Change of Address

by Rick Polad

  “Okay. But if Marty is in trouble, I’m not waiting for the troops to arrive.”

  “Okay. But remember, I make the decisions.”

  I didn’t answer.

  “Right?”

  “Right. Don’t worry, Rosie, this could be nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Sure, she could not be there, or she could not have Marty, or she could and it could be real easy.”

  “Or not.”

  “Boy aren’t you Little Miss Positive Thinking.”

  “Being prepared for the worst and then being pleasantly surprised in this business gives you better odds of staying alive, especially when you’re dealing with someone violent.”

  “I agree.”

  We drove in silence for the next two hours, turned right at Highway 10 and headed toward the lake. Rosie took in the scenery. About an hour later we drove into Algoma. I pointed out the red lighthouse and told her we’d be there in ten minutes.

  We climbed a hill and I watched for the thicket of trees as I slowed and turned into the drive at ten to seven. As planned, we stopped halfway through the trees. I walked to the edge of the trees while Rosie watched over the car. A large, dark red Buick was parked at the end of the brick drive. There were no lights on in the house, but it was still early enough that they weren’t needed. I watched for ten minutes and saw no sign of activity. Making my way back to the car, I tried to keep a positive thought about Marty.

  As I reached the car, Rosie moved out of the trees.

  “Looking for acorns?” I asked.

  “Yup. Thought I’d hunt up some dinner.”

  “Oh yeah, sorry.”

  “You owe me. So?”

  “Big red car on the drive. I assume it’s hers. No sign of anybody, but they could be around back. Most of the living space faces the lake so we wouldn’t see them from the front.”

  “So?”

  “You’re the boss, remember?”

  “At the moment, I’ll defer to you. Got a plan?”

  I didn’t, at least not a good one. “Two choices. We can wait for dark and some lights to go on and move around the house and get a good idea of who is there. Or we can go knock on the door.”

  “Yup, just a couple of lost lovers looking for directions. Problem is, unless you know this house is here, you wouldn’t know this house is here. So it’s not a place where lost lovers would stop to ask directions.”

  “Okay, so I knock on the door and you cover me. Which do you like?”

  “At the moment we don’t have the advantage. Dark gives us that. We get knowledge and surprise.”

  “Yeah, but maybe Marty can’t wait till dark.”

  “Not an easy decision, Spencer. But we do have an advantage cops don’t always get.”

  “And that is?”

  “Time to think.”

  I looked at her and took a deep breath.

  “So we’re back to choices.”

  A dog barked. Could have come from anywhere. I figured Marty was probably okay but didn’t like thinking about the other possibilities and my imagination was running away with me, including murder/suicide. After all, the woman was not all there.

  I looked up as the deep-throated groan of a semi downshifting to make the grade filtered through the trees. “We gotta do something, Rosie. I have to know she’s alive and okay. Once we know that we can afford to wait.”

  “Okay. How?”

  “How about if I go to the door and tell her her husband sent me to check the security system?”

  “Better, but I don’t think she’d believe you. Got anything else?”

  I tried to find a bird I heard chirping up in one of the oak trees. Every time I thought I knew where it was, the chirp came from a different spot. I gave up.

  Both of us jumped as we heard a car door slam and the engine start.

  “Damn, she’s leaving,” I said.

  “And this is the only way out,” added Rosie.

  “And we’ve got no place to hide.”

  We both ran to the car hoping to beat Mrs. Grey out of the drive. We didn’t have a chance. I was pulling my door closed and Rosie was getting in when the red Buick cruised into the wooded part of the drive, Louise Grey at the wheel. When she saw my car, the Buick stopped. I started to get out, trying to come up with a good excuse for being there. Before I cleared the door, she put the car in reverse, floored the accelerator and raced back out of the woods. I thought I saw the top of Marty’s head in the back seat. As the right rear tire slipped off the blacktop, stones and dirt spit up into the air. Once she’d backed out of the woods, she spun the wheel, turning the car perpendicular to the road, scraped the left rear fender against a tree, and raced out of our line of sight.

  Rosie slammed her door shut. “Get down to the house. Fast.”

  I floored the Mustang and followed Louise to the house. We cleared the trees in time to see Louise hurrying Marty into the house.

  “She obviously assumes we’re here because of Marty and now she feels trapped,” Rosie explained.

  “Isn’t this going to make her feel more trapped?”

  “I don’t care how she feels anymore. Let’s think about Marty. Louise is a dangerous woman and she wants Marty with her. If she thinks she’s trapped, there’s only one way of keeping Marty.”

  I felt fear and helplessness. “So what do we do?”

  “Pray you don’t hear any shots. Stop behind her car.” She took my father’s gun out of the glove compartment and handed it to me along with the extra bullets. “Who goes to the door, you or me?”

  “Maybe we should wait and see what happens.”

  She unholstered her gun and said emphatically, “No. We have to get her attention on us before she has a chance to do anything. Decide, you or me.”

  This was my case. “Me.”

  “Get going. Tell her we had car trouble. Doesn’t matter if she believes it or not. I’ll cover you from here.” She reached over and honked the horn. “Attention getter.”

  I got out.

  “Spencer.”

  I turned my head.

  “She’s not the mayor’s wife. She’s a woman with a gun. Be ready.”

  I nodded and started toward the front door which was about eighty feet away. I moved slowly, hugging the boulders along the side of the gravel path and trying to catch sight of either Louise or Marty through the windows on the side of the door. I didn’t see anything. The sun had dipped below the trees and the house was in shadows. A few lights were on in the house, but the foyer was not lit. As I watched, the doublehung window on the left side of the door slowly slid up. I was trying to think of a better excuse than car trouble. I didn’t need one. I was about a third of the way to the door when a shot rang out. I immediately dropped as a bullet ricocheted off a boulder to my left. I squeezed in between two boulders.

  “The shot came from that open window on the left of the door, Spencer.” Rosie was on the other side of the path behind a large, pink hunk of rock. I had no idea how she’d gotten there that quickly.

  “We can’t shoot, Rosie. I don’t know where Marty is.”

  “Right. Gotta try and talk her out. You talk. See if you can get her calmed down. I’ll see if I can get closer. Fire only if you have to. This will change if she knows we have guns.”

  I squeezed tighter into the space between boulders. “Mrs. Grey. My name is Spencer. I’m a friend of your husband. He sent me to look at the security system. I just want to talk to you.” I watched Rosie move to the next boulder. Louise watched too. She fired again. This time there were two pings as the bullet bounced off of rocks. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel too safe behind my boulder. Bullets could turn corners if they bounced off of rocks. Rosie had crouched and flattened against a rock. Another shot and more pings. It was bad when you didn’t know where the shots were coming from. It was twice as bad when you didn’t know where they were going. I didn’t like being a duck in a shooting gallery, especially when I couldn’t shoot back.

 
There was enough light for Rosie and I to see each other. She motioned me to stay behind the rock. I wasn’t going anywhere, but I also realized the rock wasn’t much cover. I tried again. “Louise, we just want to talk to you. Please...”

  She fired again, at nothing. Neither of us were giving her a target. I remembered the bullet that went right through Elizabeth’s heart and hoped that was just a lucky shot. Another shot. The ping was off the boulder to my left. A shard of rock hit my left arm. I thought of firing into the air, but, remembering what Rosie had said, decided that might make her more desperate. As long as she thought she had the upper hand I hoped she would stay with us. If she thought she was in danger, she might end it with two shots inside the house. I had to keep her attention by talking.

  “Mrs. Grey, Louise, you haven’t hurt anyone. Stop shooting and we can talk. Open the front door and...” Another shot. This one didn’t ping.

  I looked desperately at Rosie. She mouthed “keep talking” and then suddenly pointed toward the left side of the house. I twisted and looked. Marty’s face was framed in the window. I gave her a small wave. She waved back. I thought of trying to get her to climb out the window but didn’t want to put her where Louise could see her. I remembered the last words Elizabeth heard: “You can’t have her, she’s mine.” If Louise was crazy she might do anything to keep someone else from getting Marty, including killing her. As long as Marty was in the bedroom and Louise was in the foyer we were okay. I just had to keep her there. I motioned to Marty to stay put.

  “Louise, I’d like to come in and talk. We can work this...”

  Two pings. Sounded like one on each side of the path. Great, she could get both of us with one shot. She obviously didn’t want to talk. I saw the flashes to the left of the door. I wondered how much ammo she had and figured I’d better assume she had plenty. She was firing at my voice but as the sunlight faded we became tougher targets. As long as we didn’t stand up, we were hard to see.

  From the other side of the path, I heard Rosie whisper my name. “Spencer, let me get in position where I can see that window. Then...” She stopped as the porch lights went on. “Shit,” Rosie spat. As she said it, she popped above the rock, shot the lights out, and was back down before the next three shots rang out.

  I wondered how long our luck would hold out. If she threw enough bullets into the rocks, sooner or later one would find us. Or two. Then things got worse. Far off in the distance, I heard a muted siren. Normally I wouldn’t mind the cops showing up, but in this case I thought it would do more harm than good. Louise obviously thought she could handle both of us. But if the troops rolled in, even a crazy person would have to feel overwhelmed. And if she felt overwhelmed, I was afraid she would use her last option. We had to end this before they got here. But I had no idea how.

  Rosie got my attention again. She pointed toward the road. I nodded. “Count to five, then put a couple of shots through the window. I’ll get a couple of shots off to the left,” she whispered.

  I counted and fired. Rosie had flattened out on the path hugging the boulder. She fired as Louise fired from the house. I heard more glass break and heard a muffled yell from Rosie. Her gun was lying in the path and she was holding her left wrist. She nodded she was okay. As the sirens got louder, two more shots came from the house. I reloaded. I glanced toward the left and saw Marty with a frozen look of fear on her face and realized I was afraid too. But I was also angry. I wished I knew whether the shot that killed Beth was pure luck or skill. Then I decided it didn’t matter. I was out of time. I needed to get her to fire and, so far, talking had worked. As I started a sentence, I rolled into the path and fired my gun into the window just above the ledge. I have no idea what I said and I didn’t take time to think. I heard the ping before I felt the pain in my leg. A sharp searing stab just below my left knee. I rolled back into the rocks and listened. Marty was still in the window. The sirens sounded right next door. I put another shot into the window. Quiet. I tried to stand and couldn’t.

  “Cover me, Spencer,” Rosie said.

  I rolled into the path and fired from a prone position as Rosie grabbed her gun and sprinted for the door. She flattened against the wall and banged on the door with the butt of her gun. I kept my gun trained on the window. There was no movement inside. Rosie called to Louise. No answer.

  Holding her gun with both hands at her chest, Rosie yelled, “Can you walk?”

  “I can limp.”

  “Get over to Marty and get her out of the house.” She pointed out the drive. “We’ll have company soon. Get her out before they get here.”

  I tried to stand and didn’t do too well. Looking at Marty, I moved as fast as I could trying to hop on my good leg. The sirens were deafening and I could see headlights slicing through the trees. When I was about ten feet from the house, I yelled to Marty to open the window. She slid it up as I reached the house and I pushed in the screen. I reached through the opening and helped her climb out. I pulled her to me and flattened against the wall as the first squad car came out of the trees and stopped at the edge of the brick drive. Two more were right behind. Spotlights played over the yard. I dropped my gun and put my hands high in the air as one light found me. Marty kept both arms wrapped around my waist.

  As another light focused on Rosie, a deep voice bellowed “Drop the weapon and turn and place your hands against the door.”

  She did, and yelled as loud as she could, “I’m a police officer. There’s a woman with a gun inside the house.”

  I tried to see what the cops were doing, but with the light in my eyes I couldn’t see a thing.

  “Both of you keep still while we sort this out. Where is this woman with the gun?”

  “She may be just inside this door to my left. I’m pretty sure she’s hit. But she may also be anywhere else in there.”

  “Do you have ID?”

  “My purse is in the Mustang, passenger’s side. Rosie Lonnigan, Chicago detective.”

  I heard a car door open.

  “Who are the guy and the kid?” asked the cop.

  “He’s a private detective.”

  Great, I thought. Two things a small town cop loves, cops from the big city and private detectives.

  Rosie continued. “The girl was missing. We came up to see if she was here. She was, kidnapped by the lady in the house. The lady opened fire. We shot back. The shots have stopped. And both of us are hit. Could you get an ambulance?”

  A few seconds later, “Okay, Miss Lonnigan, keep your hands in the air and walk back to us. And there is an ambulance out on the road. As soon as we get this area secured, we’ll bring it in.”

  “Okay, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to find out where the woman is and if she’s still alive before I walk out into the open.”

  The cop thought for a minute. One of those tough decisions. I thought I could help. “The back of the house is mostly glass. If the drapes are open, you can see the front door through the living room.”

  “Hey. I don’t need help from you, fellow.” But a few seconds later I heard the sound of running footsteps heading around the back of the house.

  “Okay. I’m going to send two officers around the back of the house and see what there is to see. You two stay put.”

  I didn’t feel good about staying put. “Officer, if the woman is still alive she’s trying to get to this bedroom to get this kid. I’d rather not be standing here.”

  “Okay. Walk out to us slowly.”

  “Let me send the girl while I make sure the lady doesn’t get into this bedroom.”

  “Okay. But keep your hands up.”

  I told Marty to run toward the light and that I would be with her in a minute. She didn’t have to be told twice. As she ran away, I peered into the room. It was still empty. I gave her enough time to get to the cars and then limped after her as fast as I could. She made it in a ten seconds. It took me two minutes. As I reached the cars, Marty again wrapped herself around me. One of the officers asked her to stand
back. She looked up at me. I said it was okay and she reluctantly moved away. As she did, he moved in and frisked me.

  “Okay, chief. He’s clean.”

  “Sit, Mr. Detective. Put your hands behind you. Cuff him, Charlie. You hurt bad?”

  “Bullet in my leg. On the whole, I’d say it’s not one of my better days. Do we need the cuffs?”

  “Till I get this figured out, we do. If it turns out we didn’t, I’ll apologize. Charlie, put him in the back seat and take him out to the ambulance.”

  Charlie started to walk me away. Marty put her arm around my waist.

  “What about the kid?” Charlie asked.

  “Take her with. If he’s going to the hospital, you go too.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without her.” I nodded toward Rosie.

  “Not my call. The doc says you go, you go. I don’t know if you’re a bad guy or a good guy, but either way I don’t want you bleeding to death in my county.”

  His radio sounded. “Chief, I can see up to the front door. There’s nobody there. But the sliding door back here is open. Want us to go in?” The radio crackled.

  “Yup, but be mighty careful. Might have a crazy woman with a gun.”

  Charlie tried to lead me to the car. “Listen, chief, I’d like to stay. It’s not bleeding much. A few more minutes isn’t going to hurt. Take Marty out and I’ll go if it gets worse.”

  “Suit yourself, tough guy. Take the kid Charlie, and then get back here.”

  I assured Marty I would be with her very soon and felt my heart break as she walked to the car with Charlie.

  “Mind if I sit?”

  “Be my guest. You know whose house this is Mr. P.I.?”

  “Yup.”

  He blew air out his mouth and shook his head. “Just what I needed.”

  The radio crackled again. “We’re inside. I’m gonna turn another light on.” The foyer brightened. “Holy shit, chief. There’s a bunch of blood here and a smeared trail goes around the wall and down the hall to the north.”