“The pot calling the kettle black. You’re the one who came in here to kill me, and it’s all on video,” she muttered, and then the moment she touched the wallet, she knew he was part of The Righteous.
She pulled out his driver’s license, took a picture of it, put it back in the wallet, then shoved it in his pocket. She had a new enemy and he had a name.
Barrett Taylor.
Taylor heard the click when she took the picture, and guessed what she’d just done. And when she’d returned the wallet to his pocket, he began to panic. His people wouldn’t be happy this had happened.
“Others comin’...know what you are,” he mumbled.
A chill went up Wyrick’s back, and then she got mad. More coming? No, by God! Not again!
She kicked the bottom of his boot again.
“And now I know who you are, too...and where you live. And, I know what you are, and what you came to do. The Righteous are not going to be happy with you. You know what they’ll do. They don’t like failure, do they?”
He shuddered. “How you—?”
“If you really knew who I was, you wouldn’t have had to ask that question. Looks to me like they set you up to be the sacrificial goat to get rid of me. Did you know that ahead of time? Is this your little cult’s version of dying for the cause, or are you just that stupid?”
He moaned. “Jus’ doin’ Lord’s work.”
“God didn’t tell you to do this. The leader of your little swamp-rat cult told you.”
If he could, Taylor would have spit in her face, but his drool was already running on the floor because he still couldn’t feel his lips.
Wyrick was beginning to hear sirens, and so did Taylor.
He closed his eyes, still moaning from the pain, and wished he could begin this day all over again.
“Feels like you got hold of a hot wire and can’t let go, doesn’t it?” Wyrick said. “Be glad it was me who caught you and not Charlie. He would have shot you where you stood for what you did to me, before he ever bothered to call the cops.”
After that Barrett Taylor went mum. He heard the police cars pulling to a screeching halt in the parking lot outside the building, and made his peace with what was.
Two officers took the stairwell up, as two others took the elevator, thereby blocking off all avenues of exit. They merged in the hallway, and headed up the hall toward the office of Dodge Investigations, coming in with their guns drawn.
Once they realized Wyrick was standing upright, and the intruder was handcuffed facedown on the floor, they holstered their weapons.
The first officer introduced himself. “Ma’am... Wyrick, I’m Officer Bullard. Are you okay?”
“Obviously,” she said.
“Is he the only one?” Bullard asked.
She nodded.
“Exactly what happened here?”
So Wyrick proceeded to explain.
“It’s all going to be on the security cams. They are at both ends of the hall outside, as well as one over the door to our office, and then there are ones in here, as well. He was waiting for me. When I opened the door to leave, he kicked it in, hit me with his fist, then was reaching for his gun when I Tasered him. I pulled his wallet and took a picture of his driver’s license, then put it back in his pocket. Knowing the identities of my enemies is what keeps me alive, even though his cult isn’t known for brilliance...just hate. He was going for the gun when I fired the Taser.”
Officer Bullard frowned. “Cult? You know him?”
“I know who he belongs to. They call themselves the Church of The Righteous. They’re based in Louisiana, and have been throwing out all kinds of warnings on their website about my existence, saying I’m an abomination, ranting about how I need to be ‘taken care of.’ Taylor just bragged there are others coming after me, too. Needless to say, I’m pressing charges against him for assault and attempted murder.”
Officers Oliver and Jackson pulled Barrett Taylor to his feet. Oliver then began searching him for the gun, while Jackson got an evidence bag. When Jackson began to pat him down, he grimaced.
“Dang it, Oliver. He pissed his pants. It’s your turn to transport a wet one.”
“I couldn’t help it,” Taylor said, glaring at Wyrick.
Wyrick glared back. “A rather embarrassing side effect of getting Tasered. Be glad I didn’t shoot you in the balls, because that was my first target.”
Taylor blanched, and then looked away as the officer bagged his gun.
“Get him out of here,” Bullard said, then glanced back at Wyrick as they led him away in handcuffs. “Ma’am, does Charlie know about this?”
“He’s in court. I’ll tell him later,” Wyrick said.
“I’ll just walk you to your car,” Bullard said, and then grinned. “Just in case there’s another one out there, you can protect the both of us.”
She ignored his attempt at humor, because she was anything but amused.
“I’ll get video footage from the security cameras to you tomorrow morning. Thank you for your prompt response.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bullard said.
They rode the elevator down in silence, then she exited the building and headed for her Ferrari, got in and sped off, heading straight to Whole Foods to pick up her grocery order. But even after she was on her way home, she kept thinking, Charlie is going to be pissed.
* * *
And Charlie was pissed. He’d spent the whole afternoon waiting to testify, only to be told late in the afternoon that the defendant pled out on the assault charges, and got off with time served, which amounted to two months and a fine.
He still couldn’t believe it. He’d witnessed the man assault a waitress, who wound up with a broken nose and jaw, her front teeth getting knocked out in the process, and this was her justice? He found out later the man was her ex-husband, and that she’d had a protective order against him. If Charlie hadn’t taken him down, he might have killed her.
The longer he stayed in this business, the more disenchanted he was becoming with the justice system. Sometimes it wasn’t about the crime, as much as how much power and money you had to buy your way out of trouble. All he wanted now was just to get home.
Living with Wyrick was often aggravating as hell, but she was also the anchor to his world. Knowing she needed him had changed his focus from the overwhelming grief of losing Annie. Wyrick was the weight that kept everything level in his life, and gave him purpose for still being in this world.
When he finally reached the drive leading up to the mansion, he hit the remote and drove through the iron gates as they opened, then hit the remote again, closing them behind him as he passed.