A Case of Deceit Page 14

  I doubt my argument will sway him one way or the other, but I have to try. I just need one chance to get close to him. I know I can disable him with a well-placed kick. He is not falling for it though as he keeps well back from me.

  “They will never find me. I had a good run here in Ashville. I'm almost sorry to leave,” he smiles coldly when he says that and it's not pleasant to see. “I wish I could stick around and chat some more, but I have a boat to catch,” he says as he raises the gun a notch.

  I try one more stalling tactic, "Why kill me then Ward? If you're just going to disappear anyway?"

  "Don't tell me the little mouse is afraid to die."

  "Of course I don't want to die."

  Ward shrugs his shoulders and his eyes gleam, "I enjoy my job, Watson. I'm good at it. In fact, I'm probably the best there is. You irritate me. So my last enjoyment of this place is going to be killing you."

  My palms begin to sweat, as the man is clearly crazy. Is the place overrun with crazy people? Then I hear a familiar bark. It's Tee. He runs straight up to Ward and bites down on his ankle. Ward swears and tries to shake him off. Before I can even make a move to help Tee, I hear someone running through the bush, but so does Ward. He points the gun at me and pulls the trigger.

  I feel a sudden blazing hot burst of pain in my shoulder as I tumble backward from the impact of the bullet. I land flat on my back in the grave. My breath leaves my lungs with a gust as I hit the bottom. I’m gasping for breath as I lay there in agony trying desperately to breathe again. Through the roaring in my ears, I hear Tee barking and loud crashing noises above me.

  My shoulder feels like it is on fire as I lay there. My eyes are looking upward and the top of the hole looks a mile away. It’s quiet above me all of a sudden. I do hope Ward didn’t get away. At least I haven’t heard any more gunshots. A head pops in my line of sight. It's Fedora! I have never been so happy to see his face.

  “Dee! Are you all right?”

  “Robert?”

  Fedora reaches an arm down and I grasp his hand with my good one. He pulls me to a sitting position and the fire in my shoulder roars to a crescendo. I suck in my breath through my gritted teeth. I finally manage to stand and with his help, I crawl out of the hole. My left arm is useless. I roll from my stomach to my back and glance up at Fedora’s concerned face.

  “Dammit Dee, I thought I lost you,” he says as his eyes survey the blood pumping out of my shoulder.

  He really does look worried, but I'm alive. Hurting like hell, so I know I’m alive.

  “Ward?” I ask. Seems I can only manage one word at a time right now.

  “Don't worry about him. Eric has him in handcuffs. He won't hurt you again, Dee.” Fedora takes his shirt off, just like in a movie and presses it gently against my wound. I'm still with it enough to appreciate his good looking physique.

  I feel a wet, raspy tongue on my cheek and turn my face to see Tee. “You are my hero,” I manage to wheeze out to my smallest biggest protector. “I’m going to buy you a steak bigger than you are when we get home.”

  Tee barks and tries to wiggle his way closer to me. I wince with the pain but finally manage to hug him with my good arm. Tee is the bravest little dog I know. I should have named him T-Rex, as he seems to think he’s as big and fierce as a dinosaur.

  I finally manage to sit up. Fedora helps me to a shaky stand. Eric walks over to see how I am. I manage to stay upright. Fedora tells Eric he’ll help me so Eric gives me a thumbs up and walks back to a handcuffed Ward. I watch as Eric leads Ward toward the manor house. I look up at Fedora and he puts his arm around me. I lean into him. I am so tired. All I want to do is go home.

  My shoulder is wet with blood and hurts like hell. Fedora kisses the top of my head. I look up at him, “I need a vacation.”

  He laughs and gives me a gentle hug. “You deserve a vacation.”

  There is silence for about a minute, then, “You called me Robert.”

  “It's your name,” I remind him as we slowly head back to the manor house. A few minutes pass before I hear him say.

  “You never call me by my real name.” He frowns as he gently leads me around some fallen branches.

  “Don't get used to it,” I tell him.

  He laughs quietly, then states, “I won't.” A few more minutes pass as we walk and I concentrate on not passing out. I refuse to embarrass myself by passing out.

  “How about a cruise?” he asks as we stop for a moment so I can rest. I never knew a gunshot could hurt so much. Another reason to hate guns.

  “A cruise sounds nice,” I tell him. “It sounds relaxing. A big boat in the middle of an ocean sounds like it would be a good time.”

  Tee barks at us as he circles our feet. His tail is wagging fast as if he understands what we are talking about. “You too, T-Rex,” I assure him. “We all need a nice vacation.”

  “A cruise it is then,” Fedora says as he leads me further away from my makeshift grave.

  Prologue

  It has been about six weeks since Ward shot me and I looked into the gaping hole of my own grave. The doctor told me it wasn’t a serious gunshot. A clean shot he called it. Wonder what a dirty shot is like? It went in the front and went out the back without hitting anything but muscle. The doctor in Ashville did a good job patching me up and now it’s just a matter of waiting for it to heal completely.

  Sid and his boys turned on Angela, as I thought they would. Eric tells me they named her as the one who put the hit on Billy. When they went to pick her up, she had disappeared. She's out there somewhere.

  As for Billy, when I was in the hospital with my shoulder, I looked in on the kid. He looked so lost in all the bandages, but he was in good spirits. I don’t think the boy can be down for long. We talked and I told him everything that had happened since the day Sid and his boys beat the crap out of him. He enjoyed hearing about all the adventures.

  I told him about the cruise that Fedora so kindly offered and he jumped at the chance to come along. He needs some good ocean air to finish healing. He’s a good kid and deserves some fun.

  Eric has told me that Ward has not said a word. He'll probably be looking at a lifetime behind bars. Good place for him. Fedora told me that the DNA on the cigarette butt I gave him matched Ward. It also matched DNA at several unsolved murder scenes once Eric got the information. Ward hired himself a high priced lawyer. It'll be months before his case is heard. I'll have to testify, but for now, I can put him out of my mind.

  Fedora came through with the cruise. We leave in two weeks. Turns out he wants to invest in a cruise line. So for him this cruise will be for business. For me, it will be a much-needed vacation. It should be interesting, as Fedora has invited my mother to come along. He also invited all our friends from Ashville.

  Xenos and Mama politely turned him down. Seems the club is doing a booming business since word got out that they helped take down a murderer. I'm happy for them. The chess club still meets every Tuesday night.

  Cynthia also turned down the invitation for the cruise as she has started real construction on the Wenner place. She decided she would build her father's dream. She asked Xenos and Mama to run the place when it's done. They accepted.

  As for me, I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing cruise. Tee and I need this vacation. What can happen in the middle of an ocean?