"Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she's singing
Ooo, ooo, ooo"
That was the song. It was blaring on the radio. Stevie Nicks, Edge of Seventeen. It went well with the roaring of the cars engine as I sped down the highway. Sped. I was doing one-thirty-five. That's miles per hour. One hundred thirty five miles per hour. I was in a hurry. She had called. Someone was in the house with her. I had called the police, but I was closer than any county deputy. She had sounded frantic. She locked herself in the bedroom when she heard voices down in the kitchen.
My turn was coming up. I slowed. Not enough, but the skid wasn't that bad. I recovered nicely. Two more miles. The car roared into the night. I was lucky the roads were smooth. Railroad tracks loomed in the distance. I slowed again. Ninety-five. I was air born. The car hit hard on the other side. I pressed the accelerator. One twenty. I could see smoke pouring from the back of the car. Come on girl you can do it. Please. One mile. I could see the outside lights of our house. Come on baby. Just a little farther.
It didn't start to sputter until I lift off the gas. I had too. I couldn't take the curve at full throttle. I could see our driveway. When I stepped on the gas again, it sputtered even more. It slowed drastically. Twenty miles per hour and dropping. I could see the glow of the engine out my side window. The car was on fire. I was just one hundred feet shy of our drive. I jumped from the car. Not even stopping. The car continued down the road as I ran up the drive to the house. It was a hundred yards to the house.
The explosion shocked me. She had been a good car. I would miss her. Millie. My Millie was in trouble. I was huffing. I was puffing. I was about to pass out when I reached the back door. I could hear screams from inside. I entered as quietly as I could. I stopped in the dining room for my pistol. Clip full, round in the chamber. My Millie was screaming again. I heard low, gruff voices. More than one of them.
I could hear the sirens of the county cops. So could they. They didn't seem to be in any rush. Climbing the stairs I gripped the pistol tightly. Peeking over the last stair I saw them. Three men. They were trying to get Millie to shut up and drag her down. She stood on the bed swinging an aluminum baseball bat. Two men had bloody noses. When Millie connected with one of them, I shot another in the leg. Then another. The third stepped out of my line of fire. The door slammed shut.
"Millie down," I yelled.
"Down," she shouted back.
I ran up the hall. I hit the door at full speed. I was lying on my side. Gun pointed at the third man. He just stood there. He now had the bat. I shot him point blank in the chest. One of the others was suddenly on top of me. He was trying to get the gun. Then he fell to my side. Millie stood over both of us bat in hand. The third guy was moaning loudly. I had caught him in the knee.
I climbed to my feet. Millie was in my arms. She started crying. I held her tight as feet pounded up the stairs. Neil Mason stepped through the bedroom door. Gun at the ready. When he saw Millie and I were all right he lowered his pistol. Shaking his head he cuffed the three men.
"This guys still alive. You must be slipping John."
"He rushed me," I replied.
"These two will be limping for the rest of their lives," Neil said.
Two more deputies came rushing in. They checked on the other men.
"I'll need your gun," Neil said.
"Sure, no problem," I replied removing the clip, ejected the round in the chamber and handed it to Neil.
"I'll see you get this back after the arraignment."
"Thanks Neil."
"Now, take Millie downstairs. Go sit in the kitchen. I'll be down to talk to you in a little while. Let EMS in when they get here."
"Sure thing Neil."
I led Millie down the hall to the stairs. We descended to the front room. Turned right and went down the hall to the kitchen. I stopped in the dinning room to lock the gun cabinet while Millie went to make some coffee. It would be hours before we would be able to go to bed. When I entered the kitchen, Millie grabbed me and hugged me hard. I hugged her back gently.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No, no not right now. I'm just so glad you're okay."
"Me too. You got here quick. How's Betsy?"
"Toast."
"Oh...I'm so..."
"Don't be, it had to be. I would do it again for you."
"I know. Thank you."
I hugged her a little tighter. She sighed.
"I wish we were alone..."
"Me too. God I love you."
"I love you too. I love you so much..."
"I know."
We stood there for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes. Neil coughing broke the spell. I stepped back from Millie. She turned toward Neil.
"Coffee?" she asked.
"Yes, please and thank you. You didn't have too."
"Neil, not only are you a friend, you are a hero to many around these parts."
"Millie, stop, you'll have me blushing and give me a swelled head."
Millie just giggled. She poured the blushing Neil a cup of coffee, strong, black. Then she sat at the table. Neil sat across from her. There was a knock at the door. I opened it. The lock would need replacing. It was EMS. I stepped aside.
"Up stairs, back bedroom," I told them.
"Tony is up there, he'll fill you in," Neil told them as they tromped through the kitchen. "Now, tell me what happened, Millie."
"I had just locked up. I turned off the downstairs lights. When I was upstairs in the bedroom, I heard someone smash in the back door. I closed the bedroom door as quietly as I could. I locked it. I called John. They broke the bedroom door in. I grabbed John's bat. I climbed into the middle of the bed and started swinging. John was here in about five minutes. He started shooting. He told me to get down. He crashed through the door and shot the last man."
"Great. Have you ever seen these men before?"
"No."
