A/N: Some offensive language in this chapter. Please take care and know that it is only by our less than enlightened character.

Chapter 17

"Carl Vaughn! Open up!" Danny banged on the front door of the Vaughn home with the Chief Superintendent. Benson had gone around the back and Lucien went with him.

"His car is here," Matthew frowned.

"Open up or we're breaking it down!" Danny threatened. There was still nothing from the inside and the younger man was about to break the door down when they heard Lucien shout from the backyard. Danny took off and Matthew tried to keep up.

"What happened?" Matthew asked as he saw Carl Vaughn lying on his back in the grass near a swing that was in a tree.

"He's been shot in the head. Rigor hasn't set in yet and the body is still warm," Lucien told him.

"Suicide?" Matthew wanted to know.

"Unlikely sir. I don't see a weapon," Benson spoke up. That's when a shot rang out and Matthew yelled for them to take cover. Lucien grabbed Benson and they ducked behind the tree while Danny took cover behind a small shed, where Matthew joined him.

"That has to be Robert Wagner!" Lucien called over to the others.

"Trying to clean up his mess! We need to nail down where he's hiding!" Matthew told them. Unlike the Beaucaire farm, there were plenty of places around the Vaughn home to hide. Trees, homes, and barns offered good places for a shooter to conceal themselves. A few more shots were fired and then there was silence.

"You think he's done?" Danny asked Matthew.

"Too long to just be reloading. Don't poke your head out though. Stick your hat on the end of my cane and stick out into the line of fire," the Chief Superintendent told him. Danny did as he was told and nothing happened.

"I think he's taken off. He knows we know though. We have to get back to the Wagners before something really bad happens," Lucien told them.

"Agreed. Carefully move to the vehicles," Matthew ordered. They moved and nothing happened but when they got to their cars they found another problem.

"Two of our tires are flat," Danny kicked one of them.

"Ours too. Radio for backup and have backup sent to the Wagners. Bill and Charlie are there now," Matthew said. Danny got on the horn trying to reach out and he finally reached someone at the station.

"They're sending a tow truck here and a radio car to get us. Bill and Charlie are not answering their radio. The cadets are being dispatched to the Wagners from the farm," Danny said.

"Damn it!" Matthew was not happy. Two of his officers could be in trouble and there was no way for them to get there. Lucien tried to calm his friend, but he knew that he was concerned too. Bill and Charlie had no idea that someone could be coming for them.

Bill and Charlie were struggling to get answers out of Lisa, Bobby, and Rebecca. None of them wanted to help find the guns that they owned despite the Sergeant reminding them that they were already in trouble. Suddenly a couple of cadets came bursting through the front door with some of Arnold's farmhands in tow. They were all armed.

"What are you doing?" Bill gave them a look.

"Carl Vaughn is dead. He was shot in the head in his back yard. The Chief Superintendent wanted to get you back up since the tires on their cars were flattened," Cadet Waverly saluted.

"Good God. Take these three down to the Beaucaire farm and detain them. I don't want anyone else getting killed," Bill told the cadet. Lisa tried to object, but Waverly and two other cadets took them into custody and got them out of the house.

"How are you with that rifle Bao Shen?" Charlie asked.

"I can peg a rabbit at fifty yards," the man said.

"You're hired," Bill told him.

"Robert Wagner is a sniper. No one goes out that front door unless we know that he's down," Charlie told the others. There was another Chinese man by the name of Guo Kwan, one Aboriginal man, Ronnie Winmarti, and one Aboriginal woman, Dolly Flynn.

"He thinks he's the best, but Dolly is better," Ronnie spoke up. Charlie and Bill gave him a look.

"She won't admit it, but she can peg your hat off your head at almost one hundred yards," the man explained.

"He tells the truth. No one will ever get into a shooting contest with her," Bao chuckled. Charlie noted that Dolly seemed to be shy about her skills.

"Then she can be our sniper," Bill smirked and shook his head. They didn't have much time for anything else as Robert Wagners' car came speeding into the driveway. Dolly approached one of the open windows and knelt down at it. She put the barrel of her rifle into the window opening. Charlie called out to Robert, who had exited his vehicle,

"Robert Wagner it's the police! Get on the ground and put your hands on the back of your head!" The older man froze.

"Do it now!" Charlie barked at him. Bill saw the man move his hands toward the small of his back. Before anyone could say anything, a shot rang out, knocking the man's Akubra hat off his head.

"Better do as we say, or the next one will be a little lower!" Bill barked at the man. The sounds of the other two rifles cocking could be heard. Robert Wagner paused and Bill whispered to Charlie,

"He's taking too long." Charlie agreed but they had no way to tackle him, so the detective yelled,

"Drop to the ground now!" They gave him a few more moments, but he still stood there, as if he knew that he had them in a stalemate but then the sounds of sirens could be heard coming up the road. Robert turned his head toward the noise, he knew that his goose was proverbially cooked. Another shot rang out and the man screamed. Dolly had taken out his kneecap. Charlie and Bill rushed out to the man and quickly took him into custody. Bao Shen came out to render medical aid despite the man's behavior.

"Don't touch me you Chink!" Wagner bellowed. Bao Shen ignored him and looked at his wound. Then he quickly tied a bandanna around his leg just above the wound.

"That'll do until you get him to the hospital," the man smiled at Charlie and Bill. The sirens grew close, and a car pulled up, and out popped the four who had been at the Vaughn's.

"Doctor Blake, he'll need your expertise," Bao Shen gave the man a smile.

"And yours," Lucien smiled at him. Wagner went to open his mouth again and Charlie punched him, knocking him out.

"That should help you treat the patient until the ambulance arrives," the detective said.

"Much obliged Charlie," Lucien chuckled.

To Be Continued…