All Through the Night: A Troubleshooter Christmas (29 page)

Sam stood, too. “You really think…” He followed Jules out the door.

“I think that I left Robin and Dolphina home alone, with a madman on the loose.”

Adam and Alyssa were right behind them.

“I don't get it,” Adam said. “You actually think Jessop works for Globe-net?”

“He knows where you are,” Jules said sharply as he broke into a jog, “because he works for your cell phone company, yes, that's what I think. You always take your cell phone, you always make local calls, he has access to your records, so he always knows where you are.” Jules laughed, but it was clear to Sam that he didn't find any of this funny. “And he knows that you've been
keeping in touch
with Robin and with me. And thanks to the Internet and websites like Celebrity Stalker dot-com, he also knows exactly where we live.”

“Run to your nest,” Alyssa echoed the e-mail.

“You ran straight to us,” Jules told Adam. He still had his phone out, and he used it now, no doubt to call Robin.

Alyssa took out her cell phone, too. “I'm calling Tom,” she told Sam. “See if Troubleshooters are back from New Hampshire yet. We can set up a perimeter around the townhouse, watch for this guy.”

Sam nodded. Good plan. He himself dialed Cosmo Richter, who picked up on the first ring. “Cos, it's Starrett. We need you over at Jules's place, ASAP. Got a potential situation with a stalker.”

“I'm on my way.”

“Covert approach,” Sam said, silently thanking God for enlisted men like Chief Richter. The SEAL didn't waste time with so much as the smallest what-the-fuck. “And do me a favor, Chief, ask Jane to call all the civilians—like Jules's mom. Anyone who might drop by. We need to keep everyone away from the house for a while.”

“Will do.”

“Robin's not answering,” Jules grimly announced.

Robin's cell phone rang, the theme from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
wailing throughout the house.

He'd had his phone out and open, and was just about to dial Jules when it exploded in a deafening burst of electric guitar power chords.

“What is that?”

Robin held his breath and didn't move as the gunman came toward the stairs. It took every ounce of his self-control to stay still—to
not
slam his phone shut and end the music. To not push the silence button. To not answer.

Jules was on the other end. Jules, who was probably calling to tell him he was on his way home. Jules, who unless Robin warned him, was going to walk blindly into a hostage situation in his very own home—a situation in which this stranger with a gun had already shot Will Schroeder.

But if Robin didn't just let the phone ring, the gunman would know he was up here.

“Robin must've left his cell phone home when he went out,” Dolphina said, thinking on her feet, remarkably composed considering that Will was bleeding from a gunshot wound. “He does that all the time.”

His cell phone finally stopped ringing, and Robin quickly reset it to silent, but didn't dare to move.

“Let Dolphina go.” Will was still conscious, and determined to get Dolphina to safety.

She, however, was just as adamant about not leaving him.

“I'm telling you,” Will said. “She's…not a robot.”

She's not a
what
? Holy shit.

Adam's stalker. This was fucking Adam's stalker. Somehow, when he'd come to Boston, he'd fucking brought his fucking stalker with him.
Son
of a
bitch.

“Look, I know she's not a robot,” Will persisted. “She's my girlfriend. I think I would've noticed her…metallic exoskeleton.”

“She may have been changed since you were with her last,” the stalker pointed out.

Robin's cell phone lit up as Jules called him again, and he froze as fucking Adam's fucking stalker came halfway up the stairs. He couldn't make it back into the bedroom without being seen, so he turned the speaker volume to zero and answered the phone, slipping it into his pocket, then closed his eyes and prayed.

Please God, let the dismal Boston weather that he'd complained about so often provide enough shadows for this crazy bastard not to see him standing here…

“You need to let me call an ambulance,” Dolphina said, her voice carrying clearly up from downstairs. Robin knew she was trying to draw the gunman back down to her. “Please.”

“That's not possible.”

“He's going to die! He's not a robot, he's a human being and you shot him!”

“Dolph, come on,” Will said. “Don't piss him off.”

“No one wants collateral damages,” the man said, “but it happens. It's the price of this war we're fighting.”

No doubt about it, he was completely insane.

As Adam watched, Jules went bullshit.

Apparently, Robin, Dolphina and some reporter named Will were all in the house with Jim Jessop. Robin had managed to answer his phone and leave it open, so Jules could listen in. Whatever was happening in there, it wasn't good.

Adam didn't know the details, but it became clear that Jessop wasn't afraid to use his weapon. He'd already shot the reporter.

Christ, he felt sick. If Robin died, it would be Adam's fault…

“I need a negotiator and a SWAT team,” Jules barked orders into Alyssa's phone as Alyssa used his cell to monitor the situation in the house, “and at least one ambulance. And I need them all to stay a block away, sirens off as they approach.”

Robin's brother-in-law, Cosmo, was waiting for them on the corner. As Adam watched, Cowboy Sam went over to fill him in.

“Jessop's talking to Dolphina and Will,” Alyssa reported. “Will is still conscious, but he doesn't sound good. Dolphina's doing her best, but…”

Jules looked at his watch and shook his head. “I'm not going to wait. I've got to go in there. I'm just going to walk in the door like I'm coming home.”

“Slow down, Cassidy,” Sam said. “There are four of us. Don't knee-jerk. Let's figure this out.”

Figure
what
out? This was crazy. Sure, they outnumbered the gunman, but they had no weapons. What were they going to do, rush inside and hope one of them could grab that gun before they all got shot? Talk about insane…

“Let me talk to him,” Adam stepped forward and volunteered. “To Jessop. Maybe if I…I don't know, stand in the street and shout to him, he'll come outside.”

“And he'll shoot you down like a dog,” Sam pointed out. “You're his target, Astro Boy.”

Good point. But still. If Jessop stayed inside the house, he could well shoot
Robin
down like a dog. “I'll get behind a car,” Adam said, but they'd already dismissed his idea.

“Will and Dolphina are in the foyer, near the front door,” Cosmo reported. Apparently he'd gone over to the house to look in the windows. Adam hadn't even realized he was gone, and he was already back. “Jessop's on the stairs.”

“Jessop just found Robin,” Alyssa announced grimly, phone to her ear. “Jules…”

Oh, Christ.

“I'm going in there,” Jules said again, ready to march into hell if he had to. “
Right
now.”

“Okay,” Sam said. “Here's what we're going to do.”

“Who else is up here?”

And yes, that would be the robot-hunter speaking directly to Robin.

He was busted—and quite possibly dead.

“I'm the only one,” Robin admitted, praying that Jules was listening in to all of this. “I was taking a nap. Dolphina didn't know I was home.” Crap, he was babbling. He had to calm it down—he wasn't the crazy one here. He forced himself to smile. “I was just coming downstairs to talk to you.”

“You're Robin Chadwick.”

Breathe. “Yeah, but only until tomorrow. Tomorrow it's going to be Robin Cassidy. I'm getting married—taking my partner's name. I'm excited. I've, uh, never been married before and I'm crazy in love with him. Big feelings for this guy. Huge, you know?”

As an actor, it was all about the subtext, and he hoped that what he was really saying came through.
Dear Jules, if I don't survive this, please always remember how much I loved you…

The man with the gun didn't react, didn't smile, didn't blink. And Robin kept his smile wide, trying his Oscar-nominated best to be charming and pleasant—and to completely ignore that totally non-ignorable gun. Maybe if he didn't stare at it as if he were a terrified antelope, or whatever it was that hunters hunted, Crazy Stalker Man wouldn't feel the urge to use it on him. “You're here about Adam, right?” Robin continued. “Because he's”—he lowered his voice—“a robot?”

The man's gun hand dropped a bit. “You know about Adam?”

“Shit, yeah,” Robin said, wracking his brain. What was this guy's name? Jules had told him he'd signed all of the e-mails he'd sent…“I've known for a while. Dude, I'm glad you're here. I wasn't sure who I should call to report it. I mean, yeah, Jules works for the Bureau, but robots aren't exactly his department. Still, he tries to stay informed, and he heard the buzz that you were in town, chasing Adam, which is good, because, you know, uninvited robots at a wedding…? Very uncool.” He held out his hand, as if offering it to shake, as he moved toward Jim Jordan? Jesse Jordan? Jesse James…? And he found the bastard's name, somewhere in a cobwebby corner of his brain. “Jim Jessop, right?”

Jessop switched his gun into his left hand so he could shake Robin's hand.
Score.

“Jules, come in now!” Robin shouted and kicked the motherfucker's gun out of his hand and down the stairs.

Jules didn't need his cell phone to hear Robin, and he shouted “Go,” to both Sam and Cosmo as—God, no!—a gunshot rang out. He kicked open his front door and burst inside.

He'd been moving into position on the front porch, staying low so the gunman wouldn't see him through the window, waiting for the others to get into place, too.