No Quit

Chapter 21

Ted stopped as soon as he hit the foyer and he cautiously crept inside. He could see the two men in the living room struggling to get their hands free but the woman was perfectly still on the floor. He entered the room with his finger over his lips and motioned for them to stay put and keep quiet then he turned his attention to the noise upstairs. The sound of the shattering door made him hurry a little faster and when he sneaked to the second floor he could see the splintered door hanging crookedly in the frame and hear Gabe and the woman struggling beyond.

He edged up to the room and peeked around the frame. Gabe had her on the bed face down and was sitting on her back while he ripped away the flimsy robe. Ted could see one gun tucked in the back of his belt and another one on the bed beside him. He gauged the distance and his chances of grabbing the gun from his belt.

The woman might get battered about in the tussle but in the end she would at least be free. He waited until Gabe backed up slightly and began yanking at her panties and then he jumped across the room and hit him square in the back, grabbing the gun and rolling away to land in a crouch beside the bed.

"Move and you're history, Tucker." Ted said.

Gabe sat up anyway on the bed and rubbed his shoulder. "I know you. From the diner. I thought so." He showed Ted a smug sneer that belied his circumstance. "So what are you, pal, some kinda avenger or something?"

"On the money, Tucker."

"Oh wow, for that stupid waitress."

Ted ignored him and asked the woman if she was alright, getting a shaky, sobbing nod. "Okay then, get something to put on and go downstairs and call the police."

Gabe watched carefully as she dragged herself off the bed and went to her closet. The other gun was just in front of him, partially covered by the remnants of her robe.

"Nice ass, eh?" Gabe said. Ted just stared coldly at him until Arlene stumbled out of the room. "Tell me, cowboy, just what's your real claim in this?"

"Get up and turn around." Ted stood and held the gun level at Gabe's stomach.

"Whatever you say, cowboy." He put his hand out in the pretense of pushing himself up and snatched the gun from the bed, firing wildly toward Ted. Ted heard it whiz past his ear and he stood frozen for a second, long enough for Gabe to drop down on the far side of the large bed.

"Different odds now, eh, cowboy?"

Ted backed slowly toward a large wardrobe and stepped behind it, keeping an eye on Gabe as he did. "She's calling the cops by now and you aren't going anywhere so you might as well give it up."

The second shot buried itself in the ceiling above Ted's head. "You ain't goin' anywhere either, cowboy. And your girlfriend ain't either." Suddenly Gabe leaped up from behind the bed, firing blindly and ran for the door. Ted took aim and pulled the trigger. There was a loud click and nothing. Gabe was out the door. He pulled the trigger again with the same result. No bullets! How goddamn stupid! He raced across to the door in time to see Gabe hit the ground floor and start toward the living room. As he bounded after him the sudden roar made him pull up short and he twisted his knee as he fell awkwardly on the stairs.

Below him, Gabe came flying backwards from the livingroom as another roar took out most of his midsection and he hit the polished wooden wainscoting with a loud, wet smack and collapsed in an untidy mess on the floor. Ted hauled himself up by the banister and worked his way slowly down to the bottom.

Arlene stood in the living room doorway shaking uncontrollably, a large bore, smoking shotgun dangling down at her side. It wasn't me for lack of tryin', but this one's still for you, Nadine. Ted hopped over the spreading mess on the tiles and limped across to her, removing the gun from her hand and leading her back into the room. Sandra was still on the floor tied up but John had been freed and was emptying a different part of his body into the pot of a large artificial palm. Curtis was berating him for not untying his hands, without much sympathy.

"Has anyone called the police?" Ted asked, guiding a robotic Arlene to a chair.

"I did" Kath stood in the entry, still holding her gun but down at her side, staring at the remains of Tucker. She walked across to where Arlene sat and stood beside her.

"Okay. Untie her feet and get her up on the couch and then keep them both covered until the cops come." Ted pointed to Sandra with the shotgun he was still holding. "And you'd better give me that just in case."

Kath held up the gun and shrugged. "It isn't loaded."

Ted held his breath back. Another one! "Well don't be waving it around when they arrive. The sound of multiple sirens whining down and car doors slamming filled the room as Ted walked to the foyer to answer the pounding on the front door. He opened it and jumped back as several police pushed through like the start of a retail sale. A thunder of voices screamed at him to drop the weapon and get face down on the floor and Ted, bewildered, just backed away as they surged forth drowning one another out. Finally he put the gun on the floor and raised his hands.

"Get down! Get down on the floor NOW!" He started to bend his knees and then looked down at the small lake of blood polling on the pale green Italian marble floor and stopped. Sergeant Cannoti waved his men into the living room to secure the others and he stepped around Ted to a dry spot. Constable Wren barged forward, fumbling her handcuffs out of their leather pouch and jerked to a halt, turning to stone as her eyes nailed themselves to the almost severed body of Gabe Tucker.

"In here, Wagner." Cannoti took his arm and pulled him toward the livingroom.

"What about her, she looks a little wan for a Wren."

"Do her good." Cannoti said she needed a dose of real police situations as he led Ted to the center of the room. "Who called 911?"

Kath raised her hand with the gun in it and was immediately swarmed by three officers and wrestled to the floor.

"It's empty," Ted called. "She's a neighbour who came to help."

Cannoti signaled his men to let her up and Kath made a weary eye roll at the nervous officers. "All done?" She asked.

"Sorry, but a gun, loaded or not, is no way to greet police." Cannoti took the weapon from one of his men and checked the magazine. "Okay, and you are?"

"Katherine Grantly, I live next door."

"Grantly? Hamish Gra—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's my father. God, get a grip."

Cannoti gave an embarrassed cough. "You want to tell me what happened here?"

Kath gave her story about spotting Gabe sneaking across their property through the bushes and over to the Maxwell's and then about Ted doing the same up the driveway and around the property and how when she got on her phone he swore and took off into the house. Cannoti stared at Ted a moment.

"And what about this lot?"

"Ask them, I told you all I know."

He walked over to the sofa and stared down at Sandra and Curtis. "Don't I know you?" Curtis turned his face away. "I do. You work in the bank in town." Cannoti looked around the room and heaved a sigh. "Secure the scene, I'm taking this whole lot downtown."

They all filed out through the foyer past the still frozen figure of Constable Wren, who had since managed to remove her designer scarf and wind it around her face. Cannoti pointed to one of the officers at the door and told him to bring her along as well. At the station, Ted was given an ice pack for his knee and Constable Wren was tended to by the paramedics called to examine Arlene Maxwell, who was provided with a smock from the police locker for modesty's sake.

The interviews took place at different desks and in another room in the case of Sandra Lawlor. John Hargrove was provided with a bag for his uncontrollable stomach as he recounted what he'd witnessed. His explanation for being there at all made Cannoti throw down his pen and squeeze his eyes together. Kath calmly made her statement and then suggested they call her father if they wanted to keep her any longer. She was gone in ten minutes.