by Amy Rachiele
“Well, we need to find out how deep the corruption goes and find someone that we can trust,” Will answered.
“What about Bill from the Boston office?” Derek interjected with his eyebrows furrowed.
“I forgot about Bill. He’s been around a long time. I think he’d be safe to advise us on what to do.”
“What do we do with them?” Derek motioned to Jen and me. “We need to find Kara.”
“Hello! Sitting right here!” Jen spit in aggravation. She continued to pick at her muffin with her fingertips.
“We have to take them with us. We can’t leave them alone,” Will stated.
“No, we have to drop them off somewhere and take care of business,” Derek said through clenched teeth, fuming at Will.
“What is your problem?” Will asked getting agitated. “We will. Let’s figure this out.”
Derek took a sip of his coffee and placed the mug down hard, shaking the whole table.
“Dude, calm down. One step at a time.” Will tried to speak soothingly, but his irritation with Derek was evident.
Derek looked away from Will. He was pissed. I was confused as to what sparked this argument, but I really hadn’t been totally focused on the conversation since it became concrete that felons want me taken down. I gulped from my thoughts...Killed!
Derek stiffened as his eyes locked on the door of the diner. I turned my head to see two guys walk in. They scanned the restaurant.
“Speak of the devil,” Derek said cryptically in a low voice. “Go to the restroom now, see if there’s a window to climb out of. We’ll meet you outside.” Derek whispered to Jen and me. The way he was acting, I didn’t question him.
Jen grabbed my hand and pulled me up out of the booth. We headed straight for the sign that says Ladies.
I didn’t dare look back. Luckily, the restroom was in the opposite direction of the front door. My heart thundered, not sure of what was going to happen.
We spilled into the ladies room clumsily. We were alone. Jen took in our surroundings.
“Good, there’s a window.”
Jen walked straight over to it. She tried to open it, but it was stuck.
“It is probably nailed shut,” I offered. “To keep people from breaking in.”
“Or getting out...” Jen countered ominously.
“What do we do?” I asked.
We stood together thinking, but our consideration of what to do was cut off.
Pop, pop, pop!
Gun shots sounded throughout the diner in quick succession. Yelling erupted from outside the bathroom door.
We both jumped. I clutched my chest in fear.
“Hold this.” Jen handed me her purse as she sprang into action.
She picked up the trash can and threw it with all her might at the window.
It smashed. Glass rained everywhere.
I danced nervously in place, watching the door, waiting for a person or a bullet to burst through it.
“Get ready,” Jen ordered as she took off her sweatshirt and wrapped it around her hand and arm.
She used it to cover herself as she punched out the rest of the glass so a body could fit through the window. The glass tinkled when it hit the tile floor.
I swung her purse over my head, so I wouldn’t lose it.
“Come on,” Jen commanded.
The diner was street-level, so we used the trash can to boost ourselves up. Jen rested her sweatshirt on the window sash. Touching carefully where the glass shards were left, we hoisted ourselves up and each of us jumped. It wasn’t a long way down, but we still landed ungracefully on our butts.
I felt a prick in my palm, but ignored it as we scurried to our feet. Upheaval was coming from the front of the building and sirens whirled in the distance.
Will ran screeching around the corner at full speed. Jen and I both jolted in surprise. Derek was right on his heels. Never losing momentum, Will grabbed my hand and propelled me forward, practically ripping my arm out of its socket. The four of us ran with all that we had.
Panting for breath, we continued to run, then dodged behind an old barn.
The hand that was crushed in Will’s felt wet and cool. I stole a second to peer at it and realized the wetness was blood. The hurt amplified as I saw a large piece of glass wedged in my palm.
“What happened?” I stammered out.
“Those were guys from the bureau,” Derek said, still catching his breath. “They told us to run. We have to leave the car. They are going to make Matthews think they chased us on foot.”
“What? Why would they help us?” Jen asked, sliding down the wood planks of the barn to sit in the dry uncut grass.
“They said they’ve been suspicious of Matthews for a while,” Will added. “We have to meet them at midnight back here.”
“You trust them?” I asked, frightened.
“We don’t have anyone else,” Derek concluded. “We need help. We have to help Kara.”
I was all for helping people. I could only imagine the horror that she was going through at the hands of Tommy. At that point, though, it seemed we needed to help ourselves. Something was not sitting well with me, but, with the state I was in, trying to put my finger on it was a lost cause.
Will leaned in to me and gently kissed my forehead.
“Damn, that was close,” he said. My eyes closed and a swimming bubbled in my stomach.
As my eyes opened, I saw Derek and Jen stared at us. I couldn’t read their expressions.
The stinging in my hand intensified. I lifted it up to look at it.
“Holy shit!” Will said, seeing the blood.
He took my hand to examine it. He put the backpack down and rifled through it, pulling out a first aid kit.
“Wow, Joy, that looks deep,” Jen said, moving to stand behind Will who immediately started cleaning the blood and glass out of my hand.
“I’m gonna go see if they left. I want to try to get the car back,” Derek informed us as he walked around to the front of the barn.
“I think you need stitches,” Will said. He wrapped my hand in gauze, but the blood soaked through immediately. Derek walked back.
“It looks like they’re gone, but the police are still there.”
“How’re we going to get the car?” Jen asked.
“I don’t think the baseball cap and sunglasses thing is going to work this time,” I said.
Will grimaced at my joke before turning to Derek. “She needs stitches.”
“We’re going to have to steal a car,” Derek replied.
*****
Derek smoothly hot-wired an older Chevy sedan. We climbed in and drove to the nearest town. Will disappeared into the drugstore and returned with something called liquid stitches. In the bathroom of a nearby gas station, he gently removed the blood-soaked wrap and cleaned the cut, applying the glue-like substance to my palm.
“Don’t move your hand until it dries,” Will ordered.
“So how many years does a criminal get these days for grand theft auto?” I asked sarcastically.
“Oh, only about ten. You can get away with three for good behavior.” Will chuckled wryly. “Don’t worry; we’ll return the car as soon as we’re done here.”
Will, pulled me close, tilting his head toward me and nuzzling my ear.
“Might as well do something until your hand dries,” he whispered.
I harrumph, but allowed him to shower me with kisses. It feels really good. He moved my wounded hand aside and a grasped me at the base of my neck. His eyes shone passionately as he planted his lips to mine. Our breathing picked up. Lost for a moment, all the fear forgotten, I put my non-injured hand on his back to pull him closer. He moaned against my lips. A loud knock startled both of us. Ugh!
“You guys done in there?” Jen asked through the closed door.
We pulled apart, and I yelled back, “Almost.”
Will rewrapped my hand, and we walk back to the stolen car. Derek and Jen had fast food waiting and my s
tomach rumbled, reminding me it was likely dinner time. We drove back to where Derek had hotwired the car a mile or so from the old barn and left it for the owner a ways away from the rendezvous point. We walked the mile back to the barn to wait for midnight to come.
“I didn’t want cheese,” Jen whined. “Why can’t they ever get a large order straight at these places?”
“Here, take mine,” Derek offered, and they swapped sandwiches.
“What are we going to do here for the next six hours?” Jen asked.
I could tell she was getting tired and cranky. Derek had taken the blanket from Will’s backpack and laid it out for all of us. It was kind of like having a picnic at night. If it weren’t for the running for our lives part and knowing some girl had been abducted, it would have been fun.
It was dark, but the moon was full and bright. It was eerie and cool at the same time. There was enough light for me to see Will raise his eyebrows at Jen’s question.
“I can think of a few things,” Will answered huskily.
“What’s the matter? Didn’t get enough last night?” Jen quipped.
I shot Jen a nasty look in the darkness. Everyone silently chewed. The food tasted like cardboard.
I had an urge to get my camera out and take pictures. The moonlight was perfect. But instead, I collected everyone’s trash and shoved into the fast food bag.
Derek lay back and covered his face with his arm. He was just not himself.
Will pulled out the sleeping bag from the backpack. He tossed the sleeping bag towards Jen. He then leaned his back against the barn and pulled me in front of him, so that I sat between his legs. Then he draped the blanket we’d been sitting on across us.
Chapter 10
Derek:
Derek lay on the ground staring at the sky for a long time. He sent up a prayer that Kara is okay, that she is unharmed. He can hardly believe that she has been taken. Maybe Will is wrong. Maybe it’s not her in the picture.
Light even breaths are coming from everyone except him. He knows he needs to sleep. He needs his strength for whatever is coming. Time is not moving fast enough, and midnight is a century away.
Derek gets up and walks to Will’s backpack in the moonlight. He quietly pulls on the zipper and uncovers Joy’s camera. He fiddles with it for a minute, figuring out how to turn it on, and clicks a button on the top, and the camera springs to life. The lens extends and a bunch of green and red lights come on.
The screen on the back illuminates, and Derek finds the review button. He keeps pressing it to shuffle through the pictures. Great ones of the football team on that fateful night pass across the small display. He goes so fast he almost doesn’t see it. But there, right before his eyes, a picture pops up. The player is really close up. Derek can see the bleachers. He holds the camera closer to his face. There, underneath, is a girl. Her face is out of focus, but you can tell something is wrapped around her mouth. Her eyes are slightly visible and are grotesquely horrified.
It’s her. It’s his Kara.
Derek puts the camera down in the grass and runs around the side of the barn in the dark. He gets as far away as he can before he punches the old wood of the barn. His knuckles burn from the strike, but that is nothing compared to the burning fury in his chest. Anger flows through his veins. He let her down.
This will not help her. He needs to keep his cool. Derek needs to be level-headed and smart about this. He needs to use what he knows of Tommy and all the time he has spent with him to save Kara.
*****
Joy:
I felt Will’s leg jolt. We all must have fallen asleep. His leg banged mine again. I heard someone saying, ‘Will.’
Directly above us was a man tapping Will’s leg with his foot, trying to wake him up.
“Will?”
Will shot up straight and flopped back against the barn.
“Ugh, Dude. Wake me in a century,” he grumbled.
Mr. Cranky-pants was back.
Derek got up, groggily going over to the man to shake his hand.
“Hey, Bill.”
Jen was out cold, and I stayed snuggled in front of Will while Derek and Bill talked.
“Things are not good, Derek.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Matthews has lost it. He’s coming after you and Will. He’s going to try and get you for insubordination.”
“Ha, yeah right,” Derek said sarcastically.
“I didn’t realize the punishment for insubordination was being shot at. I must’a slept through that class,” Will interjected sleepily.
Bill looked at Derek, then at Will and me leaning on the barn.
“He also wants her,” Bill said in a hushed tone. Did he think it was any less of a blow if he said it softly?
“Kara Matthews has not been seen since Saturday.”
Derek visibly shrank and seethed. Derek and Will shared a look. “We think that she was with the new shipment of cargo Tommy was delivering. He is trying to send a message to Matthews.”
“Tommy thinks nothing can touch him. He’s getting even sloppier than he was before.” Will added and stretched. He gave me a little hug before getting up.
“What are we going to do?” he said, as he walked over to Derek and Bill.
“I think this corruption runs deep.” Bill shook his head. “No one knows who to trust. Everyone’s acting like nothing is happening. They’re blindly following orders from Matthews.”
A man carrying a bunch of coffees in a foam tray approached the group. He looked young, maybe nineteen or twenty. Jen was sound asleep. Derek turned to slap a hand in the guy’s free one.
“Hey Jake!” Will said. “Nice of you to join us. And thanks for missing my ear by an inch with a bullet in the diner. I really appreciate that. I like my ears where they are.” He clasped both his earlobes for effect.
I tossed the blanket on the ground, getting up to stretch. Lying in the same position made my leg cramp. I started over to Will.
“Who’s this?” Jake asked.
“This is Joy. She happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Will joked, sending me a playful smile. “She’s the one who found me the other night at the football game.”
“Oh...And who is sleeping beauty over there?” Jake sipped his coffee.
“That’s Jen, my friend.” I chimed in, stretching again. “She was being watched by Tommy. Derek thought it wasn’t safe for her.”
“I was worried he’d take her,” Derek cut in. “Tommy doesn’t care anymore. He’ll take fuckin’ anyone. He doesn’t realize that certain people will be missed.” The disgust on Derek’s face was palpable.
I never really considered what Derek might have seen, being with Tommy all of the time, trying to get enough dirt on him to put him and his associates away. He must have had to do some horrible things to keep his cover. Not to mention beating up his friend and colleague, Will.
“So what now?” Derek asked, grabbing a coffee from Jake.
Jake took a coffee from the holder and placed the rest on the ground. He walked over to a sleeping Jen with a rugged gait. He squatted down next to her as she was curled over on her side, giving her a very prominent once over. I wasn’t sure what he could see with her buried in a sleeping bag. He gently shook her shoulder. She stirred and turned over, rubbing her eyes. Jake held the cup right over her face so she could see it first thing.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Jen said sleepily. “Coffee served to me.”
She blinked a few times, slowly focusing on the hand that held the coffee – then the arm – then the face. I watched her, her response comical.
“Oh, God.” Jen flipped back over on her side. “Please, no.”
“What are the chances, Jen?” Jake said laughing. “What are the chances?”
“You know him?” I asked incredulously.
“Of course she does.” Jake stood up smiling, his blue eyes flashing with amusement. “We go way back. Don’t we Jen?”
Jen moaned.
This was interesting. He didn’t even look vaguely familiar to me. I assumed he didn’t go to our high school.
Will and Derek became intrigued in this little exchange as well.
“So, how do you two know each other?” I asked.
Jen ignored me, turning her attention back to Jake. Brown hair fell into his eyes as he grinned down at her. “Shouldn’t you be in prison or something?” she asked sarcastically.
“Nope. Joined the Feds,” Jake replied matter-of-factly.
Bill took a gulp of his coffee, watching the show. This must have seemed like babysitting duty. Bill had to be at least thirty, and, here he was, stuck with a bunch of high school and college students.
Jen unrolled herself out of the sleeping bag. Her blonde hair was straggly and standing up.
“You look good,” Jake joked.
“Shut up, asshole!” she snapped.
“Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?” He backed up and handed her the coffee. She took it rudely and walked over to me. Jake laughed.
“Friend?” I whispered to Jen. “How do you know him? Did he go to school with us?”
“No,” she says loudly. “Thank God! His parents put him in an all-boys school,” Jen called over her shoulder. “They thought it might straighten his ass out.”
“We were neighbors for years,” Jake informed us proudly.
Jake put his arm around her shoulder, a bad boy gleam in his eyes. Annoyance poured off Jen.
“Not anymore,” Jen retorted and shook him off roughly.
“Okay,” Bill interjected. “Enough with the introductions. Let’s get out of here.”
Will collected the sleeping bag and blanket, shoving them into the backpack. The rifle waited like a soldier, poised and ready. Everyone enjoyed their coffee, slowly heading to the van. The moon reflected off the darkened windows. Derek and Jake stood talking while everyone else got in.
Will and I went to the seat in the far back. He tucked the backpack at his feet and put his arm around me, leaning his head against the seat – eyes closed. Being close to Will sped up my heart, and the coffee woke me up even though it was the middle of the night. On the floor in the back lay Jen’s bag. Bill and Jake must have commandeered it from our now-lost car.
