by Hunt, Jack
He unzipped it and shone the light inside.
Sure enough it was all still there, just as he had left it.
He’d created the bug-out bag many years ago and for the longest time it had been stored in his garage, ready for when things went wrong. His mind flipped back to that night. The night it all went wrong. The argument with Rayna. The fight with Gary and the gun going off. His stomach sank and for a second he thought about just staying in that dark room. The other three would eventually leave and he could go back to living his life away from the pain, away from the memories. He wouldn’t have to face her, or him, or his kids.
The guilt was agonizing.
Elliot remained there for a few more minutes before slipping his arm under one of the straps and heading back. When he returned to the platform, he heard Damon’s voice.
“There he is.”
“What the hell took you so long?” Jesse asked.
“I got lost,” he replied not wishing to go into it.
“What’s in that?” Maggie asked.
He contemplated showing them but that would have just raised more questions and right now he was tired of answering them. All he could think about was his kids. The longer it took him to get back, the greater the chance of them not being able to survive this, and after all he’d been through, he couldn’t have that on his conscience. It would be the final nail in the coffin.
“Doesn’t matter, let’s get you home.”
Chapter 9
Magnus popped open another bottle of bubbly and took a hard swig on it. “So Cole, I’ve had some thoughts about what we should be doing this year, with the business and all. We should consider expanding into Lake Placid. The place is crawling with tourists who are looking to get loaded while on vacation.”
“Don’t be stupid. The reason we haven’t been caught is because we only deal with those that we know. You start going into foreign territory and you’re just asking for trouble.”
He laughed. “I’m not saying we would go do it or that we would deal on the street. I’m talking about making some new connections. My cousin Trent is there, he’s already got a small deal going on the side with some locals. It would be easy money.”
“Yeah and look how that worked last time.”
“Hey, that wasn’t my fault. My brother had been using that dealer for a long time and never had issues.”
“Well someone did, and I’m pretty sure Damon is going to want answers when he returns.”
“Ah fuck Damon. Honestly, if you had a lick of sense, you would cut ties with him now before he drags us down. I’m telling you. I don’t trust him. Tyron is right, there is no way in hell he would have only got eight months inside for that stash. He’s working with the cops.”
“You don’t know that.”
He shrugged and took another swig from the oversized bottle. “Well I’m not going to wait to find out.”
Cole got up and grabbed him around the throat causing him to drop the bottle. It smashed on the ground as he pushed him up against the wall. “Are you in charge, huh? You in charge of this operation?”
Magnus shook his head, a look of defiance in his eyes.
“Don’t forget it and that goes for the rest of you. No one touches him, not until I have had a chance to speak with him.”
“It might be too late.”
Cole slapped Magnus across the face and then gripped his cheeks with one hand digging his fingers into his skin. “What did I just say? Now shut the fuck up and go find out where those escorts are.” He shoved him away and Magnus gave him a dirty look before kicking a garbage can in anger and storming out.
“You know you’re not doing yourself any favors, Cole,” Sawyer said. “You don’t want to turn Magnus against you, or any of us.”
“Or what? You going to rat on me? Huh?” He jabbed his finger in front of Sawyer’s face. “Damon might have worked out some deal but so far he hasn’t ratted and until I know for sure what happened, no one is to touch him, do you understand?”
Sawyer pulled a face. “You’re running the show, boss.”
“Damn right I am.”
Cole swiped up a beer and went over to the door that led into the house. He went into the kitchen and fished around inside a cupboard for his Glock. It was still in a case. He pulled it out and popped it open, then went about filling a magazine up with bullets. He wasn’t stupid, and he understood where the other guys were coming from, if Damon did bring the cops with him, he would be ready. There was no way in hell he was going to do time inside. His mind drifted back to that day when him and Damon headed down to New York to make the pickup. He knew Damon was nervous about it but he didn’t think there was anything to worry about. He’d gone on these runs countless times.
“So you are staying in New York and I’m driving back?”
“I have to meet with a few suppliers, pay up some debt I owe. It’ll be fine, you just meet this guy down at the harbor. It’s all paid for. They’ll load up the engine onto the back of the pickup truck and you head home. Piece of cake.”
“You better not be screwing me over, Cole.”
“Would I do that?”
Cole tucked the loaded Glock into the front of his pants and gazed at a photo of him and Damon back in the day, long before they’d got wrapped up in drugs. He’d contemplated getting out of it but with all the money that it brought in, what was he supposed to do? Turn it down and go back to working a regular job? Hell no!
* * *
Rayna froze for a second. Perhaps it was just a tree branch knocking against the side of the house. She’d been meaning to cut back the branches as they’d overgrown and were brushing up against the house. Kong began barking, and she knew it wasn’t any branch. She hurried up the steps to the ground floor and peered down the hallway to the door. Beyond the opaque glass she couldn’t see anyone. Not even a silhouette but something was bothering Kong.
“Kong!” she said in a low voice. He turned and trotted down to her. She patted him on the head. “What did you hear, boy?” She eyed the front door and swallowed hard. That was one thing she hadn’t got used to since Elliot had left. Even though the home was set up with a security system, and they had Kong and a rifle, she still felt nervous. Slowly but surely she made her way down to the door and peered out the side window. There was no one there. No vehicle in the driveway. Perhaps it was just a neighbor checking in on her? She glanced at her watch again. It was a little after midnight now. She then smiled. Oh, it was probably just folks partying and seeing in the New Year. No doubt people were out on the streets drinking and celebrating. She bit down on the side of her lip then shook her head. It was a good ten-minute drive into town, twenty-five if she walked. It had to be a neighbor. There had been a new guy move in with his brother just two homes down. Both of them looked shifty. She’d seen them slow down their truck a week ago when she was outside cleaning the SUV with Lily. She thought they were going to ask for directions but as soon as she glanced their way they took off.
She crossed the room to the wall where the security system was. It was off. No power. No security. Great. She glanced down at Kong who cocked his head to one side as if thinking that she was making a fuss out of nothing.
“I know, Kong, but we can’t be too careful,” she said patting him on the head before heading down to unlock the gun cabinet and retrieve the Winchester lever-action rifle. Even as she went about locating the bullets and loading it she was thinking it was foolish. There probably wasn’t anything to worry about. The lights would come on soon and she’d be feeling like an idiot.
She glanced again at her watch.
C’mon. When is this damn electricity coming back on? she thought. It was beginning to frustrate her. After loading the gun, she scooped up a jacket and boots and prepared to go out into the backyard to collect the two-way radio and contact Gary and Jill. Her mind was whirling as she unlocked the back door, flicked on a flashlight and shone the beam across the yard. Their property was large, covering about three
acres. At the far end of the yard Elliot had built a shed on top of the entrance to the underground shelter. Rayna had only been in there on two occasions; once after he had it installed, and the other was a year later when he replenished some of the stock and was planning to deploy. He’d taken her through how to access it, how to turn on the air filtration system and how to escape if a fire started.
“Come on then, Kong,” she said as she ventured out. He bounded out thinking that she was going to play with him and toss his Frisbee around. She closed the door and locked it behind her, mindful that her children were inside. Outside a light rain was coming down, so she pulled up the hood on her rain jacket and kept a firm grip on the flashlight and rifle as she double-timed it across the yard.
The shed wasn’t fancy, just an eight-by-twelve-foot Sunshine Shed that was used to store the lawn mower, garden tools and bags of fertilizer. Elliot had always been adamant that it had to look normal. She tucked the flashlight under her arm as she fumbled with the keys, casting a glance over her shoulder nervously. Kong was panting and sniffing around in the flowerbed nearby. After unlocking the door she entered and whistled for him to follow. Kong didn’t hesitate, he bounded inside the shed and continued sniffing while she closed the door behind her. On the ground was a thick outdoor mat that was used to cover up a wooden trap door with another lock. “Kong, over here,” she said motioning for him to get behind her while she lifted the mat and unlocked it. While she was in the middle of doing it, she heard what sounded like a stick snapping outside. She froze and Kong started snarling.
“What is it, boy?”
The dog turned and pressed his nose up against the door, pulling back his gums to reveal his sharp set of teeth. She’d never seen him attack, and he wasn’t trained for that. By any measure he was a gentle dog that was meant to assist Elliot through the rough times. The key was in the lock as she lifted her head to one of the three windows.
“Don’t give away the location,” Elliot had said.
She decided not to unlock it and simply covered it up again. Her pulse sped up at the thought of having to go outside. Even though she had Kong, and the rifle, she was as nervous as hell. Okay, Rayna, get a grip, she told herself, trying to rein in her emotions.
Rayna pushed the shed door open and Kong slipped out disappearing into the darkness.
“Kong!” she yelled. Outside the rain was coming down even harder. She ducked out following Kong. He had crossed the yard and gone down the side of the house. The only times he’d run off and not listened to her was when there was a rabbit or another dog nearby. As she jogged around the side of the house, Kong came into view. He was standing at the front of the house barking at two strangers who had hoods over their heads. Rayna raised up her rifle, and they spotted her. One of them tossed back his hood to reveal a familiar face. It was her neighbor from two houses down and his brother.
“Whoa! Steady there, we aren’t going to hurt you, we were just checking out if everyone else’s power was out.”
She didn’t lower the rifle, but she told Kong to get back. He was barking at them and snarling.
“At midnight?”
He shrugged. “I know. It’s late. We didn’t mean to scare you. I’m Austin and this is Trent, my brother.”
Austin was close to six foot, bleached hair, rugged in appearance and certainly more than capable of taking down her 150-pound frame, if that was what he had in mind. Trent was darker in appearance as if he’d spent a great deal of time in a tanning booth. He had longer, dark hair that draped down to his jawline. His eyes kept bouncing between her and the house.
“I know who you are.”
“So your power is out too?”
She nodded and cast up her eyes to the room that had her kids inside after seeing Trent look up. Sure enough, Lily and Evan were awake and staring.
“Just you and the kids?” Trent asked.
She didn’t respond to that. Something about the question seemed real odd, especially being that it was midnight, and they had no right to come onto her property.
“I don’t have anything, so you better be on your way.”
Elliot had instructed her to never let up an inch. If anyone walked onto the property, day or night and he wasn’t there, not to think twice about aiming a gun at them.
Austin pumped his hands in the air.
“Okay, okay, sorry to have bothered you.” Austin started backing up and kept an eye on Kong who wasn’t moving an inch. She had no idea if he would attack them but she wouldn’t have put it past him. Elliot told her that it was hard-wired into German shepherd dogs, and that’s why they were perfect for cops and military. They would literally take a bullet if need be. Slowly the two men turned and headed out but not before Trent tossed another menacing look over his shoulder. There was something about the way he eyed her that made her blood run cold.
Once they were out of sight she whistled to Kong and they headed back inside. She’d wait until morning to contact Gary. There was no point getting all excited right now if it was just a false alarm. She chided herself inwardly as she shook the rain from her jacket and hung it up. Here she was buying into the words of a husband that had walked out over a year ago. Stupid, she muttered under her breath.
“Mom? Who were those men?”
She poked her head around the corner and at the top of the stairs Lily was standing there with Evan. They both looked frightened.
“It’s okay. Go on back to bed. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She made a gesture with her head for Kong to go up and sit with them and off he went. She spent a couple more minutes going around to the rooms and checking that all the doors and windows were locked before heading upstairs herself.
She carried the gun with her into the bedroom and lay down beside Evan thinking about the two men and running through scenarios of what she would do if anyone ever tried to attack them. Rayna had never had problems with anyone in all the years she’d lived in Lake Placid. Overall it was a quiet town, people were friendly even though according to Gary, there was a one in twenty-two chance of becoming a victim of property crime. She’d grown up there, born and raised, and had met Elliot when she was in her college years, though they never officially got together until she took a job working at the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum. Unbeknownst to her when he was home on leave he’d got in contact with her parents to ask her out. He’d always been the type of person that didn’t mess around. He was either all in, or out. Perhaps that’s why it didn’t strike her as odd when he upped and walked out on them.
Outside it was still dark, she could hear a great horned owl calling. As she started drifting off, her overly nervous mind ran rampant imagining all the worst that could happen if the power wasn’t on by the morning.
It was in times like this she really wished Elliot hadn’t gone.
Chapter 10
It took close to two hours of trudging through Manhattan, and weaving their way around hundreds of stalled vehicles, before they crossed over the East River and made it into Williamsburg. Contrary to what Elliot might have believed, New Yorkers didn’t appear to be unraveling. Sure, they had seen a few looters as they came past East Village but it was nothing drastic. Store owners with a lick of sense had brought down their shutters to prevent anyone from breaking in. Maggie eavesdropped on the conversations of strangers as they made their way back to Lexi’s place. She figured Lexi and Matt would have headed back and were probably sloshed by now, completely unaware of the disaster that had just taken place. She even expected to find them getting it on when she knocked on the door. Lexi lived in a six-story apartment block on South Fourth Street. It was a drab-looking building with old air-conditioning units sticking out of windows, and a black fire escape that snaked its way up the brown brick structure.
Relieved to have made it in one piece, she shouldered the front door, but it was locked. Of course it was. Usually if she was visiting Lexi, she would press the button on the outside and speak to her and she’d buzz her
in.
“Great, now what? Where’s your vehicle?” Elliot asked.
“I left it back at my apartment in Bushwick.”
“So why are we here?” Damon asked.
“Because my bag of belongings is here.”
“And you have none at your home?”
Her eyebrows arched. “I need to find out if my friend is still alive,” she said feeling as though she was having to justify herself. It’s not like they needed to follow. In fact she didn’t expect the other two to come along, and the only reason she invited Elliot was because he seemed pretty sure that whatever had occurred wasn’t an isolated incident and being that her family was across the other side of the country, her friends were nowhere to be found and her lunatic ex-boyfriend was probably waiting for her to return to her apartment, she didn’t feel comfortable walking back alone. Not that she was convinced that either of them weren’t dangerous, but she got a sense from the way they helped others in Times Square that they were good people, even if they were hesitant to speak about their lives. It felt like she was trying to pry blood from a stone getting Elliot or Damon to open up, however, Jesse was the complete opposite, she couldn’t get him to shut up. She wouldn’t have minded if he had something useful to add but he hadn’t stopped bellyaching since Times Square.
* * *
“Give me a boost up,” Jesse said turning to Damon.
“Probably best I go, you’re a short ass,” he said reaching up as Jesse bent down and gave him a boost to grab the steel ladder. He dragged it down and then started to make the ascent.
“What apartment is she in?”
“Fifth floor, the one on the right.”
“Okay, you wait down here.”
“I’ll go with you,” Elliot said following him up. Damon led the way, his boots clanging against the steel. A couple of people peered out of their apartment windows obviously wondering what all the racket was. From four stories up, he could get a better look at the surrounding area. Several fires had been started throughout the city. It was hard to know if they were from a downed plane or looters. He looked down towards Maggie. She reminded him of his daughter, and in some ways, if his daughter had been far from home and an event like this had played out, he would have been glad to know that someone had helped her. That’s why he changed his mind, that and of course he was hoping she would let him use her car, or at least drive him the distance back to Lake Placid. Of course he realized that was a lot to ask but based on the way she was acting back at Times Square, he had a good sense that she wasn’t the type of person that would turn her back on those in need, even though he’d convinced her there was nothing that could be done.
