The Case of the Mad Scientist

Chapter 33: Firefight

Chapter 33: Firefight

I’ll have to admit, I was a little startled at that moment, mostly by the scream that echoed off the walls and ceiling.

The two guards standing behind Watanabe drew their guns. They were quick, but a little confused as to where to point them. The scream was behind them. Also a voice called out from that direction, ordering them, in Japanese, to drop those guns. At the same instant, a gruff voice from off to their right ordered them to “freeze!” That one was me.

The fastest thinker of them all was Gato. While the two guards were trying to aim in two directions at the same time, he was moving towards a workbench filled with beakers and flasks and other chemical type stuff. I swung Wilma round to let go a shot in his direction. A big chunk of the workbench exploded into splinters. At the same moment, he was throwing a large bottle at me. Instinctively, I dove to the side to avoid the bottle.

Wilma’s loud bark upset the guards. Both of them swung their guns around towards me. As I lay on my side, I was trying to swing Wilma up towards them. It was the kind of race I hate to lose. The closest guard got off the first shot. An instant later I fired.

I’ll bet the bullets crossed in midair. A piece of concrete burst up from next to me and I felt the sting of the ricochet as it creased my leg. My bullet, on the other hand, had flown more accurately. The guard who had shot me was hit in the shoulder. It must have felt like a sledgehammer blow, because he spun around very fast, his gun flying out of his hand.

I had to wait a split second to make sure that he was going down and I didn’t need to fire a second shot in his direction. Then I was trying to bring Wilma around to the other guard.

I could have taken my time. Gunshots from the other side of the lab rang out and that guard was jerked sideways. Later, I found out that both Hiroshi and Stella had hit him almost simultaneously, one of them going into his side, the other making a small hole in the side of his head and a much larger one out the other side, spraying blood and brains all over the old man standing there.

The guards were both down. I swung Wilma around to the two men still standing. The old guy was looking at his bloodstained hands with surprise. The guy in the lab coat was just looking surprised at everything. He was holding a clipboard and a pencil, looking as if he were taking notes about whole scene.

For a second, nothing changed. Then the old man reached down and picked up one of the guards’ guns lying on the floor at his feet. He lifted it and pointed it down the lab. It was too bad that he was as old as he was, and very slow. As he brought the gun up, more shots rang out. The old guy was blown backwards into the console behind him. Oddly enough, he was still holding the gun and managed to get off a shot in the general direction of his killers. Another burst of rounds rang out and his body jerked as they impacted it. His body slid to the floor and did not move.

Finally, everything was quiet, though there was a ringing in my ears, mostly due to Wilma being so damned loud in that underground room. The guy in the bloodstained lab coat was still standing here, looking very confused by all this interruption of his experiment.

A Japanese man came into view. He had a gun in his hand and I started to swing Wilma around at him. Then I saw Stella next to him and held my shot. Good thing, too, ’cause I later found out he was a good guy.

He went over and kicked away the guns, then checked to makes sure the guards were not going to be getting up.

I got to my feet and approached them.

“Blaze is in there,” I told Stella. “Who’s this?” I added, pointing to the guy with her. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Stella lifted one eyebrow and said, “Sled, where are your clothes?”

“I lost them,” I had to admit. “Long story. I’ll tell you later.”

At that point I had to wonder if I was getting a little old for this business. In the action, it had slipped my mind that there was another potentially dangerous man unaccounted for.

“Where’s Gato?” I said, swinging Wilma around towards the rest of the lab.

“Who?” Stella asked.

“His assistant,” I told her, nodding towards the still-confused Sorren.

Then I went looking behind that workbench, Wilma at the ready. He was not there. In fact, he was nowhere in the lab. Apparently, in the confusion and firefight, he had escaped.

Right then, I had a bigger worry on my mind.

“Blaze is in there,” I repeated and went to the chamber. “I hope they haven’t done anything to her yet.”

I opened the door and went in. Blaze was apparently unhurt but damned well bound to the pole. Her eyes looked me up and down and she said, “Oh, Sled, my big, strong hero.” Funny thing is that she was not looking at my face when she said that, but a little lower, about half way between my face and feet.

Once again I saw Blaze without her bra and panties and nicely displayed the way she was bound to that pole. Very nice. Almost nice enough to make me forget Linda Goodbody - almost.

* * * * *

In another part of the house, Gato was hurriedly grabbing computer disks and papers and stuffing them into a briefcase. Then he was rushing to the garage and peeling rubber in his getaway.