What a Pain! - Chapter Twenty-One
**More bad-guy words. Just a warning. **
"Wh-what?" Roy gulped, "Mike, what do you mean?"
Mike looked up at Roy with anguish-filled eyes and said, "Jordan took John-ny to the b-back yard. He...he thought Gage was mmme, Roy. Oh, god..." He leaned back against the siding, closing his eyes. He imagined every terrible thing that Jordan could do to John and began to tremble.
Piper, overhearing Stoker's words, bit back the temptation to scream. "I knew that asshole would screw this up!" he told himself.
Eddie had a hell of an ego to begin with, and with all the money they had made reselling the pilfered guns, his sense of immortality was out of control. He was drinking and drugging himself into oblivion every night, crowing about how easy it was to get whatever he wanted. Now he was over-confident, power-hungry, and getting careless.
Piper turned and scrubbed his hands over his face before regaining his composure. He looked back to Roy and Mike. "I'm going over there," he told them. He drew his weapon and strode alone toward Mike's house.
Roy, Mike and the Shears family watched Officer Piper leave, and Roy wondered, "Why wouldn't he get the other officer to help him?"
Mike gave a small groan and buried his aching head in his hands. "Mmmy fault, Roy. Gage is d-dead be-cause of me."
"Mike, we don't know what happened over there; we...we don't know..." Roy was suddenly unable to say what he most feared: that his friend and partner had just been murdered. "C'mon, pal, let's get you to Rampart."
Mike's eyes snapped open, "No, R-Roy! I c-can't leave! "Nnnot un-til I know what hap-pend to John."
Roy placed a hand on Mike's shoulder. "Okay, now look, Mike, you gotta settle down. Cap called us because of your blood pressure and we both know that getting all riled up isn't going to help. An ambulance will be here in a few minutes and you need to get in it!" Roy said, sternly.
As a precaution, he took Mike's BP again. "Now, relax a little here and let me check this." Roy grimaced at the readings he saw. He needed a way to contact Dr. Early, and soon.
When Eddie Jordan discovered that Gage was not who he needed him to be, his volcanic fury erupted once more. He bashed Johnny again on the head, and shouted, "You son-of-a-bitch! You goddamn son-of-a-bitch! What the hell you think you're tryin' to pull?" Jordan's head spun around and his eyes were nearly dinner-plate sized when he heard the sirens approaching. He wiped again at the sweat beading on his face and became frantic, trying to decide what to do. Killing Gage would be easy but getting away unseen would not.
Eddie was out of control, ranting and crazed with vengeance. With wild, bloodshot eyes, he waved his gun toward the house. "You're so stupid, man, tryin' to play me...I figured your ass out...you're messin' with the wrong guy!" To emphasize his point, he delivered a violent kick to Johnny's side. It was agonizing, but Johnny merely whimpered; Sir Pain snarled from his hiding place.
Johnny could hear Jordan howling, but in his hazy brain, it was a hollow, faraway sound, devoid of meaning. Once, he tried to get up, only to have Eddie stomp on his back and crush him to the ground. Now, he could only lie there and pray to the spirits that his friends were alive and already safely out of the house.
Sir Pain rose to his feet on the branch of the scrub tree, and patiently waited, watching Eddie's tantrum. Each time Jordan passed the helpless paramedic, he would kick Gage again, bellowing out a venomous stream of curses. He paced and shook, knowing that unless Piper made some kind of an incredible diversion, the house would be surrounded with cops very soon.
"Piper...that sonofabitch... he'd sell me out in a second...he ain't savin' my ass!" Jordan grumbled.
Sir Pain seemed to know to wait until Jordan was far too consumed in his rage to notice him moving, and slowly, inch by inch, the cat climbed to a higher perch in the tree. When Sir Pain was just at the height of Eddie Jordan's head, the cat released a blood-curdling screech and launched himself toward the drug-crazed man. Jordan spun around and was petrified when Sir Pain landed, claws first, on his face.
Gage lifted his head when he heard the cat's scream and Jordan's roar, and saw a frenzied Sir Pain biting and scratching the hysterical gunman. Jordan stumbled around the lawn, flailing wildly, trying to dislodge the furious cat. Sir Pain dug in, and clung like a remora to Jordan's head, causing the man to fall backwards over Johnny's legs. He fell to the ground and in one swift move, Sir Pain leaped from Jordan's face, and bolted for the protection of the shrubs against the fence, with tufts of Jordan's hair still stuck in his claws.
"Goddamn cat!" Eddie howled, wiping at the blood that now streamed down his face and into his eyes. Forgetting about John for the moment, Jordan charged over to the shrubs and tore through them, seeking the small gray cat who caused his agony. He spread the branches and beat on them with the gun, trying to frighten Sir Pain into coming out in the open. Sir Pain wasn't about to be seen, however, and crept along the fence line, until he spied an escape.
During the mêlée, Johnny tried to get up, but barely made it to his knees before collapsing again on the lawn. It seemed Jordan had succeeded at least partly in his quest for revenge; he had wounded the paramedic enough that without help, Gage would surely die. His face and head were covered in blood from the beatings, and his shoulders, stomach, ribs and legs were deeply bruised from being kicked. John attempted to rise again. He crawled to the edge of the patio and grabbed the leg of a chair. His arms shook with strain and he cried out as he tried to pull himself up. Gage's sense of self-preservation was strong, but it wasn't enough.
Jordan stormed back over to Gage, enraged, and grabbed the shovel that Mike had leaning against the house, bashing John squarely in the center of his back. The air was driven from Johnny's lungs with such force he fell forward on to the patio, unable to take in another breath. It was the final injury and Johnny could fight no more.
"Look, dumb ass, you ain't gettin' away. You was stupid enough to play like you was Stoker, but I make the rules!" Jordan raged and pounded on his own chest, "I am in charge!" From the corner of his eye, Eddie saw Sir Pain darting toward the garage door. He turned and yelled, "Thought you could get away, huh? Guess again!" Jordan fired the shot that the others had heard.
As Officer Piper stalked toward Mike's backyard, the second ambulance pulled up and Roy waved the attendants over to the Shears' house. Mike tensed up and shook his head as he protested, "Nnno, Roy!" He batted away Roy's arm and struggled to stand. "Nnnot yet!"
Roy sighed, "Okay, Mike, look, just calm down. You don't have to go yet, but let 'em call Rampart at least though, okay? We need to get your BP under control."
"A-Alright," Mike resigned, He shook his head and blinked hard several times. "As if the pounding in my head wasn't bad enough, now my eyes are going bonkers." he thought.
Roy noticed. "Mike? What's going on? Tell me how you feel."
Suddenly, Stoker felt worse than before. He was tempted to tell Roy he was okay, but no one in their right mind would have believed him. He was sweating, dizzy, and his eyes didn't seem to want to focus anymore. He cast his bleary eyes toward Roy, "R-Roy? I, uh, I gotta b-barf!"
Roy practically scooped Mike up and leaned him over the side of the steps, allowing Stoker to get sick in the Shears' landscaping and not in his own lap.
"Mike, you can't stay here any longer- you're going to have a stroke if you don't get to the hospital right away. I'm not even going to argue this any more," Roy told him. To the waiting ambulance attendants, he said, "Guys, let's get him to Rampart as soon as possible. Will one of you see if a medic from 19 is still here and if he can take him in? I think one of them left with our Captain."
"You got it, Roy. I'll be right back," one of the men replied, and trotted off to where Squad 19's truck was parked.
"I'm staying here until the very end," thought Roy. "My partner needs me."
Soon there was the paramedic from Squad 19 running over to the Shears' house along with the ambulance attendant that was sent to fetch him.
"Stan? Can you call this in? His blood pressure is sky-rocketing and he's having dizziness, blurred vision and nausea with vomiting." Roy then helped them get Mike on the gurney.
"I-I'm so sssorry, Roy... so sssorry..." Mike repeated his apology and covered his face with his hands.
Roy continued to reassure Mike that he'd be okay, and Cap would be fine too, but somehow, he never said anything about Johnny. Until he knew for sure, Roy would stay. Stan's conversation with Rampart went on in the background as Roy spoke with Mike.
"Mike, this is not your fault, understand? I'll get to Rampart and fill you in just as soon as I know something. You're gonna be okay, and Cap'll be there waiting on you. Hang in there, pal, it'll be okay."
Roy patted Mike on the shoulder and watched as the gurney was loaded into the ambulance. Blaring sirens returned as the vehicle sped toward Rampart, and Roy knew that if Johnny really was dead, Mike would never forgive himself.
Piper walked behind the house and could hear the vile language he knew was spewing from Eddie Jordan. "Eddie!" Piper half-whispered over the fence. "Eddie, it's me! What the hell are you doing?"
Jordan stopped his raving for a moment and glared around the yard, looking for Piper. His breaths came in gasps like a fat man running a marathon, and his face gleamed with sweat and blood. Sir Pain had left several long, deep gashes from Eddie's forehead to his chin and raked his claws across the man's neck. Bites from the angry cat had taken chunks of skin from Eddie's ears and nose as well, and blood still ran from the wounds. One might think Eddie Jordan looked like someone who had been caught in an industrial size cheese-grater.
Still too high on drugs and vengeance to recognize Piper's voice, Jordan began to wave his gun around, shouting, "Stay where you are, asshole! I mean it! You come near me and that guy gets it!"
"Jordan, it's me! It's Piper! C'mon, man, we gotta get outta' here! There's gonna be more cops here any minute, let's go!" In truth, Piper had no inclination toward helping the deranged man, but he also knew that if Jordan was caught, he'd be caught too. Then a thought occurred to Piper.
Roy sprinted over to Officer Blake who was already on the radio, calling for more help.
"Hey," Roy asked, "Why's your partner going over to Stoker's house alone?"
Officer Blake had seen Piper going in that direction and called for him to come back, but Piper had ignored him. That was when Blake called for backup.
"I don't know, Roy; I'm calling extra officers in and they'll be here soon. Let's go see what's going on. You know, I tried to get him to come back, but he kept on walking. Stupid new guys, they think they already know everything," Blake grumbled. Both he and Roy could already hear the police sirens in the distance.
Rather than wait for Jordan to come down from his high and let him in, Piper swiftly scaled the fence and landed in the dirt. "Eddie!" Piper shouted, "Eddie, knock it off! We gotta' split, man!"
"Piper? What the hell?" Eddie wheezed, "You comin' to get me now? Don'tcha think I can handle things? I got it all under control, man. I blew away two guys inside the house and this one right here is as good as dead. All I gotta' do is make sure I killed that cat..."
"You moron!" Piper snarled, "Both of those guys in the house are still alive! I knew you mess this up, I goddamn knew it!"
"N-no, man, I saw them both fall, I saw them fall, man! They're dead!" Jordan's panic was rising and he held the gun like he was brandishing a sword. Piper raised his weapon as well.
"Looks like you royally screwed up, Eddie; you blew this job all to hell!" Piper informed the other man. Then Piper mumbled under his breath, "And since it seems like you attacked that guy on the ground, this will be the clearest-cut case of self-defense anyone's ever seen." He pointed his gun at the frenetic Jordan and put his finger on the trigger.
"Stop, Piper!" shouted Blake from behind. "Don't make another move- you either, Jordan!"
Blake had called in six other police officers who now had Mike's house surrounded. Blake leaped over the wood-paneled gate and Piper raised his hands in surrender. Jordan was not about to go quietly.
"Go ahead and shoot me, asshole," Eddie taunted, "you know you want to! Maybe I'll finish this guy off first," he howled, then coughed, pointing the gun at Johnny's temple. Johnny merely lay there, moaning almost imperceptibly.
Jordan coughed again, and then pointed the gun at Piper's head. "This guy knew what he was doin'; he knew all about everything. Maybe I should off him instead? Hell, maybe I'll just kill everyone! Man, wouldn't that be a night!"
Jordan's breaths were short and rattling and his eyes bulged as he danced around the yard, threatening to pull the trigger on each individual he could see. Suddenly, Eddie fell to his knees and made a rattling sound like he was gargling with each breath. Piper looked at him, eyes wide with shock, and in his last moment before collapsing, Eddie Jordan pulled the trigger and Piper fell like a stone.