by David Banner
"Who.. Who are you?” Sonny said.
He was groggy and obviously tired. From the looks of it they had been keeping him asleep and probably not feeding him. I doubted he even knew where he was. The last I heard from him he was headed to Anna Maria, yes. But his boat was at the cabin when it blew up, so how had he gotten here, chained to the floor of the basement in an empty house?
"Do you know him?" Rachel asked.
"Tell him you’re with me!" yelled Hope into the screen.
"My name is Rachel,” she said. "I'm Hope's friend."
"You've got to break those chains!" Hope said.
"Shhh.." Rachel replied.. "I think someone's here."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
"R UN!" I YELLED.
"I can't," she replied. "I'm trapped down here."
"Don't leave Sonny!" Hope yelled. "Don't leave my dad!"
"I have to hide!" Rachel whispered.
I watched in the monitor as she scurried around the bare bones basement looking for somewhere to go, the voices in the distance echoing closer. "Rachel. Look, get in the rafters." I said noticing the open beams above her. "Be quiet, they're gonna see that door. They'll know someone was there. Don't let them see you, and if they do you know what to do."
I watched as she scurried up the on top of the table and pulled herself into the darkness of the rafters. Her breathing was heavy and I knew she had to be afraid. I was afraid for her. But the best thing she could do in that moment was to try and go unnoticed.
I could hear voices from far away echoing into Rachel’s earpiece. They sounded panicked and rushed. They had seen the door blown open, I knew it. "Can you point the camera down?" I said to Rachel.
Slowly I saw the camera on her chest pan down as the basement beneath her came into view. Two men came walking down the stairs and into the basement. They both held guns in the air, turning and scanning the room for whoever shot out the door. The thinner man I didn't recognize, but the second man, the one that followed I had seen him once before. It was Mayor Hall.
He wasn't wearing a suit this time and his five-o-clock shadow had kicked into high-gear, but it was without question the same man who came into my interrogation room and offered me a deal. "That’s him,” I said to Hope, pointing at the screen. "That’s Mayor Hall, the one who came and talked to me."
"I knew he was deep into this shit!" Hope said, her face still wet with tears. "He has this whole town under his control."
"There's no one here,” The other man said.
"Mr. Duggar..." Mayor Hall said through a mix of distain and pleasure. "Mind telling who shot my door open?"
"Man..." Sonny said. "Looking for a hit. He's not here no more."
The words came hard to him, he was loopy and barely awake. That or he was putting on one hell of a show, but I still felt bad for him nonetheless. Before I came walking into his life he was living peacefully, running his small bar, probably sitting home at night having a drink. Doing whatever it was that made him happy.
What he surely wasn't doing was enjoying being held captive, chained to a floor and drugged almost to the point of a coma. He was just another one in the increasingly long list of people whose lives I had completely upended and destroyed in an attempt to save my own ass. Guilt washed over me as I watched the scene unfold through the camera lens.
"A man, huh...?” Mayor Hall said. " A drug addict broke into a house that, anyone who bothered to look at it, could tell is abandoned, hoping to find drugs? And, after seeing it was, in fact empty, he decided to shoot my basement door open, hoping drugs might be down there? He must have been quite high already indeed? I don't know about that though. I was afraid someone might come looking for you. Especially that little firecracker girl you call your daughter. Ohh, now that's a sweet little sight."
"I'll fucking kill him,” Hope said. "He better not do anything to—”
"If they wanted him dead they would have done it already,” I said.
"We just have to make sure Rachel doesn't get spotted. Then we'll rescue Sonny. We're gonna make sure we get him back,” I said.
"You're damned right we are,” Hope said.
"That little firecracker isn't here is she?" the mayor said, looking around the room. "Because, if she was, I might have to put her out. Here kitty kitty..."
"No..." Sonny said. "No one's here. It was just some druggie. I begged him to let me loose, but he just ran off." Sonny stopped for a second. "Maybe you should go after him though. He might be going to tell the police what he found down here."
"If you think the police are going to believe the ramblings of a drug addled fool over the instances of their mayor, you're stupider than even I gave you credit for." I watched the man shake his head from the camera Rachel was wearing. "Besides, this can all be over, Sonny. You know it can. All you have to do is talk. Tell me what you were doing in this house the night I found you here. I know it has something to do with that damned Waters boy. Did he tell you what his plan was? Did he tell you all the shit he's been trying to get over on me, Sonny?"
My heart skipped a beat. What was that supposed to mean? I wasn't trying to pull anything over on the mayor. Hell, I didn't even know the douchebag existed until all of this went down. I wasn't sure what was going on here anymore. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt though, that I was going to figure it out.
"Go to hell," Sonny shot back.
"Maybe I will," the mayor conceded. "But not before you do." He knelt near the man. "Let me ask you a question, Sonny? Are you willing to die for this man? Are you willing to sit here and slowly starve to death for him? Because that's what's going to happen to you if you don't tell me what the hell you were doing here, if you don't tell where I can find Brandon Waters."
Sonny stayed silent, trooper that he was.
"Really?" The mayor balked, standing upright. "That's some impressive loyalty. You must have had a hard on for the kid's mother." He looked at Sonny grinning. "Or father. I don't judge. Either way, it's going to be your undoing." He chuckled loudly. "What's more, it'll be the undoing of your little firecracker too. I'm going to kill her, Sonny. I'm going to choke the life out of her body with my bare hands, just like I did to your roommate."
Roommate? What was he talking about? Rachel hadn't mentioned another person being there, and I hadn't seen a dead body through the camera.
"If you think you could ever take my girl down, then I'm not the only person here whose stupider than he looks," Sonny said. "She's unstoppable, my daughter. And, if I were you, I'd be worried about what happens when she finds you."
"Finds me?" The mayor laughed. "I've done everything but shoot fucking signal flares into the sky. I want that bitch on my doorstep. She and Waters are going to pay for what he's doing to me. When I'm finished, they'll be nothing more than fish food." He punched Sonny hard across the face. I felt Hope jerk as she took it in. "And the best part is, you'll live long enough to see it. But not much longer."
He stood and started toward the door.
"I'm going to send the police department to go round up all the drug addicts roaming the city tonight. If I don't find one who’s armed, one who corroborates your story, I'm coming back here with a pair of wire cutters. You'll pay for your lies with your tongue."
Having only had one interaction with the mayor so far I was more than a little surprised to see how dark and corrupted he truly was. In the interrogation room he seemed softer, not like he was trying to do me a favor exactly. But just not so obviously criminal.
"You know what?" the mayor said, then turned to Sonny. "On second thought..."
BANG!
The sound of a single gunshot boomed through the basement and out from the computer screen. I watched as Sonny's white shirt began to soak red with blood. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Mayor Hall had just shot a man, right in the chest, in cold blood.
"Noooo!" Hope screamed, slamming the computer into the floor.
"Wait!" I screamed, trying my best to stop her, but I was too late.<
br />
The laptop slammed hard against the old wooden floor. Fragments of the screen mixed along with letter keys rained into the air all around me as Hope slammed her fist repeatedly against the wall.
"I'm going to kill him,” she said. "I'm going to kill him!"
She was awash in pain and anger and in other any other circumstances I wouldn't have taken her seriously, but in that moment I knew she meant the words she was saying. I knew that if she did manage to get near Mayor Hall one of them wouldn't walk away.
"Hope!" I said.
"Be quiet!” she yelled at me.
Getting on my knees and riffling through the computer fragments on the ground I tried my best to find some sign of Rachel. But it was useless, the laptop was broken and our connection to Rachel was gone.
"I can't see them now,” I said.
"He's dead. Again!" Hope said. "I already mourned him once!"
"Can you get Rachel back?" I asked.
"Just her earpiece,” Hope said, pulling a small wire out of the broken mess and plugging it into a small speaker filling with the sound of Rachel’s voice.
"Guys!" she yelled. "Can you hear me?"
"I've got you!" I said.
"He's bleeding out." she said, her voice shaking. "I don't think I can stop it."
"Get out of there,” I said.
"No!" Hope yelled. "Stay with him. We're on our way!"
"We can't go there." I said. "It’s a trap."
"I know it’s a trap,” she said. "I'm counting on it."
"What good will it do getting ourselves caught too?" I asked. "Or worse, killed?"
"It'll get me next to that crooked mayor. That's all I want,” Hope said, tears streaming down her face.
"Rachel!" I yelled into the speaker. “Leave, now. Run!"
"No!" Hope yelled back. "Stay with him. Just until I get there."
"Anna Maria is two hours away,” I said.
"I can't hold him that long." Rachel’s voice filled the air. "He's fading fast. He only has a few minutes..."
"I'm going,” Hope said. "With or without you."
"I'll come with you,” I said. "It’s my fault we're all in this mess. But Rachel needs to go. If Mayor Hall finds her there—”
"That's a chance I'm just going to have and take,” Rachel said. "I'm not going to leave him."
"Thank you..." Hope cried into the small speaker. "Just tell him I'm coming."
"I will,” Rachel responded.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
W E HAD NO WAY OF HEARING FROM RACHEL AFTER LEAVING THE SMALL CABIN AND THE THOUGHT OF SAFETY OCCUPIED EVERY INCH OF MY MIND. I had no way of knowing if she was even still there, if she was okay. Or, if Mayor Hall or one of his cronies had come back and found her there. The only thing I could do was hope and pray to any god that existed that I would get to her and she would be okay. I couldn't have the blood of another innocent person on my hands.
Hope's eyes stayed laser focused on the highway ahead of us. Thick trees and heavy wetlands stretched out for miles all around us as we sped down the Florida highway. It took us a while to reach the car from the cabin. I didn't realize just how deep into the woods we were before then. And all that added time only made my concern for Rachel’s safety even more nerve-racking.
"Listen," I said. "You need to slow down. If we get stopped by the police for speeding and he's recognizes us we'll never make there."
"I'm trying to get there before he dies, Brandon,” she said. "I want to see him. Don't you get that?"
"Yeah," I said. "I get that. I get that big time, okay. My brother is in jail and all I want is to be able to see him too."
"Your brother?" she scoffed. "That's not even close to the same thing. Your brother is alive, not lying on the floor of some basement bleeding out!"
"I'm sorry," I said. "You're right. I guess its not the same thing. I'm just really worried too. About my brother, about Rachel and about us."
"Come off of it. We're all adults. We're responsible for our own actions. But you can play the guilt card if you want. If that'll make you feel better,” she said, rounding a wide turn.
"Feel better?" I said, feeling the anger rise inside of me. "I'm not trying to fucking feel better. I'm trying to not get anyone killed. Yourself included."
"Then tell me the truth!" Hope said. "Tell me the whole truth!"
"What truth?" I said.
"What was Mayor Hall talking about. What did he mean 'all the shit you've been trying to get over on him'. What aren't you telling me?" Hope said, anger rising in her voice.
"I have no idea what he's talking about. He's probably just making it up,” I said.
"All this time and I thought you were as clueless as me. I broke you out of jail. I drove to Miami to get help. And all this time you've been keeping the real reasons for all of this shit from me,” she said.
"That’s bullshit!" I said. "I've done no such thing. I have no idea what that asshole has cooked up in his mind, but I promise you I'm going to find out."
"Really?" she said. "That’s the story you're going with? That you have no idea why the mayor would go through the trouble of framing you and your brother. Just out of the blue like that with no reason?”
"Yes!" I slammed my hand into the dash. "That’s what I'm telling you."
"I'm not buying it!" Hope said. "You've been keeping something from me. And that something got the only father I've ever known kidnapped, held hostage then shot on a basement floor. So I'm gonna ask you again. What are you not telling me?"
"Nothing!" I said. "All I know is that I'm being framed for murder and I'm going to find the person responsible. And I'm doing it whether you believe me or not."
"Then you'll be doing it alone,” she said.
"Fine!" I exclaimed. "I'll find him and figure out what he's up to."
"Not if I find him first,” Hope said.
We spent the next hour in relative silence as we sped toward Anna Maria Island. I couldn't believe what she was accusing me of. Did she really think I was keeping something from her? Surely after spending so much time with me she knew better than that, better than to think I would endanger so many lives for my own selfish reasons.
It was insulting and with every mile we drove I became more and more angry thinking about it. I hadn't asked Sonny to go to the island, I only asked him about my parents and about why they sent me to him. And until Sonny sent me to Hope I didn't even know who she was. All I wanted to do, all I ever wanted to do was help my little brother and now I was riding next to a woman that thought of me as nothing more than some lying criminal.
"You know,” I said. "I would have believed you."
"What?" Hope said.
"If Mayor Hall had said those things about you and you told me you didn't know what he was talking about. I would have believed you. I wouldn't have gotten angry and called you a liar,” I said.
"Since getting caught up with you I've done nothing but run and hide. If he's dead when I get there then I'll have watched him die twice, each time standing next to you,” she said.
"I can't believe you're trying to pin that on me,” I said. "I almost lost my own life trying to save yours, or have you forgotten that?"
"Hey, buddy,” she said. "I've saved your life too. I could have left you for dead any number of times. I didn't have to risk my life either."
"I never asked you to."
"I just want to get there and see him,” she said. "I want to stand over him, living or dead and tell him everything he already knows. That I love him, that I'll miss him and that I could never thank him enough for everything he's done for me."
"I'm not trying to stop you,” I said. "But you need to know that this whole time I have done nothing but what I thought was the right thing. I'm not lying to you. I never have. And I never asked you to risk your life for me."
"For you!" Hope yelled, my words only seeming to make her angrier. "This was for me. I did this for me. So that I could make the people who hurt Sonny pay. So that I woul
dn't feel like I had let down the only person who ever cared about me. I came because you meant something to someone that meant something to me. All Sonny has ever done is care for and protect me so I was trying to protect something that mattered to him. You! For whatever reason you and your brother matter to him. But you don't matter to me, not now. Not anymore. I will right this wrong. I will avenge Sonny and if you try to get in my way..."
"What?" I yelled. "You'll kill me too? If I mattered so much to him is that really what he'd want?"
"You don't get to talk about what my father would want. Do you hear me? You didn't know him. From now on keep my family out of your mouth,” Hope said in a steady voice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
O UR TIRES SQUEALED HARD AS WE SLID TO A STOP IN FRONT OF THE SMALL HOUSE ON ANNA MARIA ISLAND. A few swift kicks from Hope and the front door cracked wide at the handle. Together and without a word we punched hard, sending it flying toward the ground before running in and heading straight for the basement.
"Is he okay?" Hope's voice echoed throughout the almost empty house.
But by the time we reached the basement it was too late. Sonny was dead. Hope collapsed to her knees beside him, holding her face in her hands and bawling her eyes out.
Rachel sat on the ground behind him holding his head in her lap. Her still wet tears shimmered in the low light of the basement and for the first time since knowing her I saw her cry. "I couldn't save him..." she said. "I stayed with him, but I couldn't save him."
"Thank you." Hope raised her eyes toward Rachel.
My mind was running a million miles-an-hour. We needed to get out of there, but I knew saying that to Hope would send her spiraling into another fit of anger. While I couldn't be exactly sure if she meant what she said in the car about me keeping away from her, I knew one thing for sure. Whether it was anger, confusion or a mix of both, Hope no longer trusted me. At least, not in that moment.
"Did anything else happen?" I looked to Rachel.
