As he stopped and looked, he couldn’t believe the number of vehicles in the parking lot. When they’d gone to bed last night, maybe a half dozen were here. Now there was a good dozen. Was this place that busy? He wasn’t at all sure. He moved carefully toward the room, opened the door, checked inside, and noted that Laurie Ann still slept soundly. With that making him feel better, he stepped back outside and studied the layout. Something bothered him, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
As long as Laurie Ann was safe inside, he was content to sit out here as a guard. At that thought, the dog growled. Kurt crouched beside her, staring in the direction she was focused on, trying to figure out what was bothering her. He couldn’t see anything through the railing. He knew that the dog’s sight and other senses were more heightened over humans’ senses, and he trusted Sabine’s instincts way more than he trusted his. That weird atmosphere was still out here. As he sat down below the railing, he could watch the world slowly wake up.
Just then, he saw a small car parked off to the side that he hadn’t previously noticed. As he continued to stare at it, he saw movement inside. As he watched, two of the doors opened. And out came one punk kid, the teen whose shoulder he’d damaged, and another exited the other side of the car—but Kurt had limited visibility on him. Kurt swore, quickly pulled out his phone, and texted the detective. This would be the trouble that he had been half aware was coming at them. This gang couldn’t let it go. This was half of the punks, as long as the Reggie kid remained apart from the gang. The other two had been picked up by the cops following the B&E at Laurie Ann’s house, but the one in the hospital was here and now had one other gang member with him. That should end it, right? Kurt wasn’t so sure, but he hoped so. And, of course, where was the adult who commandeered their loyalty and kept them in the gang?
Kurt had no weapon. But, as he looked down at Sabine, he realized he had her, and she was better than a gun any day. On his hands and knees, he moved to the end of the stairwell, knowing that the gang would come up somewhere close by and head to his room. If they even knew what room he was in. He looked up at the door, glad that he had locked up before coming outside for what should have been a quick pee break for the dog, and then snuck back behind the railing with Sabine.
The two gang members came up quietly. One had a baseball bat, and one had a handgun. And the gun meant they weren’t expecting to leave anyone alive. Kurt held his breath and waited, as they came up soundlessly. The dog started to growl. He immediately placed a hand on her muzzle, and she silenced. Kurt recognized the gunman—Slippery Simon. How the hell had he been released?
Kurt had hurt both of these gang members. They had both been in the hospital, then Simon should have been jailed. He must’ve made bail. Regardless both had obviously either broken out of the hospital or jail or had been released from one or the other. Kurt hadn’t seen the other two teens tonight, one being Reggie, but maybe he had decided life was better on the other side of the fence. At least Kurt hoped so. That had been the one Laurie Ann had recognized.
Kurt felt Sabine bristling under his hand, her back going up, her fur puffing out, as she viewed the two men. And he realized that these were the ones who likely had made her life hell. He whispered, “Easy, girl.”
She settled ever-so-slightly, but she wanted a piece of these guys, and she wanted it bad. He watched and waited as they came up the last flight, their attention on the motel room door. How were they going to get inside? He wanted to stop them before they got there, but, at the same time, he wasn’t sure what their plan entailed. He’d take a bullet gratefully to protect Laurie Ann, but he didn’t really want to take the bullet unnecessarily.
If he took the bullet going down with these assholes, that was fine. But any other way? Well, not going to happen. As he watched and considered his options, he figured Sabine would take down the gunman, while Kurt took out the punk with the bat. The pair reached the door and tried the knob; now they were trying to pick the lock. Kurt stood, the dog silently at his side, and he came up behind them. “Can I help you?”
They both spun, stared, and fury crossed the older man’s face as he raised the handgun. Sabine immediately jumped, took out his wrist; his loudly crunching bones were hard to miss. He started screaming. But the kid with the baseball bat was already swinging at Kurt. Then tried to swing at the dog. Kurt grabbed the bat, only to have a fist come his way and another one and then another one.
And the fight was on.
Simon was kicking the hell out of Sabine, trying to get free, but the gun had fired widely upward several times before being dropped to the ground harmlessly. Simon was still fighting off the dog, and somehow the baseball bat thumped onto her back end. She might have loosened her grip at that moment, but she obviously bit down again because Simon returned to screaming with a fury.
Nearby doors started to open. Kurt swung the baseball bat and caught the kid hard in the shoulder and then decked him one with a left hook to his face. The kid fell to the concrete walkway and managed to grab the gun and turned and fired at Kurt. He stepped away, Simon taking the bullet in the thigh, Sabine still latched onto his hand.
That newest wound seemed to enrage Simon, and he tried to stay upright.
And now Kurt knew there would be additional trouble.
Kurt grabbed the gun the punk still had, and the two wrestled for it, but he heard Simon coming up behind him. He twisted and turned, trying to keep the kid down. The kid managed to get up to his feet, and they were still fighting with the handgun. Kurt wanted an eye on the dog, but he had to be reassured with her growls and the old guy still screaming behind him. So obviously she remained latched on to Simon. He heard fists and kicks connecting with Sabine, as the dog took a beating too. And he knew that this had to stop, and it had to stop now.
Kurt steadied himself and, with a hard right, he smashed the kid’s head hard with an uppercut to the jaw. The teen stopped and stared at Kurt, almost in a comical move, and then he fired the gun again, almost a reflective action. But Kurt now pushed the gun tight against the teen’s chest, as they continued to struggle for the gun, just to make sure the gun didn’t fire in Kurt’s or Sabine’s direction.
When another shot was fired, Kurt stepped back, and the kid dropped to the stairwell, a bullet wound to the chest. Kurt looked over at Sabine and immediately stepped up and plowed his fist hard into Simon’s head twice. As the guy went down, Kurt immediately stopped Sabine and said, “It’s okay, girl. Calm down. Release.”
Finally the dog stepped back. He opened the door to their room to see a trembling, terrified Laurie Ann inside. He looked at her, smiled, noted she was dressed, and said, “Get packed.”
“I have,” she said, “in case we have to run.”
“No running,” he said, “but call for the police and an ambulance.” She nodded.
He looked down to see arterial bleeding from the asshole Simon on the ground in front of them. Kurt had absolutely no hope for the kid beside him. He was already dead, having pulled the trigger that put a bullet through his chest. The other nearby motel doors and neighbors had opened up, and a crowd gathered around them. Kurt checked for a pulse on Simon; he found one, but he was bleeding pretty badly.
“Jesus Christ, did they jump you?” called out one man down the hall.