Chapter 14

I left for the school feeling better about that meeting but became anxious as I came close to the school. I had the windows down and pulled up to park and wait for her. I heard shots fired from where she would be waiting. I reached under the driver's seat and pulled my Glock, chambered a round, and left the car at a run holding the pistol with two hands in the upright position.

I went through the door low and heard a round being chambered. I shot twice in that direction aiming to hit someone standing. I could see that I had winged a man holding a rifle but he was still trying to shoot. I had time to aim and double-tapped him in the forehead. I dropped the pistol and shouted, "Lisa!" I heard a moan and moved in that direction calling on Stargazer for his help. She had been shot in the stomach and her right arm. I pulled her to me and screamed, "I'm here!" I felt Stargazer in me and then saw her eyes as she felt his presence in her body. She spasmed in my arms but was breathing better. She spasmed some more. I heard Stargazer in my mind saying, "Lisa, I know what you should look like. Relax and let me put you back in place."

I added my thought and voice to him saying, "Lisa, I'm here and so is Stargazer. Relax and let him work your body. We have our lives to live and you need to let him work. I need you, love. Stay with us."

She spasmed again and exhaled slowly. It was a long moment before she started breathing again and it was closer to normal. Her eyes opened and I heard her whisper in my mind, "Al, you're here with Stargazer."

"Yes, dear. Let Stargazer work on you. Keep your mind with me and relax. He has to fix you."

"Okay, Al. I will do what you say."

"Stay with me, honey."

"I will, Al. I will do what you say. I will stay with you and let Stargazer do things to my body."

Stargazer came into our minds. "Lisa, I fixed your body. You need to rest for a couple of days. Al must stay with you but you should relax completely. Our minds will remain together but your body will be asleep."

"I understand, Stargazer. Al, stay with me."

"I am always here for you."

Ten minutes later, the S.W.A.T. team entered and found me sitting against the wall with Lisa asleep in my arms. My pistol was twenty feet away and Andrews' rifle was beside his body. He would never shoot anyone again.

A policeman came to me and squatted down. "Dude, are you hurt?"

"No officer, we're okay. There's the shooter with his rifle. That's my pistol. I fired at him twice, two shots each time. I winged him coming in and then aimed from the floor and took him out when he still tried to shoot."

"You'll need to come with us."

"Sir, with all respect, I'm not leaving my fiancé's side until she wakes up. Be patient with me on this. We're not going anywhere."

Fortunately, he decided that he didn't need to fight much less win. He moved off to find one other person who was wounded when she tried to interfere. The building became crowded with police and medics. The senior medic said, "You need to let her go so I can examine her."

I said, "No, I don't. She is doing fine and you can check her vitals and mine without me releasing her."

I tried a different tact. "We are members of an ancient Babylonian sect. The name translates loosely as Stargazer. It allows us to heal each other but we must remain in physical contact. If you want to risk our lives and violate our religious rights, go for it but I want your name. The newspapers and the public deserve to know who made such a callous and reckless decision."

He decided to take a different tact, too. He checked our vitals and found, to his considerable surprise, that they were almost identical! He checked her shoulder murmuring that it was a through and through. I could see that also from blood and the rips in her blouse. With my help, he raised her arm. I held her hand up. We both heard her murmur, "Dance with me, Al." He snipped away some of her blouse and the sleeve. There was no sign of a wound!

Mentally, I said, "Thank you, Stargazer."

He replied, "That was easy."

The medic saw blood on our fronts. He wanted to check there also. I rolled her to her back supporting her with one arm. She murmured, "Al," and snuggled to me. He gently opened the bottom of her blouse but again found no wound!

He didn't ask to examine me further because he could see that I was moving easily. I pulled Lisa back into my arms and rested against the wall. I was visited by the head of the SWAT team who was met with politeness but an unwavering statement that we would remain together until Lisa woke. I pulled Lisa's phone from her hip pocket and one handedly found Linda's number.

"Linda, this is Al. There has been an incident at school. We need you and Paul here quickly. Bring one car if you can."

"I'm moving now, Al. Are you and Lisa okay?"

"We are now. Stargazer saved her and he said that I have to hold her until she wakes. I expect problems sooner or later though. Stargazer is an ancient Babylonian sect, by the way."

She chuckled worriedly. "Okay. Hang on. We'll be there as soon as possible. Bye."

It took almost fifteen minutes for them to arrive. During that time, I had been twice more been pushed to come out without Lisa and refused. Neither of those folks could give a considered reason for either of us to move. I heard Linda's voice outside. Then I heard Paul say, "Officer, specifically, how will our presence in that building impede your investigation?"

I heard something about protocol. Paul said, "Do you have radio contact with the station?" I heard a mumbled yes. "Get in touch with Milton Jones and tell Milt you are about to shoot Paul Goodbody and his wife because they insist on seeing their daughter and her fiancé."

I could hear a shocked noise. Paul said, "Come on, Linda. If the man wants to ruin his career, it's his call. I've written down his name and badge number."

The door opened. Paul and Linda walked in and ran to us. Linda cradled her daughter's head in her arms while I continued to hold her. Paul said, "What happened?"

I said, "We went for a run this morning and someone took a shot at us while we were on the other side of the pond. They missed. I have the shell in my pocket.

"I dropped Lisa off for her classes and went to see Doc Baker. I'll tell you about that later. I had a bad feeling all the way back over here. I had told her to wait inside. The windows on my car were down and I heard shots. I was carrying a Glock under the driver's seat and went in the door with it. I was shot at and returned fire. I hit him with one. He was raising the rifle to get me so I shot him dead since I could aim.

"Lisa was hit twice. One was in the arm and the other was in the stomach. Stargazer healed her while I held her. He told me to stay in physical contact with her until she wakes. It might be two days. A medic examined her and found no sign of damage. My stance hasn't been popular though our religious sect requires my presence." I winked.

Paul just barely cracked a smile. "I think I can run some interference for you. Milton Jones, the chief, is a friend. I will go outside and deal with some of this." He left pulling his phone from his pocket.

In the next half hour, two detectives came in and took pictures and my statement. It hadn't changed. The coroner's office sent someone to pick up Andrews. The injured person had long since left. That left Linda, Lisa, and I sitting against the wall. Paul came in and introduced me to the police chief, Milton Jones.