The next day he went to the gun-dealer. He tried to get rid of Eddie, but he didn’t succeed very well. Eddie insisted on following him, at least to the street-corner.

So Nick left him there and went to get his gun. When the salesman handed him the weapon, Nick had a strange feeling in his stomach. He held something in his hand that could actually kill a person. For a moment he got scared, thinking he had gone too far, but he rejected that thought and paid. The salesman put the gun in a wood-box along with the bullets and a short description of how to use it.

Nick thanked the man and exited the store. The salesman looked after him as long as he could. Then he reached for the phone under the desk. He dialled a familiar number and waited for an answer. When it finally came, he just said three simple words.

"He has left" Then he hung up, knowing better than waiting for an answer.

*~*~*~*~*~*

On his way home, Nick glanced at the wood-box, lying on the passenger-seat.

Trying to concentrate on the road while thinking about all that had happened wasn’t easy. He trusted Eddie to follow him, so it wasn’t until he was almost home when he realised that Eddies black jeep wasn’t behind him anymore. He pulled over and looked down the road. But in vain. He got worried and called him, but no one answered. He tried to think rationally.

"Where would he have gone?"

"Nowhere, he was supposed to protect me" he thought. He decided to call one of the other bodyguards, Carlos, who also was one of Eddies best friends.

"Hello"

"Carlos, it’s Nick"

"Hi Nick, how are you?"

"I’m just fine. Look, I’m standing on the free-way, waiting for Eddie, he’s gone"

"What do you mean?" Carlos asked, now he sounded worried.

"I was leaving a store about 30 minutes ago, and he followed me as usual. But when I looked a while ago, he wasn’t there"

"Maybe it’s something with the car?" Carlos tried to explain Eddies sudden disappearance.

"Yeah, but he doesn’t answer the phone"

"Sounds weird. Nick, do you feel threatened?"

"No, it’s just that I started to wonder where he is"

"Look, do as I say now, for once. Drive home, as quickly as you can, and call me from there. I’ll get out and look for Eddie"

"Thanks, Carlos"

"You’re welcome. Go home Nick"

"I will. Bye"

"Bye"

Nick hung up and climbed into the car again. He drove home as quickly as he could, glancing in his driving mirror to see if Eddie had returned to his place.

When he reached his house and it’s security-system, he pressed the right code to open the gates and he rushed in, suddenly afraid. He parked the car and shut the engine off.

"What the hell am I doing?" he asked out loud and started laughing hysterically.

He laughed for several minutes but stopped suddenly.

"Am I loosing my mind?" he wondered. He grabbed the wood-box, containing the weapon, stepped out of the car and walked up to the house. He un-locked the door and stepped inside.

The moment he closed the door he knew that something was wrong. He took a step into the hall, then stopped. He realised that if he held the gun in his hand instead of in a box, he would have greater chance to survive if someone actually was in the house. He carefully opened the box and took out the weapon. It was already loaded, the salesman had done it for him.

He felt like James Bond when he held the gun in both hands, entering the livingroom, glancing around the room to see if someone was there.

He didn’t see anyone, so he continued to search. He entered the kitchen, but also that room was empty. He searched the whole house but no one was there, nothing had been moved or changed. He sighed and sunk down in his favourite armchair, relieved that he was the only one there. He still held the gun in a firm grip, resting it on his lap.

When two hands covered his eyes, he rushed up with the gun aiming for whoever was there. For a couple of seconds he just stared at the person.

"Thought you were gonna shoot me there, Nick"