Chapter 4: Gun Point

We got back home to a silent house. Ran must have been mad still because she didn't come down to see us.

I didn't know what I was going to do with her. There was no way to apologize for having worried her like that. Righteously so, as it turned out. Stupid… stupid…. stupid… Mouri went to the kitchen for a beer when the phone rang.

"Hey, brat, can you get that for me? Tell them I not here." He bent over to grab a can. I sighed and picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Mouri-tantei's office." I said in a bored tone. When did I become his secretary?

"What luck. Just who I wanted to talk to."

I held phone tighter. Why was she calling me already? I hadn't even gotten the chance to tell Haibara and Hakase. "What do you want?"

"Why, I only want you. Since you're the only one who figured out my little secret I couldn't just let you walk away." Hitomi chided me.

"And how do you expect to stop me." I asked in a satisfied tone.

"Oh, you're going to come to me and you are not going to tell a soul what you know otherwise there may be consequences."

"There's nothing you can do about me. The police with get you sooner or later and you won't be able to threaten them with the other family members' lives." A part of me still wanted to tell the police. That's what they would do- they would act. They wouldn't care if two or three people were killed if they got the murderer if the worst happened. I was getting too soft.

"Oh, but you're the one who can prove everything. I'm sure that if you change your mind and call them right now, they'd be able to find my jacket. Now that I think back on it, you did have a rash from it. I don't know if you could use it in court but if they look into it, my sister would give me up."

"Right," I remembered. "You were supposedly on a plane when it happened. I thought that was strange."

"Yes, me and my sister change shifts when we feel like it and don't tell so we don't get in trouble. She'd rat me out if she knew I'd killed people. So, after your little insight, my future doesn't look very promising."

"So what do you plan on doing?"

"You're going to come to me." I couldn't hold back a sarcastic laugh.

"You think I'm joking," She laughed in return "But I've got a friend here with me who's so worried about you. You wouldn't want to go and let her die now would you?"

My tightened more as it held the receiver, turning the knuckles white.

"No" I answered in a whispered tone. She understood. Why Ran? Why did they go after Ran? She didn't even come with us. Hitomi-san barely knew her.

"It wasn't too hard to ask Tadashi to borrow the car. That piece of junk you arrived in was so slow; I beat you back by ten minutes or more. All I had to do was say that you were in some trouble and she followed me right out the door."

"What do you want?"

"Just you. I won't even kill that little friend of yours or this girl's father. It's not like anyone will care if a killer suddenly vanishes; not that I'll actually be going anywhere."

"What do you want me to do?" I was planning a million things in my head. There had to be some way to get the upper hand. Hitomi-san had Ran and there was no way she was keeping her.

"Come to the apartments were I killed those homeless men. All the way at the end of the street is another abandoned building. I don't really care how you get there, just make it here in the next thirty minutes." She hung up.

I dropped the phone back down.

"Who was it?" Mouri walked in the room with a second beer in hand.

"It was just Ran." I smiled at him. "She's over at Sonoko-neechan's but she'll be back in time to make dinner."

Mouri just mumbled something to himself and sat down in front of the TV.

I grabbed my jacket and skateboard by the door. The skateboard would allow me to make it there on time and I had plenty of time until dusk so I wouldn't have to worry about charging up the backup battery.

I didn't want to get Mouri involved. If he knew what was going on he would follow me and that would only get Ran killed if she saw me with someone else. The guy wasn't bad but I wasn't going to risk her life on an accident. I knew I was making my second mistake of the day and hoping it wouldn't have as dire consequences. I set out on my own.

It started raining by the time I made it to the building in question. I was easy to find but I barley made it in the time limit. The rain had slowed me down and I had a few close calls with at least five cars, two bikers, and a little girl on a scooter, but I made it. My clothes were soaking wet and I was freezing.

I grabbed at my watch to make sure I was ready and made my way inside.

I still had no plan and no idea what to expect but Ran was in danger and I had to help her. I'd improvise. It had worked before.

The building on the end of the street was dark and at least four stories tall. I made my way quietly inside before thinking that was a bad idea. If I surprised Hitomi my imagination had fun with what she would do.

The first floor was deserted. This was clear from the minute I walked in. Dust covered the floor and the walls were full of cobwebs. Chairs were broken and thrown across the large area. There were a few tables laying on their side or broken into pieces. Papers littered the majority of the floor and the air was musty. A clear trail upstairs had been made recently. This floor had been a office in some other lifetime.

I steeled myself as I made my way up. The second floor was much the same though it had seen quite a bit more disarray before having been abandoned.

I found them on the third floor.

There were no desks, boxes, or obstacles to block my view. Ran had been tied to support beam and was blindfolded. Hitomi was behind her, holding a gun loosely at her side, though she looked nothing like herself. She was dressed in men's clothes and had her hair tied up as she wore a blonde wig. If I hadn't been expecting her, I would never have guess they were the same person.

"About time" Her voice even sounded different and I was relieved. There was no way that Ran would be able to tell that it was her so Hitomi had no reason to kill her.

"You actually listened to me. That makes this a lot easier. Here's what I propose: I could just kill you now but you're close to the stairs, which you most likely did on purpose. I don't think you'd be able to outrun me but I saw you come up. Nifty skateboard."

"Thanks"

"Conan-kun?" Ran voice trembled when she heard mine.

"Don't worry, Ran-neechan. Everything's fine."

Hitomi showed me earplugs and nodded at me before putting them on Ran.

"Wait. Conan-kun. Get out of here. I don't know what's going on but run! Please!" the desperation in her voice was hard to ignore. I had to get Ran out of here. She struggled but once the earplugs were in she had no way to remove them.

"Now listen. I was thinking how this would work. I can't release her and have her go off to the police before I kill you. So what's going to happen is you and me are going to walk out of here and leave her tied up. When we get outside you're going to get in Tadashi's car with me and we're going to find someone and tell them there's a girl tied up here." She paused to dig the keys out of her pocket.

"Then, when you know she'll be rescued but not know where we are, you and me will be two minutes from our destination. It's, yet again, an abandoned building they're planning on tearing down in a week. This one though was bought out and the owners had new ideas for it. It's a good thing too, what with the stains it will have. I shoot you and live happily ever after." She pointed the gun she was holding earlier at Ran. "Or she dies here and I get caught. Your choice."

I nodded to Hitomi to show her I understood. There was no way I wanted to be in a car with this woman. I'd have to find a way to stop her after we got far enough away form Ran.

I turned to go down the stairs when Hitomi ordered me to stop. She had Ran at gunpoint still. I stopped.

"Now, I don't know that you didn't go to the police. Please take off your jacket and shirt so I know your not wearing a wire."

I did as she said. It was hard to take the shirt off because it was wet so I took my glasses off as well.

"Take the watch off too."

"Why?" I grabbed at it as if she could snatch it away from that distance.

"Because," she shoved the gun closer to Ran "I don't know what devices the police have these days and I'm not going to given away by something stupid."

I took the watch off and placed it on the floor. I hated being weaponless against her but I'd find some other way. It wasn't worth endangering Ran.

"Here" she threw a pink jacket at me that was just slightly too big. "Sorry, the guys really don't have any good old clothes."

I put the jacket on without any complaints, barley noticing the fluffy hood tickle my neck.

"Turn out your pockets."

I did so. My notebook was in my right pocket and fell to the floor. I didn't keep anything else on me.

"Take off your shoes and throw them here."

Again, I felt myself hesitate before listening to her.

She checked my shoes and the lining to make sure there weren't any wires. She wasn't satisfied. Apparently, with all the electronics the professor had put in them, they didn't pass her expectation. With the lengths she was going to, I was happy she didn't check my underwear.

She threw a pair of white flip-flops at me. "Be glad I didn't bring the tennis shoes, they never would have fit you."

Now I was in trouble. I didn't have my watch or my shoes. I put the glasses back on but there was little help they would do me.

"Now lets go."

I started walking down the stairs. What could I do? There had to be someway to stop this. I didn't have my phone on me anymore though and that was going to make things difficult.

The car was parked around the corner. Hitomi made sure that I got in first.

"By the way. I don't know how you're so smart but I can't trust you. Until we reach our destination I have a switch here." She showed me a little black remote that looked like it belonged to a automatic car lock. "There's a bomb in that room and I'll only give it to you after we get there."

I stared at her angrily, fear for Ran and anger at this woman completely occupying my thoughts, but she only smiled. I wouldn't be able to do anything while she had that switch in her hand.

We started driving away from the building and were a good six miles when I looked over at her. Her gun hadn't even been pointing at me, she just held tightly to the remote. She had my number down pat. It wasn't very often a criminal did that to me and it left an unsettling feeling.

"This should be fine." We pulled over to the side of the road, near a well-dressed young man with light-colored hair and a briefcase.

"Excuse me, Sir? I'm sorry but I was just walking around with my son and we found a woman tied up in a building back there. I don't have a phone and I can't find a policeman anywhere, will you please get in touch with them?!" Her act was so convincing I felt bad for the poor man and couldn't blame him for falling for it. He anxiously grabbed at his cell.

"Of course! I'll get the police right away! What's your name?"

"Takanada, I'm sorry but I'm very late for a family dinner. Here's my number if you need to contact me. I'm sorry for getting you involved."

The man wrote the number down hastily and nodded. "I'll let the police know right away!"

"Thank you so much, sir!" She drove calmly away from the man and the mask fell off.

"That good enough for you?"

I nodded to her. She took off the wig and put down her hair. "Man, that's been bothering me."

We got to the house about four minutes later. "Hem. I was a few minutes off." It seemed to have no effect on her conscious that she was about to kill a little boy. Not that I was going to let that happen. I had to make sure Ran was safe first.

She held onto my hand as we made our way up to the building. My first reaction was to pull back but her grip became painful and I had to fight all my instincts and be complacent. There was no one in sight and all the other buildings weren't in much better condition then the ones we'd been in before, even if it was a different neighborhood.

No witnesses. I swallowed hard as I tried to think of a way out of this.

The house had once been a nice family home but the curtains, furniture and everything else was in ruins. She didn't hesitate as she made for the stairs

"Here you go." She handed me the switch as we reached the second floor. "If you hit it on the side there, the wires will disconnect without setting it off. If you can't tell that then you'll just have to believe me."

I took the remote from her. There was a section on the side that made it easy to destroy.

"Thought it might give you some peace of mind before I kill you. You are going to be my last victim, for a while at least."

I looked up at her. She was telling the truth. I quickly destroyed the thing.

At last Ran was safe.

She raised the gun up to me and I yelled as the bullet bit through my upper arm. Now to make sure I got out relatively safe as well.

"Never said I'd let you off easy. It was so fun killing all those people. Really lets you get out the stress of everyday life. Now, because of you, I'm going to have to let that go for a while. Might as well take my time killing you."

I screamed again as she shot the hand of the arm that was already bleeding. I had to think. What could I do? The pain was distracting and kept any rational thoughts from forming. The only thing that entered my brain was one word. Run.

So I did, or at least, I tried. Some basic instinct in me told me to get as far away from her as fast as I could. I felt the third bullet hit me in the back of the leg and I fell, unable to make it near the stairs.

I could hear myself whimpering. How pathetic. How stupid and pathetic I had been. How could I have gotten myself into this? Why didn't I protect Ran from the start? How could I have missed such an obvious clue?

The fear in me was overpowering. My right hand, covered in my own blood, clung to drag me forward on the carpet. Pathetic.

I felt her gun on the back of my head again.

"Well, you really aren't as much fun as I thought. You act all tough but you're still just a kid. I've seen a lot of people who don't fold as easily. Might as well just kill you."

I waited for death and I was so scared. What was the matter with me? I had stood up to more than death with the people I had faced down. Yet this woman was actually going to kill me. I was going to die.

The thought had never occurred to me before. I mean, I had gone into some dangerous situations, but I never really expected to die.

I heard the shot I'd been waiting for but there wasn't any pain.

For a moment, I wondered if I had simply died. I looked up. How was that possible?

Sato-keiji was at the foot of the stairs with a gun pointing somewhere behind me. Besides her panting I could hear nothing more.

Then I blacked out.

...

...

...

I woke up in the hospital a few days later with Ran holding me in her arms.

After the police had left, Sato-keiji had said that something bothered her. It was only later she realized the same mistake that I had, since she knew about me. Hitomi's slip up at the questioning was what gave her away. As she would have said, 'something so stupid.'

Sato-keiji had then made her way back to the Oshiro house to find that Hitomi had left and taken the car. She drove around the city looking for it when she heard the call about Ran.

Sato-keiji was on her way to the area when she saw Tadashi's car parked in front of the house. Hitomi must not have thought anyone would be looking for it so soon.

Fortunately for me, she ran into the house and heard the gunshots. She immediately came upon us and shot Hitomi without a second thought, though she regretted that she had killed her. Hitomi was no longer able to pay for and regret all the people who had died over the years just because she was stressed. Maybe there was some deeper reason, but I hadn't looked into it yet. What ever other reasons she had for doing it may have been lost to us when she died. I hoped I never came across someone truly insane again. I still had no idea what happened to Tadashi-sab but I could guess what I would do if I were in his position.

None of the bullets she shot me with hit any important veins or tendons so my stay in the hospital was short. The worst of it was my hand and it took a while and some surgery. Having it wrapped up between those two points wasn't anything hindering.

Ran was in hysterics when she heard what happened to me. Even now I can't get her to stop blaming herself. Sometimes I wish I could make her understand that it was all on me. If I hadn't been so stupid and noticed the chloroform connection sooner, none of this would have happened and Hitomi would be in jail. It was my fault.

For the few weeks I spent in the hospital, Ran rarely left my side. She got me everything I'd ever need from food, drinks and candies to flowers. Of course, it was hard to accept them considering I didn't believe I deserved them, and she noticed. I had, in a way, still let someone die.

Both of us were too busy wrapped up in our own grief that it took us a while to notice something.

"Conan-kun" she asked me later. "Why did you come for me at the abandoned house when you knew it was a trap?"

I felt my face color at the question. "Why wouldn't I try to come save you?" I held my hands behind my back, which caused me slight pain. "Why did you follow Hitomi without even considering that she was someone bad?" I asked in response.

"Well, she said you were in trouble and I know dad's not the most reliable guy so, I thought I should help."

"Weren't you still mad at me?"

She smiled at me and carefully lifted me up into her arms. "Now, how could I possibility stay mad at you?" She kissed me on the forehead and for, what seemed the longest time, I was disappointed.

"But your right." She put me back down. "I am still mad at you. For disobeying me you are to have no more sweets and I'm cutting off all your book and TV privileges." I stared at her in disbelief. Because of my leg injury I wasn't able to leave the house... Was I supposed to spend all my time watching the wall!?

In response to my look of utter horror she winked and pulled out a copy of the new Sherlock Holmes movie that had just come out on DVD that day.

"Of course, though, how could I stay mad at you?"