A Dallas Suite

Chapter Thirty Eight

I threw open the glass door that led into the kitchen with my gun raised at the high ready. I walked near Sean, keeping my eyes focused inside the house. I scanned the corners of the kitchen and saw that no one was in that room. "Is he still here?" I whispered as I got close to him. Sean replied by reaching towards with one bloody hand while he coughed up blood.

We had a saying in the Army; the best medicine is fire superiority. Which basically meant that if your buddy got shot and you rushed over to take care of him, you'd find yourself shot too. You had to eliminate the threat, clear the battlefield, so that you could treat him without being killed yourself. I had to check at least the immediate area of the house before I helped Sean. If Jeff was still here, he'd pounce the moment I helped him. I didn't want to end up on the floor next to him.

I walked through the kitchen into the dining room, then crossed over into the living room. Every door and window I could see was closed and the only lights on were in the kitchen and front entrance room. There was a long hallway to the right of the living room that looked like it opened into multiple bedrooms and bathrooms. The first doorway to my left was the only one I had seen in the house that was open.

I cautiously walked in immediately walked into the corner to my left. I was able to scan the entire left side of the room while I moved there. I turned my body and scanned the rest of the room. It was empty. I stepped back into the hallway and looked down the hallway, at all the closed doors. How many damn rooms did this house have?

I could hear Sean choking harder from the kitchen. I didn't hear any other movement or sounds coming from the house. If Jeff was still here, he was hiding somewhere. Sean would be dead before I found him. I either continued to look for someone who might not even be in the house, or I tried to save Sean.

I backed back into the living room, inching into a dark corner. I pressed myself against the wall and listened. It was pitch black where I was standing and I was able to focus more without the use of eye sight. I heard nothing. No movement. No breathing. No steps. Only the sounds of a dying man in the room behind me. "Fuck this," I muttered to myself.

I moved back into the kitchen and took a knee next to Sean. There was a thick dish towel on the stove next to him. I grabbed it and pushed it against his neck. I saw the cut didn't go completely across his neck. Jeff had only nicked one of his arteries. I rolled Jeff flat on his back and tilted his head up so he wouldn't choke on the blood. Neck injuries are tricky. You have to apply pressure to wounds to stop the bleeding. However, if you put too much pressure on the neck, you can cut off the airways or push more blood into the back of the throat, which can drown the person. Without a surgeon in a hospital, there wasn't much you could do. I saw that my arms were covered in my sweat and Sean's blood. My adrenaline was running. Where the fuck are the medics?

I could see pure fear and panic in Sean's eyes. He knew he was dying. I couldn't imagine what was going through his mind right now. I was holding his head with my left hand while I still held my gun in my right. Sean coughed, hard, and dropped his hands, dropping the towel from his throat. Blood started to gush back out. I dropped my gun and pushed the towel back against his neck.

Sean grabbed at me, clawing at my shirt. Squirming and fighting me. "Calm down Sean, I'm here to help." He fought me harder, the fear building in his eyes. I thought he must be getting close to death. Then I realized he wasn't panicking about dying, he was looking at something. Something that was behind me. Then I heard the footsteps.

I didn't move. I looked down at my gun without moving my head. I could grab it quickly, but if Jeff had a gun pointed at the back of my head, I wouldn't make it. Why did I put my gun? I called myself an idiot and cursed myself while I quickly planned out my next move. There wasn't a lot of options.

I lunged sideways and reached for the gun. Something grabbed my collar and yanked me back before I could reach it. I was slammed onto my back and looked up to see Jeff standing over me. A surge of fire ran up my spine as it slammed against the cold marble floor. Jeff was just as strong as he looked.

He was on me before I fully realized what happened. He used his knees and pinned my arms down on the sides of my body. I used my left leg to sweep across my body, momentum propelling me to roll to the right. Jeff rolled with me, wrapping an arm under my chin, squeezing at my neck.

He rolled back, used his arms to control my head, and had me on my back again in an instant. I was no black belt in Jujitsu, but I had never been handled so easily. I tried to sweep my leg over again, but Jeff had locked his feet into my groin, cutting off my mobility in my legs.

I heard officers call over the radio. They were at the house. They'd be coming in any moment. Except I hadn't told them that I was going in at the back of the house. They were probably trying to get into the front door right now.

"It's a shame we can't make this last longer, Detective," Jeff whispered in my ear. He flattened his body out, digging his knees into my biceps. Then he ran his hands flat on the floor, underneath my head. I knew the moves he was making, but I couldn't stop him. Once his hands were under my head, he sat back up, pulling my head with him. Then he slammed my skull into the ground.