I followed Sikes into a pine-wooded lot, and he began to move quicker. He was fast for a big man. He could lose me now. Somebody’s life would be at risk in the peaceful neighborhood. Another Scootchie Cross. Another Kate McTiernan. I remembered Kate’s words: Drive a stake through his heart, Alex.
I slid the Glock nine millimeter out of my shoulder holster. Light. Efficient. Semiautomatic. Twelve deadly shots. My teeth were gritted so tight they hurt. I clicked off the safety. I was ready to take Davey Sikes out.
I eyed the ominous shapes of overhanging pine branches as I moved along. An A-frame house was up ahead, set against the backdrop of a full, pale yellow moon. I moved quickly across the soft floor of pine needles. I made no sound. I had his tempo and rhythm down now.
I saw Casanova rapidly approaching the A-frame house, gaining speed. He knew his way. He’d been here before, hadn’t he? He had been here to scope things out, to study the next victim, to get it just right.
I sprinted up closer to the house. Then I couldn’t see him. I’d lost him for a second. He might have slipped inside.
A single shimmering light had been left on in the house. My heart was going to explode if I didn’t blow him up first. My finger was on the semiautomatic’s trigger.
Drive a stake through his heart, Alex.
CHAPTER 118
TAKE SIKES out.
I fought to control my emotions, to find the calm pool inside me, as I ran toward a screened-in back porch that lay in shifting shadows and darkness. Suddenly, I could hear the sputtering hum of an air conditioner inside. I noticed a peeling sticker on the whitewashed porch door. It read: I live for Girl Scout cookies.
He’d found another nice one out here, hadn’t he? He was going to take her tonight. The Beast couldn’t stop himself.
“Hello, Cross. Now put down the gun. Very slowly, ace,” said the deep voice behind me in the dark.
Both my eyes closed for a beat. I lowered the pistol, then dropped it on the lawn of grass and pine needles. My body felt like an elevator car in free-fall.
“Turn around now, you son of a bitch. You meddling shithead.”
I turned, and looked into the face of Casanova. He was finally right there, close enough for me to touch. He had a Browning semiautomatic aimed at my chest.
There would be no more overthinking, just gut instincts, I told myself. I let my right leg buckle as if I’d lost my footing. Then I sucker-punched Sikes to the side of his head. It was a hard shot, a crushing, heavyweight-caliber punch.
Sikes went down on one knee, but he came back up in a hurry. I grabbed the front of his jacket and bounced him off the wall of the house. His arm cracked against the shingles and the handgun fell loose. The ground was firm under my feet, and I moved in on him again. The moment had the feeling of a good old-fashioned streetfight. I wanted it. My body ached for physical contact and release.
“C’mon, fucker,” he challenged me. He wanted me, too.
“Oh, don’t worry,” I told him. “I’m coming.”
Another light flashed on inside the house. “Who’s out there?” The sound of the woman’s voice caught me off guard. “Who is out there, please?”
He threw an arcing roundhouse punch. Pretty good speed and aim. He was a decent fighter, not just a lover. I remembered that Kate said he was scarily strong. I didn’t plan to spend a lot of time in his killer’s grasp, though.
I caught his punch on my upper arm, and it instantly went numb. He was powerful, all right. Stay away from his strength, I warned myself. Hurt him, though. Hurt him a lot.
I fired a hard right uppercut into his lower stomach. I thought of Kate and the beatings she had taken for being disobedient. I vividly remembered the final beating she’d gotten.
I crunched another right hand into his stomach. I felt the stomach soften. I think I hit him below the belt. Sikes groaned and slumped over like a badly beaten club fighter. It was a trick, a slick feint on his part.
He fired a punch and caught the side of my head. He rang my bell pretty good. I snorted, bobbed a little, showed him he hadn’t hurt me. This was streetfighting, D.C. style. C’mon, white boy. Come to me, monster man. I needed this time with him so much.
I slammed my fist hard into his lower stomach again. Kill the body, and the head dies. I wanted to mess up the head, too. I hit him for good measure in the nose. My best effort so far. Sampson would have been proud of the shot. I was.
“That’s for Sampson,” I told him through gritted teeth. “He asked me to give you that. Hand-deliver it.”
I hit him in the throat and he started to gag. I continued to bob. I didn’t just look a little like Ali, I could fight like him when I had to. I could defend what needed to be defended. I could be a street tough when it had to be that way.
“This is for Kate.” I hit Sikes in the nose again, right on the button. Then square in the left eye with another right lead. His face was puffing up nicely. Drive a stake through his heart, Alex.
He was strong and well conditioned, and still dangerous, I knew. He came at me again. Charged like a raging bull in the plaza de toros. I stepped aside, and he forearmed the wall of the house as if he were trying to level it. The small house rumbled and shook.