Last thing I want is to panic or scare him even more than he already is.
Then I seek out Connie Dixon, whose eyes are clear and surprisingly steady as she calmly stares back at me.
“How are you doing, Connie?”I ask, noting blood on the front of her clothing.
It looks like it’s dripping down from a nasty cut on Chance’s forearm which is curved around his hostage, the knife in his hand.I also notice some blood on the floor by his hip, but that may have come from the same injury.
“We’re doing okay, here.Aren’t we, Chance?”
Age-stooped to five-foot nothing, looking very fragile with her spindly legs sticking out from the blood-stained housedress and her white hair in disarray—not to mention the knifepoint trembling against her throat—but Connie Dixon most definitely is not helpless.The woman is composed, steady, and smartly trying to diffuse the very dangerous situation she finds herself in.
“That’s good,” I use the same gentle tone Connie used.“As long as everyone is good, we’re just going to wait for Clem to get here.You wanted to talk to your brother, right, Chance?”
I’m trying to get a casual dialogue going, find a way to get him to release Mrs.Dixon.Maybe get him to tell me what got us to this point.
“Clem…is he…he’s coming?”he stammers.
“Yup.He’s on his way.Hey…did you know you hurt yourself?You’ve got a cut on your arm.”
Chance pokes his head over Connie Dixon’s shoulder to look at his arm.“It’s fine,” he mutters as his eyes come back to me.
“Okay, if you’re sure.But it seems to be bleeding quite a bit.Maybe we can wrap it in a tea towel until you can get that looked at.”
“I said it’s fine.”
The old woman suddenly tenses up and I can see the paper-thin skin of her neck pucker as he presses the knife tip deeper.
“I already offered,” she courageously intervenes.“Chance would rather wait until Clem gets here, isn’t that right, Chance?”
He acknowledges with a grunt.
“Then we’ll wait,” I confirm.
It doesn’t look too likely he’ll be letting his hostage go voluntarily, and I don’t want to risk agitating him any further, so I take a moment to reassess.
I’ve barely had a chance to consider my options when I hear movement over my shoulder.I hope to fuck it’s Clem.Stretching a hand behind me, I hold off whoever is there.
“Let me just go see if your brother is here yet, is that okay?”
“Yeah.”He nods, stretching his neck, trying to look beyond me.
“I’ll be right back.”
I back away slowly and move out of sight of the kitchen before I turn around.Clem is off to the side with Warren holding on to his arm.I approach them.
“Did he hurt her?”Clem hisses when I get close.
“It doesn’t look like it,” I try to reassure him.“The blood on her clothes is from a cut on his arm I think he got breaking in the back door.”
“Jesus Christ.What the hell is he doing?”
“Hey, I don’t know, but I’m hoping he’ll talk to you.Stay by the door, and I’m gonna need you to keep your cool.He’s pressing that knife tip pretty hard in Mrs.Dixon’s neck.”
Clem hisses and drops his head down, pressing the heels of his hands in his eyes for a moment.Then he straightens up, takes in a deep breath, and nods sharply.
“I’m good.”
Just as I’m about to step aside to let him by, I hear the woman’s wobbly voice behind me.
