One Grave Less

seems to have more presence of mind than the rest of us,” he said.
    Diane put a hand over her shoulder and held it tight on the handkerchief covering her wound. Really it wasn’t that bad, she thought. The bullet just brushed past her shoulder, cutting it along the way. She doubted she even needed stitches.
    She knew where Frank was. He’d taken his gun from the safe and gone outside to look for the shooter. She would go help, but he would not be expecting it and might become distracted. But she wasn’t going to just sit here and worry. She stood and went to the safe and retrieved her own gun and an extra.
    “Star,” Diane said, when she came into the living room. “Get into the safe room and stay there.”
    “The police are on their way,” said Star.
    “I know, but I need you in the safe room. Okay?” said Diane.
    Star nodded.
    “I’m going into the safe room now,” she said into the phone. “No, the others are staying out here. I don’t know what they are going to do. They are all with law enforcement though . . . I’ll tell them.”
    “The nine-one-one lady doesn’t want you to do anything rash,” said Star as she went into the safe room and closed the door.
    Diane gave Gregory the extra gun.
    “I don’t know if they plan to rush the house,” she said. “We need to be prepared. And don’t look at me like that. I’m fine. You wouldn’t be worried if I’d simply cut myself on the shoulder. That’s what it is, just a scrape. And I’m sorry about the hospitality. Here in the South, we usually do much better.”
    Diane went through the house turning off the lights in the front rooms. She went into one of the front bedrooms and looked out the window through the curtains without touching them. She didn’t see any movement. The street-lights hadn’t been shot out or extinguished in any way. That was a good sign. It seemed to her that any long-term campaign to lay siege to the house would include knocking out the lights.
    Gregory had gone to another room toward the back of the house to look out the windows there. He came back, shaking his head.
    “It’s quiet,” he whispered.
    Diane listened. All she heard was the sound of the refrigerator, clocks ticking, and miscellaneous road noises. Diane felt hot and her arm started to throb. Stop , she willed, it’s not hurt that bad .
    She and Gregory waited in the living room. She was afraid to move, afraid to even make the floor squeak. She listened for sirens and wondered if they would come in silent. She wondered if Izzy, Neva, David, or Jin heard the call and were also on their way. She wondered what Frank was doing.
    The sound of gunfire made her jump.

Chapter 45
    “That was gunfire . . .” Star ran from the safe room to where Diane and Gregory were standing, stumping her toe in the dark. “Ow, damn. I heard gunfire. Uncle Frank is out there!”
    “You are supposed to be in the safe room with the door closed,” said Diane.
    “I thought you guys might have to run in real quick and, besides, I can’t hear anything from in there.”
    “I know that sound—it was a Glock,” said Gregory, “not a rifle. What kind of weapon does Frank use?”
    “Nine-millimeter Glock,” said Diane.
    “That means Uncle Frank is okay. Right?” asked Star.
    “I’m sure he is,” said Diane. She wasn’t sure. She trusted Frank, but these guys were bold and vicious. She had no doubt they were the same ones who set the Mayan Room on fire just to cover their tracks. Her mind was racing to come up with a plan that wouldn’t put Frank at greater risk trying to protect her if she went out to look for him.
    “Let’s go see,” said Star.
    Diane shook her head. “If we go out there, too many things can go wrong. It could put him in more danger.”
    “But we can’t just wait,” said Star. “The other guy might have a Glock too, and maybe it was his gun we heard. My dad might need help.”
    She was right. Diane had to do something. She could go out the back door, stay close to the house, and . . .
    She was about to tell Gregory what she planned to do when the doorbell rang. Five times—two short, one long, a short, and a long.
    Diane exhaled. “That’s Frank,” she said.
    She turned on the lights and opened the door. Frank stood on the porch with a policeman in tow. The policeman—the young one who replaced Izzy—nodded. Diane noticed he had Frank’s gun in his left hand, holding it upside down by the trigger guard. She told him she and Gregory