They'll Call It Treason

by Jordon Greene

  Around the bend Ethan spotted headlights approaching. They soon rocketed past him in the other direction. It was the first car he had encountered on the Parkway for at least half an hour. He liked it better that way— fewer eyes to worry about.

  Oaks and hickory trees began to spring up on both sides of the road. The landscape to his right gently rose and gave way to more towering forestry. He was getting close. Only a mile or two to go. He increased his speed.

  Throughout the drive, he had tried to keep his mind off Kate. He knew the more he thought of her, the more he would worry, and he couldn’t afford to become paralyzed by such thoughts. But it was impossible to push them entirely aside. He needed to know she was safe. He needed to see her, to hold her in his arms.

  A break in the trees ahead revealed the entrance to the cabin. Ethan gently applied the brakes and made the turn. His headlights lit up the two gravel paths and strip of tall grass between them that passed for a driveway. A haphazard wooden fence lined the left side of the path.

  Unsure of what to expect, he cut the headlights. If the Bureau had already tracked down his alias they could be a step ahead of him, just down the gravel path. Cautiously, he guided the car under the natural tunnel of trees. Nearing a break in the trees, Ethan caught sight of the cabin. In the dark he could faintly make out the logs that fashioned the walls. An ashen stone chimney stack jutted from the northern face just above the steep, tin roofline. As he drew nearer, the modest porch took form; lined with waist-high wooden railing extending the length of the small cabin. It was rugged— just the way it ought to be, Ethan had always said.

  The windows were covered by plain, thick drapes on the inside which obscured the interior from view. The lights were off. Ethan was unsure whether that should worry him.

  Fifty yards west of the cabin stood a large shed. As the realtor had said, it was technically a barn, but Ethan figured with no livestock the name was simply not fitting. In front of the cabin Ethan spotted Dante’s Camaro. Its black stripes and white body made it hard to miss, especially out here.

  He stopped the Nissan next to the modern hot-rod and placed his forehead on the steering wheel. He willed himself to get out, suddenly apprehensive. What if it was all a ruse, a clever ploy for the Bureau to apprehend him?

  It’s okay, Ethan, everything is fine.

  Ethan rallied his courage with a couple of deep breaths, raised his head and cut the engine. Even if it was Dante inside waiting for him, Ethan knew he would have to tread carefully. Dante did not know the car Ethan would arrive in or when. The brute would likely be crouched somewhere in the dark, armed and dangerous.

  Wary, Ethan opened the door and stepped out, placing his hand next to the Glock hidden just under his shirt. His heart beat faster as he stepped carefully forward.

  Please be Gray.

  He was almost to the stairs when a light flickered on inside the cabin, barely filtering out through the window drapes. Ethan froze. Two subdued thunks sounded from the cabin door before the knob twisted with a quiet rattle in the still night air. With creaks of protest from the old hinges the front door inched open. Ethan was not the only one playing it careful.

  A large framed silhouette stepped out from behind the open door. Ethan’s adrenaline spiked as he realized it was not Gray. He snapped his pistol from its holster and aimed at the black portrait of a man.

  “Whoa! Whoa,” a familiar voice bellowed. “Ethan, it’s me. Dante!”

  Ethan did not budge, his pistol stubbornly pointed forward for what felt like minutes. He heard Dante, even recognized him, but his adrenal glands were so overworked that his body was slow to unclench.

  Dante inched the door open, his free hand still outstretched above his head. He forced himself to ignore the pistol aimed straight at him as he stepped forward. “Ethan, it’s alright. It’s just Austin and me. We weren’t followed.”

  Realizing he had been holding his breath since the door opened, Ethan exhaled and lowered his weapon. His head dropped. He looked back up to the porch where Austin now stood with Dante. Anxiety and bewilderment clouded their usually jovial expressions.

  “I’m sorry, guys,” Ethan apologized, abashed that he had held his aim at Dante for so long.

  “No need for that, man,” Austin reassured him as they met at the top of the stairs. “You’ve been through a lot.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Ethan replied, holstering his weapon.

  “We’re here for you, Ethan,” Dante assured him. Austin nodded in agreement. “Never thought I’d say this… but come on in the safe house!”

  Ethan tried to smile as he walked into the familiar living space. A vaulted ceiling made the cramped living room feel roomy. Two old, used, couches took up most of the space, and a rocking chair sat next to the fireplace in the corner. Connected to the living room were a tiny, feebly equipped kitchen and two bedrooms.

  Ethan took a seat on one of the couches. Dante and Austin sat opposite him on the other couch.

  His friends appeared hesitant to open the conversation, so Ethan forced out the question he had been dreading. “Where are Kate and Gray?”

  Austin’s eyes flicked to Dante and then back nervously. They had discussed what to tell Ethan on the way down. It had been an intense conversation. Do we tell him Gray was going to have Kate come back with him to the FBI? That Gray had not listened? No. Instead they had decided to tell another truth and leave out the rest.

  Austin glanced at Dante before answering, his lips thin. “We don’t know.”

  “He said he was going to meet Kate,” Dante broke in. “But, we’ve not heard from him yet.”

  “We’ve been waiting for you for about an hour,” Dante continued, his usual buffoonish mannerisms still absent, his head lowered. “At first I didn’t believe you were innocent. I knew it didn’t make sense, you couldn’t have… But how could the Bureau be so wrong?”

  Ethan nodded understandingly though it pained him.

  “Then Austin here found a video that proved it wasn’t you,” Dante nodded toward Austin.

  “A video?” Ethan jumped at the news. “Thank God! That’s what we need! Do you have it with you Austin?”

  Austin dropped his eyes to the floor, angry at himself for not being quick enough to make a copy.

  “No,” Austin lamented. “It’s gone. Just after I watched it, someone deleted the file. There wasn’t a trace left. Someone did not want that footage getting out.”

  Ethan cursed under his breath angrily. Austin flinched back. An awkward silence followed as Ethan searched the bare wooden floor aimlessly, reeling his emotions in.

  Austin cleared his throat and stood up. “Would you like something to eat, Ethan? Some soup, maybe?”

  Eyes locked on the wooden floor, Ethan nodded. Minutes later, Austin returned with a steaming bowl of chicken noodle. Ethan ate slowly at first and then wolfed it down. He had not eaten since early morning. On the road, he had been too afraid to stop at any one place long enough to eat. It had been the last thing on his mind anyway. Dante and Austin watched silently, respectfully holding their burning questions until he was almost finished.

  “Ethan,” Dante started. “Who was the Agent that did this?”

  Ethan took a few more gulps of warm liquid, his eyes still diverted to the floor. He could see Sean Abrams standing there with a smirk on his face in the CNN Center, his gun smoking.

  “Sean Abrams,” Ethan said in disgust. “Agent Sean Abrams shot Jason in the back.” He tried to keep his voice steady but faltered. A tear slid down his cheek. The whites of his eyes had gone red, and his lips were tightly pursed.

  “Jason didn’t want to go to Georgia. I convinced him to go.” Ethan paused, trying to hold back the sobs. “On the way down, he told me he needed to spend more time with Kallie. He kept telling me we… that we had to...”

  The words became harder. “That we had to get back by this evening because he… he had promised her he would spend the evening with her.”

  Dante laid a
hand on Ethan’s shoulder but remained silent. His insides felt like they were being twisted into each other as Ethan spoke of Jason.

  “He’ll never get to keep that promise,” Ethan wept. “And it’s my fault.”

  “No, Ethan,” Dante jumped in, his voice kind but stern. “It’s not your fault. There is no way you could have known this would happen. There’s just no way.”

  Ethan nodded, but the guilt still pressed against his chest. He leaned back, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I have to find a way to prove my innocence and then I’m going to make Abrams pay for what he did.”

  “We’ll find a way, Ethan. But right now you need to rest. We’ll stay up and watch for Gray and Kate,” Austin urged, not really believing the two would show up.

  Ethan gave Austin a hard look. “I need to wait for them.”

  “No Ethan, you need to rest,” Austin insisted. “You’ve gone through hell today, you’ve been on the road all day. You need to be alert tomorrow so we can figure out what to do next.”

  “No,” Ethan countered, “I need to be up when she gets here. I need to know she’s alright.”

  Dante placed a firm, but reassuring, hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “We can watch for her. We’ll let you know if we don’t hear from her soon, but you need to rest.”

  Ethan lowered his eyes and let out a sigh. He grudgingly nodded, “Okay, but wake me when she gets here.”

  “We will,” Austin assured him.

  Reluctantly, Ethan got up and walked across the living room.

  “Thanks for coming,” Ethan almost whispered as he walked into the bedroom. “I can't thank you enough.”

  CHAPTER 31

  January 30 at 12:50 a.m. EST

  Blowing Rock, NC

  Dante stepped lightly around the cabin, trying not to wake the others. Despite the effort, planks in the old wooden floor bowed beneath his every step, with the occasional creak of protest.

  Ethan and Austin had both succumbed to sleep just under an hour earlier. Dante had volunteered to stay up and wait for Gray and Kate to arrive to comfort Ethan. Pacing the floor, he tried to think of how to tell Ethan that Gray was not coming, and neither was Kate.

  He hated that he had been too cowardly to tell Ethan earlier. But, it seemed best for the time. Ethan would be devastated; he needed to believe that they were on the way, and Dante planned to keep that hope alive for as long as possible.

  He shuffled through the kitchen with his cup of coffee in hand, glad for the caffeine and the warmth. A truly authentic rustic getaway, the cabin held none of the modern amenities of home, including central heating and air. Only the generous fire in the living room kept the bite of the bitter night air at bay.

  Dante craved more warmth than his coffee would afford him, so he walked back into the living room. He placed his mug on one of the end tables and stood in front of the fire, arms outstretched to absorb the heat. A crackling noise caught Dante’s attention as he warmed his hands. He stopped to listen and heard it again when the fire popped, flinging a small cinder into the air.

  He sighed and continued to warm his hands. Sufficiently warmed, he slouched onto the thread-bare couch and retrieved his mug. He looked around the sparsely decorated room. The log walls were bare, and the window curtains were plain; Kate had obviously never been up here.

  Man, I could really go for some Netflix about now.

  A crackling noise echoed outside. He cocked his head to listen. It was not the fire this time. The faint noise of crunching gravel trailed in. Dante quietly got up and crept over to the window. He flipped the wall switch, killing the cabin lights. Pulling aside a small corner of drapery, he peered out into the moonlit space between the cabin and woods where the driveway cut through.

  He could see nothing, no person or animal, no head-lights. But the noise continued, slowly growing in volume. It was undoubtedly a car moving up the driveway.

  Dante crossed the room and knocked on both bedroom doors. “Guys, we’ve got company,” he warned at a volume just above a whisper.

  On his way back to the window, Dante drew his pistol from his side holster. He held it at the ready as he stared out the small gap between curtain and glass. Within moments Ethan and Austin joined him.

  “What do we have, Dante?” Ethan asked in a whisper as he pulled back the curtain of the adjacent window.

  “Not sure yet. I heard a noise outside. It sounded like a car coming up the driveway.” The quiet hum of a nearby engine emerged. “Someone is out there driving blind,” he added.

  “You think Gray would come in like that?” Austin asked, worried it was someone else.

  “I did,” Ethan reminded him. “He would, too. He’s not necessarily sure it’s just us here. And if he’s had problems getting here, he may be even more cautious.”

  Across the lawn the silhouette of a vehicle rolled into view, unhurriedly curving around the bend in its approach to the cabin. As it passed the tree line the bare light of the moon painted hues of crimson and gentle white glares across a small SUV. Dante squinted as the vehicle drew closer, trying to make out the figure behind the windshield. All he could manage was a faint silhouette. The car itself was not at all familiar, definitely not Gray’s.

  “Should we go out?” Austin asked.

  “No, just wait. Let them get out first,” instructed Ethan, forcing himself to be restrained.

  Is it you Kate?

  The SUV came to a stop beside the Nissan. For a moment it seemed like a standoff. No one moved. No one said a word. The driver remained in the car. The gentle whistling of the wind around the cabin seemed to howl louder by the moment. They waited.

  “I think I see movement,” Dante alerted them. The car door opened.

  A silhouette emerged from the vehicle. Whoever it was remained low and seemed to scan the area before walking toward the cabin with a paltry limp. Dante squinted harder, struggling to discern the figure.

  “It’s Gray!” Dante announced aloud, failing to hide his surprise. He looked at Ethan, whose relieved smile mirrored his own, and then hurried to the front door. Dante turned on the light and carefully opened the front door as he had done earlier.

  “Stop right there!” Gray commanded from the bottom of the steps. His voice came stern and unwavering, his pistol drawn, pointing straight at Dante.

  “It’s us, Gray. Dante, Ethan, Austin, it’s all of us,” Dante assured him.

  Gray lowered the gun nervously, his expression grave. In the faint light cast from inside, Dante saw a bruise and a blood-clotted cut on his friend's face. Gray looked away and then back up at Dante and let out a nervous laugh, “Had to be sure.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. Austin’s the only one that hasn’t pointed a gun at me… yet,” Dante responded, a hint of levity returning to his voice. Gray laughed quietly, reserved.

  Austin and Ethan walked out behind Dante, smiling, glad to see Gray was safe. Gray looked up as he climbed the stairs, his eyes meeting Ethan’s. He froze. Suddenly the joy in Ethan’s eyes left. Gray dropped his head.

  “Where’s Kate?” Ethan asked, worried.

  Gray met Ethan’s gaze again and breathed in. When he spoke, shame drenched his voice. “They took her. I tried, Ethan, I swear,” Gray explained. “They chased us in Greensboro. We tried to get away. There was nothing I could do.”

  Gray paused. “They forced me into a barrier. When the car landed I was knocked unconscious from the impact. When I came to… she was gone. They must have taken her. I’m sorry.”

  Ethan’s heart broke. He could feel his body quake. For a moment he wondered if Gray was lying. Why was he here? Why were any of them here? For all he knew, they could be working under orders to lure him into custody.

  Suddenly Ethan slammed his fist into wooden railing and let loose a scream of rage that made Gray twitch. No! Stop thinking like that Ethan!

  “I’m sorry Ethan, I swear…”

  A minute that felt like an eternity passed. Then, a tear traveling his cheek, Ethan placed a reass
uring hand on Gray’s shoulder. He breathed slowly, recovering himself.

  “I know, Gray,” Ethan affirmed. “Thank you for trying to protect her. And thank you for coming.”

  Ethan had wanted to blame Gray for losing Kate. He’d wanted to lash out at him with his fists, unleash a storm of fury. Instead he drew strength from his history with Gray and placed faith in the years of trust and friendship. He knew Gray had tried his best.

  Not knowing where Kate was or who had taken her ripped at him. As Ethan worked through the emotions, he managed to utter his question: “Who took her?”

  “I don’t know,” Gray answered, his eyes red. “They looked like FBI, but they weren’t. It was too aggressive for the Bureau. They left me for dead.”

  Deep in his chest Ethan knew who had taken her, or at least who’s associates had smuggled her off; Sean Abrams. He held back the anger exploding inside his body, the hate that had built so quickly for a man he barely knew. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

  “Abrams.” He spoke quietly, but the revulsion Ethan felt for the name was evident in his voice.

  “Who?” Gray asked.

  “Agent Sean Abrams,” Ethan repeated. “He’s the man who started all of this, the man who killed Jason.”

  For a long moment no one spoke..

  Ethan broke the silence, trying to conceal his emotions. “Are you okay?” His voice cracked as another tear fell.

  “I’ll be alright,” Gray assured him, never meeting his eyes.

  Ethan placed his hands on both of Gray’s shoulders, and got in his face, almost nose to nose, so he could not avoid eye contact. “I’m sure you did all you could. Now come on in and get some rest.”

  CHAPTER 32

  January 30 at 7:15 a.m. EST

  Blowing Rock, NC

  Ethan wakened abruptly. His eyes darted wildly around the room as he sat up in bed, gasping in confusion.

  He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. The frigid morning air filled his lungs, filtering in through the bare log walls. His feet felt like ice, his toes numb and distant. Slowly he reopened his eyes and let them adjust to the gentle light sifting in through the curtains. He checked his watch. 7:15 am.