I jumped out of bed, threw on the closest clothes I could reach, and creeped towards my safe, where I kept a pair of pistols for emergencies.
“You wait here. Lock the bedroom door, and don’t open it until I return,” I said.
Eyes wide and panicked, Alyssa nodded silently in the darkness.
With my pistol in hand, I creeped along the hallway, and paused as the door to Lawrence and Mavis’ room opened. A moment later, my chef appeared in the doorway, fully dressed.
“I heard a noise,” he whispered.
“Me too. I’m going to check it out. You and Mavis stay in your room where it’s safe--”
“Let me…” Lawrence tried to argue, but I shook my head.
“I’m trained for this. You’re not. Just wait for me to deal with it.”
Lawrence hesitated for a moment, and a robed Mavis appeared behind him and wrapped her arms around her husband. “Come back to bed. David is right, you’re not trained for this. Leave it to the expert, and let David do his job.”
Lawrence let out a sigh, but allowed Mavis to lead him back to bed, and then I heard the door being locked.
Knowing everyone else in the house was safe, and the intruder would have to go through me to get upstairs, I creeped down the stairs, and into the living room.
With my pistol raised, I prepared to come face-to-face with a member of the Bloodline. I still wasn’t sure how they’d found this place, or bypassed my security system, but questions could come later,afterI’d debilitated the intruder.
“Don’t move,” I called out in a firm voice.
The intruder ignored my warning, and turned to me, his own gun raised. I couldn’t see the assailant’s face, as it was covered with a balaclava, but two eyes shined at me in the darkness as both me and the intruder fired our guns at the same time.
I dodged out of the way as a bullet ricocheted off the door frame behind me. My own bullet had missed its mark, too, as the assailant had ducked at the last instant.
I knew a shoot-out was no use, we only had a limited number of bullets each, and neither of us were close enough to get a good hit on the other. If I wanted to take this guy out and prevent him getting to Alyssa and the others upstairs, I’d have to do it physically.
I kept my pistol out, because being armed was still better than not, but I pressed myself flat against the wall and inched closer to the intruder.
“Don’t move any closer,” he growled through gritted teeth. “I’ll shoot.”
“We both know you don’t have enough bullets to take me out from that distance, and I’m not letting you upstairs.”
“Is that where all the expensive stuff is? Just let me take it. Your insurance will cover it, anyway.”
Wait … What? This guy hadn’t been sent here by the Bloodline -- he was just trying to rob me?
In some respects, just letting him take what he wanted and then claiming it back on the insurance later,wouldhave been easier. But I was one of the top security guards in LA, I wasn’t about to let some nobodystealthe things I’d worked hard for.
“Forget it. Drop the bag and leave here while you still can. The cops are already on their way,” I lied, hoping this would scare the intruder enough that they’d give up without a fight.
The guy raised his gun and pointed it right at me. “Unlikely. I cut the security system and phone lines before I entered. No one even knows I’m here. And from the look of the stuff I’ve already taken, you’reloaded. I’m not leaving without the good stuff.”
He fired a shot, and I knew there was no talking sense to this burglar. He probably wanted the money for drugs or something, andnothingwould stop him getting what he wanted.
I dodged the shot, and leaped forward, getting close to the intruder. He fired again, and this one grazed my knee, causing white-hot pain to surge through my body. I had to end this. NOW! He must’ve had three bullets left, and at this range, he could actually do some real damage. I couldn’t let that happen.
Fighting the pain, I rolled out of the way, and then lunged at the intruder, tackling him to the ground. Thankfully, I knocked the gun out of his hand, but that didn’t stop him from hammering his fists down on my skull.
Whoever this guy was, he’d been in fights before, and it took all my strength to block his punches and flip him over so that his body was pinned to the ground under mine. I landed a powerful punch to the intruder's stomach, causing him to double over in pain. I quickly took advantage of his vulnerability and grabbed him in a chokehold, rendering him unconscious.
With the assailant temporarily incapacitated, I stood and caught my breath, and then located some handcuffs I kept in a cabinet in the living room for emergencies. I cuffed the guy, laid him out on the couch, and then checked him over to make sure he didn’t have any serious injuries that would need medical attention.
I wanted the guy incapacitated, but I wasn’t a complete asshole. He’d get what he deserved when I restored the phone line and called the cops.
