Second Sight

by Sharon Sala

  “Aaron Walters! Drop your gun or I’ll shoot!”

  His shout startled Aaron enough to make his first shot go wild, and as he was turning around to take aim at Charlie, Charlie cleared the threshold in one long leap, taking Aaron down. The gun went flying as Charlie landed on top of him, then drew back his fist and knocked him unconscious with one blow. Charlie had a brief glimpse of a young, long-legged girl running toward Aaron as he’d come through the door, but now that Aaron was down, Charlie rocked back on his heels and looked up.

  The girl had come to a halt, the spear still raised in a gesture of defense. Her eyes were wide and fear-filled, and yet there she stood, still in attack mode.

  “Jordan’s here. We got her, Wyrick. We got her,” he said.

  Then Wyrick’s voice was in his ear.

  “You did it, Charlie. All I did was turn out the lights.”

  Charlie quickly cuffed Aaron, then stood.

  “Jordan Bien, my name is Charlie Dodge. Your mama hired me to find you. I came to take you home.”

  Jordan dropped the spear, took a few steps forward, then fell into Charlie’s arms, shaking so hard she could barely stand.

  Charlie felt her trembling and kept patting her back over and over, talking to her in a calm, steady voice.

  “It’s okay, honey. It’s okay. This nightmare is almost over for all of you, but right now, I need you to get to the back of the building and stay down. It’s not safe to bring any of you out until the FBI has all of the men in custody, okay?”

  Jordan glanced down at the Master. He’d been her monster in this hell, and Charlie Dodge had taken away his power. She let go of Charlie and stepped back, watching intently as Charlie retrieved the gun, but it wasn’t until he pulled a long zip tie from his pocket and shackled Aaron legs together at the ankles that she began to realize this was over. The demon who’d taken away their freedom had just been cuffed and hobbled.

  Outside, the sounds of shouting and then a random burst of gunfire could be heard as Charlie moved Jordan to the back of the room with the other girls.

  “All of you, stay down,” he said. “The FBI is here arresting all the men. They don’t want to bring you out until everyone is in custody. I’m going to stay here with you, okay?”

  They nodded silently but never took their eyes off him as he sat down.

  At that point, Charlie radioed Hank. He answered, sounding a little breathless, but calm.

  “This is Raines.”

  “Aaron Walters, the man who called himself the Master, is in the girls’ dorm, handcuffed and unconscious. When you get a minute, send some men to come get him. He came in here armed and with full intent on killing my girl and shooting up the place. He scared the shit out of all of them.”

  “Are they okay?” Hank asked.

  “They are now,” Charlie said.

  “Good job. Sending men,” Hank said.

  Charlie glanced at the kids all huddled beneath the metal beds and staring up at him, in a state Charlie would have called shell-shocked.

  Jordan was sitting on a bed, facing him, transfixed by his presence and the safety he represented.

  It didn’t take long before thirteen little girls came crawling out from beneath the beds, in varying states of shock and disbelief.

  “Are we really going home?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, baby. You’re really going home,” Charlie said.

  They looked at each other and then at Charlie again, but instead of celebrating, they reached for each other and held hands, still in disbelief that this would truly be over.

  Jordan was afraid to speak and find out she’d just been dreaming, that none of this was real and they were still lost to the world. But the longer she sat, the more reality sank in.

  Then she thought of her father’s message.

  “Is Jud with you?”

  Charlie was a little surprised that she referred to her father that way but answered without hesitation.

  “No. The Feds took him into custody after he gave us the lowdown on how to get inside.”

  She sighed. At least he’d kept the promise to come back for her.

  “Where’s my mama?”

  “She’s in a hotel in Lexington, waiting for me to take you there. She wanted to come here today, but I wouldn’t let her. I did, however, promise that I’d let you call her the minute I had you safe, so how about we do that now?”

  Jordan nodded, her heart pounding as she watched Charlie make the call, then get up and hand her the phone.

  “It’s ringing,” he said.

  Jordan took it, her hands trembling so hard she almost dropped it, and then she heard her mother’s voice.

  “Hello? Charlie?”

  Jordan swallowed past the lump in her throat.

  “Mama, it’s me.”

  Her mother’s cry of joy shattered the last of the wall Jordan had kept tight around herself, and now she was trying desperately not to cry.

  “Are you okay? Are you safe?” Tara asked.

  “Yes, I’m safe now. Charlie is here beside me.”

  But it wasn’t until she realized her mother was crying and talking all at the same time that she felt her own tears coming. She took a breath, listening to the sound of her mother’s voice, but couldn’t respond. Unable to stand it any longer, she handed the phone back to Charlie and buried her face in her hands, releasing in deep, choking sobs every horror she’d endured and every fear she’d had that this day would never happen.

  Tara stopped talking the moment she heard it, and a thousand things went through her mind as to what was happening. She was almost in hysterics, screaming Jordan’s name over and over, when Charlie got back on the phone.

  “Tara! Tara! Jordan is okay. I think it was the sound of your voice, and maybe the relief of being safe that undid her. Just give her a minute and I’ll put her back on the phone, okay?”

  “Yes, okay. It’s my fault. I asked too much, too soon. She doesn’t need to talk until she’s ready. Just so you know, I’m at the Embassy Suites by Hilton. The street is Newtown Pike. Just tell her it’s all okay and I love her.”

  “I will,” Charlie said. Putting the phone in his pocket, he moved to sit beside Jordan and pulled her close.

  “Your mama said everything is okay and that she loves you. And she’s right. It is okay, honey. It’s okay to cry. Cry out every ugly thing you’ve seen and every bad thing that happened to you, and let it go. You beat them. You survived this place. All of you did. You aren’t victims. You are survivors.”

  * * *

  Wyrick was back at the cabin with her head down between her arms, listening to Jordan’s gut-wrenching sobs and shedding silent tears with her. If she pretended, she could almost believe that Charlie was talking straight to her, his lips against her ear, whispering to her, telling her to cry it out, reminding her that she was no longer a victim, but a survivor.

  The relief of finding Jordan was sweet, and being able to get the other girls out in the same process was huge. But there was much yet to do. Since the men had left the cabin on foot, getting back to their vehicles was on them, as well.

  But not for Charlie. She let go of the self-pity that she’d wallowed in, pulled herself together and asked him another question.

  “Are the prisoners contained?”

  “I’m with the girls, but from what I can see from the window, I think most of them are. I still see movement at the married couples’ building, but it appears they’re mostly waiting for buses to come pick up the prisoners.”

  “Then I’m packing us up. Give me the go-ahead when they begin loading up the men, and I’m heading your way.”

  “The car keys are in my shaving kit in the bathroom,” Charlie said.

  “Noted,” Wyrick said, and then she was gone.

  * * *

  The girls had gathered a
round Charlie, like little chicks trying to get beneath the old hen’s wings. He was big and strong, and he’d taken the Master down in front of their eyes. They kept glancing at the Master’s unconscious body, afraid he’d wake up and become the Master again, issuing orders everyone was expected to follow.

  Jordan had been watching him, too, and when she sensed he was coming to, she got up and walked toward him.

  Charlie frowned, then stood and followed her. When he noticed her hands were doubled into fists, he got it. She needed to see him powerless.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded but stayed in place, watching the Master waking up in a whole new world. There was a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. And when his eyelids began to flutter, she shifted position so that her face would be the first thing he saw.

  * * *

  Aaron’s whole face was throbbing, and he kept tasting blood. He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew he wasn’t in bed. He moaned, then reached for his nose. That was when he realized he was in handcuffs, and he remembered!

  When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Jordan, standing over him and staring down at his face. Then he saw the man beside her.

  “You broke my nose,” he mumbled.

  “Hurts, doesn’t it?” Jordan said.

  Aaron glared but wouldn’t respond.

  “Believe me, it gets worse before it gets better,” she added, then kicked the sole of his shoe before walking off.

  Aaron shouted. “Damn you, Jordan Bien! Everything was fine until you came along!”

  Charlie grabbed Aaron by the hair. “Shut your mouth. You aren’t fit to say her name!”

  “Ow, ow, you’re pulling my hair. Police brutality! Police brutality!” he shrieked.

  “I’m not a cop,” Charlie said and then abruptly let go, taking satisfaction in the thump when Aaron’s head hit the floor.

  Aaron groaned. He’d never felt this helpless in his life. And to make matters worse, he knew the two armed men walking in the door had come for him. Their disdain was obvious as they looked at him. Disgusting. They thought of him as disgusting. The beautiful dream was over.

  “Charlie Dodge. We came to relieve you of your prisoner.”

  Charlie handed them the gun. “This is his. He shot at one of the girls, but the shot went wild. He intended to kill them all, and you have thirteen witnesses who heard him say it. You might need to cut the zip tie around his ankles so you can walk him out. He’s way too big to carry.”

  “He’s fat,” Barbie said and then clasped her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry. That’s not a nice thing to say.”

  “Since he came with the intent to shoot everybody here, you are certainly entitled to your opinion of the man, honey. Don’t worry about it,” Charlie said.

  The agents cut the tie, dragged Aaron Walters up to his feet and hauled him out and across the compound, then dropped him into the dirt with the rest of the men they were in the process of arresting.

  The men who’d called themselves Archangels were now belly down in the dirt, their arms spread out like the wings they would never earn, waiting to be cuffed, while others were already in restraints and sitting cross-legged in the dirt.

  When the Master was brought into their midst and dumped on his ass in the dirt, they looked at him in shock, and then quickly looked away. Their vision of creating a superior race had ended in a most convincing way.

  Some of them had given up without a fight, while a few had tried to run, but the only way out was the gate where the SWAT team was coming through, and so it became their trap instead of their exit.

  * * *

  The couples in the married units were unsuspecting of what was happening until the team kicked in the main door. The noise brought the husbands out into the common room, in shock at the swarm of armed men coming at them, shouting.

  “FBI! FBI! Get down on the floor, get down on the floor now!”

  They went belly down and were immediately cuffed, and then the SWAT members began dragging them out into the courtyard.

  Suddenly one of them stopped.

  “This is only five. They said there are six married couples. We’re missing a man.”

  The child wives were standing in the open doorways of their apartments, watching what was happening in disbelief, while the babies in their arms were shrieking in their ears.

  “Ladies, we’re missing one man. Could you tell us where he is?”

  One of the girls stepped out of her doorway and pointed.

  “Archangel Larry and his wife, Maria, live in the last apartment on the right.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. Now, all of you please stay inside your apartments until we have him in custody. And stay inside this building until we have removed the men from the compound. When it’s safe, we’ll come back for you,” he said.

  The girls nodded, then watched as a half dozen agents took off toward the last apartment at a jog.

  SWAT was concerned. The fact that one man had not come out when the others did was concerning. They didn’t want a hostage situation on their hands. As soon as they reached the apartment, they pounded on the door.

  “FBI! Open up! You’re under arrest!”

  They heard voices inside, then the sounds of a man and woman arguing, the sound of something breaking, then silence.

  The leader grimaced.

  “We’re going in.”

  They kicked in the door and swarmed into a foyer, only to find themselves facing a man with a toddler held against his chest with one hand, and a gun aimed at them with the other.

  “FBI. Drop the gun! You’re under arrest for kidnapping!”

  “I’m not going to prison!” the man shouted, and then he did the unthinkable. He turned the gun to his own baby’s head and started screaming. “I’ll shoot him, so help me God, unless you let me pass!”

  Just then, a young girl came running into the room with a rifle, and before they could stop her, she put the barrel to the back of her husband’s head and pulled the trigger.

  Blood spattered all over the screaming baby, and then it was falling head over heels toward the floor.

  A quick-thinking agent grabbed the baby in midair, while another one stepped over the dead man’s body and took the rifle out of the mother’s hand.

  She was pale and shaking, and swaying on her feet.

  “I couldn’t let him kill Andy. Larry always does what he says. He would have done it.”

  Her arms had both new and fading bruises, and her nose was bleeding, but it was the lack of expression on her face that was most telling. The baby was screaming and reaching toward her, but she didn’t seem to be able to move.

  “Is Andy okay? Did he hurt my baby?” she asked.

  “Your baby is fine. Your husband never fired his weapon.”

  “Is he dead?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” the agent said.

  “Thank God,” she said and then fainted, while the baby continued to scream.

  Two of the young wives were suddenly standing in the door.

  “Give us the baby,” one of them said and then pointed at the girl on the floor. “Bring her to us.”

  The agents handed the baby over, and then carried Maria to them, leaving the dead body for the coroner.

  The wives had gathered in one apartment, and a couple of them were already stripping the crying baby and carrying him to the sink to wash off the blood. Their own children were on the floor or in playpens, crying along with him.

  Maria was already regaining consciousness as the men laid her on the sofa.

  “Ma’am, you’re safe here. All of you stay together. We’ll be back for you when the men are gone,” the agent said, and then the men left to notify headquarters they had one casualty.

  All of a sudden the girls were alone, an
d the entrance door that was always locked was standing ajar.

  “That was the FBI,” one of them said, shifting the toddler in her arms to her other hip.

  The others nodded.

  “They’re coming back for us,” she said, as if repeating the agent’s words would make them real.

  Another one walked all the way across the common room to the open door. They’d never been allowed to leave on their own, and now the door was open. She glanced out and saw all of the Archangels, who’d been taken into custody, sitting in the middle of the compound.

  She came running back.

  “The men are all handcuffed and sitting on the ground. I’m going to pack. I think we’re being rescued. I think they’re going to take us home,” she said.

  “What if our families don’t want us now? We haven’t been to school since we were taken. We have babies. I’m scared. What if home isn’t there anymore?” Maria said and started to cry.

  * * *

  Within twenty minutes of Archangel Larry’s demise, prison transport buses began arriving. And as soon as one was full, the next one pulled into line, and then the next and the next, until thirty-three men were all loaded. Number thirty-four was being left behind for a coroner to haul away.

  Each bus had a driver and two guards on board, both of whom stood at the front with their weapons at the ready, staring into the faces of the men handcuffed to the seats.

  None of the men had ever been arrested before, and the shock of what just happened had taken them down to a level of submission that was a mirror image to the females they’d kidnapped. It was karma at its finest.

  When they loaded Aaron Walters onto the bus, the Archangels stared at him.

  “Why didn’t the security alarms go off?” one asked.

  “You are the all-knowing one, Master. Why didn’t you warn us?” another asked.

  “I didn’t see them coming until it was too late,” Aaron said.

  “They’ve been watching us,” another man shouted. “I told you months ago there were people in and out of that house in the woods.”