Chapter 14: Sniper!

We slept together from then on. Travis tried to join us but our frequent and energetic love-making often roused him and sent him grumbling to the floor at the foot of the bed. I almost always woke early and crept into the living room or office to avoid waking Bianca.

Shortly after the drone incident, I called out to Sam via the bat signal. She replied a few minutes later:

How’s it hanging lover boy? Okay so maybe getting her a secure cellphone wasn’t such a good idea...

I sighed, what do you want?

One of my cameras in your bedroom!

Wasn’t the hot spring enough?

Oh, baby ... Grrr Another animated icon appeared—it was a jumping bed with the covers bouncing above it.

I rolled my eyes and blushed. Let me know if you find anything.

I spent the next day getting my shop put together and making sure all of the lights and outlets worked appropriately. Because of the many slide-out cabinets and cubbies, I was able to make it a combined metal and woodworking shop, complete with a table saw, chop saw, band saw, drill press, router bench, metal and wood lathes, milling, grinding, braking and welding stations and a self-contained sanding abrasive section with dust collection vents throughout. I could fabricate, sandblast, and paint a project from start to finish.

Gil accompanied us to town the next day and we had lunch before shopping around for the odds and ends we needed for various projects; and groceries of course. Bianca insisted on buying a case of wine to pair with our meals. My last stop was the post office to check my mail. I was excited to see a letter from the State Licensing Board, but my excitement fizzled when it directed me to undergo a formal written exam before my demolition permit could be completed.

I reviewed the subject matter online for a couple of days and then made the appointment to take my test the following day. It turned out to be computerized and I received my passing score as soon as I completed it. I was awarded my temporary permit on the spot and was authorized to purchase and use demolition products in accordance with the rules, regulations, and constraints of my license. Blah blah. I immediately ordered 1500 feet of det cord and ten cases of dynamite with blasting caps and electrical detonators. I was a kid in a candy store!

Winter was still in full force and I found myself plowing more frequently as the New Year came and went. It didn’t bother me so much because I found the solitary life comforting and peaceful. Bianca began to chaff at the lack of social interaction and made a point to tell me about it every day or so. I calmly reminded her that her life was still very much in danger until we could identify and deal with her enemies. It remained a sticking point however and I began to see our relationship beyond all of the fantastic sex. It was clear that we would never be compatible in the long term.

Despite my misgivings, I remained focused on her safety and comfort and she also made the effort to be at peace with her lot, if only temporarily. To keep her occupied I related to her the exact message that Hondo made me memorize. Curious she took to the internet to research the coordinates.

It turned out to be a cemetery located right on the New Jersey and New York lines. Specifically, a Mausoleum with the Carbone Crest. I left her to her musings and went back out to the shop to kill a couple more hours.

The following morning, I was up at my usual early hour and spent several hours researching demolition guidelines and charts for mining various rock formations. Travis rose and nudged me with his big nose so I got up and followed him out into the cool crisp air.

At that very moment, my life almost ended.

From that moment on I could never explain how or why or what compelled me to act as I did. One moment I was standing on my narrow porch—watching Travis practice his yellow-snow art on the nearby bank—the next I was falling, maybe I slipped? Or even tripped (though I wasn’t moving as I recall). Regardless, I fell face-first into my door just as the wood above me shattered with a loud snapping impact! Half a second later I heard the loud bang of a powerful rifle from across the ravine. Someone shot at me! I was too stunned to feel the pain in my cheek when I collided with the door jam. Later I would see that, had I not tripped, slipped, fell, or ... whatever—that bullet would have made a very ugly hole in my head. Call it presence, ESP, Spidey-sense, or a guardian angel—but I was instantly deep into my sense of Being and knew that another bullet was coming any seco...

Smack! My hand erupted in pain as the door jamb exploded around it. I cried out and cursed as I reached up and fumbled for the doorknob. The door burst open and I fell through rolling beneath the window and cradling my left hand against my chest.

Travis began barking angrily and I screamed at him to get inside. Another loud snapping noise erupted just above my head, accompanied by the tinkle of broken glass as another bullet passed through my window. I heard Travis yelp and saw him burst into the entryway. I reached over and slammed the door shut before crawling backward into the living room.

Bianca rushed out of the bedroom with a blanket wrapped around her. “What is that?” she cried in alarm.

“Get down!” I shouted, “Stay back and get away from the windows!” I scooched my butt across the floor into the kitchen where several appliances lined the wall.

“Oh my God!” she screamed as another bullet smashed through the door and dug into the floor. She dove forward into the kitchen and stared at my chest with wild eyes. “Carter! You’ve been shot!” she screamed again, “you’re bleeding everywhere!”

I freaked out and began patting myself down before I realized where the pain was coming from. Holding up my left hand I stared in disbelief at my missing ring finger. Fuck me! The pain really hit me then and I cursed in agony, while Bianca shrieked in terror. I reached up to the counter and grabbed a tea towel to wrap my hand in before pausing to breathe and take stock of our situation.

What the fuck? Who the fuck? Why the fuck? Goddamn it! What was I supposed to do? Some fucking maniac was shooting the shit out of my house and I was trapped on the floor of my kitchen hiding behind a refrigerator! I had to get us out of here. I had a half door put in at the very back of my ISO shelter, in the hallway between the office and bedroom. But would we be exiting right into the line of fire? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

I only just noticed that no more shots were being fired at us when I heard the distant crack of the rifle once more. Nothing hit the dwelling however and I wondered ... Gil! Oh shit! He’s a sitting duck! Where was the radio? Wait ... where was my cellphone?

“We need to call for help,” I said as quiet fell over the room and canyon outside, “where is my phone?”

“In the bedroom,” she replied anxiously, “who is trying to kill us?”

“Me,” I corrected, “I’m pretty sure they are trying to kill me. And I bet they are connected with whoever has been spying on me with the drone.” I crawled down the hallway and into the bedroom to retrieve my phone. I dialed a number from memory and heard it ring twice before I heard it pick up.

“Sergeant Mercurio...”

“Allison! Carter,” I said loudly, “someone is taking shots at my house with a rifle!”

“What? Are you hurt? Are you undercover?”

“Yes ... and yes!” I growled, “the fucker shot my goddamn finger off! We are staying low inside but I don’t know what else to do.”

“Stay down and shelter in place,” she ordered, “I’m on my way and calling for backup.”

“Gil is out there too,” I said, “I need to try and reach him with our walkie-talkie.”

“Copy that, just stay inside and stay low.” She hung up and I looked around the room for the handheld radio. Where the fuck was it? Maybe in the Office.

I found it sitting on the desk and grabbed it keying the mike, “Gil? Are you alright buddy?” There was no answer. I tried again and got no response. I turned and saw Bianca and Travis crawling into the bedroom.

“I need to go out the back and try to see what the fuck is happening,” I said.

She shook her head at me, eyes wide with fright, “No you need to stay right here!”

“It’ll be alright,” I replied with more confidence than I felt. I went over to the half door and opened it, facing the cliff face directly behind the shelter. I crawled out and stayed low to the ground and I inch-wormed my way to the left until I could see Gil’s cabin in the distance. Looking down the length of the ISO shelter I could only see the clearing spread out before me at eye level. The trees rose up from the bottom of the ravine and river bank, just beyond. Where was the shooter?