by Cat Gilbert
“Very good, Taylor. That was actually quite close but not close enough." I felt him move closer and knew he was nearly on top of us. This had gone on long enough. I motioned for Candice to head out the back as I made my decision.
I stood up and stepped out into the entry, coming face to face with the barrel of Mac’s gun in Brown’s hand. I looked up into Brown’s face and knew he had made a critical mistake. He had Mac’s gun. A nice, deadly, semi-automatic that I was quite familiar with. That meant the bullets were in a clip. It fed the bullets into the gun, one after another, so you didn’t have to stop and load them by hand. You could carry multiple clips and have a nice supply of ammo. You just had to press the release button and watch the clip drop away and ram another one up into place.
Brown’s problem was two fold. He didn’t have an extra clip and I knew where the button was. I reached out mentally and pressed down on the release, hearing the click as the clip disengaged and dropped from the gun.
The shocked look on Brown’s face was priceless. I grabbed the gun and jammed it upward as he fired, the bullet missing me by inches. I twisted the gun from his hand and gave him a knee in the groin. He bent forward, doubled over in pain and I brought the same knee up into his face, breaking his nose and spraying blood over the wall. I brought the gun around, clubbing him in the side of the head with it and he went down like a ton of bricks. He’d barely hit the floor when I let loose with a hard kick to his kidneys, making sure he was down.
I was out of breath by the time I’d finished with him, but I dropped to my knees to grab the clip and ram it back into place, chambering a round in one fluid motion. He wasn’t moving, but I was ready for him, just in case. I staggered back to my feet and put some distance between us, keeping the gun trained on him. Candice came up beside me, still holding her frying pan and I heard her gasp. Following the stricken look in her eyes past Brown, I saw Bryan’s body on the floor by the fireplace, his face bloody and a red pool staining the rug beneath him. He wasn’t moving. For all I knew Brown had killed him. My thoughts flew to Mac. He was out there somewhere and I needed to find him, but I had to take care of Brown first.
“Candice, get the duct tape,” I ordered. She looked at me in confusion, tears streaming down her face. “Candice! Duct tape. Now!” She snapped out of it and ran back into the kitchen, jerking open drawers in rapid secession, searching for the tape.
I heard a noise from the floor and looked down to see Brown had come to and was trying to get to his feet. I kept the gun on him as he got to his knees and struggled to stand and motioned him to move into the kitchen intending to tape him to one of the sturdy kitchen chairs for safe keeping.
“Well done, Taylor.” He grimaced as he took a breath, and I sincerely hoped I had broken some of his ribs during our fight as well as his nose “You’re good, but once again. Not quite good enough.”
He turned to face me, a smile on his face and suddenly I was flying backwards through the air. I slammed onto the floor, sliding into the stairs behind me so hard the gun was torn from my hand and I watched helpless as it went spinning across the floor back towards Brown. I was momentarily stunned as realization seeped into my rattled brain. Brown had just thrown me across the room without ever laying a hand on me. Dazed, I scrambled to my feet, as he picked up the gun, and turned it on Candice.
“No!” I screamed, desperate to somehow stop him. My gaze was focused on Candice and I saw her eyes widen in fear, fixed somewhere behind me.
“Say, good-bye,” he said and I watched in horror as his finger tightened on the trigger. In a distant part of my mind, I heard the sound of a shell being racked into place behind me and managed to fling myself flat on the floor just as Mama D cut loose with the shotgun.
The impact took him off his feet and pinned him to the wall, where he hung for a minute before sliding onto the floor. At such close range, there wasn’t a chance he’d survive, but I scrambled across the floor for the gun he had dropped just in case and felt immediately better once I had it safe in my hand. My ears were ringing and I was covered in blood. I looked at Brown and from my vantage point on the floor he seemed dead enough. I rolled over and saw Mama D had dropped the gun and collapsed in a heap on the stairs, obviously in shock. I tried to get to my feet without much success and then suddenly, Candice was there helping me up. She was patting me down and hugging me, and I finally figured out that she thought Mama D had shot me too. I looked behind me at holes in the wall, the grouping still tight, just a couple of feet above where my head had been. It had been close. Too close.
Then again, I thought as I struggled to my feet and made my way to the stairs, Mama D was pretty good with that shotgun. I picked it up, securing Mac’s gun in my waistband, as Candice checked on Mama D. She had a bad case of the shakes, but that was to be expected. I wasn’t too steady myself. I motioned for Candice to stay with her while I went to check on Bryan.
He hadn’t moved. There was blood on his face and on the floor beneath him. I couldn’t tell if he was alive or not, couldn’t see him breathing. I knelt down and checked for a pulse. It was there. Surprisingly strong and steady. I quickly checked him over and the only damage was a large gash on his head which accounted for all the blood and a huge bump on his head that accounted for him being out cold. He probably had a concussion, but at least the swelling was on the outside and not inside his brain. That was something, at least. I rolled him over into a recovery position, made sure his airway was clear and went back to check on Candice and Mama D, grabbing a blanket off the sofa to cover Brown’s body on my way. Candice had moved Mama D into a kitchen chair with her back to the carnage. She looked up in question when I came in.
“He’s alive,” I assured her. She breathed out a sigh of relief and I knew she’d been terrified that Brown had killed him. I’d been worried too and I was still worried about Mac, who I had yet to find. “ He got hit on the head and is out cold. You may want to go throw some cold water on him. See if you can get him to come around.”
“Okay.” She was shaky, but got to her feet in spite of it. “Where are you going?”
I handed her Mac’s gun and put the shotgun in easy reach on the kitchen counter. “I’m going upstairs to get my gun and then I’m going to look for Mac. You work on Bryan and stay in the house.” I pointed at the gun in her hand. “Keep that with you. The safety’s off.”
I leaned down and gave Mama D a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She was still in shock and probably would be for a while. I had no idea when she’d managed to get the shotgun. Didn’t know if she’d found it here already, or taken it from our stash. What I did know was that this was the second time she killed a man and that was something you never got over. She’d just saved all our bacon. It was a fact that dimmed in light of such a violent action but it might help her be able to live with what had happened. She had done what she had to do, but that didn’t make me any less sorry that she’d had to do it. Not for the first time, the thought crossed my mind of how much better off they would all be if they’d never known me. They would be home, happy and safe. I had given them the choice, but that didn’t change the facts. This had happened because of me and I had to find a way to live with it.
I headed quickly upstairs, giving the cabin a once over on my way up. By the time I reached my room, I was pretty certain Mac wasn’t in the house, which meant he was somewhere outside the cabin. I pulled my gun out of the drawer, slipping an extra clip inside my pocket. I figured that if Brown had help coming from the Agency, he would have waited to make his move until they were there, but I wasn’t positive. Maybe he had waited and they had been outside taking care of Mac while Brown was busy with us inside, but there had been enough time and gunfire for them to come running if that was the case and no one had showed up.
In any event, I wanted to be ready in case I ran into some of his friends out there in the woods. I’d already nearly gotten everyone killed tonight underestimating Brown and leaving my gun behind. Once was more than enough.
When I came back down, Bryan was awake and sitting up in a kitchen chair. He might have been awake, but he wasn’t focusing yet and looked like he was going to pass out again at any second, so he was of no use.
“Keep watch,” I told Candice, as I grabbed a jacket and threw it on. “He might not be alone.” I gave her a nod and slipped out the door into the night.
THIRTY-FIVE
I STEPPED OUT to be greeted by a sky full of stars and a nearly full moon. At high altitude, the sky seemed almost close enough to touch and without the smog from the distant cities, gave off enough light not to need a flashlight to search the clearing around the house.
Whatever Brown had that made him buzz, Mac didn’t have. I had been happy about that, but now would have given anything to hear it. It would have made it much easier to find him now that I’d figured out how to hear the minute changes in the buzz.
I might not be able to hear him, but I knew Mac could hear me. I’d gotten through to him in the bank. He said it was like I was talking to him. If he was alive and awake, I could get through to him now. I sat down on the porch and tried to clear my thoughts.
Mac, if you can hear me, make some noise. I waited, listening, hoping to hear him call out and got nothing. I tried again and got the same result. Either he couldn’t answer or I couldn’t hear him, which was a distinct possibility given the ringing that was still going on in my head from the shotgun blast.
I couldn’t just sit there waiting for something that wasn’t happening. I got up and made a slow careful trek around the house, still calling out in my head for him, praying he would respond. I moved my search 10 feet further out with each rotation of the house until I’d covered a path 30 feet wide and I’d still not found him. I had really hoped that I’d find him before I reached the tree line. Now the hunting was going to be a lot tougher and I still wasn’t up to speed. My head hurt and I suspected that I’d caught some of the shotgun pellets.
I went back into the house to check on the others and found Bryan sitting at the table with Mama D, an ice pack on his head. Candice had made coffee and was pouring a cup when I came through. She looked up and I shook my head that I hadn’t found him yet as I passed through the kitchen to get the flashlight.
When I came back, she held out a cup and I took it, stowing the gun in my jacket pocket to free up a hand. I hated putting the gun away, but I was fairly sure if anyone was out there, I would have run into them by now. I was desperate to find Mac, but I needed both the kick from the caffeine and the warmth it provided, so I was taking it with me. Bryan just watched me as I strode by, too groggy to come with me, and obviously hating the fact. With one hand full of coffee and the other holding the flashlight, I kicked the door open and headed back out into the night.
I FOUND HIM 90 minutes later. My frustration had mounted with each passing moment and I found myself eventually yelling out loud for him as well as in my head. I had searched the out buildings and been through the trees along the driveway. It had been a long, slow search and still I hadn’t found him.
I flopped down on a big rock, and yelled at him mentally for ignoring me. Exhaustion and shock had been grinding on me and I was about at the end of my rope, when I finally heard him. It took me another 10 minutes to actually locate him, even with his help. If he hadn’t woken up, I would have never found him. As it was, I wasn’t sure I could help him, now that I finally knew where he was.
He was alive. I was thankful for that. But Brown had used the power that he had kept hidden from us and thrown Mac off the side of the mountain. I crawled on my belly to the edge and shined the light down to find him lying 20 feet below me on the ledge that had broken his fall. It had broken him too. Mac was trapped on the mountain and couldn’t move his legs. He was paralyzed. I took off my coat and dropped it to him along with the flashlight and started back to the cabin at a run.
“I found him,” I announced, throwing open the door to the kitchen and startling everyone. I saw the gun in Bryan’s hand, but barely even gave it a thought. He could barely even focus after that knock on the head, much less aim a gun. “He’s alive, but we’ve got a problem.”
“What? You mean bigger than the problems we already have?” Candice asked, pouring me another cup of coffee.
I wrapped my hands around the cup, grateful for the warmth. It was colder outside than I realized and I had no idea how Mac had survived so far with his injuries. The thought had me hopping back up and gathering supplies.
I grabbed a Thermos and started filling it with coffee for Mac as I explained the situation. As I moved around the kitchen gathering food and supplies, they listened quietly. I was nearly finished when Candice left the room. I heard her running up the stairs and within minutes she was back.
“What should we do?” she asked, piling me down with the blankets she had ripped from the beds. “We can’t call the police. Not with this mess. How do we get help?”
Well, now there was the million dollar question and I didn’t have an answer. I just left them sitting there, dragging blankets behind me as I headed to the tool shed in search of a rope.
I was heading back to the cabin thirty minutes later. I had lowered the blankets, coffee and some food down to Mac with the rope I had found in the shed. The rope itself was in bad shape and I had doubts it would even hold the weight of the supplies I had lowered down, much less anything heavier, but it had surprised me and done the job.
From above, it was impossible to see what other injuries he had incurred. He seemed to think that his back was the main problem, but I was worried that with a fall that bad, we were looking at possible internal injuries not to mention other broken bones and injuries that he wasn’t feeling yet. We needed to get him out of there, but Candice was right. We couldn’t call in the police. There was only one place we could turn to for help. It was crazy, but it was the only thing I could think of.
“How’s he doing?” Bryan asked as I came back in the door.
I looked over at him. He still looked pretty bad, but his eyes were clearer and he could make complete sentences, so I figured he’d survive.
“He’s alive. For now. But I’ve got to get him off the mountain.” I braced myself for the next part, because I already knew they weren’t going to like it. I didn’t like it either, but there just wasn’t any other way. “You all need to pack your things and get out of here. Candice, you go pack your and Mama D’s stuff up and I’ll take care of getting Bryan packed. You need to be on the road. Now.”
“What about your stuff?” Candice asked, moving to clear the table.
“Leave that.” I told her, stilling her hands. “Go pack. My stuff stays here. I stay here.”
“What do you mean you’re staying here?”she said, freezing in place. “We need to get Mac and get out of here. Together.”
“We can’t get Mac. There’s no way I an get him off the mountain. No way any of us can. We need help. People who can go down there and get him. There’s no point in you being here, being involved. You need to leave. The sooner you’re gone, the sooner I can get him to him.”
She wasn’t happy, but seemed to understand. She set the dishes back down on the table and headed upstairs to start packing.
“What are you going to do after we leave?” Bryan asked as soon as she was out of earshot. The anger in his voice was palpable. It wasn’t helping things although I knew he was angry at the situation and not at me.
“As soon as you’re gone, I’m going to set this place on fire. Once it’s burning good, I’m going to call the Agency and tell them to come and get us.”
Bryan closed his eyes and I could see his jaw grinding but when he finally looked at me and nodded, I could tell he didn’t see any other way out. He may not have liked it, but it was the only way to get help.
I left the room and ran upstairs to pack. It took me all of 5 minutes to throw his things into a bag and head back downstairs with it. By the time Candice had finished packing up her and Mama D’s things, and piling them all into
the RV, I had filled Bryan in on the plan. He still wasn’t happy, but he was thinking clearly enough to help iron out some rough spots. It was a huge risk, but it was all we had.
I walked outside with them and helped Candice get Mama D and Bryan into the RV. We said our good-byes and I watched until their tail lights disappeared into the distance, sad to see them go, but grateful that they were safe and out of the line of fire. At least for now.
I swung by the shed and grabbed the gas can I’d found while looking for the rope. It was a two gallon can and was over half full. Not much, but I didn’t need much to get the job done. I headed back to the house and dropped the can off in the kitchen and grabbed the guns off the counter, placing them outside, before heading upstairs to take one last look through the house. I wanted to make sure we’d removed all evidence of Bryan, Candice and Mama D having been there and make sure the scene was set for what was coming next. I stopped by my room to pick up my cell phone, checking to make sure it was charged and that I had service before slipping it into my pocket. Then I headed back downstairs to finish up.
I checked the small study off the living room where Brown had been staying. There was nothing of his there. He hadn’t had anything but the clothes on his back when we’d picked him up and I’d made him throw those out the van window. I stripped the sheets and blankets off the sofa where he’d been sleeping and drug them through the living room to pile them on top of the blanket already covering his body. I looked around one last time and decided I’d delayed enough. Candice had had plenty of time to be well away from the area. All I was doing now was putting off the inevitable.
The smell of the gasoline was almost overpowering as I poured it over the pile of blankets, trying not to think about what I was doing. I dropped the empty can into the pile and pulled out the matches.
