Chapter 27

Catherine and I were sitting on the floor, using the bed as protection, should gunfire come through the rear windows. I held her and said, "It's Ok. We're going to be fine, but, remember that you don't know for sure if everyone in here with us is strictly on our side, so don't let anyone get behind you, no matter what."

She gave me the look.

"I'm the pro here. You DON'T have to remind me about simple things."

I said nothing and waited for what she said to hit her. "Oh ... I HAVE been wrong and gotten you hurt, haven't I? Kevin, I am so sorry. I'm just wrought up and need to get this thing over with before I lose my mind!"

Knowing I needed her protecting me or die, I kissed her.

Hey. It's worked before, so why not try it now, right?

I kissed her with everything I had. It was the 'You MADE me forget what I was doing, ' kiss, because that was what I thought it would take to get her unwound a little. When I relinquished ownership of her mouth, I said, "You realize we haven't made love, right? Don't get killed and cheat me out of something I have been waiting for since the second I met you." My smile said it was true, and she blushed, looked quickly away, and blushed some more, before kissing me like she really meant it.

That was good enough for me, and would have to do for the time being, because the window behind us shattered and a bullet plowed a hole in the wall above our heads. Catherine stage whispered to her team, that the rear assault was probably a feint to get them out of position, and to stand their ground.

Darkness worked in their favor, until I hit the switch and turned on the Kirby's carriage house security lights that lit up the yard like nine in the morning.

We waited...

... but not for long.

The front door exploded inward from some kind of grenade. I fired my Glock from the bedroom floor, from behind the doorjamb, across the entire width of the house, into the smoke to slow their advance. I wanted to give the guys stuck out there time to dive for cover. It was impossible to hit anyone, but the fact that flying bullets were coming right back at them, had to cause some doubt in their minds.

Catherine was poised pointing towards the back windows, waiting for whoever fired at us from the rear to make their move. I kept my eyes on the front, only looking back to make sure I knew where she was, so I didn't accidentally shoot her when the full assault came.

The silence that followed my three shots through the front door, stretched out too long, and I suspected our enemies had chosen to withdraw and try some other way to get to us.

Thinking about it, I realized that Kevin's intervention in the killing of John Gray couldn't be the reason this all was going on. There had to be some other reason to keep coming after me. The hyper anxiety of the shootout seemed to speed up my head, and I used the wait to wrack my brain for an answer.

Renee Carson had to be after me because of something I know, or something she is convinced that I know about her or the killing of John Gray, but what could I know that would point back to her? Now everyone in government service knows that she is wanted, but this had to be something from the night of the assassination.

... and then I remembered...

The night of the assassination, when I had Shane hustle Hawk Dryden out of Congress, and get him to the bunker, Renee Carson was serving snacks to us in my Suite. I looked right at her, and there WAS a congressional page with her, who helped carry it all. I bet he saw her armed, and she knew that he knew she had a gun when she wasn't supposed to.

He saw her, and didn't die. She needed him to die before he remembered her being where she wasn't supposed to be. Mohammad was there to kill me, and Renee was there to kill Hawk Dryden, which would make Fornier, the Speaker of the House, the new acting President until the next election. Kevin saw Renee with the gun, serving snacks, and I had Hawk hustled into the bunker under the Pentagon, all ruining Fornier's plan to take over America. She must have thought Kevin reported her and caused the Secret Service to move Dryden somewhere safe, ruining everything.

Oh, my ... No wonder they all hated me.

I would have pursued that thought but the shooting started all over again, and I needed to defend Catherine, defending me, or die trying.

I almost did...

Our tormentors chose to hit us from the front and rear simultaneously. Catherine and I had our hands full, but the ones coming through that window did not enjoy their visit one bit. Between us we put all three down. Catherine hit two and I shot one.

Mine died on the spot. Headshots will do that to you.

Catherine left at least one alive for questioning, but that spooked me, so I took his guns and stomped on both his wrists until they broke. Breaking bones make a very unpleasant noise. The shooter didn't like it, so he added a bunch of screaming to the sound, which made it even less enjoyable. For good measure I took a pillow case and put it over his head, leaving him in the dark, with a bullet in him, and two broken arms.

Having secured the rear, I turned my attention to the battle out front. Catherine stayed back, radioing the Judge with an update. I slipped around the doorframe, on my stomach and sought a target. The battle was pretty much going our way, when one of ours turned and shot the agent kneeling beside him. Without thinking about it I put a round in his lower back, and let him flop around as the realization hit him that he was permanently paralyzed.