Loose - Part 15 - Final

The Final

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When Carla stepped back onto the boat, she noticed two things right away. The smell of gas was strong, so strong that it had to be a leak.

The other thing, even more troubling in her mind at least, was Tate. He was still laying on his back but his position was different. One knee was slightly raised, then it dropped only to slightly rise again.

She froze then. In slow, terrifying motion her eyes went to a new smear of blood on the white boat deck. It led to the empty cushioned bench seat where she had thrown her bag.

The bag that had all the shit from the hospital. The bag that also had Lenny’s Sig Sauer 9mm in it that she’d brought just in case. The same bag that was now on the boat deck next to Tate Diller.

He slowly raised his head, but only a couple of inches. From the other side of his body, he also raised the Sig that he held with a shaky stiff arm. The gun wavered back and forth. His entire body shook with the effort.

Carla still didn’t move but she finally met his eyes. They had no sanity in them, completely unhinged…and were blazing with a feral rage. By contrast his face was a droopy, slack jawed mask. She knew that some people have an extremely high tolerance for medicines but still marveled at his recovery, limited as it was.

“Strt…drvvve.” His voice was a low drugged mumble and almost unintelligible. He motioned towards the boat’s helm but couldn’t hold his arm up anymore and the gun thudded down as if it weighed a hundred pounds.

Carla did move then, and without any hesitation. She took two quick steps and reached for the gun but against all logic, Tate Diller’s arm lifted back up relatively fast, especially considering his semi-drugged state.

Steadier this time too. “Tust me btch…I…gah the five ponds a trigr presser.”

She held both hands up showing him her palms and backed up to the helm, reaching down for the starter. “It won’t start though Tate…I can’t start the fucker. Not only that but we’ve got a serious gas leak somewhere. Might be the Vecuronium affecting your senses, but the smell is strong.

The Sig Sauer steadied even more, and he shook his head no. “Strt. It.” He grimaced then as he rose up on an elbow.

Carla shook her head and pressed the starter. It didn’t whine this time, the Evinrude caught and came to life right away, running like she was brand new. She turned her head and stared back in disgust at the big motor, her thoughts scrambled and seething. You cunt. So now you run. No longer flooded huh or you just being the moody old bitch you are?

She throttled up and it ran even smoother.

Tate jerked the gun at her. “Gooo, g’now!”

****

He saw them stop running and draw their weapons, but Lenny kept closing the gap until they heard him. The man turned with wide eyes leveling his gun, then the woman turned as well, pointing her weapon at him.

Lenny guessed the distance between the three of them was no more than twenty feet. June was close now too, only three boats down from where they stood. Close enough to see a silhouette of someone at the wheel in the soft blue running lights at the helm.

Dunbar shouted at him and dropped down in a slight crouch. “DPS! Drop your gun! Now!” He saw Liv slide away slowly to his left, separating and increasing the gap between them.

“I’m here for my wife. She’s in trouble, I, I just know it…and it’s because of me.” Lenny held the 12-gauge Remington at his waist. Picking one of them, he kept it trained on Dunbar.

“Lenny? Lenny, right?” Liv’s voice was calm but firm. “We’re not here for Carla, it’s your brother we want! We’ve got this. Now drop the shotgun, Lenny. Do it. Do it right now.”

Behind Newcastle and Dunbar, June had just eased out of her berth when the motor died yet again.

“Let me through.” Lenny’s voice cracked.

“You know we can’t do that.” Dunbar took a tentative step toward Tate Diller’s brother. “Lenny, drop the gun. Last warning.”

A sudden flurry of five or six consecutive gunshots came from the direction of June, shattering the quiet night air. Dunbar felt white hot pain in both his upper and lower back from two of those shots. He yelled out, went down hard on his knees, trying to brace himself with a hand that he already couldn’t feel. He stayed balanced but only for a moment, then his arm crumpled beneath him and he fell forward, face first.

His mind flickered, like lights blinking on and off. He seemed to detach from his body. His internal voice, asked in a clinical and scientific way, how this could be happening? How can it end like this?

His last rational thought was of course Liv, and what might have been, what should have been. All of it flashed by in a blink as the world blinked out, going cold and black.

Newcastle saw Wells go down, then twirled around and went down to one knee. Another crack came from the boat. She saw the gun flash, heard the loud angry buzz of the round as it went wide over her right shoulder. Firing off two quick shots, Liv went down to her stomach and squeezed off another round.

Remembering Lenny behind her, she rolled onto her back with gun ready. He’d been hit too and was flat on his back but she did see his leg move. The shotgun was on the pier, about four feet away.

Dunbar was lying face down and motionless on the now blood drenched wood dock. Rolling back over again she eyed the boat, dead in the water but just clear of the pier.

She had to get to Wells somehow but also stop the boat and the idea came to her when she saw an arm quickly reach up to the dash. The boat motor began to crank.

Liv took aim and fired twice hitting the motor casing both times. She thought she saw a little smoke twirling up but wasn’t sure. When the engine gurgled and caught though, she yelled out with frustration.

Firing twice more, she watched helplessly as June labored but continued to make headway now. The boat was gliding away from Newcastle down the long row of moored boats towards the mouth of the marina and the open bay.

Another shot coming from the boat splintered the wood planks in front of Newcastle and a wood chip glanced off her cheek. She hugged the wooden planks as yet another shot thunked into the pier right in front of her. Liv tried to count the shots she had taken so far and was fairly certain it was only six.

She looked back at Wells who hadn’t moved. Just too much blood. Liv was sure he was gone so she made up her mind right then, rising up in a sudden move.

Her thought was simple and a silent shout to herself. Stop that fuckin’ boat! Tucking her service gun under her belt, in the small of her back, she ran to the shotgun that Lenny had dropped. Reaching for it she heard a shout in the darkness.

“Corpus PD! Step away from that gun!”

She turned to face them, holding her hands up. “I’m Special Agent Newcastle! DPS!...badge on my belt.” She dipped her head towards the gold shield at her waist.

Two uniformed officers walked under a pole light with weapons drawn. “Keep your hands raised ma’am. Just hold on now.”

As the two Corpus cops got closer, Liv saw the name patch of Reese on the officer doing the talking. He saw her badge clearly now and slowly lowered his weapon. The other officer followed suit. “How can we help?”

“We don’t have much time, officer Reese!” She pointed. “In that boat is an escaped convict and a suspect for multiple statewide murders I’ve been chasing. I mean to stop him.” She grabbed the shotgun and sprinted down the marina pier. Reese and his partner followed. Their footsteps pounding on the pier behind her.

Even though June was only limping along at maybe five or six knots, her running lights kept getting smaller and more dim. Around the maze of the dock corners, and row by row, the boat was getting close to the entrance of the marina. They ran on.

Liv growled with frustration, rounding a corner. She was nearing the end of the marina dock and she pulled up short of the water, pumped the gun, aimed a little high based on the distance and fired the Remington.

The two Corpus cops took several shots too at the fading lights but they stopped.

No stranger to a shotgun, Newcastle pumped and fired again and again until she was out of shells. Knowing better but doing it anyway, she dropped the shotgun, pulled her service weapon and fired away at the boat. Emptied the clip. After several clicks she finally stopped. June was far out of range and she knew it.

The other officer made the call in, speaking into his chest mike and started to brief the dispatcher with a status report.

“Youuu…mother…fucker.” Liv’s voice was shaking with rage. She bent over at the waist, hands on her knees and half yelled, half screamed, “Shit…SHIT!” Newcastle stared at the end of the dock, then the water and realized how close she was. Close to the edge of losing reality. She forcibly reeled herself back in.

“We’ll get him Special Agent…we’ve got a Corpus P.D. boat enroute.” Reese looked at his watch. “ETA… ten minutes. Crew of three, best of the best. I know those guys. Two Port Authority boats on their way too. Got a lot of the shoreline staked out. Lots of folks involved.” He gave her a sad smile. “This’ll be one to remember.”

Liv remained bent over, staring down at the dock as she spoke. “It’s not that I don’t believe you Reese. I don’t doubt you a bit that we’ll get him, but then again this bastard’s luck, it just never…never seems to run out.” She finally put her hands on her waist and straightened up, looking out at the darkness.

The two officers put their heads down for a second and then joined her look. They stood there until the dim lights of June were completely out of sight and the motor could no longer be heard.

“Like Reese said. We’ll get him, agent Newcastle.” It was the other officer this time. Liv nodded to him and closed her eyes for a moment. Approaching sirens, a lot of them, could be heard but they were still a ways off.

It was as if someone unplugged her then, Newcastle’s body went limp, everything catching up with her and collapsing inward at once. Her expression was blank. Finally, she cleared her throat. “I’m heading back. Can y’all give me a second alone with my partner before they take him away.”

They all began to turn away. “Sure. Sure, no problem special agent…we’ll be right behind you.”

Their attention was jerked back to the inky darkness of the water by a distant bright fireball out in the bay, followed by an even bigger ball of light that blossomed. The sound from the consecutive blasts was only slightly delayed by distance and they all heard the booms rolling across the water.

Eyes big with surprise, Reese stared at the bright but already fading glare with an open mouth. “Well, looks like somebody’s luck finally did run out.”

“Yeah.” Liv glared at the far-off flames on the water for a moment more then muttered only one word to herself. “Bastard”.

She turned away from it all then, closed the book, and began her slow walk back to the body of Wells Dunbar.

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Epilogue Coming Soon

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