Three shots; and Audrey was getting closer, walking toward them. But some shotguns only held three shots. Was she reloading? Was this a four-shot chamber? And then suddenly, the overhead lights were on and he saw, from the corner of his eye, Sherrill scrambling away from a light switch, a gun in her hand. And at the same time, from his spot on the concrete floor, saw Audreys ankle behind the back bumper of the sport-ute. He pushed his hand forward, couldnt see the front barrel of the pistol but squeezed off a shot. Twelve feet: and he missed to the right. Audrey did a little hop step, and he heard her pump, and a shotgun shell bounced off the floor and he adjusted a hair to the right and pulled the trigger again.
And this time, he hit her.
Audrey screamed and went down, and suddenly, her face was there, looking under the cars at him. And the barrel of the shotgun was pointing at him too and she was moving it toward his face. He rolled behind a tire as she fired, and the tire soaked up the blast; but he could feel the air torn apart beside him.
Shed be dealing with recoil; she might be reloading. He didnt think it, but knew it, and pushed himself just to the right and extended his arm again, still unable to find the front sight in the shadow under the car, but he was close, and her face was there, and he was tightening his grip on the trigger and she was moving the barrel back to him…
SHERRILL DROPPED ON HER LIKE A METEOR. SHE'D crawled over the sport-ute, and dropped from the roof. She landed with her feet behind Audreys neck, smacking Audreys head facedown into the receiver on the shotgun.
Lucas jumped up and ran around the end of the car and caught Sherrills hand coming up with the pistol in it. No, no…
What? Sherrill looked confused.
We got her.
Audrey wrenched her shoulders and neck around, looked up at them, dazed, blood running down her lips and across her teeth. Who are you? she asked.
One of the cops outside was screaming, Davenport, Davenport, talk to me…
We got her, we got her, we got her… With his foot, Lucas pushed the shotgun under the sport-ute, out of reach. Shes hit, he said to Sherrill. Lets get her outside.
Ill get the doors…
Lucas got his arms under Audreys back and knees, and picked her up as best he could; then the three garage doors started rising simultaneously, and light flooded into the garage.
The uniformed cops were there, pistols drawn. They reholstered as they saw Lucas carrying Audrey.
Jesus Christ, one of them said. What was that?
Shotgun, Lucas grunted. Shes hit. Get an ambulance out here.
Put her down on the driveway, Lucas, Sherrill said. Lets get her flat. One of you guys, you got a blanket in your car? Shell be going into shock…
A cop got a blanket, spread it on the driveway, and Lucas put Audrey on it. She seemed only semiconscious, though her eyes were open. He stood up. Damn, he said. That was a little too close.
Audrey said something. Sherrill heard it, said, What?
She said something again. Sherrill said, What? and bent over the other woman.
And as she put her head close to the other womans face, Audrey lifted her hand, and despite her awkward position, hit Sherrill in the eye with her fist, knocking Sherrill flat on her butt.
Knock that shit off, one of the uniformed cops yelled at Audrey, stepping over her, and she unballed her fist and turned her head away, her eyes softly closing. Sherrill had crawled away, one hand to her eye. Aw, man, that hurts.
Lucas looked at it: Youre gonna have a mouse. And a hell of a black eye.
Audrey mumbled again. They both turned to look at her, eight feet away, flat on her back, and her cobra eyes caught Lucas. And suddenly she smiled, a big, toothy smile with bloody teeth.
Lucas felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. He turned back to Sherrill, who looked up at him and shook her head once: Fuckin nuts, she said.