by Bill Hopkins
Chapter 41
Monday Night, continued
Tina lay on a bed, her eyes wide, her body tensed.
"Rosswell!"
He risked taking a moment to kiss her, then rubbed the Celtic cross necklace lying at her throat. The actions served as his validation that he'd reached the end of his journey.
The klaxons screaming in his brain couldn't dampen the joy of seeing Tina. Using his medic's training, he assessed her condition within seconds. Her hair smelled of a recent washing with a shampoo recalling fresh air on a mountainside. Her skin felt smooth, supple, and soft. They'd kept her clean. It was nice when bad guys kept their prisoners clean. Her belly was huge with their baby.
"I'm fine," she screamed over the screech of the alarms. "Get me out of here!" She jumped from the bed and shoved her feet into tennis shoes, all in the same motion.
Even through the sound of the sirens in the hallway, Rosswell could make out people yelling somewhere, running straight for them.
"We're leaving this dump!" Rosswell assured himself the orange rope tied to the door would keep the pursuers at bay long enough to ensure their escape. "Alessandra, clear a path for Tina and Ollie. I'll bring up the rear."
Alessandra, her flashlight clutched in one hand, the gun at the ready in the other, sprinted down the hallway toward the cave. Ollie, whose adrenalin must've been surging overtime, cozied up close behind Alessandra, dragging Tina as she hurried to keep up.
Rosswell followed the three of them, his pistol in firing position, his eyes ready to catch sight over his shoulder of anyone who gained on him. No one followed. With a glance forward every second or so to make certain he wasn't going to smack headfirst into a wall, he closed on his goal of the cave's outside entrance with each step. Now, he spotted the wooden door marking where the hallway in the house ended and the cave began.
Alessandra grabbed the doorknob and turned. "It's locked."
Behind them, Rosswell heard people-it sounded like a lot of people-pounding on the fire door. "Ollie, kick the door where the handle meets the frame."
"Actually, it's where the lockset meets the casing."
Alessandra smacked Ollie in the face. "Start kicking, damn it!"
A few swift kicks from Ollie shattered the wood where the lockset met the casing.
They all dove through into the back of the cave. Rosswell found a chunk of rock and stuck it under the useless door. Another speed bump for would-be pursuers. With all of their flashlights on, the way shined clear. It took the rescue party only a few seconds to reach the entrance.
Rosswell, Tina, and Ollie halted, turned, and aimed their pistols into the cave.
"Don't...Where..." Ollie stopped, his panting leaving him unable to speak. He gasped and breathed deeply until he regained his voice. "Where's Alessandra?"
Rosswell hollered back into the depths of the cave, "Alessandra!" The clamoring of the alarms swallowed his yelling.
Ollie said, "She's still back there."
"You and Tina get to the car right now. I'll fetch Alessandra." No way was Tina staying in the filthy cave.
Before Rosswell could move five feet, Alessandra appeared out of the darkness, jogging toward him.
"What kept you?"
"Since you didn't kill Charlie like you promised, I had to kick him in the nuts for lying to us." She smiled. "I think he's hurt."
Outside the cave, Rosswell's shaking fingers punched 9-1-1 as they sprinted for Sofia.
The operator said, "What is the nature-"
"Two people have been shot at River Heights Villa. One dead. One injured." Not once slowing down, Rosswell repeated the message two more times, then clicked off.
Ollie panted. "Who's been shot? Who's dead?"
Tina's adrenaline must've kicked in since she was leading the pack.
Rosswell's phone rang. The emergency operator making the standard verification call on hang-ups. He let it go to voicemail. "Serious injury and death calls take precedence. I lied. So sue me." Shortness of breath began working a number on him. "Keep running, people."
Running being the only concern now, not a one of them checked behind them nor did they slow down.
Gunshots sounded.
They reached Sofia, huffing and panting after the sprint. Although Rosswell expected the place to erupt with cops and ambulances within minutes, he felt duty bound to check on Jim Bill immediately. Except that now it sounded as if people were shooting at them.
Ollie stated the obvious. "Officer Evans is overdue."
"I already know that. You three get to the hospital."
Rosswell bent to kiss Tina again. "I love you."
"Don't leave me!"
"If it weren't for Jim Bill, I wouldn't have found you. I'm going to help him."
"Hurry." Alessandra put her arm around Tina. "All of us are going to be fine. The cops will beat Rosswell to the scene."
Ollie beamed. "You'd make a great research assistant."
Alessandra jiggled and smiled. "Never forget that."
Their elation rapidly deflated when from behind, Susannah and Frankie Joe, each armed with a pistol, flanked them.
Susannah chuckled. "Everybody's weapon on the ground. Now. Real slow. Real easy."
"Guns on the ground." Frankie Joe stuck his gun to Tina's temple. "Now."
Rosswell, Ollie, and Alessandra did as they were ordered. Frankie Joe flung all three guns deep into the burnt area.
Rosswell dropped to his knees by Tina. "If you're going to kill me, then you've got to let me tell her good-bye."
Tina said, "You assholes let me go. The cops are coming."
Susannah said, "Shut up, girly."
Alessandra dropped the tote bag next to Rosswell. In all the confusion, he thought the thing had been left in Nathaniel's house. He risked a glance inside the bag.
"About time you jokers showed up." Alessandra marched up to their captors. "I'm through with these losers." She pointed to Rosswell, Tina, and Ollie. "I found out all I can. I'm reporting to Nathaniel." Doing an about face to all of them, she walked away from the car, toward the house.
Susannah yelled, "Get back here or I'll shoot your sorry ass."
Without turning to face Susannah, Alessandra said, "I take my orders from Nathaniel, not you," and kept walking.
Frankie Joe joined his wife. "You turn around right now or I'll shoot you myself. I'd enjoy it."
Alessandra continued trudging up the hill. "Shoot me. Then enjoy what Nathaniel does to you. He specializes in slow and painful deaths."
Frankie Joe and Susannah, never lowering their guns, exchanged a quick glance, shrugged, and returned attention to their three prisoners, each of whom now brandished pistols.
Ollie's weapon hovered mere inches from Susannah's face. "Anyone who'd stick eighteen garden gnomes in front of a doublewide doesn't have the sense God gave a green goose."
Tina positioned herself into a firing stance. "This girly is a cop."
Alessandra called down from the hill, "And so is this girly."
Rosswell's gun barrel touched the tip of Frankie Joe's nose. "You certainly have pretty hands for a farm machine mechanic. Alessandra, check in the tote bag. Might be some extra clothesline and duct tape."
Alessandra sprinted down the hill toward the group. "Gladly."
Ollie crowed, "Told you she'd make a great research assistant."
Alessandra poked around in the tote bag. "You weren't kidding about the code talk. I can't believe all the crap you got in here." She glanced at Susannah and Frankie Joe. "We'll add your guns to our stash. Thanks."
Ollie shoved Susannah and Frankie Joe to the ground and flipped them face down. He removed their shoes, and inspected the pistols. "Trash. Gustave's a cheap boss man."
Rosswell said, "Tie them, then drive Tina to the hospital."