by D Stalter
The motorcycles - four of them with two men on each bike, the back man carrying a shotgun - pulled to a stop next to Phil’s truck.
“Hey, cheese steak! You in there?” Wilson’s voice boomed as his comrades laughed.
“Cheese steak?” Will had come up to stand next to Riley.
Phil looked embarrassed. “My name’s Phil. Philly cheese steak?”
Riley rolled his eyes. “Sounds like something Wilson would come up with thinking he’s a smart guy.”
Wilson dismounted and turned to his men and pointed around the sides of the house. All seven moved to surround the house while Wilson stomped up the front porch. “Cheese steak!” He pounded on the door.
Phil reluctantly put his hand on the doorknob while Riley and Will stepped behind the door as it opened just enough for Phil to come face to face with Wilson.
“Yeah,” Wilson stated when the door opened. “Hey, I’m gonna need to repossess that ammo I sold you.”
“Repossess?” Phil’s mouth opened and closed. He scrunched his nose and pursed his lips. “You can’t repossess what I’ve already paid for.”
Wilson lifted his hand and shoved a pistol into Phil’s gut. “Want to bet? I need it back.”
Riley looked at Will, his eyebrows raised in question. Will shrugged before grabbing the door and swinging it wide open.
Wilson took a step back. “What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s Riley? Where’s Benny? Is my sister here? I’m gonna kill that bitch.”
Riley raised his empty hand. “Back off. Sherrie left with Benny about a half hour ago. They aren’t here.”
One of Wilson’s pals came around the side of the house and mounted the porch. His gut protruded over the top of his jeans. The t-shirt he wore was stretched to the limit over his belly. “There’s two bikes in the shed out back....” He saw Riley and raised his rifle to his shoulder. “Who the hell is this?”
“Trouble,” Wilson snarled. “Get the others ready. My ammo and my son are in this house. We’re taking them back.”
Will’s gun was in his face before he got the last sentence out.
“Lower your weapon and step away.” Will spoke in a low voice.
Wilson’s eyes grew huge. He opened his mouth before slamming it closed and lowering his gun. His eyes flashed with hatred and he took a step back. “This ain’t over.”
“Yes, it is.”
The sound of breaking glass hitting the floor came from the kitchen behind them. Riley spun towards the kitchen. Wilson dove off the porch landing next to the motorcycles before crawling against the porch blocking himself from their view.
Will slammed the front door closed and locked it. “Guard this door. Don’t let anyone through,” he said to Phil.
Phil stared at the door, his face blank.
“Phil!” Will stepped up to him and tapped him on the cheek. “Hey, man. Come on. Get with it.”
Phil turned his head to look at Will. His eyes slowly came into focus and he nodded his head slightly. “I’m OK.”
“Guard this door!”
“Alright, man. I got it.”
Will turned towards the kitchen. Riley crouched behind a chair. He’d grabbed a rifle and peeked around the chair.
Heavy footsteps moved across the kitchen.
Will dove to the far side, sliding across the floor until he was behind the couch. His fingers grasped at the rifle laying just beyond his reach. He leaned into the open, grabbed the rifle and glanced at Riley who nodded. They were now in position that if anyone tried to shoot either location, he would be exposed to the other.
It didn’t take long for the first man to set up for a shot where he had seen Will. Before he could pull the trigger, Riley took his shot. The man dropped.
A second man took his place. He raised his rifle to his shoulder scanning the corner of the room where Will crouched.
Again, Riley took his shot. The second man dropped.
Footsteps thudded away from them. Riley sprang from his spot behind the chair and followed. He reached the back door in time to see a man disappear into the shed that held their bikes. He caught movement in his peripheral vision and turned to see another man slide into the detached garage.
Riley joined him by the back door. “What’ve we got?”
“At least one in the shed with our bikes and at least one in that garage.”
“There’s two dead here so that leaves four more somewhere.”
A footfall behind them caused them both to turn, their guns trained on Phil.
“What the hell!” Will narrowed his eyes and screamed. “You’re supposed to be watching the front.”
Phil shrugged. “No one out there.”
Will stepped to the kitchen doorway where he could see the front door.
“So where are they?” Phil asked.
“In the shed and in the garage.”
Phil sighed. “Fuck it.”
He walked to the cabinet next to the back door. Reaching to the back on the cupboard, he pressed first one button and then another. “Four... three... two... one...”
An explosion, followed quickly by another, shook the house.
Will turned and leveled a steely glare. “Our bikes were in there.”
“Sorry.” Phil threw his hands in the air.
The roar of motorcycles filled the air. Riley stepped to the back door and leaned forward to view the side yard. Will stepped across the living room and moved the curtain aside. He walked back to the kitchen as the sound of motorcycles faded away.
“Four bikes with four riders turned east on the hard road. Two dead here. We need to check the garage and shed. We’re missing two bad guys. Let’s check on Sherrie and Benny but leave them hidden til we have everyone accounted for.”
Riley walked to the bookshelf and slid the door open. He let Sherrie know what was going on and then slid the door closed. Picking up the rifle he nodded at Will and they stepped together out the back door. Riley moved towards the shed while Will stayed close to the house.
The force of the blast had blown the east side of the shed out while leaving the south side, facing the house, intact. Riley wondered if that had been the original design or if it was just luck. He reached the shed and leaned against it. The wall felt solid.
Working his way down the wall he reached the east corner. He poked his head around the corner and quickly withdrew. He’d seen a leg and a foot. The foot had been pointing straight up. Not the best shooting position but... He peeked around the corner again and the pool of blood puddling under the body convinced him.
He pointed at Will and then the garage. Will made his way to the structure. Again, the side of the garage facing the house was in one piece. The north side was completely gone. Riley inched towards the north side. He poked his head around the corner and quickly withdrew. A bullet buried itself in the wood next to his head. He quickly ducked and backed up.
Will held up his hand and indicated that Riley should stay put. Then he quickly made his way over.
“You stay here,” he said in a low voice. “I’m going to work my way around to that other corner. When I get set up, I want you to have something ready to move out here where he shot at before. Just get his attention. Let him shoot but stay out of the way. I will try to pinpoint his location when he shoots.”
Will carefully stepped his way along the garage wall and disappeared around the corner. Riley stepped back and picked up a two by four about six feet long. He shrugged out of his blue t-shirt and hung it over the end of the two by four. Then he waited.
Riley peeked around the far corner. They locked eyes. Riley held up his hands with his fingers splayed and nodded. Will counted down. “Five… four… three… two… one…” Then he hung the t-shirt suspended on the two by four into the open.
A bullet whistled past. Then another one, followed by an answering clap from Riley’s gun and then silence. Riley held up his palm. “Stay put!”
They waited and listened. A scraping sound, like a table bein
g dragged across a floor, followed by a moan caused them both to step back and look at each other. Another scraping sound.
“Don’t shoot! I’m coming out,” a haggard voice called.
A fat man wearing filthy jeans and a grubby t-shirt staggered into the open. His face bled from numerous cuts. His left arm hung useless at his side. It was also cut and blood seeped onto his jeans. His right hand was raised above his head. Blood flowed down his arm.
“You shot my gun right out of my hand.”
Riley looked at Will who cracked a smile. “I’m that good.”
“Liar!” Riley smirked. “You’re that lucky.”
“They don’t call me Lucky Will for nothing.”
“I never heard anyone call you Lucky Will. I’ve heard Asshole Will, Jerk-off Will, even Biscuit Eater Will. But Lucky wasn’t one of the names I’ve ever heard.”
“Hey!” the fat man interrupted. “I’m bleeding here. Can I put my hand down?”
Riley looked at Will. “Can he?”
Will shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you think?”
“I think ‘no.’ This asshole tried to shoot me. A least twice. I think he should hold his hand up there for at least twenty minutes. Maybe a half hour. What do you think?”
“Well, since you brought that up...”
“Fuck you guys. Just shoot me.” The fat man dropped his hand to his gut and bent over cradling the bleeding hand in the folds of his fat.
“I need medical attention.”
Riley laughed. “Don’t think the hospital is open anymore. You have the right to remain silent.”
“The jail ain’t open either or the court house. Just help me clean this up and get some bandages and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Tell you what,” Will said stepping forward, grabbing the fat man by his left shoulder. “Come over here, sit down at the picnic table and tell us what we want to know and then we’ll go looking for some water to clean those cuts and some bandages that might save your sorry life. What were you thinking coming in here? Were you going to kill Phil after you robbed him?”
“I wasn’t going to rob or kill anyone. Wilson said we were going to join a friend of his who had a sweet setup. He said the place was a fortress with plenty of food and water and more than enough ammo. I thought we were going to move in here with that Phil guy. Wasn’t until I heard gunfire that I ran into that garage. Then the fucking thing just blew up.”
Will guided the fat man into a sitting position on the picnic table. “OK. We’ll get you fixed up as soon as we get some answers. First, where is Wilson going?”
“How the fuck should I know?”
“Well, what were you going to do after you got Phil’s guns and ammo?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that after we got rid of Phil - I mean joined him, we were going to go looking for you. Wilson was going to trade your sister for his kid.”
Riley jumped to his feet. “What does Denise have to do with this?”
“Wilson went to Rockford yesterday after you took his kid. He told Denise that the kid was at his place and if she wanted to see him, she’d come along. He’s got Denise stashed at his place in LaSalle. All you gotta do is take the kid to him and he’ll let Denise go.”
“Yeah,” Will snarled. “Like you were going to ‘join’ Phil - not kill him.”
The fat man shrugged.
“Is Denise OK?”
“Well, yeah. As OK as she could be considering she keeps screaming at Wilson. She’s lucky he hasn’t shut her up permanently.”
Riley moved fast. He had his fingers around the fat man’s throat before the fat man knew he was coming. “Where is she exactly?”
“In his house, man!”
“Where in his house?”
“In his bedroom. I can’t breathe!”
“How’s he keeping her there?”
“She’s tied up. Ease up, man! I can’t fucking breathe.”
Riley released him and looked at Will. “We need to talk.” He nodded his head towards the garage. “Over there where he can’t hear us.”
“We have to get Denise.” Riley ran his fingers through his hair. “That son of a bitch isn’t going to get Benny, but we are going to get Denise back.”
Will nodded. “We’re in a pinch. We got no bikes. We can’t take Benny or Sherrie with us and we sure the hell can’t leave them here with Phil. That guy is bat-shit crazy.”
“You think we could take them back and leave them at Sherrie’s? That’s only a couple miles from here.”
“No. First, Wilson knows where she lives and if he hasn’t already gotten someone to watch the place, he’ll probably check on it. And second, I don’t want to leave them alone.”
“Then we have to leave them here with Phil. We don’t have a choice. I can’t leave Denise tied up at Wilson’s. We’ll just leave Sherrie with a gun and tell her to shoot the son of a bitch if he even looks at her cross-eyed.”
Will shook his head. “I’ve got a different thought going. Remember I told you about that place south of the farmer with the guns?”
“Yeah. There were men and women working in gardens.”
“It actually looks like a decent place. We could approach them and ask them to keep Sherrie and Benny til we get back.”
“That might work. But, can Benny make it through the rough terrain along the river?”
“I’m thinking we just walk down the road.”
“And hope the farmer doesn’t shoot us?”
“I don’t think he would unless he felt threatened. Just don’t point a gun at him.”
“When can we leave?”
“Right now is as good as any time. Let’s get those bodies out of the kitchen. I think poor Phil is at the end of his rope. We can get the bodies out of his house and then grab our gear and go.”
Riley nodded towards the fat man. “And what do we do about him?”
“Clean him up a little. Put a couple band aids on. And kick him down the road. Unless you want to shoot him.”
“What if he gets to Wilson before we do and warns him?”
“That’s a chance we’ll have to take. Unless you want to shoot him. I won’t arrest you if you do.”
Riley shook his head. “Let’s get him inside and fix him up. It’ll give me time to think.”
“Come on, asshole,” he said as he strode past the fat man. “Get your ass in here.”
Day 4 – Phil Reveals
Phil stood at the front door looking down the driveway. He turned as they entered the kitchen.
“Who’s that?” he demanded pointing at the fat man.
“The man that was here to kill you and take your stuff.”
Phil narrowed his eyes. “Really? What’d I do to you?”
The fat man slid into a chair. “No man, I didn’t know what Wilson had planned. I thought you and he was friends and we were going to join up with you here. Honest. Wilson is a jerk. I didn’t know. Really.”
Phil softened. “Aww, that’s OK. I know he is a dishonest man. Sorry I tried to take it out on you.”
Riley looked over Phil’s head at Will and rolled his eyes. “Can you get started here while I go check on something?”
Will nodded. “I’ll get the water. Hey, Phil, can you dig out some bandages for our friend here?”
“Sure! I got lots of bandages.” He hurried out of the kitchen.
Riley drug the bodies of the two fallen men to the back porch, then crossed the living room and slid open the door to the hidey hole.
“Hey,” he said. Sherrie, who had been sitting with Benny’s head in her lap slid out from under Benny and gently laid his sleeping head on the bench and stood up.
“How is he?” Riley looked at his sleeping nephew.
“He’s still in some pain. I checked the wound and there doesn’t seem to be any infection. I would expect him to start feeling better soon. He has been pushing himself. He doesn’t want to let his uncle down.”
Riley smiled. “I’m gonna
ask that you guys stay in here for a little while longer. One of the guys is still in the kitchen and we don’t want him to see you. Are you guys OK?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. That was my brother here, wasn’t it? We heard shooting. What happened?”
“Wilson was here to rob Phil. When he saw us, things kinda went sideways. Three of his guys are dead. Wilson and three more goons took off. One of his buddies is in the kitchen getting bandaged up. That’s why I want you to stay in here. I don’t want him knowing where you and Benny are - just in case he finds Wilson and tells him.”
“Why not just shoot him? Dead men and telling tales. You know how that goes.”
“Yeah, well, I’m just not sure I’m at that point right now. If he’s not shooting at me, I don’t think I’m ready to kill a man in cold blood.”
Sherry nodded. “I know what you mean.”
“We’ll get you out of here as soon as we take care of that guy.” He slid the door closed and returned to the kitchen.
The fat man was groaning as Will wrapped a bandage around his hand. Phil came through the back door carrying a box of jars. He set them on the counter and started digging them out and lining them up.
He finally said, “Here, this is it.” He held up a mason jelly jar with a purplish liquid. “Don’t put that bandage on yet. Let’s put some of this on the wound before we bandage. It’ll help it heal faster.”
“What is it?”
“Not really sure. It’s called a tincture or something. I buy them from a lady up the road. She grows herbs and makes medicine with them. I’ve got a whole box of medicine. Her stuff works. I found her a couple years ago when I got sick and another neighbor suggested I call her. She made medicine for me fresh out of her garden and I was better the next day. And back to normal in three days.”
Will raised his eyebrows. “Which place is hers?”
“Well, it’s the first house on the next road south.”
Will looked at Riley. “That would be the place with the huge garden.”
“Yes, her name is Allison,” Phil agreed. “Her garden is huge. And she sure knows plants. I’ve got these tinctures and some salves. And she even gave me some tea. It’s over there in that cabinet.”
