Ray and Patty approached the officer and the two teenagers. This time — this cycle, as the terminology had arisin — they hadn’t waited for the phone call. Ray had called Patty by cell phone, and they had arrived separately but simultaneously on Anton Court, she from the precinct and he from the dentist’s office.
Ray addressed the officer. “Looks like you had the same idea we did: Don’t wait for the call this time.”
“Yeah. Good thing, too. Probably prevented one of the killings.”
“Which one?”
“The woman.”
One of the teenagers said, “She was naked.”
“What?” said Patty.
The other teenager said, “She ran right out of the house naked.”
“What are your names?” Patty said.
“I’m Will,” the first teenager said. “That’s Jeff.”
Jeff waved.
“So,” Ray said, “There were no gunshots this time?”
“Oh yeah,” said Jeff. “That, too. There were two shots. One right after the reset, and another one when we were trying to follow the naked lady.”
“You followed her?”
“Sort of. But we didn’t know what to do.”
Jeff said, “We called to her and told her she could come into our house.”
Will said, “Because it would be safe there, that’s all.”
Jeff said, “But she just yelled at us to get out of the street, that he was coming with a gun.”
“Did she say who was coming?” Patty asked.
“She didn’t say, but we figure it was her husband, the guy who killed her before.”
Ray asked, “Where did she go?”
The officer said, “We picked her up. Took her downtown.”
“What’s the situation inside?”
“The young guy is dead. Looks like he bled out through the groin.”
“Jesus,” said Jeff.
“There was a second gunshot wound in his neck, but there wasn’t much bleeding from that.”
“Any information on the shooter? On Roberge?”
“We picked him up, too. He was waiting in the living room when we got here, his pistol on the coffee table. He was no trouble at all. Put his hands up when we entered. Just said, ‘This is getting old.’”
“So maybe he’s done with this crap, then.”
“What do you mean?” Jeff said. “You got him in jail, don’t you? How’s he going to kill her in jail?”
“I don’t think jail is going to deter him,” Ray said. “About twenty eight hours from now I figure we’re going to — what did you call it? — reset again, and he’s right back here with his gun. Let’s just hope he’s seen the error of his ways.”
Patty said, “I’ll settle for him recognizing the futility of all this. No matter what he does, his wife just isn’t going to stay dead.”
“She’s like a zombie,” Will said.
Jeff said, “A totally hot naked zombie.”
Ray said, “I’m sorry I missed it.”
Patty rolled her eyes.
Ray said, “For forensic purposes, I mean.”
Tags: manuscript