by BJ Bourg
The splat of a bullet hitting the back wall of the sally port caused me to duck involuntarily. Light appeared through a hole in the garage door where the bullet had just passed. It was about five feet off the ground—too low for comfort.
“Let’s get out of here,” Susan said. “The garage door can’t stop those rounds.”
We rushed toward the door to the processing center and had just cleared the opening when a loud explosion erupted behind us. The percussion took my breath away. Smoke and heat shot toward our backs and the entire room turned black.
CHAPTER 25
I bumped into Susan as I stumbled forward and we both fell to the ground. I choked as I crawled away from the explosion, covering my face with my T-shirt and feeling my way through the dark with my hands. Susan moved beside me and we pushed through to the patrol area together. Smoke had already enveloped that part of the building and we could hear everyone choking and gasping for air.
“What’s happening?” Lindsey screamed from the back of the police department.
“Keep yelling, Lindsey,” I called. “Everyone, move toward the sound of her voice!”
Lindsey continued screaming, but it didn’t sound forced—the poor girl was terrified. I put my hand on Susan’s back and pushed her forward. “Get to the back and keep it secure,” I said through gasps. Keeping my burning eyes squeezed tight, I felt my way toward where I thought Nate to be. Within a few seconds I crawled upon him and started to shove him forward. I could hear others choking and scrambling around the room. They bumped into furniture and I heard the clanking of metal hitting the hard ground as someone dropped a firearm.
Nate’s body gave way when I pushed him. I shook him, but there was no movement in response. Lungs burning and feeling like I could no longer hold my breath, I pushed my fingers toward his throat and quickly felt for a pulse. There was none. I crawled over him and stumbled forward on my hands and knees. I yelled out in pain when I slammed headfirst into what had to be Lindsey’s desk. It wasn’t where it was supposed to be, and it was only then that I remembered them flipping it over for cover. Making my way around it, I scrambled toward the hallway and was relieved to find the smoke lighter there. Someone bumped into me on the right and I heard a woman gasp. It was Amy.
We helped each other forward until we reached the door to the shower room. It was closed, but opened immediately and several pairs of hands grabbed at us and dragged us inside. I saw Melvin shut the door behind us and then sink to the ground against it, heaving as he tried to catch his breath.
“What the hell happened?” Seth asked. He was squatting in the corner wiping sweat from his face.
I quickly took a few breaths of my own and gathered my feet under me. Smoke was trickling through the crack under the door. I hurried and opened the faucets on the showers and sinks. “Let’s get that crack closed up,” I said.
As I told Seth about the explosion in the sally port, Susan helped me wet some towels and shove them at the base of the door to block the smoke. When we were done, I looked around the room. Lindsey and the two deputies were huddled next to each other beneath one of the windows. Susan stood on one side of me still holding my AR-15 and Amy leaned against the wall on my other side, holding her pistol in her hand. Melvin had moved over to sit on the floor next to the door. He looked tired. Seth had climbed up on the sink to the left side of the room and was peeking through the window there.
Several small explosions sounded from the front of the police department and it caught us off guard. Lindsey let out a scream with each explosion and the rest of us turned toward the door—guns at the ready—expecting someone to burst inside shooting. Realization struck me. “My bag of ammo was out there.”
“We need to get out of here,” Susan said. “This place is coming down in a hurry.”
I knew she was right. There were three windows spread out across the back wall that faced the west. I frowned. If we tried to escape through one of them, we’d be like turtles on a log—just waiting to get shot. “Do you see anything?” I asked Seth.
He shook his head. “If they’re out there, I can’t see them because of the sun.”
I suddenly remembered that the back side of the building formed an alcove—with the south side of the shower room making up one side—and there was a window in the toilet room on that side. I pushed through the sliding door to the toilet room and opened the window. Staying to one side, I peered out the opening and scanned the back of the building. Everything looked clear.
“I think we can make it out of here,” I called over my shoulder. The alcove was cloaked in shadows, which would help to conceal our movement. The sun had all but disappeared over the horizon and that was to our advantage.
Melvin had joined me in the toilet room. He pointed toward Seth’s truck that was parked behind the building next to his. “Seth has two SWAT radios from the sheriff’s office on his front seat. If we can get to them, we can communicate with his office and we’ll be back in business.”
“They’re the walkie-talkie type and they’re good for sixteen miles.” Seth had walked up behind Melvin. “I’ll make a run for them. Y’all can cover me from the other windows.”
“I’m going first.” I stood on the toilet and slowly stuck my head out the window to get a better view of the back of the building. Other than the rustling of the tree branches in the back yard, nothing moved.
“Please be careful,” Susan said.
Without responding, I quickly dove through the window. I landed on my hands and collapsed into a controlled roll, ending up on the balls of my feet. I scurried to a nearby tree and drew my pistol, scanning the area for the Parker brothers. Directly to my left, smoke billowed from the sally port and the smell of burnt material clung to the evening air. Other than that, nothing was out of place.
I heard Seth’s gun belt scrape against the metal window frame as he squeezed through it. He appeared next to me within a few seconds. “I’m going for it,” he said, fishing the keys from his pocket and pressing the unlock button on the keyless remote. With a nod, he bolted from the safety of the tree and sprinted across the open ground as fast as his legs could take him.
I kept my pistol at the ready. My mouth and eyes were wide open, listening and looking for anything that might represent danger. Seth was two steps from his truck and I started to relax. He was going to make it and we would be back in business.
The area to my distant right lit up in gunfire and bullets zipped toward Seth, riddling his body. I jerked in my skin as Seth’s right leg went limp in mid-stride and folded right under him, dumping him headfirst into the side of his truck. His head slammed against the frame of the truck and bent at an odd angle. He fell hard and remained motionless. I immediately returned fire, aiming toward where I’d last seen the bright flashes. Melvin let out a rebel yell and jumped from the window calling out his friend’s name.
“Stay inside, Melvin,” I yelled. “It’s too dangerous out here.”
His boot snagged on the windowsill and he lost his balance, falling to the ground. Ignoring my warning, he gathered himself and ran toward Seth’s lifeless body, shooting his shotgun from the hip as he advanced.
Having shot my pistol dry, I dropped the empty magazine and reloaded. I then chased after Melvin, yelling for Susan and Amy to cover us. I heard gunshots from the friendly part of the building and I holstered my pistol as Melvin and I reached Seth. After securing Seth’s truck keys in my pocket, I grabbed his legs and Melvin grabbed his arms and we began dragging him to the alcove. Once there, I dropped to my knees and turned him onto his back. He’d been shot at least eight times—six times through the body, once through the neck, and another through the forehead. I frowned and looked up at Melvin, whose face was burning red in the dim light of the setting sun.
Through gritted teeth, he said, “I’m going to kill those bastards!”
“Calm down, Melvin,” I cautioned. “We need to keep our wits about us.”
He glanced around and then stared towar
d Seth’s truck. “My shotgun…I left it behind!”
“Wait, we can get another one.”
Melvin sprang to his feet and made a dash for the shotgun. I pushed off the ground and followed after him, drawing my pistol and screaming for more cover fire. I heard the familiar report of an AR-15 and the boom of a shotgun behind me and I knew Susan and the others had the shooter pinned down. I relaxed a bit. I was down to my last magazine and didn’t want to waste precious rounds shooting at shadows, so I held my fire. Melvin reached his shotgun and snatched it from the ground. Before I could get to him, he charged the shooter’s position to the right.
“Stop, Melvin!” I started to run after him, but, out of the corner of my eye, I caught flashes of gunfire from the left and bullets kicked up the mud at my feet. I bolted for Seth’s truck and dropped behind the rear wheel well, trying to hide from the glow of the burning building behind me. I popped my head up and tried to see the shooter’s position, but it was gray with dusk and his location was outside the glow of the fire.
I turned to look in Melvin’s direction, but he had disappeared into the darkness and I couldn’t see him any longer. He had fired a few rounds from his shotgun, but then everything had gone quiet on that end of the property. There had been no return fire or any other sounds from that direction.
I scanned the back of the police department—or what was left of it. Flames licked at the sky and I could feel intense heat emitting from the area of the sally port. Susan and the others had ceased firing from the back windows and I could see them at the window to the alcove. It looked like they were helping Lindsey out of the window. They were all coughing at this point and smoke was pouring from every window.
I hesitated, trying to figure out what to do next. Melvin could be in danger or he might even be down and in need of help, but the shooter to my left might be in position to start picking off Susan and the others as they crawled out of the window.
As though reading my thoughts, a shot sounded from my left and someone screamed in pain behind me.
CHAPTER 26
I slipped through the passenger’s side of Seth’s truck and cranked it up while lying across the seats. Working the accelerator with my left hand and steering with my right, I propelled the truck forward, turning it in the direction of the shooter. A few more shots were fired and a bullet smashed through the windshield, but then all went quiet. I pushed the brake pedal, hitting it a little too hard and sending my body rolling onto the floorboard.
I shoved the gear shift in park and scrambled out of the crack between the seat and the dash. I slid into the driver’s seat just in time to see a large dark figure dart out of sight around the south side of the police department. I started to drive him down, but Susan yelled for me to wait, so I lurched to a stop. She jumped in through the passenger’s door, shoving my shotgun upright in the crack between our seats and cradling the AR in her hands.
“Let’s go!” She buzzed her window down and leaned out of it, ready to shoot anything that got in our way.
“Who got hit?” I asked, gunning the engine. The rear tires kicked up mud as they tried to gain traction.
“Lindsey took one to the shoulder, but it went clean through,” Susan explained. “She’ll be fine.”
I could feel the heat from the fire as we rounded the corner of the building. I half expected bullets to pepper the windshield, but I saw Melvin running toward us instead. I brought the truck to a stop and lowered my window.
“They all piled into an old red pickup with a rusted out bed.” Melvin was out of breath and pointing behind him. “Three of them. They’re heading south on Main and they’re heavily armed.”
“Take one of Seth’s radios,” Susan said. She leaned across me and tossed a radio in Melvin’s direction. He caught it with one hand and she pointed to the knob. “Turn it to channel six.”
Melvin nodded and ran toward his truck. “I’m right behind y’all!”
I smashed the accelerator and raced out of the driveway and onto Main Street. Fire trucks were lined up along the highway and the local fire chief flagged me down. He was bunkered out and his eyes were wild. I recognized him from a fire scene we worked a year ago.
“Clint, we tried to put out the fire, but some man started shooting at us. We had no choice—we had to back out.”
I nodded my understanding. “It’s clear now, but be careful—there might still be some live ammo inside.”
The fire chief began barking orders and firemen sprang into action. I drove around the trucks and sped south. Traffic was heavier than usual and I had to use my lights and siren to clear a path along the highway. We were two miles down the road when I saw a car in a ditch to the right. A lady in a dress was leaning against the back of the car rubbing her head. I slowed down and Susan leaned out her window.
“What happened, ma’am?” Susan asked.
“Some asshole in a red truck ran me off the road!” She pointed south. “He just kept going that way and didn’t even stop to check on me. He probably doesn’t have insurance.”
I started to pull off, but the lady stopped me. “Do you think it has something to do with the fire at the police department? We heard there was an explosion. Do you think it was a terror attack?”
I waved her off and continued south. When the glow of the town was in my rearview mirror, I shut off my siren and strobe lights. The road was completely black, with no traffic in sight. My headlights seemed dim against the backdrop of utter darkness. An uneasy feeling started to form in my belly.
“What if they’re waiting to ambush us?” Susan asked, apparently sensing the same thing I was feeling. “Right up the road is where they attacked Amy.”
“Then they’ll be easy to find.” I gripped the steering wheel. “Keep your rifle ready.”
We drove for about five minutes and were nearing the end of the highway when I saw headlights approaching. Susan pointed. “It’s them!”
I jerked the steering wheel to the right and parked sideways in the roadway. The truck saw the maneuver and slowed to a stop a couple hundred yards away. Grabbing my shotgun from where Susan had secured it, I slipped out the driver’s door and stood facing the truck. Susan jumped out of the truck and rested the AR-15 across the hood. “Get behind cover,” she said.
The driver of the truck revved the engine several times. The headlights brightened each time the engine roared. I slowly pulled the shotgun to my shoulder and took aim at the driver’s side of the windshield, my finger resting on the trigger. As I readied myself to kill the men responsible for murdering my family, I couldn’t help but wonder what they had done with Chloe.
“Clint,” Susan said, “please get behind the truck.”
I focused like a laser on the front sight of my shotgun and ignored her plea. The engine revved again and tires screeched as the driver let off the brake and allowed his mechanical horses to run. Susan screamed one last time at me and then began firing into the oncoming vehicle. I stood like a statue and waited as the truck drew nearer and nearer. I was blinded by the headlights and couldn’t see inside, but I knew where the driver’s head was supposed to be.
When the truck was about fifty yards away, I pulled the trigger. The butt of the shotgun punched my shoulder as it bucked like a canon in my hands. Without thought, I pumped another round into the chamber and fired again, but the truck swerved violently to the left, taking the shoulder of the road. Loose rocks shot into the air and the wind from the near-miss brushed my hair back. I whirled around and leaned the shotgun against the bed of the truck to steady it. Taking careful aim at the back glass, I fired off a third round.
Brake lights lit up briefly, but the truck continued toward town.
“Let’s go!” I called to Susan. “We need to catch them before they get out of town!”
As I whipped the truck around, Susan got on the radio and called for Melvin and asked for his location.
Amy came on the radio. “We’re on Main Street, passing Mechant Groceries—heading your way.
”
I suddenly remembered driving into town from Tennessee and a thought occurred to me. “Tell them to get to the bridge and have the bridge tender raise the lift span.”
Susan glanced sideways at me. “Why?”
“Because they’ll have nowhere to go—they’ll be cut off from the rest of the world.” I pursed my lips and nodded. “They’ll be stuck in town like mice in a trap.”
Susan got on the radio and relayed my orders.
A second later Melvin’s voice came through the speakers. “Chief, we don’t have a bridge tender. Never have for as long as I’ve been here.”
“Tell him one was working last night,” I told Susan. “I know because he opened and closed the bridge for a boat.”
Susan passed the information on to Melvin and the radio went silent for about three minutes. As we sped toward town, I wondered if they would get it up in time. If the Parker brothers made it past the bridge, we might never catch them.
When the radio scratched to life again, Amy came on to say there were no bridge tenders onboard. “It looks like someone kicked the door open at some point,” Amy said, “but no one’s here.”
Susan keyed up the radio. “Just do whatever you have to do to get it open. Blow the damn thing up if you have to!”
We were a mile from town before we finally caught up to the red pickup truck. I had the needle on Seth’s unit buried at 120 miles per hour. The trees on the shoulder of the road blurred by and the wind rocked the unit. Lights flashing and siren blaring, I crept up close to the bumper of the pickup, trying to see into the back windshield. There was a hole on the driver’s side where my slug had passed through, but I couldn’t see blood or flesh around the hole. I cursed silently to myself. The driver must’ve ducked down.
“You might want to ease up a bit,” Susan warned as she clutched at the dashboard. “If they crash or stop suddenly, we’ll go right up their asses.”
