The Fifteen Minute Novel is a novel written fifteen minutes at a time with each week day’s section starting with the sentence from the previous day. At least it is attempting to be a novel. For now I am just aiming at one continuous story, worked on for fifteen minutes each day. Started Friday January 1st, 2021 (in case you want to search for the beginning. I can’t wait to see where it ends up. It could be good, or it could be a mess. We’ll have to see. For now, here is today’s fifteen minutes.
Day: 136: He tried not to look through the window so the gunman would not be alerted to Tucker’s arrival.
He tried not to look through the window so the gunman would not be alerted to Tucker’s arrival. Even though James looked away, he could see flitters of movement and knew Tucker approached the house. He also saw other movement and knew that Tucker wasn’t alone.
About the time James wondered how Tucker would get into the house and if there was some way that he could warn him that the gunman was there for him, a knock sounded at the doorway.
“Well,” The gunman said. He smiled and nodded to himself. “About time.” He stood up and motioned James to do the same. “Walk to the door slowly and open it. We’ll invite your agent inside and then I’ll get some answers.”
James nodded, mouth feeling suddenly dry. The numbness in his brain started to fade into panic and James felt his fingers turn to ice. He didn’t want to see another dead agent.
‘Or another dead anybody,’ James thought. He thought he saw Tucker behind the house. Had he circled around? And if so how had he done it so fast?
James had no answers by the time he reached the door. He felt the barrel of the gun press into his back. The gun man stepped back a little so he would be out of sight of the door. After the press of the barrel there was a release as he stepped back. The press was a reminder the weapon was still there.
James noticed that the gunman was placed so that he would be hidden by the door. He also realized the door would impede his progress. James felt his fingers begin to warm as an idea hit him. It was a dangerous, stupid idea, but it was the only one he had.
James gripped the doorknob and before he could think about the consequences too much, he flung the door wide and ran through it tackling the person on the other side. He heard the thunk as the door slammed into flesh and the crash as the gun feel to the floor tiles. All around him was movement as the two people placed to either side of the door rushed into the space.
James rolled off the person he crashed into. The man was oddly rounded and James realized he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath his coat. The officer scrambled to his feet, dragging James with him and out of the way. In the time it took them to scramble away, the gunman was apprehended and cuffed, his fallen gun reclaimed by someone official.
Tucker appeared in the doorway and James realized he came through the house.
“Do I need to replace the back door now?” he asked.
Tucker looked at him and smiled. “Just one of the window panes,” he said. He gestured to the cuffed man. “Your handiwork I presume?”
James looked at the bound gunman. The violently swinging door caught him in the nose. From the looks of things it hit him hard enough to cause bleeding. His nose and face had already started to swell.
Ten til Midnight 