CC grabbed the radio and said, “Was Taggart with him?”
“Ten-four!”
“We want Taggart for at least two murders! If O’Reilly is dead, Taggart likely killed him. Make sure everyone knows! I’m on my way!”
Jack tried his own waterlogged cellphone. No surprise that it didn’t work. Danny’s dead…. What did Wizard mean, kill the bitches? A few moments later he heard Sid speaking to him from near the top of the staircase.
“Taggart! You hear me? Taggart!”
Jack didn’t respond, so Sid continued, “We’ve got your doctor lady friend and that little bitch you had stashed at your sister’s! I want you to know that they’re dying at this very moment!”
The numbness in Jack’s brain was replaced with terror.
“How do you feel, Taggart? You’ll be joining them in a couple of minutes. Better think of something to say to them!”
Before Jack could reply, the sound of gunfire came from behind the house.
“Did you hear that, Taggart?” said Sid, letting out a high-pitched laugh. “Did you hear that?”
Jack’s mind burned with rage. He glanced up the stairs, then back at Booger, watching him through the mirror.
Natasha peeked out the boathouse door and saw Wizard running down the dock toward her. She quickly closed the door and turned to Marcie and said, “We have to go in the water.”
“I can’t swim!”
“It’s our only —”
“Thumper!” yelled Wizard from beside the boathouse. “Thumper!” Wizard climbed into the cabin cruiser and screamed, “Jesus Christ! You fucking bitches!”
Wizard saw bloody footprints leading to the boathouse. With his rifle ready, he kicked open the door and stepped inside. It took him only a moment to spot the blood and wet hand marks on the walkway. He knew that Natasha and Marcie were hiding under the dock.
Marcie clung to Natasha’s neck. Only their heads were above water as Natasha slowly moved along under the dock. Wizard’s feet sounded above their heads, and Natasha caught a glimpse of his face as he stared down through the cracks in the boards searching for them.
Wizard pumped two shots into the dock by his feet, then stepped out of the boathouse and moved slowly along the dock, firing several more shots through the boards as he went. Bullets swooshed through the water around Natasha and Marcie, but none found their mark.
“I know you bitches can hear me,” said Wizard. “Want you to know that I just shot O’Reilly in the face. I’m not lettin’ your boyfriend off so easy, though. Got him tied down. I’m gonna soak his fuckin’ face in gas and oil and have myself a little pig barbecue!”
Wizard stopped and listened. Natasha was crying but didn’t make a noise. She heard the noise of a pail followed by a glugging sound. Drops of oil and gas dripped into the water near her face. Marcie’s wide eyes stared back at her.
“You girls sit tight, I’ll be back for you in a minute!” said Wizard, picking up the pail and walking away.
Wizard hurried across a patio at the rear of the house, slopping gas and oil as he went. He grabbed a lighter from beside a barbecue and cursed when he heard the distant sound of sirens. He took another step but came to an abrupt stop when the bushes parted in front of him.
Danny’s face was a mass of blood. One eye was shut and he used his hand to try to keep the blood out of his other eye. His gun was pointed directly at Wizard’s head.
“Thought you were dead,” said Wizard.
“Put the gun down,” said Danny. He spoke quietly, but there was no mistaking the deadly tone of his voice.
Wizard tossed the rifle onto the ground away from his body.
“Put the pail and lighter down and lie on your belly with your hands stretched out over your head. Turn your face away from me!”
Wizard slowly did as instructed.
“You fucked up,” said Danny. “You haven’t been playing by the rules.”
“What fucking rules?”
“Rules that say you don’t involve my wife and daughter.”
“Maybe you better think about them when you decide what you’re gonna say in court!”
“Maybe I better explain the rules to you.”
“I know my rights. Fuck off, pig.”
“You lost your rights when you tried to kill my family. You need to be educated.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Let me demonstrate,” said Danny, kicking over the pail onto Wizard.
“What the fuck! You can’t…” Wizard’s last words were drowned out by the whoosh of flame when Danny clicked the lighter.
Jack heard the sound of Wizard’s screams from the backyard. It wasn’t long after the screams stopped that he heard the back door being kicked in.
“Jack! You still alive?” yelled Danny.
“Where the hell were you? I thought you were dead!”
“So did Wizard! For him it was fatal. What’s the situation?”
“Sid is upstairs. Don’t know if he’s armed or not. Got a bad guy in the living room who’s got me pinned down. Thumper’s got Natasha and Marcie on some boat out back. That’s where Wizard was going. Was that you shooting at him?”
“No, I met him when he came back from the boat.”
Jack closed his eyes for a second to clear the tears. He opened them in time to see Booger start to move, then settle down again as they continued to watch each other’s reflection.
Jack heard the sound of the sirens coming closer. He glanced upstairs. I’m not letting you surrender, you bastard! He started to climb out of the pond and saw Booger crouch in anticipation.
“Jack!” Danny yelled. “They might be okay!”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw Wizard taking potshots into the dock. There was no sign of Thumper!”
Jack fired two shots through the wall and Booger fell back from sight. Machine gun fire erupted toward the ceiling as Jack dived back into the pond.
“Jack! Where are you? What’s happening?”
“I’m okay. I’m lying in a fish pond in the foyer! I might have hit the guy in the living room but he’s still firing back.”
“That the one with the machine gun?”
“Sure as hell isn’t what I have.” Jack checked his weapon and saw that he was out of bullets. He could no longer see Booger’s reflection in the mirror. He glanced back at a shotgun that Rolly had dropped near the front door but knew he couldn’t reach it without exposing himself to Booger. The sounds of sirens were now augmented by the sound of screeching tires. He heard Sid moving around upstairs.
“Danny! There’s two exits to the living room. I got this one covered, you —”
“Got it,” grunted Danny, waving to Jack from where he was kneeling. Jack saw Danny crouched behind a corner in the kitchen, past the second exit to the living room. Jack’s expression when he saw Danny’s face revealed his shock.
“I’ll make it,” said Danny. “Sounds like the cavalry is about to arrive.”