“Hello, Mrs. Sam,” Momma Peach whispered.
“They're scared children,” an old man's very annoyed voice floated up the tunnel.
“Please, don't set off the dynamite,” a woman's voice followed the old man's voice up the tunnel.
“Mrs. Milkson,” Momma Peach said in surprise. “Oh my, you ain't dead after all. You fooled us real good, yes you did.”
“Sam has to suffer,” Stephanie was yelling. “I gave the others a warning to leave. They have decided to stay. Now they will all die with Sam.” Stephanie looked up at the dark, rock ceiling. “They must all die, every last one of them.”
Momma Peach eased down the tunnel and stopped just before the tunnel opened up into the main cave standing under the courthouse. She spotted a tall, thin woman wearing a black cloak standing next to a wooden ladder that must have led up to the courtroom. The woman was lovely in appearance. Momma Peach admired her long, silver-gray hair and delicate face – yet, the dark eyes set in the face were filled with insanity and revenge. “What about the others?” Mrs. Milkson asked. “Stephanie, you and I are a team. I brought Ben Fleishman to you, didn't I? I helped you manipulate Mendez, too.” Mrs. Milkson raised a pair of shaky hands at Stephanie. “We faked my death so I could be in the clear. Now please, let's end this and complete our mission. But... Stephanie... Ben was the only person who was supposed to die...you promised that no one else would—”
“No!” Stephanie yelled. “They all die, including that worthless worm Mendez sent me. But before I kill them, I want to see Sam face-to-face and make him suffer. That man cost me everything...he cost me my life!”
“He cost us everything,” the old man fussed and then began coughing.
“That thin rain jacket ain't gonna protect you down here,” Momma Peach whispered. “You're sick, old man, and on your last legs, too.”
The old man pointed a bony finger at Stephanie and narrowed his rheumy gray eyes at her. “You betrayed me, too. I warned you not to marry that man, but did you listen to me?”
“We needed a scapegoat,” Stephanie yelled.
“Of my choosing,” the old man yelled back and began coughing again. Michael and William huddled together in the far corner. The sight of the dying old man frightened them. They had never seen a bald old man with creepy eyes before.
“I had to protect myself,” Stephanie hissed. Mrs. Milkson looked over at the tunnel Momma Peach was hiding in, and Momma Peach held her breath to keep silent. Stephanie continued. “You were acting foolish. If Sam caught on to you it was only a matter of time before you dropped the ball and brought me down with you. Sam was my safety ticket.”
“Sam betrayed you,” the old man hissed.
“I know that!” Stephanie admitted. “And now he will suffer.” Stephanie eyed Mrs. Milkson. “Go on and leave,” she said, “and take this old man with you. I'll be along shortly.”
Mrs. Milkson nodded. “Let's go,” she told the old man in a gruff voice.
“This is the way you treat a man who has helped you to create billions of dollars?” the old man asked. “I manipulated Mendez. I set up this operation. I found you,” the old man pointed at Mrs. Milkson, “and invited you to join us. And now you treat me with disrespect?”
“Shut up and move,” Mrs. Milkson snapped at the old man and grabbed his right arm, shoving his frail form toward the tunnel.
Momma Peach backed away into the tunnel and hurried back to the small cave. “Hold on Old Mac,” she said in a worried voice, “because Momma Peach is about to try and use some Kung Fu, yes sir and yes ma’am.”
When Momma Peach reached the end of the tunnel, she ran right out into a shadowy figure. “It's just me, Momma Peach,” Michelle said.
Momma Peach grabbed her heart. “Oh, baby, don't scare me like that ever again...oh, you scared twenty years out of me and Old Mac.”
Michelle heard voices coming from the tunnel. She grabbed Momma Peach and pulled her into a shadowy crevice in the wall. When Mrs. Milkson appeared, pulling the old man behind her by his right arm, Michelle lunged forward and struck Mrs. Milkson in the jaw with a hard fist. Mrs. Milkson stumbled backward, crashed into the old man, and brought them both down. The old man struck the back of his head against the cave wall and lost consciousness. Mrs. Milkson, dazed and startled, looked up at Michelle just in time to see a hard foot flying at her face…and then, darkness. “Well done,” Momma Peach told Michelle and hugged her so tight that Michelle nearly lost consciousness herself.
“Can't breathe... Momma Peach...can't breathe...” Michelle gasped. “Is that Old Mac...on your shoulder?” She gaped in confusion.
Momma Peach chuckled to herself and loosened her hug, still delighted. She beamed at Michelle, then became serious. “Never you mind about my friend Old Mac here. I thought I told you to stay with Sam?”
“I did, until Sam vanished on me. I don't know where he wondered off to, Momma Peach. I knew I had to come and find you,” Michelle explained.
“I think I know,” Momma Peach told Michelle in a worried voice. She took Michelle's hand and started to run back down the tunnel. “Hold on, Old Mac,” she whispered, “you might hit some turbulence up there.”
When Momma Peach and Michelle reached the end of the tunnel, they both heard Sam's voice talking. “Why, Stephanie?” he asked in a pleading voice full of pain and recrimination. “Why are you doing this? Why are you hurting us?”
Momma Peach saw Stephanie aiming a gun at Sam. Sam had managed to enter the cave through the second entrance. Even though he knew Stephanie would be waiting for him, he had come down alone. “Why?” Stephanie laughed. “You dare ask me why? You're so blind, Sam.”
Sam spotted Michael and William huddled in the far corner. “It's okay, boys. Old Sam is going to get you out of here and back to your folks. I promise.” He looked back at Stephanie. “Please, Stephanie, stop this madness and let these innocent boys go.”
“Always the cowboy, the goody two-shoes sheriff,” Stephanie hissed. And then, she grinned. “No, Sam. I want this to hurt.” Momma Peach watched her bend down and pick up four sticks of dynamite wrapped together with gray duct tape. The fuses connected to the sticks of dynamite were wrapped together and cut very short. “A series of tunnels runs under this town, Sam. I had dynamite placed in each tunnel, enough to blow this town to the moon,” Stephanie laughed insanely. “The dynamite is set on a timer. Your precious little town has very little life left to it.”
“You’re insane, you’ll kill all these innocent people. These innocent children! If you don’t care about them, then tell me, do you hate me that much?” Sam asked. “Do you hate me so much that you want to destroy everything I worked so hard for?”
“You betrayed me!”
“I protected you!” Sam yelled back. “I knew your old man was crooked. Everything I did...investigating the dealings of your old man...making the call to the FBI...all of it was for you, to protect you, Stephanie...because I loved you. All I ever wanted was for us to be happy together. That's why I moved us out here. I wanted us to grow old and happy together. I wanted us to have a chance and—”
“You were meant to be my scapegoat and nothing else,” Stephanie hollered at Sam to shut him up. She narrowed her eyes. Sam stared at her in shock. She went on. “I've waited all of these years, working in the dark under your precious town, right under your nose, regaining everything you took from me. That makes me happy, Sam. You? You make my heart sick. But don't worry, the time has come for you to suffer for your crime. And isn't this storm a perfect touch? Rather lovely I would say.”
“There are innocent people involved, Stephanie. Innocent children,” Sam said, “you can't kill innocent people.”
“Yes, I can,” Stephanie laughed. “Oh, Sam, stop being so noble and enjoy the show.” Stephanie stopped laughing. “If a woman wants a job done she has to do it herself, now doesn't she, Sam? You had to come along and try to ruin my life when you were supposed to be just a dumb patsy and a scapegoat for my fathe
r’s crimes. Well, you dragged me to this hellhole and now it’s going to be destroyed in one big bang. And you, Sam, will die down here in this darkness...this darkness that has held me captive all of these years, punishing me for your betrayal.”
“I didn't betray you, Stephanie,” Sam said in a sad voice. “You betrayed yourself. I offered you a good life.”
“Living in the middle of nowhere? You call that a good life, Sam? Yes, I suppose you would.”
“I call it an honest life,” Sam told Stephanie. “Boys, get over here,” he told Michael and William. Michael and William ran over to Sam before Stephanie could stop them. “You killed a cop, Stephanie. You crossed the line.”
“I didn't kill a cop,” Stephanie corrected Sam, “I made a call to two men who did, though. Money talks, Sam. And out here, my money is power. I control the State Patrol and county Sheriff. You were always too blind to see my power, though, weren't you, Sam? You never noticed how the local and state authorities always seemed to be unavailable out here. You never noticed that when a badge did show up they always acted a little strange in front of me. No, Sam, you were always too busy working on your darling town as if it were gold, ignoring my misery and acting as if your hideous crime against me didn't matter. But it did, Sam...your crime...your betrayal...mattered...”
“What you call betrayal I call love,” Sam replied. He reached behind his back and pulled Michael and William close to him. “Stephanie, you don't hate me. You hate yourself. You've always had a self-destructive attitude. You and your sister both. But at least your sister had enough sense to stay away from your old man.”
“I control my sister,” Stephanie informed Sam in a nasty voice. “My sister does what I say when I say, is that clear to you?”
Michelle reached down and pulled her gun out of the ankle holster. “I can get a clear shot,” she whispered to Momma Peach.
“If you killed Mrs. Sam that would kill Mr. Sam,” Momma Peach whispered back in a hesitant voice. “Michelle, that woman has set dynamite everywhere. We gotta get Sam and those two babies and get out while the getting is good and—” Momma Peach stopped talking when she saw Stephanie back up to a lantern and ease the dynamite up in the air. “Oh, give me strength,” she begged and prepared to be buried under tons and tons of earth. “I didn't even get to eat one last slice of my famous peach pie.”
Chapter Nine
“Go ahead and kill us all. But I know you're not going to kill yourself,” Sam told Stephanie in a calm voice.
“Is that right?” Stephanie asked Sam, lifting the dynamite in her hand dangerously close to the burning fire sitting in the kerosene lantern. Michael and William gasped and curled up against Sam's back as tight as they could. “That's right, you little brats, run to your precious Mr. Sam...run to a liar, a thief, a traitor...”
“I never hurt you,” Sam told Stephanie. “Stephanie, somewhere along the way you loved me. I think you still love me, too. We can work through this. We can get you help and—”
“Shut up!” Stephanie yelled. “Don't you dare antagonize me!” Stephanie narrowed her venomous eyes at Sam. “I'm not the one that needs help, Sam. You are.”
“Momma Peach, I need to take my shot,” Michelle pleaded in a whisper. She squatted down silently and aimed her gun at Stephanie. “I have a clear shot. We can end this.”
Momma Peach stared at Sam in agony. Sam's face was wrapped in torment and pain. She whispered to herself, “The sand is running out, Mr. Sam. If you're going to cut the pie, you need to do it mighty fast.”
“Please, let me help you,” Sam begged. “Stephanie, it doesn't have to end like this. We can work through this mess. I'll stand by you, I promise. Please, just take my hand and let all of the anger and pain go.” Sam reached his left hand out toward Stephanie. For a mere second, Stephanie stared at Sam's hand with pain and wanting in her eyes. But then her eyes clouded over again. Sam pulled his hand away. “I see,” he said and bowed his head. “I'm sorry, Stephanie.” Tears began falling from Sam's eyes. Before Stephanie could blink an eye, Sam drew his gun and fired off a single bullet. The bullet struck the lantern. Flames exploded into the air and covered Stephanie and the dynamite. “Go, boys!” Sam yelled and ran Michael and William toward the narrow tunnel leading up into the courthouse.
“Oh, give me strength!” Momma Peach yelled when she spotted the fuse on the dynamite ignite.
The flames instantly engulfed Stephanie’s entire body, transforming her into a bright torch of agony. She screamed, a hideous sound, and ran into the tunnel Momma Peach and Michelle were hiding in, flailing her arms at the flames covering her body and crying out in pain. She continued down the tunnel until she vanished. “Move!” Michelle yelled at Momma Peach and pushed her out of the tunnel.
“I am moving,” Momma Peach yelled back and ran into the cave. Momma Peach raced over to the lit dynamite and grabbed it. “Duck!” she screamed at Michelle. Michelle dropped down to her knees. Momma Peach threw back her right arm and slung the dynamite forward as hard as she could. The dynamite went flying down the tunnel. Momma Peach didn't wait for an explosion. She threw her body over Michelle and hunkered down. Seconds later, the dynamite went off and shook the cave so violently that Momma Peach was sure she and Old Mac were going down for the last time. Pieces of heavy rock started falling from the ceiling and landed on her body. A powerful dust cloud exploded from the tunnel and filled the cave. But the cave held and didn't crumble around them. Slowly the tremors ceased, and the cave was silent except for the rushing water in the distant tunnels. “We're alive...alive,” Momma Peach coughed amid the dust. “You okay, baby?”
Michelle tried to answer but at that moment, a hand reached through the dust cloud and pulled her and Momma Peach to their feet before she could say a word. “We have no time,” Sam said in an urgent voice that sent chills through Momma Peach. “That was just the first charge of dynamite. She set off the timer for the rest of the dynamite and it’s all about to blow. We have to get out of this town and get out now. Let's go.”
Sam led Momma Peach and Michelle over to the narrow tunnel. “Momma Peach, you first.”
Momma Peach looked into Sam's dusty face. “I'm sorry, Mr. Sam,” she said.
“So am I,” Sam replied and helped Momma Peach up the narrow tunnel. Michael and William, trembling with fear, were standing in the room when Momma Peach emerged from the tunnel. She ran to them, swooped them up into her arms, and charged out of the courthouse. Michelle and Sam followed close behind. “Hold on, babies,” Momma Peach yelled, running out into the storm. The rain water was now up to her knees. “Oh, give me strength.” She waded into the street, but it was impossible to keep going.
“Give the boys to me,” Sam called out to Momma Peach. Momma Peach handed Michael to Sam but kept William in her arms. “Get to my truck. Go!! When that dynamite blows it's going to cause this whole town to cave-in.”
Momma Peach ran to Sam's truck with William, yanked open the passenger side door, and set William down. Sam ran over and sat Michael down next to his brother. “Get them out of here, Sam,” Momma Peach ordered Sam. Sam looked into Momma Peach's eyes. “Get these babies to safety, Mr. Sam. Please, do as I ask.”
Sam nodded. “Drive west toward the old bridge. I'll be waiting up the road,” Sam told Momma Peach. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “Hurry.”
“I will,” Momma Peach promised. She grabbed Michelle's hand, ran for the hotel and burst through the front door. “Out! Everybody get out of here! There's dynamite under this town that's going to blow!”
“What?” Jack exclaimed.
Momma Peach saw Henry running out of his room with his parents at his side. “Henry,” she yelled, “get Jack and Melinda out to that fancy Mustang of yours and drive west of town.”
“Where are my boys?” Charlie begged with tears in his eyes.
“With Sam, safe and sound,” Momma Peach announced and pointed at Charlie's wife. “Ma’am, take your husband, go get in that minivan
of yours and drive west out of town! Now!”
In all the excitement, no one noticed Andy stand up from his chair and slither away until it was too late. “Oh, that rat!” Momma Peach snapped in frustration.
“Let him be, there’s no time,” Michelle told Momma Peach. Michelle ran down the hallway to her room, grabbed her purse, collected Momma Peach's pocketbook from her room, and ran back out into the lobby. “Let's move!”
“We need our keys,” Charlie told Michelle. “Henry, go get your car keys!”
Henry sprinted down the hallway and fetched his car keys as his dad ran to his room and gathered up his wallet and the keys to the minivan. Barely a minute later he was backing out into the flooded street. Henry was right behind him. Momma Peach ran to the rental car, jumped into the passenger seat with Old Mac still on her shoulder, and buckled up. Michelle dived into the driver's seat and got the car moving. “Go, Michelle, go!”
“The last time you told me to drive fast I nearly gave you a heart attack,” Michelle reminded Momma Peach as she aimed the rental car west and started following Henry out of town. “You said to never do that again, on pain of death.”
“Forget what I said,” Momma Peach begged. “Get us out of here and remind me to never come out west again. No sir and no ma’am!”
“I will—” Michelle said but stopped when the car started to shake and shudder...and then to their horror, it died in the middle of the street. “Oh no,” Michelle said and took a deep breath, knowing immediately what had happened. “We're...out of gas, Momma Peach.”
Momma Peach saw the taillights of the Mustang vanishing ahead of her. “Michelle,” she said in a voice coming from a person who sounded like she was walking on a very high and thin rope that crossed a deep alligator pit, “I think we need to get out and run for it.”
“I agree,” Michelle said and eased out of the car. Momma Peach climbed out of the passenger's seat with Old Mac and looked over her shoulder at the silent town that was overcome by the noise and wind of the violent storm. Surely they had enough time. But then a mighty explosion erupted from beneath the restaurant and shook the ground with violent hands. Momma Peach lost her balance and fell down into the rainwater. Michelle attempted to run to Momma Peach, but a second explosion from beneath the hotel threw her down onto her knees in the street. They turned to watch the hotel caving in on itself and folding down into the earth as the explosion claimed it from underneath. The flood waters started racing toward the giant hole left by the hotel. “Momma Peach!”
A Peachy Mess Page 13
