Nigel Nelson and the Artist | #Wattys2019

Nigel Nelson and the Artist - Chapter 8

                                        Chapter 8

I had closed my eyes after hearing Taylor whisper, "I love you" from her beautiful lips.

After the gunshot rang out the world seemed to stop. Nothing else mattered at this moment, but the fact that I had seen my love again. I opened my eyes after the gunshot. I felt another body sweep me off the side of the building and I fell.

Taylor had shot the C4 off of her waist and we were soon falling off the building. A shock wave sent a concussive wave that brought the world back into motion again after the C4 explosives were detonated.

I could see Taylor's short hair waving in the wind like a field of grain and I looked over as I fell, still sitting in the chair. Her face stared into mine without an expression. She pulled a ripcord and a parachute escaped from its bag with ecstatic propulsion. As we fell the hooded figure fired a rifle, missing us in the slimmest of margins.

We landed as softly as the beating of angel wings on the top of a nearby building and we were out of sight. Taylor held me in her arms. I pushed her hair to the side of her face and stared into those beautiful eyes.

It had to have been the most unexpected happening of circumstances I had ever seen. Taylor had fired at the hooded figure and had hit the target. Taylor got a bowie knife out from her boot and cut the restraints off my hands and feet. I stood to my feet only to fall into Taylor's loving arms.

"I love you too," I said in a hushed tone.

After a few seconds, Taylor spoke, "I was going to say something about you coming back for me but, I guess it wasn't so much that you came back for me as it was you were kidnapped."

"Yeah, I was hit on the back of the head," I said putting my hand on my blood stained hair.

"Do you know who kidnapped me and you? You should know after the egg was stolen."

"Gwendolyn Plenty...she stole the egg right out from under my nose. We have several murders and I think I know who is next." I held my aching head and squinted, trying to put the pieces together.

"Who is going to be next?"       

"The waitress that was in love with Robert Plenty all those years ago is going to be next. She has been the intended target of this whole thing."   

"Mrs. Plenty is having the gala tonight for her art," said Taylor.

"Tilly McCrans has been the victim that has been on Mrs. Plenty's mind this whole time," I replied.

Taylor and I made our way through the office building and to the bottom. I knew I had to call the Captain because the time was running short for Tilly McCrans. I dialed my cell phone as we were entering the lobby.

"Hello?" asked the Captain.

"Captain...this is Nigel," I said.

"Where in the green hills of Ireland have you been?"

"I was kidnapped. I have found Taylor, but we are still missing the egg. The next target that we have to protect is Tilly McCrans. She is a waitress at a cafe that was owned by the late Mr. Robert Plenty. Back in the day, Tilly used to be an old girlfriend of Robert's."

"Where in the heck are you?"

"I'm about to walk out of an office building and I look like a bloody mess," I said.

"Where am I supposed to be next? I will have a team assemble at the rendezvous."

"The gala is going to be held at the Linbridge Art Museum. You can well bet that Mrs. Plenty will be there along with Tilly McCrans."

"Besides being an old girlfriend of Robert's who is Tilly McCrans?"

"Tilly McCrans is a woman that was everything that Mrs. Plenty was not. For the longest time, Tilly assumed a different name, Gabriella Brendt, or Gabby Brendt. She wore her disguise well and was having an affair with Mr. Plenty. Mrs. Plenty became jealous and had an immense green-eyed rage for what Tilly and Robert had in the past."

"Oh what a tangled bunch of hair we weave when once we ensnared another's love. It sounds like a tragic love story to me," said the Captain.

"The only problem is that murder is murder, no matter how you slice it. We can steal life from death tonight, we best be ready for when the opportunity arrives," I said as I hung up my phone.

After the taxi had let us out at our stop Taylor and I held hands and walked up to my apartment door. Taylor's hot rod of a car was out front. I rang the doorbell. A moment later the door opens. Hammond stands there and tears roll down his bruised and battered face. He ran past Taylor and gave me a monstrous hug.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," said Hammond letting me go.

"We are still here. I'm even back," said Taylor. Hammond gave her a hug as well.

"Tay, you wouldn't even believe how messed up this man has been since you've been gone. I've been trying to put the pieces back together for you," said Hammond looking at Taylor and I. We all walked in and sat down.

"Man, we have all changed. Hun, why don't you go change into some of your old clothes," I said. She got up and went to change.

"Dude, what happened to you?" asked Hammond.

"I was hit on the back of the head, knocked out, and I was dangled from the edge of a skyscraper. I thought that Taylor and I were both going to die," I said.

"The hooded figure beat us all up pretty good. The figure got the egg," said Hammond rubbing his eyes and face.

"The hooded figure was none other than Mrs. Plenty herself. We are going to her gala tonight to attempt her from killing Tilly McCrans, Robert's old girlfriend," I explained.

"So, Tilly McCrans is the waitress that we met in the cafe the other day?"

"Yes, that was Tilly."

"We know that Mr. Plenty and Bella Burns were both murdered. Tilly McCrans is next on the list?" asked Hammond trying to wrap his mind around it.

"That is correct," I replied.

"Why was Bella Burns killed?"

"Bella was murdered because she was Mrs. Plenty's twin sister and she had figured out that Mr. Plenty didn't die from natural causes. He was murdered. She knew what Gwendolyn had done and she despised her for it. Bella confronted her for it and Mrs. Plenty hit her too hard. That caused Bella to be the second murderer on the list."

"All this is circumstantial until we find all the evidence we need for solving this though," said Hammond.

"That is indeed true," I said. 

"We will be able to nail her tonight if we get everything in place," I said.

"I doubt that she will even be there," said Hammond.

Taylor came out of her room with some of her more normal dress clothes. She wore a black skirt that was a bit longer to conceal her gun. She had a gold necklace that graced her neck in a modest way and her hair was down and straightened. She was dressed to arrest.

"I overheard her plans for tonight. I'm guessing that she is going to be there because she had originally said that she was not going to be there. My guess is that she will be close by or maybe even at the gala," said Taylor.

"We can count on her being there. I doubt she is going to pass up a chance at getting more art. She has one more victim to hit before the night's up," I said.

"What's the plan," asked Hammond.

"We are going to catch ourselves a murderer," I replied.