by RM Brewer
Following issuance of a new uniform, everything went smoothly for a couple of weeks. Just when Chuck Wending was thinking most of the Wild River PD was finally over him shitting his pants, he responded to another dangerous call. This time, he and three other officers had to climb up five flights of stairs to check out what appeared to be, from the screaming and sounds of breaking glass coming from behind the apartment door, a very heated domestic disturbance.
By the time they got to the top of the fifth floor and moved toward the door, Chuck was out of breath. Not just a little winded, but completely out of breath. He was thinking, guess I shoulda watched how much weight I was puttin' on over the past couple of months, when the dark edges of his vision started closing in.
"You don't look too good, Chuck," Jason Redman said, moving toward him.
He started to lose his balance and his partner reached out too late to stop him from falling. The last thing he remembered was a dense thud as he hit the floor.
Not altogether conscious, he realized he could vaguely hear a man screaming on the other side of the door.
"Who the fuck is that?" the man bellowed. "What the fuck do you want?"
Chuck Wending could feel the vibration of the man's footsteps as he paced back and forth. Suddenly, the door flew open and the man came charging out, baseball bat held high. The man's foot hit Chuck as he lay in the doorway and he lost his balance, briefly regained it again, but snagged his other foot on Chuck's holster. The man pushed off with the first foot and launched himself into a mid-air half somersault, clearing the stair railing by a good six inches. Chuck looked up as the man flew down and out of his vision, followed by a sickening smacking, splattering noise a few seconds later. The sound of a baseball bat hitting the tile floor followed.
Toxicology reports indicated the man was filled to the brim with PCP. While his drug-induced free fall led to his demise, it also cleared Chuck of any wrongdoing. With the capture of two suspects on his record, he was not surprised when his commanding officer recommended he take a position in his hometown, saying it would give him a chance for advancement of his career.
"Chuck, you've got just the right stuff for this job," his superior said, handing him a set of forms. "We've filled out all the paperwork for you. It's an application for a position right in the same town you went to high school in. All you need to do is sign on the dotted line and we can send it in, along with our recommendations. It's about time you reaped the rewards of all your hard work."
Although Chuck was a bit surprised over the sudden opportunity, he was also happy to be presented with an option to flee the vermin-ridden city. So it happened that, with one pen stroke and seven letters of support from his colleagues, Chuck became Mountain City's new Police Chief. Actually, the title was Senior Officer, but since he was the only officer there, Chuck found it fitting to redesign his title. "A little adjustment here and there won't matter," he said to himself. That was when Mountain City had 1,007 residents. He would be resident number 1,008.
With increased development, the number of permanent occupants in Mountain City doubled in five years. Add to that all the tourists pouring into town every summer, and Chuck's one-man operation became severely strained. He decided to call on family for help. His brother-in-law, who was on the Mountain City Board, recommended that he get whatever assistance he needed, so Chuck made sure that the County Sherriff took over traffic enforcement on all but the forest roads and the State Police assumed the responsibility of crowd management during the summer months. This left him with about one call per month, to help someone whose car broke down in the woods or to pick up a volunteer fire fighter to get a cat out of a tree. Truth be told, Chuck was pretty happy in his little town with his meet n' greet job. That was, until he read about Jodie Watts.
He read in the paper that she'd been an FBI agent for some time now. He thought it seemed like the whole world knew about her and the case she'd been working on. Sounded like she was still single, too. "Serves her right," Chuck said to the newspaper.
At first, reading about Jodie made him feel lonely and pathetic. Hearing about her made him face the fact he was an underachiever. Yet, he appealed to his better qualities, deciding that maybe it would be best to find a way to start over somewhere else. Maybe he could move to the Midwest and get a job as a security guard somewhere. Maybe he would find a woman he could start a new life with. It all seemed like a great plan until he got a call the other night. He thought he was in for another round of pants-shitting action when all the dead bodies started showing up. But, it must have been destiny, Jodie showing up when she did, in need of his help.
Now, he had information, valuable information. Information that would have been lost, had it not been for him jumping on the evidence like that, removing it from harm's way. Sure, Jodie and the rest of them figured out what the numbers meant, but he was responsible for protecting the evidence that probably would have been lost. Not probably, Chuck thought as he mumbled to himself. "Absolutely, it woulda been stolen by whoever killed the coroner. Nobody in the Department knows anything about the matching numbers from the watch that kid took off the floater. I'm takin' full credit for this one. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Not me."
Certainly, he reasoned, if something was found up at the top of that mountain to help the case, he'd be up for another promotion. Therefore, it was with a great level of confidence that Chuck told the State Police he would lead them up the mountain in the morning. He was in charge of forest roads, after all, and knew the territory better than anyone. But he was frustrated with their reaction. No one seemed to take him seriously about the coordinates found on the dead woman.
The State Police produced maps and argued with him the majority of the afternoon, telling him that there was nothing up there but trees. They told him, maybe it was a place the dead woman used to picnic or something, but they weren't wasting manpower on a nature hike. Finally, after hours of listening to Chuck plead his case, they relented, telling him they were sending him two officers in a four-wheel drive vehicle for assistance.
Chuck was disappointed at the lack of manpower assigned to him, but was more bothered that they didn't treat him as if he was in charge. He figured that would all change for sure tomorrow, though. He didn't really know what was up on the mountain, but thought if it was important enough for Jodie to be interested, it must be something big. He closed up shop for the day and headed over to the diner for a pre-victory dinner.
* * *
Jodie's phone buzzed. "Hey, boss, it's gettin' real dark out here. You wanna come out and play now?" Bob asked.
Laughing to herself, Jodie said, "Yeah, I'll be out in a few minutes. I'll go out the back door and Nick can come in the same way."
Jodie told the group inside the cabin what was going on. She went into her bedroom, collected her gun and put on her jacket. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror over her dresser, thinking, wow, you've put on some years, girl. She couldn't remember the last time she'd really looked in a mirror, but almost didn't recognize the face staring back at her. Guess I do need to gain some weight, she thought, running her fingers over the hollowness of her cheeks. Yet, she felt happy. Her bedroom always felt warm and safe. It was a cocoon made of dense, massive logs where she'd hidden away from the world when she needed to.
Jodie was never a girly-girl. Where her friends kept perfume on top of their dressers, she stored piles of pinecones, feathers, and interesting-looking stones. Her grandmother put them all in a clear glass jar for her to admire. Jodie opened the jar and picked out a pinecone, bringing it up to smell, the pine resin still aromatic after years. Glancing upwards, she jumped at the unexpected reflection of Mei standing in the bedroom doorway and turned to her.
"I didn't mean to scare you, Jodie. I thought you might want these." Mei held up two water bottles.
"Uh, thanks, Mei. Sorry, I guess I was lost in a memory there."
Mei moved forward, set the water bottles down on the bed, and took Jodie's hand, bringing the pinec
one up to her face. "I've always loved that, too. You know, when you're in the forest on a summer day and the sun is heating up the pinesap, that sweet smell?"
"Yes, I know it very well." For a moment, Jodie couldn't take her eyes off of Mei. She could feel the heat rising off of her own body as their eyes met. She let herself start to move forward, closer … a gun blast made them both jump, sending the pinecone skittering across the floor. Jodie grabbed Mei's arm and pulled her into the hallway and toward the living room.
"Everybody down. Now," Jodie commanded. She crept along the hallway, taking out her phone, waiting for Bob to call. Mei followed and crouched next to her. Hunter barked and jumped at the front door and Mei called him over to calm him. Christy shrouded Noah, who lay on the floor underneath her. Jodie thought she looked terrified. "Christy, take Noah to the bedroom with the trap door. Leah, where are you?"
Christy and Noah retreated to the bedroom on all fours. A loud whisper came from the living room. "I'm here."
"Can you crawl?" Jodie asked.
"I sure as hell can give it a go."
"Okay, come to the hallway and into the first bedroom on the left. Christy will show you where to go. Look at your path, because I'm going to turn off the lights now. Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
Jodie reached up and flicked the light switch off in the living room. The hallway was still dimly illuminated by the lamp in her bedroom. She heard Leah dropping to the floor, pulling her cane along with her. When Leah came close enough, Jodie took the cane and handed it to Christy, who was leaning out of the bedroom door. Jodie jerked when her phone buzzed.
"Bob, what the hell is going on out there?" Jodie whispered.
"There's four of them out here,” Bob said in a barely audible voice. I thought they were Special Ops or something when we first noticed them. All geared up. I was about to call you, but one of them shot into the forest and gave their position away, which Ops would never do. I think they heard a deer and thought it was one of us. They haven't seen either Nick or me yet. They're about ten feet from Nick right now. Look at camera four if you can. They just moved into view. You should be looking right at them."
Jodie crawled into the kitchen and grabbed the laptop. The video ready icon was blinking. She clicked on it and a grainy picture appeared. She could see the outline of four figures huddled behind some trees. "Okay, I see them." The video ready icon flashed again and Jodie clicked on it. The computer screen split and three more figures appeared at camera seven, about one hundred feet away from camera four. "I've got bad news. There's three more at camera seven."
"Dammit. Can you get everybody ready to go? You better get out of there."
"Yeah, I'll get them going. Stay on the line. Let me know when those guys move." Jodie crawled to the bedroom. "Get down into the crawl space. Move to the east side of the cabin and wait for me."
Noah looked out from behind Christy. "What about Hunter? We have to take him, too."
"Noah, you'll have to keep him very quiet. He cannot make a sound or I'll bring him right back up here. Okay?" Jodie said.
Noah nodded and called Hunter over. "You've got to be quiet now, boy. Do you understand?" The dog sat still and Jodie motioned to Noah to take him.
"Mei, let's grab those backpacks in the kitchen," Jodie whispered. They crawled forward together. Putting the phone up to her ear, Jodie said, "What's going on out there?"
"You're not gonna like this, but one's headed up to the door."
"Mei, there's someone coming. You need to hide."
Mei crawled underneath the kitchen table, bumping the box of wine bottles as she went. As the front door burst open, the bottles made a tinkling sound. Jodie raised her gun. Seeing the man's weapon trained at the sound in the kitchen, she fired, not knowing if she hit or missed her target. The black-clad man spun around in a wide arc, staggering toward the table, then falling. Jodie watched as Mei finished him off by bringing a wine bottle bashing down square on his forehead. He sprawled in a rubbery heap on the kitchen floor. A second person crept into the cabin, his weapon aimed directly at Jodie. This time, her shot went high, hitting him in the face, pushing him back out onto the porch.
Jodie slammed the door shut and pulled a chair in front of it. She moved quickly to the body on the kitchen floor and grabbed the gun in its hands. She could see he was still breathing. "Mei, can you find something to tie him up?" she said, her gun trained on the front door.
Mei nodded and crawled over to the wall, pulling out an extension cord. Jodie had to smile, even with the situation they were in. She never saw anyone being tied up that fast and made a mental note to ask Mei if she'd been a cattle roper in a previous life.
"Bob?" Jodie whispered into the phone.
"Yeah. You okay?" Bob's voice shook as he spoke.
"So far, yes. We got one in here and one on the porch. I don't know if I hit the guy in here or not, but Mei clocked him in the head with a bottle of wine. She's got him tied up. I think the guy on the porch is dead. Do you see anyone else?"
"Yeah. It looks like they've all moved over by Nick. He's in a blind pretty much directly in the middle of them. I'm gonna have to make some noise or they'll step right on him."
"Let me get Mei out of here first." Jodie motioned to Mei to head to the crawl space.
"I don't want to leave you," Mei said. Jodie could see the tears in her eyes, even from across the room.
"I'll be okay. I'll be even better knowing you're out of the line of fire. Go now."
Mei reluctantly moved toward the bedroom, dragging the backpacks with her, looking back at Jodie before she made her exit. "God, please keep them safe," Jodie whispered. "Okay, Bob, they're out. What's going on?"
"They're sitting over there, re-grouping. I don't think we've got time to bring the local cops in. Wending wouldn't be very much help, anyway."
"I'm going to take a look at the guy we've got tied up and see if I can find any ID." Jodie crawled over to the unconscious man on the kitchen floor. In the faint light, she could see her bullet had found its mark. His shoulder was bleeding; probably not enough to kill him, but it was a serious wound, nevertheless. She was shocked by the condition of his forehead, which had a noticeable bottle-shaped indentation. She rifled through his pockets, turning him slightly, seeing an emblem near the wound on his shoulder. Even though it was partially blown away by the blast of her gun, she could still make out what it said. "The Gypsum Corporation," she mumbled into the phone.
"What? What did you say, Jodie?"
"I said, the Gypsum Corporation. These guys are from their security detail, by the looks of it," Jodie said.
"They're still sitting there, waiting. By my assessment, that means they're calling for reinforcements. We need to get everybody the hell outta here," Bob said.
"Agreed. Any suggestions for a plan on how to do that?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna blow up your car as a distraction to get them away from Nick and then we're all gonna pile in that four wheel drive and blow this pop stand. Get ready."
"You are most certainly not going to blow up my car. Bob? Bob? Oh, shit." Jodie heard a rapid succession of bullets striking metal and looked at the window in time to feel the shock wave hit her chest, followed by her ears being assaulted with a thwuump. A fireball lit up the cabin windows. She quickly moved across the floor and into the bedroom, jumping down through the trap door and closing it behind her. She could see Christy and Leah huddled together with Noah, who was holding Hunter's jaws shut, trying to keep him quiet. She crawled over the gravel and damp earth toward them and moved to the access panel, unlatching it and quietly moving it aside. Jodie pulled herself through and spun in time to see a giant man running toward her.
"Nick, help me here," Jodie called as quietly as she could, waving him over.
Nick was running in a full sprint, each stride covering what Jodie thought was ten feet or more. He changed direction, moving toward them. Jodie reached down and pulled Leah out of the crawl space. Christly pa
ssed Leah's cane through the window. Suddenly, more gunfire erupted from the front of the cabin.
"I have to go help Bob. Take them to your truck. Go as fast as you can. If we don't show up in fifteen minutes, drive further up and hide until you can find another way out of here," Jodie said.
"I got it, Jodie." Nick pulled Christy out of the crawl space and reached in to help the rest of the group as Jodie crept away.
Jodie sprinted along the side of the cabin, stopping at the corner. She turned around in time to see her friends escaping through the forest, Nick carrying Leah, everyone rushing. She peeked around the corner of the cabin, the scene in front of her illuminated by the burning car. I loved that machine, she thought, wondering if that wasn't a little selfish, given the situation they were in.
No one was in sight, but the gunfire appeared to be coming from behind the burning car and from near to where she stood. Jodie crept up and saw the first man. His weapon was trained toward the fire as Jodie came up behind him, smacking the butt of the gun into the back of his head. He dropped the weapon, still conscious, and Jodie picked it up. She slammed the rifle stock down on his head until he stopped moving. "That's for my car, you son of a bitch."
She kept moving, creeping along the side of the cabin, and looked up in time to see Bob aiming his gun directly at her. She dropped to the ground as the shot rang out and the would-be assailant behind her fell over backward.
Jodie moved as quickly as she could. Her position was no longer hidden from the remaining gunmen. Gunfire erupted from the woods to her left. She dove behind a tree, landing in the dark soil and pine needles, covering her face. She was sprayed with bark exploding off the tree as bullets tore through the wood. From her vantage point, she thought she could hear shots from three separate guns in the same area. That would mean they were all together. The last three of them. Obviously, they'd never taken any sort of guerilla training or they would have known staying together put them in a compromised position. A rapid succession of gunfire erupted and Jodie realized Bob also knew their attackers were clustered together. He was using Nick's automatic weapon. She watched as it pulverized everything in its path.
