“Oh yeah.” Rachel patted Suzan’s shoulder. “If it can be done, that cold-blooded bastard downstairs will do it. You can come down if you want. Joe’s helping.”
Suzan followed Rachel downstairs. Nick was binding Joe’s wounded knees with towels from Suzan’s kitchen, using duct tape to hold them tightly in place, staunching the blood flow. He had already cleaned up the mess from his interrogation of Joe, stuffing the refuse into another black plastic bag. Joe suffered in silence, enduring anything so as not to draw Nick’s attention. Rachel handed Nick the bottle.
“OxyContin,” Rachel told him. “Suzan says two will take the edge off, but it gets flaky from there.”
Nick emptied two from the bottle. He picked up the water glass he had used to wake Joe up. He stuck the tablets into Joe’s mouth, and held the water glass to his lips until Joe sipped enough to get the tablets swallowed.
“Is the garage empty, Suzan?”
“Yes…Joe had me park my car along the street.”
“What kind of vehicle did they come in?”
“A van…ah…dark blue,” Suzan answered. “It was one of those old beat up Dodge Tradesman vans. They checked to see if it would fit in my garage before Joe’s partner took the kids. What can you do about his partner without getting the kids hurt?”
“Let me worry that through, Suzan.” Nick looked closely at Joe’s face. Some of the pain lines were fading and Joe had relaxed his jaw somewhat. “Talk to me, Joe. Time’s running out.”
“I can do it!” he cried out, as Nick picked up the stun gun again when Joe was slow answering. “Bring me my cellphone. It’s on the stand near the couch. The number’s on speed dial under Craig.”
Rachel picked up the cell-phone and handed it to Nick. After finding and entering the number, Nick held the cellphone for Joe.
“Craig…we’re all set. Drive the van into the garage. Come in through the kitchen,” Joe said, and then listened for Craig’s acknowledgment. “Okay, see ya.”
Nick closed the cell phone and pocketed it. He went to his gym bag. Nick motioned for Rachel to follow him over. Nick removed an odd shaped gun from the bag. He held it up for her to see.
“Here’s what we do. Suzan, you trigger the garage door open, but leave the connecting door to the kitchen closed. When Craig comes in the kitchen this Taser gun will stop him. Rachel, after Craig’s down, I’ll give you the gun while I duct tape him. Zap him any time he moves.”
“You’re like the Inspector Gadget of Assassins,” Rachel joked, when Suzan went into the garage through the kitchen to open the door.
Nick smiled.
Nick turned to Joe, who looked noticeably better. “If you have anything to add in addition to what you’ve already said, now’s the time, Joe. If your partner’s story doesn’t match yours, it’ll go badly for you.”
Shock registered for a moment on Joe’s face as he frantically tried to think of anything he might have left out. “No, that’s it. Honest to God.”
“Better hope so.” Nick took out two more OxyContin and helped Joe get them down. “Sit quietly. When I hear your buddy, I’m going to tape your mouth temporarily.”
“Stay in the living room,” Nick said when Suzan returned from the garage. “Keep an eye on Joe, Rachel. Put the tape over his mouth when I tell you to. If he even looks like he’s going to make a sound, give him something to make sounds about. I’ll leave the stun gun with you. You two stay cool. The hard part will be over shortly.”
Nick went into the kitchen after checking that the main entrance was locked, carrying the Taser gun and Joe’s silenced automatic. He placed a chair to the right of the connecting door from the garage. With Joe’s weapon in his left hand, and the Taser in his right, Nick waited. Ten minutes later, he heard the ragged exhaust sound of the
Dodge driving into the garage.
“Put the tape on Joe, Rachel,” he called out.
Two minutes later, the kitchen door opened. A huge man with carefully trimmed black beard and hair entered. The Taser needles struck the man’s left breast. Craig cried out, his arms flailing wildly as Nick gave him burst after burst until the man fell first to his knees, and then pitched to the floor on his face. Nick kept up the charge until Craig moved only spasmodically. He could smell the unmistakable odor of singed flesh.
“Come in, Rachel,” Nick called out. “Suzan, you keep an eye on Joe.”
Rachel hurried in. She took the Taser from Nick. Setting the automatic on the kitchen table, Nick quickly duct taped Craig’s crossed wrists behind his back, relieving the man of a 9mm Glock he had in his waistband. He then taped the man’s ankles together and, bending them upward, Nick taped the wrists to the ankles. Lastly, Nick put tape over Craig’s mouth.
“Put the Taser gun down right where you are, and come search this clown, Rachel. Empty everything out on the floor. I’m going to drag Joe in here before I get the kids.”
“Nick,” Rachel caught hold of Nick’s wrist as he passed by, her lip trembling. “I -”
“It’s not over yet, Wonder Woman. Hang on a little longer.” Nick jogged into the living room.
“Grit your teeth, Joe. I’m dragging you into the kitchen.” Nick applied duct tape to keep the black plastic bags attached to the oak chair. He tipped the chair backwards. With the plastic bags making the quick slide easier into the next room, Nick dragged Joe out of sight in the kitchen.
Nick went into the garage carefully, having picked up Joe’s silenced automatic, and some scissors from the kitchen counter before going out. The front seat was empty. Nick breathed easier. He heard the kids squirming in the back seat as he opened the door. Garth, Kelly, and Jean stared back at him, wide-eyed with fear. Nick made a shushing sound, setting the automatic down under the van for the moment. Using the scissors, Nick cut away the plastic ties Craig had bound the kids with.
“Go easy pulling the tape off your mouths, kids,” Nick urged.
The kids pulled the duct tape off with some difficulty and muffled cries. Jean was the first to get hers off. She dived into Nick’s arms.
“I knew you’d come, Nick,” Jean sobbed, tears streaming down from her eyes. “I told Kelly and Garth you wouldn’t let them get us.”
“You’d better believe it, kid.” Nick hugged her back. “C’mon, I want you three to walk out of the garage and go in through the front entrance. Go straight upstairs with your Moms, and stay there until I tell you to come down, okay?”
Kelly and Garth nodded silently at the near stranger. Jean twisted around in Nick’s arms.
“I told you the Terminator would save us,” Jean claimed happily as Nick put her on the cement. “C’mon, we have to go in the front.”
Nick watched Jean help Kelly from the van, and then Garth. When they were around the corner, running to the front, Nick picked up the weapon from under the van. He went inside the house to relieve Rachel. Nick took the Taser from her. She ran into the living room to scoop Jean into her arms, crying in relief. Suzan sat with her arms around Kelly and Garth on the couch, holding them silently, rocking back and forth. When Jean saw Nick standing at the kitchen doorway, she whispered in Rachel’s ear. Rachel set her down, nodding in agreement.
“We have to go upstairs for a while,” Rachel told Suzan, motioning the woman up from the couch.
After Rachel, Suzan, and the kids were upstairs, Nick checked on Joe and Craig. When he was satisfied neither man could do anything, Nick put Joe’s silenced automatic into his gym bag, along with the Taser gun. Nick then went out to trigger the garage door closed. He rooted around until he found bleach and paper towels. Nick placed them on the Dodge’s passenger side front floorboard before moving to and opening the rear doors of the van. Craig and Joe had emptied the back, expecting to transport bodies.
In the kitchen, Nick found Craig beginning to roll around in pain, groaning under the duct tape. Nick flipped Craig over and dragged the man out by his legs, down over the three steps, and across the garage floor to the Dodge’s rear doors. Nick managed to work Craig’s upper body onto the van’s cargo floor. After taking a couple deep breaths, Nick flipped the man’s legs into the van.
“Damn Craig, you weigh a ton.” Nick breathed heavily but smiled when he heard muffled noises. Craig’s body
