She spoke tensely. “Did you hear something?”
“No,” said Gordie. “Don’t take forever, darlin’, or I’ll pretend I’m Fat Fuck Freddie again.”
Fred didn’t move or breathe, though his pulse beat in his ears. The squeaky noises started up again. He crept to the edge of the open door — they hadn’t even thought to close it! — and slowly moved far enough over to see. Gordie was on top, and she was kicking her feet and snorting like an animal. On the floor not far from Gordie’s reach was a handgun.
Fred backed up several steps, his legs trembling. What could he do? He reached around to get the weapon. His shaking hand jerked, loosening the waistband, and the revolver fell down his pants leg, making a dull thud on the carpet. Not loud. Almost silent.
That’s when she started to scream.
Gordie didn’t get it, saying, “What is this? I thought you liked this— Hey, what are you—? That hurt, bitch.”
“Help,” she shouted, “he’s raping me!” And kept screaming as Fred picked up his gun and returned to stand in the doorway.
Her stricken face peered over Gordie’s shoulder. “Oh, thank God! Fred — help me, he’s hurting me—”
Something changed as Fred recognized the first honest emotion he’d ever seen on her face: sheer terror. She’d just noticed the gun in his hand. She dropped flat in a split second, out of the line of fire.
Gordie started to get off her, but Fred took two quick steps and fired at his naked back. Flipping over, face red from exertion, Gordie stared at the gushing red coming from his well-developed right pectoral. He winced as the pain came and said something, although the shot had made Fred temporarily deaf. Then he heard Gordie babble:
“Don’t do it, man. Please. Just don’t do it. Ain’t what it looks like here — we’re just — it don’t mean nothing. And this,” he clutched his left hand over the blood on his chest, “why, this is just a flesh— Aw, shit!”
It must hurt pretty bad. Maybe the man had learned his lesson. Fred glanced over where Angel was still hiding under the covers — just like her to do something that immature, like if she closed her eyes, nobody could see her instead of the other way around.
Except for the noise Gordie was making about his wound, saying “Oh, shit” over and over, it was quiet. The man wasn’t even thinking enough to reach for the handgun only inches from his drooping hand — maybe his muscles weren’t working right.
Thank God the situation was contained. Fred grabbed Gordie’s gun and put it out of his reach on the dresser.
Then he followed Gordie’s gaze to where Angel lay.
Fred walked over and pulled back the bedclothes. The bullet must have gone through Gordie and straight into her heart. Almost no blood. She looked scared and beautiful. It couldn’t be. Fred couldn’t have done this. Not to her.
Gordie’s feverish voice cut in: “Fred? It was an accident, right? Everything will be okay—”
Everything okay?
Fred turned and shot him twice in the chest. Gordie hit the headboard and remained sitting until his head slumped onto his hairy chest and he fell to one side.
For a long time, Fred stood there in a world gone blank. Finally, he felt the gun in his hand. He set it down and walked out of the room, down the hall, out the front door, and across the street. What was he going to tell Manny?
About the Contributors
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s first book, Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within, was a Los Angeles Times best seller and won a 2005 ASJA Outstanding Book Award. Her articles and essays have appeared in many publications, including Orange Coast Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Westways, and Poets & Writers. She has taught creative writing at UC, Irvine Extension, since 2000, and also produces and hosts a radio show, Writers on Writing, on KUCI-FM.
Mary Castillo, a former reporter for Los Angeles Times Community News, is the author of three novels and two novellas.
Dan Duling is an award-winning playwright, best known for Stranglehold, which won the Oregon Playwrights Award. He is also a former journalist, having written for publications such as the L.A.Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. The feature film Last Lives, based on his screenplay, originally premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel and is now available on DVD. Behind the Orange Curtain, Duling is the scriptwriter for the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach.
Robert S. Levinson is the author of the novels The Traitor in Us All, In the Key of Death, Where the Lies Begin, and Ask a Dead Man, as well as the Neil Gulliver and Stevie Marriner series of mystery-thrillers, which to date consist of The Elvis and Marilyn Affair, The James Dean Affair, The John Lennon Affair, and Hot Paint: The Andy Warhol Affair. The Derringer Award — winner’s short stories appear often in the Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock mystery magazines.
Dick Lochte is the author of ten popular crime novels, including, most recently, Croaked! His novel Sleeping Dog won a Nero Wolfe Award, was nominated for Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony awards, and was named one of the “100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century” by the Independent Booksellers Association. Lochte, who lives in Southern California with his wife and son, is also an award-winning drama critic and has written screenplays for such actors as Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, and Roger Moore.
Lawrence Maddox works as a film and television editor, and has written a number of independent features. He lives with his wife in northeast Los Angeles, less than an hour’s drive from the badlands beyond the Orange Curtain.
Gordon McAlpine is the author of three novels, Joy in Mudville, The Persistence of Memory, and Mystery Box. His short fiction and book reviews have been featured in magazines and journals both in the U.S. and abroad. He lives in Orange County with his wife and three children.
Patricia McFall is a freelance writer and editor. She also teaches fiction and coaches writers privately. She has published one suspense novel, a half-dozen short stories, and many newspaper features. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Orange Coast Magazine, and Writer’s Digest.
T. Jefferson Parker was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Southern California his whole life. He has published seventeen novels, numerous articles and short stories, and is a three-time Edgar Award winner. His most recent novel is Iron River.