Chapter Four

He carefully, almost tenderly, removed the tape from her mouth and eyes. She gulped for air.

"Please," he said in his soft voice. "Take it easy. Don't be afraid. I'm going to cut the tape off your wrists and ankles."

She winced as she moved her newly freed arms. She realized with a burst of shame that her shirt and bra were ripped, and her arms flew to cover her breasts.

"Here," he said and draped his leather jacket over her. "Sorry it's so big…and wet."

She clung to it. He held the knife out to her.

"If you can…could you get your brother loose?"

She nodded, and winced as she slipped her arms into the jacket's sleeves. The leather was soft and smelled warm and comforting and covered her like a blanket. She felt safe inside it. "We're safe," she thought. "This man will save us."

"The door to the stockroom…It locks from in here?" Bobby moved quickly to the door, his flashlight cutting through the dark.

"Yes," the girl answered in a hoarse voice. She scrambled across the floor to her trembling brother.

"Drew…It's ok…" She removed the tape from his body as carefully as Bobby had freed her. "Someone's here…He's helping us…"

Drew shivered and hugged her. "Emmie…" he rasped. "Are you ok?"

Bobby pushed and shoved several large boxes and shelves against the stockroom door. "They won't get in that way," he said.

"I'm ok," Emmie said. "What about you?"

"Emmie…" Drew's hand touched her cheek. "You're bleeding…"

Bobby was by them in an instant. "Here," he said. "Let me see." His large soft, hand gently turned Emmie's face. "You've got a bloody nose…Hang on…Please…Hold this…"

He handed the flashlight to Drew, and stepped quickly to a shelf that held several rolls of paper towels. He grabbed a roll and a bottle of water from another shelf. He opened the water and poured some of it on a sheet of the towel.

"Here," he said and handed the sheet to Emmie. "Press that against your nose…Not too tight…" He turned to Drew. "You ok?"

"I'm all right," Drew declared, but his voice shook.

Bobby grabbed another bottle of water and handed it to the boy. "You probably need this…Don't drink it too fast…"

Crashes sounded from the front of the store.

Bobby rubbed the back of his neck. "Two of them?" he asked. "They both have guns?"

"Yes," Emmie said.

"They don't know much about guns," Drew said. "They're big handguns…but they keep holding them like in the movies or on TV."

"Like this?" Bobby held his left hand flat and turned sideways.

"Yea…I go deer hunting with my Dad…He and his friends are always talking about how people don't know how to handle guns," Drew said.

"Is there a gun in the store?" Bobby asked. "Or a phone?"

"No gun," Emmie said. "Our Mom and Dad said it'd just be more dangerous. There's a cell phone, but it's by the register."

"Ok." Bobby helped the children to their feet. "We need to get out of here…They're going to figure out no one is there…My car is parked in the trees behind the dumpster…" He turned to Emmie. "Can you drive?"

"Emmie can drive anything," Drew said proudly.

A smiled played on Bobby's face. "She just has to drive my car…"

The sounds from the front stopped.

"Ok," Bobby said calmly. "They've figured it out…There's going to be some noise."

The stockroom's lock jiggled, followed by angry shouts, curses, and pounding on the door.

"Over here," Bobby said, and motioned the kids to a corner. "Don't worry…Both of the doors are locked."

The pounding and shouting ended, and Bobby held a finger to his lips. "Turn off the flashlight," he whispered to Drew. He moved to the back door and peered cautiously out the window. One of the masked men was at the door, but he didn't look up at the window. He jolted the lock, and growing more and more frustrated, yanked at it. He bent over to examine the lock.

"No…It can't be that easy," Bobby thought. He looked back at the children; he could just make out their forms in the dark. "Get ready to run when I say so," he whispered.

Bobby placed his hands on the door knob and lock. He looked out the window. The masked man was still examining the lock. Bobby took a deep breath, released the lock, and flung open the door as violently as he could. He slipped his gun from its holster and rushed out.

Groaning in pain, the man lay sprawled on his back on the wet pavement. His gun lay inches from his hand. Bobby scooped up the gun, and rushed back into the room.

"Now!" he yelled.

Drew and Emmie scrambled from the corner. Bobby handed his keys and phone to Emmie and his gun to Drew.

"Be careful with the gun…Get to the car…Get out of here…"

"But," Emmie protested.

"Don't worry…call the cops when you can…Go!" Bobby yelled.

He watched them run into the cold, wet, dark.

"What the…!"

Bobby spun and leveled the gun he'd just picked up at a corner of the building. "Drop the gun!" he yelled. He got a brief look at the second masked man as he scurried away.

"God," Bobby thought. "I wish Eames was here."

He looked at the first masked man, who appeared to be incapacitated for a few minutes. He saw Drew and Emmie disappear behind the dumpster. "The other guy," he thought. "He'll go for his car…Stupid, Goren…You should've done something to the car…" He moved swiftly up to the corner. In the midst of the storm, he heard an elderly engine come to life in front of the store. He looked over his shoulder and saw his car starting to inch from its hiding place. "Get away…Get away…" he prayed.

He was cold and wet, water dripping from him. His soaked clothes added to the weight of exhaustion and fear already dragging at him. "Gotta help them," he thought. Bobby took a deep breath, and, the gun raised and ready, swung around the corner.

The driver had backed up and turned the car. In a lightning flash, Bobby saw the man's eyes gleam as he caught site of the fleeing kids.

"No!" Bobby screamed. He planted his feet and shot at the car. He knew Eames would've got the tire or the driver, but there were good reasons why he was regarded as the worst shot in Major Case. He managed to hit the beat up car on the fender just above the passenger side front tire. It was enough to cause the driver to jerk and swerve and focus his attention on Bobby. As Bobby braced for another shot, he heard a strangled cry behind him. Bobby spun in time to see a large bottle of window washer cleaner flying at his head. He managed to avoid a direct hit from the bottle, but it caught him on the right side of his face and sent him reeling. The other man loomed in front of him, and Bobby saw the car bearing down on him.

END CHAPTER FOUR