Near Miss

Ed hung up the phone and went around the house, closing shutters and bolts and getting ready to receive fire after dark. Most assassins preferred that to daylight.

He leaned a rifle next to every window, and by that time alarm bells were going off. That would be Stone and party letting themselves in through the gates, using Ed’s codes.

By six-fifteen, everybody was settled in Ed’s living room with a drink.

“Any news from the opposition?” Stone asked.

Ed looked at his watch, then out the window. “I figure these people for cowards, so I’d say, half an hour after sunset, but I reckon we should hold the liquor until they’ve made their move. Let’s douse all the lights, except that reading lamp, and get them in closer. I’ve laid out long guns and magazines for everyone. They’ll be here soon enough, I reckon.”

They doused most of the lights and waited, not talking.

The monitor on Ed’s computer came alive, and he made some adjustments. “Out on the dock,” Ed said. “I figured they’d be too lazy to come ashore and walk through the weeds.” Other screens on the monitor popped up.

“I see a boat out there, maybe a hundred yards,” Dino said.

“And two men getting out of a dinghy at the end of the long dock.”

“How you want to handle this?” Stone asked.

“With one round apiece, if I’m lucky,” Ed replied. “Turn off that reading light, and I’ll go out the back way and around the house.”

“We’ll wait until the firing stops before we crack a door,” Stone said.

“I’ll call with the all clear.”

The lights off, Ed let himself out the back door and walked around the house, careful to avoid the crunch of feet on gravel. He stopped at the corner of the house, switched on his night sight, and swept the dock area. He found the two men still at the end, messing with ropes.

He hoped they were no better at shooting than with tying off dock lines. He took aim and waited for them to stand up. They finally secured the boat, then messed with their weapons.

“Light machine guns,” Ed muttered to himself. “They’re no better at being assassins than at boat handling.”

The two men started creeping down the dock toward the house. Ed stood one of them up with a round and fired a second for insurance. The other fell flat on the treads, but Ed could still find him with the night scope. He fired a single round into the top of the man’s head, and watched him lurch, then lie still.

He got out his cell phone and called Stone.

“You still alive?” Stone asked.

“Yeah, but nobody else is. You light the grill, and I’m coming in.”

“Consider it done. Like the song says, Knock three times.”

Chapter 53

Ed Rawls put on an apron and started grilling three three-inch porterhouse steaks, and the evening became convivial. Dino manned the bar.

In the middle of somebody’s long story, Carly raised a hand. Nobody paid attention to her.

“Hello?” she said plaintively. “Does anybody here smoke?”

Ed stopped talking and sniffed the air. “Everybody duck!” he yelled and led the way.

Glass began to break, and everybody ducked.

“There’s more of them out there,” Ed said. “My fault. I intended to leave everybody dead.”

“Uzis,” Dino said.

“Thank God for that,” Ed replied, his cheek pressed to the floor. “Nobody move a hair! Complete silence!”

Carly crept across the floor on her belly toward the rear door.

“Goddammit!” Ed whispered. “I told you to be still!”

“I’ll be still when there’s a rifle in my hands,” Carly whispered back and kept her course. She snagged a rifle and a magazine and rammed it home. “All set.”

There was a small sound from the front deck, and a row of Uzi holes appeared in the door. Carly put four rounds through that door, then there was the sound of a falling body. “One down,” she said. “Anybody joining me?”

“Hold it!” Ed said, then crawled to a front window and looked through a lower corner pane. “Carly, pass out weapons.”

“Pass ’em out yourself,” she replied. “I’m still working on your first order.”

Ed crawled over to the front door, cursing under his breath. He started throwing rifles around the room, followed by magazines.

“Front door,” Stone said, then put a burst in that direction.

“Two down,” Carly said.

“It’s four down, if you count the first two.”

There was a shout from the direction of the dock, and feet could be heard pounding it. A moment later an outboard motor revved, and its sound began to fade.

Ed stopped and listened. “Gone,” he said, finally.

“If you’re that sure,” Dino said, “stand up and look around.”

Ed did so. “Everybody check the nearest window, but carefully,” he ordered.

Somewhat reluctantly, the others stood.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, then walked out the rear door.

“I’m not moving until he doesn’t get shot,” Carly said.

“I’m right behind you,” Dino said.

Ed Rawls burst through the back door, causing everybody to duck again.

“All clear,” he said, “and good news, they took the bodies with them, so there’s no cleaning up, except the glass. Plus, I remembered to pull the hood down on the steaks, so they should be glass-free.”

Chapter 54