by James Abel
By the time the two state police cars reached Riggs’s truck, steam was pouring out from under the hood. One of the troopers jumped out and screamed, “Move that truck, you son of a bitch.”
Riggs smiled and said, “I’m sorry, officer. The engine just crapped out on me.” Then, under his breath, he said, That’s for you, Eddie.
Back inside the limo, Bennings glanced in the rearview mirror and said, “Okay, one problem solved. Now for the next one.”
A quarter mile down the road, Bennings slammed on the brakes and took a hard right turn onto a small dirt access road surrounded by huge Georgia pine trees.. No sooner had they passed under the canopy of trees when Jordan said, “ I hear it. I hear a chopper.”
Bennings stopped the car, rolled down the driver’s side window, and listened as the chopper flew overhead and kept moving down the highway. No one said a word. Bennings rolled the window up and drove slowly forward, careful not to kick up any dust until he reached a small fishing hole. There was an old SUV sitting next to it. He pulled the limo off the road, keeping it under the pine trees, hopped out, and sticking his head back in the car said, “Get out, and wait here. I’ll bring the truck over.”
Bennings ran about 20 yards to the black, 2010 Chevy Tahoe, jumped in, fired it up, and pulled up next to the limo. Blue got in the back as Jordan jumped in the passenger’s seat, scooping up two Georgia Bulldog caps off the seat before he sat down. He handed one to Bennings and put the other one on as he got in the truck.
As Bennings slowly drove back down the dirt road, Blue leaned over the front seat and asked, “Where did you get this thing?”
“We bought it over in Macon,” Jordan said. “We paid cash and then switched the plates.”
Bennings said, “Hey, Blue, do you have any electronics on you? Cellphone, ear buds, anything?”
“No, nothing.”
“You’re absolutely sure? Not even a watch?”
“Positive. Travis told me to leave everything at home.”
“Okay. Then do me a favor and huddle down on the floor for a while. Just in case.”
As Bennings neared the main road, they heard police sirens. He stopped about 50 feet back and watched as two state cop cars flew past and disappeared up the highway. Bennings smiled, looked at Jordan, and said, “Guess we’ll go the other way.” Then he pulled onto the highway and took a left, backtracking toward town.
Jordan nodded and asked, “Where is this safe house of yours? You still haven’t told me.”
“In the mountains in North Carolina. We’ll be there in about six or seven hours.” Blue, on the floor of the Tahoe, curled up, and closed her eyes and slept—for the next six hours.
*******
The gentle rolling hills to the north of Atlanta were far behind them as the Tahoe moved along a back road in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Bennings and Jordan were watching the sun starting to disappear behind the mountain peaks when they heard Blue say, “Wow, that is really beautiful.”
Jordan turned and said, “Hi there, sleepy head. How are you feeling?”
I’m good, I guess. But I’m scared to death for you guys. Why is all of this happening?”
Jordan turned around, smiled, and said, “We don’t have all the answers yet, but what we do know is that if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have a chance to keep Heather Warring and whomever she’s working for from destroying this country. At least you’ve given us a fighting chance.”
Blue sarcastically said, “Yahoo! The Three Musketeers versus the Deep State, coming to a theater near you!”
Bennings said, “What did you just say?”
Blue said, “I was just kidding. We’re like the Three Musketeers.”
“Not that part, the part about coming to a theater near you. I think you’re on to something!”
Just then, as they rounded a bend on the mountain road, Jordan pointed to a small black object in the sky, positioned between their car and the setting sun. He said, “Look. I think that’s a helicopter, just over the ridge—where the sun’s setting. Is he tracking us?”
Bennings, squinting to block the sun’s rays, picked it up, but just as he did, the helicopter tilted forward and sped off, disappearing behind the ridge. Bennings and Jordan exchanged glances as Jordan said, “Just nervous I guess.”
Bennings said, “Yeah. Let’s hope so.”
CHAPTER 27
The last road they traveled was nothing more than loose gravel over a dirt base, cut into the side of a mountain with steep drop-offs on the driver’s side and rising terrain on the passengers side. The trees were dense, mostly poplar, with some hickory as well. Half the leaves were already on the ground. It had recently rained, leaving some slick surfaces and nervous moments as they navigated the tight road.
After about 20 miles, there was a small cut-out where the road widened. Bennings slowed down, pulled the Tahoe to the side of the road, and said, “Jordan, come with me. Blue, stay put. We’ll be right back.”
Jordan walked with Bennings about 20 feet up the road where Bennings bent down, grabbed onto the trunk of a rotting out tree that was lying parallel to the road, and turned it 45 degrees to the side. As he pulled it across the bed of leaves, Jordan saw that there was a narrow dirt road underneath, running directly up the slope. He said, “Hey, let me help you with that.”
Bennings, dropping the tree back to the ground, said, “No need. Just stay here and put it back in place after I drive past. Oh, and try to spread the leaves around when you’re done. Make it look as natural as possible.”
“Okay, will do.”
After Jordan was back inside the Tahoe, Bennings said, “Hold on now, both of you. This is where the four-wheel drive is gonna come in handy, especially with wet leaves all over the place.”
As Bennings drove forward, the slope quickly steepened. The truck spun and kicked its way up the hill, at one point suddenly sliding sideways and banging against a tree on the passenger’s side. Jordan flinched as Blue held onto the grab handle above the rear door. Bennings glanced at both of them with a grin. He’d done it before and knew the outcome in advance. Just as the incline increased to about 65 degrees, the terrain suddenly flattened out. As the nose of the truck dropped, Jordan and Blue saw a small, run-down wooden clapboard cabin in front of them. If it had ever been painted, you couldn’t tell. There was a rotting wooden porch across the front, a door in the center of the building, and a single window to the right.
Bennings shut down the motor, turned, and asked, “What do you think? It was built by moonshiners, sometime during Prohibition.”
Blue gave a tentative smile and said, “It’s uh, certainly remote.”
Jordan nodded and said, “Yeah, they must have cleared the land with nothing more than dynamite, pick-axes, and shovels. How the hell did you ever come across it?”
“The FBI had some perks. Just so happens that the government confiscated it for back income taxes. I got it for all of $2,000.”
As they stepped out of the Tahoe, Blue smiled and said, “I think you got taken.”
Bennings laughed and said, “Well, let me show you around. It has a certain charm.”
Inside, Jordan and Blue found a 20-foot deep by 30-foot wide room rising up to an open beamed ceiling. Spanning the length of the entire rear wall was a five-foot deep loft, accessed by a hand-built stairway tied into the left wall of the cabin. Under the stairway and loft were storage closets that spanned half of the room from the left side. From there on over was a rudimentary kitchen that included four feet of base cabinets covered in faded red linoleum, a self-standing sink with no faucet next to a water cooler, a propane camp stove sitting on a table, and a mini-fridge. The fridge, along with about 10 light bulbs that were screwed into porcelain bases mounted to walls throughout the cabin, were powered by a small propane generator sitting outside the cabin.
Centered on the right-hand wall was a wood-fired, potbelly stove. It was the only source of heat, and its round black chimney rose several
feet above the stove before turning and disappearing through a hole in the wall. Placed around the fireplace were four plastic white chairs—the cheap, stackable kind sold at big box stores.
As Jordan and Blue took it all in, Bennings picked up a mouse trap with a dead mouse in it and said, “Got him,” before tossing the mouse, trap and all, into a nearby garbage pail. Then he pointed to the loft and said, “Up there, that’s where we’ll sleep, single file along the wall. The bedding’s already up there.”
Blue glanced around and said, “And uh, exactly where’s the bathroom?”
Bennings smiled and said, “Sorry about that. But it’s called the great outdoors for a reason.” Pointing to a peg by the door, he said, “I usually keep a roll of toilet paper on that peg over there. I’ll have to get a fresh roll out of the closet. Oh, and a simple word of advice, you want to head down the hill, below the cabin. You know…gravity and all of that. And there’s a shovel on the porch. I run a clean B&B.”
Blue said, “Oh my God! And running water?”
“Sorry, don’t have that either. The sink is just used for cleaning up. But we do have the water cooler. You can draw water from that to drink, or put some in a pot to wash up outside. When it’s time for a bath, there’s a nice lake about a mile and a half down the trail. Water’s cold, but it’s crystal clear. I can show you how to get there in the morning.”
“What if I don’t have a bathing suit?”
“Can’t help you with that either. But if you get to the lake early, you’ll pretty much have it to yourself. That’s what I usually do.”
Blue shook her head and said, “This is nuts. I must be trapped in some sort of B-grade horror flick. Where do you keep the chainsaws?”
Bennings smiled and said, “Ah, speaking of chain saws, I need to show you guys a couple more things.”
He walked to the center of the room and pulled back an old five-by-seven area rug. Cut into the floorboards underneath was a trap door. Bennings lifted the door and said, “Check this out.”
As Jordan and Blue looked over Bennings’s shoulder, he asked, “See the steps? They lead to a tunnel that runs out the back—slopes up the mountain for a good 150 feet. The moonshiners must have put it in. Not only gave them an escape route, but just over the ridge of the mountain is where they kept their still. I found some remnants of it last summer when I came down here for a long weekend.”
Jordan said, “What kind of shape is the tunnel in?”
“Surprisingly good. I’ve done some minor repairs, but the guys who built it did a heck of a job shoring it up with beams and corrugated aluminum. Besides, it only runs about a foot below ground. Up top, it exits right between two strategically placed mountain laurel. As Bennings closed the trap door, he said, “Now, let me show you something else you need to know about.” He walked over to a closet underneath the stairs and opened the door to reveal two large gun safes. As he opened the first one he said, “I haven’t had the time or desire to build any hidden closets, but I did manage to get these things up here, which is a story in and of itself. I’ll leave this one open while were here, just in case.”
Jordan, looking inside said, “Nice. I see a scoped Remington 700, an AR-15, and what’s that third one, an ArmaLite AR-10?”
Bennings smiled and said, “You know your weapons. They’re all ready to go, with a round in the chamber. Spare ammo’s right next to them. It’s all cross labeled to the specific gun, so if you’re in a hurry, you won’t grab the wrong box.” Then, pointing to the inside of the open door, he said, “There, in those pockets, are a couple of 9mm Glocks, a SIG and…,” looking at Blue he asked, “Blue, you familiar with firearms at all?”
“No, sir.”
Bennings pulled a revolver out of one of the pockets, held it out, and said, “Well, then I’d recommend that you stick with this one.”
Pushing it away, Blue said, “No, I don’t like guns.”
“Please, take it,” Bennings said. “You don’t have to like it. But you may need it. It’s a .38 special. Five bullets. Just aim, pull the trigger, and the gun will do the rest.”
Blue tentatively took the gun and held it out in front of her, taking aim at the water cooler.
Bennings gently lowered her outstretched arm and said, “Don’t pull the trigger unless you mean it. It doesn’t have a safety.”
Blue gave him back the gun and said, “Just put it back.”
Bennings put it in the top pocket inside the safe and said, “Okay. But it will be right here if you need it. Oh, and one other thing. I keep five burner phones in here. When we leave, we’ll take them along. Can’t be traced.”
Blue nodded as Jordan glanced at the second gun safe and asked, “What’s in there?”
Bennings smiled and said, “That’s private stock. The heavy-duty stuff. If I need to go in there, we’re all in trouble.”
Jordan nodded and said, “Got it.”
CHAPTER 28
The three of them were huddled around the potbelly stove, staying warm after a dinner of beef jerky, dried fruit, and a couple of beers. Bennings glanced at Jordan and Blue and said, “The way I see it, the Deep State and Heather Warring want us all dead. Well, maybe not Blue at this point, but you never know.”
Jordan smiled and said, “Yup. And we’re also wanted by the FBI, the Georgia state police, and God knows who else for kidnapping the governor’s daughter.”
Bennings smiled and said, “Yeah. Who’s idea was that kidnapping thing?”
“Well, you sure as hell didn’t have a better idea. Did you?”
Blue stood up and yelled, “Will you two stop it? I don’t think this situation is funny at all.” With tears forming in her eyes, she said, “First, I get Peanut killed. Next, it’s gonna be you guys. I just know it.”
Bennings and Jordan went silent, as Blue sat down sobbing.
A few minutes passed, and Jordan put his arm around Blue’s shoulder and said, “Hey you, cheer up. Bennings and I, we put ourselves in this situation because we chose to. Besides, I love you, kiddo.”
Bennings nodded and said, “As for me, I don’t have a lot going on in my life. But I love this country, and I don’t see what we’re doing now any different than men and women who fight and die every day to preserve our freedom. It’s what I do, and if I die in the process, can’t think of a better way to go.”
Another minute of silence passed before Jordan looked at Blue and asked, “Do you understand now where we’re coming from?”
Wiping away a tear, Blue said, “I guess so, but if that was supposed to be a pep talk, it was really pathetic. So, whatever fate is in store for the two of you is gonna be the same for me, understood? It’s gonna be the Three Musketeers till the bitter end.”
Jordan raised the Bud Light he was nursing and said, “Okay then, to the Three Musketeers.”
Bennings stood up and said, “On that note, I think we all need to get some sleep. I’ll use the uh, outdoor bathroom facilities first.” He walked to the door, opened it, and then paused. He turned back to Jordan and Blue and asked, “You hear that?”
At first, it was more of a low sonic vibration felt in the gut rather than a sound heard by the ear. But then they all heard it—the sound of a large helicopter, close by, hovering over the mountain.
Bennings said, “That’s a big one. I’d say it’s a Sikorsky by the sound of it.”
As Bennings closed the door, Blue got up and walked toward the window to peek outside. When she reached the window, out of the corner of her eye she saw a small red dot on her blouse. She looked up and staring her in the face, directly outside the window, was a small black drone.
“Look out!” Jordan yelled.
But it was too late. There was a loud BANG, CRACK—two different sounds, milliseconds apart. The first was that of a small caliber bullet being fired, the second was the sound of the bullet hitting the window. Blue instinctively reached for her blouse, but there was no blood. The window had cracked, but it was still intact. Bennings ran to Bl
ue and pushed her away from the window, and then retreated to the door, locking it.
Jordan ran to the open gun safe and asked, “What do you want? The AR 15?”
“No need. At least not right now. That’s bulletproof glass.”
“But what if they’re rappelling down from the chopper?”
“I don’t think that’s the plan. They’re using the chopper as the command center for the drones. Look, here come some more!”
They all turned to the window to see five more black drones hovering directly outside. Jordan pulled his Glock from his side holster and ran toward Blue, who had ducked to one side of the window as Bennings remained by the door. As Jordan ran toward Blue, two more shots hit the glass, but they didn’t penetrate.
“Jordan, try to stay out of sight, grab one of those chairs, and toss it past the window,” Bennings said.
“Why? What are you thinking?”
“Please, just do it.”
“Whatever you say!”
Jordan grabbed the closest chair and tossed it past the window. The drones stayed in place, but they didn’t fire. Bennings then said, “Now it’s your turn. Run past the window.”
“What! Are you nuts?”
“You’ll be alright. The glass should hold.”
Should?
Jordan ran past the window directly toward Bennings, and two of the three remaining drones fired at him. The glass spider cracked, but again, it held.
“What’s going on?” Jordan asked.
“I think that those buzzing little bastards are using a new heat and motion technology. I was just reading about it last week. The operators up in the chopper don’t have eyes on us, but the drones are programmed to respond to a combination of heat and motion.”
“Really? No cameras?” Jordan asked.
“I don’t think so. The computers in those things are a shit load faster and smarter than anyone watching through a camera could ever be.
