Unraveling

by Kelley Griffin

  Kirin followed Stacy’s line of sight in time to watch two men walk through the door.

  Todd and Nicky.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Stacy moved and darted like an agile cat. She strung her expensive purse around her body and shoved her glittery sunglasses back on her face. The two squinted in the dark then stopped to speak to Brandon. It was obvious from their body language, they weren’t happy. Brandon stood when they approached him, towering over both Todd and Nicky. The two men didn’t seem intimidated by his size.

  Sobered up instantly, Kirin searched the room. She had no escape route where she wouldn’t be seen. Shit...if she’d only insisted on carrying a gun, instead of stupid mace. She had no way to protect herself or her friend.

  Stacy’s hands moved quick and silent. She stacked the plates, condensing them into one pile as if she’d eaten them all herself.

  “Get under the table.” She commanded in a whisper.

  “They’ll see me—and my car is outside. They know I’m here!” She shot back.

  “They’ll kill me for sitting here with you.” She stated it matter-of-factly.

  “You’re positive Brandon is on our side?” Kirin whispered.

  Stacy glanced toward him, “Yes, I’m positive.”

  “Does he carry a gun?”

  “Yeah, but he won’t pull it on them. He’d be signing his own death sentence.”

  “Not if he doesn’t have a choice.”

  Stacy narrowed her eyes like Kirin had lost her mind.

  “Play along... and figure out a way to signal him to do the same.”

  Kirin pulled her keys out, with the mace attached, and unsnapped the cover. She held it in her left hand under the table. How accurate would she be with her non-dominant hand, she had no idea, but she had to wait until they were close enough to blind at least one of them.

  With her right arm, still in a cast, she turned up the last of her beer. A slow smile crept across Nicky’s scarred face as the men stalked toward them. Brandon sat on the edge of his barstool. A horrified look swept across his face. He looked torn like he didn’t know which side to root for. She sure hoped Stacy was right.

  Todd had changed like someone had given him a style and personality makeover. When was the last time she’d seen him? The dinner party at Stacy’s—the night Saul took his life. He’d been nervous back then, to have his father in his home. She now understood why.

  Gone was the skinny, slightly hunched guy in dirty jeans and a t-shirt—the one who thought the sun set on Stacy. He’d been replaced by a suited and polished man, whose face had aged ten years in just months. Todd looked taller, more confident and somehow more distinguished.

  She guessed inheriting daddy’s money and business would do that to a person.

  His cheeks were so red, they looked purple in the dark. Murder laced his slight eyes as he looked only at Stacy.

  Todd reached the table first. It didn’t escape her that Nicky stayed back a few feet, his eyes never wavered from Kirin’s face.

  Todd glared at Stacy and even with sunglasses on, you could tell she arrogantly stood her ground, staring right back at him.

  “Stacy,” His voice was even colder. “I thought our conversation the other night explicitly detailed you weren’t to be around this murderer.”

  Stacy sat straight, like someone poked her, “We didn’t have a conversation, Todd, you beat me like a dog and left me lying on the ground.”

  Todd glanced back toward Nicky, obviously embarrassed that his property was speaking to him in this manner. Nicky crossed his arms and cleared his throat as if to say, “control her.”

  Todd placed both hands on the table, leaned forward and opened his mouth to speak, again. With zero warning, Stacy cocked her right arm back and punched him in the nose. Stacy screamed from the pain to her hand. Todd stumbled back narrowly missing Nicky and crashing into a chair.

  Kirin used the distraction. She bolted from the booth around the outside of the cluster of tables toward Brandon. He stood now, horrified, watching the drama unfold. Nicky darted between tables and caught her a few feet from her target. The stout man tackled her knocking over several tables.

  Every ounce of his weight landed directly on her side. Pain ripped where stitches had been just the week before. With quick reflexes, he seized her neck with his thick, wrinkled hands, squeezing. Her vision blurred. Her left hand held the trigger for the mace, but it was useless as he’d pinned down her arms. She couldn’t get a clear shot. The evil smile that unfolded told her that not only had he killed this way before, but he’d enjoyed it.

  Stacy screamed. Kirin couldn’t see what was happening. She didn’t want to die this way, on the floor, in a bar, in her favorite green shirt. She tilted her hips knocking him to one side just enough to free her left hand. With God watching over her, she sprayed the mace accurately in both of his eyes, closing her own. Instantly, his hands released her. He rolled off and she moved to the side choking and coughing. They both gasped for air.

  Kirin scrambled to her feet. Some of the mace had gotten into her eyes. They stung and burned as she searched for Brandon. She found him making a beeline toward Todd who’d apparently recovered enough to hold Stacy by the waist like a sack of dog food.

  Todd yelled for Brandon to come and hold her, so he could teach her a lesson. Kirin sprinted between tables, toward Brandon. His eyes were locked on Stacy’s face. She pulled his gun out of the right-side of his waistband and pointed it at Brandon’s face, clicking off the safety.

  Brandon spun around glaring like she’d lost her mind.

  “Back it up, now!” She yelled. “Down on your knees. Face the door.”

  The young man glanced from her to Stacy. She prayed Stacy could give him a look and he’d do what she said. With his size, he could disarm her with one hand. He shook his head, then did what she told him to do.

  Then, she turned the gun on Todd.

  “Let her go.” She ordered, through gritted teeth.

  “You will regret this.” He answered.

  “Maybe. But you will never touch her again.” Nicky lay on the ground next to the window, writhing in pain but attempted to sit up. She only had seconds before his anger would enable him to come at her again. She cocked the gun and aimed it straight at Todd’s face.

  “Now, asshole.”

  Todd dropped Stacy. She scrambled to her feet, picking up her purse and glasses, crying.

  “On the ground scum, face down.”

  Todd complied.

  Kirin walked backward—gun still aimed at Todd and watching Nicky out of the corner of her eye. When she got close enough to the door, she ordered Brandon to stand and open the door.

  Stacy laid $200 cash on the bar, mouthing “sorry” to the lady who watched the events unfold through the kitchen window. The lady nodded, as the tip of her shotgun came into view. Kirin had no doubt she’d be smart enough to use it if they came near her. She didn’t look as if she needed prodding.

  When they crossed the threshold, they ran toward her SUV, climbed in, and peeled out. Kirin shoved the gun in Stacy’s hand. Gunshots rang out as their tires screeched out onto the highway, but she was too scared to look back. Adrenaline coursed through her body, which shook so hard, she had to fight to control the vehicle.

  Stacy handed the gun to Brandon in the backseat. She shot her a look. She prayed Stacy knew what she was doing. She pushed her SUV well over the speed limit on every back road she could think of to put distance between them. Brandon touched her arm.

  “We need to stop.”

  “No.”

  “Kirin, you have to listen to me. They’ve had transmitters on your vehicle for days. Wherever you run, they can see you. I just thought about it. It’s how they found us.”

  She glanced over at Stacy who nodded as if to say, “trust him.” She pulled into the parking lot of an orthodontist office and drove around to the back alley. Screeching to a halt she threw it in park. They all piled out, quick.

 
Kirin ran to the back, rummaged through her emergency kit until she found a flashlight. Brandon was already on the ground under the vehicle. He snatched the light and shone it along the underbelly of the truck. He pulled off two transmitters. Crawling out, he held out two black boxes.

  “This one is ours, but this other one... I don’t recognize it. Someone else has been tracking you too.”

  Fear ran through her. Who else would be tracking her whereabouts?

  Just then a dark colored Excursion came barreling down the alley aimed directly at them, at full speed. Brandon pushed Kirin into the backseat, while Stacy jumped into the front seat and Brandon hopped into the driver’s seat. He threw the SUV into reverse before her door even clicked shut. The Excursion was on them immediately and rammed into the front of her truck. It jarred them, knocking her around in the backseat like a ragdoll.

  The engine roared as Brandon pushed the gas pedal to the floor attempting to outrun them. He swore as he strained to keep the truck straight in reverse. Brandon yelled out as he slammed on the breaks, tires screeching, to avoid hitting a second black SUV parked with no lights on. It blocked their exit.

  The force of her truck stopping, threw her body into the floor with her legs and boots still lounging comfortably in the seat. Stacy screamed as masked men jumped out of both SUV’s and surrounded their truck, wielding AR rifles and 22’s. The men yelled orders and yanked open the doors, shoving guns in their faces.

  Kirin scrambled back up on the seat with her legs still stretched out. They were ordered to raise their arms over their heads. They complied.

  Then, they heard familiar laughter.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Two men yanked Brandon out of the driver’s seat, slammed him face down on the pavement and cuffed him. Stacy screamed as a tall masked man pulled her from the front seat. Another masked man without a rifle opened the door closest to Kirin’s feet. He motioned for her to get out and when she didn’t budge, he grabbed her boot with both hands and began to pull, menacing and slow, across the backseat toward the open door.

  She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  Her heart pounded out of her chest. She let him drag her, hands up until her other boot was free of the seat. Before he could react, she reared back and kicked him in the face as hard as she could. He screamed and yanked his mask off as blood gushed to the ground.

  “Woman!” The familiar deep voice yelled, as he dropped her foot and staggered back a few feet.

  Her body, which was poised to knock him out and run, stopped short, “Sam?” she cried, raising one hand to her mouth. “Oh my God, is that you?”

  “It was...” he said, holding the mask to his nose to stop the bleeding. She could only see him from the eyes up. Was the mist in his eyes from seeing her or simply because he was kicked in the face? He held out his free arm as he exhaled.

  “Get over here.” He commanded.

  Kirin scrambled off the seat and ran to him, knocking him back. He held her and picked her up effortlessly with one arm, holding her tight. Jealous thoughts of where he’d slept the night before, crept back in, but she pushed them away. She’d be happy for the moments they got together. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed his cheek. He smelled of spice and soap and unfortunately, blood. She was alive and so was he.

  She may not be for long, but for now, she was.

  “Never letting you out of my sight, again.” He whispered into her hair.

  Kirin leaned back and waited for their eyes to meet. She stared for a beat and then said the words she’d been holding back. The ones she couldn’t say before but meant with all of her being. “I love you. Truly. And I’m sorry I couldn’t say it when you picked me up from the hospital. I felt it, but just couldn’t.”

  Sam’s eyes misted again, only this time not from the kick. He grinned at her, then held his lips to her forehead, which was always his sign of truly loving her.

  The sound of Stacy sobbing pulled Kirin out of her reunion. Steve Withrow held his sister as she cried. Brandon had been disarmed and placed in the back of the second SUV. Another agent, she didn’t recognize, brought the two black boxes to Steve, who promptly took one and stomped it into a pile of plastic then tossed it into the dumpster. He took the other one and threw it into her SUV and twirled one finger in the air signaling everyone to get moving.

  “Move out.” Steve said.

  Sam released her and ran to the driver’s side of her SUV. She felt guilty when he pinched his nose, then wiped it to see if the bleeding had stopped. His handsome face was blood stained from his nose to the edge of his ears. Stacy jumped into the back of Kirin’s SUV. Her eyes were swollen, but her expression grateful and at ease.

  The truck lurched into gear as her seatbelt clicked. Sandwiched between the two black vehicles, they sped down back road after back road. This was her city, but she was so turned around and lost, there was no way she could ever tell another human how to get wherever they were going. They pulled onto a road with woods on both sides.

  When they hadn’t passed a car in either direction for at least ten minutes, Sam pulled a large phone out of his pocket—a phone she’d never seen—and manually dialed a number.

  “Dean? It’s time. Keep them safe and underground. My hope is that this won’t take longer than a week.”

  Kirin’s heart sank. Her boys and her family would need protection. She was glued to Sam’s expression in the dark, illuminated by the instrument panel, as he listened to her Uncle. She swallowed hard.

  “No, let Rosa grab Will and take him to school tomorrow, he’s got a test. But I’d keep him home the rest of the week. The school has already been notified. Rosa? No she’s working on a different project and she’s got people watching out for her. I called our friends to the south. They have Maggie and she’s having a ball...yours is already there, right? ...Good.”

  Sam glanced over at Kirin and smiled, “Yes sir, always...We love you guys, too.”

  Sam laid the large phone on the console between them. Tears slid down her cheeks. She turned to look out the window. Sam reached over and intertwined his fingers with hers. His touch alone took her breath away, but she couldn’t turn back toward him. Instead she wiped her eyes and turned to look at Stacy. She was curled up in the backseat, sleeping. It was probably the best sleep she’d had in a long time.

  Sam lifted her hand in the darkness and kissed it. “Feels like I haven’t seen you in weeks and I just saw you this morning.” Sam said softly.

  “No... it was yesterday morning, not this morning. Before the benefit.”

  Kirin’s memory flooded back with such power. Gianna had spent the night with him at the cabin. She pulled her hand away. Jealousy and anger raced around her mind. Sam grabbed it again and squeezed. She glared out her window and shook her head.

  “Good try woman, but I saw you this morning. I got in about 4am, dropped my angry passenger and her car off at the cabin, got into my car and drove to our house. I slept next to you until about ten ‘til six and then remembered I was supposed to meet Chuck. I was late, but he didn’t give me too much crap about it. Especially when I told him I’d driven all night to get home.”

  She jerked her head toward him, “How did you...wait, that’s not possible. The alarm didn’t register anyone disarmed or rearmed it. I checked. How did you bypass my alarm system?”

  “It’s simple to bypass that crap alarm. Been doing it for months so I wouldn’t wake anyone when I left early or came in late.” With the glow of the dash lights, she saw the question clouding his face.

  “The bigger question is, why did you check it?” Between glances at the road, he stared deep into her eyes. She stared right back. His green eyes dark. Then she looked down at her boots.

  “Gianna answered your phone at the cabin... I assumed... you stayed with her. Rosa suggested we check the alarm.”

  “Ah. That’s why you asked me where I slept.” His voice was quiet. Angry quiet.

  “Yep.” She answered. Sam dropped
her hand and reached over and touched her chin.

  “I told you, Kirin Lane, you are the only woman in my life, didn’t I?”

  She didn’t answer. She’d brought all the doubt, jealousy and worry onto herself. She had nobody to blame. He’d told her not to forget that he loved her, and she’d forgotten at every turn. Sam pulled her face into his and kissed her forehead.

  “I love you.” He waited, expecting her reply.

  “I love you, too.” She smiled, not caring, or stopping the tears.

  Without moving a muscle, Stacy piped up from the backseat— “Oh for Pete’s sake get a room.”

  Steve’s black SUV in the front, suddenly threw on the brakes and skidded to a stop. Then turned right into what could only be described as a hiking trail, not nearly large enough for a regular car, let alone three large SUV’s.

  Sam shook his head and followed. The other black SUV did the same. Within a minute all three SUV’s turned their headlights off with only running lights illuminating the way.

  After what seemed like an eternity in eerie pitch blackness, they came upon a blacked-out guard shack. Six men held rifles pointed directly at them, locked and ready. After checking all credentials, they waved all three SUV’s through the gate. The forest opened to a primitive air strip illuminated only by the full moon with several short buildings lining the far side of the main runway.

  One structure toward the right of the compound looked more like military housing without the landscaping. While another building, toward the middle, looked like offices. One thing that piqued her interest, was that at first glance the structures looked dark, like nobody inhabited them. As they drove closer, she realized the windows were blacked out, but indeed there was life and light inside them.

  There were no lights visible anywhere, but squinting just right, she could make out the outline of an intimidating twenty-five-foot wall of what appeared to be barbed fencing. It surrounded the whole place and made it look like an old prison.