Finding Floyd (30 page)

Chris's mind raced, weighing his options.
Toricello looked positively homicidal, as if he'd explode in a
blast of fury at any moment. The old model Remington
double-barreled twelve gauge was cocked, both hammers back. It
would have considerable stopping power. Once he's got us moving,
there has to be a chance for me to deflect the gun. If I create a
diversion, Diane can escape. Then I can deal with him.

"Okay, you two. Now we're gonna move, but
we're doing it real slow. Just like I tell ya. I'm right behind you
with this double-barreled cannon. One false move and I'll splatter
you all over the back yard." He took a step toward the door and
opened it. Retreating to the middle of the room he gestured with
the shotgun. "Stand up real slow. You, Blondie. You're out the door
first. Mr. FBI, you follow her a couple steps behind."

They did as he demanded. Chris followed Diane
onto the porch and cautiously took the steps, his eyes glued to her
back, but his mind on Toricello.

"Real slow going down those steps," he said
softly. "When you get to the bottom, stop. I'll tell you when to
move."

Chris resisted the temptation to look back,
and waited beside Diane at the bottom of the steps. He heard her
exhale a small whimpering sigh. He felt the gun barrel pressed
between his shoulder blades and froze.

"Now, walk real slow toward that garage."

Relieved when the gun was removed, Chris
glanced quickly over his shoulder and started forward.

Toricello said, "That's right. Take it
easy."

Chris searched his mind for ideas. I don't
have much time! What if I hurl myself backward and knock him down?
Would either of us survive the shotgun blast?

Then he saw the bear cub they'd seen earlier.
The little guy had been brave enough to go exploring. He'd crossed
the yard and was rooting around the dead bushes below the porch and
rustling in the dry leaves there.

"Keep moving," growled Toricello from
behind.

Chris took another step and cut his eyes
toward the woods at the back of the yard. The mother bear had to be
nearby. There. He saw something moving in the trees.

"What the hell?" muttered Toricello.

Chris glanced over his shoulder. Bruno was
staring into the woods with the shotgun leveled in that
direction.

"Diane, stop," he hissed.

She slowed and Chris came behind and
whispered in her ear. "I'm going to try something. If I knock that
gun aside, you run like hell. Don't look back."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"I'll be a son of a bitch," said Toricello in
consternation.

Chris looked over and saw a large black bear
at the edge of the trees, standing on her hind legs.

"Oh my god!" gasped Diane.

"What the hell! What is that thing?" said
Toricello.

As if in response a loud menacing growl came
from the bear and Diane screamed.

Chris was watching Toricello closely. The
man's attention was fixed on the bear. If I can manage to disarm
him with my hands tied behind my back, what happens then? The
situation had suddenly become much more complicated, but the bear
gave him an idea. If he could goad Bruno into actually shooting and
killing the bear and if he fired both barrels, the man would be
temporarily disarmed. But, if the angry bear was only
wounded...

"It's a black bear. This one's a very large
female, I think," he said as calmly as he could. "Normally they're
not particularly dangerous, unless you get between them and their
cubs, which is where we are at the moment. If you look toward the
house you'll see a little one by the porch."

"Shut up asshole! I'm not falling for any
tricks." I'm gonna shoot the bear, then I'm gonna shoot you. Got
that?"

He detected a brittle edge to the man's voice
that hadn't been there before. Was the Blowtorch frightened by the
bear? Why wouldn't he be? I don't much like it either.

"Don't shoot the bear," said Chris softly,
hoping Bruno would do precisely what he told him not to.

"Huh, what the hell you talking about?" said
Bruno glancing his way.

"It's illegal. Bear season isn't until
October and I'll bet you haven't got a hunting license." He felt
ridiculous making this statement, but he was trying to buy
time.

"You trying to be funny? What the hell do I
care about illegal?" Toricello stared at the mother bear as she
took a few tentative steps in their direction, snuffling the air
and making a chuff-chuffing sound.

As long as she was on her hind legs looking
around curiously, Chris knew they weren't in immediate danger, but
once she dropped to all fours and was speeding toward them, it
would be another matter altogether.

Sooner or later, she'd notice her cub and
feel threatened. She was probably not long out of hibernation and
hungry. They couldn't be in a more precarious position and he was
helpless with his hands tied.

Toricello wavered and took a step backward,
muttering to himself. Then he dropped the bag of food and raised
the shotgun, aiming at the bear.

The bag of sausage, muffins, and cinnamon
buns must have smelled good to the little cub, because he wandered
over and began to paw at the bag. When Toricello looked down and
saw the cub investigating his food, he kicked him away. "Get outta
there you little shit."

The mother bear noticed her cub at the same
time. Another deep growl came from her open mouth. She dropped onto
her forelegs, her head snapping around and alert now.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Toricello as a large
wet stain appeared on the front of his trousers.

"Oh my god, said Diane in alarm.

The bear was moving now, on all four legs,
picking up speed.

The terrified man stood fixed with his gun
raised. Chris was certain the Blowtorch had never seen anything
like this before. Suddenly the bear stopped in her tracks,
listening.

Chris heard an engine and turned to see a
familiar dark blue Ford sedan race down the driveway. It turned
onto the lawn, tires chewing up mud and grass as it skidded to a
stop.

The door was thrown open and Rodriguez
spilled out onto the ground. With an amazing display of acrobatics
she rolled twice, got her feet under her and came up running.

Mama bear gave another roar and started
running. Rodriguez was fast, but the bear was coming on faster.
Toricello was shaking, the gun barrel wavering from side to side.
He hadn't yet noticed Rodriguez.

Chris backed away and silently urged Diane to
do the same. They needed to put some distance between themselves
and the Blowtorch. If Bruno was going to shoot the bear, he had to
do it now. Time seemed to stand still as he watched the bear and
Agent Rodriguez converging on Toricello from different angles.

Rodriguez got there first. She wrenched the
shotgun from his grasp, brought it to her shoulder and fired both
barrels in quick succession. The blasts echoed off the hills and
back again as the bear swayed and collapsed, mere feet from
Toricello. The black furry head stared at him through sightless
eyes, its teeth bared. One last breath hissed and gurgled from the
animal's open maw. The big city thug was visibly shaking.

"Oh my god," rasped Diane, letting out a long
sigh.

Rodriguez whipped off her blue FBI
windbreaker and vigorously wiped down the shotgun. "Here, take
this," she said, thrusting it toward Toricello. He took the gun,
blinking and muttering in his confusion.

"Shouldn't have shot the bear, Toricello. Now
your prints are on the gun and I bet you don't have a hunting
license." There was a smug look on her face. "Hey, Bruno, did you
pee your pants?"

He looked down in consternation at the
spreading wet spot, the smoking shotgun in his hands, and then at
the bear sprawled at his feet. He shuddered.

"Chris, Diane," said Rodriguez nodding at
them. "Good afternoon. You want to read him his rights Owen, or you
want me to do it." She gave him her particularly annoying little
smirk.

"Maybe, before we do anything else, you might
untie us?" he asked.

Toricello came to his senses, realizing what
was happening, and before Rodriguez could react, he dropped the
empty shotgun and reached for the handgun secreted in his
waistband. His right leg shot out catching her behind her knee and
she crumpled, landing on her back with a grunt of pain.

Toricello stood over her and aimed the gun
right between her eyes. His words came in ragged gasps and it
sounded like he was near the breaking point. "I know you bitch! Saw
you last night. Now I got three assholes to waste here and you're
gonna be first."

Chris spoke softly to Diane. "Get out of here
now while he's distracted. I'll keep him busy."

"Chris, he might kill you. I can't leave
you."

In a last desperate move, Chris positioned
himself between Bruno and the terrified girl, attempting to shield
her. It was a futile effort, but he didn't know what else to do. He
braced himself and waited for the gunshots.

"Freeze Toricello! Police! Drop the gun and
don't move. Do it now."

With tremendous relief, Chris whipped his
head around to see Sheriff McAndrew and Sam Woodruff on the porch.
Both had weapons drawn, in a two handed shooter's stance.

"Drop it!" ordered Boone.

The Blowtorch didn't turn his head, but kept
his gun trained on Rodriguez.

"Do as the sheriff says," Chris said
soothingly. As annoyed as he'd been with her for the last several
months, he didn't want to see Rodriguez killed. "Better do as he
says. If you shoot her, they'll kill you. They're right behind
you."

"Drop the damn gun, or I swear I'll blow a
hole in you, big enough to drive a truck through," yelled
McAndrew.

A white and gold Sheriff's department car
took the turn into the driveway on two wheels. With lights flashing
it came to a screeching halt behind the blue sedan.

Two deputies jumped out, with their guns
drawn and took aim at Toricello. He finally raised his haggard face
and looked at the newcomers, then turned his head to see McAndrew
and Woodruff. There were four guns trained on him.

"Ah shit," he said and dropped his gun.

The deputies moved in swiftly to retrieve the
weapon. Pulling Toricello's hands behind his back, they snapped on
handcuffs and frog marched the Blowtorch over to the police
cruiser

Sam moved in and quickly untied Diane's
hands. Rubbing her swollen wrists he said, in his deep rumbling
voice, "Darling, we're taking you to get checked out at the
hospital. The rescue squad will be right here. They've already been
called. Everything's going' to be all right. Don't you worry
now."

She was shaking, but managed to say, "I
thought this time we really were going to be shot. Then that bear
scared me...I'm all right. Now."

"Sure you are. You might not know it, but
you're probably going into shock. It's okay. Everything's fine.
We'll take care of you." Sam slipped off his jacket, wrapped it
around the trembling girl, and led her away.

The Sheriff lifted Agent Rodriguez up and
brushed her off. Then he looked thoughtfully at Chris, walked over
and spoke, "Now, unless I'm terribly mistaken, this is the second
time in, what? Twenty four hours? That I've had to come to the
rescue of the FBI?"

"Well, yes I...," Chris started to speak, but
the sheriff continued, "Seems to me that just last evening, the
lovely Agent Rodriguez was knocked flat on her back by Mr.
Toricello, like I found her just now."

"You're right, but I," he tried again, but
the sheriff wasn't finished.

"And you, Agent Owen, were hog tied, just
like you are now. Y'all seem to make a habit of this."

Chris sighed and admitted, "You're right. And
I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you've done for
us."

"Well sure you can. At least, you can try."
The big man smiled and laid a hand on Chris's shoulder. "Now, do
you think in the future, you might consider notifying the local
police of your presence? I don't expect y'all to tell us
everything, but you see my point?"

Chris didn't care. Boone McAndrew could have
his fun if he wanted. "If it weren't for you Sheriff, we'd be lying
out there in the woods with bullet holes in the back of our heads.
I thought for sure we were going to end up dead this time."

"Well, we got a tip from a neighbor, right up
the road a piece." He gestured up the Christiansburg Pike. "They
saw Toricello sneaking through their back yard. Sam and I thought
we'd check things out. We were just across the road when we saw him
march you and Miss Diane out of the house."

"Thank God you were."

"We waited until y'all were out in the open
with some distance between you and him. At least this time we
didn't let him get away."

While the deputies were reading Toricello his
rights, Boone McAndrew walked over and eyed the dead bear. Shaking
his head he said, "It's not bear season." He nodded towards
Toricello. "He do it?"

Chris shrugged noncommittally.

"We heard the shots. Bear season isn't until
October. Then, being from the big city, he'd have no way of knowing
that." He called over to his men, "Would one of you get a call into
Animal Control? We've got a cub here with no Momma." Chris and the
Sheriff watched the cub, sitting with the grocery bag between his
legs, calmly munching a cinnamon bun.

"Sheriff?" said Chris.

Boone looked up smiling, brows raised in
question.

"Do you think you might untie my hands?"

"Oh Lord, have mercy. What's wrong with me?
Sorry about that." Boone grinned and reached for the knots when
Chris turned his back to him.

"What happens with the cub?" Chris asked him.
"He seems too small to survive on his own."

Boone glanced over at the little guy happily
eating Toricello's lunch. "Animal control people will check him
out, and then they'll find him a home." He handed Chris the leash
he'd been tied with. "It's a shame about the bear. She was a
beauty. Someone should see about that skin. It would make a nice
rug."