Rico wanted to believe that he would leave, but the guy seemed too desperate, hiding how jumpy he was as his face got covered in a sheen of sweat. They couldn't trust him to keep his word.
Mitch had made a decision though. "The egg is in the cat toy basket. It's in the kitchen," he said to the man.
"All right. Let's all go in there in an orderly sort of way. No sudden movements from either of you," the guy warned Mitch and Rico while shooting a look at Sammy so they knew what was at stake.
Once in the kitchen, he didn't let Mitch get the egg. "Let the little girl get it."
Mitch nodded, and Rico let Sammy go over to the basket. Now he saw that the egg was buried among the kittens' toys and swaddled in a blue baby blanket that they had found in the house, and Sammy had given to the kittens to snuggle with. She got the egg out of there and handed it to Rico.
"I'll be damned. Can't say I thought to look in there," the man said. "Set it on the counter there."
Rico put it down then picked up Sammy and held her protectively, as the man looked the egg over then tried to crack the seal against the edge of the counter.
"No. Rico gave me that," Sammy said.
"Sorry, we need to let the man have it," Mitch told her. Then he made an offer to him. "I have tools. I could..."
The man didn't let him finish. "Like hell. You stay right there. I don't want you near any tools. I'll do it myself." With that he started pulling open drawers until he came across a meat cleaver.
Rico didn't like seeing the meat cleaver in his hand, but the guy only seemed interested in using it on the egg. He set the egg on a dishtowel and tried to cut through the soldering.
Seeing what he was doing Sammy was very unhappy. "He's breaking it, Rico," she said pitifully and whimpered into his shoulder.
"It's OK," Rico told her. "Remember your dad can fix anything."
The guy was trying to open the egg one-handed while holding the gun on them at the same time. It was tricky.
While the guy was busy with that, Rico noticed that in his search of the kitchen, he had left some of the drawers open. Mitch noticed the same thing.
Most of the guy's attention was on the egg so he couldn't keep the gun steadily pointed at them. When the egg started to come apart, the guy looked away from them.
That's when Mitch lunged toward the nearest drawer. It held various cooking gadgets. The one Mitch reached for was the meat mallet. He moved fast. One second Mitch had it in his hand. In the next it went flying at the guy's head.
Rico didn't wait around to see how it played out. He couldn't waste a second. He had to get Sammy out of there in case the guy started shooting. With Sammy in his arms, he started running.
When the gun went off, Rico's heart nearly stopped. Sammy screamed and then cried. For her sake, Rico couldn't stop, couldn't look back to check on Mitch. It was agony.
He heard crashing, the guy cursing but no sounds coming from Mitch. Oh God, he had to be OK. His insides twisting, feeling like he was falling apart, Rico was only moving on autopilot. Then right behind him, he heard Mitch's voice suddenly yelling, "Go, go, go!"
He was OK and following close on Rico's heels. Mitch must have done something to that guy because he was still cursing. Though he didn't hear any more shots, Rico didn't think they could make it to the front door, but the basement door was right there.
He went through it and Mitch followed. As he came through the door, Mitch turned and shut it. He then used the scraper from his back pocket to break the light switch next to the door. Next he used the scraper to jam the door. He stuck the scraper between the frame and the door and hammered it in with the heel of his hand, but it wouldn't stand up to a good, strong kick. At best it would slow down that guy.
Determined to make the most of the time Mitch bought them, Rico was bounding down the stairs with Sammy held in his arms. He was running through the dark basement toward the back to the storage room or bomb shelter, whatever that was.
It was the only place where they might be safe from that guy. They could wait him out in there until help arrived. When they didn't show up at the festival or answer their phones, it wouldn't be long before the sheriff came knocking.
"Hurry," Mitch said as he came up behind them right at the storage room door. But instead of coming in with them, Mitch shoved Rico in there and shut the door. Rico heard the lock turn and then Mitch's raspy, urgent voice telling him, "Bolt the door and take care of Sammy."
Rico had no choice but to do as he was told.
"Why did Daddy close the door?" Sammy asked as he set her down as far away from the door as he could. He could tell how alarmed she was, and Rico was too.
"Stay in that far corner, honey. Let me take care of this door. I'll be right there. Your dad is going to talk to that man, but I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you," Rico promised. He was ready to give his life for her a thousand times over, but he was scared to death for Mitch and he couldn't do a thing for him.
Chapter 35
As Mitch heard the bolt slide into place on the other side of the shelter door, he pulled the key from the keyhole and threw it behind the water heater. The door was solid. He was pretty sure a bullet wouldn't go through it, but the man with the gun was already breaking in through the basement door and cursing.
