Chapter Fifty Seven Maria felt herself gagging again and tried to raise her hand to her mouth. She couldn't. Realizing that her wrists were bound to the arms of a chair, she tried to move her legs and found them immobile as well. She stretched out her legs as far as they would go within the confines of whatever bound her. Rope? She felt something consistent to rope directly underneath her knees. Ignoring the rest of the room she rubbed her ankles together and felt what she thought might be the best feeling in the world. David Laws had not found the ankle holster. Maria DeLuca was armed and very pissed off. Scared topped the list but she didn't want him to know that. "So, I was right in my thinking." David Laws paced in front of her. "The new bitch figured it out." Maria responded but her words were lost in the fabric in her mouth. David Laws raised his eyebrows at her and approached her. He grinned when he watched her flinch as his hands went to her face. He lowered the gag and took a step back. Maria moistened her dry lips with the tip of her tongue and looked down. She had been right, a red scarf was now resting on her chin. "Shit." She whispered. "As I was saying," Laws reverted back to the pacing. "I can't believe you figured it out in just a few short days while I tormented our dear Agent Guerin for two years." "He couldn't have figured it out until the end, you designed it that way." Maria said in a voice so calm that she wondered who was speaking. Fearing for her life fell into second place. Seeing into the mind of this serial killer took precedent. "Oh," he feigned mock surprise and tapped his chin with his forefinger. "Did I?" "Why? Why did you kill all those women, David." She used his first name on purpose. As much as she wanted to call him every obscene name she could come up with, David was personal. Calling him David might keep her alive a little bit longer. "I had to," he answered. Maria watched the expression on his face and in his eyes. David Laws wasn't sorry. He didn't show any sign of remorse for taking the lives of eleven women. Probably twelve soon, Maria mused. She wondered if Michael had returned to the station yet with dinner and discovered her gone. What was he doing? Was he trying to find her? Did he see the board with the letters on it and was he proud of her? "Why? For Lorelei?" As soon as the name left her mouth Maria wished she hadn't said it. The anger that flashed in his eyes was frightening. "Lorelei," David laughed the name. "She was a whore!" "She was your wife." Maria bit her bottom lip when Laws stopped pacing in front of her. She watched as he reached into the back pocket of his khaki pants and produced a picture. She recognized the picture instantly. The honeymoon. The red scarf. He thrust the picture in her face. "This was our honeymoon, wasn't she beautiful?" Maria nodded. "Yeah, David, she was very beautiful." "She was an angel, God, I loved her…" "Then why did you kill her?" "Why did I kill her?" He asked and brought the picture to his lips. "I had to kill her. She was stolen from me." Maria nodded and wondered how many more of her theories were going to ring true. "Agent Guerin stole her from you so you stole the last two years of his life." "And now you, now I have stolen you." He peered down at her through eyes that hadn't seen sanity in a long time. "Maria. I couldn't have asked for a better name. He surprised me though, I didn't think Agent Guerin was capable of caring for anyone alive anymore. You must be something special." "It wasn't supposed to be me, was it?" Her voice held the fear she had tried to hide. "No, it wasn't supposed to be you." He looked at his wristwatch. "He should be in agony by now. I wonder if he got my note?" * * * As Sheriff Kyle Valenti and Agent Michael Guerin reached the entrance, they were stopped by Mary Ellen, the dispatcher on duty. "Agent Guerin!" She caught up to them at the front doors. She outstretched her hand to him holding an envelope with his name on it. "Where did it come from?" Michael asked without taking it from her. "It was on my desk when I got back from the restroom," Mary Ellen shrugged innocently. "I was just getting ready to run it down to you." "When were you in the restroom?" Michael asked ignoring the questioning eye from the Sheriff beside him. "About twenty minutes ago," she shrugged and gently shook the letter at him. Fifteen minutes. His calculation was dead on. Both he and the Sheriff had missed them by fifteen minutes. They had let Maria down by fifteen minutes. "Did you see anyone?" Michael took the letter as he got the expected head shake from Mary Ellen. Michael turned back to the doors and closed his eyes. "Damn…" "What the hell Guerin?" Kyle stood in front of him. "What's with the letter?" His eyes narrowed as the Agent's closed. "Is it from him?" Michael nodded slowly and slid the paper out. The familiar scrawl screamed in front of him. He held it in front of him far enough so Kyle could read it too. Agent Guerin I have the last, but it should have been you I found the martyr and nothing's left to do It's almost over and you'll find me Once I win I'll let you be. Was it by chance that you loved this one? Was it fate that told you with her I'd be done? The game is over, you can ride into the sunset Lives for them, will you ever heal? Lives for them. Lives for them. Lives for them. Lives for them. "What the fuck is that?" Kyle tapped the letter with his fingertip harshly. "What the fuck is going on?" "He's been sending me letters since he killed Lorelei." Michael looked out into the night drizzle. "It's always been for me." "You've had contact with him and never brought it to my attention?" Kyle fumed, his hand resting on the butt of his gun. "Now he has Maria," he looked to the letter again, "and it should have been you. So help me God, I will kick the crap out of you when this is over. When Maria is safe, I will kick your ass Agent Hot Shit." Michael turned his attention to Kyle. "Agent Hot Shit? Is that what you call me?" "Let's go Guerin," Kyle ignored the question. "You can tell me the rest in the truck." * * * A note? Maria felt her stomach lurch forward. He had left a letter for Michael. A letter no doubt telling him of her demise. Damn, she shook her head and thought about the others before her. The others that had died at the hands of David Laws. The ones who never knew why. Maria knew why and somehow that seemed to make the whole experience just a little less scary. She watched him turn around and saw the butt of a gun sticking out of his Khaki's. He was armed, that was not his MO. He couldn't shoot her, that would throw the whole thing off. He had to strangle her. No, her brain moved a million miles a minute, the rules have changed. I'm not even supposed to be here. If my name was Doris or Nancy I wouldn't be here, Michael would be. He'd be here to complete the mantra of a madman. Damned if I do and damned if I don't. "So," she cleared her throat. "Did you win?" He turned around and faced her, insane anger rolled off of him. "Did I win? Not yet, but I will." He had the gun in his hand and his hand was shaking. "I'm so close." Maria nodded and realized she was watching the end of a hint of sanity slip away. Reasoning with him was not an option. Nothing but sheer determination and massive amounts of stalling were going to save her now. She couldn't wait for Agent Michael Guerin to come to her rescue. She couldn't wait for anything. Deputy Maria DeLuca had to rely on one thing: herself. "What do you get if you win? What will be accomplished if you kill me?" "Then I will have stolen everything from Agent Guerin, the way he stole Lorelei from me." Maria nodded and thought about disputing the fact that Michael didn't steal anything from him but decided against it. Stall him, don't make him mad. Her eyes widened as he stepped in back of her. She took the brief seconds to look around the room. It was dark and nearly empty. A few boxes and wood crates stacked in the corner seemed to be the only other occupants. She felt his hands on her bare shoulders and immediately panicked. He stood in back of her, his callused hands roaming over her shoulders. Without a moment's notice, he reached down along her sides and tore the tank top at the hem ripping it up to her underarms on both sides. He pulled the loose fabric over her head and dropped it to the ground. Maria closed her eyes and fought back tears. Her breasts were exposed and the embarrassment was looming just behind the fear. She felt his hands on her again, this time they were touching the scarf. He pulled it down to her neck and tightened it. Maria fought for air as she knew her death was imminent. * * * Chapter Fifty Eight "We need to start looking for her," Michael didn't add the obvious; before it's too late. He sat in the passenger seat of the Sheriff's 4X4 and felt the anger radiating off the man next to him. Kyle started the engine and backed out of the spot, his wheels spinning on the wet pavement. He bumped into a curb and swore. "Damn it!" He slammed the gearshift into drive and fishtailed. "You have to calm down," Michael said in as even of a voice as he could. Kyle slammed on the brakes causing the truck to slide before stopping. A wrenching sound came from the undercarriage. "I have to calm down?" He yelled and pointed at himself. "How about maybe you're too fucking calm! A killer, a fucking serial killer has Maria. She could already be…" He punched the already battered dashboard. "Damn!" "I was trained to be calm," Michael said the words slowly. "It's part of my job not to lose my cool. If I thought it would help I would be screaming, but that won't help her. Us working together will help her. Can we do this together?" Kyle eased up in the brake and nodded. "Tell me the rest. Tell me what else I need to know to get her back safely." He drove slowly out of the parking lot onto the rain-slicked streets of Roswell. "Maria figured it out. She's brilliant," Michael smiled thinking about the wonder that was Maria DeLuca. "He did it all for me, so I would hurt." "So he's a freakin' lunatic?" "Yeah, he is." His attention drifted towards the times that Maria was so worried about him. She had been right then too, he was supposed to be the intended final victim. But now it was so much better for David Laws. Now he could take away the one person who Michael loved. Again. "Tell me Agent, tell me what to do now." Kyle finally looked to the man next to him. "Tell me how we can get her back safely." "He may change his MO," Michael slid back into Agent mode. "He may do anything now. The rules have changed." He grimaced at the remembrance of how many times Maria had tried to tell him that. "It was only by chance that he went for her and took her. Only because her name starts with 'M'. You read the note, it was supposed to be me. "The others were…Killed close to their homes, or in them. We go to the B&B first and start there." Michael sighed. "I never thought she was truly in danger. You have to believe me." "Yeah," Kyle shook his head but didn't look back in Michael's direction. "I know you care for her, so do I." Michael kept his attention in front of him. "I'll do anything to get her back. Whatever's necessary." "So will I," Kyle nodded in agreement. "We'll find her," Michael's voice held authority and confidence. "We better." Michael acknowledged him with a silent nod and looked out the window at his side. This was not supposed to be the way it worked out. Although he had felt slight trepidation over Maria, he never imagined that anything would happen to her. It was more of a half-formed thought in the back of his mind. He hadn't liked her mentioned in the letter but no threat had been made and Maria had seemed so sure that Michael was his final victim. His grand prize. He mentally cussed himself out for not seeing the pattern. For not knowing what the madman David Laws was trying to tell him before now. Kyle drove in silence. Silence enveloped the car as two men began their search for someone they both loved. Someone they would both die for to keep safe. * * * Maria gasped for air as the ligature around her neck loosened. She coughed as tears slid down her cheeks. She bit back fear as David Laws stepped in front of her and peered down into her face. "I can't kill you yet," his laugh was childlike, almost a giggle. "It wouldn't be much fun, Agent Guerin has to be close. I want to watch him watch me as I win." Son-of-a-bitch! Maria thought she knew what he was saying to her in his roundabout way. He wasn't going to kill her right away, he was just going to toy with her until Michael showed up and then he was going to kill her in front of him. Not by strangulation, she gathered, although the scarf was still around her neck, but by the gun. Maria closed her eyes knowing she was going to die by a bullet in her head as her new found love witnessed it. "You are a beauty," Laws' eyes traveled the expanse of her from her face to her denim clad legs. The urge to throw-up made her swallow quickly. Remember the facts DeLuca, none of the others was touched sexually. He just killed them. "What was so special about Olivia and Hannah?" The words tumbled from her mouth almost as if some unknown entity was guiding her. "My 'O' and 'H'," Laws sighed and started the pacing in front of her again. The gun was back tucked neatly in the waistband of his pants. "I never imagined how hard it would be to find the ones to fit into my art. I looked and waited and then I knew I had to start." Maria stopped her eye-roll in the middle of it. Hearing the rhyming by a cold-blooded killer made gooseflesh break out on her exposed skin. She felt so vulnerable, her arms and legs bound to a chair, her breasts naked to the man who was going to kill her. The only comfort she had was knowing that the ankle holster and gun were still safely tucked away under her jeans. No, she corrected herself, she had two comforts. Agent Michael Guerin was the other one. Deep in her heart she knew he wouldn't give up without a fight. He wouldn't just sit back and let her die. She held her head up high and stared down the pacing man in front of her. His art. The words hit home. I was wrong and now you live in my art. David Laws had used the same phrase in one of his letters, she realized as the fog covering her brain began to lift. He wasn't deviating from his modus operandi as much as she had originally thought. Her eyes lit up while she ignored what else Laws was mumbling about. She noticed he had slipped into a conversation with himself. She knew it, and she'd bet her life on the fact that Michael knew it too, David Laws had to stand by the path he'd already set. Each victim was found either in her home or within a mile of it. He wouldn't use the house she'd shared with Kyle; Kyle didn't mean anything to him. The Whitman's Bed and Breakfast. Maria DeLuca knew for a fact she was somewhere less than a mile away from the B&B. "Are you listening, I thought you wanted to know?" David Laws knelt in front of her and rested his arms on her legs. "Olivia and Hannah, I had to search for them, they had to be in their place." Maria smashed her lips together in annoyance. "My sweet 'V' I thought might be a chore," He looked up into her eyes. "And she was so easy. Just like the rest." "How did you lure them? How did you get to them?" "I'm not a grotesque man, I simply asked them a question then bathed them with praise." Maria shook her head. "Liz wouldn't fall for that." "She wouldn't?" He asked in mock surprise. "Sweet 'E'. You didn't know her so well though, did you?" Maria felt the anger sweep through her uncontrollably. "You don't know anything about me or Liz!" "Oh? I guess I don't know all of the girls the way Agent Guerin does. He knows everything about them, he studies them; they become a part of him. That's what makes this all so complete." "You're a sick fucking bastard," Maria said behind clenched teeth. "Am I?" He stood up and walked around in back of her again. His fingertips danced on her shoulders, down her collarbone. Without warning, he snapped the scarf back into her flesh and twisted it, smiling when he heard Maria gasp. * * * Kyle pulled up in front of the B&B and set the truck into park. Michael was out of the vehicle and running to the front door, Kyle was on his heels. They burst into the old house and a woman screamed. Isabel Whitman screamed. "What the hell are you two doing?" She demanded with her hands on her hips. She saw the tension on their faces and felt the dread they brought in with them. "Oh God…" Michael shook his head slightly at her before passing her and taking the steps two at a time. He had his firearm at his side as he stood outside the closed door to the room he shared with Maria, his back against the wall. Kyle took the point on the other side of the door. On Michael's silent count of 'three', he stepped in front of the door and kicked it open. Both men filled the open doorway, Michael stood tall and Kyle knelt on one knee, guns aimed and ready. The room was empty. Michael let out a deep breath. The vision of Maria on the bed, nude, with a red scarf around her neck dissipated. "What the hell is going on?" Isabel stood at the top of the stairs. "Tell me right now. Where's Maria?" Kyle stood and the two men looked at each other before turning back to Isabel. "Maria? What happened to Maria?" "He has her," Michael said quietly. "He?" Isabel raised her hand to her mouth. "The man who killed Liz and the others?" She narrowed her eyes and shrugged at the surprised expression on the Agent's face. "So I lied, I snooped." "Have you seen anything strange? Anyone you don't know?" Kyle asked as they walked closer to her. "No, but why did you think she was here?" "It's always at home or close to home," Kyle explained as he felt the Agent next to him begin to crumble. "The shed," Isabel's eyes widened. "Did you check the shed?" "What shed?" Michael snapped back into the conversation. "At the end of the property in the woods," Isabel was animated. "There's an old shed. Kyle, do you know it?" "I can find it, which way?" * * * Chapter Fifty Nine Isabel directed Michael and Kyle to the back off her property lining the woods. An old metal shed used at one time by some other occupant of the house had been left deserted since the Whitman's had moved in. "Can I help?" She wiped sweaty hands on her jeans. "Can I do anything?" Kyle looked to Michael for an answer. He knew this was out of his league. These kinds of things didn't happen in Roswell. "Stay inside." Michael's jaw set in authority. "I can help-" Isabel set her shoulders as strong as Michael had set his jaw. "Let me." "Isabel-" Kyle stepped towards her. "Quit arguing, you don't have much time, right?" She turned on her heels and walked back down the steps to the front door with the two men behind her. She held it open. "Just get her back," she looked from Kyle to Michael. "Please." They nodded in unison and walked out into the chilly night; the rain had given way to wind and the temperature seemed to be falling instantaneously as they stood on the porch. "She won't do anything stupid, will she?" Michael asked nodding towards the closed front door. "No, Isabel is not stupid," Kyle hoped he was right. "The shed?" "It makes sense," Michael followed the shorter man into the night around the side of the B&B. His hand graced the side of the home, memories of Maria tripped through him. The two men stole through the night past the lush gardens Isabel and Alex slaved over. Past the pond filled with Koi and a statue of a kneeling faerie. Guns were out, cocked and ready. There couldn't be any mistakes, Michael looked over to Kyle, there wasn't room to make a mistake. Maria DeLuca's life was on the line. They jogged until they neared the woods, then slowed down into a quiet pace. Trying to walk on the rain-soaked leaves and avoid scattered natural debris knocked off trees from the storms. "It should be up ahead, not too far." Kyle whispered as they veered off to the left. "Car," Michael pointed towards a metallic gleam in the distance. Kyle narrowed his eyes and made out the shape of an automobile slightly camouflaged in the woods. A dark sedan. His mind raced to his drive back to the station. "Shit." He muttered under his breath but still elicited a questioning look from the Agent. "I passed them. On my way to the station I passed them," he shook his head and licked his lips. "I fucking passed them and didn't even know it. I could have stopped-" "Don't," Michael interrupted. "Don't think about what you could have done, it'll make you crazy." He didn't elaborate; he didn't need to. Michael had pushed the thoughts of what he could have done out of his mind, they weren't going to help him now. "Is that the shed?" He pointed to a solid darkness less than twenty feet away from the car. Kyle nodded. "Yeah, do we burst it with guns drawn?" "No, he'll think I'm alone and that will work to our advantage." He smiled bitterly. "I bet he's counting on me being alone." "Do you have a plan?" Kyle asked noticing a new spark in the Agent's eyes. "Yeah, I do." Michael stepped closer to him. * * * David Laws let the scarf fall out of his hands and smiled in back of his victim, his 'M'. He stepped around in front of her and looked down into her face. "He should be here soon." He glanced at his watch. "I need to know something before you kill me," Maria sat up straighter. "You only picked your victims by their first names, right?" He nodded, his eyes wide with delight. A smile danced on his lips. "That's why Olivia was so fast, you couldn't find another 'O' could you?" She fought the cringe when she saw the fire in his eyes behind the mask of glee. "And Hannah, you played with her because you were so damn happy to find an 'H'." Maria laughed quickly. "You started this little scheme of yours and then just picked people at random all because they had the misfortune of having the right name. Hell, not even the name, just the first letter." Maria wasn't sure where the sudden burst of self-confidence had surfaced from. Minutes earlier she knew she was going to die with a bullet in her head and now, she felt stronger. The man before her was crazy. He was insane and technically he could do anything at anytime, but he also was a methodical mad man who wouldn't stray too far from his original idea. She thought she could safely talk to him until Michael showed up. Michael. Her heart pounded with the feeling of not knowing. Not knowing if Michael was close by. Not knowing if he had gotten into a car accident and was stranded five miles away. Not knowing if she'd ever get to peer into those deep eyes again and see the light that had replaced the pain. "They were all for the dear Agent. He lives for them." Laws rubbed his hands together and looked at his watch again. "He's taking his time in getting here." "Why do you think he'll find us?" "Because he knows the rules." Maria didn't want to tell him the rules had changed a long time ago. She only nodded and waited for a sign that she was going to live. The sign came in the sudden action of David Laws beside her, a rusted hunting knife in his hand, cutting through the rope that bound one wrist and then the other. She rubbed them then reached for the scarf around her neck. "No!" He jerked her arms away roughly with the hand holding the knife; his gun had been replaced in the other. "Don't. Don't move or you die, slowly." Maria nodded and folded her arms over her bare breasts. She watched as he placed the gun against her forehead, the metal flush against her skin. She felt her legs become mobile again. She squeezed her eyes shut praying he wouldn't discover the ankle holster as the barrel to his gun pressed into her still flawless skin. "He should be here soon." Laws commented as he stood up keeping the gun against Maria's forehead. "Stand up. Let's wait for him." Maria took a deep breath and stood up. She stood with her ankles together and felt the comforting metal of what may save her. He pulled her in front of him and moved his gun from her forehead to her temple. He covered one breast with the palm of his hand and crushed her body into his. They stood looking at the door. While standing up she had a better view of the room they were in. It wasn't really a room; it looked more like an outbuilding. Maybe a storage shed. She closed her eyes and mapped out Roswell in her mind's eye. The Whitman's Bed and Breakfast. Shed? The metal shed at the end of the property. She remembered when they had bought the B&B; Alex had walked her over the entire property. Maria DeLuca knew where she was. She opened her eyes and stood motionless. The hand clamped over her breast was a minor detail; the waiting was the hard part. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him gazing down at her one exposed breast. "So this is your big plan? The grand finale?" Maria controlled her words. "We wait until Agent Guerin comes in and then you shoot me and he watches me die?" "He should be here soon." Laws answered. "You know he's going to kill you," the controlled voice was slipping away. "That doesn't matter. As long as he gets to watch you die and can't save you, that's what matters. He'll suffer forever with your blood on his hands." Her eyes closed to half-mast then flew open. Her brain clicked back into thinking mode. "That wasn't your plan!" She exclaimed, she couldn't hide the excitement in her voice any better now than she could at any other time. "He was going to be the one, you planned it all along that Michael was going to be the final victim. The poems you wrote were to him, but also to yourself, were they to remind you of what you were doing? You planned from the start to kill him in the end! This is not your plan, I wasn't a part of it!" "You live in my art," the words were shaky. "Yeah, I know." She rolled her eyes. "You went to all these great lengths to make this sick passion of yours into Agent Guerin's reality and now you can't finish what you started. Your plan was flawed! He wouldn't have suffered if you would have killed him, you would have alleviated all the suffering he already felt!" David Laws was silent. "Your calling cards, they were about whoever you were thinking about that particular day. It could have been yourself or Agent Guerin or Lorelei. But your last hurrah was going to be killing Agent Guerin." Maria hoped she was going the right way with this. She heard her voice get louder and wondered if there was anyone anywhere else around who could hear her. "Your well thought out plan wasn't going to work. You screwed up." The butt of the gun slammed into the side of her head knocking her off balance. She fell to her knees and clasped the side of her head as blood streamed between her finger. The blinding pain told her she had gone to far. She had taken it a step over the line and she was going to pay for it. She looked up as his hand grabbed a handful of hair and pulled her to her feet. She had him off guard. She had broken through and got him flustered. The coolness was gone; if nothing else, she had rattled his cage. She prayed it was enough. * * * Chapter Sixty Sheriff Kyle Valenti and FBI Agent Michael Guerin stood outside the aged metal doors to the shed at the back of the Whitman's property. A sickly yellow glow leaked out from underneath the door. They heard Maria DeLuca talking and knew she was still alive. Then they heard a bone crushing sound. Kyle raised his gun, adrenaline rushing through him. Michael laid his hand on Kyle's forearm until he lowered the gun. He was shaking his head at him. He pointed around the side of the shed and waited until Kyle regained his composure. "Stay with the plan." Michael warned him in a whisper. Kyle nodded and took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He nodded once at him and flattened himself against the shed walking with small steps around to the other side. Michael waited. He counted to twenty and pushed on the door. It swung open with a sigh of rusted metal, he filled in the doorway. His eyes roamed the dim room and landed on the eyes of a killer. "I told you he'd be here soon." David Laws whispered heavily into Maria's ear. His hand was back over her breast holding her against him. He ground the barrel of the gun into the gaping cut on her temple. Her vision swam from the pain, but she saw him. She saw Agent Michael Guerin in front of her and tears rolled down her cheeks. "Let her go," Michael's voice was strong and commanding as he stepped into the shed. "You wanted me, here I am." "But now I have something much better," Laws squeezed his hand over Maria's breast. "I have her." Michael raised his gun with a steady hand. David Laws pulled the hammer back on his own gun. Michael lowered the gun letting it rest against his thigh. "It's over now, let her go and you'll come out of this alive." "I don't care about death," Laws laughed. "This was never about me dying. This was all about you and punishment." "Punishment for Lorelei?" Michael asked as the seconds ticked off in his mind. "Lorelei. She was an angel…" Laws eyes were wild. "She was stolen from me." Michael turned his attention to Maria for a moment. Just long enough to see she was hanging in there. He watched as she kicked her leg out slightly. She was letting him know she still had her gun. He didn't chance acknowledgment to her; he couldn't take any chances. * * * Kyle Valenti stood outside of a blackened window listening to the interchange of words going on inside. He hoped the Agent's plan would work. He would follow exactly what he told him to do and keep his fingers crossed everything played out the way it was supposed to. After walking the perimeter of the shed and close inspection of the building Agent Michael Guerin had a plan. "The window, can you get through the window?" "I'll make noise." Kyle shrugged. "But won't I fall directly into the middle of the room?" "He'll think I'm alone, I'm always alone." Michael explained. "You'll be a surprise, he won't be expecting you, it'll throw him off." "Do you think he's armed?" "I don't know." Kyle took a deep breath and pried the side-swinging window loose with the tip of a pocketknife. He pushed the window in and squeezed his eyes shut waiting for a noise. Nothing. He peeked his head in the window frame and saw the back of a man he didn't recognize and then blond hair spilling over his shoulder from someone he did know. Maria. He hoisted himself up into the waist high frame. He sat on his haunches and weighed out what to do next. Before he could decide, the old metal frame underneath his feet gave way and Sheriff Kyle Valenti tumbled into the shed. He landed on his back; his gun scattered across the floor out of sight. "Fuck." He sat up and took in the man in front of him. The man who had killed Liz Parker. The man who was holding Maria against him with a gun pointed at her head. David Laws eyes swung from Agent to Sheriff, he ground the barrel of the gun deeper into Maria's head and she cried out in pain. He walked backwards until the two men were in front of him and Maria. "What the hell is going on?" "Let her go, Laws." Agent Guerin steadied his gun at his side. "It's over." David Laws shook his head, "It's not over. But you're not playing by the rules anymore." "The rules have changed." "I want you to watch her die," Laws' voice held something new and unexpected, fear. "That's not going to happen today." Michael said. Kyle stayed on the ground unsure of what to do next. The plan wasn't exactly going the way it was supposed to. Falling through the window and losing one of his guns had not in the play-book. "I can kill her right now," David jabbed the gun deep into her flesh. "I will kill you," Michael seethed. "But you will always live with her blood on your hands, just like the rest. Lives for them, Agent Guerin, lives for them." "No!" Maria screamed and ducked her head down in a lightning fast motion; the metal barrel scraping her already battered face. She pulled away from the surprised madman and landed on the floor with a crash. Deputy Maria DeLuca scrambled to get to her holster and pulled the gun out aiming it directly at David Laws. Agent Michael Guerin raised his gun and aimed it at the man in the center of the room. Sheriff Kyle Valenti stayed on the floor but raised himself to one knee and pulled his back-up gun from his waist holster and aimed it at David Laws. David Laws stood in the axis of a triangle made up of three people who were ready to kill him. With a maniacal laugh he began shooting. David Laws' body jerked as his flesh was penetrated with bullets from each direction. He raised his hand to the air and dropped the gun; it clattered to the floor seconds before his body. The deafening noise from the guns being fired in the confines of the metal shed left the inhabitants unable to hear for several seconds after the firing had ceased. Michael looked down at the empty face of a killer as he stepped over him to Maria. He took the gun from her hands and set it on the floor before taking her shaking body into his arms. He took off his FBI windbreaker and wrapped it over Maria's shoulders. A noise at the door caused him to draw his gun as he heard sirens in the distance. Isabel Whitman stood in the doorway with a cell phone in her hand. She looked to the body in the center of the room. "The ambulance is on the way." Michael nodded and helped Maria stand. "Oh God…" Isabel stuttered as she turned and fell to her knees on the floor. "Kyle!" Both Maria and Michael turned their attention to Isabel. She hovered over the fallen body of Sheriff Kyle Valenti. Maria fought to get out of Michael's arms and scrambled over to Kyle. She knelt beside him and saw the bullet hole in his uniform shirt and the blood blossoming around it uncontrollably. Maria wept. Epilogue The rain had been gone for almost two days. The only sign of the storms that had ripped through Roswell New Mexico were downed trees and other debris scattered throughout the county, the parks department would have the town cleaned up in no time. Those were the only external signs of what had taken place. The internal ones would take a lot longer to clean up. Agent Michael Guerin and Deputy Maria DeLuca held hands as they stood underneath the bows of a giant oak tree. They gazed down at the newness of the unleveled dirt. A headstone would be in place soon. Maria knelt down into the grass and laid a dozen sunflowers wrapped with a green ribbon on the mound of dirt. She smiled and stood up, Michael steadied her from the vertigo she'd been experiencing the last couple of days. "We got him Lizzie," Maria smiled at the ground. "We got him." Michael led her by the hand to the waiting Mercedes. He helped her in and walked around to the driver's side. He sat down behind the wheel and looked at the woman next to him, touched her bandaged head and frowned. "You okay?" "Better, Michael. Each day I'll get better." She smiled and it felt good. "Kyle's getting discharged in a couple of hours, I want to be there." * * * After spending less than one day in the hospital Maria DeLuca was able to go home. She had a mild concussion and a deep laceration that would heal with time. Kyle Valenti wasn't quite as lucky. A bullet fired from David Laws' gun was removed from the tissue right above his collarbone. He had to stay in the hospital for three days and was only being released because he demanded it. Sheriff Kyle Valenti wasn't going to let one little bullet interfere with the way he took care of his town. David Laws body had been riddled with bullet holes. No one would ever know for sure whose shot was the fatal one. That just wasn't important. Isabel Whitman confessed again to snooping through the files and then to also calling the ambulance from outside of the shed on her cell phone right before the shooting had started. No one was angry with her for that, that ambulance saved Kyle's life. Her brother, Max Evans, couldn't thank Maria, Michael and Kyle enough for finding and killing the man who had taken away his Liz. In a hushed conversation with Maria alone, he explained to her that he could now start on finding closure. Isabel and Alex made the next few nights as comfortable for Michael and Maria as they could. Although the new couple had other things on their minds, they still appreciated the added hospitality. When Michael brought Maria home to the B&B, he asked her to go away with him. Far away from Roswell, far away from Seattle. Somewhere that they could start a new life together. Maria was overjoyed. They made love that night; the box of condoms was still in the Mercedes. * * * It was two weeks after the shooting death of David Laws that the investigation was over. All parties had been cleared of any charges. Michael was granted an extended leave of absence and Maria quit her job. They packed what they could into the Mercedes and promised to send for the rest when they knew where they were going to end up. Agent Michael Guerin and Maria DeLuca began their journey in Richmond Virginia. With her arm looped through his, Maria stood by his side. A Calla Lily in her hand, Michael had the same. He laid his flower down on the flattened ground in front of a headstone bearing a name neither of them would ever forget: Lorelei Govern. "It's over, Lor." Michael nodded and looked at Maria. "It's finally over." Maria bent at her waist and dropped the flower in her hand on top of Michael's. She licked her lips but couldn't come up with the words. Nothing seemed appropriate. She let the silence guide her. They left the cemetery in the same silence. A sense of closure wrapped around them. This was the first stop among many more to make. Nine more to be exact. Somewhere in Louisiana, where they were staying the night in a hotel before going to tell Rachel LeBeau's family the news, Maria DeLuca discovered she was pregnant. She was excited and became even more excited when Michael was obviously ecstatic. They still didn't know where they were going to settle down, none of that was important to them. They had each other and now they had a baby on the way. Together they made a decision, that when their child was old enough and wanted to know how his parents had met, they would tell him the truth. It was easy, they'd just tell him they met once upon a murder. The End |
| Parts 57-Epilogue |