Chapter Ten

Shawn led Juliet down the hallway towards a small staircase that led to some cellar doors. Shawn reached up and pushed at the doors, but they wouldn't budge. He turned and put his shoulder against them, but it looked like they were locked from the outside.

"No go," said Shawn. "She didn't by any chance leave you your gun, did she?"

Juliet shook her head. "Already checked."

Shawn frowned, looking down at her. "Cell phone?"

A thump sounded from the other side of the doors. Shawn and Juliet jumped, backing down the stairs. Something began hitting something metallic on the doors, probably a chain keeping the doors locked. Shawn and Juliet headed back to the room they'd woken up in, peering around the doorframe to watch the cellar doors. After several hits, it sounded like something broke, and the doors were flung open.

"Shawn?" a voice called into the darkness in a hushed tone. "Juliet?"

"Gus?" said Shawn, heading back to the doors with Juliet.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Gus, who had an axe in his hand.

They spotted Lassiter standing at the top of the stairs, keeping a lookout with his gun.

"Yeah, we're fine," said Shawn.

"We didn't find them at the other address, so we came here," said Gus.

"Have you seen her?" asked Juliet, heading up the stairs to join Lassiter with Shawn right behind her.

"No," Lassiter told her. "We were just about to head inside when we saw someone shoving at these locked doors."

Shawn raised his hand. "Yeah, that'd be me."

"O'Hara, you head around back," said Lassiter, handing her his spare gun. "I'll go through the front. Spencer, Guster, you two stay put."

"But—" began Shawn.

Lassiter and Juliet headed off around the cabin, leaving the two of them standing there.

"Really?" said Shawn. "We only led them to the right location." He leaned back against the cabin wall in annoyance.

"Drop the gun!" yelled Lassiter, aiming his gun at Kara. "Drop the gun!"

"Get away from me!" yelled Kara hysterically.

"Kara, drop the gun!" yelled Lassiter. "I will shoot!"

Kara pulled the trigger, shooting Lassiter in the chest. Juliet lunged for the gun, but Kara struggled with her for a moment before the gun went off, and Juliet fell to the ground with a gunshot wound in her stomach.

"NO!" Shawn yelled, pushing himself away from the wall and rushing towards the front door.

"Shawn!" Gus yelled, rushing after him.

Shawn bolted for the front door, barging in to find Kara wrestling with Juliet for her gun. Lassiter had been knocked into a table, trying to recover. He grabbed his gun from the floor, climbing to his feet, just as Kara hit Juliet with her elbow, grabbing her gun.

"Kara!" Shawn shouted, rushing into the room.

Kara backed up, aiming her gun at everyone. Shawn came to a sudden stop, Gus bumping into him from behind, and put his hands up.

"Drop the gun!" Lassiter yelled, aiming his gun at Kara.

"Get out!" yelled Kara.

"Drop the gun, or I will shoot!" yelled Lassiter.

Shawn narrowed his eyes, watching Kara's finger tighten on the trigger.

"Kara, I'd do what he says if I were you," said Shawn.

Kara looked over at him. "You get out, too! All of you! I'm trying to work!"

Shawn exchanged a look with Gus, who now stood next to him. "Wow, she's really out of her gourd."

Kara pointed the gun at him. "Shut up!"

Shawn took a step back from her, staring at the barrel of the gun. "No offense."

"He needs to do it correctly!" yelled Kara.

Shawn nodded at her. "Of course. 'Cause…that's important…"

Kara nodded. "Yes! It is!"

"Okay," said Shawn. "Why don't you just drop the gun, and we'll get him to do it."

"He needs to do it!" said Kara.

"Yes, he does," said Shawn. "So, why don't you just put the gun down and tell him?"

Kara's hand shook around the gun. "It's not my fault! He brought this on himself!"

Shawn nodded. "I'm sure he did."

"He wasn't doing it right," said Kara. She looked over at Parker Hill on the bed, who lay there watching the drama unfold. "That's not how the story goes!"

Lassiter made a sudden move for her, but she saw it out of the corner of her eye. She swung the gun towards Lassiter, and in her panicked state, her finger squeezed the trigger. Shawn threw his arms over his head as the bullet went off. There was a yell from beside him, and Shawn turned to see Gus on the floor, a gunshot wound in his gut.

"Gus!" Shawn yelled, rushing to his side.

Lassiter wrestled Kara to the ground, grabbing the gun from her and cuffing her. Gus gasped in pain.

"Gus, breathe," said Shawn, putting his hands over the wound to try to stop the bleeding. "It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay." He looked at Juliet, who was already on the cabin's phone. "Call an ambulance!"

"Shawn…" gasped Gus, wincing.

"Hang in there, buddy," said Shawn. "Help is on the way. Just hang in there…"

Gus' eyes closed, and he stopped breathing.

"Gus?" said Shawn.

Gus wasn't moving.

"Gus!" yelled Shawn, shaking him. "Gus, no!"

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Gus collided into Shawn's back, watching as he raised his hands. Gus stepped over next to him, looking up at Kara aiming the gun at all four of them.

"Drop the gun!" Lassiter yelled, aiming his gun at Kara.

"Get out!" yelled Kara.

"Drop the gun, or I will shoot!" yelled Lassiter.

Gus glanced over at Shawn, watching as Shawn narrowed his eyes in concentration at Kara.

"Kara, I'd do what he says if I were you," Shawn told her.

Kara looked over at him. "You get out, too! All of you! I'm trying to work!"

Shawn looked over at Gus, exchanging an awkward look. "Wow, she's really out of her gourd."

Kara pointed the gun over at him. "Shut up!"

Shawn took a step back from her, and his head suddenly dropped. He gasped a little as he looked up at Kara's gun and then back at Gus with wide, scared eyes. He looked over at Kara once again, and Gus could practically see the wheels in his head turning.

"Drop the gun!" Lassiter yelled.

"I did nothing wrong!" Kara yelled.

Shawn stepped forward suddenly, waving his arms out to his sides. "Of course you didn't! I mean, there's nothing wrong with looking out for someone. I mean, that's all you were doing, right?"

Shawn seemed to be drawing Kara's attention towards him for some reason. As he talked, he moved to the side away from the others, as though trying to get them out of the path of a potential bullet.

"If his story flopped, he'd be a failure," Shawn went on. "You were just trying to fix his story. There's no harm in that! I mean, am I right?" He looked back at the others, and Gus could see a mischievous look in his eyes—a look Gus had seen many times before. Shawn looked back at Kara. "I mean, I would do anything for my pal Gus. I can understand what you were doing." All the while, he was taking small steps closer towards her. "Who could blame you?"

Kara's gun hand was getting shakier and shakier. Gus glanced over out of the corner of his eye to see Lassiter inching closer and closer.

"Nobody, that's who," said Shawn, his gestures getting more and more wild.

Gus didn't get it. It was like Shawn was trying to agitate the girl.

"Nobody can blame you for looking out for a friend," Shawn rambled on. "You're just—"

Gus could see Shawn's muscles tense as he talked, his eyes watching the gun closely. Kara suddenly tightened her finger on the trigger, and the gun went off. Shawn spun halfway to the side, and the bullet went whizzing past him, hitting the door. Lassiter took her momentary distraction as his cue and dove for her, wrestling the gun away from her.

Shawn took great gulps of air, looking over at the bullet hole in the door and back at the others. "Whew! Oh, man, for a moment there, I thought that wouldn't work!"

"You were trying to get her to shoot you?" said Gus incredulously as Lassiter cuffed Kara. "Are you insane?"

"Hey, I may use real psychic abilities now, but I still have a trick or two up my sleeve," smirked Shawn.

"That was incredibly reckless, Shawn," said Juliet as she picked the gun up and holstered it. "You shouldn't have done it."

"Yeah!" said Gus, agreeing with Juliet.

"Oh, so, I should have just let her shoot you?" Shawn asked Gus.

Gus frowned. "She was gonna shoot me?"

"Dead as a doornail," Shawn nodded.

Gus patted Shawn on the shoulder with a smile. "Good work, buddy. Never doubted you for a minute."

Lassiter pulled Kara to her feet, pushing her out the door. Juliet headed over to the bed, untying Parker. Shawn and Gus went over to help her.

Juliet looked up at Shawn working at the ropes. "So, you wanna tell me what you saw down there in the cellar?"

Shawn looked up at her, hesitating awkwardly.

Gus frowned. "You saw something, Shawn?"

Shawn looked over at him with a nervous expression on his face and then back at Juliet. "Later."

Gus watched him closely as he went back to untying the ropes. Something was on Shawn's mind, and he would get to the bottom of it before the end of the day.