The Widow

Passion in James County XII

The Widow

By D.C. Roi

Chapter twenty-three

When Larry and John heard Joanne's scream, they immediately entered the house and started down the hallway toward the bedroom, where they could hear the sound of moaning and struggling.

John reached the bedroom door first and opened it. He paused a second, shocked by what he saw. Joanne and a man were struggling on the bed, and off to the side, another man held Gail in his arms. For half a second, John debated what he should do, then, he moved.

"Please! Don't!" Joanne begged as Bruno continued to attempt to pry her legs apart. She hadn't heard John come in and neither had the two men.

John's heart began pounding the minute he heard Joanne's plea. Her cry told him what he needed to do. Ignoring the second man, he started across the room, more enraged than he'd ever been in his life. At that moment, all he could think of was killing the man who was trying to force himself on Joanne.

Meanwhile, Larry had come into the room, too. Jimmy, who wasn't too smart, did have sense enough to know he was in deep shit. He let go of Gail and backed into the corner, holding his hands out. He was so scared when he saw the look on the young man's face that he wet his pants.

When he reached the bed, John grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on, which happened to be Bruno's hair and belt. He lifted the man bodily off Joanne, turned, swung him around, and threw him across the room.

Bruno had no idea what was happening. One minute he was lying on top of the struggling woman, making progress at getting her legs spread, the next minute he was flying through the air. He slammed face-first into the dresser and felt something snap in his nose. He experienced intense pain, then something warm and wet was flowing onto his lip. Stunned, he lay on the floor, wiping at his nose with the back of his hand and licking blood off his lips.

Joanne didn't have any idea what had happened. The man who was trying to rape her had suddenly disappeared from atop her, and since she had her eyes closed, she didn't know why. She opened her eyes and saw Larry standing next to the bed, his eyes filled with fear and concern.

"Joanne, are you OK?" he asked.

Joanne started to sob, and nodded. "I...I am...now," she replied.

Bruno finally got his mind clear enough to realize what was happening. The old guy and the kid had come back, and the old guy was standing there, looking pissed. "You old fucker!" Bruno growled, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He struggled to his feet and started toward John.

Bruno was sure the old guy would back up, but he didn't. In fact, he stepped toward him, and the next thing the thug knew, something hit him in the solar plexus and he couldn't breathe. He felt himself slamming back against the wall, then he felt the man grabbing him and pulling him forward. He was still trying to figure out what had happened when the man's knee smashed into his groin and he experienced the most severe pain he'd ever felt in his life. He was in such agony, he barely felt it when John's knee smashed into his groin a second time.

After landing a second kick to the thug's groin, John smashed a couple of more jabs into the reeling man's ribs. Bruno staggered backward, gasping for breath, and crashed through the bedroom window accompanied by a shower of shattering glass and splintering wood. Finished with Bruno, John turned toward Jimmy, who was still cowering in the corner.

Jimmy had seen what happened to Bruno and, when he saw the wild look in the man's eyes, he decided he didn't want the same thing to happen to him. Whining with fear, he bolted for the smashed-out window and threw himself through it.

While John was dealing with the two men, Larry had gathered the two women and shepherded them to the bedroom doorway.

Joanne clutched her lover desperately. "Larry, Oh, God! They...they were going to...to...rape...us..." she stammered.

"I know, honey," Larry said, stroking her hair. "But you're safe now."

After the second thug went out the window, John turned to Gail, who threw herself, still sobbing, into his arms.

As the four of them stood there, they heard the sound of a siren and roaring engine. "I'd say Greg's a little late," John commented.

Jimmy didn't do Bruno any favors by jumping out the window, because when he did, he landed right on top of his partner in crime, who was lying on his back on top of a pile of broken wood and shattered glass. Bruno was barely conscious, and didn't really feel Jimmy landing on him. Landing on his friend did cushion Jimmy's fall a bit, but the way he fell still knocked the wind out of him. He laid on top of his partner, gasping for breath, trying to get his feet under him.

Greg wheeled his patrol unit into Fran's driveway behind Larry's car and the broken down pickup truck and jumped out. He started for the house and saw two men, obviously not in good shape, struggling on the ground outside Fran's shattered bedroom window. He drew his Glock 9mm out of the holster on his belt, pointed it at the men, and yelled, "Police! Stay where you are and don't move!"

Greg could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance, and knew backup was near, so he stayed where he was, covering the two men. He studied them. One of them was all bloody and wasn't moving. The other one had wet pants and was sobbing.

"Let's go out and give Greg a hand, Larry," John said. "You ladies stay here, we'll be right back. Everything's OK now."

"All...all right," Gail sobbed. "Be...be careful, John."

"I will, honey," John told her, giving her a hug.

Larry gave Joanne a hug, then he and John walked outside and found Greg standing there, covering the two men with his gun.

"Nice to see you finally got here, Greg," John commented.

"You sure as hell didn't leave much for me to do," Greg retorted. "These guys don't look too good."

"I could have done more, but I figured I ought to leave something for you," John said. His face got serious. "I'd say we're looking at charging these two with breaking and entering an occupied building, kidnapping, assault, and attempted rape." He looked from Bruno to Jimmy. "You boys are going to be spending a lot of years in the slammer."

"You gotta get us an ambulance," Jimmy protested. "I'm hurt real bad and so is Bruno."

"Don't worry, dirt bag," Greg snapped. "We'll have you checked at the hospital before we lock you up. You know, you assholes are pretty damn lucky."

"Lucky?" Jimmy asked. "How the hell can you say I'm lucky?"

"You're alive," Greg said.

More sirens were wailing up the road, and more police cars stopped on the road behind the house. Officers emerged from the cars and started for the house while Greg's radio crackled as the additional arriving police units called the dispatcher to tell them they'd arrived.

"Now that your help's here," John observed, "Maybe you ought to let Operations know everything's under control."

"Oh, yeah," Greg said. With his free hand, he pressed the "talk" button on the microphone on his collar, which was attached by a long coiled cord to the portable radio on his belt. "James County L-15 to all arriving units, I'm inside the house," he said. "This situation is under control. I have two in custody. Backup has arrived. Respond an ambulance and medic unit. No law enforcement injuries."

"Operations copies, L-15," the dispatcher said. "You have the situation under control, two in custody, and you want an ambulance and medic unit. Do you want detectives to respond?"

Greg looked at his uncle, who shook his head.

"I haven't been out of harness that long. I can still fill out a crime report," John said.

"Negative on the detectives," Greg told the dispatcher. "We can handle it."