by David Archer
He went to the stairs and started up, unwilling to try the elevator. He stepped onto the first step leading upward and it creaked loudly. He froze and looked up the stairs. There was a parabolic mirror at the top, the kind that lets you see what’s coming around the corner, but there was no sign of Garrett. He took another step, but a moment later, he heard Garrett's voice coming from above.
“Well, Chance,” the killer called out. “Seems like you found me. That's clever of you; maybe you really are the man I'm beginning to think you are. Of course, the question now is which one of us is going to get out of here alive.”
Chance listened, but didn't reply. He knew that Garrett would use any possible advantage against him, and was undoubtedly planning to ambush him when he came out of the stairwell.
The sound of Garrett’s voice seemed to be coming from somewhere to the right of where the stairs opened onto the second floor. He made his way slowly up them and stopped at the top, just out of sight, his gun held high and at the ready. He was watching the mirror, but he hadn’t seen any sign of Garrett yet. There was, however, something in the hallway. The fisheye view made it look rather small and thin, but it seemed to stretch all the way from the floor to the ceiling.
“C'mon, Chance,” Garrett called. “We can stand around here all day, or we can get on with this. I still got work to take care of here, remember? Soon as I get rid of you, then I get to pay a visit to a certain little lady. She’s not quite as valuable as Latham, but every little bit helps. I'm sure you can understand that.”
Chance tried to figure out where Garrett might be hiding, but the sound had a bit of an echo quality to it. He was definitely to the right of the staircase, but it was hard to tell how far away.
“Chance, you're not cooperating with me,” Garrett said, and this time there seemed to be a touch of anger in his voice. “You wanted a chance to face me, one on one, and I’ve given it to you. The least you could do is acknowledge that you are here.”
“I'm here,” Chance shouted, counting on the volume of his voice to make it echo in the hallway as well and throw Garrett off a bit. “So, what’s next? You want to shoot it out like in the old western movies? Face each other in the hallway and draw on the count of three?”
Garrett laughed. “Now, that’s a little better,” he said, and Chance got the feeling that Garrett was a lot closer than he had thought before, somewhere close to where he would step out onto the second floor. “What the hell, though, why don’t you just come on out and get me? You’re not afraid, are you?”
Chance hesitated. He knew he had to make a move, and he had to make it soon. He wasn’t sure how long it would take Roberts to get to Los Angeles, but she had resources that he didn’t. She could arrive at any time, and the last thing he needed was for her to show up before he could finish what he had started.
“I'm not afraid of you, Garrett,” he said loudly, “but I'm not stupid, either. You’re probably watching the top of the stairs, ready to shoot me when I step out.”
Garrett chuckled, and Chance figured that was as close to a distraction as he was likely to get. He leaned quickly out through the opening and looked down the hall, then stepped back, letting his mind evaluate what he had seen for only a split second.
There was someone standing there, right in the middle of the hallway. A bright light at the far end of the hall made it just a silhouette, but it was obviously a person. Chance was surprised that Garrett might be that stupid, and for a split second, he was ready to burst through the door and open fire, empty his clip into the man, but then he stopped and thought it over. Garrett wouldn't be standing right out in the open, especially since he knew Chance was coming from downstairs. He would be somewhere out of sight, but somewhere he could keep a bead on the landing.
Whoever it was that was standing there was some sort of hostage, or bait, and Chance had almost fallen for it. Just as he had anticipated, his emotions were on the verge of making him reckless. If he had acted on that impulse, he might well have murdered an innocent person.
Of course, he was fully aware that he and Garrett were not alone in the building. He snapped his head out for another look, and this time Garrett was ready. A single shot rang out, and a bullet struck the wall right beside where his head had appeared a second earlier.
Chance got down by the floor and looked one more time, this time risking a couple of seconds to try to take in the whole picture, and that's when he saw that the person he was looking at was female. At first, he figured it must be Brenda Jacobs, but the angle changed the way the light hit the person. He caught a glimpse of her hair and realized he had seen that hairstyle before.
Somehow, Garrett had taken Special Agent Roberts hostage, and she was probably tied hand and foot where she stood.
Chapter 24
Chance leaned against the wall and thought hard. If Garrett had Roberts, then he had to have taken her hostage about as soon as she arrived. Of course, she would’ve had resources Chance didn’t; she had probably taken a helicopter or something and arrived even before Chance made it into the city. If one of Garrett’s friends had tipped him off that she was coming, he would’ve had no trouble taking her by surprise.
Chance stepped into the hallway, staying low and looking around as he did so. Garrett was nowhere in sight, but he was sure the man was watching him as he moved slowly and cautiously towards where Roberts was standing. He checked every doorway, but there was absolutely no sign of Garrett anywhere.
Chance knew he was around, because he had already taken one shot at him. He walked past Roberts, checking other doorways, and she gave him a look that was a mixture of anger and fear. He looked at her and saw that there was duct tape over her mouth, but then snapped his attention back to looking around the hallway.
“What the hell is this?” he asked loudly. “I thought we agreed to do this one on one?”
“Yes, well, Agent Roberts decided to stick her nose in,” Garrett said. “When I found out she was coming, I couldn’t resist the temptation. She’s been almost as big a pain in my ass the last two days as you have. I talked it over with—with my partners, and we decided to take you both out at the same time.”
Chance took a step toward Roberts, but suddenly a shot echoed through the hallway and the bullet hit the wall just inches from where she stood. Chance spun around, looking for Garrett, but there was no sign of him.
“Keep your hands to yourself, Chance,” Garrett said. “You try to release her and I will blow her freaking head off. You understand me?”
Chance ducked and got away from her, trying to tell where Garrett's voice had come from. “Enough with the games,” he called out. “Step out where I can see you, and let’s get on with this.”
There was silence for a moment and then Garrett laughed again.
“Chance, you really surprised me,” he said. “I didn't really think you’d even show up here, but I'm not planning on giving you the chance to kill me, no matter what you think. I didn’t go through all this to get myself killed or end up in prison, you know. This is about retirement, about living my life the way I want to from here on out.”
“Then what was all that about you and me settling it? I thought you said you weren’t a coward, Garrett. You sure are starting to look like one to me.”
“Well, Chance,” Garrett said. “I guess I will just have to live with your low opinion of me, but only for a few more minutes. You see, you think you’re smarter than me, but you are not. You honestly believed that I would face you alone, didn’t you?”
“What is that supposed to mean? You bring somebody with you?”
“Hell, yes,” Garrett called. “Didn’t you wonder why nobody in these apartments is sticking their head out to see what’s going on? I brought along some friends to make sure they stay out of the way, just to be certain nobody innocent would get hurt.”
Chance heard a click as a door closed somewhere below him, and he hurried to look down the stairs.
Pete Dixon stood there, his ow
n pistol against the head of another man in a suit. “I decided to follow you in,” he said. “Found this guy trying to slip up behind you. You’re welcome.”
Another sound caught Chance’s ear and he turned back toward Roberts. Garrett had stepped out of one of the apartments, his gun aimed at Chance, and it went off as Chance snatched his head back. The slug hit the wall beside him, and a cloud of debris flew out. He looked again and aimed his Maxim, but Garrett was gone, vanished through the doorway into one of the apartments.
“You heard that, didn’t you?” Chance called out. “Your backup has been disabled.” He hurried to the door Garrett had gone through just in time to spot him going through another door on the other side of the room.
Garrett laughed. “Not all of them,” he said loudly.
Chance didn't follow, suddenly turning and stepping back into the hallway. He played a hunch, guessing correctly that Garrett was cutting around to come out a different door. He raised the Maxim and fired just as the killer rushed out, right where Chance expected him to appear.
His bullet found its target, but Garrett kept moving right through another door. Chance hurried up to it and braced himself next to the opening, then spun and kicked it open.
Garrett was standing there, leaning against the wall, trying to hold up his gun but having trouble. Chance’s shot had struck him in the shoulder, and he quickly switched the gun to his other hand. He raised the gun, but he wasn’t pointing it at Chance. He was aiming through yet another doorway, taking aim at Roberts’ head, and Chance raised his own gun and fired, putting a single shot through Garrett’s temple.
He walked over and looked down at the man, but it was obvious he was dead. He kicked the man’s gun away from his hand and then stepped out to release Roberts.
The moment he freed her hands, she reached up and slapped him across the face. “I will probably thank you later, but at the moment I wish I had a gun of my own! Is he dead?”
Chance nodded. “He’s dead,” he said. He walked back to the stairwell and looked down at Pete. “You okay down there?”
“Just ducky,” Pete said. “But it sounds like you’ve got somebody pretty pissed off up there.”
“I’m worse than pissed,” Roberts said. “He’s got more people, at least two more that I know of.” She reached into Chance’s jacket and snatched out his second Maxim, then started down the hall. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she called.
Suddenly, a door opened and a man stepped out, a gun in his hand pointed directly into Chance’s face. Chance started to duck back, knowing it was already too late, but then the door slamming sound of the Maxim in Roberts’ hand rocked the hallway. The guy fell back and Chance brought his own gun to bear on him, just in case he moved, but it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen. Roberts’ bullet had taken him in the throat and almost severed his head.
“That’s two,” Chance said. “Pete has one downstairs. Are there any more?”
“I don’t think so,” Roberts said. “But cover me while I go door-to-door.”
* * * * *
Local FBI agents arrived a short time later and took Brenda Jacobs into protective custody. Chance, Pete and Josie were taken to the Los Angeles FBI office, where they sat in separate interview rooms as Roberts and other agents interrogated them for a couple of hours. Because he had, in fact, saved her life, Roberts decided against trying to bring any charges against Chance, and even made sure her own report reflected the fact that it was only through the work of Pete and Chance that they were able to bring the case to a close.
They were finally allowed to leave at just after four o’clock in the afternoon, and Chance was delighted when he got his phone back and saw several missed calls from an unknown number. He dialed the number immediately and Gabriella answered.
“Chance, are you okay?” Gabriella asked frantically. “I’ve been trying to call you for hours, and I didn’t get an answer.”
“I'm fine, honey,” he said. “I think the situation is finally over. If you tell me where you are, I think I’ll just rent a car and come join you for a while. I feel like I could stand a vacation at the moment.”
The smile in her voice was all the reward he needed. “As long as you are okay,” she said. “We didn’t actually go far. I skipped over into Huntington Beach, so we are actually still close enough to go back to Disneyland, if that’s okay.”
Chance smiled into the phone himself. “That sounds perfect,” he said. “Text me the hotel and I’ll be there within a couple of hours.”
Grandma, Andy and Tom were waiting with Gabriella in her room when he arrived with Pete and Josie in tow. They had refused to leave him alone in Los Angeles and had driven him down to Huntington Beach. They were planning to stay for the night, themselves, and drive back to Vegas the next morning.
Chance went to Gabriella and put his arms around her. “We got him, honey,” he said. “He’ll never bother us again.”
Gabriella smiled up at him and tears began to run down her cheeks. She leaned her face into his shoulder and he pulled her closer. “Chance,” she said, “I've been so scared all day. After you called this morning, I was just terrified something bad was going to happen to you.”
“I'm fine,” he said. “It's all over, and we are all safe.”
She held him close and leaned against him. “That’s because you always take care of us,” she said.
They all went out to dinner a bit later and then managed to make enough room for Chance to sleep that night. The next morning, they got up and took off toward Disneyland, spending the whole day at the park and doing their best to have fun.
The phone interrupted a couple of times, when Chance got calls from Agent Roberts. He was going to have to get with her when he got back to Vegas, to help in the investigation to find out who was working with Garrett, but he noticed what seemed to be a distinctive lack of animosity in her voice.
“Hey, Roberts,” he said. “You’re not going soft on me, are you? You almost sound friendly.”
“Ha! In your dreams, Reddick. Nothing has changed, trust me on that.”
“Well, that’s good,” he said. “I’d hate to think you might start to like me, that could be really dangerous.”
“Not much chance of that. Do you have any idea how much paperwork you caused for me? I don’t even get to leave California for another hour, and I hate California.”
“Well, we’re down here enjoying Disneyland. You could always come join us, if you want to.”
“Yeah, I'm sure you’d love that.” There was a chuckle in her voice.
“Hey, I was being serious. You could stand the day off, couldn’t you? Besides, you might as well meet my family. I have a feeling I'm going to be putting up with you for quite a while.”
She hesitated for a moment. “Maybe I’ll take you up on it,” she said. “You sure your wife won’t mind?”
“I'm sure,” he said. “Just give us a call if you decide to come down.”
That call came a couple of hours later, while Chance and his family were having lunch. Roberts said she would join them at the park, and Chance explained to Gabriella what was happening.
“Wait a minute,” Gabriella said. “This is an FBI agent who thinks you are a criminal?”
“Yeah, something like that. I think you’ll like her, though. She’s managed to save my bacon a couple of times already, so she can’t be all bad, right?”
He was right. The two women hit it off when Roberts arrived, and Chance spent the rest of the afternoon with the boys, riding every crazy ride they could find. When it was starting to get dark, they finally decided to give it up and went out for dinner, where the two women seemed to bond even more.
At Gabriella’s insistence, Chance arranged a room for Agent Roberts at their hotel. They rode back together, and Roberts asked Chance to talk with her in the lobby for a few moments. Gabriella kissed him and went up to their room while Grandma agreed to take the boys into the video game room for a little while.
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Chance turned to Roberts. “What’s up?” he asked.
Chapter 25
“I told you this would come later,” she said. “I just wanted to thank you, officially. You did save my life, you know.”
Chance grinned at her. “As I recall, you did return the favor. So, is that going to be my get out of jail free card?”
Roberts looked at him for a moment, and then bit her bottom lip. “Chance, I still don’t approve of vigilantes,” she said. “On the other hand, considering how often criminals get away without paying for what they do, I suppose it’s possible they do have a place in our society. I might back off a bit, but that doesn’t mean I want you to go wild in our streets. Understood?”
“Close enough,” Chance said. “Who knows, maybe one day you’ll be able to get over this obsession.”
She blinked. “Obsession? What obsession?”
Chance chuckled and then stepped into the elevator. Roberts followed, because her room was right next to his and Gabriella’s.
“Gabriella?” Chance called as he entered the room. “Where are you, honey?”
She didn't answer. A chill went down his spine, and Chance knew instantly that something wasn't right. He snatched the Maxim from its holster as he moved through the suite and found Gabriella in the bathroom. She was being held by a woman with a gun to her head, and Chance leveled his gun at the woman and stared into her eyes.
“Chance?” Gabriella said. “I'm sorry, Chance, I didn't see her until she grabbed me.”
“Baby, it's okay, it'll be okay. I'll get you out of this, don’t worry.”
The woman smiled. “That's touching, Mr. Reddick, but you might be making promises you can’t keep. You have my witnesses, and I have your wife. If you can give me back what I want, then I might be willing to give her back to you, as well.”
“Or I can put a bullet through your brain right now,” Chance said. “If you so much as blink wrong at this moment, I can assure you that I will. Now, let go of her and put your gun down before I decide that might be the best course of action.”