“I told you, it’s upstairs,” she said.
“Then we go upstairs,” he said. He indicated with the gun that she and Jessica were to precede him. “And no sudden moves or the kid dies first.”
All she could do was play for time. Quinn would come back soon. Or he would call, and when she didn’t answer...
He would send the cops or come rushing in himself, and someone would die. Someone else. Gus was already bleeding out his life on her studio floor, if he wasn’t already dead.
“Move!” Eric told her, waving his gun. His Glock 19, modified with a silencer.
Danni had no choice. She moved.
*
“Why don’t you call the cops stationed out front?” Billie shouted, running behind Quinn.
Quinn was running hard, determined—and afraid.
“Because he’s in the house!” he called back.
“You can’t be sure,” Billie said.
“Wolf is sure,” Quinn said, and he knew it was true. The dog had barked insanely while they were at La Porte Rouge then suddenly lit out again.
“If he feels he’s cornered, he’ll take down everyone he can before he goes down himself,” Quinn said.
“The cops could go in en masse before he could do anything,” Father Ryan panted.
“I can’t take that chance. If he’s got a full clip in his gun...” Quinn said. “I have to get in myself. Without him knowing.”
They kept running.
None of them spoke again.
*
Passing the kitchen on her way to the stairs, Danni saw the bodies on the floor, bound and gagged.
She was shaking as she headed up the stairs, aware that Jessica—holding Craig—was right behind her.
And that Eric was right behind Jessica, his gun trained on her.
She entered the attic apartment shared by Billie and Bo Ray. It had a kitchenette/dining/living area and two bedrooms.
She didn’t have to go into Billie’s bedroom.
The sax he’d been playing was right in the center of the room.
“There it is,” she said, turning and desperately hoping that inspiration would seize her, that she would suddenly see something she could use to save them all.
There was nothing. Just the sax on the stand where Billie lovingly kept it, and near it, the stand for his precious bagpipes.
“How do I know it’s the real one?” Eric demanded.
“I swear to you, it’s the one Arnie’s family gave Tyler, and he gave it to me for safekeeping,” Danni said.
“Prove it. Play it for me,” Eric said.
“I can’t play any instrument!”
“If it’s the magic sax, you’ll be able to play it.”
“First off, Eric, you’re wrong. There never was a magic sax,” she said.
“The sax is magic. I am magic. Invisible. And when I play that sax... Show me. Show me that it’s the real deal.”
She had no choice. She picked up the sax. She didn’t even know how to hold the thing correctly.
“You’re going to have to show me how to...”
She tried to sound as confused as possible. As hare-brained as she could.
She walked toward him.
And when she was close enough, she used the sax as her weapon, slamming it against him as hard as she could, striking his shoulder and head.
He cried out, staggering.
But he didn’t lose hold of the gun.
“Run!” Danni shouted to Jessica.
Jessica didn’t need to be told twice. Her son gripped tightly, she made it out the door. Danni could hear her running down the stairs.
Eric was between her and the door. With little choice, Danni threw herself at the man, trying to bite his arm, to get him down so she could slam him against the floor—anything to make him lose his grip on the gun.
But he was strong. He threw her off. She tried to scramble up and tackle him again.
But he was too quick. He stood over her, the gun pointed at her face.
“Now you know me,” he told her. “Now you see me. And now you’ll die.”
She heard the sound of a bullet being fired and waited to die then was stunned when she didn’t.
Eric was staring at her, his expression stunned as she knew hers must have been.
A red flower began to blossom on his chest.
And then he fell to his knees, still staring at her in surprise.
Finally he crashed to the floor, and when she turned she saw Quinn standing in the doorway, lowering the weapon he had just fired.
Shaking, she stood then walked over to him, trembling.
They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. They just held each other.
And then they heard the sirens, footsteps on the stairs.
In seconds the night was filled with chaos. But it was over.
The sax was just a sax. Not magic.
And Eric Lyons hadn’t been magic, either. He had simply been a man.
*
Three days later there was a party, and it was a nice one, Danni thought. She had planned it well.
Victoria Tate was out of the hospital. Gus had only been grazed by the bullet, and he was grateful not only to be alive but also that the world knew he hadn’t been the killer.