Down the Broken Road

by J. R. Backlund

  Hughes marched Rachel, LeMay, and Braddock up to the front and introduced them to Morrison and Chief Arnold. Then he explained everything he knew about the situation. Arnold listened with his head down, nodding and rubbing his jaw with shaky fingers. When he’d heard it all, he looked up and asked, “So what do you propose we do now?”

  Hughes looked at Rachel.

  “We let Dr. LeMay try to talk him down,” she said. “She’s the only one he’ll listen to.”

  Arnold said, “Will he answer if you call?”

  “He’ll answer,” LeMay said. She took her phone out and called him. “It’s me, Colin. I’m here. I’m right outside.”

  She listened for a moment. Rachel could hear his muffled voice. It sounded even and calm.

  “He wants to see me,” LeMay said.

  “Tell him to come to a window,” Hughes said.

  “He heard you.” She was listening and passing along each sentence he spoke. “He says no … you’ll take a shot at him … he wants me to go inside.”

  “Absolutely not,” Arnold said, but regretted it as soon as he saw Rachel grimace.

  “Wait,” LeMay said. “Don’t … please don’t do that. Just wait, Colin. Give me a little time. I can convince them. I just need a few minutes. Let me go, and I’ll call you back.” She hung up. “I’m no expert in hostage negotiation, Chief Arnold, but I have heard that you don’t ever tell a hostage taker no.”

  Arnold looked mortified.

  Rachel said, “If we have any chance of resolving this, you need to let her go in there and talk to him.”

  He cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure, though his face was deep red. “If she goes in there, I want a cop going in with her.”

  “He’ll never agree to that.”

  LeMay said, “She’s right. You can’t send an officer in there with me. It’ll only make the situation worse.”

  Arnold shook his head. “I’m not putting another civilian in that house without some kind of protection.”

  “I’ll go with her,” Rachel said. To LeMay, she asked, “Can you ask him if he’d be okay with that? If I go unarmed?”

  Braddock said, “Wait, what?”

  “Maybe,” LeMay said. She called Stoller back and made the offer.

  “Rachel, what the hell are you doing?” Braddock pulled her aside. “This psycho’s already tried to kill you. More than once.”

  “He agreed to let you come in with me,” LeMay said, putting her phone away.

  “I didn’t agree to it,” Arnold said, weakly.

  Rachel turned to Hughes. “We need a vest for her.”

  “Got it,” he said, and took off running toward his car.

  Morrison started to remove hers. “You need one too.”

  “No,” Rachel said. “He might think I’m trying to hide something in it. Besides, if he tries to shoot me, it’ll be in the head.”

  Arnold pointed at LeMay. “Then what good is a vest going to do her?”

  “He won’t shoot her. But giving her a vest will help relieve at least some of your liability if something bad happens.”

  He looked like he was trying to figure out whether or not Rachel was joking. Hughes came back and slid his vest over LeMay’s head and secured the Velcro straps around her waist.

  Arnold said, “Good God, I’m not about to let two civilians go in there.”

  “Actually,” Hughes said, “she works for the Union County sheriff, so technically…”

  Rachel took the .380 off her hip and handed it back to Braddock. As she started to pull away, he grabbed her wrist.

  “No, Rachel,” he said. “This is insane. I’m not letting you go in there.”

  “Danny, let me go.”

  “Rachel—”

  “Danny,” she said slowly, “let me go.”

  He looked hurt. His grip relaxed just a little, and she pulled free of it. She put her hand on LeMay’s back and guided her forward quickly before anyone else could object. Hughes was right behind them. He said, “I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.”

  “So do I,” she said.

  When they got to the patrol cars, Hughes fell back. Rachel led LeMay forward into the no-man’s-land between the perimeter of cops and the house. They slowed their pace, and Rachel whispered, “I’m going to leave the front door open, if I can. If things go south and I tell you to run, you run. You understand me?”

  “I do. But I’m surprised you would care about what happens to me.”

  “The last thing I need is your death on my conscience, but let’s be real clear about something, Doc. I’m going in there to do whatever I can to save those kids and that cop. Beyond that, I need to see this through to the end. For myself. Protecting you comes in at a very distant third.”

  Rachel stepped up to the front door and opened it wide. She put her hands up and said, “Colin, it’s Rachel. I’m unarmed. I’m here with Pam.”

  A few seconds passed, and he said, “Come in.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m coming in first. Pam will be right behind me.”

  He didn’t respond. She started into the entry hall, taking short, slow steps as she let her eyes adjust. It was dark with all the blinds drawn, and cold compared to the humid summer day outside. Rachel saw blood trails on the carpet. Thin red lines punctuated by blotches from a shoe print.

  She emerged into a living area, an open-concept space with a pair of couches and a coffee table. A teenage boy stood by a leather recliner. He was facing her, watching her as she took stock of her surroundings. She was surprised by his expression. It showed no emotion, either because he was being brave or because he was in shock.

  To the right, leaning against the wall, Stoller was pointing his pistol at the boy’s head. He looked tired. And older, as if the day had aged him twenty years. His face still wore the dried blood from when Rachel had tried to shoot him. His shirt and his jeans were also soaked.

  She looked back at the boy. “Corey?”

  He swallowed hard and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

  She smiled. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Stoller was eyeing her with a look of curiosity. “You’re a very brave woman, Miss Carver.”

  “Oh, Colin.”

  Rachel turned to see LeMay looking him up and down. Horrified, she cast her eyes to the floor and looked for a moment like she might run away.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “It isn’t as bad as it looks.”

  “Colin,” Rachel said, “I need to ask you a question. Where are Ryan and the officer?”

  He nodded toward a door. “Back in that bedroom.”

  LeMay said, “I should go check on them,” and started to move.

  Rachel motioned for her to wait. “Is that okay, Colin?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

  LeMay disappeared into the room. Rachel studied Stoller for a moment, then averted her eyes. He was staring at her intently, probably trying to figure out what her plan was.

  When LeMay came back into the living area, she was dragging Ryan Calloway by the hand. She looked like she had regained her composure. Her eyes met Rachel’s, and she shook her head.

  The officer was dead.

  “Colin,” LeMay said. “I’m going to take this boy to the door. Then I’m going to let him walk out of here. This has nothing to do with him.”

  Stoller gave a slight smile of admiration. He apparently liked watching her take charge. Or perhaps he appreciated her desire to be protective.

  Rachel heard LeMay urge Ryan out. “Go. Go.” Then there were voices outside, loud and commanding. “Hands up! Put your hands up! Keep walking! Slowly! This way! Keep moving! Hands up!”

  Ryan was safe.

  LeMay came back into the living area. “Colin, it’s time to end this.”

  “Are you sure about that?” he asked, tightening his grip on the gun.

  “Wait,” she said. “You know that’s not what I meant. There’s no reason for you to do this. You don’t have
to protect me anymore. I’ve told the police everything.”

  “I don’t believe you.” They stared at each other for a moment, and Stoller saw something in her expression that reassured him. “I knew you wouldn’t.”

  She exhaled sharply, and Rachel knew he had seen right through her.

  Stoller said, “I’m sorry, Pam. I have to do this.”

  “No, Colin, please. You don’t…”

  “You know he’ll sell you out if this kid testifies.”

  “I don’t care. Just … please, don’t do this.”

  “It was good to see you again, Pam. You should leave now.”

  Rachel said, “Pam?”

  LeMay looked at her with defeat in her eyes.

  The plan had failed. LeMay had no power over Stoller. No way to make him give up his weapon, which was a trigger-pull away from claiming another victim.

  Rachel had to act. She stepped forward and said, “You’re pathetic, Colin.”

  He looked amused. “Is that so?”

  “Yeah. You came here to kill this kid for what? To protect her? Because you love her?”

  LeMay asked, “What are you doing?”

  “You think she actually feels anything for you? She’s been working you, Colin.”

  The muscles in his jaw tightened. Corey’s eyes went wide with fear. LeMay said, “Stop it. Are you…?”

  “What? Crazy?” She looked back at Stoller with pity. “No, Doctor. But I know you think he is. That’s what your files say.”

  “Liar!”

  Stoller had a look of disbelief as he glanced at LeMay.

  “Am I?” Rachel took another step toward Stoller but turned at a slight angle, as if trying to physically shift the tension toward her. “You don’t think he’s suicidal? That he’s suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder?”

  “That doesn’t make him crazy.”

  There was a pained expression on Stoller’s face. He must have felt betrayed by the fact that she would classify him like some random patient.

  Rachel eased closer to him. “Can’t you see it, Colin? She’s been manipulating you. Using you to protect her and her son.”

  “Stop it,” she said. “Colin, she’s trying to turn you against me.”

  “She’d do anything for her son, Colin. Even if it meant sleeping with someone like you.”

  He swung the gun toward Rachel, which was exactly what she had expected. She reached out and caught his arm, turning to stay clear of the muzzle. With both of her hands clasping his wrist, she hugged his forearm tight to her torso, sinking her weight and forcing him to point the gun harmlessly toward the floor.

  “Run!” she yelled.

  LeMay jumped forward, seized Corey by the shirt, and pulled him toward the door. Rachel caught a glimpse of them fleeing as she tried to pry the pistol from Stoller’s grip. But even wounded, he was too strong. He roared and spun and threw her into the wall. Her shoulder burst through the sheet rock, holding her for a moment before her weight pulled her free.

  Rachel sank to the floor.

  Stoller pointed the gun at her face. She closed her eyes and braced herself, certain that she was about to die. She tried to think of a prayer, but no words came to her. Only images. Her life, the people in it … people she had known and cared about. Her mother was there. So was the father she hardly knew. And she saw Ross Penter.

  Then there was Braddock. There was so much she would never get to tell him.

  Though it was only a matter of seconds, it felt like several minutes had passed, and nothing had happened. Rachel opened her eyes and saw Stoller sitting on the armrest of the sofa, glaring at her.

  “Were you planning that when you walked in here? Or did it just come to you?”

  Her voice was shaky as she said, “I can be impulsive at times.”

  He didn’t look amused. “I don’t know why I haven’t killed you yet.”

  The gun was still pointed at her. Pretending to ignore it, she sat up and said, “Because there’s no use in it, Colin. That’s why. And that’s why you didn’t want to hurt Corey’s friend either. It didn’t serve any purpose. You’re not crazy. You’re a protector. You thought you were supposed to protect Pam and her son. But you were wrong.”

  He leaned forward and pressed the muzzle of the gun into her neck. “What would you know about it? Huh? Don’t pretend you know me.”

  The pressure on her trachea made her wheeze. She lifted herself a few inches, trying to relieve it. “I didn’t abandon you, Colin. I didn’t use you.”

  He sat back. “No, I guess you didn’t. You did lie to me, though.”

  She coughed and rubbed her neck.

  He looked at the gun in his hand, but slowly his focus shifted until he seemed to gaze right through it. “You made me believe you’d seen my files. But you haven’t. You didn’t have a chance to break in and look at them. I don’t know why I fell for that.”

  “Don’t you?”

  He looked over at her, but the anger was gone. Rachel saw something else there. Something resembling heartbreak.

  She said, “You believed it because deep down, you know I’m right. I didn’t have to read it in a file. She manipulated you. You trusted her, and she took advantage of that. She took the best part of you and used it for her own benefit. And she didn’t care that she destroyed you along the way.”

  He shook his head, and the anger threatened to return. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, I do, Colin. I know because I’ve been through it. I know because someone did the exact same thing to me.”

  He gave her a skeptical smirk, but there was a hint of interest in his eyes. “Bullshit. Who’s ever done anything like this to you?”

  “The person I used to call my mentor,” she said.

  “What did he do that was so bad?”

  “He took the thing that I valued most and made me betray it. More than anything, I wanted to be a good cop. A good agent. But out of loyalty to him, I lied under oath. And because I did that, there’s a mother out there who thinks her daughter is a murderer. A little boy who might never know that his mom was innocent. I could never go back to being a cop again, but I always hoped I could bring the truth to that family. It’s been my … mission.”

  Stoller’s eyes were back on the gun. “Is that why you take Xanax? To help with the anxiety you have about what you’ve done? What you still need to do?” He glanced at her. “I found the bottle in your medicine cabinet.”

  She had almost forgotten that he had been in her apartment. She felt embarrassed and immediately realized how ridiculous that sensation was at a moment like this.

  “It is,” she said.

  “I was on it for a while. Don’t quit, if you still need it. It helps.” The gun was pointed away from her now. He sat quietly for a minute. Then he said, “Do you think, if you’re ever able to complete this mission of yours, it’ll bring you any peace?”

  She thought the right answer was yes, but she feared that he would see through a lie. “I don’t know. I hope so.”

  “I think, if I’d been able to die knowing that Pam was going to be safe, that would have brought me peace. Now I’m not sure she ever deserved that from me.”

  Stoller reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He typed a password and touched the screen a couple of times. Then he started talking.

  “In Afghanistan, we were always pissed about the attacks. About the fact that we were losing guys and couldn’t get any revenge for it. Riley was always talking about killing villagers. He said they were all helping the terrorists, so they deserved it. Then, one day in a village in Guldara, I found an AK and a couple of old grenades hidden under a blanket next to a hut.

  “There was this kid, a teenager, playing out in the field.” He looked toward the door. “About the same age as Corey, but a lot smaller. Dirty. He was out there kicking a soccer ball. Riley pointed his rifle at him and said he was going to shoot him. He said the AK and the grenades were his, and that he w
as planning on using them on us as soon as we turned our backs on him. We all knew Riley was just talking, so Seth started giving him hell, taunting him. He knew Riley had a temper. I think he really wanted him to do it.

  “So Riley, pissed off and looking like he couldn’t take any more, clicked off his safety and fired. The boy took the hit and dropped to one knee. Then he stood back up, stumbling and looking all confused. Riley, Seth, Adam … they were all just standing there frozen. I knew what had to be done, so I opened up on the kid. Riley and Seth joined in, but Adam just watched. When we stopped, I walked over and told Adam he had to fire his weapon. I made him send three downrange. I know he didn’t hit the kid, but it didn’t matter. I just wanted to make sure Seth and Riley wouldn’t mess with him for not joining in.”

  He touched a button on his phone, then locked it and tossed it to Rachel. “The password is all sevens.”

  He stood and rubbed his leg. Rachel gaped at the phone in her hand.

  “Good-bye, Miss Carver.”

  He started moving toward the door.

  “Wait.” She jumped up. “What about Adam and Sergeant Larson? I have questions about them.”

  “You’re going to have to figure them out without me.”

  He took a step, then stopped and turned to face her. “You almost died today. I was a hair’s width away from killing you. That kind of thing changes a person. When you walk out of here, you won’t ever be the same again. You’ll either become weaker because of it, or stronger. I’m betting it’ll make you stronger. If the day ever comes that you have to rely on that strength … do me a favor and remember who gave it to you.”

  He spun and limped for the door. By the time Rachel could muster a yell for him to stop, he was already outside. Officers were commanding him to drop his weapon and get on the ground. Then there were gunshots. A crescendo of weapons firing, officers taking revenge for their fallen comrades. Glass shattered and Rachel realized some of the bullets were missing the target, finding their way into the house. There was a zip and a crack as one struck the TV mounted on the far wall.