In Case of Death (The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic Book 3) (34 page)

Before I could react, a naked man sprinted into the room directly towards Abby. Effortlessly grabbing the front of Abby’s shirt, in one fluid motion he had her sitting up as he slid behind her.

I could now see that what he held in his hand was a short sword. Positioning it on her neck, he looked at me with crazy eyes as he rested his chin on Abby’s head. A maniacal grin was plastered on his face as wrapped his arm around her chest.

“Well if it isn’t the Celtics,” he said as he pulled Abby up to a standing position. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

Abby looked dazed, with a trickle of blood making its way to her mouth from her nose. Both of her eyes were already slightly swelled, and she would probably have a nice pair of shiners the next day…if there was a next day for us…

“Let her go Jones, or whatever your name is,” I said evenly as I looked for an opening. “Your house is being surrounded as we speak.”

He giggled.

One of those crazy sounding giggles that immediately told me he didn’t care.

“You think that worries me Celtic?”

Another crazy giggle.

“You think that if I don’t kill you two, they will go easy on me?”

Moving the sword slightly, Abby gasped as I saw a trickle of blood run down her neck.

“Step up here dad, and hand me your gun, before I finish the job in front of your eyes.”

My throat was suddenly so dry I couldn’t swallow as I turned the gun butt first and made my way slowly to their position.

“That’s it, nice and slow dad. Now, toss it on the bed right here.”

As I glanced at the bed to toss the weapon, he struck out at me with the sword, slicing into my thigh like it was made of butter. As my nerves reacted to the pain, I inadvertently threw the gun across the room. It struck the far wall with a loud thump and clattered behind the bed.

Using all of my willpower not to scream, I was able to remain standing. Not bleeding badly, it nonetheless hurt like hell!

“You still have time to get out of this without being shot on the spot Jones, let her go and we’ll protect you!”

Another round of maniacal laughing then,

“You’re an idiot Celtic. What you don’t realize, is that the whole place will go up in flames in another eight minutes! You set off a failsafe when you exited the vault. If I don’t disarm it in time…BOOM!”

A look of fear crossed Abby’s face momentarily as she realized that Nate and Preacher would be walking into a trap!

I was wracking my mind for a solution…a quick solution.

“Go out with us Jones! You will be famous!” I was grasping at straws now. “People want to know what makes guys like you tick.”

“There is no one like me you dumb bastard!” he reacted violently. “
No one
has ever accomplished what I have!”

Something caught my eye!

It was Abby; a small but unmistakable grin had appeared on her face, followed by the whisper of a wink.

Get ready
she seemed to be telling me.

Suddenly she let out a yell, expanding her arms out as she simultaneously tromped down on Bill Jones’ foot.

Jones howled loudly at the sudden pain as Abby slid down and out of his reach. Bringing her elbow back with another yell, she then connected squarely with his exposed testicles!

Forgetting the pain in my leg momentarily, I jumped at Jones, grabbing his sword hand as I plunged a right cross into his jaw.

Dropping the sword, he fell to the floor. I scrambled to where the sword lay and snatched it up, flipping on my back in time to see Jones sprint out of the room, scooping up Abby’s piece as he went.

“You ok?” I asked, looking over at Abby.

Nodding, she felt her throat with concern.

“Get something on that, and find my gun, it’s behind the bed!”

I registered her nodding as I jumped up to follow Jones out of the room. I let out a yelp the first time I put pressure on my injured leg, but pushed through it as I limped into the next room.

I had entered into a large room, with a big screen TV on one wall and plush furniture throughout. I heard a noise above me, realizing that there was a loft that looked out over the big room. Seeing the stairs across the room, I started to make my way to them when a shot rang out…a bullet burying itself in the upholstered chair next to me. Quickly diving behind the chair, I heard two more shots plink into the floor around me.

“You aren’t that good with guns are you Jones?” I taunted him. “You couldn’t even hit us with a
spray
of bullets this morning!”

Three more bullets peppered the chair I was hiding behind in rapid succession. If it had been cheaper furniture, I would have probably been dead about then.

That was also six shots…only three more left in Abby’s clip!

Bringing my feet up underneath me, gritting my teeth in pain, I jumped to the next piece of furniture.

Two more shots rang out in the room as he unsuccessfully shot at the movement.

That was eight.

But I was running out of time, the incessant beeping of the alarm filling the house every five seconds without fail!

I needed something to goad him into shooting that last bullet!

I glanced around the chair, seeing Jones standing naked at the rail of the loft, legs spread, gun held steady in his two-handed grip.

“What makes you think your plan was all that unique?” I goaded him as I again readied myself to move.

“Hah!” he shouted from above, “The world has
never
seen anything like it…until you figured it out.”

“Wasn’t that hard,” I shouted out, “Two middle-aged ladies figured it out in their spare time.”

“Bullshit!” he shouted.

Hearing movement behind me, I glanced around the chair to see Abby in the bedroom doorway, ready to enter the fray.

Holding my hand out to stop her, I then held up one finger before pointing up towards Jones’ position.

She nodded in understanding and crouched down in the doorway, pointing my gun up in the general direction of Jones’ position.

“Yep!” I replied, again getting ready to move, “Two friends of mine actually. After you had their husbands killed, they took it upon themselves to root you out. They couldn’t believe how easy it was!”

“That’s bullshit and you know it!” he screamed.

It was now or never!

Jumping up with an unexpected moan and headed quickly toward the stairway. I felt before I heard the bullet hit the floor behind me.

That’s nine!

I limped as fast as I could up the stairs, hearing a crashing noise somewhere in the distance. Looking up, I saw Jones straddling the top of the stairway, gun steadied at me.

“Freeze asshole!” It was Nate’s voice. I could see him standing right behind Jones now, gun pointing to the back of his head. “You’re under arrest!”

Without looking back, Jones swung his right arm behind him in a flash, landing the butt of the gun in his hand on Nate’s temple. Nate dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Lining the sights of the gun up at me again with a grin, I could only hope I had counted right!

***

I ran up the stairs with all the speed I could muster, hearing the click of the hammer of the gun as I neared the top. Actually surprised that the gun was empty, he threw it at me and ran across the loft with me in close pursuit.

Reaching the other end of the loft, he reached up and pulled down another sword off the wall, a confident smile now crossing his lips as he stood there naked with the sword pointed toward me.

“I may not be much with firearms,” he said evenly, swishing the sword in a quick circle, “But I dare say I can best you in swordplay!”

“Gabe?” I heard behind me. Turning my head, I kept the short sword aimed at Jones.

It was Preacher, gun in hand and aimed at Jones. Abby was scrambling up the steps to his right.

Beep!

Shit!

“I need you guys to disable his bomb! Go...I got this!”

Preacher looked confused. Taking control, Abby grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back out the door that he had just entered from, both of them having to step over Nate who lay unconscious across the doorway.

Looking back at Jones, I braced myself as I saw him approaching me with a gleam in his eye.

“This is
really
going to hurt Celtic!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another rack of swords. Reaching over quickly, I grabbed another one off the rack with my left hand.

“Ah, good, that will make it a
little
more challenging for me…not that it will do you any good!”

With that, he skipped effortlessly toward me, slashing at me effortlessly as I scrambled to block his moves.

“Good effort Celtic!” he smiled, stepping back once more. “But you are an amateur through and through. Why don’t you let me kill you quick and avoid all of the pain I have planned for you?”

“Why don’t you get some clothes on?” I asked with a sneer of my own. “I hate slicing up naked people.”

Laughing heartily at my statement, he moved in quickly once more, his sword almost invisible as it swished through the air.

Blocking his first thrust with the sword in my left hand, I jabbed at him with the one in my right.

He flicked it away effortlessly before thrusting at me once again.

I stepped back, my leg throbbing as I noticed it was now bleeding profusely.

“Your leg is the last thing you will worry about soon Celtic. That is but a scratch!”

Thrusting forward at me again, I twisted sideways as I blocked his sword with my left, falling to the right in the process. As a last ditch effort before I hit the floor, I struck out with the short sword in my right hand, nicking his wrist with a glancing blow.

It was enough.

Howling in pain again, he dropped his sword and held the wound with his left hand, his eyes wide in hatred. As I slowly stood, he suddenly ran to the back wall again, pulling down an antique flintlock with his left hand. Turning toward me again, he cocked the weapon as he worked his way down the loft’s railing toward me.

“Enough!” he shouted. “You will rue the day that you crossed Jacques LaFonteyn!”

I started running toward him, not knowing what else to do except attack!

Yelling for all I was worth, I held the sword out in front of me, hoping to run him through before he killed me with the ancient weapon.

He was yelling too, his eyes showing unveiled hatred as he took aim on my approaching body!

Wrapping my other hand around the sword as I ran, I took the last step toward him as the gun exploded in my ear.

I crashed into him with the force of a full run, both of us smashing through the railing in a hail of screams, floating through the air until the floor stopped our progress…and our yells.

The air knocked out of me, I rolled off the body under me as the blackness closed in on my vision. Pain wracked my body as my mind pleaded for more oxygen to no avail. Before the end, the blackness now complete, I heard just one noise in the silence around me before my eyes closed for the last time.

BEEP!...

Epilogue

September 30, 1999

I awoke with a start!

Groggily, I glanced around, realizing that I had spent the night on the couch. The pain pills they had given me in the emergency room were apparently quite good.

I leaned my head back and brought my arm up to cover my eyes, bonking my head with the cast in the process. Staring at it, I remembered the fall from the night before, the fall that had finally killed Jacques LaFonteyn.

Moving slightly, I yelped from another pain, this one in my leg. Glancing quickly over to the fireplace, I saw the short Japanese Tanto sword leaning against the hearth where I had left it. Abby had filled me in on what it was called when I had asked her to get it for me before they carried me away in the ambulance.

Knowing that it was evidence in the case, Abby had nevertheless spirited it away without being seen.

I had a bad influence on that girl.

I felt slightly guilty for stealing evidence from a crime scene, but I seemed to have the need to take it. After all, LaFonteyn had nearly sliced my leg off with it early in the fight, not to mention threatening Abby’s life as he held it against her neck.

But in the end, it was in
my
hand as we went over the railing!

Remembering the shot before I fell, I reached up to my left ear, feeling the bandage where LaFonteyn’s shot had taken off my earlobe. 

Abby and Preacher had finally found the hidden explosives at the entrance to the underground part of the house. Acting quickly, Preacher had whipped the stiletto out of his Bible, deftly slashing through the wires with only three seconds to spare!