Joss the Seven

by J. Philip Horne

  He stepped forward and raised a gun. “Time to cut my losses.”

  I stepped in front of Janey and bruised. Nothing happened. I looked down at the silver mesh on the floor. We’d come so close. It was the end of the line.

  A blur of motion caught my eye and Jordan grunted as he twisted down and away. Something hit Jordan’s head and the big man stumbled toward me out of the doorway. Thomas stood behind him holding my Dad’s bat and took another swing, this time at Jordan’s knee.

  Jordan fell to the side and yelled as his knee gave out, but he still managed to swing his gun around toward Thomas. Isabella leapt past Thomas and kicked Jordan’s hand, sending the gun skittering off to the side.

  Jordan roared in anger and swung at Isabella, but she dropped to the floor and rolled away. He tried to kick her, but the knee Thomas had hit buckled, and he barely kept his feet. Thomas took another swing with the bat, but Jordan leapt off his good leg and kicked out with that same leg to knock the bat out of Thomas’ hands. He landed awkwardly facing away from me.

  Janey sprinted forward and kicked him on the side of his good knee. I said a word I’m not allowed to say and ran to join the action. Jordan spun toward Janey, but she twisted out of the way of his fist. I didn’t. It felt like I’d had a close encounter with a bulldozer.

  Janey and Isabella danced around Jordan as I stood back up and tried to get my eyes to work together. Two Jordans were having trouble standing, but their fists were still in full effect, fending off two Isabellas and Janeys. Where’d Thomas go? I looked around and saw twin Thomases as they took their shirts off and used them to pick up Jordan’s gun.

  I couldn’t seem to get my eyes to uncross. I needed to get back into the action. I was the Seven, after all, but my feet didn’t want to walk in a straight line. Then, for a moment, my vision aligned and I saw Jordan clearly. He was facing away from me. I took two steps and leapt onto his back

  I hadn’t really thought about what came next, but once on his back, I got an arm around his neck and held on. I reggied, clearing my head and vision in a rush, and bruised to harden my body just before Jordan delivered a vicious punch to my face. I have no idea how he pulled off punching me that hard while I was on his back, but it must have hurt him, because my face was rock hard when he connected.

  “Joss!” Thomas called. “Get clear.”

  I looked to my right. Thomas knelt about ten feet away, the gun aimed low down at Jordan. Isabella and Janey were on either side, out of the line of fire.

  “Just shoot!” I said as Jordan reached back with both hands. “Now! Shoot now!”

  Jordan grabbed me just as Thomas started firing. If Jordan managed to put me in contact with the floor, I was done for. All my powers would leach away. I tried to kinney, but I just didn’t have it in me. I threw everything I had into bruising and clung to Jordan’s neck with both arms while he pulled at me.

  Thomas pulled of shots at a steady pace. The fourth one hit Jordan near the knee. He collapsed like one of those buildings that are taken down with explosives. I shoved off him as hard as I could, fell to the floor, and rolled away from him.

  Profanity and threats streamed out of Jordan’s mouth as he rolled on the floor and clutched his knee. Thomas wasn’t done. He scooted over a few feet and lined up another shot while Isabella and Janey both came over to me. Thomas still held the gun with his shirt. Isabella grabbed one of my arms, and Janey the other. Three shots later, he hit Jordan’s foot on his other leg.

  Thomas stood and nodded at us. He pointed the gun at the far corner and squeezed off six more shots before the gun’s clip was emptied. He tossed the gun toward the same corner and pulled his shirt back on.

  “Dang, Thomas,” I said, pulling my hands away from my ears. “That was legit.”

  He shrugged and looked toward the doorway. “Dad loves to take me to the shooting range when he has me for the weekend. Joss, your dad looked hurt. And I didn’t see Mara. Let’s get out there.”

  Isabella made a squeaking sound and dropped my arm. She and Janey raced after Thomas as he went through the doorway, going wide around Jordan. I stumbled after them.

  “I will hunt you down,” Jordan said through clenched teeth. “Every one of you.”

  I ignored him and headed after the others. The dust had settled, and I got my first good look at the space. It was just a giant room. A gaping hole in the roof was directly above a crater in the concrete floor. Near the hole, my dad was sitting with his head between his knees, holding the back of his head with one hand, and clutching his shoulder with the other.

  A quick glance showed four of Jordan’s men. One lay near my dad, still unconscious. Another was face down on the floor near the doorway where I stood. A third was on the other side of the pit, covered in a layer of dust and debris. I’d been facing the other way when I’d gotten out of the hole and never seen him. He must have been knocked out or worse when I came through the roof. The fourth was on the far side of the room, laying in a twisted heap next to Mara, who was stretched out on the floor, unmoving.

  Janey went to Dad, while Isabella and Thomas ran to Mara. Mom came through a door at the back of the building and stopped. Her eyes went wide as she surveyed the room, and then she rushed over to Dad and enveloped Janey in a hug.

  Isabella wailed as she collapsed beside Mara. I hurried over to her. A pool of blood blossomed beneath Mara, and a smaller, matching pattern soaked the lower part of her shirt. “Is she…”

  Thomas looked up at me from where he knelt beside Isabella. “She’s still breathing. Barely, though.”

  Mara lay there on the floor, bleeding out. She was going to die. Why didn’t she reggie? Of course. She was lying on the floor covered in silver mesh. “Quick! Help me pick her up.”

  Thomas looked confused, but he helped me hoist her up off the floor. Isabella stood with us and cradled her sister’s head in her hands. Within seconds, Mara’s breathing deepened and her color started to improve.

  “Carry her toward the hole,” I said. “No silver there.”

  Thomas and I lurched our way over to the hole. We set her down at the edge where the silver mesh had been torn away by my impact, and I went to check on my parents. Mom was holding Dad’s shoulder with both hands, compressing his wound, while he winced and tried to smile at me.

  Janey looked up from beside Mom. “Is Mara going to be okay?”

  “Oh yeah,” I said. “She can reggie when unconscious. Just had to get her off the silver. How bad is it?” I nodded at Dad’s shoulder.

  “Not very,” Mom said. “Muscle tissue only. Needs maybe five stitches. I’ll take care of it at home.”

  Dad reached out with his good arm and pulled me into a hug. A moment later Mom and Janey piled in. A Morgan group hug. It felt great.

  Chapter 28

  LOCAL NEWS

  WE PULLED APART after a few seconds, and I was surprised to see Mara already up, an arm draped over Isabella, the other over Thomas.

  “We need to go,” Mara said. “Now. These guys could wake up. Or cops show up.”

  Mom continued to apply pressure to Dad’s shoulder while I helped him to his feet. An ugly lump stood out just below his hairline, and he wobbled a bit. I pulled his good arm over my shoulders and walked him toward the back door.

  “What happened in here?” Janey asked as we cut across the room. Her eyes were wide as she looked around.

  “Later. Okay, sweetie?” Dad said. “We need to get out of here now.”

  We all walked out the back door and down a few steps to the parking lot. I stopped and looked around. No car. But there was a small stash of rope, duct tape, and miscellaneous tools piled nearby.

  “Thomas,” Mom said. “The duct tape, please.”

  Mara pulled her arm off Thomas. “I’m fine now. Go.”

  Thomas hustled over and brought the tape to Mom. She placed a few strategic pieces on Dad’s shoulder and around his arm to hold the wound shut and keep pressure on it.

  “Thanks, Jenny,”
Dad said. “Much better.” He pulled his arm away from me. “I’m fine now. Seem to have found my feet.”

  Mom looked doubtful, but kept quiet. “The car’s one building over.” She pointed vaguely toward a nearby building.

  “I’ll bring it,” Mara said. She was standing on her own now. “Keys?”

  Mom dipped into her purse and tossed Mara a massive bundle of keys. Mara caught it and started flipping through the keys. She held one up for my Mom to see and raised an eyebrow.

  “That’s the one,” Mom said.

  A short time later, we were all piled into Dad’s SUV with Mom driving. Thomas and I were stuffed into the third row, with Mara, Isabella, and Janey across the middle. Mom drove us back to where Mara’s rental car waited, and Mara and Isabella got out. The moment Isabella closed the car door, Mom started to pull away.

  “Wait!” I said. “We need to say goodbye.”

  Dad looked back and frowned. “More like good riddance.”

  “Dad!” Janey said. “She’s a friend.”

  “They don’t even have a home,” I added. “Or clothes. Or anything. Well, other than a bunch of cash.”

  Mom sighed. “They’re right. We need to invite them over. Give them a meal and a place to sleep tonight.”

  Dad’s eyebrows got even closer together, but then his face softened. “You’re right.”

  I folded the seat forward in front of me and climbed out, with Thomas right behind me. “Mara!”

  She stopped, the car door about to be pulled closed. “Right. Sorry, Joss. We should say goodbye, but I want to clear the area first, okay? Can we meet somewhere for a few minutes?”

  “How ‘bout my house? For dinner? You and Isabella can crash there tonight, then disappear tomorrow.”

  Mara looked dubious. She was going to say no. Then I heard a burst of Spanish from Isabella, and Mara turned toward her in the car for a moment before turning back to me. “Thank you, Joss. We’d be delighted. We’ll see you there in a couple hours, okay?”

  “Yeah, that’s great. Couple of hours.”

  Thomas and I clambered back into the SUV, sitting in the middle row this time with Janey.

  “So?” Janey said as Mom pulled the car around and headed for home. “Pretty obvious something big went down today. You know, beside me being kidnapped. What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you what happened,” Thomas said. “Joss is a flippin' superhero!”

  “What I want to know,” I said, “is how you and Isabella showed up just when you did. I thought you were going to stay with Mom.”

  At that, Dad twisted around and gave Thomas a hard look, and Mom stole a quick glance over her shoulder.

  “Whoa,” I said. “No hard feelings, right? Dad, you’d be down two kids if he hadn’t shown up right when he did. Isabella and Thomas more or less stopped Jordan from killing us. I just want to know how it went down.”

  ““Not yet!” Mom said. I realized she was quietly weeping. “I need some distance. I don’t want to know just yet how close everyone came to dying. I want to know we’re safe. I want to feel safe. Are we safe? Is that Jordan character coming after us?”

  “Doubtful,” Thomas said.

  “Because?” Dad said.

  “Thomas drilled him in the knee and foot,” Janey said. “It was awesome. Looked painful.”

  “Wait,” Mom said. “Drilled him?”

  “It was like a gangster movie,” I said. “Thomas used his shirt to pick up Jordan’s own gun so there’d be no prints, then shot him in the knee on one leg and foot in the other. Just…” I held my hand out like a gun. “Blam! Blam! Blam!”

  The car started to gently swerve back and forth, and my mom’s sobs got a bit louder. Dad reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. “Steady. We’re almost home. We’re safe.” Dad turned back to us. “Let’s hold off on retelling everyone’s adventures until we’re home, okay?”

  “You bet, Mr. Morgan,” Thomas said.

  I leaned in close to Thomas and cupped my hand by my mouth to contain the sound. “How’d you and Isabella get there? Weren’t you supposed to be with my Mom?”

  Thomas followed my lead. “She stood there staring down the tracks after you flew off and your dad headed toward the building. We cut back to the main road and jogged down the street. Saw you coming down like a comet. It was insane. Guess we got there just in time.”

  “But our car was only a building over,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Thomas said, “I’m guessing your mom raced over there as soon as she noticed we were gone to come get us out of trouble.”

  “So you just talked to Isabella and decided, hey, let’s throw ourselves into a war zone?”

  Thomas shook his head. “We just looked at each other and knew. Then we went.”

  “When you showed up, I thought we were…” I couldn’t finish. It was all too fresh.

  “I get it,” Thomas said.

  We rode the rest of the way in silence. Thomas texted his mom and found out she wouldn’t be home until late, so once we got home, Mom invited Thomas to stay for dinner. There was a fragile silence as Mom got out her medical kit and stitched up Dad. After that Mom and Dad went to work in the kitchen pulling together a meal. Dad didn’t help much with his one good arm, but his presence seemed to help Mom. Janey hovered in the kitchen with them, and Mom gave her a big hug about every five minutes. For our part, Thomas and I played video games with the sound off. It was very therapeutic.

  By the time Mara and Isabella showed up an hour and a half later carrying bags full of clothes and other stuff, dinner was ready, and Mom and Dad were acting more normal.

  “I’d like to declare an amnesty,” Dad said as we all sat around the dining room table to homemade spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and veggies. “Mom and… Mrs. Morgan and I are so overwhelmed, so horrified, by what has happened, we don’t know what to think.” His eyes locked on mine. “We aren’t happy how things were handled. But, we also witnessed everyone work together, to the point of risking their own lives.”

  He paused to wipe his eyes, and continued. “I do not expect to ever, ever find out again that one of my children has been secretly working for a criminal organization. But for tonight, I want to give thanks to God that we’re all here. Sure, we’re still unsure what happens next, but tonight, we are alive, and more or less well.”

  He raised his glass, and we all gave a quiet cheer.

  “And to new friends,” Mom said, looking at Mara and Isabella, “and the new life in front of them. May God grant them a peace they have not known in a long, long time.”

  After that, a couple of the women cried, and a couple of the men had wet eyes, but it was okay. We had good food, and soon we were all eating and talking. Janey peppered everyone with questions until she had a good sense of what had happened while she sat tied up in the building most of the day. Mom hounded Mara into promising to stay for a couple days, and after dinner the two of them went off to set up the guest bedroom.

  “When do I need to take you home?” Dad asked Thomas once we were seated in the living room. Janey had Isabella off on a tour of the house, so it was just us men.

  “Mom’ll be home around midnight,” Thomas said. “I’m not sure I want to get there much before her.”

  “Understood,” Dad said. “I’ll drive you over and make sure everything’s okay after the news. I wonder…” Dad trailed off as he picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

  A picture of Jordan dominated half the screen, while scenes from outside the bank took the other side. It was footage from just after we’d robbed it, with police cars swarming, and uniformed men running around.

  “Jennifer!” Dad called. “You’ll want to see this!”

  Dad fiddled with the remote, and the volume came up as first Mom and Mara came into the room, and then Janey and Isabella.

  “… the manhunt ended definitively early this evening at this abandoned warehouse,” the reporter was saying. The screen cut to an aerial shot of the warehouse,
now surrounded by police cars, the hole in the roof in full view. “Here, the body of Mr. Jordan Johnson and four presumed accomplices were found. All had been shot and killed at close range. But mysteries remain, not the least of which is this: what caused the hole in the roof, and the matching impact crater inside the structure.”

  Thomas silently reached over and gave me a fist bump.

  “I guess you heard him right,” Dad said, looking over at Thomas. “Jordan had reason to fear for his life. Mara, you’re sure the Guild doesn’t do this sort of thing?”

  “As far as I know,” Mara said.

  The reporter was still talking, but I didn’t pay attention. Jordan was gone. Permanently. He wasn’t going to make good on his promise to hunt me down. I was safe, at least from him. The tight coil in my chest relaxed.

  I started crying. Tears leaked out of my eyes, and I couldn’t stop. I wanted to—why cry now, when it was finally over?—but I couldn’t seem to get control of it. I tried to reggie, but it didn’t help. Then Mom was there, and Dad, too, so I rolled with it. Janey hovered nearby, but let me have a little space.

  When I was done, I realized it was just us Morgans in the family room. The TV was off and the others had made themselves scarce. It was a relief. I’d just cried in front of Isabella and Thomas. The last thing I needed was to have to meet their eyes right then.

  “How long’s that been building?” Dad asked, giving me a firm pat on the back.

  I shrugged. “Weeks?”

  Dad nodded. “I understand. Look, I need to get Thomas home. I hate to leave you guys alone, but I don’t feel right just dropping him off. I’m going to wait out front in my car until I hear from him that his mom’s home.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Mom said, reaching over and giving Dad’s hand a squeeze.

  And we were. Mom finished getting Mara and Isabella set up in the guest bedroom, Dad took Thomas home, Janey moved a pallet into my folks’ room to sleep on, and I went to bed.

  I slept for fourteen hours.

  Chapter 29