The ex-cop’s massive fist caught me in the face as my body slammed into O’Conner’s side. I saw stars, but the momentum of my action sent the gunman back into the side of a chair. We flipped over the top of the chair amid a crash of broken wood and scattered porcelain figurines. While my hand remained tightly gripped around the barrel of the gun, O’Conner used his size to swing himself over me. His ruthless expression suddenly gave off a slight grin as he twisted the handle of the revolver, then slowly forced the pistol closer to my head. I tried kicking up with my leg, but his grin turned to a sneer as his other hand penned my free forearm to the floor. O’Conner knew he had me. It was only a matter of time before the barrel of his gun lined up with my skull.

Desperately, I squirmed around, but his strength and weight were too much for me. Eyeing the nearby coffee table, I noticed there was nothing to use against the ex-cop, even if I broke free. My hand wrapped around the barrel shook as I knew I was losing. In those frantic seconds, I kept hoping, while realizing death was coming quickly.

I heard a hollow thud. Just before a splash of hot water landed on my face, O’Conner’s eyes rolled back. Then I felt his full weight when he collapsed on top of me. However, by this time, I’m yelling in pain while trying to rub my sleeve over my closed eyes. A tug pulled at my sleeve, and I finally saw Adele hovering over me.

“Come on, get up!” she desperately urged me to my feet.

Using her strength, I got to my knees, grabbing away the revolver from the semi-conscious O’Conner who rolled back and forth with his head in his hands.

Adele pulled on my jacket and finally I stood, using her shoulder to keep steady. The punch from O’Conner did more damage than I realized as I scanned the room. I noticed Lees was missing. Seeing my scowl, Adele explained as she pushed me toward the open garden door.

“He ran off while you were fighting O’Conner. He’s injured.”

Nodding, I hurried along as fast as my wobbly legs could take me. Adele still held on to the tea kettle while my hand held the revolver. I glance back to see O’Conner shaking his head while trying to get to his feet. A momentary thought came to me.

I should stop and kill that bastard!

Still, I kept moving, telling myself the thought probably came from Miss Wonderful. At least I wanted to believe that. Otherwise, it sounds like I’m killing for the fun of it, turning into one sick bastard with no morality left.

We hurried into the garden, pushing past the water spurting from the massive fountain and a row of waist high bushes. A shot rang out, and I saw O’Conner’s silhouette in the open door of the house.

“Damn, how did he get a gun?”

I couldn’t see the expression on Adele’s face, but I figured she was nearly afraid as I was. We entered the back of the garden, where the tall evergreen hedgerow swallowed our forms in the darkness. However, a tall wall cut off our escape. I felt Adele tug on my sleeve.

“I can’t crawl over that. There has to be a gate out of here,” she whispered.

“You pick the way for us to go,” I replied. “I’ll take out O’Conner if he comes our way. Just keep your head down.”

It was unnecessary for me to tell her that, but I felt better warning her. I held on to her hand as Adele guided us between the brick wall and the hedgerow. Buried in the shadows, I occasionally made out the few lights coming through the mansion windows. Our direction appeared to take us closer to the house, and I heard footsteps coming from a nearby gravel path. As I pulled on Adele’s wrist, she sensed my signal to stop. I whispered to her, reminding her about the sound of footsteps drawing closer.

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As we waited, I thought I heard movement coming from the other side of the wall. However, the sound of footsteps on gravel stopped, and Adele gave my arm a slight tug. I followed her, trying to stay quiet without stepping on her dress.

Finally, we reached the end of the hedgerow. A closed gate stood a couple of paces away, but in full view of the garden. Patting her shoulder, I leaned close to her ear.

“I’ll inch out and see if anyone’s close,” I whispered. “If we’re clear, I’ll wave for you to go with me to the gate. We have to get through quickly, so don’t worry about the noise we’ll make.”

Take a deep breath. I started to move, and she grabbed me by the collar.

“Lane, don’t you make a widow out of me,” she murmured and kissed me on the cheek.

Quietly, I stepped along the wall until I could see some of the garden. Shadows fell across the area, making it difficult to see anything not directly in the path of light coming from a few windows. Slowly inching out from the evergreen tree, I noticed the light from the open garden door revealed more of the area near the fountain. Stepping back when I thought I saw movement, I waited for a moment. I convinced myself I was mistaken and moved closer to the gate while keeping the pistol pointed towards the garden. Glancing back with a frown when I heard Adele suddenly making her way to the gate, I moved towards her.

Light steps across the gravel caught my attention, and I stopped. However, I couldn’t pinpoint the direction. My nerves were on edge. The air filled with a high picked squeaking noise as Adele opened the gate. Sliding out into the light, the footsteps drew closer, but I still couldn’t pin down the direction. The rusty iron noise wasn’t helping me figure it out as I backed toward Adele.

“Get to your office!”

Stopping, I wondered why Adele told me that.

Wait, that’s not her!

Something moved to my right, nearly against the hedgerow. It was too late when I whipped around while falling back. The large shadow of O’Conner stood in a firing position when I pulled the trigger. The explosions of our guns going off didn’t even register. However, I tensed up from expected pain of his bullet striking me.

Landing on my backside, I didn’t feel anything but the pain coming from my butt. The momentum swung me around and I got to my knees. O’Conner was no longer in sight. I stumbled to my feet, praising everything holy for keeping me alive. Holding his pistol pointed toward the hedgerow, I backed through the few paces left to the open gate. But I failed to account for O’Conner hiding in the dark shadows next to the wall.

When I heard a branch snap, I tried to turn only to get a hard push in my back. A pistol crack exploded in front of me, instantly followed by a thwack sound behind me. I fell face first on the ground with a deadweight landing on my leg. O’Conner stood a couple of paces away against the garden wall. Ignoring the pain of my scraped wrist, I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. The flash blinded me momentarily, and I desperately lifted myself to see who fell into me.

Blinking away the stars filling my vision, I twisted around, hoping against hope. There was no doubt in my mind about who saved me. Within the surrounding darkness, I made out the outline of the crumpled woman in a dress laying on my leg.

God, no!

I swept the woman into my arms, thinking the worst. Rising to my knees while moving the woman into the light, I finally saw the one who saved me. It was a blond woman who I’d never seen before.

“Lane, come this way!”

Adele’s voice broke me out of my shock. I saw her standing at the gate, leaning against the wall. Immediately, I caught a quick glance at O’Conner who lay in a heap inside the hedgerow. Struggling to hold my unconscious savior in my arms, I stumbled toward Adele. When I got to the gate, I saw my wife’s anxious face. One side of her face was bleeding and puffy. Before I could ask, she frantically waved to me to follow her.

“Is she still alive?”

Her question had a conflicted tone as Adele stepped by my side while we hurried along. She placed her hand on the woman’s throat.

“I can’t feel her pulse, but don’t stop! Follow the path to the front.”

Adele stared at the woman’s face as the shadows lessened. When we passed by a fading yellow light coming down from the second-story window, I finally got a good look at the woman’s face. Leave it to me to notice she wore a lot of makeup.

“O’Conner shot her as she pushed me away,” I explained between my heavy breaths. “I’m pretty sure that I got him, but he might still be alive.”

When I said that, I suddenly felt a sticky wetness on my right hand that was under her back.

“She’s bleeding a lot. We’ve got to go straight to a hospital.”

“Lee’s will look for our car. We’ll take Jenny’s instead!”

That’s when I realized the name of the person who saved my life.