Mind Slide (29 page)

His arm was through the front door, the rest of his body ready to follow, when he saw movement in the bushes between houses.

“
You gotta be shittin' me.”

He watched the shadows move to the back of the house as he slid back to his body.

As soon as he felt the car seat under him he reached under the passenger's seat for his knife. He jumped out of the car and took two steps.

He forgot about the post mind slide nausea.

He bent over and grabbed his knees. His pizza from earlier came up, spraying across the sidewalk. He wiped sweat from his forehead and tried to jog, his legs still weak.

He circled around the block and cut through backyards as he drew closer to the Lowdry home. He hopped a few fences, and almost got bit by a dog.

There was movement in the Lowdry dining room as he landed in their backyard. A quick flash by the window. A man dragging a woman with his arm around her neck.

“
Bastards stole my idea.”

He heard gunshots. The back door was cracked open. He stayed in a half crouch as he entered their kitchen.

Brian Lowdry used the wall as cover. He leaned out and fired three times at a target Gabriel couldn't see. There was blood on his arm.

The kitchen light was on, and cast Gabriel's shadow over Brian. The cop turned around, his gun aimed at Gabriel's head. His body hung out of cover slightly.

Before the cop could fire, two shots rang out from the dining room. One found Brian's back.

His face winced in pain before he fell to the floor. He was exposed, half his body falling into the dining room.

Gabriel ran forward and pulled the gun from his hand.

He stuck his arm around the corner and fired wildly. He heard glass break and wood splinter. There was silence, then he heard a van's tires screech in front of the house.

He risked sticking his head around the wall. The dining room was in shambles. Chairs knocked over. Food scattered all over the table. A gun on the floor.

A body lay motionless, face down on the living room floor.

This wasn't a man in a suit, but in black pants and a shirt. He wore a cap over his head. A pool of blood formed under him.

Gabriel could see the scene in his head. The men burst through the back door and caught the family off guard. Took the wife and daughter while the husband tried to fight them off, unsuccessfully.

At least he took one down with him.

“
So much for my leverage.”

He was almost out the back door when he heard a soft thump upstairs.

He stepped over Suit's agent and crossed the living room. There was a sniffle as he walked up the stairs.

He walked down the hall and turned into the first bedroom he came to. Obviously a little girl's room. Ponies, princesses, and pink all over the place. He peered under the bed to see a little girl laying on her stomach, tears streaming from her eyes.

“
Hello there,” Gabriel said. He rubbed the top of his scarred head. He could only imagine how he looked to a child. “What's your name?”

She was quiet.

“
All the bad guys are gone. You can come out now.”

“
Where's my mom and dad?”

“
I don't know about your mom. Your dad is downstairs on the floor.”

The little girl gasped. “Daddy!”

“
Let's go see him. Come on out of there. My name's Gabriel. What's yours?”

“
Dani.”

“
Let's go, Dani.”

Gabriel tried to hide the gun behind his back as the little girl crawled out from under the bed. She followed him down the hall and down the stairs. She stopped when she saw the man in black in the living room.

“
It's okay, Dani. Just ignore him.”

He grabbed the girl's hand and led her through the living room. She cried when she saw her father, not moving on the kitchen floor.

“
Is Daddy okay?”

“
I'm not sure. I'm not a doctor.” He checked for a pulse. “He's alive.”

Dani touched her father's shoulder. “Daddy? Wake up. Are you okay?”

Gabriel looked down at his perfect leverage. He knew Suit wouldn't care, but Mason and Kelly would jump through any hoop he put in front of them if he had Dani.

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

He dropped to his side on the floor and extended the gun outright. The agent in black crawled across the dining room floor and was almost under the table. He was going for the gun that dropped during Brian's firefight. His outstretched arm was only a foot from the weapon.

“
Stop!” Gabriel shouted.

The agent froze, their eyes meeting.

Five tense seconds passed. There was a table and chair leg in the way, but Gabriel couldn't miss.

“
Dani, I want you to go into the corner and face the wall. Put your fingers in your ears, okay? Can you do that for me?”

The little girl did as she was told, taking one last glance at her father.

“
Now, listen to me,” Gabriel said. “You are a worker bee, a nobody. I know you're just following orders, and you probably don't have a clue what's going on. I don't want to kill you. You have a family?”

The man hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“
If you want to see them again, you'll crawl backwards. I'll take that gun, and be on my way. If you move another inch forward, I will kill you, and I won't lose a bit of sleep over it.”

Gabriel watched the agent think it over. He didn't make a move one way or the other. Ten seconds passed. Gabriel kept his weapon pointed at the man's head.

The agent lunged for the gun.

Gabriel fired twice. The first shot caught the man in the neck. The second smacked his temple. He slumped to the floor, his lifeless eyes still on the gun.

“
Stupid son of a bitch.”

He stood up and approached Dani. He grabbed the girl's hands and pulled her fingers out of her ears.

“
It's okay, Dani. It's all over.”

“
Can I talk to my Dad?”

He sighed. “Yeah. Just stay behind the wall, okay?”

He watched as the little girl knelt by her father and whispered in his ear.

Two minutes ago Gabriel had planned to take the little girl back to his motel. Maybe feed her a slice of pizza and call Mason, demand a trade for the flash drive.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't take her away from her father.

“
I'm such a softie.”

As always, plans would have to change. He tried to keep his mind focused on the goal. Getting the flash drive and a few more kills would seal the deal. He had to avoid getting sidetracked. First, it was stalking Donnie in Florida long enough to get his phone number, to tell him his wife was cheating on him.

Now, it would be trying to save Dani's father.

He grabbed the phone from the kitchen wall and dialed 911.

“
Hi, how you are tonight? Listen, I've got a police officer shot in his home. You'd better get over here.”

He set the phone on the counter, not bothering to hang up, and knelt in front of Dani.

“
Okay, people are on the way to take care of your dad. You stay right here with him.”

“
What about Mommy?”

“
I don't know where...She's fine. She'll be home soon. It was nice meeting you, Dani.”

Gabriel was surprised when Dani reached out and hugged him around the neck.

“
Thank you, Mister Gabriel.”

He had no idea what she was thanking him for.

But it felt good.

“
You're welcome, Dani. I have to run now.”

He gave her a final wave as he ran through the back door.

Mason slowly opened his eyes and moaned. He felt like he'd been asleep for days. He couldn't make out any shapes, but could make out the color green and smelled pine in the air. There was a big white circle over his head. His vision finally cleared up enough to recognize the moon.

“
Mason?”

He looked over the steering wheel to see Kelly. She wore different clothes, and was gathering the wet clothes she hung earlier from a tree branch.

She ran across the dirt path and embraced him from the side of the Jeep. He wrapped an arm around her. Everything was still hazy, but her scent comforted him. He hugged her and buried his head against her shoulder.

“
I thought you'd never wake up.”

“
What time is it?”

“
Almost eleven. You've been out of it all night.”

He winced as he rubbed the sore spot on his arm. His last memory was a stinging pain.

“
What the hell did they shoot me with?”

“
With that.” She pointed next to him, at the large dart she retrieved from the back of his seat.

“
Are we safe?”

She nodded. “I think so. I took over driving, got us to the woods. I found a trail and followed it for a while.”

He opened the door and climbed out, almost falling to the ground. She caught him by the arms to help steady him. He hugged her, leaning his weight on her slightly. She kept a hand on his chest.

His clothes were stiff from the chlorinated pool water. He glanced at her and noticed her new shorts and sleeveless shirt.

“
Our clothes from shopping earlier,” she said. “We left them in the Jeep. I, uh, wasn't sure if you'd mind me stripping you naked and changing your clothes.”

He didn't know what she had to go through to get them to the woods, but it only reminded him of how amazing she was.

He kissed her. The gesture caught her by surprise. She circled her arms around his waist. She was almost in her own little world before he pulled away. She caught her breath and felt her face turning red. The man could kiss.