In the Blink of An Eye by Jerry Baggett (ebook reader for surface pro TXT) 📕

him. He leaned in her direction to whisper. “There’s a man tied to a support post in-between the vehicles. He’s motionless, probably dead.”

She looked past Dick, then cupped her hand to her mouth. “It’s Steven,” she whispered. “I have to see if we can help him. What could he be doing here?”

He pulled her back. “No! Stay here. I’ll see if he has a pulse. Keep your hand on the Glock.”

She watched Dick shake his head from side to side. “We should leave. Now! Dick, please?”

Harvey Marino stepped out of the shadows with a gun in his hand. “Well, well. My two favorite targets. That old well behind the house here has room for everybody, no pun intended. How did you two get wind of this place?”

Dick said, “You have to be Marino. The attorneys for the family trust received notice of abandonment of the lease. As an agent for the trust, I felt a need to check on the property. Why are you here?”

“You don’t need to know that. You should know, however, that I’ve as much right to be on this property as any McGowin. I was born on this land. My family was here before the land was ever claimed by the trust.”

He lined the gun up on Dick. “It’s all over now, for both of you. Do you have any last words?”

Chapter 43

Dick stepped several feet away from Samantha, holding Marino’s attention. Samantha pulled the Glock out of her pocket in one smooth motion, steadied it with her left hand, and fired twice, hitting Marino, center mass, from close range. Marino’s gun fell to the ground. He placed both hands over the entrance wound and stared at her. “I should’ve made sure you were dead while you were lying in bed, next to your mother.”

“This is the man that killed your mother and arranged to have your father killed,” Dick said.

 Blood filled Marino’s mouth. His eyes remained fixed on Samantha. He coughed once and fell to his knees, then onto his side. She passed the Glock to Dick and buried her face against his chest. Dick pocketed the Glock, and punched up the number for the sheriff’s department. Before he could raise the phone to his ear, strong arms tightened around his shoulders. He dropped the phone, inhaled deeply, and slammed his shoe heel down hard on the man’s instep. He cupped his fist in one hand, slammed an elbow into the rib cage, followed up with a second blow to the same spot, twisting away out of reach.

He stood eye to eye with Hans Hempel. “I believe I know you. I thought I’d killed you once before. It turned out to be your brother. There’s no doubt now, you and this other man are behind all the trouble we’ve been having. How about the doctor in there, was he also in on it with you?”

Hans growled, “Who just shot the old man? On second thought, I don’t give a damn about that. Killing my brother was your worst and very fatal mistake. You seem to have nine lives. Now, I’m going to beat you to death with my hands and drop your remains in the well with the ranch foreman, and maybe those other two. I had to wait for them to open the safe and finish each other off. To the victor goes the spoils, you know.”

Samantha screamed, “He has a knife! No, Dick, he has an icepick in his hand.”

He didn’t see me put the gun in my pocket. I don’t want to kill this bastard. “I thought you were going to use your big bony hands on me. You’re not afraid to face me, are you?”

“You broke my damn foot. That changes things. We can end this quickly and I can get out of here, or I have to kill the girl too.”

Dick threw a quick glance at Samantha. She held the phone to her ear. I need to make him think she has the gun. “Lock yourself in the car and wait for the sheriff’s people. If this bastard comes at you, shoot him, or drive away.”

Hans feigned a right cross and jabbed with the icepick. Dick moved to the left and landed a kick to the kidney. Hans backed up, waving Dick on. Dick saw the old well in the back ground and hesitated. He’s leading me to the well. Be careful. Maybe I can stall him until the sheriff’s people arrive.

Hans backed up again. “Come and get your beating, little man. I’m in a hurry.”

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Dick said. “You can run away and fight another day.”

“I have to finish this. You killed one brother and busted the other one’s knee. There’s no way, you don’t pay. You’re going in the well.”

“It ain’t gonna happen. I’m quicker and faster than you are.” I have to buy time. “I’ll race you to the well.” Dick ran right by Hans. “Come on, slow poke.” I’ll stay on the opposite side until help arrives. I’d really rather not use the Glock.

“A smart ass, aren’t you! Now, you’re going in alive. No one climbs out of that thing. Say hello to all the ghosts down there.”

Dick waited for Hans to close in, then scurried away out of reach. “I hear a helicopter. You’re running out of time.” He looked up at the sky. Hans saw an opportunity, pulled a knife from underneath his arm and threw it at Dick. Dick knew he’d made a mistake. He threw his arm up in a defensive motion and fell back. He’d caught the knife in the muscle of his forearm. He scrambled to rise off the ground, with Hans closing in for the kill.

Hans kicked at Dick’s head, lost his balance, and fell against the well casing. Dick threw both feet up and out.