PIKE SLID OUT OF HIS JEEP, and three-sixtied the area. He saw Cole’s car and Devon’s car, but no black sedan. Turning, he noticed a gleaming white Mercedes, so clean it had to be new. Something about it bothered him. Pike drifted closer, and saw a temporary registration fixed to the corner of the windshield. Closer, he saw the dealer card, and touched the Python under his sweatshirt. Ekezian Motor Craft, same as the black sedan, a dealership that didn’t exist.
Pike ran for the gate. A muffled but unmistakable gunshot cracked from the building. One second later, a second.
Pike hit the gate at a sprint, and hoisted himself over.
Harvey’s shirt glistened red when he appeared behind Amber, and he fell into her like a collapsing bear.
Stemms shouted.
“Harvey!”
I hit Stemms hard from the side, and drove him away from his gun. He rolled with the hit, and tried to spin free, but I locked his arm close, and moved with him, keeping the fight on the floor. My pistol was in his pocket. Stemms clubbed me with his free hand, and I clawed at the pocket with mine.
Amber’s pistol cracked again, and then again. She still had the gun, but Harvey held her hands away, and the bullets slapped the wall.
Behind us, Kenny Loan clawed at the wound on his chest, shouting as if the rest of us weren’t fighting for our lives.
“I’m shot. Call 911, for Christ’s sake. Look at my blood.”
He fell off the couch, and crawled toward the door.
Stemms hit me again, and then Amber shouted.
“Help! He’s getting the gun! Help!”
She was kicking and thrashing, but Harvey had her wrists and was working his way to the gun.
I pulled Stemms closer and shouted.
“Amber!”
Amber pushed her gun toward me.
I punched Stemms three hard, fast times, then released him, and went for her pistol.
A single loud gunshot froze the scene.
Kenneth Loan sat propped against the wall, burping red bubbles, and holding the Snubby. He tried to aim at me, but his gun swayed like a reed in the wind.
“You bastard. You bastard.”
The Snubby dropped, and Ken Loan tipped over.
Stemms scooped up his pistol, pointed it at me, and scrambled to his feet.
“Harvey?”
“I’m fine.”
Harvey reached inside his very nice jacket, and took out a pistol.
Stemms checked Kenny Loan, and made a face.
“He’s done. Asshole.”
Harvey said, “Fuck’m.”
Stemms kept his gun on me, and hurried to his partner.
“Get up, Harvey. C’mon. Let’s go.”
I glanced at the silver pistol on the floor, and wondered if I could reach it before I died. Stemms would shoot me, but maybe I could save Amber.
When I looked up, Stemms lifted his gun. He smiled.
“I’ll give you a shot. Go for it. You never know.”
I glanced at the gun again, and thought maybe I should, and I did. I dove for the little silver pistol, and braced for a bullet that never arrived.
The front door crashed in as if it were hit by a locomotive, and splinters peppered the room.
Pike shot Stemms twice in the chest.
Harvey put his gun to Amber’s head, and I shot him once in the face. The bigger man fell over dead.
I cleared their guns quickly, and pointed at Loan.
“Gun. Get 911.”
Pike took the Snubby, and called emergency as I rolled Harvey off Amber.
“You okay? Are you shot?”
She rolled onto her back, and took deep breaths, and finally sat up. Her thin top was wet with Harvey’s blood.
Pike was talking with emergency services.
I checked Stemms, then pulled off his jacket, and pressed it to Kenneth Loan’s chest. He was alive, but he was dying.
“Hang on. Paramedics are coming.”
He pushed my hands, maybe because he didn’t want to be saved, but I held the compress to his wound.
“Was it Hoop? You? Why was it so important?”
His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear him. I leaned close, and put my ear to his lips.
“. . . didn’t trust . . . didn’t trust . . .”
I didn’t know what he was saying, and he probably didn’t know, either.
Climbing to my feet took forever. I saw Pike. I went to him, and hugged him. I held him for a very long time.
He whispered.
“You okay?”
I nodded, but I held him tight, and he held me.
After a while I stepped away, and called Dani Cassett. She told me she’d arrive as fast as possible.
I walked over to Amber, and sat on the floor beside her.
“Okay?”
“Feels weird, like I’m inside a really big can and everything echoes. Even the lights look weird.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I thanked her.
“Thank you. For what you did.”
“I was really scared.”
“Yeah. That’s how it is.”
She was quiet.
“You know what’s really weird?”
I shook my head. I heard sirens. Coming closer.
“When they make the movie, I’ll be the hero.”
I had nothing to say. I put my arm around her, and we sat together until the police arrived.