Looking down at the boy who played in the front room as she entered, tears dripped from Caroline’s chin. Taking up the corner next to the front door, she peeked out of the curtain and watched the darkness outside. Finding it difficult to see, she cut off the overhead lamp and said aloud, “Let’s play in the dark, Daks.”
With the small amount of light coming from the kitchen, he ignored her and simply gravitated in that direction with his play. Returning her attention to the window, her throat clamped shut as she let out a low squeal.
Dashing back to Gary’s office, she managed through heavy breaths, “A black van just turned into the driveway. They have their headlights off.”
“Ok, I’ll meet them at the back,” he agreed, opening the closet and then his gun safe that he kept hidden inside it. Removing a shotgun, he filled it with shells and then added a clip to his .9-mm pistol. Carrying them both, he instructed, “Take Daks and go in Lanelle’s room. Shut, lock and barricade the door, and then call the police. Tell them we have a home intruder and to send help.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to stall them; and try to bargain for our lives,” he replied, his features frozen in focused purpose as he made the turn into the kitchen and clomped towards the back door.
Behind him, Caroline dropped to her knees beside the boy. Taking a hold of the bulky fire engine, she suggested, “Come on, Daks; let’s go play in Mimi’s room.”
Looking up at her with wide eyes, his simple understanding of the household rules intervened, and he failed to move. Unable to articulate, he simply replied, “Mimi’s no.”
“Tonight, Mimi’s is yes,” she encouraged, pulling his hand to guide him. “Come on. I’m bringing the woo-woos and we can play with Mimi and mommy.”
Following reluctantly, the police car in his other hand, Caroline got him inside and closed the door, hearing the back door open as she leaned against it to lock it.
“What’s going on?” Candy demanded in the darkness before switching on the lamp next to the bed.
Her mouth dry, Caroline could hardly form the words. “Something’s happened. They’ve found us… found me, and Gary has gone out to confront them. He told me to bring Dakota in here with us and lock the door. We’re supposed to block it up with everything we can find and call the police.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Candy panted, grabbing her forehead and then using the hand to pull her hair back and grasp it into a knot on top of her head. Her mouth hanging open, she managed, “We have mom’s emergency call alarm. I don’t have my cell, do you have yours?”
Shaking her head, Caroline asked in a shaky voice, “Why is there no phone in this room?”
“Because it’s on the wall right outside the door,” Candy grunted back, stepping into the bathroom and yanking the cord on the wall between the tub and toilet. “This will notify the call center that there’s an emergency.”
“How do they respond?” Caroline asked, already pushing the large stuffed chair from the corner across to put in front of the door. The phone on the other side began to ring.
“They call,” Candy replied, taking an arm and helping her position the back against the flat surface. “When no one answers, they’ll try a few other numbers, and then send an ambulance.”
“Great,” Caroline muttered, “they should get here in time to collect the bodies.”
Gary waited until Caroline had entered Lanelle’s small quarters and shut the door. Then, he cut off the kitchen lights and slowly cracked the back door. In the parking area sat a plain back cargo van, it’s engine still making quiet popping noises after having been recently driven.
He called “we need to talk” into the darkness before he stomped out onto the porch brandishing his weapons openly. “Who’s out here?” he tried again. He could hear the boards creek on the far end of the veranda and turned slowly to find three men in a small huddle, apparently planning their next move.
“Is that you, Harvey?” Gary raised his shotgun and pointed it at the slender man, the obvious leader of the trio. “Come on closer,” he commanded. “This is over, whether you like it or not. Hurting anyone else isn’t going to change the outcome for you and your buddies here.”
“No?” Harvey replied, taking a few slow steps in his direction. “I think we have the situation contained, as soon as we get inside.”
“Wrong,” Gary clipped. “I sent a digital copy of Carol’s evidence to everyone in my friend’s list, including everyone I knew when I worked for the county. I also told them about her attempt to blackmail you and where to find that evidence,” he bluffed, but only to a small degree. “Hurting my family won’t save you,” he said more quietly.
In the distance, a siren drifted faintly on the air, and they all paused to listen. “You hear that? The police are already on their way,” Gary grunted, adjusting his grip on his weapon.
“That’s for the crash,” Harvey informed him. “Putting old Benjamin in the ditch wasn’t hard with the roads iced over the way they were today.” He took another step closer, and Gary could see his fearless face; the man wasn’t giving up.
“That’s far enough,” Gary spat, hoping to stall as long as possible before he shot the three of them down. “I need to know why you did this, Harvey. You were an investigator. It was your job to bring people to justice, not put them in danger. Do you know how many people died because of what you did?”
“Yeah, I know.” Harvey grinned, causing Gary’s stomach to turn. “But you had the same job; you know how thankless it is. How empty and meaningless, with pitiful pay, long hours and dangerous conditions.”
Gary would have interrupted to disagree, but he had the man talking, and didn’t want to shut him down, so he agreed instead; “Yeah, I know. Is that your excuse?”
“I don’t need any excuses,” Harvey chuckled. “I’ve been building a nice little nest egg for myself these last few years, and soon I’ll be able to retire. I’ll get out of this business just the way you did.”
More sirens joined the song in the night air, moving closer.
“I have better pay,” Gary informed him, “but it’s not a better job. If you made all that money, why didn’t you just pay her off and get away?”
“I had to shut her up,” Harvey took another step forward. “I had to be sure what she knew. I’m old enough to draw retirement next year; with the fires this season, I would have been set.”
“This season?” Gary raised his brow in doubt.
“Yeah; winter. Christmas. Lots of fires happen around Christmas, Gary,” Harvey sneered. “Dry trees, space heaters, fire places,” he laughed. “Lots of innocent reasons that a building could go up.”
“So, you burn them down and make it look like an accident. Do you set the fires, or do you just write them off?”
“I think I’ve shared enough,” Harvey replied curtly, crossing the short distance between them as he reached for the gun.
Gary anticipated the move and dropped the weapon to the side and shooting the man behind Harvey in the leg.
Raising the pistol, he caught the man in front of him in the gut. “I said don’t move!” he shouted, pointing both weapons at the only man left standing as the other two writhed around on the wooden surface in pain, the sirens louder than ever.
Raising his hands slowly, the final hoodlum looked around, as if considering which direction to run when swirling blue and red lights flooded the yard, and a man leapt out of ambulance as it came to a stop. “What’s the emergency?” he called out.
“Hey, Bill,” Gary replied, overwhelmed with joyous relief. “These guys thought it would be good night for a little B and E with a side of arson. I guess they were wrong.”
On the porch, the two EMTs assessed the gunshot wounds while Gary kept the third firmly in his sights. “Don’t even try it,” he hissed. “I’d shoot you before you even made it to the fence.”