Gundown (2 page)

The clock on the Wrigley Building said she had time to do a little window-shopping before she had to be back at work, so she headed north toward Water Tower Place, not that she could afford anything in the boutiques there. A breeze reeking of car exhaust swirled between the skyscrapers, but she liked its touch.

She stopped at a restaurant window to eye a cupcake display. Her ice-blue eyes, donated by some honky ancestor, reflected back at her. So did her scar, a three-inch trail curving down from high on her cheekbone.

Jewel gave her body the once-over like Murphy had. Still lookin’ good . . . Wait a minute, was that a little bit of extra tummy? She turned sideways. Damn, gettin’ poochy. Should she diet? Exercise? Both? She sucked her gut in and walked on.

Two white dudes slouched against a gun store smacked kisses at her. A green stripe ran down the center of the blond’s buzz-cut hair, and a red do-rag decorated the smaller guy’s shaved head—he cupped his balls and licked his lips. Ugh. She lengthened her stride, her mini skirt riding high.

They pushed off from the store and swung into step on each side of her. Green-Stripe crowded against her. His sour stink assaulted her, and the skin on her arms goose-bumped. He said, “Hey, brown sugar.”

She wanted to say, “I’m not your sugar,” but no, she just kept going. Staring straight ahead, she said, “There’s a cop back there.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Murphy.”

Wishing she wasn’t wearing heels, she broke into a run and darted between a couple holding hands.

Do-Rag flashed past Jewel and then stopped a few feet ahead, arms spread wide. A hand grabbed at her elbow from behind. She jerked free, cut around a woman with a stroller, and then ran back toward Murphy.

Green-Stripe caught her arm and yanked her to a stop. He swung her to face him and leaned close. “You need somethin’ to relax you, chocklit, and I’m it.”

She yanked free and spun.

His partner stood waiting for her.

They grabbed her arms and forced her toward Pioneer Court. They hauled her behind a clump of bushes—they could be seen from the plaza, but only above the waist. She pulled with all her strength, but couldn’t tear free.

Thirty feet away, Murphy stared at her.

She cried, “Murphy?”

He didn’t move.

But there were a ton of people walking by. “Help me! Somebody! Hey!”

Glances flicked in her direction from the throng on the sidewalk and then skittered away. See no evil, don’t get involved, stay safe; she’d done the same a thousand times.

Okay, what she had to do now was live through this.

• • •

A shout from behind Hank cut into his thoughts. He turned to see two scruffy punks pull a young woman behind a cluster of bushes in a courtyard. A reflexive impulse to go to the rescue fired up . . . but a policeman was close by. She’d be all right.

The woman’s cry came again. “Murphy!” The officer, a wide man with multiple chins, faced the action.

Hank stayed where he was. What the hell, he could spare a minute to lend a hand if needed. He still had his old badge and the sense of duty that went with it.

The shorter punk held the woman’s arms from behind while the blond with a stupid green stripe in his hair ripped her shirt open. She wasn’t wearing a bra.

She yelled to the cop, “Murphy! Murphy, it’s me!”

Quick, smooth, Clothes-Ripper slipped his hand inside his Bulls jacket and pulled out an automatic pistol. He jammed it under her chin and forced her head back. Then he gave the officer a screw-you smile.

Hank knew what he’d do, and he was a good-enough shot to do it, but how would the uniform handle it?

The cop moved on, hands clasped behind his back as if just out for a stroll in a peaceful park.

Rage fired in Hank. The son of a bitch turned his back on his sworn duty!? Hank clenched his fists, tempted to go after the coward, but the woman needed help.

The kid stuffed his pistol back under his jacket and unzipped his pants. A yell from the woman shriveled into a wail. “Murphyyyy.”

The cop didn’t look back. People flowed past, unseeing, as if they wore blinders.

The woman staggered her attacker with a kick to his leg. He slapped her, and then had to dodge a knee aimed at his crotch. Girl had guts.

Hank moved closer and stepped behind a tall shrub that concealed him from the passing crowd. He drew his .45 Colt automatic from the holster under his Windbreaker. He pulled the silencer from his pocket, twisted it on, and settled into a marksman’s stance, legs spread, both arms up, his gun hand steady.

The punk holding the woman’s arms saw Hank, and his grin
O
’d toward a shout. Hank couldn’t allow a warning—the one with the gun was fast. Hank’s bullet stopped the kid’s yell in his mouth and slammed him back. His hands didn’t know he was dead, and he pulled the woman on top of him when he fell away from the little garden. They sprawled on the pavement, and the woman gaped at Hank as he swung his gun to the other guy.

Hank shouted, “Freeze!”

The tall one spun toward him. Green-Stripe jerked his gun out of his jacket as he yelled, “You’re dea—”

Hank shot him in the heart. The kid staggered back and looked down at his chest and then up at Hank, his eyes wide like those of a scared little boy. His knees buckled and he collapsed, his gun clattering on the pavement.

Hank spun around—if there was any law nearby he was willing to be late for his meeting to show his badge and square things away, but the chicken-livered cop was gone and there were no other uniforms in sight. Passersby glanced at the bodies beside the garden and then focused on where they were going. He took a deep breath to ease the rush of adrenaline and concentrated on the mechanical rhythm of removing the silencer and stuffing his pistol into his holster. He’d call 911 and report the shooting.

The NRA had the right idea when they said,
“The surest way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

The woman scrambled to her feet. Clutching at her torn top, she stared at the mess that had been her attackers, then at Hank.

She looked like she was okay, and he had a meeting. He turned his back on her and stepped into the mindless herd, looking for the cop. He wanted to bury a fist in his fat gut, but there was no sign of the creep. Hank picked up his pace. He needed some action to keep his head straight, and maybe this NRA thing could generate something. Too much downtime was . . . well, too much. Stuff kept bubbling up that his meds and pot had trouble handling . . .

• • •

Jewel trembled, the scar on her cheek throbbing as though it remembered old trouble. She breathed deep and settled herself down. Her mama had always said, “In this world, you got to be hard. Ain’t nobody there for you but you.” Hallelujah, Mama.

She’d been lucky this day. She had to thank the guy, even if he was white—Mama’d taught her manners, too. Jewel hurried after him, trying to arrange her torn top into decent coverage, but one boob or the other kept falling out. Great, now she had to walk down Michigan Avenue with her tits on display. And wouldn’t they love it back at the office.

She spotted her rescuer knifing through the crowd. She really should get back to her job, but, hell, he’d pretty much saved her brown ass. “Hey!” she shouted. No response.

He crossed the street. She hurried after him; damn, the man could move. The crossing signal switched to “Don’t” as he entered the Chelsea Hotel.

Jewel ran for it.

Patriots Gather

In his hotel room, Mitch Parsons knotted his tie and then added his NRA tie tack, its pewter eagle clutching crossed rifles in its talons. No, his mission in Chicago wasn’t sanctioned by the NRA—hell, his fellow board members were dead set against it, chickens that they were—but he’d be damned if he’d set aside his allegiance because of that. Anyway, they were dead wrong. The move in Oregon to take away guns would just get worse and worse if they let things go, and soon enough they’d all be disarmed, man and boy.

He cocked his thumb and aimed an index-finger gun at Noah Stone’s smile, which looked up at the fingertip muzzle from the cover of a
Time
magazine on the dresser. The headline read, “The Alliance’s Pied Piper.”

Mitch squeezed the trigger and wished . . . well, he wasn’t sure what to wish for other than Stone gone. Like Daddy used to say, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Wishing would do no good. So here he was in Chicago.

H
e rubbed his nervous belly. He pulled a mini Tootsie Roll from the stash in his pocket. The rush of chocolate eased him even though it meant trouble with his ulcer. For the millionth time, he wished smoking wasn’t bad for people. Not that Tootsie Rolls were much better.

But he really had no reason to be worried. He was doing the right thing. Noah Stone was weakening American freedom in this troubled world, and that amounted to treason.

Mitch flicked a glance at the
Time
cover. It was a matter of duty. And Hank Soldado sure sounded like the man to get it done. He was an Oath Keeper, a soldier who had sworn to protect the constitution, one of the heroes who will not obey any order to disarm the American people. Hell, even his name meant “soldier.” By God, together they’d stop Stone.

• • •

In the Chelsea Hotel’s lobby, habits from years of police work set Hank to scanning the room, alert for body language that signaled trouble.

With all the glamour and finery of models posing at a fashion shoot, the usual high-priced hookers littered red velvet furniture. The usual bellboys idled, and the usual on-the-road businessmen eyed the usual high-priced hookers. Except for a long table featuring stacks of pamphlets and posters of a gray-haired man, nothing seemed other than ordinary.

The table was manned by three cheerful-looking women ranging from their twenties to their forties. The youngest-looking—red-haired, trim and smiley and pretty—accosted people with handfuls of material while the other two helped lines of men and women who were lively with chatting and smiles register for something. Signs on the table told Hank to “
Get information about the Alliance here.
”

Was this the Alliance the NRA guy had called him about? When he passed the table on the way to the elevator, the redhead approached, gave him a sprightly smile, and said, “Excuse me, sir, I’d like to tell you about—”

He waved her off, but he smiled when he did it. The proselytizer shrugged and then advanced on a woman pulling a suitcase. He strode into an elevator and punched the button for his floor.

A brown-skinned young woman whirled through the revolving doors on the lobby’s far side. She struggled to keep a torn top together—the girl from the courtyard? What the hell was she doing here?

The elevator door closed. A faint scent of gunpowder wafted from his holster, but the NRA guy shouldn’t mind that.

• • •

Jewel’s rush dwindled to a stop when the elevator shut its doors with her goal behind them. Robbed of purpose, she stood, unsure what to do.

The terror of the attack in the courtyard surged into her mind, and the room tilted sideways. Hands came from behind and caught her under the arms.

“Gotcha.”

Jewel straightened and turned. The hands belonged to a perky redhead. Jewel said, “I’m fine, I’m okay.”

Her knees sagged, Red caught her again, and Jewel told her pride to find something better to do while she let the woman help her to a chair beside a long table. Looking up into worried green eyes, Jewel said thanks.

Red’s concern lightened into a smile. “You just sit till you feel better.” She pointed to Jewel’s gaping blouse. “I can help you with that.” The woman rummaged in a box under the table and pulled out a white T-shirt. She aimed a finger at a corner of the lobby. “The women’s is over there.”

“Thanks again.” Jewel waited a minute, and then took care standing. She was steady enough. Clutching the shirt to her chest, she hurried to the restroom. In the privacy of a stall, she took off the remains of her top and pulled the T-shirt on.

At the sink, she dampened a paper towel with cold water and wiped her face. Feeling better, she checked out her new look.

Her chest bore “The Alliance,” its letters created with a checkerboard of pinks and tans and browns.
The shirt wasn’t pretty, but at least it covered her. She touched the logo with a fingertip—one spot matched the color of her skin.

Back in the lobby, the redhead asked, “Are you all right?”

Because she had been a help, Jewel smiled and said yes.

Red offered a brochure. “Maybe you’d be interested in the Alliance?”

“Sorry, I’m not buying anything, and I’ve got to get to work.”

“Oh, we’re not selling anything, just trying to, ah . . .” She shrugged and grinned. “This’s gonna sound really corny, but we’re trying to make the world better.”

Jewel snorted. “You want to do that, start with a great big match.”

Red laughed. “It’s all in the brochure.”

Jewel took it. A silver square reflected her face. A caption said, “You’re looking at someone who can make life better.” At the bottom was a smaller version of the Alliance logo.