The Hunters Series Box Set

by Glenn Trust

  Darlington stood. “Good. Take this serious, Clay.”

  Driving back to Everett, he passed through Judges Creek. The Stinson trailer sat at the edge of town. Eyeing it as he passed by, Mike wondered if the dead dog was still in the weeds by the front porch. Probably, he thought.

  He shook his head in disgust. Trash is trash, and the Stinsons were definitely trash…the worst kind of trash…poison trash….the kind that destroys everything it touches.

  41. A Good One

  “She’s there…in the house.”

  “You see her?” Bain leaned forward, peering through the windshield at the old house where Ruby and Lyn lived.

  “No, I don’t see her, dumbass. But the lights are on, and there’s that boy’s truck in the yard.” Albert pointed. “He’s with her.”

  “He’s there? We gonna do it? Do it now?” Bain swallowed hard. “That the plan? Kill him now?”

  Albert pressed the accelerator and the truck sped into the dark, back towards Judges Creek. “No, we ain’t gonna do it now. You really are some kind of fool or somethin’.”

  “I was just askin’.”

  “Well, quit askin’ stupid questions.”

  Albert drove back to the trailer, thinking it through. When they were inside, surrounded by the garbage of their lives, he explained to his brother.

  “We don’t do it here…not anywhere around Judges Creek. It’s too close to home. We’d have the law on us before the crows pecked the eyes out of his carcass.” He paced the dim room, from one yellowed, smoke-tainted wall across to the other and back. “We do it somewhere away from here…someplace we can control things.”

  “Where?” Bain sat on the sofa beside Danny, leaning forward, chain-smoking nervously.

  “I got a place in mind.”

  “How do we get him there? He’ll be watchin’ for us.”

  “You know little brother, sometimes you ain’t as dumb as I figure. That’s right…he’ll be watchin’ for us. He might even fight us. He killed Carl after all.”

  “Fight us?” Bain eyes darted nervously from his cigarette to Albert standing in the center of the room. “Kill us?”

  “I didn’t say he would kill us. Just said he might fight us…try to kill us.” Albert shook his head. “But we ain’t gonna let that happen. We’ll get him where we want him…have him come to us where he won’t fight us…then we do it.”

  “How? He ain’t gonna let us just do it to him.”

  “There’s ways.”

  “You got a plan?”

  Albert grinned. “Hell yeah, I got a plan. It’s a good one.”

  42. Hell Was Persistent

  The usual smile crossed her face, watching the pickup’s taillights disappear into the early morning mist. Lyn gave a wave and Clay stuck his hand out the window and returned it.

  He had spent the night with her…on the sofa, as he did when Ruby was around, not that she would have objected. Lyn wasn’t ready for them to be together like that. Sometimes he wondered if she would ever be.

  Reluctantly, he was headed back to Valdosta to his brother and their job. Lyn was taking her mother’s car back to Jacksonville. She would stay with Ruby at the hospital until she could be moved.

  It was because of Clay that she could drive the car. He had insisted, said she needed to know how to drive. The lessons had been in his pickup. When she was comfortable, he had taken her to get her driver’s test.

  It was just one of the things he had done for her since…‘that time’. She closed her eyes and shook her head to force the flashing images away. She rarely thought about it anymore and fought the nightmares when they came, but calling it ‘that time’ whenever the subject came up, was as close as she could come to discussing it.

  A half-hour after the pickup left, she placed a small bag in the passenger seat of her mother’s car, went around to the driver’s side and got behind the wheel. Key in the ignition…pull the seatbelt around her…check the mirror…she went through her checklist.

  Driving remained a novelty to her. She felt a pang of guilt at her excitement and reminded herself of the reason for the trip. Mama was hurt in the hospital.

  Still, she had only driven locally up to now. Going to Jacksonville, not just out of Pickham County, but out of state, was an adventure.

  She turned the key. The car started smoothly. She reached for the gearshift.

  “Where the hell you think you’re goin’?”

  A vast bulk leaned into the car through the driver’s window, and a rough hand clamped over hers so that she couldn’t move the gearshift. Uncle Albert grinned into her face. Lyn sat frozen, shocked by the suddenness of his appearance.

  “You comin’ with us.”

  He jerked the door open, took hold of her left arm and pulled hard enough that the pain overcame her stunned fright. She screamed.

  “Shut up!” Albert backhanded her across the mouth hard enough to start a trickle of blood down her chin.

  He jerked her arm again and found that the seatbelt was holding her in the car. He reached into his pocket with one hand. Leaning his weight against her to keep her in place, he opened a large folding knife and sawed through the tough synthetic webbing.

  Hands clenching the steering wheel, Lyn struggled to remain in the car, exerting every bit of her strength. Albert was a large man, more than powerful enough to overcome her efforts to stay behind the wheel of the car.

  The last fibers of the seatbelt snapped as Albert pulled at her. She screamed again. He would have hit her again if his hands had not been occupied, trying to control her squirming and kicking struggles.

  “No…nooo!” They were the only words she could form through her fear-constricted throat.

  Headlights appeared and bounced into the small yard. Bain steered the old truck to within five feet of Albert and the struggling girl.

  “Took you long enough!” Albert was breathless as he tried to control Lyn.

  Bain jumped from behind the steering wheel and ran to the passenger side to pull open the door. Together they shoved Lyn into the extended cab compartment of the pickup behind the seats, slammed the door and leaned against the side of the truck, catching their breath.

  “Took your fuckin’ time,” Albert said, catching his breath.

  “Sorry. Had to wait for that asshole to leave.” Bain took a deep breath. And looked at Lyn in the truck. “She put up a hell of a fight for a little girl.”

  “Yeah…she won’t be fightin’ long though.”

  Bain laughed, shaking his head. “He drove right by me where I was hid in the dark…never saw me. We coulda done it right then…saved all this trouble.”

  “Told you last night. It’d be too…obvious.” He said the word carefully, watching Bain to make sure he understood. “They’d know it was us right off…be all over us. Them county boys wouldn’t stop ‘til they found some way to lock us up.”

  “Right.” Bain nodded. “I forgot.”

  Albert went around to the driver’s side. Ten minutes later, they were on a state highway, headed north, out of Pickham County. Bain figured enough time had gone by to venture a question.

  “Albert?”

  “What?”

  “Why is it he’s gonna come where we want him to?”

  “Jesus…told you that last night too.”

  “Tell me again.” He glanced over his shoulder into Lyn’s wide, stunned eyes. “Just want to make sure I got things straight in my head.”

  “Damn, boy! Sometimes I think daddy must have hit you hard once too often.” Albert glanced in the mirror at a car that approached from the rear and then passed them. He spoke more quietly. “That boy followed her all across the state…wouldn’t be stopped. I reckon he’ll do it again. We’ll be waitin’ where no one will find us and where they won’t never find him once we’re done with his carcass.”

  “Right.” Bain nodded slowly. “Right. I get it.”

  Crowded into the compartment behind the seats Lyn was surprised that there was someon
e else with her. The green eyes of the young woman peered at her over the duct tape wrapped around her mouth and head. More tape bound her wrists together. Lyn had no idea who the girl was or what she had done to incur her uncles’ displeasure. She felt a guilty sense of relief to have the bound girl there with her. She was not alone.

  She wondered briefly, who the girl was, then shook her head. There was no time to consider that question now. She had to think…force her short-circuiting brain to focus. They wanted Clay.

  She had warned him. The deputy, Mike Darlington had warned him. He had promised to be careful.

  Thank God, he was gone, but everything was changed now. Her uncles were right. Clay would come for her. He always had. She leaned forward peering out the windshield between her uncles.

  “Sit back!” Bain turned around in his seat and pushed her back against the wall of the compartment. In the dim light from the dashboard, he was able to make out the bruised face of his niece. “Shit! Lookit her face. Ole Carl did a job on her…huh, Albert…he really did a job.”

  “Yeah, he did.” Albert looked into the headlight glare leading them through the dark trees that lined the road and smiled.

  Bain leaned closer to Lyn. “You set still and nothin’ bad will happen to you.” He turned to his brother. “Right, Albert? Nothin’ bad gonna happen to her. Right?”

  Albert grinned. Lyn could see it in the dark of the truck cab. It was the devil grin…the Stinson grin…her father’s grin that always preceded a storm of violence. She had seen it on his face a thousand times, and she knew it for what it was. It promised only pain and fear…and hell.

  She had been trying to escape that hell all of her life. A cold shudder shook her from the inside. There was no escape. It seemed that hell was persistent.

  Part Three: The Redemption

  Hell is yourself and the only redemption is when a person puts himself aside to feel deeply for another person.

  ~Tennessee Williams~

  ___________________________

  It may be -- I hope it is -- redemption to guess and perhaps perceive that the universe, the hell which we see for all its beauty, vastness, majesty, is only part of a whole which is quite unimaginable.

  ~William Golding~

  A Moving Target

  43. No Time For Tears

  The cell phone vibrated in his shirt pocket. He pulled it out, wiped the dust from the screen with his thumb and looked at the number. It was Lyn.

  With the same thumb, he punched the answer button, relieved that she had made it to Jacksonville. She hadn’t been in contact since leaving the house earlier that morning and road trips were new to her.

  He stepped away from his brother who was speaking in an aggravated, elevated voice on his own cell phone, arguing with a supplier over the lumber that should have been delivered to them that morning.

  “It’s about time. I was beginning to get worried about you.” The smile evaporated from his face when the voice on the other end spoke.

  “You should be worried about her,” Albert said quietly. “You should be goddamned worried about the little bitch.”

  “Who is this?”

  “You know who.”

  “Where are you? Where is she?”

  Albert gave an amused laugh. “I ain’t stupid, boy.”

  “What do you want?”

  “You know what.”

  Clay stepped outside into the bright afternoon light. The new strip center was on a busy street on the outskirts of Valdosta. Trucks and cars sped by, moving from one traffic light to the next as fast as they could, slowing at the light, then speeding up again, racing to the next. He watched the traffic absently, trying to make his mind work…think.

  He was brought back to the present by Albert’s voice. “You still there, boy?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Good. We got to make things right…you and us.”

  “Your brother attacked me. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I was just trying to keep from getting cut.” Clay knew the words would be meaningless to Stinson. He said them because there was nothing else to say.

  “Don’t matter what he did or what you meant to do. Carl is dead. There’s a debt to pay. You’re gonna pay it.”

  “Let her go, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Told you. We ain’t stupid.” Albert laughed again, loud and harsh now. “You’re gonna do what we say all right, but it ain’t gonna be that easy.”

  “Don’t hurt her. I’ll do whatever you say.”

  “Goddamned right you gonna do what we say. Whether we hurt her or not…that’s up to you.”

  “I understand.”

  “You understand, do you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, understand this. You tell anyone about us…about this call…you go to the law…say a word, and she’s dead. You understand that?”

  “Yes.”

  “It won’t be pretty. I don’t care if she’s blood kin or not. We’ll hurt her bad before we do it. You believe that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. So here’s what you do. Make your way to Mobile.”

  “Alabama?” Clay’s mind was whirling.

  “Hell, yes Alabama! That’s where Mobile is, now ain’t it? Glad you’re payin’ attention, boy. Get there by tomorrow noon.”

  “I’ll get there by tonight.”

  “Do what you want, but we won’t be in touch until tomorrow noon.”

  “Mobile. Okay. When I get there, you let her go. This’ll be between us.”

  “Not so fast, boy. When you get there, head out to the old battleship on the bay…the USS Alabama.”

  “Right. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Not gonna be that easy, boy. You get there…no law around…we’ll tell you where else you go.”

  “Where else?”

  “Yeah. We’re gonna take a road trip. Wander around a bit. We’ll be watching. You won’t know when or where, but we’ll be around. When the time is right…when we’re sure you ain’t told nobody…we’ll meet and settle up. Until then, you won’t know where or when, so just do like you’re told. Understand?”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. One more thing. You keep that phone with you, charged up and ready to go. It rings, you better answer. Now that we have your attention…” Albert chuckled. “We’ll be using different phones…just in case you don’t do like I said…in case you tell someone.”

  “I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Good. For my niece’s sake I hope you don’t.” Albert flashed the devil grin at Lyn in the back of the truck. “Now get movin’, boy.”

  Slack-jawed and wide-eyed Bain watched Albert toss the phone onto the dashboard. He worked up the courage to ask his brother a question.

  “I thought you said we wasn’t gonna hurt them.” He looked over his shoulder at the girls. “You said we was just after him…the one did Carl in.”

  “So I did….so I did.” He was about to call his brother a dumb son of a bitch for the hundredth time that day. Overcome by a moment of sibling generosity, he shrugged and explained. “Can’t tell him that though…can we? He needs to believe we mean business or he might not show.” His brow turned downward, a malevolent look filling his eyes. “We sure as shit want him to show. We’re gonna give him every reason to show.” Albert’s forehead lifted and an amused look spread across to his face. “Don’t want to let him off the hook, do we…thinkin’ maybe we don’t mean business?”

  Bain nodded. “Yeah.” He shook his head. “I mean no.”

  “Damn right we don’t want that!” Brotherly generosity only going so far, Albert had exhausted his in the exchange with Bain. “Now shut the fuck up and let me think.”

  Watching from the rear, Lyn looked into the rearview mirror, eyes flashing her understanding of Albert’s intentions even if Bain was beyond comprehension.

  He met her stare, knowing that there was no fooling her. She might have been Carl’s daughter, but she was smart like himself and old
Clyde. That could be a problem if he let her get out of control.

  “You best get rid of that look on your face,” Albert said to the mirror.

  “What look?” Bain’s head swiveled around, confused.

  “Not you, dumbass.” Albert motioned at the mirror. “Her.”

  Lyn turned her gaze to the flowing green patterns of the countryside passing by the window. Clay would come for her. She had to find a way to stop him.

  Fighting back the tears that began to cloud her vision, she told herself angrily…think! There was no time for tears now.

  44. Someone Who Might Know What To Do

  Seeing the look on his brother’s face, Cy ended his call abruptly. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to go.”

  “Why?” Cy shoved the phone in his pocket and crossed the empty, interior of the building, his steps echoing on the bare concrete. “What’s going on?”

  “I can’t say.” Clay looked at Cy and shook his head. “Don’t ask…please.”

  “Is it Mama?”

  “Not Mama?”

  Cy relaxed a little, nodding. He’d seen that look on his brother’s face before. “It’s Lyn, isn’t it?”

  “I can’t talk about it.”

  “The hell you can’t!”

  Clay’s eyes met his brother’s. He shook his head. “No, I can’t.”

  “I’ve seen this before…that day…on the job in Savannah. You took off after her, followed her across Georgia. When you found her, you nearly died…could have died. Hell, you almost did.” He put both hands on Clay’s arms and leaned close. “I’m not letting that happen again.”

  “Not your decision.” Clay reached up and put a hand on Cy’s shoulder. “It’s something I have to do.”

  “Then tell me, at least. I promise that whatever you say, I won’t do anything, tell anyone, not even Mama…unless you tell me to.”