Good dog.
A movement in a picture frame by the stairs confirmed that someone was inside the house. My chest hit the ground as I slowly inch-wormed myself up the deck to get a better view.
Oh, my God.
Jonah? The fucking custodian from the station had a revolver pointed at Spencer’s face, and I could see caked blood in her hair. She was bound at the wrists and ankles, and her mouth was taped shut.
I pulled out my phone and dialed her number and saw her eyes move to it as it rang. Tears streamed down her beautiful face, and I wanted to storm the house and wrap her in my arms, but we needed this guy alive if she was to get any answers.
She looked petrified as Jonah picked up the phone and read the caller ID.
To my utter surprise, he answered it.
“You figured it out yet?” He laughed oddly into the phone.
“Jonah, what are you doing, man?”
“She fucked up my life, so it’s only fair I do the same to hers.”
I sent a quick text off to Sarge.
Blake: It’s Jonah, our f’n custodian! He has her. I’m on the phone with him.
“How did she fuck up your life?” I tried to keep him talking.
“I was the best in that room, not her.” He raised his hand and slapped her across the face. I swallowed my curse.
“What room, Jonah? Tell me what you’re talking about.”
He rubbed his head, and the gun bounced around. That was when I spotted the bullet hole in the wall and another through the kitchen window.
So, that’s at least two from the chamber.
“Jonah,” I said again when he didn’t respond. “Tell me so I understand.”
“You don’t care about me at all. I’ve watched you with her. I’m not stupid. I know she’s all you care about!”
I flinched at the thought of him watching us.
“Yes, Detective, I’ve watched you both, you know.” He turned his back to me and looked pointedly toward the front door. “Only it seems I wasn’t the only one who watched.”
“Who else?” I inched a little higher to see Spencer’s creepy neighbor Foster on the floor with blood pouring out of his chest. I knew Foster was strange, but after I did some digging, I concluded he was just a nosy neighbor who most likely was only trying to help, and now he was dead.
Shit!
That’s three rounds he’d used, then, and he had three left.
He moved over to the mantel and picked up the glass award Spencer had won.
“I was supposed to win this award!” His arm went back, and he pelted it into the wall where it shattered into pieces. Spencer’s cry was muffled by the tape. “Not some rich bitch who had Mommy and Daddy’s money.”
I was starting to freeze lying in the snow, so I carefully inched back and looked around the house. I noticed one of the windows upstairs was slightly open.
With the phone on speaker and mute, I tucked it in my pocket and climbed the railing of the deck, then sprang up to grab the lip of the windowsill. I knew I had to be fast. With all my strength, I pulled myself up by my fingertips and managed to slip inside the window. I eased to my feet as quickly and quietly as I could then crossed to the door.
I pulled up my phone and prayed it was still connected. I clicked the mute button and held it to my ear.
“So, you were the runner-up for the award?”
“Oh, you are there. How kind,” he muttered, but I could tell he was about to lose control again by the way his voice pitched.
“Is that why you targeted Spencer?”
“No! Yes and no.”
I slowly stepped out into the hallway, arm extended, gun ready to fire. I cleared the rooms as I went by each one, and when I got to the staircase, I stopped. I knew where he was but had to check that he hadn’t moved. I spotted his shadow.
Backing into the room, I partly closed the door and checked my phone to see if any texts had come through. Nothing.
“I’ve been a detective for a long time, Jonah,” I said quietly. “Why don’t you tell me what you mean by yes and no.”
“You haven’t connected the dots, Detective?”
“Jonah,” my blood pressure dipped at the thought I was missing something, “I’m guessing you wanted my attention, or you wouldn’t have picked up the phone. Well, you have it, all of it, so talk to me.”
“Oh, now you want to talk to me?” He laughed, and I knew my time was nearly up. Two quick vibrations made me glance at the screen.
Sarge: Almost there! Do what you need to, Blake.
“Okay, Jonah, you’re in charge. You hold all the cards here, but can I ask you one last thing?”
“What?” he shouted.
“Let me say goodbye.”
“What? No!”
“Jonah,” my voice remained calm even though there was chaos inside, “just let me say goodbye.”
“Here,” I heard him yell at Spencer. I slipped back into the hallway and bent down to see them, and once he held the phone to her ear, I spoke.
“Spencer?” She let out a muffled cry. “Listen to me. Count to five and dive onto the floor. Nod if you understand.” She nodded with another cry.
I quickly went to my videos and pulled up the one I needed. With a deep breath, I counted to three, hung up the call, and pressed play and tossed it down the stairs. A loud, ear-piercing roar filled the room, followed by three gunshots at the bottom of the stairs.
That’s six. I took the chance he was out.
I leapt down the stairs and aimed my gun at him. He pulled the trigger and looked shocked at the click of his empty chamber. I fired.
Bang!
My single shot took him down. I kicked his gun away and checked his pulse. It was slow, but it was there.
I tuned in to Spencer’s muffled screams and rushed over to help her off the floor. I pulled the tape from her mouth and used my pocketknife to free her wrists. Once her ankles were free, she flung herself into my arms and buried her head in my neck.
“You okay?” I twisted my body to shield her from Jonah. “You okay, Spencer?”
“Yeah.” She shook, and her death grip around my neck loosened a little. “Physically okay, yes.”
Blue and red lights suddenly flashed through the night sky, sirens filled the silence, and we broke free from one another. A SWAT team stormed into the house, and I held my badge up high and shielded Spencer, so they’d know I was one of them.
“He’s the detective!” Sarge’s voice boomed through the madness that surrounded us. He beat through the sea of people, pulled Spencer to him, and gave her a tight squeeze.
“She okay?” he asked me while he checked her out.
“Yeah.” I nodded but didn’t want to move too far away from her.
She buried her face in Sarge’s chest and allowed herself to sob. He held his niece, and I understood the depth of their pain. It was so much more than just tonight. Jonah came back here to finish something. When I shot him, I did not aim to kill, just to put him down. We had so many questions. I hoped to God he would make it, because the memory of him holding a gun on Spencer would forever haunt my dreams. I needed my time with him.
The sergeant reached out and squeezed my shoulder then surprised me as he pulled me to them in a group hug. “Thank you.”
The EMTs began to push the gurney past us, and Sarge looked at one of them for an update.