by Martha Carr
Ned looked over her shoulder at the dark lawn below them.
“What’s that?” he asked. There had been a momentary flash of something catching the light by the large tree close to the corner of the house.
“Where?” asked his grandmother, scanning the yard.
“Over there, there,” said Ned, tapping the window. “By that tree. Someone is out there. They probably figured no one could see them from the windows on the second floor.”
Harriet looked up at Ned. “Go find your way to your mother and tell her. Where’s your phone?”
Ned pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “There’s no signal,” he said, waving it around in the room to see if that would make a difference. “Someone’s jamming the signal, aren’t they?”
“Put it down,” said Harriet. “That looks like a beacon out there. Go! Go find your mother.”
“What about you?” asked Ned, hesitating at the door.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, waving at him. He could barely see an outline of his grandmother near the window.
There was a high-pitched whistle as the glass near Harriet’s head splintered, sending shards into her well-coiffed hair and scratching the side of her face. The bulletin board on the far wall shook as a bullet passed through and into the wall.
“Grandma!” shouted Ned, lunging for Harriet as she grabbed him by the arms and dragged him to the ground. He was surprised at her strong grip as she pushed his head down against the floor.
Joe woke up and stood all in one quick motion, letting out a sharp bark. Harriet hissed at him, giving him a hand signal that Joe immediately knew and laid down close to the ground, not making another noise.
“You trained the dog,” Ned said softly, awe in his voice. Joe didn’t take his eye off of Harriet.
“Something has changed,” she whispered, her hand shaking as she pushed against his back. Ned wasn’t sure if that was from fear or her age.
“Ned? Mom?”
Wallis was coming up the stairs and it sounded like she was taking them two at a time.
“Stop right there!” hissed Harriet, “and stop shouting. There’s a sniper out there. Give me your phone,” she said, as Ned offered up his iPhone with the Green Lantern case. Harriet pushed the button and waved it over her head.
“Ah!” She cried out in pain as the phone flew out of her hand. Another bullet narrowly missed the large monitors, embedding itself neatly in the wall behind them.
“Who’s shooting at us?” asked Wallis. She was crouched near the door. “Did you get a look at them?”
“No,” said Harriet, “but I suspect Watchers. It doesn’t fit with Clemente’s plans, unless I’m missing something. Get down the stairs. We’ll follow you,” Harriet said in a loud whisper. Two of the window in the room were blown out and they could hear shouting from below.
“The gun shots are so quiet,” whispered Ned, as he tried to lift his head.
“That’s also not a good sign. Someone came to get something done. This time is no warning. Can you crawl on your stomach toward the door? Stay low and try not to make any noise,” whispered Harriet. “I’ll be right behind you. Take Joe with you,” she said, making another hand signal as Joe got up and ran to the door, waiting expectantly for someone to go with him.
“You’re lying,” said Ned, looking up at his grandmother.
“I am, but I won’t be long. Go, this is only wasting valuable time. Take care of Joe, he’s your dog, after all.”
“I’m not so sure of that anymore,” said Ned, looking at Joe, who hadn’t moved from the doorway. “He’s more like a little furry Circle operative, grandma.”
“Jokes even under gunfire. You are also a Weiskopf. At some point, I imagine they plan to come in and I’d like to prevent that if I can.”
Ned reluctantly started crawling, keeping as low to the ground as he could. He heard the sound of breaking glass from below but it sounded more deliberate and he couldn’t tell what had caused it. When he got to Joe, he picked him and crawled to the stairs, sliding down the first few, head first as Joe ran ahead of him. Midway he was finally protected from any windows and he stood upright, running down the remaining steps. His mother was nowhere to be seen.
A loud crack sounded from his room on the third floor and he knew his grandmother was firing at someone. He turned to go back up the stairs as someone grabbed him by the arm.
“No,” said his mother in a stern, quiet voice. “Believe it or not, your grandmother can handle herself. She’s had training for just this sort of moment. Come on, we have to move,” said Wallis, pulling Ned by the arm in the dark. Joe took turns running around them in a circle, and then running ahead a few feet.
Someone came rushing up at them in the darkness, almost knocking into them. Joe let out a short bark and a low growl as Ned hushed him.
“Alan,” said Wallis, “I found him. My mother’s still upstairs.”
“Is that who fired?” asked Alan, not waiting for an answer. “There’s at least four of them trying to break the perimeter of the house. One has already been taken down. It’s Watchers.”
“That’s what grandma thought,” said Ned, glancing back toward the stairs to his room. Another loud crack sounded in the house.
“Harriet’s taking careful shots,” said Alan, in a low, even voice.
“How can you tell?” Ned’s voice came out in a squeak.
“There’s no rush to them and I know your grandmother.”
“Is there even any range on that pink gun of hers?” asked Ned, pulling against his mother’s grip.
“She’s not using her little lady gun,” said Wallis. “Mom predicted this would happen. I suspect it’s why she was visiting you. Literally kill two birds with one gun.”
“You knew?” asked Ned as his mother started pulling him behind her. They were following Alan Vitek, staying close to the walls.
“Yes, everyone has been struck by your urge to be transparent. Tonight it paid off. I called Alan and told him what Harriet said. He decided to trust her instincts and arrived just as it all started.”
“You may have saved everyone’s life,” said Alan, smiling.
Ned felt his entire body shake violently. Wallis turned and grabbed him by the shoulders pulling him close.
“You’re going to have to do what I tell you as quickly as you can,” she whispered in his ear. He was taller than his mother and could smell her perfume. It was the same one she had worn his entire life. “No questions right now. A second or two could make a difference,” she whispered, as they started moving again.
A walkie talkie in Alan’s hand squawked. “Only two left that we can find.”
“It’s one of my kid’s. Comes in handy more than you’d think. Always go simple, if you can,” said Alan, as he led them to the stairs in the front of the house. “I don’t like coming down right by the front door and those windows but we have no choice.”
“Where’s Dad?” asked Ned, as he stumbled on a step and Wallis held onto him till he steadied himself. “Is he out there?”
“He’s making his way to a car we left a few blocks from here.”
“None of this is random, is it?” asked Ned.
“Not at all,” said Wallis, not looking back. “We’ve had a plan in place since Norman was kidnapped. All kinds of scenarios. Next step was to go over it with you but…” said Wallis, shaking her head. “Time ran out.”
They came down into the front hall as something loud and heavy hit the large front door. Wallis let go of Ned’s arm for a moment and pulled her mother’s small pink Glock out of her pocket. The light coming through the window shined off of the barrel for just a moment as Alan pushed it away.
“Don’t let it get shot out of your hand,” he said.
“You even know how to use that?” asked Ned.
“I’ve been taking lessons,” said Wallis. There was a sheen of sweat across her face. “Colonial Shooting Academy on Broad Street. It’s not as hard as you’d think,” she said.
“Another time,” said Alan, looking at Ned’s startled surprise.
“He’s been teaching me,” she said to Ned. “It’s a necessity these days.”
They slipped into the small office in the back of the house that was the furthest from any exit and had only one window hidden by tall bushes. Wallis had meant to have them cut down at some point and redecorate the room but Norman had slowly claimed the room as a man cave and said it was perfect lighting to watch movies.
“There’s no way out of here,” said Ned, feeling the panic rise in his throat. “Are we going to make our last stand here?”
Another crack sounded from somewhere within the house.
Alan pushed the long, heavy credenza against the back wall out of the way as Wallis flipped back the Persian rug. Underneath was a crude square cut in the wood floor with a small handle on one side.
“We’re getting out of here,” said Wallis as she leaned down and pulled up the trap door. There was an opening underneath and Ned could feel the cold air rush in and swirl around his ankles. Alan Vitek eased himself into the opening first and ducked out of view as Wallis and Ned waited.
“All clear,” he said, as he popped back up through the opening. “Come on, we don’t have much time. The Circle operatives nearby are doing their best but I can’t guarantee no one has slipped through. Come on, Ned, you first.”
Ned looked at his mother. He wanted to say something but he couldn’t find the words. Wallis leaned in and kiss Ned on the cheek, pushing him further into the hole, as she scooped up Joe and dropped him in next.
“I’ll be right behind you,” she said, as he tried to reach out and grab her arm. He was almost below the level of the floor.
“Got you last,” she whispered, tapping his shoulder hard as she turned to go back into the darkness of the house. They hadn’t played that game in years. The last time was when she had pushed him out of harm’s way and Oscar Newman’s rage. He wanted to yell out to her to come back but it felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him and he couldn’t suck in enough air. He could feel Joe’s hot breath on his ankles as he crawled toward the other end.
Alan Vitek already had a firm grip on him and was pulling him further under the house and out behind the bushes. Follow orders tonight, he thought and let himself be half-dragged.
“It’s okay, this was all in the plan. She’s gone back for her mother. You have to follow orders tonight, son,” said Alan, as soon as they were out from under the house. “That’s the only way we can have an idea of what anyone else is doing without actually seeing them.”
“How many people are in on this plan?”
“You can guess at them all,” said Alan. “Now, I need you to be quiet so we can listen and so no one hears us. Hold on to Joe and keep him calm.”
Ned pressed his back against the brick foundation as they crouched in the darkness. He was listening for any sounds of his mother in the house or the crack of a gun.
“Okay, let’s go,” said Alan, “and I need you to run right behind me as fast as you can. We’re going to have to cover a mile quickly, and in the dark. Keep your wits about you, and not a word till we get to the car. Not one word. Ready?” he said, as Ned nodded. “Go!”
Chapter 9
Wallis crept through the kitchen as quietly as she could, holding the .380 Glock 42 out in front of her like Alan had taught her, trying not to let her hand shake at all. Her breathing sounded loud in her ears and she tried to focus, steadily taking in a deep breath and letting it out.
She rounded the corner by the small bathroom, trying not to think about how many times she had to use her house as refuge from a gun battle. Or how many people had already died on their property.
A light moved across the narrow panes on either side of the front door as Wallis quietly stepped across the floor, making her way to the stairs. Just as she reached the middle of the staircase the door blew open, kicked in by a tall figure dressed in black, his head covered by a dark mask.
Wallis scrambled up the stairs, holding the gun close and turned the corner, leaping across the hallway to close the distance to the stairs up to Ned’s room. She could hear the pounding of the footsteps behind her as someone took the stairs two or three at a time. There were only seconds to make it to her mother. Not enough time.
She turned and sat down on the stairs, hard, the riser hitting her square in the back. She held the gun in front of her, steadying herself and holding her breath for just a moment. Her hand was shaking. In the dark he couldn’t see her crouched there in the darkness. He would think she was still running.
Fuck that, she thought. No more running.
“I can do this,” she whispered, ignoring the thread of doubt that threatened to make her panic. Focus on the target, she thought, trying to will herself to remember Alan’s instructions.
The man was on her in no time as she gently pulled the trigger. She felt a swipe of his muscular arm against her head as he missed his target. She put out her leg, twisting him up till he fell over heavily, falling on his back and sliding away.
It surprised her at how easy it was to shoot once he was so close she could smell the sweat and a scent she recognized.
An expensive shampoo they always used when she was getting her hair cut. A hum passed through her entire body as the bullet hit him low, and she found herself hoping there was no protective gear.
She wanted him dead.
There was a time when she argued against guns and wouldn’t allow one in her house. That was another lifetime, another woman. In just that second, she knew that if someone came looking for her from that time before Stanley Woermer first showed up in her driveway warning her about that damnable list, they wouldn’t be able to find her.
That Wallis was gone, forever. The Wallis who lived in ignorance about her ties to the Circle and to Management.
The gun had a smooth kick to it as she pulled the trigger again. But she was ready, absorbing the shock through her shoulders, braced back against a stair. The Watcher let out a low yelp and fell backward, stumbling over the two bottom stairs. He was holding onto his leg as he tried to raise his gun.
Wallis jumped off the stairs and ran toward him, getting close enough to aim the gun at his head as she pulled the trigger again and watched his head rock back hard against the floor and his arm fall to his side. She felt the bile rise in her throat as she swallowed hard.
More are coming, she thought, get upstairs.
She stumbled over the remaining stairs, banging her shin against a step, cradling the gun closer to her chest.
“Mom, Mom.” Her voice came out in a throaty whisper.
“Are you okay?” Harriet was still near the window, watching what was happening outside.
“I killed a man,” she said, hiccupping as she pressed her fingers hard against her lips. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Come here,” said Harriet, pushing against the windowsill to get to a standing position. She held open her arms. Wallis rushed across the room and held up her mother as Harriet enveloped her, holding her tight. Wallis could feel her arms shaking.
“Never take it lightly,” Harriet whispered, “but realize that sometimes it’s necessary. We aren’t going to go down just because someone else is trying to take us there. I can promise you that.”
“I didn’t let him just lie there. I finished what I started and made sure he was dead” said Wallis as she pulled away from her mother. Her teeth were chattering as if she were cold. She glanced out of the window and saw people moving across the lawn. “I can’t tell whose side they’re on but people are coming into the house.”
“You haven’t lost your humanity,” said Harriet, as she felt for her cane leaning against the wall. “I haven’t lost mine. I just understand how things work a little better and I made a decision a long time ago. Same one you made out in that hallway.”
“I chose to live,” said Wallis. “Mom, not to nag but you’re going to have to move a little faster.”
&
nbsp; “Or be ready to shoot straight,” said Harriet, slowly taking each step.
Wallis heard someone running upstairs and raised her gun, waiting to see who it was this time. Tears were running down her face.
“Wallis?”
It was Norman, followed closely by Alan and Ned.
“You are all supposed to be by the car,” hissed Harriet.
“Ned refused to wait for you. He insisted we come back. From the looks of things he was right. We saw more Watchers on the way.”
Wallis looked at Ned, not sure what to say.
“You taught me that,” said Ned. “No matter what, even if it’s the last thing we do, family comes first.”
“Hmph,” said Harriet, leaning back against the wall as if she might collapse. “You may have actually found a way to change the family legacy, Wallis.”
“Isn’t that what you did for me,” said Wallis, still looking at Ned. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder.
“We have maybe a couple of minutes to get out that door,” said Norman. “We can argue about this later. I even look forward to it, my dear mother in law.”
Norman and Alan stepped up on the stair just below Harriet and put out their arms, crossing them and holding on to each other at the elbow, creating a seat.
“Sit on down,” said Alan, as Wallis held onto Harriet’s arm and helped her sit down backwards till she could wrap her arms about Alan and Norman’s shoulders. Ned steadied her and backed out into the second-floor hallway. Wallis followed them down, still clutching the gun.
“You okay?” asked Norman, glancing up at Wallis.
“She took out the one in the hallway,” said Harriet. “Saved both of us.”
Wallis looked at Norman and wanted to say something but there wasn’t time. Norman gave her a half smile as he let out a grunt. Wallis tried not to look as they went past the dead man.