“I knew where you were going as soon as you left me in my hallway. Kip, why are you being so cantankerous? Be glad I arrived when I did. I stopped that man from killing you.”
“Yes.” Kip said. “Yes, I am glad Annie. Thank you. I guess it’s just that when I come to in an alley soaking wet and bruised, I usually see a lot of angry cops standing around me.”
Annie’s seriously concerned face softened slightly, and she helped Kip to his feet. Kip noticed the rifle still on the ground behind her.
“Annie, something is seriously wrong here,” Kip said, rubbing the back of his head, still trying to clear the fog from his vision.
“Yeah, I’ll say!” Annie said too loudly. Kip looked back down to where he last saw the assassin round the corner, praying he didn’t see him come back around to greet them again.
“No, I mean, I am not sure we know fully what is going on.”
“Kip, we don’t even have a clue what is going on!” Annie said. She was confused by Kip’s analysis.
“Annie that was the same guy that tried to shoot me the other night in the street.”
“He didn’t try, Kip, He did somewhat shoot you,” Annie said, pointing to his shoulder.
“Yeah, but I mean, I don’t think he was trying to shoot me. I think he was trying to shoot you. Today too. It was you he is after. And he is no ordinary bum, Annie. This guy is a professional.”
Annie shook her head. “What are you saying, Kip?”
“I am saying that I think someone has put a hit out on you. And I think he is the hit man.”
“A hit?” Annie’s tears began to flow again. “What?”
Crying again? Shit. Women are so emotional.
“I first thought it was about me, since I ran into the guy in the street before I even saw you at the Hilton the other night. But that was your apartment he shot to pieces. It was your apartment he trashed and pulled down the curtains, giving him a clear view into the place from his snipers nest across the street.”
“Kip, this is just dumb, why would anyone want to kill me? I don’t have anything.”
Kip shrugged. “You have an angry ex.”
“Stewart?” Annie said incredulously. Then she tried a laugh, but it didn’t much sound like one. “Kip, Stewart is a lot of things, but a killer?”
“Annie, I have seen many good men do some really evil things,” Kip tried to say with some level of comfort in his voice. “A lot better men than Stewart.”
Annie looked down as Kip bent to pick up the rifle. She shook her head again, as if trying to sort out all that has happened in so little time. “Kip, why the hell would Stewart try to have me killed? We are already divorced. What could he possible gain from it?”
Kip kept his eyes on the rifle, examining it. He popped the clip out. It was full. The shooter must have changed clips when he was spying out of the doorway, just before Kip jumped on him. “Does he have an insurance policy out on you?”
“What? No. I mean… I don’t know.”
Kip looked at her finally and raised his eyebrows. “Do you know where he is right now?”
“I, uh, at work I would presume. Lacey and Associates.”
Just then Kip heard a shuffle of feet from somewhere out of sight and he knew immediately that the police were about to make their appearance. He dropped the rifle, just to avoid the obvious confusion. As soon as it hit the ground the men in blue rounded the corner, weapons drawn.
After ten minutes of being ordered to get on their face and lace their fingers behind their heads, being frisked, interrogated and held against the wall, they were finally able to get their story out. Eventually, the two officers that had visited Kip’s room yesterday morning arrived, the one named Capuli and the other one, and verified Kip’s identity and back story. It was Annie Beecher’s apartment that was in pieces across the street, so their story seemed to check out. Although some of the officer’s present had a hard time believing that Kip had actually tracked and jumped the hit man all alone. He was either Superman or had a serious death wish.
Kip gave the officers his theory about the identity of the bum, and they actually seemed to find it reasonable, since the guys hands didn’t match the rest of his look, and neither did his shoes. But, Kip was sure the real convincing evidence was the Mossberg Tactical AR-15 left behind by the shooter. This was clearly a professional’s weapon. Not something some lone demented lunatic bum would have the money to invest in.
Then one of the lieutenants pulled Annie away from Kip for a ‘private word’. Kip watched them from a distance as Annie cried, then nodded, then looked around in concern, then nodded again. When she returned, the officer offered them a ride back to the hotel. Kip readily accepted.