Finding My Way Home Ch. 06

Part VI - The Finale

From Parts I - V: I returned from Afghanistan, having been shot in the shoulder and having two surgeries to repair it. I got out of the Army to help my mother who had bladder cancer and ran into the high school girl on whom I had had a crush. I found out she was a single mother of a young daughter and tried to ask her out, only to have her accuse me of treating her like someone who I thought couldn't take care of herself and needed to be saved. She realized her mistake and we dated once then I was invited to her house, where I ran into her ex, who had drugged her and then knocked me out. After the incident, Lily says she won't see me anymore, but then, one night she arrived, drunk, and fucks me. When she wakes, she says it was a mistake and goes back to not seeing me anymore. After a few weeks of being ignored and turned down by Lily, I asked the waitress Cindy out and she proved to be a sexual dynamo. After getting very close to Cindy and having wonderful sex, Buck gets sentenced and his family comes after me, leading to Cindy getting killed. When I find out that Lily had sent Buck's family to Cindy's address, I take it out on Lily... with a belt. Then I find she was protecting her daughter and I feel shitty. Our mothers find out and I am lucky I escape with my life. I visit a buddy in Chicago, but must return home and move on. I start a new job as the DA's investigator and run into Lily one night. She throws herself at me, but I cannot get away from the past.

Chapter 17: Me and guns don't get along.

16 March 2010

I continued to think about the situation with Lily. I just couldn't seem to get past what we had been thru. It was too difficult to think about with the hangover still affecting me, so I decided to put it out of my mind for a while.

27 March 2010

It was a few days later, a Saturday, and I was working on tracking down something on a guy who was being charged with grand larceny. The prosecutor had asked for information on the guy from his previous employers and his previous living location. I was checking it out using some web sites that the district attorney's office had paid for access to. It was amazing to me what was put on line.

I was sitting there at about 2:30, taking a break and ingesting my favorite Diet Pepsi and a turkey sandwich from the deli across the street, when several phones started ringing quickly in succession. First the DAs phone went off, and then it went to each of the other offices. I glanced around. Whoever was calling was working through all the lawyers in the office. It was a Saturday, but all of them rang. I wondered what was so important that this would happen.

I continued to finish my sandwich as I surfed for information and checked my email. I was bored and was getting ready to leave when my cell phone went off. I took it out and looked at the number. I didn't recognize it, but took the call.

"Hello?"

"Jon Kenton?"

"Yes?"

"This is Detective John Wilson. Do you remember me?"

"Of course." It was the good guy from the night of the incident with Cindy. "What can I do for you?"

"We are trying to reach everyone involved, but we just received word that Buck escaped from prison."

"What!?"

"Yes, I know. Sounds ridiculous, but there was some sort of riot there and then a few guys got out. Buck was one of them."

"Which prison was he at?"

"Decatur. It's a medium security prison."

"Okay. How long ago?"

"About four hours ago they had everything locked back down and were able to do a roll call. He's probably been gone for about 5 hours."

"Roger that. I'll be on the lookout for him around here. That's why you're calling, right? You think he might try to come here?"

"Definitely. You were the one who caught him at Ms. Johnson's house and then you were the one who killed his father and brother. I don't know if he's going to try to find out where you live or if he already knows. I do know that he knows where Lily lives and he may try to use her to get to you."

"Okay. Got it. I've got to go and see about Lily. Does she know yet?" I had grabbed my stuff and logged out. I started heading toward the door.

"Her mother does, but we haven't been able to reach Lily. Do you have her cell number? Her mother called, but said it went straight to voice mail."

"Okay, got it. I've got to run. Did you guys send someone to the house as well?"

"Yes. There's a local sheriff's deputy out front. Nobody's home."

I was at my car now. "Later, detective. Can I reach you at this number?"

"Yes."

"Bye." I started my car and backed out in a hurry. This guy was a fucking lunatic and I was afraid for Lily and Lauren. I left that small town as I left a voice mail for my mother on her cell and Lily on her cell. Neither answered. I called the café and they said she had come by earlier to check on folks, but had left about noon. I called her house and got no response. I was worried. I called my mother's land line and she answered. Her cell was off and plugged in charging. I told her the situation and said I would be home in about 20 minutes to pick up my gun. She didn't even try to argue with me. She just said she would run it out to the car. She knew how dangerous this was. I pulled up in front of my house, slammed on the brakes, and my mother ran out and handed me my gun. I pulled it out, loaded it with the hollow points, and took off. I put it between my legs and rushed toward Lily's.

I picked up my phone and called Detective Wilson again. "It's Jon, do you know who the guy is who is posted in front of Lily's?"

"No, but the local sheriff said they have a guy out front in a marked police car. He looked around and didn't see any sign of anyone home and nobody answered the door. There was no sign of forced entry, so he's just sitting out front."

"Okay, I'm almost there. Hang on."

I pulled around the corner and saw the police car. I pulled up alongside it and looked. It was empty.

"There's nobody in the car."

"Procedure calls for them to stay with their vehicle. Sometimes they don't follow that, but I made sure the Sheriff knew to tell his guy that. I'd be careful. This may be a bad sign."

I pulled to a stop at the house past Lily's. "Roger. I'm going to check it out."

"No, Jon, let me call the sheriff and get some uniformed folks over there. The guy has to check in every so often, so they may already be on their way there. I'm on my way, too."

"No time. I'll call you back in a couple." I hung up before he could protest.

I watched for a couple of seconds and, seeing nothing, jumped out and made my way around to the side. I stuck my gun into my belt and pulled my shirt over it as I approached the house. I tried to peek in a couple of windows. I didn't see any movement of the curtains, the door, or any indication that anyone was home. But Lily's car was there, the sheriff's deputy was not in his car, and everything seemed way too quiet. I had that bad feeling again and the last time I had it Cindy was killed. I looked around quickly. I could feel my nerves calming as I slowed my breathing and concentrated on what to do. It had always worked for me in the Army and was working again. I was able to focus completely on the immediate actions.

In this case, my immediate actions were to proceed around to the back of the house, continuing to search for an open curtain to see inside. I found that Lauren's room had the curtains open, but I could see nothing other than her room; nobody was there.

I had made my way around to the back yard, slowly opening the wooden fence gate without sound when I heard a sound I had hoped I wouldn't. It was a muffled scream or cry for help, but there was no mistaking that it was from someone in trouble. I made it around to the back where Lily's house had a kitchen door and a set of sliding glass doors from the dining room. I peeked at the kitchen door and it was closed up tight. I tried the doorknob lightly and found it was locked. Lily was always good at locking up. I moved around from the kitchen door toward the sliding glass doors that entered the dining room. The outer wall of this room was recessed about three feet further in than the kitchen so I peeked around the corner and saw what I needed to know. There was Lauren in a corner seemingly tied up. I could make out part of Lily sitting in a chair with ropes around her. As I moved along the outside wall indentation, trying to stay out of sight of most of the room, I also spotted what looked like a pair of feet from someone on the ground. They were not moving and I was betting that that was the deputy sheriff.

I considered my options. There weren't many. I was sure that the sliding doors were also locked and shooting through thick double-paned sliding doors was not a good idea. They could deflect any bullet quite a bit if the shot was at any sort of an angle, and the hollow points make it even more difficult to shoot thru them.

It was about then that I heard a car come to a screeching halt out front. Somebody was not trying to be discreet about their arrival. I moved slowly out of sight of the windows and peeked around the corner. I couldn't see much, but I heard a car door slam and I figured it had to be the sheriff. I knew that Detective Wilson would be much quieter. I was moving back toward the doors when I sensed movement at the back of the fence. I looked over and could see someone move furtively along the fence line, staying below the level of the fence. When they got out of sight of the windows, the individual stood up and grinned at me. It was Detective Wilson. He hurdled the fence and rushed over to me.

"I sent the sheriff out front to be loud on purpose." He whispered to me as he drew his gun. "Can you see them?"

I whispered my view of the layout. He nodded and then went around the side of the house. He pulled his cell phone out and I heard him whisper the information to someone, probably the sheriff. He came back.

"You stay here. I'll see if I can get into position at the sliding doors when the sheriff rings the doorbell."

I nodded and waited while he moved around to the side of the doors. I heard the doorbell and then came Buck's voice. "We're busy! Come back later!"

The sheriff shouted and his voice was deep and booming. "Open up, Buck. This is the sheriff. We know that you're in there. You're not going anywhere. Just come on out and we can settle this."

"Fuck you! I got your deputy in here and he's not doing so well. I also have Lily and Lauren. So back off, asshole, and I'll call you when I'm ready for my transportation."

Things went quiet after that. I waited and waited and heard more cars pull up out front. Then, suddenly, state police officers appeared on either side of the yard. They stared at me and one pointed his weapon at me. Detective Wilson came back around the corner and flashed his badge and scowled at the man. The man lowered his weapon.

Detective Wilson pulled me back around the corner toward the gate. "I think we are done here. They are going to take over and run it like a typical hostage situation. They aren't going to let us play anymore. Buck closed the curtains in the back, too, so now it gets more difficult."

I protested. "I'm not leaving."

"I didn't say leave, I just meant that we should return out front and stay behind the barricade they are putting up."

I followed him out front and, just like he said, a barricade was going up. He definitely knew their tactics.

We were just getting set for a hostage negotiator to start talking to him when my cell phone rang. I was standing in the middle of them and they all looked at me. I looked at the phone. "It's Lily's phone." They all gathered around me.

I answered it and put it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Listen to me, you murdering fucking bastard. If you want to see Lily or Lauren again, you get them to let you come into the house. If you come in, I just may let them go."

"Fuck you!" Everyone stared at me. "I'm not coming in on that promise. I'll come in only if you promise to let Lauren go completely free."

The cops were all waving at me not to make any deals, but I did it anyway. They didn't want me to interfere and add another hostage, but I had to move this along and keep him occupied.

"Well, Buck?"

"Deal."

"Good. I'll approach the front door and when you let her out, I'll walk in."

"Two minutes." He hung up.

I turned to the negotiator. "What can I do? I have to get the girl out. What approach do you want me to take?"

He stared at me for a second. "I think you've already sealed your fate. He wants you dead. I think as soon as you walk in there, he's going to kill you."

"Shit! Okay, how about this. When he lets Lauren out the front door, he'll be standing right there. Do you have guys who can get a good rifle shot in there? We can get him as he opens the door and grabs me."

He looked over at another cop who came over. "We have our snipers set up. They're ready. Do you want us to take that shot?"

The negotiator nodded. "Yes. Once this guy enters the house, I'm afraid they are all dead."

I took a deep breath. "Where do you want me to stand?"

The sniper team leader told me how he wanted me to stand to allow them to see inside and to get Buck in the best position at the door. I looked around and took a deep breath.

The negotiator turned back to me. "How do you feel?"

"Pissed off."

He watched me carefully. "You know I can stop you. I don't have to let you go up there."

"I know."

"Why should I take this chance?"

I took a deep breath. "Because it may be your only shot to get this resolved without everyone inside dying. We don't know the status of Lily. We don't know if the deputy sheriff is injured. We only know that we can draw Buck to the front door if you let me go up there, so I think it's your best shot."

He mulled it over and then looked at his watch. He gave a thumbs-up to the sniper team leader, who gave him one back. Then he turned back to me. "Your two minutes are up. Get ready."

I reached behind me and pulled my SigSauer out of my belt and handed it to him. His eyebrows went up, but he didn't say anything.

We then heard movement and the front door opened. As I started walking toward the house, I caught a glimpse of Lily's mother on the far sidewalk where the police were keeping most of the crowd that had gathered. I just gave her a nod and continued walking toward the front door. I could almost feel the negotiator watching me closely. I walked toward it and saw Lauren appear in the door. She was being held back by Buck.

"I'm here." I shouted it so everyone could hear it. "Let Lauren go."

Buck answered from behind the door. "As soon as you are on the stoop, asshole."

I approached the front door stoop and when I reached the last concrete slab of the sidewalk right in front of the small stoop, he leaned around the corner and pointed this gun at me. I watched as he pointed it at me and let go of Lauren. She didn't move.

"Lauren, please come out."

She looked at me, tears in her eyes, her body trembling. "But my mommy's in there."

"I know. What she really wants right now is for you to be safe. Come out here and I'll go in there, okay?"

She slowly moved forward, pushing the screen door open and coming outside. Buck kept his gun trained on me. "Don't move or you're dead."

I just nodded and moved to the side as Lauren passed. I patted her on the head and made sure there was a clear line of fire for the snipers. I kept waiting for them to take the shot. Unfortunately, Buck wasn't waiting. "I don't need you anyway asshole. I have two other hostages. I'll just get this part over with now."

I knew he was talking about shooting me and so I pivoted slightly to the side away from the snipers to dive for cover. I heard the report of Buck's pistol and the sniper's rifle shot at about the same time as I got hit in the lower back. I went down and the world was nothing but pain again. I looked up and saw all the police officers rush past me and into the house. One officer came to me and started putting his hand on my wound. He rolled me over and must have found an exit wound, because he put something on the front of me, too. The other officers started rushing into the house and I could hear radios barking and snatches of conversation. I was trying to watch them closely, but couldn't tell what they found. I just knew that I was tired of being shot at. I felt another pair of hands at that moment and looked up to see Detective Wilson kneeling over me.

"Did we get him?" I managed to choke it out.

"Yeah, we got him."

"Lily?"

"Not sure." He looked up. "Just rest, the EMTs are right here." He left me.

I remember the EMTs arriving and feeling strange as they pumped me full of pain killers, put an IV in my arm, and put me on a gurney. I felt oddly detached. Then I was out.

28 March 2010

I awoke the next day in pain. I slowly opened my eyes and saw another hospital room. I was so fucking tired of hospitals. I was so fucking tired of being shot. I rolled my head to the side and there was Lily, dozing in a chair, looking disheveled, tired, and more beautiful than I had seen her in a long time. I groaned. I could see my mother behind her, also asleep in a chair.

Lily woke suddenly. "Jon?"

"Yeah?" I groaned again.

She moved up over me and kissed me. "How you feeling?"

"Like I just got shot. What's the deal?"

"They said that he grabbed a gun, but it had steel bullets or something like that, I couldn't understand everything they said. It went right through your side and didn't really damage anything important. You're going to be fine."

I groaned again. "I'm tired of being shot."

She smiled, stared into my eyes, and tenderly ran her hand along my cheek. "And I'm not leaving this time. I'm staying. I'm not going to let you go. You saved me, saved my daughter, and I've been a fool."

"Thanks." I stared up at her. "All of Buck's family is dead, right?"

She laughed at my question. "Yes, thank god. We don't have to deal with any more of them." Lily came around to my left side so that she could get around the IV running into my arm. My mother was awake by now and moved up along my right side. Lily leaned over and kissed me on the lips. I just lay there, trying to absorb all that had happened, and the painkillers were making it difficult. I did feel that familiar tingling that I always got from her and when she pulled back I gave her a small smile. She grinned. "Well, I have a café to run and your mother is here, so I'm going to go." She leaned back toward me and stared into my eyes. "Will you promise not to be a stranger in my life?"

I hesitated. "Yes?" It sounded more like a question to me, but not to her.

"Good. I'll bring Lauren around later. She is a celebrity at school and can't stop talking about how much you have saved her and her mom."

I smiled. "I can't wait to see her again."

Lily got a serious look again. "I can never thank you enough for what you did for Lauren. Never."

I smiled and squeezed the hand that she had put on mine.

Lauren said good-bye and she and my mother talked briefly. She left with a flourish and my mother and I talked for a while. My mother filled me in on their discussions over the last few weeks. I just smiled.

A few hours later, I was a little more awake when my door opened again and this time a young, beautiful Lauren came bounding into the room.

"Mr. Kenton, Mr. Kenton!" She raced up to my bed. Her eyes were luminous and her smile infectious. I couldn't help but smile when I was around her. "Hi, Mr. Kenton. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine sweetie. How are you?"

"I'm okay, Mr. Kenton, but I didn't get shot. You got shot."

I chuckled. "Yes, I know that." I saw Lily's mother move into the room just inside the door. She didn't look angry any more, but she was not coming over to talk to me. She just stood there staring at me and Lauren. "How is school?"