“Please. Let me out and we’ll talk!” Ashley gasped.
“I can hear just fine right now,” Elijah responded. “You tell me what I want to hear and I’ll let you out. You have my word as a gentleman.”
“He’s a preacher,” the sheriff chimed in. “He wouldn’t lie to you.”
“But I don’t know anything!” Ashley’s shrill panicked voice rang out. “Please!”
Elijah banged on the side of the tank. “Don’t make me do this, Ashley. I really like you. Give me the trai-tor’s name!”
Ashley strained her neck as she held her head above the water, still on her tip-toes. Panic now gripped her as she began to pant.
“Jack! Jack!” she screamed in terror as she took in a deep breath just as she slipped below the surface. The water was now over her head.
With her breath held, Ashley kicked off the floor of the tank, propelling her head and shoulders above the surface. She found the last pocket of air nestled be-tween the surface and where the water was pouring in as she treaded water. Time and air were about to run out.
“You can yell for your partner all you want,” Elijah confidently called out. “He isn’t going to hear you.”
Ashley’s heart fell as she treaded water. The cavalry wasn’t coming.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” came a voice from behind Elijah, followed by the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked directly behind the cult leader’s ear. “You know, you should really make sure and lock your back door. This is a rough neighborhood. You never know who might just wander in.”
Elijah and the sheriff froze. The look on the faces of their henchmen standing across the room told them all they needed to know. Jack had crept stealthily behind the brothers as they were busy with their inquisition of Ashley. He now had the drop on them.
“Sheriff, I’m going to need you to go ahead and toss the weapon,” Jack declared as he raised a second gun, this one aimed at the sheriff’s head. “And, if I were you, I’d do it real easy. I’m kind of nervous, you know. I’d hate to panic and just start shooting.”
Tubbs grudgingly tossed his revolver on the floor in front of him before lifting his hands above his head.
“That’s the way,” Jack encouraged as he shifted his focus back to Elijah. “I don’t suppose a man of the cloth like yourself would be packin’ heat. Right?”
“I’m a man of peace,” Elijah retorted. “I don’t believe in violence.”
“Uh huh,” Jack replied as he gestured toward Elijah’s three disciples across the room, all with their guns pointing in Jack’s direction. “You just have other people do your dirty work.”
“I don’t have the slightest of what you’re talking about,” Elijah shot back with his hands raised. “We teach love and peace here at Paradise Ranch.”
“I assume that’s my partner in there,” Jack said, nodding to the tank and raising his voice where the other men could hear him across the room. “Tell you what, Elijah. I’m not as understanding or forgiving as you are. So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to count to three in a calm voice – not too fast, not too slow. If the water to the tank isn’t cut off by the time I get to three I’m going to shoot either you or your brother in the head. Maybe both. Understood?”
The brothers exchanged nervous looks.
“One …” Jack began as he took careful aim at Elijah’s head, the seriousness in Jack’s voice immediately prompting Elijah to give a nod to one of his disciples. “Do as he says.”
“Two …” Jack continued as he cocked his head and pressed the barrel of his gun hard against Elijah’s skull.
“I got it!” one of the men called out from across the room as he ran over and turned off the valve to the tank. “It’s off!”
Inside the tank Ashley was frantically taking what she believed was her last breath from the small bubble of air trapped in the very pinnacle of the tank. She had been treading water to keep her face above the surface. The water stopped, leaving her just enough of a pocket to breath. Then came a pounding from the outside.
“How you doin’ in there, sweetness?” Jack’s voice called out, the sound causing Ashley’s heart to leap.
“Jack! Jack!” Ashley called back with panic in her voice. “Get me out of here! Now!”
“Have you got air?” Jack answered back.
“I’m treading water!” she yelled. “Get me out! I can’t breathe!”
“Keep treading for a minute,” Jack responded. “You can breathe or you wouldn’t be talking.”
“Jack!” Ashley screamed, dipping below the surface for an instant. “Open the door right this second!”
“Keep your shirt on in there, honey,” Jack demand-ed. “Men are talking out here.”
“I’m going to drown!” Ashley insisted.
Rolling his eyes, Jack looked toward the men who had their guns trained on him.
“Now, don’t anybody panic, but I’m going to pull the plug on the tub here,” Jack said as he quickly pointed the gun in his right hand toward the bottom of the tank and shot off three quick rounds while ducking be-hind his human shields to avoid being the victim of any itchy trigger fingers.
The sound of the shots echoed through the room even as water began pouring from the bullet holes in the bottom of the tank. Jack immediately refocused his aim at the brothers.
“I hope you were still treading,” Jack called out. “If you weren’t then you’ll be limpin’.”
Inside the tank, Ashley’s ears were ringing as the water had conducted the sound of the gunshot into the small bubble of open air in which she was bobbing.
“Now, where were we?” Jack asked as the water drained around his feet. “Oh yeah. I was about to place all of you under arrest. If you’d be so kind as to put your weapons on the floor and place your hands in the air, I would be most appreciative.”
The brothers looked at one another again and this time they smiled.
“Look around, Agent,” Tubbs said with a snarl. “You’re outnumbered and outgunned.”
“So I am,” Jack agreed, keeping both guns steady on their targets. “But, the way I see it, I have two very valuable bargaining chips.”
“You can’t kill us AND get away, Jack,” Elijah said confidently as he looked back over his shoulder. “You shoot. Then you - and the lovely Ashley - will end up in a shallow grave somewhere out there.”
Jack contemplated the situation for a moment, his thoughts interrupted by Ashley’s screaming.
“Let. Me. Out. Of. HERE!” she screamed, punctuating each word with a blow to the side of tank.
“Would you please SHUT UP!” Jack yelled back. “I’m busy out here!”
“I can’t think,” he said, nodding toward the tank. “Sometimes she gets on my last nerve.”
“Tell you what, Jack,” Elijah began. “Why don’t we all just put down our guns and talk about this like gentlemen. I’m sure we can come to a peaceful resolution where no one gets hurt.”
Jack continued shifting his glare from brother to brother, careful to keep them between himself and the three men with guns across the room.
“Ah, so you’d just let us walk out of here, huh?” Jack asked mockingly. “Let us go on our merry way. No harm, no foul, huh?”
“Sure,” Elijah replied. “Why not? Like I said, I’m a man of peace. I don’t want to see anyone hurt. Besides, we’re leaving and going far, far away where not even the FBI can get us.”
“Don’t want to see anyone get hurt, huh?” Jack questioned. “Suppose you tell that to the narcotics agent you murdered.”
“Murder is such a harsh word,” Elijah replied.
“It was an accident,” the sheriff interrupted.
“She accidentally crawled into that tank and drowned herself?” Jack marveled. “Now THIS I’ve got to hear.”
“We didn’t realize how fast the tank would fill,” Eli-jah confessed, almost sheepishly. “We put her in there to find out who her source was.”
“Trust me, A
gent, we didn’t mean for her to drown,” Tubbs interjected. “I had a few more tricks up my sleeve to get her to talk, much more painful tricks. She would have told us everything she knew, given time.”
“The tank was just to scare her,” Elijah took over. “When she stopped answering I thought she was just being stubborn but after a couple of minutes I climbed up to the top and looked in. She was already dead. It was an accident. You have my word.”
“What about your friends in the helicopter?” Jack asked. “I kind of doubt that was an accident.”
“They had it coming,” the sheriff growled. “They needed killing. We ought to get a medal. The world is a safer place thanks to us. It was our parting gift to the great state of Arizona.”
“If I have one regret in all of this, it would be involving those … people … in our business,” Elijah admitted. “They didn’t care who they hurt. They were cold-blooded killers. But, at the end of the day, they were a necessary evil to get the ingredients we needed for our product.”
“Yeah. Necessary,” Jack echoed. “What about the deputy?”
“I’m not a man of peace like my brother,” the sheriff snapped. “He was a loose end. It had to be done. I feel bad about it.”
“Not as bad as poor Kyle, I’d say,” Jack shot back. “So, we’re back to square one.”
“What are you going to do, Jack?” Elijah asked, still glancing over his shoulder. “I can assure your safety and that of your partner if you will listen to reason. Why don’t you put your guns down?”
“Somehow I just don’t believe that. So, I think I’ll hold on to these guns for the time being, thank you very much,” Jack replied.
“You won’t get away,” Tubbs reminded. “You aren’t going to get out of here.”
Jack surveyed the scene. The sheriff was right. He was outmanned and outgunned. The chances of escape were hopeless – or were they?
An odd look came over Jack’s face as he slowly changed his aim, no longer pointing his guns at the brothers.
“You know what show I really enjoyed on TV?” Jack said, licking his lips as he refocused his gaze, prompting the sheriff to look back over his shoulder.
“What?” the sheriff asked in a confused tone. “What are you talking about?”
“Breaking Bad,” Jack answered his own question. “I watched every episode. I loved that show.”
“So?” Tubbs replied.
“Well, the good guy, hmmm, or was he the bad guy? Well, he had a big industrial-size lab like this one,” Jack said. “And, if my memory isn’t failing me, there was a large tank that he was always worried about. It was especially volatile. He always warned that the place would go sky high if anything happened to that tank.”
The brothers slowly turned to see that Jack was pointing his guns at a tank located near where the disciples were standing. The sheriff’s eyes widened.
“You’ll kill us all!” he exclaimed.
“Not all of us,” Jack calmly replied. “You’ve thoughtfully insulated my partner inside a water-filled blast protector. They’ll be at least one survivor. She can tell everybody what caused the big boom.”
“He’s bluffing,” Elijah scoffed. “He won’t do it.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Jack taunted as he took close aim, while still making sure he was screened from the gunmen.
“What’s going on out there?” Ashley yelled from in-side the tank.
“You might want to hold on to something in there,” Jack yelled back.
“Hold on to what?” Ashley called back. “There’s nothing to hold on to. What’s going on? Jack?”
“Okay, enough talk,” Jack declared. “I’m going to count to three again. If everyone hasn’t thrown down their guns by the time I get to three, then it’s going to be like the Fourth of July in here.”
Elijah turned to look at Jack and his confident grin disappeared.
“You aren’t bluffing, are you?” Elijah asked.
“I don’t bluff,” Jack replied, glancing toward Elijah.
“Neither do I, my friend. Neither do I,” Elijah vowed, before raising his voice to command his disciples. “Men, when he utters the number two, I want you to open fire. Don’t take worry about us. We will get out of the way. He can’t shoot the tank and us.”
“Didn’t think about that, did you, Agent?” Tubbs taunted.
“You got me there, Sheriff,” Jack agreed. “I never saw that coming. You guys really are smart. I didn’t give you enough credit. I’m in the presence of genius.”
“Good, so why don’t you go ahead and …” the sheriff began.
“Three,” Jack calmly announced as he unloaded both barrels. The room erupted into flames in the blink of an eye.
UP IN FLAMES
An ear-bursting blast raced through the tank, throwing Ashley against the side of the chamber. She felt the sensation of falling even as the chest-deep water shifted like a glass that had been knocked off the table.
Still in pitch dark, Ashley’s face slammed against the cool metal side of the vessel as the large container fell over on its side, forced over by the shock wave. Pain shot through her face from her sudden impact. She was momentarily submerged in the shifting water.
Stunned, Ashley struggled to push herself above the water. However, even as she raised up, she saw it – light! The door had burst open from the blow and water was pouring through the opening. She followed the water, orientating herself in the overturned tank. She pushed against the opposite side of the tank to propel herself toward the breach but immediately pulled back her hand. The side of the tank was scalding hot. Ashley cried out in pain as she clutched her hand.
She stopped short of the opening where the water was still rushing out. The light, she realized, wasn’t normal room light. It was glowing red! What had happened? Was the room on fire? She considered her options for a moment. Should she stay inside the relative protection of the tank or crawl through the opening? The rapidly increasing heat inside the metal enclosure answered her question. She would take her chances. She had to get out.
Ashley crawled to the opening where the last of the water was rushing out. She timidly stuck her head through the door. It was a hellish scene. The room was ablaze with red and blue flames. The water that had left the tank ahead of her was already starting to boil on the concrete floor.
Ashley pushed her way through the opening, looking for any signs of life. She couldn’t see anyone. There was only flame and overturned tanks.
“Jack!” she yelled as she crawled out of the tank on her hands and knees. “Jack! Where are you?”
Ashley started to stand but was knocked back to the ground by the rumble of an explosion somewhere from inside the wall of flames. A pillar of fire rushed just above her, the heat taking her breath as it swept by. Flames were pouring from the ignited tanks around the room, spewing out of one of the ruptured containers, the hiss warning her it could detonate at any second.
“Jack!” she screamed as she pushed herself back on the floor, the water under her now hot enough to burn her hands and backside.
Her shouts were answered by a scream from within the inferno. Ashley kept pushing herself backwards across the scalding water as her eyes searched for the source of the howl. Then she saw movement inside the fire. Something was coming at her from inside the blaze. It was the figure of a man!
An otherworldly scream came from the form as it emerged, covered from head to toe in flames like a human torch. Ashley reached for her gun as the figure advanced. Her gun wasn’t there.
“Tubbs!” Ashley yelled, remembering that the sheriff had taken her gun,
Ashley flinched as the man staggered toward her, stopping only feet away. He seemed to stare at her from the cloak of fire, then fell to the ground in front of her, his still-burning body slamming face-first onto the concrete. The body twitched for a moment before becoming motionless. She gagged at the smell of burning flesh that permeated the space around her.
She froze, her gaze locked
on the hideous sight in front of her. Was it Jack? The form was burned beyond recognition.
Snapping from her daze, Ashley again pushed herself away from the flames, leaving the burned body smoldering near the tank. Overtaken by panic and forced away from the scorching heat, she turned onto her hands and knees and started crawling away from the epicenter of the fire. She had no idea where the door was. The room was starting to fill with smoke, reducing visibility by the second. If she didn’t get out soon, she would be trapped.
She forced herself to her feet and began to run to-ward where she thought the door was located. However, she took only two steps before her toe was snagged, causing her to slam to the ground. The impact knocked the breath out of her. She started to stand back up, fighting to fill her lungs again, even if it was with smoky air.
A second explosion hurled Ashley through the air before she could take the breath. She slammed against a metal container and fell to the concrete floor in a heap. The heat wave from the blast followed as she was trying to shake off the cobwebs.
“Jack! Jack!” she coughed through the billowing black smoke as she stood up on unsteady legs. She was having trouble focusing.
Before she could listen for an answer she felt a sharp pain on top of her head. Her hair was on fire!
She swatted at the flames, resisting the urge to run as she pawed at her long, dark hair. She smothered out the fire, the putrid smell making her sick at her stomach.
Get down, Ashley. Smoke rises.
She dropped back to her hands and knees, hoping to get under the smoke that was now filling the room. She crawled toward an open spot in the advancing wall of flames. That’s when she found him.
“Jack!” she screamed, finding her partner lying un-conscious, blood pouring from a wound to his head.
“Jack! Wake up!’ We’re going to die!”
Paradise Ranch (Jack and Ashley detective series Book 2) Page 17
