Gabriel's Revenge (The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic Book 2) (23 page)

Chapter 61

August 28, 1998

Pierce was confused, but he quickly ran around the front of the car and piled into the passenger seat, throwing the sloppily coiled rope over the seat into the back.

“What happened?” Pierce asked James as he started the engine.

“Nothing bad my dear fellow, maybe just a chance for you to get out of town a little earlier is all.”

Leffler liked the sound of that, a sneer forming naturally on his lips.

“I spied your target at the church; I imagine by now he is riffling through my papers. I believe I can take you to him right now, just get it over with.”

Reaching under the seat, Girard pulled out a silenced .22 pistol and handed it to Leffler.

“Sweet!” Leffler exclaimed! He liked the .22 for close quarters. The monk had reached under the seat again, this time coming up with a contraption that looked like binoculars on a strap.

“Night vision glasses, aw James, you shouldn’t have!”

“The mark’s name is Gabriel Celtic, and if you can trap him in the basement of the church, you will need those.”

Girard pulled the car up to the front of the church, putting it in park, but leaving the engine running.

“If you jump over that wall, there is a door to the basement on the left side of the church, it’s unlocked. If he’s there, kill him, if not; head out to the hunting cabin. Either way, the car will be waiting for you on the road behind the church when you are done.”

“This is the best jailbreak ever!”
Pierce thought to himself as he exited the car. Hopping over the low wall, he slowly walked through the rose garden. Reaching the corner of the old church, he looked around the corner to make sure he was alone before sliding along the wall until he came to the recess of the door. Checking his surroundings again, he tried the handle; the well-oiled latch clicked and the door pushed open effortlessly. Taking a step inside, he saw no one around; so he entered fully and closed the door behind him.

A very large basement greeted him, mostly full of tables and chairs. There were various paths throughout the junk; he would have to be careful to not kick something.

He was not happy that Gabriel Celtic was not there; however, he was anxious to pay his debt and get out of Dodge!

Hearing a noise on the other end of the basement, he was surprised to see a woman, then a man exit from a room in the far corner.

“Two for one!”
he thought excitedly.

He got off a shot, killing the light before they saw him, then another blindly into the area they had been standing. A series of noises told him they had dove for cover… or he had actually hit one of them.

His sneer widened, “
This was fun!”

Kneeling down, he quietly laid the gun on the floor and strapped the night vision goggles onto his head. The world turned green, but he could see everything in the large basement. Looking across the room, he could see no one in sight; they must have taken cover behind the tables.

“Guess I better make sure this is the right guy,”
Pierce thought to himself,
“won’t do me any good to kill the wrong guy.”

“Gabriel Celtic!” Pierce said gaily, waiting for the response he knew would come.

Seeing a head peek above a table, he let loose another round, close enough to get the guy’s attention.

After a few moments, “That’s me, who might I be talking to?”

Pierce couldn’t help but laugh, he would be on his way out of this backward state before you could say ‘jail break’!

“You probably don’t know of me Mr. Celtic,” Pierce said with relish, his sneer widening even more. “My name is Pierce Leffler, but for the purposes of this discussion, you can just call me…
Your Worst Nightmare!”

Chapter 62

August 28, 1998

He had us pinned down, and he had all of the advantages…so far.

Abby looked over at me as we lay behind the temporary barrier, her grimy face soaked in sweat. Although she seemed composed considering the danger, there was also worry, more worry than I had ever seen on her face before.

Looking quickly over the pile of tables we were hiding behind, she ducked back down quickly as another ping landed close to her face. Looking at me once more, she seemed frustrated as she whispered, “I’m drawing a blank Gabe, got any cool tricks up your sleeve?”

“I see you brought company Gabriel,” Pierce shouted gaily from across the room. “A shame really, you were the only one on my list, but now….I can’t leave any witnesses don’t you see.”

Already wracking my brain for a solution, Abby’s developing uncertainty and Pierce’s menacing drove me to look for a new angle.

“How many in your clip?” I questioned, working through a plan in my head.

“It’s full, nine, why?”

“You any good with that thing kid?” I smiled after I asked it, realizing that it probably sounded like a pretty stupid question at that moment.

“Sharpshooter,” she said it like that was an everyday occurrence.

“I’ve got a plan,” I said, not confident with it at all however. “If I draw his fire, can you spray the area of his muzzle flash, empty your clip if you have to?”

“Sure Gabe,” worried, “but can you do it…safely?”

“Don’t know,” I said, the confidence in my voice not accurately reflecting what I was feeling, “but we gotta do something.”

“Give it up Gabriel; you’re only prolonging the inevitable. I’ve got a car waiting to take me out of this Godforsaken part of the country, kind of a vacation if you will.”

Another laugh, this guy really thought he was clever.

An added concern crossed my mind right then, one that I may not have a chance to mention later if things went badly. Looking over at Abby, I whispered, “If we get out of this, there are some things we need to discuss.”

A half smile crossed her lips, worried, yet relieved.

“I guess I shoulda known that
you
would have figured it out.”

Worried again, “I wasn’t…”

Holding my hand up to stop her, I cocked my ear; I was hearing movement.

“He’s on the move; get ready.”

I hold my dirty hand out, taking Abby’s quickly in mine. Looking her in the eyes through the darkness, I say simply, “Thanks for finding me, kid.”

A worried smile returned to her face as I let go of her hand. Sliding the colt into my waistband at my back and laying on my side, I gently pried the edge of the top table of the stack, sliding my fingers under the edge. Pulling my knees up under me, I prayed that I could jump up quickly enough as I tensed my muscles to move.

“Are you sure this will work?”

“No, I’m not Abby,” I said as I readied myself to go. “But we have a saying around here, and it really seems to fit at this moment.”

She snickered in spite of herself, looking over at me with that grin I had grown so accustomed to.

“And what would that be?” she asked as I lifted the edge of the table slightly higher, ready to spring.

“Hold my beer and watch this!” I grunt as I spring up, yelling loudly while pulling up the table and carrying it like a shield as I attempted to noisily run over the piles to my left.

I heard the pops start immediately as Pierce cackled manically, the bullets thunking into the wood of the table as I ran, except one…

Chapter 63

August 28, 1997

“Well, this is boring,”
Pierce thought to himself.

After taking a couple of quick shots at them when they raised their heads to look, they were now just hunkered down behind the tables. He would have to do something to flush them out; he couldn’t afford to stay here all night.

“I see you brought company Gabriel,” he shouted, still in a good mood. “A shame really, you were the only one on my list, but now….I can’t leave any witnesses don’t you see.”

As he spoke, he started moving forward quietly, watching carefully so he didn’t kick any of the stacked furniture and give himself away.

“Give it up Gabriel,” Leffler continued as he stepped over an errant chair blocking the path. “You’re only prolonging the inevitable.”

Quietly bringing his back leg forward before he fell, “I’ve got a car waiting to take me out of this Godforsaken part of the country, kind of a vacation if you will.”

The thought of calling it a vacation tickled Pierce, and he let out a long laugh in spite of himself.

He could hear mumbling from their hiding place, so he continued to work his way closer. The night vision, although cumbersome, easily allowed him to avoid most of the things blocking his path. Looking up to get his bearings however, he inadvertently kicked the corner of a stacked chair.

“Oh, oh,”
he said to himself as he squatted down quickly, pissed at his bungling,
“stupid move!”

More mumbling, but there is no other movement or heads poking above the tables. Smiling, Pierce got ready to rise again when all hell broke loose! 

Celtic was yelling and running across the room carrying a table! Pierce happily stood and started shooting at the moving target.

This is what he was born for! A wicked cackle escaped his lips as he joyfully pulled the trigger of the semiautomatic, pop after pop hitting the table.

Suddenly shots rang out from the stack of tables.

“The girl has a gun?”
Pierce questioned as he turned toward the sound. How could he have been so stupid!

A bullet immediately hit his right hand, knocking the gun to the floor before first one, and then a second entered his gut. Letting out a scream of his own; Pierce doubled over in pain as he heard a crash of metal and an exclamation of pain coming from his right.

“Got him!”
he thought to himself, a sneer again crossing his lips as he spotted the dropped gun on the floor. Reaching down, he picked it up shakily with his left hand.

Looking up, he saw the girl on her knees, looking to her left. Slowly taking aim, he heard her say, “Gabe...Are you ok?”

Chapter 64

August 28, 1998

Pain shot through my thigh as one of the searing bullets hit my leg. I immediately fell on top of another pile of tables, letting out a yell of pain from my throbbing leg.

As I am falling, I heard the retorts of Abby’s 9 mm as she sprayed the shooter’s area with bullets. 7, 8, 9 I count inadvertently as she emptied the clip, a guttural cry coming to my ears as I heard the shooter’s gun rattle to the floor.

A few seconds passed before I heard Abby calling.

“Gabe…Are you ok?”

Looking over my shield that had fallen at an angle beside me, I could just make out the silhouette of Pierce Leffler doubled over. Moving to get myself up, I saw the dark image start to straighten up…with a gun!

I quickly reached to my waistband for my Colt…it’s gone!

“Dammit!”
I thought to myself as I started feeling quickly around, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I found it lying behind me, and grasped it hastily as I lifted it over my body and brought it to bear over the top of the table in front of me.

The shooter was shakily raising his arm, the gun aimed… toward Abby!

“Leffler!” I shouted loudly, squeezing off a shot as Pierce turned his head my way.

Chapter 65

August 28, 1998

The loud boom of the old .45 filled the room with noise and light, and I heard the satisfying sound of Leffler’s body being flung loudly into a stack of chairs.

“Gabe!” I heard Abby calling, the noise behind me indicating she was on the move.

“Gabe!”

“I’m ok,” I said, setting the safety and laying the gun down behind me. I pushed up on the table and it rattled to the floor as it fell away.

“Are you ok?” Abby asked, worry in her voice as she arrived by my side.

“I’ve been hit in the leg,” I said, “don’t know how bad yet.”

Abby pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, getting ready to dial 911.

“Hold up on that,” I said, “We still have the monk to find, if it’s not too bad…”

Abby wasn’t happy, but she put the cell back into her pocket with a sigh.

“Let’s see if you can walk,” she said as she reached down to help me up.

Taking her hand, I pulled myself up. The pain was excruciating, but there was definitely nothing broken. Feeling around at the wound, there was blood, but not a lot. Just a scratch…I hoped.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said as I started making my way through the stacks.

“What about him?” Abby asked, indicating the fallen felon as we got close.

Through the low light, we could just make out the hole in one lens of the night vision goggles.

“Nice shot!” Abby exclaimed in admiration.

“Lucky shot,” I added, “I could barely make him out from where I was. Looks like you hit him at least a couple of times.”

“Yeah, wasted too many bullets,” she said sounding discouraged.

We kept walking slowly out of the building, Abby holding my arm over her shoulder. “How are we going to explain this?” she asked, worried.

I hadn’t given that much thought, and put my mind to it now. Every scenario I could come up with had problems. Either we would be tied up in paperwork for days, or I would be in jail.

I knew who Leffler was, and also knew that he was supposed to be in the county jail pending arraignment. The monk had somehow gotten him out, making him some kind of deal to kill me…us, in exchange for his freedom.

“Listen, I have an idea, but I’m not certain I want to drag you into this any farther. Your job is probably already in jeopardy.”

Abby looked up at me, shrugging her shoulders. “I was looking for a job when I got here.”

“I know, but if you walk away now, you are leaving the scene, as well as breaking and entering.”

“Look,” she said determinedly, “If we find Brother Jim and bring him in, we shouldn’t be in too much trouble. We
need
to find him though; he’s still a killer.”

We were outside now, walking through the dark alleyway between the buildings. Reaching the end of the alley, Abby looked around to make sure the coast was clear before we proceeded to leave the grounds.

“Where’s you car?” I asked, wondering how we were going to get two cars out of the area with my bum leg.

“I walked from my apartment,” Abby replied, “Where’s yours?”

“Down the street, to the left,” I said, relieved not to have to drive.

“The monk won’t be back, I’m thinking,” I continued as we walked slowly down the deserted sidewalk. “So my idea is to continue to try to find him; they will discover Leffler, and eventually may even figure out the monk behind the murders. In any case, it should give us a few days.”

We had reached the Jeep, and Abby helped me in before going around the front to the driver’s side. “We need to get you home first,” she stated with certainty as she started the car.

“I have one stop to make first. Can I use your phone?”

Looking at me like I was crazy, she finally dug the phone out of her pocket and handed it to me.

“You sure it’s wise to be calling someone right now?”

“I’m not sure anything I have done tonight is wise,” I said as I punched in the numbers from memory, “but I think this may be a wise move, considering the circumstances.”

The phone was ringing, and after the fourth ring, a sleepy sounding voice answered grumpily.

“This better be important!”

“It is old friend; it is.”