Innocent Shadows

by Warren Ray

  Amber took off the goggles and handed them to Bassett, who fastened them around his head in quick fashion before disappearing in the darkness.

  The radio came alive and it was Eddie Perlee. “We’re coming in behind you, so don’t shoot us.”

  “Copy that,” said Scar, putting the radio down. “Might as well wait for him before we take this one out.”

  They all turned to wait as Eddie and Harris came running toward them on their last breath.

  Eddie shook Scar’s hand, “Glad to see you’re back.” He looked at Amber, “Sorry we couldn’t get here faster.”

  Amber nodded her head.

  “Eddie give me those weapons,” said Nordell. “Burns and I will handle this.”

  Nordell grabbed the M-4’s and handed one to Burns. “C’mon, let’s take this idiot out.”

  They ran toward the cop who was now using a flashlight to search the river. Nordell raised his weapon before Burns did and pulled the trigger. He continued to fire until he got within a few yards of the cop. Bullets slammed into the cruiser killing the cop who fell backward.

  The cops from the other squad car began to fire at them just as Nordell and Burns reached the car for safety. Burns leaped up and fired a quick three round burst before ducking back down. Nordell followed him and did the same, suppressing the enemy fire.

  “This is fun,” smirked Nordell.

  “Never a dull moment around you, Gunny,” said Burns rising back up to fire again. As he came back around, he noticed lights coming toward them in the distance. “Looks like they’ve got back up.”

  Nordell took a quick look. “Oh good, more idiots to kill.”

  Burns let out a chuckle. “It’s one way of looking at it, let’s just hope it’s not all of them.”

  “The more the merrier.”

  Four more squad cars came in fast, and they formed a formidable line facing them. Car doors opened up and they immediately started shooting at them.

  “We’re gonna need a lot more ammo,” said Nordell.

  “You suppose Eddie or Amber have any?”

  “If they don’t, we’re screwed.”

  A barrage of gunfire pelted the squad cars flattening the tires and breaking the glass into spider web designs. The night erupted into strobes of light as deafening gunfire echoed throughout the area.

  Chapter 64

  Instead of putting weight on her bad leg and walking through the water, Reese began to swim. It would be faster and she wouldn’t have to rely on the leg. She should never have come on this operation. She had become a liability and she would disappoint Amber. She shook the negative thought out of her head. “You can do this.” The current was working against her, but she was a good swimmer. She’d done hundreds of laps in a cold high school pool. She pushed forward concentrating on her breathing and strokes. She just needed to go a little bit further.

  She had two targets to take out and wanted to be in a perfect position before opening fire. She’d only have one chance, and if she failed she’d be exposed, out in the open with nothing to hide behind. The cold water drained her energy as she began wading toward the shore. The numbness in her injured leg actually made it feel better. She began to walk but noticed her movements were slower. She drew in a few deep breaths and dug down deep to push forward. She remembered her track coach always yelling at her. His voice became crystal clear in her mind, “Reese Saxby, don’t you give up on me, don’t you give up on yourself. You finish what you started, you hear me, Saxby?” “Yes, coach, I hear ya.” “Good, you’re almost there, now dig deep and keep pushing.”

  She reached the dry ground and shuffled forward before getting on her stomach. She stared at her targets while they exchanged fire from the other cop car. She figured Eddie finally made it to them. “Thank God. But, you still have a job to do.”

  She took a few moments to line up her shots. The two remaining cops were exposed and had their back to her. One turned around and she recognized him. He’d been with her on a couple of occasions and always had alcohol on his breath. Gin was his choice of drink, and it always made her sick to her stomach. The memory of it would forever turn her away from Gin. She was just about to pull the trigger when car engines came screaming down the street on her six. Her muscles tightened at the sight of more cop cars. She had no choice but to roll back to the river. She rolled over on her back; the M-4 cradled protectively in both hands and then kept rolling to until she hit the water. Again, the icy water hit her senses all at once as she rolled face first into the water. She stroked further away from shore and let out a big gasp as four squad cars blew past her.

  The squad cars slid into position. Each held two cops, which meant she now had ten cops to deal with. She wasn’t a bad shot, it’s just that she wouldn’t have enough time to take them all out before being spotted and her mobility wouldn’t allow her to bounce around.

  She continued to watch them while trying to come up with a solution when she noticed a figure out on the street waving at her. “Was that Eddie?” Whoever it was, he was looking right at her. She raised her arm out of the water and returned the signal. He motioned her to go up the river.

  A new rush of excitement exploded through her and she found the energy to keep pushing. She kept her eyes toward the shore to watch the figure moving with her. She was finally far enough away from the cops to come out of the water. It dripped from her clothing as she reached the shore and Bassett came walking toward her.

  “Out for a leisurely swim tonight?” he said as he extended his hand to help her out of the water.

  “Yeah, waiting for you losers. What the hell?”

  “Trust me, long story.”

  Reese let out a sigh of relief. “So, what do we do?”

  “We can’t have these guys chasing us all the way back to Jackson. Can you walk?”

  “My legs are so damn cold they’re numb. I can hardly feel ‘em, so yeah.”

  “Okay, let’s get closer. We’ll start on those guys on the far end and work our way down the line.”

  Not wanting to let Bassett down, Reese ignored the numbness as they charged across the field. If nothing else, she could at least cover him while he went hunting. It was something he was good at even if he didn’t have his tactical tomahawk. He had a knife, the element of surprise and night-vision optics.

  Reese stayed behind him as they circled wide to the furthest squad car. Those two cops had a good line of sight to Nordell and Burns and kept them pinned down. However, the angle of their car would allow Bassett to take them out without warning the others.

  “Stay here,” ordered Bassett.

  He streaked toward the cops with a knife in one hand and the confiscated Colt C8 carbine strapped across his back. Reese darted her eyes to the cops on the left making sure they didn’t spot Bassett. He came in on the far side without being seen and wrapped his arm around the first target before slashing his throat with a knife. The cop collapsed to the ground as Bassett twisted around and plunged the knife into the side of the other cop before he even knew he was there. The shocked expression on the face of the cop who she recognized made her form a small smile of victory.

  Bassett ran to the next cop car and repeated the same moves. Two more cops fell to the ground dead. Reese looked to the next squad car and saw that those cops spotted Bassett and were about to fire at him. She took aim and pulled the trigger bringing her target to the ground. This alerted his partner, who opened the car door to use as a shield. Bassett flashed a thumbs up, which Reese ignored realizing she just exposed her position.

  A few bullets zipped past her from one cop before the others joined in. A round kicked up dirt in front of her. She rose up on her left knee, snapped the M-4 up to her shoulder, flipped the selector to fully automatic, and began raking the squad cars back and forth with suppression fire. She then fell into a roll and kept rolling, desperate to get away from her compromised position. Rounds whistled a greater distance off to the side as she frantically rolled away. Her ears were ringing fro
m the gunfire and the rolling made her dizzy. She stopped but needed a moment before she could get her head back in the game. Bassett tried to distract the cops with his own volley of suppression fire. It worked for a few seconds before a car engine roared to life and Reese watched in horror as it turned toward her.

  Chapter 65

  The cops assaulted Nordell and Burns with a non-stop hail of gunfire that wouldn’t allow Scar and the rest to get close to them. Errant rounds flew by forcing them to stay down on the ground. Scar grabbed the binoculars from Amber and scooted low to the ground and away from the shore before getting up to survey the situation. He wasn’t focused on the cops but on finding Bassett and Reese. It took a few moments to find Bassett running toward the river to Reese. Scar nodded in satisfaction because the attention would soon be off Nordell and Burns.

  He watched Bassett move like a gazelle leaving Reese to cover him. Scar concentrated on the sound of staccato gunfire, waiting for the tune to change. It didn’t take long before Bassett found his first targets and then two more. Scar swept the glasses over to Reese who emptied a magazine and then rolled away.

  The tune of the gunfire suddenly changed as the cops focused on Bassett and Reese. It was time for his team to move forward. Scar jumped up and ran back ordering everyone to move forward.

  “Tell me you have ammo,” shouted Nordell at Eddie.

  Eddie and Harris pulled out loaded magazines.

  “They’re concentrating on Bassett and Reese,” said Scar.

  Nordell scowled, “We need to flank their position immediately.”

  Scar gave him a firm nod and then jerked his head up when he heard an engine roar to life. A cop car tore across the grassy field headed toward Reese. “Damn it.”

  Nordell rose up and emptied a full mag on the car forcing it to swerve to the right and away from her. It then kept going before spinning around to a stop. Two cops got out and used their new position to box in Reese and Bassett. The cops now had an advantage with their backs to the water.

  “Burns, sweep left,” ordered Scar.

  He grabbed three full magazines before disappearing into the darkness.

  “I’ll go right,” volunteered Amber knowing someone needed to go into the river.

  Scar shot her a concerned look.

  “I’m already wet,” she responded with a slight shrug.

  Scar conceded her point and watched her wade back into the water.

  Amber thought, because she was wet, the cold couldn’t be much worse. She soon discovered she was wrong. By the time she was in to her waist, the water was shooting needles back through her body. It was like having a porcupine quilt wrapped around her. She pushed it out of her mind by kicking her feet and swimming up the river. The current made it difficult and her legs grew heavy by the time she got into position. She was right behind the two cops who leaned on the hood of the squad car shooting at Reese and Bassett.

  The loud gunfire was perfect cover as she crept out of the river dripping water. She kept the rifle butted against her right shoulder as she moved in closer to her targets. The cops looked at each other and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Amber let out a scoff and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered out of the first cop’s head and flew onto the hood of the car. The second cop twisted around, confused as to why they were exposed, and then fell dead amid strobes of muzzle flash. Amber raced in keeping the rifle pressed against her shoulder pointing at her victims.

  The glassy eyes stared at her while she turned toward Scar and waved a hand in the air. He returned the wave so she scanned the area looking for Reese. She spotted her in a prone position when she gave her the okay sign. Relieved, Amber jumped into the car and floored the pedal to pull up next to Reese. This effectively blocked any fire directed toward Reese, but she had now become a target herself. She crawled over the center console as bullets began pelting the car.

  “Tell me again why I wanted to come?” asked Reese as she opened the passenger door to help Amber escape.

  “Damn good question, sweetie.”

  “Thank God you got here when you did. Their aim was definitely improving.”

  Amber stood in a squatted position and scanned the area to assess the situation. Burns was just getting to Bassett, but wouldn’t have a good line of sight to the remaining three cops.

  Amber turned to Reese. “It’s up to us.”

  Reese knew the score and nodded. They were only fifty feet away from the enemy and now had protection to hide behind while firing. Reese moved to the back of the car while Amber took the front. They had to wait for the enemy fire to subside before retaliating. When the rounds that were hitting the big car finally stopped, Reese yelled to Amber while rising up and applied pressure to the trigger. She swept the M-4 back and forth while in full auto. Rounds exploded into windows and one of the cops fell dead. Reese emptied the mag and squatted back down. Amber then jumped up but was more methodical with short and measured bursts.

  Reese ejected her spent magazine and fished out another before Amber finished firing. She rose up again keeping her finger on the trigger guard while looking for another target. Not finding any, she counted the bodies. They were all dead.

  “Damn girl, you took out the last of them.”

  “Did I? I thought there was another one.”

  “Nope, I already got him.”

  Amber yelled to Bassett and Burns. “That’s it!”

  She moved over to Reese and wrapped her arms around her thankful she was not killed. They weren’t ready for this kind of battle and were lucky to have come out alive. Had Scar or Eddie not shown up when they did, they would have more than likely been killed. Reese began to shake from the cold as the adrenaline started to wear off. Amber began to shake in rhythm with her. That and the sudden tension release created a situation so silly they began to laugh hysterically.

  “Aren’t we a pair,” cracked Reese.

  “Yeah, the polar twins.”

  “More like wet puppy dogs.”

  Headlights broke over the horizon before vehicles came rushing down the street. Amber tensed up but soon realized it was Meeks and Taylor. She then got Reese to the passenger door of the car, helped her in, ran around the other side, started it up and turned on the heater.

  Chapter 66

  Winnipeg Canada

  The girls slept as Winters drove over one farmer’s field and into the next thereby entering Canada. He used the same route the Shadow Patriots had been using for the last few months. It was out in the middle of nowhere, and every time they had crossed over he had never seen a single person. The trip north had been uneventful and took just over twelve hours. They stopped a few times for bathroom breaks and to refill the tanks. Finley was still running a fever, and except for being wakened and forced to drink some water slept the whole way.

  A shot of excitement raced through him as he crossed the border because he only had another fifty miles to go before he was able to see Sadie. Her innocence and spirit would be able to flush out any remaining sadness he had for Cara. He hoped his surrogate daughter was getting along well since he’d been gone. General Standish promised to keep her busy and get her back in school. He would spend as much time with her as he could during his short visit.

  He looked down at Laney, who was leaning on Collette, who leaned against a pillow. They’d been sleeping since their last stop a few hours ago. Winters hadn’t discussed with them whether or not they wanted to stay in Canada. Life would be easier for them if they stayed, but if they wanted to go home he’d be more than happy to drop them off before heading back to Jackson.

  He looked in the mirror at the van behind him. The morning rays bounced off the windshield, but he could see Collette’s mom, Stacey, driving it. Despite her general negativity, she had been a big help in caring for Finley. Had it not been for her, Finley might not have made it. This gave him pause, as he feared losing another girl, especially this one. Finley would always hold a special place in his heart as the one who started his healing proce
ss. She broke through his melancholy and wrapped her positive spirit around him. You couldn’t help but want to listen to her non-stop chattering about nothing. Not only was it entertaining, but also distracting, which was what he needed, especially with what he was going through and what he was doing that night. She helped him forget about Mister Hyde and the problems associated with that inner demon. Killing all those people and having him come out to play would not have been a good thing. A shiver shot through him thinking about the affect it would have had. He would not have had the patience to wait on the guy holding Collette hostage. No doubt, he wouldn’t have taken a chance and would have shot them both just to be done with it. Had that happened, then the guys holding Laney and Finley would have killed them. He shook his head at the thought of their innocent blood on his hands. He would have given up any remains of his sanity to Mister Hyde and never look back.

  The base came into sight, and Winters poked Laney on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and sat up, which woke Collette. They both stared out the window while rubbing their faces.

  “How long were we sleeping?” asked Laney.

  “Hmm, a few of hours.”

  “Wow, I really needed that,” said Collette, running her hand through her short black hair.

  “Wait, are we here?” asked Laney.

  “We are,” said Winters as he pulled up to the gated entrance of the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. It was an expanded base, housing both British and Canadian air and ground forces. He recognized the guard on duty and rolled down the window. “Morning Sergeant, Cole Winters with the Shadow Patriots to see General Standish. I also have a girl in the van behind me with a gunshot wound.”

  The sergeant hurried back inside the guardhouse and made a phone call.

  “Don’t they know you?” asked Laney.

  “Yes, but they still have to get permission. It’ll just take a second.”

  “Sir, the infirmary is waiting for you, and Colonel Brocket will meet you there.”