HIS GUN TRAINED ON Edward and Charlotte, Paul backed into the living room and pulled out his cell phone.
“Stop where you are and put the phone down.” John Elkhart commanded from the office entrance.
“Somehow I knew you weren’t far off. Nice setup,” Paul sneered.
“Nice setup? What the hell is he talking about, John?” Edward asked. Feeling alarmed, his gaze shifted between the two men hoping for an answer.
Paul said, “Well, you see, Edward, you and Charlotte here were used as bait.” Moving to one side, he trained his weapon on Charlotte and surveyed John’s position.
“Bait?!” Edward clenched his fists.
“That’s right! The two of you were just squirmy little worms at the end of a hook,” Paul jeered.
“Paul, put your gun down!” John insisted more forcefully.
“I don’t think so.” Paul moved a few steps diagonally to have all three in his line of vision. “If your finger even twitches on that trigger, she’s dead.” He glanced at the chair braced under the door knob. “We’ve got a bit of a stand-off here, John, don’t you think? So, why don’t you just relax that finger of yours? No? Well, under the circumstances, I guess I can live with that. Did you get that?” He chortled. “I can live with that.”
John took a couple of steps into the room. “Stay away from that door.”
“You’ve always been able to outguess me, John. Too bad Garcia and Antonio didn’t see you for the Judas you are.”
John stepped farther into the living room. He could see that Paul’s grip on his Glock tighten.
“Come no farther, John, unless you prefer messy,” he said, backing toward the front door.
“There’s no need for messy,” John replied.
“You do know that that report is useless.” Paul positioned himself closer to the table.
“That’s not my understanding, Paul.” John kept him in the sight-line of his weapon.
“Admit it. You’ve been checkmated. Robarts is one of ours.”
“Thank you. Now we have the last missing piece of the puzzle”
“We? Oh, I see.” He sighed. “The place is bugged.” John nodded. Measuring his movement carefully, Paul placed his hand on Edward’s shoulder. “Hand me the envelope.” Edward swung the envelope up catching Paul off guard, hitting him squarely on the nose. Paul's gun went off as John fired.
“No!” Edward dived across the table to Charlotte. She had been shot. Earnestly, Edward applied pressure to stop the bleeding.
Teary eyed, Paul attempted to focus for his next shot. John’s first shot had grazed his shoulder. He fired again. “Stay still, you sonofabitch!" His throat exploded. When he fell to the floor, he heard his life gurgle away.
Detective James Brant and four SWAT members busted in. Immediately, James went to John who had been hit and was lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
Once the place had been secured, the paramedics entered to attend to John and Charlotte.
Fifteen minutes later, Edward watched the ambulances head up his drive and onto the main road. He was unaware that James had eased up beside him. “They'll be all right, Edward. They're in good hands." He turned to one of his men, “Take Mr. Slocum along to the hospital."
Numbed by what had just occurred and in shock, Edward climbed into the cruiser. He hoped with all his heart that James was right. The thought of losing her too would be too hard to bear.