plus, he learned more about how the search was going. And as a bonus, he’d gotten rid of the rest of his dope. All in all, it couldn’t have worked out better.

  Bloodhounds? Well, the police were smarter than he’d thought. That could be bad news if he didn’t get the little demon out of there soon and start working on the next step of his plan. That was fine, he was ready to go. Time to say goodbye to this apartment and head out. He had watched Jack go out the drive and walk down the block. He should be gone by now.

  Bronco pulled his phone out of his pocket. It had buzzed a couple of times while Jack was there, but Bronco ignored them until Jack was gone. It could only be the surveillance camera motion alerts because no one knew this new phone number. They were motion alerts. It was possible that the girl was going into convulsions. That happened sometimes when people were dying. He didn’t bother to look at the surveillance recordings. He was headed over there now anyway.

  He picked up his shoulder bag, took one last look around, and locked the door behind him. He walked casually over to the house, confident that Blue would be dead or near enough to it. He would just double bag her, then put her in the trunk, and get out of there.

  Bronco walked in the door and stepped into the hallway and knew immediately that something was wrong. The guest room door was open, and a shadow of someone standing just inside the door was projected across the floor and onto the hallway wall.

  Bronco stepped down the hallway and instantly recognized the silhouette of Jack. Damn it! Well, it was nothing that couldn’t be taken care of. It would just be messier now. He shoved Jack out of the way and stepped in the room, and then what he saw really pissed him off. That boy, Will, was there, too! He had the girl half untied, and the tape was off her mouth. Damn it. Now there were two problems he had to take care of. This was going to be a lot of work.

  He opened his shoulder bag, and instinctively turned on the red dot sight of his Browning Buck Mark. He congratulated himself on having mounted the silencer already, then he pulled back on the slide, slid the gun out of the bag and put one bullet into the boy.

  The boy was knocked back. Good thing. He was pretty athletic and Bronco didn’t want to mess with him. He turned to do the same with Jack, but just as he did, Jack knocked the gun hand away, pushed Bronco hard onto the floor and then bolted out the door.

  Damn it again! Now there was a third problem! Now he was totally pissed. Jack was quick! That surprised him. He looked at the two kids; they weren’t going anywhere. He had to get after Jack. He jumped up and ran out the door, down the driveway and out into the street to see which way Jack had gone. At that instant, the scene transformed into a bizarre stroboscopic blue landscape. Jesus Christ, the boy must have called the police. A loudspeaker crackled to life, and headlights illuminated him.

  “Sir, please stand right there. I need to talk to you.” It was a female voice he recognized—the chief of police.

  Bronco was now beyond pissed, he was dangerously angry. His mind cleared. The game was really on now, and he was going to win.

  He turned slowly and cooperatively, smiling. He looked at the police car, squinting through the headlight glare to see if she was alone. She was, and he could tell she was radioing someone. He waited patiently. He knew she would get out of the car and at least stand behind the door before she came over to talk to him. She might not come over, it was her judgment call, but he wanted to make her feel comfortable.

  There she goes, he thought, she’s opening the door and getting out of the car. Bronco put one hand under the flap of his messenger bag.

  “Sir, I need to see both of your hands, please,” said the chief. This time, her voice came from over the top of her car door instead of the loudspeaker. Perfect.

  Bronco reacted apologetically and started to slowly withdraw his hand and then he made his move. With one swift movement, he pulled the Browning expertly into shooting position and with two trigger pulls, knocked out the headlights on the police cruiser. He then ran to his car, jumped in, and peeled out of the driveway. He punched the accelerator as he exited the driveway and made a hard right, skidding his rear end into the street. At the exact same time, he heard a low crack that he instantly recognized as the sound of a 9mm, and then a sharp punch on the right side of his butt. He didn’t stop to ruminate on this, he held the accelerator to the floor and pushed the little car to excessive speed, waiting for a second crack that never came. He knew now that he was going to get away. He was still in charge of this game. The first part was just a lot messier than he had planned.

  33

  Knife Edge

  “Ed! Come in Ed! This is Summer, do you copy?” Chief Hannah had recovered from her initial shock of finding Blue and Will in the guest room, and she quickly moved into full crisis mode. This was her arena. She was built for this situation. “Ed, for Chrissakes, come in! Are you asleep at the wheel? I will crucify you if you are!”

  �
��I read you, Summer! Over!” came the crackle from the radio.

  “Listen carefully, Ed.” She spoke clearly and steadily into the microphone, “We have a situation. We have two seriously injured at 61 Pine Street. We need an ambulance, code 99. It looks like one gunshot wound and one drug overdose. Have the ambulance radio me directly on this channel, and keep this channel open! I will give them vital signs. Ed, do you copy this?”

  “Geez Summer, what happened? I mean yeah I copy! Gunshot wound and drug overdose. I’m getting Emergency on the line now!” Ed sounded like he was caught off guard. “Over!” he remembered to add.

  “Good, but I’m not done yet. This is extremely important. We have an armed assailant on the loose. Armed and extremely dangerous. I received unprovoked gunfire from the assailant, so approach him with extreme caution. The assailant left the scene in a 2000-ish Toyota, silver paint. I got a partial on the plate, first three numbers 725. One taillight is out. He left heading south on Pine Street and possibly turned west onto Elm. The time approximately 8:42 pm. Do you copy this, Ed?”

  There was a pause before the radio crackled again “Yeah, I’ve got that all down. Geez Summer, are you okay? Hold on, I’ve got emergency on the line . . .” There was another pause and then, “Okay, Ed here again. They are on their way, ETA about 5 minutes. Are you okay Summer? Over”

  “Yeah, I’m okay Ed, thanks for asking. Listen, we have to call State in on this. We can’t find this guy alone. He should be considered a drive-off and fugitive. Get Frank on the line, and have him drive over and watch the Interstate exit and you can take the second cruiser and get over to Bank street as soon as you have State moving. We need all the manpower we can get, so whatever they want to do is okay with me. I’ve got to sign off now, I’m going to have my hand’s full keeping these kids alive.” While she was talking, Chief Hannah had checked Blue’s vital signs and then turned to Will.