***
Hanna jumped up from where she lay and got back into the car to grab the gun from her purse, which was lying on the passenger seat. She was about to head for the trailer when the engine started and it began moving. Then, Jeffrey appeared, he was wild-eyed and dragging Circe along by the arm.
“Who the fuck was that?” Jeffrey said.
“Tell him, Circe,” Hanna said.
“That was my Daddy, but I don’t know what he’s doing here, honest.”
Jeffrey pushed Circe into the backseat and ran around to the passenger side.
“Drive Hanna, we’ve got to kill them.”
Hanna took off after the motor home, as Jeffrey checked his weapon.
“Damn, I’m empty, and all of my ammo is in the motor home.”
Hanna passed him her gun.
“Mine’s full, but there are only six shots.”
“I’ll make them count, believe it.”
***
“Kathy, baby are you alright?”
“I’m okay, and you?”
“I wasn’t hit, but there’s a hole in the sleeve of my jacket, so he came close. Jesus, what was that?”
“I know; I thought that we would have a chance to talk, but he just went wild, and here they come, they’re following in Hanna’s car.”
“Speed up, we have to get away. I tried to save Circe, but now all I want to do is get you to safety.”
Two shots rang out, and the mirror on the passenger side shattered.
“He’s shooting again!” Kathy said.
Two more shots, and one of them entered the back of the trailer and clunked into a wall.
“Speed up Kathy!” Doyle shouted.
“We’re already going as fast as this thing goes, but once we make this curve the road should level out.”
They reached the tight turn, and yes, the road ahead was straight. Kathy smiled as she turned to look at Doyle and that’s when the bullet entered her left ear and exited through her right eye.
Doyle screamed out in horror, even as the motor home veered off the road and headed down a steep hill. The vehicle hit a tree stump, flipped twice, and came to a stop on its right side, and as it settled to rest, flames appeared on its undercarriage.
***
Hanna parked on the side of the narrow road and Jeffrey got out to look at his handiwork.
“It took every damn bullet, but we got them.”
“Jeffrey, get back in the car. We have to get out of here before that fire attracts attention.”
He got in the car and stared back at Circe, whose face was full of shock, but no tears.
“How did he find us?”
“I... I don’t know.”
Jeffrey reached back and gripped Circe’s dainty neck with one hand.
“Jeffrey no!” Hanna said, “Remember the baby,”
Jeffrey released Circe and faced front.
“The second it’s born, she dies,”
“Damn right,” Hanna said, and drove away.
CHAPTER 15
Cassandra knew that the sunglasses and hat weren’t much of a disguise, but Kathy and Doyle had been in the market far too long.
After rushing through the aisles twice, she went back outside and saw that their car was still there.
Where the hell did they go? Shit, they must have met up with someone and driven off in their vehicle. If that’s true, then I’ve lost them.
Cassandra ran back to her car and decided to drive along the avenue, just in case Kathy and Doyle had taken off on foot. As she approached the narrow dirt road that wound up into the hills, she saw the first wisps of black smoke.
Her instincts told her to trace the cause of it, and four minutes later she came upon the wrecked motor home as flames were fully engulfing it, and strangely enough, mixed in with the burning smell was a sweet odor, an odor of lilacs.
In her peripheral vision, she saw movement, and that’s when she spotted Hank Doyle sitting in the weeds, rocking back and forth. His clothing was singed, his eyes were weeping, and his arms were holding the body of Kathy Jessup.
CHAPTER 16
The Tobin VFW hall had been taken over as a command center because of its huge parking lot and the fact that it sat at the edge of town.
The parking lot made it convenient for the helicopters to land, while the remoteness made it easy to keep out the Press and local gawkers.
Inside, Lawson sat at the head of a table and spelled out the situation to Jessica and her husband.
In short, Jeffrey and Hanna were still in the wind.
Hanna’s car had been discovered abandoned in the parking lot of a movie theater. This spawned the theory that they had carjacked some arriving movie patron and were now in their vehicle. It also likely meant that there was a new victim or victims somewhere, and until they were reported missing, they would have no idea what Jeffrey was driving.
The fact that he was now moving steadily northwest made some believe that he was headed to Vancouver, hoping to disappear into Canada. However, other analysts argued that he was actually headed more west than north and could be seeking to escape via the Pacific Ocean, and possibly to Asia.
In any event, Jeffrey and Hanna were gone, and no one knew where to look for them.
Agent Dyer entered and sat down on Lawson’s right.
“Did you get anything from Hank Doyle?” Lawson said.
“Nothing we hadn’t already pieced together, but he’s still in shock over Ms. Jessup’s death.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s at the local hospital; he took in a lot of smoke and has burns on his hands.”
“Has he been charged?” Jessica asked.
“He’s not under arrest yet, but he’ll likely be charged with obstruction later.”
There was a map of the United States on a wall, and Jessica watched as her husband stood and walked over to stare at it. He traced a finger from Dallas to Tobin, then, continuing on that trajectory, he found that his finger was touching the far northwest corner of the state of California.
He turned from the map and stared at Jessica.
“Bel Rey, he’s headed to Bel Rey,”
Jessica jumped up from her seat and walked over to him.
“Could that really be where he’s going?”
“What’s Bel Rey?” Lawson said.
They explained to him and Dyer about their meeting with Jake Caliber nearly two years ago, and how that was when he first learned that he might be related to William Gant, and that someone named Gant might have been living in the tiny town of Bel Rey.
As they were telling the story, something occurred to him, an anomaly between the story that Jake Caliber had relayed to them and the things that Amanda had told them.
“Lawson, why was Gant so hard to trace all those years? Even Jake Caliber doubted his existence, and he was there when William Gant’s cult collapsed. He had to of heard the name Billy Gant mentioned.”
Lawson was shaking his head, but Dyer spoke up.
“I think I can answer that. The confusion came because William Gant, your grandfather, he was actually William Gant the second, or rather, Billy Jr.”
“So Billy Gant wasn’t Billy Jr., he was actually William Gant the third?” Jessica said.
“No, as far as we could tell, there was no William Gant the third.”
“So, we really don’t know Billy Gant’s true name?”
This time, both Lawson and Dyer shook their heads, as Lawson said, “No, I guess we don’t know his name, but they were father and son, DNA proved that.”
“My father would have been born around 1958, where was William Gant living at that time?”
“Hold on, while I pull up that data,” Lawson said.
It took him a few minutes, but he found the answer.
“He was in Sing Sing Prison in New York State, which is now the Ossining Correctional Facility, but that was 1958 and 1959, in 1957 when his son would have been conceived, he was living in Manhattan.”
“Did Gant have any aliases?”
“There are none listed.”
He took out his phone. “I need to make a call.”
A young woman named Kelli answered, after giving her his name, there was a short pause, and then he reached the man he wanted.
“Jake Caliber,”
“Hello sir, I need to ask you a few questions about William Gant, mostly pertaining to the 1950’s.”
“Fire away and I’ll do what I can to help.”
“Thank you.”
He spoke to Jake Caliber for several minutes; when he was done, he looked over at Lawson and Dyer.
“Caliber’s got a mind like a steel trap. He says that Gant was seeing a woman named Eva Wilson in 1957; she was a Broadway star back then, and he thinks that she would likely have been Billy Gant’s mother, and, my grandmother.”
Lawson’s fingers flew across the keyboard.
“I put in a request for information on that, to see if Eva Wilson ever gave birth, but it could take some time for that to come back.”
“I understand, but there’s one more thing. It could be nothing but a coincidence since Wilson is a common name, but it’s worth checking.”
“What’s that?”
“Caliber also said that William Gant loved the movie, ‘Shane’, and that Gant had a collection of movie memorabilia concerning the film inside his compound in Texas, especially anything having to do with the character Jack Palance played, a character named, Jack Wilson.”
“And?” Lawson said.
“And, find out if anyone named Jack Wilson owns property in Bel Rey.”
The answer came back in minutes.
“Someone named Jack Wilson has owned property in Bel Rey for the last twelve years.”
He nodded.
“That someone was my father, and Jack Wilson was possibly his real name.”
“Do you think that’s where Jeffrey is headed?” Jessica said.
“I hope so, because it’s our next destination.”
CHAPTER 17
Jessica, her husband, Jace, and Lawson, had all decided to check out Bel Rey.
They were headed for the helicopter when word came that a seventeen-year-old girl had been abducted in a church parking lot.
“Where?” Lawson asked.
“Andersen, California,” Dyer said. “It’s about a four hour drive from here. We have one witness, the victim’s eight-year-old sister. She says that a ‘Blond lady and a tall man’ came up behind them and knocked her sister out with a gun, and then pointed the weapon at her and told her to run. By the time the cops arrived, there was no sign of the missing girl, her name is Missy Collins.”
Lawson considered it.
“It could be Hanna and Mitchell grabbing a hostage; enough time has passed for them to reach that area.”
“But if they needed a hostage they could have used whoever they stole the car from,” Jessica said.
“It could be worse than that,” Dyer suggested. “Perhaps Mitchell grabbed the girl to sate his... appetites.”
“That’s sick!” Jace said.
“We go there,” Lawson said, but Jessica’s husband disagreed.
“I’m going to Bel Rey. I still think it’s our best bet.”
“It’s a long shot and you know it,” Lawson said.
Jessica pointed at the choppers.
“There are two helicopters. Why don’t we split up?”
Lawson looked over at Dyer.
“That’s your bird, your decision, and you’re welcome to ride with me.”
“Take it,” Dyer said. “But that pilot is just a pilot, so you’ll be on your own if there’s trouble.”
“We can handle trouble,” Jace said.
“No Jace, you’ll go with Lawson, there’s a good chance that Mitchell is in Andersen, and if he is, Lawson may need you.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“All right, but I don’t like it.”
They were all in the air five minutes later.
He looked over at Jessica and saw her cradling a shotgun. It was an AA-12, an Atchisson Assault Shotgun with a twenty-round drum of 12-gauge shells.
“Are you sure you don’t want a handgun?”
“Yes, I’ll use this. I’m not as good a shot as you.”
“There’s no wounding with that thing.”
“I only hope I get to use it,” Jessica said.
“Lawson was right. This is a long shot. Even if my father did own property in Bel Rey under the name of Jack Wilson, it doesn’t mean that we’ll find Jeffrey and Hanna there.”
Jessica shook her head.
“No, this feels right.”
He nodded.
“I feel it too.”
***
Miles to the west of Anderson, California, Todd Gray slammed the trunk of his rented car and took off the ski mask and gloves he’d been wearing.
When he climbed back behind the wheel, Summer looked at him questioningly.
“Well?”
“She’s still breathing, but man you really gave her a nasty rap on the head.”
“I’m glad she’s alive. It’ll be better if she’s a living victim, but are you certain she won’t leave blood behind in the trunk?”
“There’s enough plastic back there, believe me, but I still don’t get why we grabbed her; what if Mitchell isn’t anywhere around here?”
“If he’s still driving northwest like they say, then he can’t be too far away from here.”
Todd smiled at Summer.
“You know, you look hot as a blonde.”
Summer reached up and took the wig off.
“I forgot I was wearing it.”
Her phone rang.
“It’s Art Cashman,”
“Who?”
“Our FBI contact,”
“Oh, that dope,”
Summer answered her phone.
“Hi baby, what’s new?... Really?... In Andersen? Oh, that poor girl... what? Where is Bel Rey? ...Right, as soon as possible,... Bye bye, lover,”
“Anything?”
“Jessica White and her husband have gone to Bel Rey; it’s some dot on the map in California. They’re checking out a lead, but Cashman says that Dyer thinks it’s unlikely that Mitchell will go there.”
“What’s our next move?”
“We find a place to dump the girl where she won’t be easily found, and as soon as we know that Mitchell passed near here, we’ll drive back to Andersen and volunteer our help to the cops.”
Todd looked around.
“Why don’t we dump her over there? That fallen tree makes a good landmark and we can hide her behind it.”
“All right, but make it quick, and on the way back we’ll get rid of the stuff in the trunk.”
“Hey, what if Mitchell has gone south, or turned east, or if they never catch him?”
Summer shrugged.
“No harm, no foul, the FBI will think that someone else grabbed her. But if Mitchell is caught and it looks like he could have gone through Andersen, then, we show up, organize a search for the girl, and look like heroes for finding her.”
Todd went back to the trunk with his ski mask on and lifted the girl out. She was still unconscious and her wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape, as well as the gag in her mouth. Her clothing was streaked with blood from the wound on her head, but the injury appeared to be clotting.
Summer called out the window.
“Hurry up! What are you doing?”
“I’m coming!”
Todd returned to the car and Summer sighed with relief.
“Start driving.”
“What’s your hurry?”
“It really is possible for Mitchell and Hanna to be in the area you know, and the last thing I want is to actually run into those two, they sound like a couple of monsters.”
CHAPTER 18
Bel Rey, California,
The chopper landed in a field a mile away from the Wilson resi
dence, and from there they traveled on foot through sparse woodland. It was dark, but the moon was bright, and once their eyes adjusted, they found that they didn’t need their flashlights.
They stopped to rest once on the short trip, as Jessica had trouble catching her breath.
“I’m sorry; I’m just not in shape for this.”
He caressed her cheek.
“It’s only been about a week since you gave birth to twins; I think you’re doing fine.”
“It’s the weight. I gained too much during the pregnancy.”
“You’ll get it off,”
“I’d better.”
“Do you want me to carry the shotgun?”
“No, and I’m ready to continue, if you’re right about this, then they could be here already.”
They reached the house and found it dark. It was a large, two-story home of over four-thousand square feet done in the style of a Scottish Manor. The rear of the home was a narrow strip of land facing a steep drop that led to a rock-strewn shoreline, while the front of the home held a patio area and a lawn that faced the driveway.
“The local cops say no one has been here in months, and that they’ve never seen the current owner.”
“Have they been alerted?” Jessica asked.
“Yes, but they’re staying back until they get the call. The last thing we want to do is scare Jeffrey off, but they’ve been informed that we’re here.”
“All right, so what’s our next move?”
He smiled.
“We break-in,”
He smashed a pane of glass on the back door, stuck in a hand, and undid the lock. After entering, they used the flashlights to look around and found that the furniture all appeared expensive and comfortable. Within minutes, they had checked each room and assured themselves that they were alone.
In the study was a large gun safe, but it was locked. There were however two weapons in plain view and readily accessible, as a pair of swords hung over the living room fireplace.
They were antique Claymore swords, with foot long grips and forty inches of steel. Each sword was impressive, yet at just over five pounds in weight, they were agile weapons. He took one down to study, and found that although it was dusty, it was as sharp as any razor.
On the wall near the entrance, an alarm pad blinked rapidly, but they knew that it would go unheeded by the authorities and the alarm company.
The TAKEN! Series - Books 13-16 (Taken! Box Set Book 4) Page 11
