FicWad

Drew screeched to a halt in front of the Shaw’s attractive split-level and grabbed his M-9s from the compartment under the seat. He sprinted for the open front door.
He carefully entered through the destroyed doorway, noting the damaged caused by a great many spent bullets. Small automatic weapons, Uzi’s at a guess, maybe Mac-10’s. Probably chosen psychologically, more for causing panic and suppression fire than accuracy. The punk attack must have been a diversion, but a badly planned one. It would have made more sense to leave them alone, to spend the time at the theater totally unaware. This wasn’t fitting together at all.
He slowly inched his way through the house, his ears straining to pick up any sound. All he could hear so far was the sound of Dan on the answering machine trying desperately to get someone to pick up the phone. Having to follow police procedure was something Drew could never force himself to do, especially in situations like these. He envied Dan for his ability to keep his head.
But right now, he had a job to do.
He silenced the answering machine, and immediately started hearing sounds of a scuffle towards the bedroom area. He slowly made his way back, passing Robbie’s room as he went. Me made a quieting motion to Robbie, who was already bound with phone ties to his bed. Robbie’s eyes pleaded to be untied, but he made no noise.
He moved further back to the large study by the master bedroom, where, through the narrow crack between the door and jamb, he could see Serenity crying, making indecisive movements. Her mother Marie was being held firmly by a man in a black commando suit, with polarized lenses hiding his eyes. A black face guard covered the lower half of his face, and his gloved hand was holding a pistol to her neck. From the voices, he guessed there were 2 others in the room, on either side of Serenity. Knowing that hesitation as well as action could doom them both, he painfully resolved to wait for an opening.
Then the commando made his fatal mistake.
He lifted his finger from the trigger.
Drew kicked the door in, tracking the other two commandos from the corners of his eyes as his weapons swung out ninety degrees from each other. As he walked behind Serenity, he pulled both triggers simultaneously, sending twin sprays of death toward the commandos. As they fell to the floor, he shifted his aim to the commando holding Marie, and snapped a shot at his shoulder.
And Drew made his mistake.
The gun jerked forward slightly as the commando’s finger slipped against the trigger.
The gun fired.
The bullet ripped through Marie’s shoulder, sending a spray of crimson against the wood paneling of the study.
Without hesitating, Serenity grabbed the heavy wrought-iron lamp from the desk and smashed it against the commando’s skull. He fell to his knees, and as he looked up at her in astonishment, she struck again, catching him under his jaw and snapping his head back in an unnatural position. He fell limply to the floor.
Serenity looked at him for the first time and realized who it was. “Drew, where did—how—“
“Later. What happened?” He knelt beside the unconscious Marie and started checking for vitals. Thankfully, they were all good, so he started applying a field dressing to her shoulder with a strip of his shirt.
“I—I was—” In the aftermath, she was visibly shaking. “I was in my bedroom, studying for my Trig midterm, and those guys started shooting everywhere, and then they tied Robbie up and tried to take Mom. She told them to go to hell, and the guy holding her said he’d just kill her and take me instead. He pointed the gun at her, and then you came in and—”
“Gotcha. And....What was that with the lamp? And the crying?”
“Oh.” She started to look a little embarrassed. “It was something Dad taught me when I was younger. If you make them think you’re harmless, they pay less attention to you, until you kick their butt. There was this one guy, back in high school, who—”
“Never mind the war stories now. I called 911 on the way here on my cell, so they’ll be here any second. But I need a favor from you.”
“After that, anything, What?”
“I need you to tell the police that he shot your mom before I came in the room.” Drew’s face cracked for just a second before he got back under control.
“You...want me to lie?” Serenity seemed astonished.
“Just this once. If...they might think...They might blame...” He was starting to lose control again.
Serenity’s face lightened considerably. “Don’t worry, Drew, I won’t let them haul you off. I know what happened here tonight, and I’ll be darned if you take the heat.” She knelt down and gave him a big hug. He was occupied finishing the field dressing, or he might have noticed that her hug lingered a bit, or that her lips brushed his cheek.
“Point!”
Serenity jumped up from Drew, abashed. “We’re back here, Dad! In the study!”
Dan burst through the study door, eyeing first the dead commandos, then his unconscious wife. “Marie! Point, what happened here?”
“Dan, she’s fine.” He continued tinkering with the bandage, not wanting to look up. “Just a minor flesh wound, I think. Serenity said the guy was going to kill Marie and take her instead.”
“Serenity—” Dan grabbed his daughter in a bear hug, tears streaming from his eyes. “—What about Robbie?”
“I’ll get him.” Drew stood up as he heard sirens and cars shrieking to a halt in front of the house. “He’s in his room, unharmed. They were just going to leave him tied up. You two, stay with Marie. You’ll have company in a minute.” He left without looking at either of them.
The paramedics rushed by him as he calmly made his way back to Robbie’s room. He was crying into his gag. Drew carefully cut the plastic bindings from Robbie’s wrists, then his ankles as Robbie tore the gag from his mouth. “Where’s Mommy? Is she okay?”
“Relax, Robber,” said Drew, “she’s going to be just fine. But her shoulder got hurt, and they have to take her to the hospital. Serenity’s okay, and your Dad’s here now. So don’t worry. Just be a big boy and help your dad, all right?”
The fear and stress lifted from Robbie’s face. “Whatever you say, Copper.” Drew smiled at the nickname, a holdover from when he and Robbie would play Cops ‘n’ Robbers in the yard. Drew lifted him onto his shoulder and carried him outside, where they were loading a semi-conscious Marie into the ambulance.
“Mommy!” Robbie called. Marie looked up at him and smiled.
“There’s my big boy,” she whispered through the painkillers. “My big boy’s all right. Everyone’s okay.” She slipped back to sleep.
“Dan,” Drew looked at his friend for the first time since he’d arrived. “You guys...um...you drive to the hospital. I’ll be there in a few.”
He climbed into his car, and watched as the various medical personnel drove off, along with Dan, and the various police entered the house looking for evidence.
He slammed his hand into the steering wheel. He slammed it harder, and harder, and more violently, and continued beating it with both hands until he felt it break under the assault.
He screamed.
He howled until his voice started to give out, then he sat there and cried for the first time in four years.
And all he could think of was telling his best friend that he’d almost gotten his wife killed.