Slaves to Evil - 11 by Lee Goldberg

“Thanks.” He wondered how she had ended up here, how any of the women had.
    He crammed the sock into the young officer’s mouth. Not ideal, but it would have to do. He dug into the cop’s pockets and found a little handcuff key.
    He returned to woman in the first room. He unlocked her cuffs and brought her back to join the blond girl. The woman flinched at the sight of O’Neill and Perkins, then saw their situation and relaxed a bit.
    “I want you to stay here and stay quiet until I come back for you,” Matt told them. “OK?”
    “OK,” said the girl. The dark-haired woman didn’t seem to understand. Matt gestured with his hand for her to stay put. She nodded.
    He checked the last room. No one there. He went to the stairs and carefully stepped down to the main floor of the house. Most of it was the open living/dining space. There were two doors at the far end of the room and one near the front entrance, most likely to a coat closet.
    Even as he thought this, he heard a toilet flush behind it. The door opened, revealing a powder room. Lennox emerged.
    Their eyes met in mutual surprise. Matt raised his gun as the chief drew his. Both fired. The sound was enormous as it echoed in the house. Matt felt the bullet graze his scalp. He had no cover and the cop was already adjusting his aim. He dove for the staircase leading down to the basement.
    He jolted and bumped down the stairs, landing hard on his good shoulder, which now hurt as well. Matt rolled away from the stairway opening before Lennox could get another clear shot. He found himself in what could only be described as a man cave, complete with leather sofa and a huge flat-screen TV.
    He saw Woronicz coming at him with a straight razor just in time to raise his right arm and block the strike. Instead of slicing his face, the blade cut open his forearm. Woronicz tried to grab the gun from his hand, but Matt held on to it. He pushed Woronicz a step back, and then the cop redirected his force and Matt stumbled to the right, just managing to keep his balance. The men almost seemed to be dancing. Woronicz bumped into a tall CD rack. It tipped over, scattering jewel cases on the floor. The cop stepped on one, slipped, and fell, yanking Matt down with him. Which was fortunate for Matt, because Lennox was now at the base of the stairs, shooting at the space where his head had just been.
    Matt rolled off Woronicz, putting the cop’s body between him and Lennox. Woronicz used his momentum to keep going, so that he now loomed over Matt. With one hand, he pinned Matt’s gun hand to the floor. With the other, he brought down the razor. Matt caught his wrist, barely keeping the blade at bay. They stayed like that for a moment, neither one able to break the other’s grip. But the cop had the better position, slowly but surely forcing the straight razor down toward Matt’s throat. Lennox held back, watching, ready to fire if necessary.
    Matt gagged on the thick stink of decay coming from Woronicz. His putrefied face had begun to slide slowly down his skull. He inched closer and the razor grazed Matt’s skin. Matt could think of only one thing to do.
    He bit Woronicz. He sank his teeth into the rotting, fetid flesh of the man’s cheek and clamped down hard. Pus squirted into his mouth and he fought the urge to vomit. The cop shrieked, trying to pull away, but Matt held on. Woronicz loosened his grip on the gun. Matt yanked it free. He let go with his teeth and shoved the barrel under the cop’s chin. He pulled the trigger.
    The blast was deafening at such close range. Matt was splattered with blood and God knew what else as the bullet tore through Woronicz’s head. He shoved the body off himself as Lennox fired. This shot caught Matt in the same damn shoulder Elena had hit. Matt raised his own gun and fired. He hit the chief in the leg. As the man fell, Matt rushed in and put two more shots into his skull.
    He turned away from the dead cop and retched. He spat several