Abby Ch. 24

Passion In James County XI

Abby

By D.C. Roi

Chapter twenty-five

"Abby, you say Lee is cheating on you. have you been faithful to him?" Ellen Coughlin asked.

"What?" Abby, taken off guard by the question, replied. "Ellen, why...why would you ask me a question like that?"

"I've been wondering," Ellen said. Her voice and expression took on a coolness Abby hadn't heard before. "I mean, I suppose it might be possible that someone whose husband is ignoring her and having an affair might feel as if she had the right to do the same thing her husband was doing."

"Ellen!" Abby said, "What on earth are you talking about?"

Ellen continued, acting as if she hadn't heard Abby. "I guess it might be possible," she went on, "that a woman in that position, a woman with no morals, a total slut, might feel that she had the right to sleep with a man other than her husband. Especially a woman who has already destroyed one marriage."

Ellen was glowering at Abby now, her face was red and there was terrible anger in her eyes. "Maybe a woman like that would even sink so low as to seduce the husband of her best friend," she continued, her voice almost a growl.

"Ellen...I..." Abby said, stunned. Ellen knew what she'd done with Bill! This was awful.

"James County Fifteen to Operations," Greg said into the radio microphone. "Have you been able to contact the detective team at my place?"

"Negative, James County Fifteen," the dispatcher replied. "I even tried land-line, but nobody answered. I did leave a message on your answering machine, though."

Greg didn't understand why nobody was answering the phone at his house. Abby was there, she should have answered, even if the detectives hadn't gotten to the house yet. He reached down and flipped the switches which activated his emergency lights and siren. Then he picked up the radio microphone again.

"Operations, get as much backup as you can and have them meet me at my place," he told the dispatcher. "I think something very wrong is going on there."

"Copy, James County Fifteen," the dispatcher said. "I'll get right on it."

Abby, shocked to discover that Ellen knew what she'd done with Ellen's husband, stared at Ellen, not sure what to say. She saw the woman pick up her purse, then reach inside, and wondered what Ellen was up to. Her eyes got wider and it became difficult to breathe when Ellen's hand emerged holding a small, shiny pistol.

"I thought we were friends, Abby," Ellen said. Her voice sounded calm, but her face was flushed and her eyes literally glowed white-hot with rage. "I believed you were someone I could trust, someone who would never hurt me. I know now I was wrong. You weren't my friend, not at all. What kind of friend seduces her friend's husband?"

"Ellen...I..." Abby said. Wide-eyed, she continued to stare at the pistol which her friend held pointed at her. "Ellen, you have to understand. I...my state of mind wasn't what it should have been, I..."

"You can't talk your way out of this, you slut," Ellen said. "You cheap bitch, you destroyed my marriage. You took away my happiness. You have to pay for that."

"Ellen, please!" Abby begged. "You...you don't understand. You...you can't mean this. You...you don't know what you're doing!"

Ellen laughed coldly. "Oh, yes. I do know what I'm doing," she said. "I know only too well. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me. You will pay the ultimate price for destroying my marriage."

Stan Bixby turned to his partner as he reached for the door to Greg's cabin. "You know, Lexi, if we wind up having to stay up here over night, I sure as hell hope Atkinson's got a satellite dish," he said. "There's a championship wrestling match on tonight and..." He opened the door, looked inside the house, and exclaimed, "Hey, what the fuck...?"

Alexis Loomis saw her partner stiffen, then she heard three soft pops and thought, "Damn! Those sounded like gunshots! What the hell is going on?"

The next thing she knew, her partner, staggering backward, collapsed on top of her and both of them tumbled down the cabin steps. Alexis heard a snap and felt a spear of pain run up her leg. She didn't know what it was, but something had broken. She tried to get Stan off her, and fumbled, trying to reach her gun as she did.

When Abby heard the door open, fear stronger than any she'd ever experienced swept through her. She was afraid Greg had come back and had walked in on this scene. Given Ellen's frame of mind, she could very well shoot Greg. Then, as she gazed in horror, Ellen swung the gun in the direction of the door and it went off.

Abby was no less scared than she'd been before, but now she was angry, too. She was sure Ellen had shot Greg, the only friend she had in the world right. Before the anger-crazed woman could turn the gun back toward her, Abby leapt from her chair and grabbed Ellen's arm.

Alexis finally managed to slide out from under her partner. The pain she was feeling was so intense she could barely focus but, somehow, she managed to crawl back up the steps, toward the door. There was an armed suspect inside the house, someone who'd shot her partner, and if she could, she was going to get him! Vaguely, she thought she heard the sound of a siren, but she wasn't sure if she was imagining that or not. All she knew was she had a job to do. She had to get the shooter! Then, when she tried to push the door open, everything went black.

Abby and Ellen rolled around on the kitchen floor. Abby clung to Ellen's gun hand desperately. She knew if Ellen got her hand free, she'd be the next person shot. If that happened, there would be no one to get help for Greg.

Greg raced up the road behind the cabins, whipped his vehicle into his driveway, then he jammed on the brakes slid to a stop in front of his cabin. He saw Stan and Alexis lying on his porch and, before the vehicle stopped moving, he was out, his gun in his hand. Who'd done this? Was Abby OK?

He reached back into the police vehicle. "Operations from James County Fifteen," he said, forcing himself to speak clearly. "Get me backup now! We have shots fired, two officers down. I'm going to need rescue, too!"

"We copy," the dispatcher said, sounding a little agitated, "You should have a state patrol unit and a couple of Lincoln County units there in a couple of minutes. I'll start rescue right away!"

Holding his pistol carefully, Greg edged toward the house. He bent and checked for a pulse in Stan Bixby's neck and found one. There was a lot of blood on the big man's chest, though, and bubbles were forming in some of it. "Sorry, Big Guy," Greg whispered, "I've got to get this situation secured. Rescue's on the way."

Next, Greg checked Alexis for a pulse. She had one, and was covered with blood, too. He wasn't sure if she'd been shot or not, but she didn't look good.

Greg heard sirens. For a second he debated whether or not he should wait for backup to get there before trying to enter the house. Then a crashing sound came from inside the closed door.

"Abby!" Greg thought. He decided not to wait. Holding his gun out in front of him, he pushed his door open and went inside.

Abby continued to struggle desperately to keep her grip on the hand in which Ellen held the gun as she and the maddened woman thrashed around on the floor. Then, as they flailed, her hand was slammed against the side of a bookcase. It went numb and Ellen jerked the gun away and struggled to her knees.

"Now, you slut!" Ellen yelled, pointing the gun at Abby. "Now it's your turn!"

Abby, more frightened than she'd ever been in her life, closed her eyes and waited to die.

Greg saw the strange woman separate herself from Abby and get to her knees. He heard the woman yell and saw the gun in her hand. Obviously, neither she nor Abby had heard him enter. He started to aim his gun at her; then he changed his mind, took two quick steps across the room, grabbed the woman's gun hand and jerked it toward the ceiling, just as the gun went off.

Before the woman could fire a second time, Greg yanked the gun out of her hand and, without thinking, he hit her beside the head with his other hand. He'd forgotten he still had his gun in it. The woman collapsed onto the floor, the side of her head bloody.

Abby's eyes were still squeezed shut, heard the shot and was surprised she didn't feel anything. She'd expected being shot to hurt. Maybe it didn't hurt because she was dead.

"Abby, are you all right?" Greg asked as he pushed the unconscious woman onto her belly and handcuffed her hands behind her. "Abby!"

Abby heard Greg's voice, but she still thought she was dead. She opened her eyes and saw Greg kneeling over Ellen, who was lying on the floor in front of her. "Greg..." she said, "I...I thought you...you were...shot." Then she was wrapped in Greg's arms and her face pressed against his chest.