Chapter 5

As I drove home from the office the next day, my mind was racing. Throughout the day, I had been preoccupied with the events of the previous evening. Ever since the shooting in the bar and the events that followed it, I had been unable to concentrate on anything. Even my nursing staff had told me to take off early this afternoon since it was slow in the office, but I had endured through, making an effort to concentrate and not kill any of my patients.

Thinking of death, I quickly checked my rear-view mirror, trying to ensure that no one was following me. For a second I thought I saw Lyssa in a car far behind me, but I could never get a second glimpse and quickly dismissed the notion.

Just to be sure, though, that I wasn’t about to face a repeat of my last drive home, I downshifted and gunned the car, kicked it up to one-fifty, and cruised down the interstate. I was so busy watching for someone following me that I almost hit a little old lady driving slowly in the left lane. And I did miss the speed trap I blasted through. I really had to work hard this time to lose the cop before my driveway, which was where the game ended by an unwritten rule.

When I reached the drive, I didn’t even stop to time my run. Instead, I simply down-shifted, touched the brakes and raced down the drive. In fact, I was in so much of a hurry that I almost missed Lyssa trying to wave me down.

I had to slam on the brakes and I almost lost control of the car when the rear end started to go around me. For a split second I panicked, but then I felt the tires catch again and the car screech to a halt. I sat there for a minute and thanked God for fine German engineering once again.

Lyssa, meanwhile, had run to catch up with me and motioned for me to open the passenger side door. She started trying to get out what she wanted to say between gasps for air.

“There are two killers that have been sent here to kill you. They are posted about half a mile down the drive, just outside the house. I took a chance trying to sneak out here, but I didn’t have time to neutralize them before you got here.”

I stared at her incredulously. “You mean to tell me that there is an ambush awaiting me on my driveway?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you,” was her sarcastic reply, “And if we don’t get moving soon, they are going to get suspicious and come looking for you. Now throw the car into reverse and park this baby behind that last turn, and then we’ll see about disposing of these assholes.”

I was seeing a side of Lyssa that I only had imagined existed. It was nice to know that I was right for a change, that she had a completely cold and impersonal business side, almost like there was a killer right underneath the surface, and then I realized that there really was. I had seen her kill at least once, and she had said that she had killed five people to protect me.

Lyssa was looking at me strangely, almost impatiently, so I threw the car into reverse, parked it behind a clump of trees and bushes and joined her on the other side of the car where she was drawing a crude map in the dirt.

“The road is here.” She indicated a curved line in the dirt with a stick. “The stream is here and the house is here. Now when I last saw the two men they had set up here and here so that they could both get good angles as you turned the last corner into the yard and then again as you pulled into the garage in case they missed the first time.”

“Here is a gun for you,” she said, reaching into the bushes and pulling out a cache of weapons. “Follow about ten yards behind and to my right. You will be my backup. The dogs are already positioned, and on my signal, they will be our distraction for our attack.”

She looked at me as I examined the gun, carefully going over its lines and testing the feel of the trigger.

“You do know how to work that, don’t you?” she asked.

“I bet I could challenge you with this thing.” I tucked the gun into my belt and gave her a nod, indicating I was ready.

Popping the trunk, I tossed in my jacket and tie. I shed my white shirt and chuckled at the leer from Lyssa before I pulled on a camouflage hunting jacket I kept in there.

Closing the trunk and seeing that once again Lyssa was armed to the teeth with her rifle, handgun, knife and crossbow, I motioned for her to lead off and I dropped in behind her.

She was beautiful moving through the woods. She moved silently and quickly. Her gracefulness reminded me of a cat stalking its prey through the woods. I had been hunting in these woods and around these parts since I was a little kid. Still, I found myself working to keep up with her and remain as silent as she was.

Within a few minutes, we were in place. Lyssa turned to look for me and I leaned out from behind the tree I was using as cover and motioned to her. I had already seen one of the two killers and found a place where I could get a clean shot at him.

Lyssa smiled and motioned that she was going after the other man. She pulled a dog whistle from a chain around her neck, and then I heard the single responding bark from one of the lads, their signal that they were moving into action.

I realized that was one way Lyssa had gotten the dogs to follow her commands. They had originally been trained to respond to whistled commands, and it was only my training that led them to obey oral commands.

I was still thinking about the lads when everything started. The sun had almost set, and the woods were just beginning to get dark, the last rays of sunlight filtering through the canopy. It was then the first lad made a leaping attack at the man stationed across the road. He knocked the gun from his hands and when he made the fatal mistake of standing up. I heard the twang of Lyssa’s cross bow. Another bolt followed just a few seconds later, one catching him in the right thigh and one in the left shoulder, disabling him but not killing him.

The second man, my target, stood up to see what was going on across the road.

Seeing this, I took aim and hit his gun arm. He dropped the gun and grabbed his arm in pain, falling to the ground. One lad took this opportunity to dash in and grab his gun, and I followed, running up and bashing him on the head. This disabled him and put him out of pain, at least that what I told myself.

I saw Lyssa do something similar to the man across the road, silencing and disabling him. When I was sure she was in control of the situation, I examined the bullet wound I had inflicted. It was a clean shot, catching the forearm and passing clean through. It was bleeding profusely, though, and I tore a strip off his shirt and used it as a combination tourniquet and pressure bandage on the wound.

His head was just a simple bruise and possibly a very slight concussion. I took off his belt and used it to secure his feet. I then used more strips of his shirt to tie his good arm and to gag him.

When I was sure that he was secure, I headed over to see how Lyssa was doing. She, too, had bandaged his wounds and then bound and gagged him. I noticed immediately that the lads were with her, sitting there like little children, waiting for their treat for a job well done.

“Well, a fine group of dogs you are.” I said, a smile erupting over my face. I had to hug and pet each of them for a job well done and they thanked me as well with a wet kiss each.

“You were right, you would be a good match for me with that pistol,” said Lyssa, standing and stretching her back. “But then again, the pistol has never been one of my better weapons. I’d like to see you try to handle this crossbow as efficiently.”

Her childlike, fun-loving attitude was back, even though we had come close to killing two human beings. She had a mischievous smile on her face as she reached over to pet the lads.

“You’d better head back and get your car while I clean up this mess. I’ll catch back up with you later this evening. Watch your back and stay indoors until I return. As you can see, these people are serious, and they want you dead so that they can get their hands on what you have.”

I nodded and reminded her to be careful. She then waved me off and started trying to revive her first prisoner. I headed off through the woods to where my car was parked.

The lads, surprisingly, followed me back to the car, one leading, one trailing, and one to my side, in patrol formation just as they were trained to do when there might be danger around and after the last few minutes, there was most certainly the possibility of further danger.

The car was right where I had left it. Given the events of the past few days, I checked it over before I got in and drove down the drive. I caught a glimpse of Lyssa marching her two prisoners through the woods towards the main road. I thought I saw her smile in my direction for just a minute.

Then I saw the lads trotting up behind her. Once I was in my car, they had immediately headed off into the woods. I had to smile at their newfound loyalty, they sure knew how to pick them.