No More Swedish Meatballs Pt. 03

Kristen's sure landed on her feet, Rita thought. Ryan's hot. I wonder how far she's gone with him.

"So," Ryan said to Tom and Rita, "were you able to pick out who's been watching the house?"

"Yeah," Rita replied. "Here's the thing," Rita said. "There are vans parked on the streets both at the front and the back of the house. So you guys are gonna have to creep in through the woods between the houses from about halfway down the hill. It's gonna be dicey if the fire doesn't catch the attention of both surveillance teams.

Ryan looked worried. "Maybe we should reconsider…."

"No," Kristen said. "There's great ground cover in the back yard. And with the distraction we should be able to get inside without trouble."

Rita looked at her watch. She was white as a ghost. "It's time. We should get moving. Remember," she cautioned Kristen, don't go in until you hear the fire siren."

"You be careful, Rita. Don't set yourself on fire or anything."

Leslie handed her car keys to Tom and the group left the restaurant. Rita scrambled into the back seat of Leslie's car while Tom and Leslie got in front. They waited about ten minutes before driving to the spot Tom had picked out earlier as best for their purposes.

Leslie got a bad case of nervous giggles as they drove towards the Hansen's. She felt like a teenager out on a prank. It was even worse when they pulled over and started to neck. She hadn't been necking in years. She felt so awkward. But it was for a good cause and Tom was quite a good kisser. After a few minutes Leslie relaxed and almost forgot what they were there for. Then Rita quietly opened the back door and slipped into the darkness.

Ryan and Kristen took a long, roundabout route to their staging area in order to avoid the surveillance team at the back of the Hansen home. They crossed route thirty, slipped between the shops on the other side of the highway and made their way to the railroad tracks. They went over the tracks, up the bluff and through the fence into the schoolyard. After the schoolyard they took to the woods and made an end run around the van. Then they found a place in the undergrowth to sit and wait. They were both drenched with sweat by the time they found their spot. The moon was rising and the stars were bright in the night sky. Fireflies flickered closer to earth. An owl hooted nearby and off in the distance a freight train sang its lonesome song. Damn it, I should have brought insect repellant, Ryan thought as he slapped at a mosquito. This was the toughest part of an operation -- waiting and not knowing how events were going to unfold.

Rita slinked thought the underbrush like a shadow and found her way, unnoticed, to the blue spruce. She crawled under its branches and kneeled down on the carpet of dry pine needles. Her heart was thundering in her ears. She took off her pack and pulled out matches, lighter fluid and kindling. With trembling hands she laid the fire. Then she doused it with lighter fluid and set it to flame. It had been a dry spring. The tree went up in a blaze of glory taking some underbrush with it. The fire was bigger than planned. Rita got out fast and stuck to the woods as she made her way to the neighbor's house two doors down.

"Fire," she yelled as she pounded on the neighbor's back door. The neighbor ushered Rita inside and called the fire department. The loud, harsh fire siren went off immediately. Smooth as silk, Rita thought smugly as she left the neighbor's house. At this point she was supposed to head for the Burger King but she wanted to see what was happening on the street. So she walked back towards the Hansen's house.

There were two men in the surveillance van at the front of the house. They'd been bored stiff until Leslie's car pulled up. They had a good time watching the couple neck. They didn't see Rita slip out the back seat. They were off guard when the tree went up in flames. Everything happened so quickly they didn't have time to become suspicious. The fire department was on the scene within minutes. The pair watched in amusement as the fire department worked to bring the fire under control.

When the team on the street behind the Hansen house heard the commotion they weren't sure what was happening so they decided to leave their van and look into the matter. This gave Kristen and Ryan the opportunity to slip into the house. Kristen led the way with her back door key in hand. Once inside she guided Ryan downstairs to the cellar.

"That's an amazing piece of carpentry," Ryan said as Kristen shoved the bookcase aside. It glided smoothly inward revealing Karl's hidden office.

"Yeah," Kristen agreed. "He's pretty talented. They entered the room and Ryan turned on a little pen light.

Karl had given Kristen the combination to the safe when he first showed her the room. Kristen crossed her fingers hoping Karl hadn't changed the numbers.

"I can't see a thing," Kristen complained in a low voice.

"Here," Ryan replied, shining the light on the safe.

Kristen's hands shook so much she misdialed the first time around. "Crap," she said as she tugged on the door of the safe. "I'll have to do it again."

"Hurry," Ryan said. He was nervous. Getting in had been easy. But now he was worried about getting out.

Finally the safe door sprang open. It was full of papers.

"Bingo," Ryan said. He began stuffing the papers into a satchel he'd brought along for this purpose. Once he'd emptied out the safe he flicked off the pen light and turned to Kristen. "Alright. Let's get out of here."

They'd been in the house for no more than eight minutes but it felt like an eternity. They crept out of the office and up the stairs, through the kitchen and out the back door. When they reached the back porch they stopped to check the status of the fire. It was nearly out.

"Damn it," Ryan cursed, "the surveillance teams are back in place. "We're pinned. What are we going to do?" If it were just him, he'd make a break for it and hope for the best. But he didn't want to put Kristen at risk.

"Wait," Kristen said. "Rita and Tom are out there. They'll come up with something."

So they waited. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Suddenly there was a loud BANG, right in the vicinity of the van on the back street. Then they saw Rita running hell for leather through the back yard followed by one of the men from the van. Rita zigged and zagged, and then ran for the street drawing attention away from the house.

"That's our cue," Kristen said. "Let's go."

Ryan and Kristen dashed through the yard and dived into the underbrush. They stopped for a minute to catch their breath. Tom came crashing through from the front yard after the men chasing Rita yelling "you leave my sister alone." The whole scene had the flavor of Keystone Cops. Kristen and Ryan started to chuckle as they made their way though the woods and headed towards the Burger King. They were laughing out right by the time they got to the school yard.

Leslie was waiting anxiously for them when they got to the restaurant. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"It was a little more problematical than we planned," Ryan said. "But the O'Leary's really came through."

"I told you Rita was intrepid," Kristen said proudly. "I'm parched." She ordered a Coke and then began describing the evening's events. She was just about done with her narration when Tom and Rita arrived.

"You made it! Rita said happily."

"Yeah. Thanks to you guys. What on earth did you use to get them out of the van?"

"A cherry bomb I'd been saving for a special occasion," Rita said jabbering like an excited magpie. I decided to stick around and watch after I called the fire in. Anyway, we thought you might need a second distraction when we saw how fast the fire was being put out. Tom sprinted home and grabbed the bomb. He wanted to be the one to throw it but he's not as good at dodging as I am. So we worked it out that he'd play the protective big brother after the guards went after me."

"That was awfully dangerous," Ryan chided the O'Leary's.

"So what were we supposed to do? Leave you and Kristen stuck in the house or watch you get caught? Forget about it," Tom said. "Rita's quicker than greased lightening when she wants to be. And I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. "I'd have kicked the hell out of them if they caught Rita. Besides, what were they gonna do if they caught us? Kill us? I don't think so. We were a lot safer than you were."

Ryan was impressed by their logic. "Thanks," he said, "I owe you one."

"Any time," Tom said. Then he looked at Leslie. "It was my pleasure."

Leslie laughed. "We made a good team, didn't we?"

"Yeah. Can I have your phone number? I wouldn't mind trying that first part again.

Leslie shook her head ruefully. But she was pleased. Too bad he's so young.

So, did you guys get what you were looking for in the house?" Rita asked.

"We got something. We didn't have time to look. We just grabbed and ran. I want to wait 'til we're home to see what we got. We should get moving."

Tom and Rita looked disappointed.

"I'll call you," Leslie said to Tom. "You have a right to know what we got."

"Is that the only reason?" Tom asked.

Leslie didn't know how to answer. She just shrugged.

"Well, I'll look forward to your call, whatever the reason." He smiled and gave her a wink. Then he stood up. "Come on Rita," he said. "We'd better be getting home. Mom and Dad are probably frantic by now."

Kristen looked at Rita. She wanted to cry. "I don't know when I'll see you again. They're going to pack me off to school in the fall. But I'll keep in touch." Then she scooted out of the booth and stood to give Rita a hug.

"You'd better." Rita said. "I'll come looking for you if you don't. This was the best adventure ever, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Kristen replied.

"So Ryan's the one, huh?" Rita whispered. "You're lucky. He's cool."

"I know."

Then Leslie hugged Tom. "You were great tonight. A real hero. Thanks.

"You know," Tom said quietly, "age isn't all that important if two people really connect. Just think about it, okay?" Then he kissed her lips softly.

"Okay. I will," Leslie said, bemused. Oh, I will think about it.

The group made their final goodbyes and left the restaurant. Tom and Rita headed home. They passed the Hansen house on their way. The fire department was gone. The side yard and the tree were in sorry shape – charred and sopping wet. The surveillance van was still in place. There was no way to know if the team thought the fire was suspicious.

Leslie asked Ryan to drive on the way home. She was beat. She stretched out on the back seat of the car and was asleep by the time they hit the highway. Ryan turned the radio on and let the tension ease out of his body as he drove.

Kristen was still running on an adrenaline high. She chattered about the evening's events for a while and then started singing along with the radio. A thunder storm overtook them when they were about halfway home. Lightening lit the sky and a hard driving rain splashed the windshield. Gusts of wind shook the car and visibility was almost nil. Kristen became quiet and Ryan slowed down to a crawl. The windshield wipers slapped in time with the rock and roll on the radio and were accompanied by thunder and the steady beating of the rain. Every once in a while a tractor trailer would speed by and almost swamp the little Dodge with a whoosh of rain water. Kristen tried to will the storm away without success.

Time seemed to slow down for Ryan as he maneuvered the vehicle along the treacherous expressway. He followed the lines of the road and the tail lights in front of him. He tried to keep a steady pace so the car behind wouldn't ram into him because of the poor visibility.

It was almost midnight by the time they got home. The storm was finally abating. The lightening was far off on the horizon and the thunder was a distant memory. The downpour was now a steady summer drizzle. Leslie woke up when the engine stopped. "Wow, are we home already? I was really out of it," she said as she stretched and moved to open the car door. "Hey, it's raining."

Ryan gave her a dour look. "You just slept through the monsoon of the month. I had to put pylons on the wheels to float us home."

Kristen laughed. "That's right. It was so windy I took off my shirt and used it as a sail. We've been bobbing around in the flood waters for forty days. I just saw a seagull so I guess we've finally found dry land."

"You guys are hopeless," Leslie replied.

"No. It was really quite a storm," Kristen said as she stepped out of the car right into a huge puddle. "Oh, crap. You see. The waters haven't completely receded yet." She raced between the raindrops to the front porch. "Hurry up and let me in. I'm getting soaked."

The house was dark and still when they entered the foyer. Leslie turned on lights as they made their way through the house to the library. They were anxious to see what they retrieved from Karl's safe. Ryan opened the satchel and pulled out the stack of papers.

"Dad's research," Kristen said in a small voice. She started sifting through the pages. "Is there a note or anything?"

"Doesn't look like it," Ryan replied.

"So what do we do now?" Kristen asked.

A wintry voice answered from the doorway. "You hand it over to me. And I'll take the girl as well." Max was standing there cool as ice with a gun aimed at Kristen's head.

"Well, well. Look what just slithered in," Ryan said disgustedly.

"Oh Christ." said Kristen. "You're a freaking bad penny. You always turn up at the wrong time. I hate you." She started to lunge for him. He said "don't" real sharply. Don't make me do you like I did your mother, he thought.

"My mother!" Kristen cried, not realizing Max hadn't spoken aloud. "What did you do to my mother? Shoot her? You bastard." Tears coursed down her face.

Leslie grabbed Kristen and pulled her into her arms. "Hush, she soothed. He didn't say anything about your mom. Calm down. He's got a gun."

"That's right Leslie. Get her calm. And you, pretty boy," he pointed to Ryan, "step away from the desk and put your hands where I can see them."

Ryan had been ready to jump on Max but he realized it was too risky. He raised his arms and moved over towards the women. He was grateful his jacket was well tailored. Max didn't know he was armed. "So how did you find us?" he asked, hoping to get Max talking, let his guard down. All it would take was a split second of lost concentration and Ryan would strike. Ryan knew his capabilities and knew how to weigh the odds.

"You left a trail a mile wide," Max said smugly. "You were so damned worried about Hurst you forgot all about me. I've been waiting on the sidelines, watching and listening ever since Evelyn left. Jim thought he was so smooth, screwing around with Karl's work and keeping the Company at bay. Meanwhile the Cabal's been acquiring talent and strengthening its position. I have to admit I was thrown when you made your play for Karl. And I'm impressed by Karl's resourcefulness. He seems to have bested all of us. For now. But I knew if I waited something would give. And it did tonight. Those kids did a good job but they didn't count on having me as a neighbor. Imagine my surprise when I saw Rita sneak out of the car and set the tree on fire. I figured something was up so I got in my car and parked in back street and waited."

"You followed us all that way through the storm."

"Yep. And now I'll just take that pile of papers you got from the house. Put them into your sack and hand it over nice and gently. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Huh unh," Ryan said steadily. "Come and get it."

"Oh no. That's not the way we're going to play." Max grabbed Kristen and twisted her arm behind her back. She cried out in pain. "Give me the papers."

"All right," Ryan said as he started to put the papers into the sack. "Just out of curiosity, what did become of Evelyn," he asked as he buckled the satchel. Time slowed down for him again. He took measure of the room. Kristen was being held roughly by Max. Leslie had crept slowly away from Max as he talked and was now at the far end of the library. Good girl. As far out of range as possible. Leslie was furtively looking for anything which could be used as a weapon.

"Evelyn's dead. But you already knew that," Max said coldly. Kristen started struggling. Max had her with one hand. The other held the gun. Ryan tossed the satchel at Max hard. Max had to let go of Kristen to catch it. She jumped away from Max and dove for the floor. Ryan pulled his gun. They both fired at the same time. Kristen screamed.

Ryan's aim was better than Max's. Max caught a bullet in his chest and went down hard. Ryan was thrown back against the desk by the force of a slug hitting his right shoulder. He staggered and fell and his gun flew out of his hand. Leslie jumped to pick it up as Kristen ran over to Ryan.

"Oh God, Oh God. Please don't be dead," Kristen cried. All she saw was blood. She couldn't tell where he was hit.

"It's my shoulder, Kristen," Ryan said weakly. "I'm not dead. Leslie, check on Max. Be careful," he said.

Kristen pulled herself together and ran into the living room to call 911. Leslie crawled over to Max who was barely breathing. She took the gun out of his hand. "We need a lot of bandages," she yelled to Kristen. She pressed both hands hard onto the hole in Max's chest trying to slow the gushing blood. Grab some towels from the linen closet. It's at the top of the steps to the left of the bathroom. Hurry!"

Kristen raced up the steps grabbed the towels and was back in a flash. She dumped a bunch of them on to the floor next to Leslie and then went to attend to Ryan's shoulder. "You dope," she said as she worked to slow the bleeding and make him more comfortable. "You weren't supposed to get hurt. How are you going to ride your bike with your arm in a sling? Now I'm gonna have to find some other hunk to drive me to California."

"You do that and I'll throttle you with my good arm. I'm not going to be an invalid you know."

"Promises, promises," Kristen quipped.

"Put that satchel somewhere safe, will you?" Ryan said." He was the only one who remembered the papers that'd caused all the trouble. He took over the task of staunching his wound and Kristen took the sack upstairs and buried it at the bottom of Leslie's closet.

It took the ambulance 15 minutes to get to Leslie's house. While they were waiting they devised a cover story for the cops who arrived with the EMT's. They told the cops that Ryan got in the way of a prowler.

Leslie had tried her best to keep Max alive but he breathed his last breath as he was lifted into the gurney by the EMTs. There wasn't room in the ambulance for Kristen to ride with Ryan. She kissed him as he was rolled into the vehicle and promised to meet him in the emergency room after they finished with the police and had a chance to get cleaned up. Both Kristen and Leslie were covered with blood. After the cops left they took turns showering and stopped in the kitchen long enough to have cold pizza washed down with beer before heading off to the Hospital.

"How you doing, kid?" Leslie asked worriedly once they hit the highway. "You've been through the wars today. Were you surprised to learn about your mom?"

"I don't know. I'm kind of numb. And I'm hurt Ryan didn't tell me. He must have known. That's probably what set Dad off, you know? Max was best man at their wedding and he was supposed to have cared about Mom. She trusted him enough to run off with him and he shot her. Christ. It's so fucking sad. It makes me wonder if any male/female relationship can work. Poor Mom. No wonder she was crazy – married to dad and hung up on Max. I'd cry but I don't seem to have any tears right now."