"Sara, that's the killer."
She opened her mouth to argue with Jake; Nottingham was many things, but he wasn't a serial killer, not the textbook definition anyway. He was an assassin; the two things were similar, but not. Then she realized that there was a man following Nottingham and the woman he called Angel.
For an instant she almost felt sorry for the serial killer. He was about to tangle with the wrong man. But then she realized that Nottingham might not be able to fight the man if he had to worry about the safety of his date. And there was no way of knowing how much the girl knew about him, or how much he would be willing to expose. Jake had already started pulling her toward the door, and she quickened her pace.
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Lilianna let out a strangled scream when Nottingham suddenly let go of her hand and crumpled to the ground. They were almost to the far end of the parking lot and the streetlight overhead was out. Praying that he was just putting on a show for the killer, she whirled around. He was right there, a lead pipe in his hands. He was huge, easily seven feet tall and built like a freight train. Her eyes widened in real fear. The Witchblade wouldn't activate. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw why.
Her parents were running toward them, guns drawn. Witnesses, something her Witchblade knew they could not afford. Especially these witnesses. Evidently believing that Lilianna was paralyzed with fear, the huge killer raised the thick, lead pipe over his head, about to bring it down in a killing blow to Nottingham's still head. Lilianna threw herself in the way, on top of Nottingham. She would have killed the man instantly with her bare hands for daring to even think of harming the man she loved, but that would be hard to explain to the two detectives and the cops who were bound to show up.
The next moment her mother's strong voice cut through the air, "Freeze bastard. NYPD."
"Not this time, pig." The new voice startled them all and everyone but Nottingham turned to see a group of gang bangers, all of them with automatics. "We're takin' him out. No one kills on our turf but us. If you two cops drop your guns and play nice, maybe we won't blow you away too."
Nottingham stirred beneath her and Lilianna moved slowly off him, trying not to draw attention to them.
"Nah, man," another of the gang members argued. "They're cops and they seen us. We gotta take care of 'em. The two on the ground, too."
While the second youth had spoken, the serial killer had been slowly backing away.
Jake trained his weapon back on the killer and hissed, "Stay still, you sick scumbag."
Sara's dark brows drew tighter together and she held her gun pointed toward the gang, not aiming at any one member in particular. This was not going well. Where was their back-up?
Nottingham whispered softly to Lilianna, "Take care of your parents, Angel. I'll be fine."
She nodded and squeezed his hand before he reached for his katana. She stood, but at the exact same moment, before she had time to reach out, the serial killer leapt on top of Jake, knocking him out. Sara turned and shot him in the leg. The man howled with pain and rolled off of Jake. Sara ran to her partner and knelt beside him. When Nottingham and Lilianna saw her sigh of relief, Nottingham stood up and unzipped Lilianna's dress in one smooth motion. He stepped in front of her as it fell to the ground, his katana drawn.
"Are you fucking crazy, man?" the first gang member, evidently the leader, spat.
Nottingham lowered his head to stare at the teenager from under his thick, black eyebrows.
"Yes."
The leader started for an instant, swore, and then opened fire. The rest of his group followed suit. By that time, Lilianna had her dress off and full Witchblade armor on. She stepped out from behind Nottingham to block any bullets aimed at her parents. Nottingham glanced at her quickly and drew in a breath. With her hair down and loose and the fire of battle in her eyes, she looked like a warrior goddess. He heard gasps among the gang members. They must think so too.
When the gang saw that Nottingham was catching bullets in his hand and ricocheting others off his blade, and that none of the ones aimed at Lilianna were getting past her armor, they started backing up. With the youths more spread out, the bullets were further apart and harder to stop. One of them made it through Lilianna and Nottingham's defenses and struck the serial killer right between the eyes, stopping him permanently as he tried to get up. Another cut through Nottingham's upper arm and he grunted. Lilianna jerked in place, wanting desperately to help him, but needing to stay in front of her parents.
Sara suddenly raced forward, her gauntlet and blade drawn. She blocked bullets as she ran at the youths, and they scattered, yelling obscenities as they disappeared into the night. A moment later a siren screamed and Lilianna spotted flashing lights headed their way. She turned toward Sara, her eyes wary.
Sara frowned at her, "I don't know who you are, or if that's what I think it is, but if you don't say anything to the cops about this," she raised her wrist that was now covered only by a bracelet, "I won't mention yours. But we will talk. Soon."
Lilianna nodded in acceptance and moved over to Nottingham. His katana was out of sight again and he was holding a hand over his wound. The Witchblade returned to being her rings and she slipped the dress back on, her bra and panties still intact. Seeing that Nottingham was injured, Sara hurried over and zipped up the dress for her. Lilianna murmured a soft thank you to her mother and turned back to Nottingham.
Familiar now with the need in her eyes and needing her too, he pulled her close with his good arm and let her snuggle against his chest, resting his head atop hers. Lilianna moved her arms to encircle his waist and sighed. All her hasty plans were being disrupted and she was beginning to think that even preventing her own birth wouldn't stop the events that had led to such chaos in her own time. But how could she, just one person, one mortal female, save the whole world when even Eve, who was as unstoppable as Glory in her own way, hadn't been able to?
Add to that the concerns she had about disrupting the lives of her family and the man she loved, and she was definitely in deep. And now she was going to have to deal with the police. Hopefully Nottingham's contacts were as good as he said they were and her identification would hold up if there was any scrutiny. His, too. Jonathan Waters and Angel DeCarlo were witnesses to a shoot out involving homicide detectives, gang members that had fled the scene, and a suspected serial killer, now deceased.
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Jake let out a moan and Sara rushed over to help him sit up.
"What happened?" he asked after he noted that Waters and his girlfriend appeared to be none the worse for the wear and the nightclub killer was dead.
"We had a little shoot out, but the gang decided killing all of us wasn't important enough to get caught over," Sara said. "N ... Mr. Waters has an injury but otherwise we're all okay."
Jake nodded and grimaced as he reached back and felt the knot forming on the back of his head where he had struck the ground. Why was it that he always got knocked out or held back when Sara was in danger? It was frustrating not to be able to protect the woman he loved. Almost as frustrating as the fact that most of the time she didn't need his protection. Smiling lopsidedly at how mad she'd get if she knew his thoughts, he stood up and dusted off his pants.
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A moment later, three squad cars and Dante's dark sedan pulled up, followed by an ambulance. The other officers and the Chief climbed out of their vehicles with guns ready, but slowly put them away when they assessed the situation. An EMT led Nottingham to the back of the ambulance to clean and bandage his wound. The bullet had gone straight through the muscle, and though it would hurt for awhile, there would be no permanent damage. A uniformed officer took Nottingham and Lilianna's statements as the EMT stitched his wound shut and they were told that they could leave.
As they walked toward Nottingham's car, Sara jogged up to them. "How will I get a hold of you?"
Her question had been aimed at Lilianna, but Nottingham was the one who answered.
"I'll contact you in a few days. She's been through enough for now."
Sara's jaw tightened in anger, but she nodded her acceptance and moved away to rejoin her partner at the back of the ambulance, where a tech was checking his vision. She would have argued with Nottingham, but he and the girl had undoubtedly saved Jake and herself, and she owed them at least this courtesy. She'd give them two days before she'd track them down through Irons or by herself. Thinking back to Angel's strange armor, so like the very thing Irons wanted most in the world, she decided that going to Irons would only be a final resort.