There were only six people left from the original party of 12 when they left the restaurant, not including Chris who had not come back inside. Bradford assumed she was probably waiting in the car.
Judy was told Fred had been taken downtown for questioning about Mario. Steve offered to drive her car downtown. Mary offered to go along but recognized that Dave was squeezing her arm for a reason. Judy was confused, but accepted Steve’s offer.
“I’ll explain later,” Dave whispered to Mary. “Wait here with Jill while we get the cars.”
“Well, Dave, this has been quite a day,” Buzz said as they walked to their cars.
“You can say that again,” Dave replied. “I still want to know if you intentionally missed that putt.”
“It doesn’t matter now, Dave. You’re the new Club Champion and next week I expect you to give me one or two strokes.”
“No way,” Dave blurted out, but stopped in mid sentence when a man jumped out from between two cars, his gun waving back and forth. Bradford was scared. It is one thing to be shot at from a distance by a marksman you can’t see; it is much different when you are looking directly into the barrel of a gun. He was terrified.
“Which one of you is Buzz Peters?”
The man’s face was disfigured and he leaned on a cane for support, but all Bradford could see was the gun.
“I am,” Dave responded automatically.
“I am,” Buzz replied. “You must be Diego. I want to tell you …”
“Shut up, I don’t want to hear it. I’ve been waiting for this for three years.” Bradford could see his finger starting to squeeze the trigger, but he couldn’t move. He was frozen with fear.
“Hold It, DEA” Chris shouted as she came up on his right. “Drop your weapon.”
That was all Buzz and Dave needed. They both dove for cover as shots rang out. They laid under a car for what seemed forever, but was probably only a few seconds.
“You can get up now, guys. He’s dead.”
“Is that you, Chris?” Dave asked. He was still in shock.
“It’s me, Dave. Come on and get out from under the car. The owner wants to leave.” She was kidding. Bradford was still shaking.
Buzz stared at Diego lying face down in a pool of blood and Chris standing there with a gun at her side. He finally walked over and put his arms around her and hugged her; “Thanks!”
Mary and Jill came running over and threw themselves at Buzz and Dave. “Is everyone all right? Are you shot?”
Buzz and Dave looked at each other and shrugged. “Yes, but not since this afternoon,” they said together.
The laughter disguised the relief everyone felt. Buzz and Dave had seen the man’s face and knew they were only moments from death. Who knows if he would have shot Dave for good measure?
“Chris, what happened? How did you know he was here?”
“I didn’t, Dave. I was just being careful. I saw somebody duck behind a car when I came outside earlier. I pretended to leave but I crept back and waited. I didn’t see him again until he stood up and aimed his gun at you.”
“Did you need to shoot him?” Jill asked.
Chris hesitated before answering. Killing someone is not something she wanted to talk about or explain.
“I had no choice, Jill. When the guys dove for cover the man turned and took two or three shots at me. The last three shots were mine.”
“I’m sure Jill didn’t mean it the way it sounded, Chris,” Dave said. “I for one am glad you did, because when he came up to us and asked which one of us was Buzz, we pointed at each other.”
Buzz chuckled. “You can laugh about it now, Dave, but that’s probably why he shot at both of us this afternoon. He didn’t know which one was me.”
“I’m sorry, Chris,” Jill said. “I must be nervous or something, because I sure didn’t mean to question if you should have shot him. You saved Buzz’ life.”
“That’s okay, Jill. I think everyone could use a good night’s sleep. It’s been quite a day.”
As the sirens came closer, Bradford thought, “amen to that.”