The way Jimmy was leering at EJ all night made me believe he would try to make her his next victim, if he was our killer and Harry believed he was. Maybe he wouldn’t try to jump her tonight. But he would tomorrow, or the next night, or the next. I knew he wanted to make EJ his next conquest, if not his next victim. I just knew it.
The Milwaukee Police Department would have to keep a watch on EJ all the time until Jimmy made a move or he was apprehended or cleared of the decapitations of at least three women, if not more, in the Milwaukee area.
Harry had called EJ and told her that Jimmy had followed us out of The Castaways and was about three cars in back of us.
“I see him, Harry,” EJ replied.
When we pulled in to EJ’s driveway we saw Jimmy’s car slowly drive past.
“Okay, get off the floor Max and let’s go inside before he comes back.
We walked through the house and into the kitchen. EJ offered me a drink, which I declined.
She poured herself a shot of Old Forester and threw it back. She went to put her glass in the sink. She turned away and turned off the light and walked into the living room. I watched her as she stretched and then turned off the living room lights and turned to walk down the hall. She stopped and looked back toward the kitchen. “Did you hear that Max? There was a strange noise out there. Sometimes I can feel it when I’m being watched; a sixth sense.”
Hearing that sent a chill up my spine and I registered that information in the back of my mind for future reference. I would be treading lightly around EJ from now on.
She turned and proceeded down the hall and I saw the shadows from a light being turned on in the bathroom.
EJ walked into her bedroom and it wasn’t long before she reappeared dressed in a long green flannel night gown decorated in flowers. No flimsy teddy for this detective.
I noticed bulges that most women didn’t have under their bed clothes and I knew they came from her weapons of preference, a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber police issue revolver and more than likely her ever present BB filled sap that she had more than once threatened to introduce me to.
“Harry and Detective George just pulled up, I said. Are you able to get them on your mike?”
“I already talked to Harry and everything is set,” she said.
“Good, I would hate to have to face The Peanut alone.”
“Alone? You think you have to face him alone? I am the one who will be alone with that monster and I am going to knock him silly. I look forward to it. If you are afraid Max, just leave. Right now, if I had a choice between having you or Jimmy The Peanut in my bedroom, I am not sure who I would choose. So now’s the time for you to take a hike if you want. I can do this alone.”
“Easy, EJ, I’m just nervous. This guy can snap your neck with his bare hands and he is capable of doing it in a heartbeat .The guy is so damn big it’s going to take a dump truck to dispose of his body once you finish with him. That’s what’s making me nervous.”
“Yeah, right; get in the closet and shut up. I’m going to turn off the lights and lure him in here. When I scream you had better get your scrawny little ass out of the closet with your little gun drawn and ready to get that monster off my body. The only thing I dread more than the thought of you touching me is this monster breathing on me.
Harry, can you hear me?” EJ said as she pulled down the top of her night gown speaking into the mike concealed in her bra.
“Hear you loud and clear,” Harry replied.
“Okay, it’s a go; everyone get in position it’s crunch time,” EJ whispered.
As I stepped into EJ’s closest she turned off the lights and I heard the springs of her bed creak as she crawled under the covers. I left the door cracked open so I could watch the door to her bedroom so I would be ready to pounce when The Peanut entered, if he entered.
EJ’s radio softly crackled. It was Detective George.
“I think I see movement in the bushes along the side of the neighbor’s house. Maybe it’s my imagination, but then again, maybe not. So stay alert.”
“Roger,” EJ responded.
I pulled my Colt Belly Gun out of my shoulder holster and held my breath.
It wasn’t long before a dark figure filled the doorway to EJ’s bedroom. From the size of it, I knew it was The Peanut. He was on EJ before she knew it, tearing her night gown off with one quick powerful swipe of his massive hands throwing it on the floor.
I flew out of the closet and yelled, “Freeze Jimmy or I’ll shoot.”
If Jimmy is one thing, he’s quick. Well, two things, he’s huge as well. He turned on me and ran at me full speed, slamming my body against the wall beating me about my head and body with both hands.
I lost my gun in the barrage of his fists raining down on me. I brought up both my hands alongside my head with my elbows pressed close to my sides to fend off blows to my kidneys and ribs. I saw my Colt belly gun on the floor next to the night stand well out of my reach.
When someone over two hundred and fifty pounds runs full force into your midsection, it doesn’t matter how strong your stomach is, you are going to have the wind knocked out of you and that is exactly what happened to me. I don’t think my lungs filled with air for over a minute since our first contact.
The Peanut lifted me from the floor with ease like I was a mere dust ball and brought back his right fist. Before he could unload on me, EJ, clad only in her bra and panties, jumped on his forearm, her weight, dragging it down. The Peanut pushed her off like a fly. I put my hands together and brought them over my head and down as hard as I could on The Peanut’s left arm that was holding onto what was left of my shirt causing him to lose his grip. I was still too groggy to maintain my feet and I just slid down the wall.
I was unable to see due to all the blood flowing into my eyes from the cuts and lacerations The Peanut so graciously put all over my face. When I placed my hand on the floor, attempting to get up, the pain from what must have been a broken wrist bone shot up my arm causing me to fall back down again.
It was at this time that I heard the front door crash open and in burst Harry and Detective George yelling in unison, “Police, freeze mother fucker.”
They were on The Peanut before he could react with Harry putting a choke hold on him and Chet pulling out his hand cuffs and snapping them on one of The Peanut’s massive wrists.
Detective George and Harry each grabbed an arm but the strength of Jimmy was too much for them as he broke loose. With a mighty swing of his right hand he caught George along the side of his head throwing him against the wall. I watched him fall to the floor. Jimmy turned his attention on Harry and started to beat the living daylights out of him until Harry too lay sprawled on the floor in the doorway of the bedroom.
The Peanut stood up and saw Chet coming at him and with his right hand he delivered an uppercut to the bottom of Chet’s chin, lifting him off the floor and into the wall knocking him unconscious; a picture of what looked like EJ’s old homestead fell down, shattering on top of Chet’s head, adding insult to injury. He didn’t move.
Harry was on his feet again and rushed The Peanut grabbing him around his knees and lifting him up and body slamming him onto the floor. Harry was using some of the moves he learned in his high school wrestling days and it looked like he might have The Peanut subdued when, with a mighty burst of strength, The Peanut broke his arm free of Harry’s grasp and smashed him time after time in the face rendering him helpless and opening a cut on Harry’s cheekbone and, as my new assistant Horace would say, blood flowed like red wine at a bacchanalia bash. The Peanut took advantage of Harry’s momentary immobility and scrambled to his feet, lifting Harry like a damp dish rag; he threw him against the dresser. Bottles of EJ’s lotions and potions fell over hitting the floor. Whatever was glass shattered upon impact. Harry slowly slid down the front of the dresser until he found himself sitting in a puddle of Channel No. 5.
I needed to get my gun. I shook my head, trying to remove the cob webs. When Jimmy threw me against the wall, I hit it with such force I swear I heard my ribs crack and possibly my skull. I was having a difficult time sucking in air and I was seeing double. Off to the left I noticed a white blur flashing by me. It was EJ heading toward Jimmy who had proceeded to beat the living daylights out of Harry as he lay sprawled in the doorway. EJ had her sap raised above her head, her magnificent breasts rising and falling with every step she took. She was on Jimmy The Peanut as quick as a Wisconsinite can order a bratwurst and struck him in the left temple with her sap. The Peanut hit the floor like the sack of shit he was.
EJ bent over him with her hands on her thighs gasping for air I sat dazed unable to move, looking over at EJ. Her hair was disheveled and her lipstick smeared across her face; she lunged at The Peanut again, slapping him with her sap. He grabbed her wrist to fend off her blows and effortlessly threw her on the floor. EJ rolled over and scrambled to her knees. Stretching out her hand, she grabbed his scrotum and began squeezing as hard as she could and digging in her fingers as they fell and wrestled for supremacy on the floor. He suffered a wide tear on his scrotum, part of which had been completely torn loose from his body. The Peanut was in agony but he was able to pry his scrotum free of EJ’s clenched fist, at which point he ran out the door covered in his own blood.
I watched through my rapidly swelling eyes as EJ bent down and gently lifted Harry’s head and pressed it against her rising and falling chest, rocking him back and forth and stroking his cheek all the while telling him he would be alright.
I knew cops were close to their partners and would do just about anything for them. They were like extended family, but this seemed more than that. EJ was displaying a feeling I had never seen her display before and to be quite honest with you, it was very touching.
My eyes welled up with tears either from the immense pain I was feeling or from thinking how lucky Harry was to have someone who cared that much for him.
I heard a gunshot and looked up. I saw a bloodied Detective George standing in the doorway with his revolver pointed toward the floor.
“I shot the son of a bitch,” was all he said before he fell to the floor unconscious.