by David Wood
“Bernie!” Kaylin cried, crushing the woman in a tight embrace. The old woman smiled and hugged her back.
“Gently, child,” she said in a tender voice, “I’m not as young as I used to be.” She smiled a warm smile and patted Kaylin.
Kaylin pulled back and held the woman at arm’s length. “It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too. Can I come in?” The woman gave Kaylin a motherly pat on the shoulder and stepped through the doorway. After Kaylin had introduced Maddock and Bones, the four of them made their way to the kitchen, where they sat down around a stout oaken table in front of a wide bay window.
“Bernice took care of me when I was little; after Mom died,” Kaylin explained. “I call her Bernie.”
“I was so sorry to hear about your father,” Bernie said. “I’ve been in Mississippi visiting family for a few weeks. It was such a shock when I got your call.”
“I know it was. You’re family to us, and you always will be,” Kaylin said. Her smile underlined the sincerity in her words.
“I already miss your father a great deal. We kept in touch over the years and met for coffee from time to time.” Tears welled in Bernice’s eyes, and Kaylin took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Kaylin turned to Maddock. “I was thinking about what Dad might have done with the Bible. I knew it wasn’t among his possessions so he either hid it or gave it to someone he could trust. Someone whose connection to our family wouldn’t be easily identified by outsiders. That’s what made me think of Bernie.”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s a Bible, but your father did give me something that he wanted me to pass along to you.” The woman fished into her bag and produced a large, manila envelope with something thick and rectangular inside. Maddock could see that it was one of the padded packing envelopes used for mailing delicate items. “He gave me this several weeks ago. He was acting all nervous-like. Never seen him that way. He made me promise to keep it a secret. He said that I should give it to you if anything should ever happen to him.” She shook her head. “I never thought it would be so soon if ever. Your father always seemed indestructible.”
Maddock turned his head toward the window, giving the two a modicum of privacy to share this painful moment. Outside, a solitary boat drifted lazily down the Cooper River.
Kaylin nodded to Bernie, her eyes misty, and carefully undid the clasp on the envelope. Reaching in, she carefully withdrew a battered, old Bible, the leather cover worn with age.
Maddock leaned forward, his heart beating faster. This had to be it.
After a moment’s pause, Kaylin opened the old book, and gingerly flipped through the pages. The writing was French! In various places, someone had written notes in the margins in a bold, ornate hand. The ink had faded with time and was, in parts, nearly invisible. Beside her, Bones whistled, and leaned closer. She turned back to the inside cover. There, on the front page, in the same flowing script, was the name: Louis Domenic de Rienzi.
“Rienzi’s personal Bible,” Bones marveled, his tone near reverential. “This is what the priest was after.”
As Maddock sat staring at the ancient volume, something drew his attention. The boat had stopped drifting. A solitary man stood on the deck and appeared to be pointing in their direction. Immediately, Maddock realized what was happening, and he sprang to his feet.
“Down!” he shouted, grasping the edge of the table and upending it toward the bay window. The others fell to the floor as bullets shattered the glass and ripped into the heavy tabletop. An instant later, the sound of rifle fire drifted across the water, echoing hollowly through the house. Maddock drew his Walther with the futile knowledge that the boat was too far away for him to have any hope of hitting the shooter.
“Out the front,” he ordered. He did not have a clue who was shooting at them, but he had an idea why. In any case, they had to get Kaylin and the Bible out of there right away. He reached up over the table and fired blindly, the report of the Walther loud in the small space.
“Come on, Granny!” Bones yelled to Bernie. His pistol in his right hand, he wrapped his left arm around the woman’s waist and pulled her toward the door. Her eyes were wide with fright, but she did not argue.
Maddock followed behind, snapping off two more hasty shots at the boat in hopes of slowing the sniper’s fire. He turned to see Kaylin rummaging through a drawer. “What are you doing?” he shouted. What could she possibly need from the kitchen that could not wait?
She turned back toward him, a .380 automatic and two reloads in her hand. “Dad kept guns everywhere. Let’s go.” She nodded toward the door.
He was impressed by her lack of panic, but there was no time to remark on it. He rushed to the front door where Bones and Bernie waited. He nudged the door open and looked up and down the deserted street. Behind them, the sniper continued to rain bullets on the house. From the sounds of shattering glass, Maddock determined that the shooter was methodically firing into each room, working his way across the back of the structure. They needed to get away immediately.
“Bones, you take Bernie in her car. Kaylin and I will go in mine.”
They hurried to the vehicles, weapons at the ready. Maddock threw open the door of his rented green Tahoe and fired it up. He glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw a silver Taurus whip around the corner and come barreling down the street toward them. The passenger side window was down, and the man opposite the driver reached out the window and opened fire. Kaylin, Bible clutched in one hand, returned fire with her .380 before joining Maddock in the SUV. Maddock floored it, hoping to stay ahead of the attacker’s vehicle.
He looked in the rearview mirror in time to see Bones make a u-turn in Bernie’s cream-colored Lincoln and tear down the street, headed on a collision course with the Taurus. Bones thrust his pistol out the driver’s window, blazing away left-handed with his nine as he charged their assailants.
“He’s crazy,” Kaylin whispered in awe. She climbed into the back seat, .380 still at the ready, and watched out the back window.
“You have no idea,” Maddock said. In his rear-view, he saw the windshield of the Taurus shatter. The driver yanked the car hard to the right as Bones flashed by, still shooting. The silver car fishtailed as it drifted into Maxwell’s front yard, but the driver recovered quickly and continued the pursuit. Maddock groaned. “Are you all right using that thing?” he asked, tilting his head toward Kaylin’s pistol.
“Please,” she said. “You knew my father.” She turned back toward the rear of the vehicle, her .380 trained on the pursuing car.
He took a hard right, nearly bringing the Tahoe up on two wheels. He stepped on the accelerator and weaved through the sparse afternoon traffic heading into downtown Charleston. Behind them, the Taurus whipped around the corner, tires screeching. Maddock cursed as he watched the other drivers move out of the way of the speeding silver vehicle. How were they going to get away?
“Maybe they won’t shoot at us with witnesses around,” Kaylin said. Her hope proved in vain as shots rang out, and spider webbed cracks spread around a bullet hole in the bottom corner of the rear window. “Okay, forget I said that.”
“Gotcha,” Maddock said as he whipped the wheel back-and-forth, zigzagging as he sped along, but trying not to slip into a pattern that would make them easy targets. He heard the rear driver’s side window roll down, then the report of Kaylin’s pistol as she squeezed off rounds, maintaining a slow, steady fire at their attackers.
“Where are the cops when you need them?” he growled. The light ahead turned red. He pressed the pedal to the floor and veered into the oncoming lane to pass the traffic that had stopped for the light, narrowly avoiding a collision with a cab that was crossing the intersection. The cab screeched to a halt, and he heard the cabbie shout a physically impossible suggestion as they shot past. Once through the light, he yanked the steering wheel, bringing the Tahoe back onto the proper side of the road, and continued on.
“Th
ey’re through,” Kaylin called to him, snapping off another shot. Unfortunately, the light traffic worked in both drivers’ favor.
A quick glance in the rear-view mirror showed the Taurus again narrowing the gap between the two vehicles.
“How can they possibly keep up with us when they’re driving with a broken windshield?” Kaylin grumbled.
Maddock did not answer. It was further confirmation that whomever Maxie had run afoul of, they were good. He turned a hard right onto Market Street, the Taurus now in close pursuit. Kaylin exchanged a few more shots with the passenger in the pursuing car.
“Something has got to give, here,” she said, popping a reload into her pistol. “They’re way too close.”
“That’s an understatement,” Maddock replied, glancing in his mirror. The traffic ahead of them was at a standstill. The oncoming lanes were almost gridlocked, and tourists packed the narrow sidewalks. The last thing they needed was an Old West-style shootout, but it might come down to that. He looked around for a side street, anything that would afford an escape. Ahead of him, the stalled traffic loomed ever closer. And then, to his left, he saw what he was looking for. It could work, but they would have to be fast.
He tapped the brake and then yanked the wheel hard to the left, nearly rolling the top-heavy vehicle. Horns blared as a he cut across the street directly in front of oncoming traffic. Hitting the brakes hard, he maneuvered the Tahoe into a controlled skid, then released the pedal and whipped the vehicle into an empty parking space.
“Out,” he barked. He hopped out of the car and looked across the street, where the sheer volume of vehicles had managed to hold up the Taurus. The driver was trying to force his way across through the heavy oncoming traffic. Through the driver’s window, Maddock was finally able to get a look at their pursuers.
The two could have been twins. Each had short, dark hair and wore wrap-around sunglasses and dark colored polo-style shirts. Dressed to blend in with the crowd, Maddock thought. That’s what I intend to do. He took Kaylin’s hand and led her away from the car. They hurried across the parking lot and into the Charleston Slave Market.
Chapter 5
The Charleston Slave Market was a long, narrow building that spanned the length of two city blocks. Contrary to common wisdom, the market was not a place where slaves had once been sold, but a place where slaves from the surrounding area had gathered to sell their wares. Now it had been converted into a sort of giant flea market, which drew thousands of visitors each day. Maddock hoped that the milling throngs would provide him and Kaylin with a way to disappear, at least long enough to evade their pursuers.
His cell phone vibrated. He opened it up and checked the display. It was Bones.
“Maddock, where are you?” Bones sounded calm despite the urgency of the situation.
“We’re in the slave market. You know how to get here?” Maddock squeezed through the throng of shoppers milling about the displays. He turned to see the Taurus pulling into the parking lot.
“I’ll find it. You got a SITREP for me?”
Maddock explained their situation and gave his friend a general description of their pursuers. Bones assured him that he would be there soon. Maddock flipped the phone shut and turned to Kaylin, who was turning off her own phone.
“I called the police, but I don’t think the dispatcher believed me. She kept going on about the penalty for phony 911 calls. Useless.”
“Two cars flying down the street, guns blazing have to have gotten someone’s attention.” Maddock hoped that was true. “Let’s stay alive until they get here.”
“Should we try and slip out of the market farther on down?” She stood on her tiptoes trying to see over the milling throng. The long, narrow market offered exits at the end of each section but was woefully lacking in side doors.
“I think we’re safer in the crowd,” he replied, as they moved deeper into the throng. He was walking sideways, pretending to look at the merchandise, all the while keeping an eye on the front entrance. So far, there was no sign of their pursuers.
A bit farther down, he saw what he had been hoping to find. He nodded toward the display of Hawaiian print shirts. Kaylin smiled, understanding his thoughts immediately. At the display, Maddock purchased two shirts, a straw hat for himself and sunglasses for Kaylin. They donned their new clothing quickly, throwing the shirts over what they were already wearing.
“You look totally lame,” Kaylin said as she twisted her long, blonde hair up into a bun. “No one would believe you were once a badass Navy SEAL.”
“That’s the idea,” he replied with a grin. “Tourist camo.” He was fairly certain she was rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses. He offered her his elbow, which she took in a tight grip that conveyed her tension. Arm-in-arm the two continued to browse, looking, he hoped, like nothing more than a happy couple on vacation. All the while, they kept a lookout for the men who were after them.
Moments later, Maddock spotted one of their pursuers, the driver, he thought, enter the market. Trying to look inconspicuous, the man made a show of checking out the displays on either side of the aisle as he worked his way into the marketplace.
“Only one of them,” Maddock whispered. “The other guy must be coming in from the back. That’s what I would have done.”
Kaylin examined a fat, silver bracelet inlaid with turquoise. “Buy this for me, honey?” she said in a syrupy voice.
“Not this close to our anniversary, sweetheart,” he kidded.
“But you don’t need a special occasion to show me that you love me, do you?” She screwed up her face in an exaggerated pout.
“Keep sticking that lip out there, and a bird’s going to poop on it,” he said, arching an eyebrow. He had to admit, she looked kind of cute when she made that face.
She frowned and smacked him on the shoulder. In response, he pulled her close and gave her a squeeze, giving himself a chance to look over her shoulder at the man who was coming toward them.
“He hasn’t seen us yet, but he’s getting closer,” he whispered in her ear. Who were these guys?
“I still don’t see anyone coming from the other direction,” she whispered back.
They broke from the embrace and continued moving. Maddock guessed that they were about halfway through the first section of the market. He wanted to look back, but he could not afford to draw attention to them. A bit farther, then they paused at a book vendor’s display. Maddock picked up a large picture book and held it up close to his face. He stole a glance back in the direction from which they had come. The man was no more than thirty yards away, moving slowly, but coming steadily closer. At least they had not yet been spotted.
“Maddock, here he comes,” Kaylin whispered, her voice strident. “He’s going to catch up with us soon.”
Maddock turned his head and caught a glimpse of the second man, much farther away, but also headed toward them.
”What do we do?” Kaylin bit her lower lip.
“They’re probably expecting us to bolt out the back door. Our best chance is to try and slip past the first guy.”
“What if that doesn’t work?” she asked.
“Then we might have to do it Old West style. Just make sure of your aim. Don’t hit any bystanders. Got your gun ready?”
She nodded and patted the large handbag she carried slung over her shoulder.
“Good. Now we just need a way to get past him without him seeing us.” He racked his brain. There was only the wide center aisle running the length of the market. Were their disguises good enough that they could just walk past the man? Not likely. He did not know what kind of look the men had gotten at him and Kaylin, but they would be searching for a man and woman fitting their general descriptions.
“What about this?” Kaylin took his face in her hands and forcefully pulled him toward her. Their lips met in a long, deep kiss. After an instant of surprise, he cupped her face in his hands as well.
He cracked his eyelid just enough to see the first m
an move past them on the far side of the aisle. He waited two seconds, then drew away from her. She looked at him with disappointment in her eyes. Whether it was disappointment over the quality or the duration of the kiss, he did not know.
“He’s past us,” Maddock whispered. They set off at a fast walk in the direction of the front entrance, with Kaylin walking just ahead of him. They wove in and out of the shoppers. After a few moments, Maddock stole a glance over his shoulder. He could not see their pursuers. Had they lost the two men?
Maddock and Kaylin continued at their hurried pace. The front entrance loomed ahead of them. Maddock cursed inwardly. No matter how fast they moved, the entrance seemed to get no closer. They dodged and sidestepped as they tried to make their way out of the market. Maddock looked back again, painfully aware that too much weaving through the crowd would draw attention.
As he turned around, someone grabbed him from behind by the shoulder. An arm clamped around his neck. He managed to shove Kaylin forward as he was dragged backward.
“Run,” he grunted. One of the men shoved past him, going after Kaylin, who was pushing people out of her way as she ran toward the door. Maddock kicked out with his right foot, tripping him up. He could do no more for Kaylin until he got rid of the guy who held him in a chokehold.
Palms facing out, he grabbed his assailant by the wrist and inner forearm. He tilted his head forward and yanked it back up, catching his attacker across the bridge of the nose. As he bashed the man in the nose with the back of his head, he simultaneously pushed up and out with his hands, forcing that attacker’s arm up off his throat. Maddock drove a solid left elbow into his opponent’s stomach, stomped down hard on his right instep, then spun to his left with all of his strength, breaking the man’s python grip.
Now facing his opponent, Maddock ducked under a right cross and punched the man in the throat, scarcely noticing the cartilage give beneath his knuckles. His attacker, already bleeding from a broken nose, stumbled backward, fighting to draw breath.
