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And hey, it worked in the movies.
Without pausing to think, I flung myself at him, catching him in the midsection. He stumbled, and I elbowed him in the ribs. His fingers still grasped the gun, however.
Damn it.
Time to fight dirty.
I kneed him in the groin, and he howled in agony but didn’t loosen his death grip on the gun.
Fine. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
The second I buried my teeth in his wrist, Al let out a startled shriek. A millisecond later, the gun dropped from his hand to the floor and slid a few paces away.
Through some miracle, it didn’t go off.
“Get it!” I screamed at Brett.
To my relief, he didn’t waste time asking questions, only hurried over to the spot where the gun had come to rest and picked it up. An audible click a minute later told me he must have reengaged the safety.
Seeming to sense the tide had turned, Al shoved me away and bolted for the door. But Brett stuck out his foot, and the other man crashed to the wood floor like the proverbial ton of bricks.
“Hold him there,” I called out.
Thank the goddess, Brett didn’t even hesitate. He and Al were about the same height, but Brett was probably twenty-five years younger than the guy and was much more agile. A few seconds later, he had my assailant pinned down by means of some kind of complicated-looking maneuver.
“High school wrestling,” he said briefly in reply to my startled glance.
Perfect. I glanced around the room, knowing I needed to find something to tie up our perp until the police could get here. Extension cords — the trusty standby I’d used to tie up Globe’s two previous murderers — seemed to be in short supply. However, the living room’s heavy velvet curtains were held back by silk ropes with tassels on the ends. I hurried over to a window and removed one of the tiebacks, then brought it over to my rescuer.
“Here you go,” I said.
Brett took the rope from me and used it to bind Al’s hands behind his back. He struggled a bit, but there was something halfhearted about his movements, as if he knew the jig was up and there wasn’t much he could really do except lie there and accept his fate.
Once he was secured, I got out my phone and dialed 9-1-1. The woman who picked up sounded a bit surprised when I told her we had the person responsible for the fake demons at the Bigelow mansion tied up and ready for transport by the authorities, but she promised me someone would be out right away.
In Globe, that wasn’t a false promise. Our police department wasn’t exactly overburdened with crimes it needed to investigate, so I knew a deputy would be dispatched immediately. Maybe even Chief Lewis himself, if he happened to be in the station when the call came in and not out driving around town and looking for miscreants the way he often did.
After I ended the call, Al muttered, “Miriam is going to kill me.”
Brett sent me a sideways look. “Miriam? Miriam Jacobsen?”
“Sounds that way. She wanted to buy this property so she could sell it to developers for ten times what she paid.”
That revelation made him give a disgusted shake of his head. “Anything for a buck.” Then he cheered up a little and added, “On the bright side, I suppose this means she won’t be president of the Chamber anymore.”
Probably not. I had a feeling it might be kind of difficult to conduct that kind of business when you were locked up for fraud and attempted murder. Or at least, accessory to attempted murder.
I was just glad that the demons had turned out to be a definite fake.
“Sorry I missed the excitement this time,” Calvin said.
I reached for my glass of sauvignon blanc and took a sip. We were sitting on his patio, enjoying the warm early evening breezes and the delectable smell of teriyaki-glazed chicken skewers cooking on the grill. After I’d called Calvin to get him caught up on all the day’s events, he’d suggested that I come by after he got off shift, and I, safe in the knowledge that both Al Loomis and Miriam Jacobsen were behind bars, figured I’d earned the evening off.
“If you’d been there, Chief Lewis would have been ticked off,” I replied. “Not your jurisdiction.”
“Still.” Calvin was silent for a moment before adding, “You were insanely lucky to have Brett show up like that.”
Oh, didn’t I know it. Maybe that was why the universe had sent me back to the house…it had known I wouldn’t be in danger. Not really, even though it had given me a heck of a scare.
