The Last Innocent Man

David looked at Jennifer. She was screaming. He saw Gault’s hand grip the carpet. Gault was trying to drag himself to the gun. David scrambled over Jenny. He felt a hand close on his leg and he dived outward, stretching toward the weapon. His hand closed on it, and tremendous pain flashed through his leg where Gault had struck it with a karate blow. David gasped and rolled to his back. Gault was kneeling, one knee and one arm supporting his body. Gault’s right side was covered with blood. He was looking at David, but his face was expressionless. David was in agony. He pointed the gun.

“Get back,” David said, but there was no confidence in his voice. Gault lurched toward him and David swung the gun wildly. The barrel smashed into Gault’s eye and he crashed to the floor, landing on his damaged shoulder and rolling to his back. David lay where he was, shaking.

THE NEXT FEWminutes were a blur for David. Somehow he got to the couch. He remembered Jenny holding him there and shaking as badly as he was. He remembered thinking how surprisingly untouched the living-room furniture seemed: a ridiculous thought under the circumstances. And he remembered fighting to keep from vomiting as the events of the preceding minutes came back into focus. Gault moaned and Jenny’s head jerked toward him. The writer’s eyes opened. Neither David nor Jenny moved. Suddenly, Gault smiled.

“Looks like you got me, old buddy,” Gault started. Then his face contorted in pain.

“Whew,” he said when the pain passed. “That was pretty bad. You callin’ an ambulance?”

“Why should I?” David asked.

“You wouldn’t let a client bleed to death on your girlfriend’s rug, would you?”

“You were going to kill us,” David said.

“Sure, but I’m crazy, not a man of the law like yourself.”

“You’re not crazy, Gault, just bored. Remember? You said so yourself.”

“Shit, Dave, you can’t believe what a crazy man says. And I am crazy. Make no mistake. My new lawyer will prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” Gault said with a smirk. “Unless, of course, you want the case. Say, wouldn’t that be a twist? We’d really make headlines with that one. ‘Lawyer Defends Man Who Tried To Kill Him.’”

Gault started to laugh, then winced with pain. The laugh turned into a cough. Jenny stood up and started to walk across the room toward the phone.

“Where are you going?” David asked.

“To call the police,” she said.

“I don’t think we should call them just yet,” David said softly. He was sitting on the edge of the couch, his eyes on Gault.

“But…” Jenny started.

“He’s right,” David said. “Gault will hire the best lawyers and a raft of psychiatrists, and the jury will find him not guilty by reason of insanity. He’ll spend a few years in a mental hospital, then have a remarkable recovery. Won’t you, Tom?”

Gault just smiled.

“And Larry will still be in prison, won’t he?”

Gault’s smile broadened. David picked up the gun he had laid on the couch.

“David, don’t,” Jenny said, suddenly realizing what David intended to do.

“Don’t worry, sweets,” Gault said. “Dave doesn’t have the guts. He couldn’t shoot me before and he won’t do it now.”

David raised the gun.

“Please, David,” Jenny begged. “He’s playing with you. Making you follow his rules. Making you fit into his idea of what people are.”

David looked at Jenny. His hand was trembling and he looked desperate.

“That’s why I have to kill him, Jenny. I know what I’ll be if I do, but I lose either way. Gault’s different from other people. I could never win against him, but I can stop him from destroying other people, the way he’s destroyed me.”

“Well, well,” Gault said in a mocking tone. “You can feel it, Dave, can’t you?”

“Feel what?” David answered, less sure of himself.

“The power. Like God’s. You can see I was right, can’t you?”

“I’m not like you,” David said, his voice wavering.

“But you will be, as soon as you pull the trigger.”

“He’s right, David,” Jenny pleaded. “Please don’t kill him.”

“Do you want me to pray to you first, old buddy? You might find that satisfying.”

“Don’t you see what he’s like, Jenny?” David said, his voice filled with loathing for the thing on the floor.

“David is my shepherd,” Gault chanted, “I shall not want.”

“Shut up.”

“Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death…”

“Shut up,” David screamed, pointing the gun.

“…I shall fear no evil…”

David looked over toward Jenny. She was wide-eyed, staring at Gault with complete revulsion, as if she were really seeing him for the first time.

“…for David is with me.”

The gun exploded. There was no sign of remorse or fear on Gault’s face when David pulled the trigger. Only contempt. That was when David knew he had done the right thing.

8

David stacked the last of his framed diplomas in the cardboard carton at his feet and sealed the top with masking tape. He stood up and looked around the office. The walls were bare. The desk drawers had been cleaned out. It had ceased to be David Nash’s office.