The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by

by C. G. Roberts

  Along with the location, the Sheriff was sent blown up satellite photos of the area. “Round Mountain Huh, you can hardly tell there’s a town there”, the Sheriff offered. I couldn’t get too close to the computer for obvious reasons, so the Sheriff, had me wait outside while he printed off some of those photos for me. Even with the photos, I had no clue what I was looking at. It looked like a bunch of smallish mountains and not much else, until the Sheriff pointed out an area just over the first Ridge of Round Mountain. You could barely make out the outline of the buildings, most of which seemed to blend in with the scenery. I suppose that was by design.

  Well, we knew the location of where they were going to attempt to take me, which I wasn’t real concerned with. I was pretty sure that they couldn’t make me go if I didn’t want to. The sheriff printed something called google maps with directions to Round Mountain from here and gave it to me and told me to put it in my wallet. He gave me a wry look when I told him I didn’t have one. Always being

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  prepared, the Sheriff opened one of his desk drawers and tossed me a fancy looking wallet. “It’s just Velcro, but my Deputies use them so they don’t lose any important paperwork”. Velcro huh, it sure looked fancy to me, “Thanks Sir”, I offered.

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  JennIFer hAd been removed from the van she was in but had a hood over her head so she couldn’t see where

  she was. It smelled of old rotten fish, a smell that one from these parts can recognize instantly. She figured that she was somewhere near one of the old cannery warehouses right by the Pacific Ocean. There was also a slight sense of oil of some kind and a continuous clacking of metals parts. She was confused, she was frightened, and she wanted to know why she had been taken, and more importantly, she wanted very much to get the hell out of wherever she was.

  A shuffling of shoes came close to her. The metal clacking sound had stopped. Jennifer’s heart felt like it was going to pop right out of her chest. Her breathing was labored. With that hood over her head she felt claustrophobic. Someone pulled at the hood on her head. “Well now, are we having a hard time of it”, Agent Boling asked while donning a smile. Jennifer looked around but what little light there was she was unable to narrow down her possible location. She looked to her right and located the metal clicking sounds. A very large man with crew cut hair was oiling his weapon. It was a rifle of some kind, but not like her father’s. This one looked like one of those sniper rifles you see in the movies, But why would they want to shoot her, she doesn’t know these people except……

  Jennifer turned towards the female as she walked towards

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  the small overhead light. She had seen her before, but where. A few frantic moments of memories surrounded her. At the

  Point with Billy, at her uncle’s house giving him the flash drive, at the Hospital where she was…… That’s it, at the Hospital. Jennifer’s eye’s bugged out as she recognized who she was. She had hoped that no one saw the look on her face. She knew a long time ago that she will never have a poker face, she wears her emotions on her sleeves.

  Billy’s nurse, what did she say her name was? Mattie, her name was Mattie. She felt somewhat relieved to have solved

  the identification crisis, but it appeared that knowing her name might not improve her situation any. She was confused as to why they took her in the first place. She recognized Mattie, but had no clue to who the steroid case was. Mr. Steroid finished assembling his weapon and placed it gently in its long leather bag, zipping it closed.

  At least they weren’t going to kill her right away, since he had put his weapon to bed and all. That left her with the question of why she was here, wherever here was. Mattie approached her, “Is it wise that she’s not wearing the hood”, Doug asked? “You worry too much, she can’t ID us, especially after tomorrow, and she’ll never see either of us again, if she’s smart”.

  “W-why am I here, I haven’t”…………………. “Hush, the only thing you need to know is to keep your mouth shut, or you won’t see the light of day”, Doug interrupted. “How melodramatic, I mean really, she can speak if she wants to. What should concern her though is how will we answer”, As Boling smiled at her. “Go ahead dear, the floor is yours”, Boling added.

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  Why was I taken, my work must be worried along with every”………. “Okay sorry dear, I didn’t realize that you wanted to bore us to death. This will be simply put. You are collateral that will traded off for other merchandise”.

  Jennifer had a frown growing. “You look confused, let me make this ever so simple. We get Billy, then they get you back. If it works out that easy, nobody gets hurt. If some-one goes against my demands, well”, Boling made a firing motion using her hand as a gun and pointed it at Jennifer. “Any more Questions”, Boling declared as she turned and walked towards the dark. Jennifer heard a car door slam and saw Mattie coming back towards her holding a bag. Mattie tossed the bag on the table where Jennifer was. She started to get up until she felt a tug on her legs. Jennifer was shackled around the ankles and connected to the table. “Eat up you’ll need your strength”, as Boling reached down by the table and came up with a bottle of water and handed it to her. Fast food is better that no food, and she was starving since she was abducted right before her lunch.

  Jennifer started in on one of the burgers in the bag as the two of them went back towards the dark. They were talking very quietly and Jennifer was trying to hear what they were saying, but they were too far away. She tried once more to move her legs but the rattle of the chains told her that these were heavy duty chains.

  Jennifer tried to take in as much information about her surroundings as she could without arousing suspicion from her captors. There was a window at the far side of the build-ing though too far away and too dirty to see if anything out-side looked familiar.

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  “Now are you sure Doug”, Boing asked in a sarcastic tone. “I’m positive, my other two partners will be here in the morning, then you can fill them in about what you want and where and finally, when”. “There may be hope for you yet”, that is until you deliver Billy! A smile emerged on her face as they went back to check on Jennifer’s appetite.

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  It wAs ten till eight, and according to the Sheriff some-one was supposed to deliver a package at eight. He was still hard at work on trying to think as Boling might and where she might try to set up shop for Friday’s exchange. He had the map of Astoria sprawled out on his desk as the three of us were attempting strategy. Okay make that one of us, the other two of us were still trying to locate north on the map. The Sherif f had a slew of places picked out on the map and it seemed to me that no matter where Boling might choose, we would have plenty of cover if things went south, and the way my lucks been going lately; south was a good bet.

  Gordon was the first to hear the front door open. We spilled out of his office with the grace the Three Stooges would be proud of. Gordon attempted to exit first as his leg clipped the door jamb and he went down. I would have stayed upright had I not been following him so closely. The Sheriff mustered up enough dignity to step over us while muttering “Jesus”, under his breath.

  By the orders the Sheriff gave earlier, both deputies had their weapons aimed at the front door exactly at eight. “Come on guy’s, I’m just here to drop this package off to a”, he leaned in close to make sure he got the name right, “Billy Speer”. As the sheriff approached he saw that the de-livery guy was close to pissing his pants he was shaking so hard. With both hands high over his head you could hear the

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  paper package crinkle from his shaking. The Sheriff swung his way through the gate and walked up to the delivery guy.

  “Who do you work for son”? The guy was bringing his hands down as the Sheriff had his hand out to take the package. “I don’t w-work for anybody, I’m out of work, l-lost my j-job”, he quivered out a response. The Sheriff took possession of
the package and asked, “Then tell me who gave you this package”, the Sheriff stood tall as his six foot six frame towered over the delivery guy? “I was G-getting gas and ssome lady asked if I w-would like to make some easy money. Like, hell yeah, I’ve b-been out of work for five m-months and money was getting tight so I said sure”. “Doesn’t sound like you put too much thought into this. What if she had you drop this off elsewhere and the other person shot your ass dead. It would make it rather hard to spend that money”, The Sheriff added. “How much did this lady pay you”? “F-five hundred”.

  Crap, do you know how many video games you could buy with that kind of money. Sorry, I keep forgetting I’m seventeen. Priorities you know. “Dave, you want to go grab a pop out of the fridge for this young man”? Dave nodded and headed for the fridge. The Sheriff pointed at the bench off to the side of the door. The delivery took direction well and sat.

  “Take your time, take a deep breath and listen very care-fully”. Delivery guy nodded. “I need you to try and remember anything at all about what she said, what was she driving, and if you saw which direction she was going when she left the gas station”. The delivery guy took a couple of deep breaths as Dave came through the swinging gate with a Pepsi.

  Silence ruled the moment as the delivery guy took a

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  couple of breaths, opened his Pepsi, looked up at the Sheriff and started with, “I’m not positive but I think she got out of a Toyota. It wasn’t a fancy one, and it was pretty old; dark red, maybe maroon color”. He looked up at the ceiling as if the answers were printed there, then continued, “From the chevron station, she turned right. That’s all I can remember except that she seemed friendly, always smiling”. Yeah, smiling like a snake ready to attack a mouse.

  “Okay kid, you did well, you can go”, the Sheriff said. “But in the future, be wary of people offering you money for almost nothing”. The delivery guy shot up and out of the jailhouse just as quick as he came in. The Sheriff opened the package and examined the contents, “Oh crap”.

  “Balcofen, holy Mother of shit”, the Sheriff mumbled. “Is that what they expect me to take”, I asked? “I’m afraid so Billy, if you took this stuff, you would be brain dead for a few days”. “Damn that Miss fussy britches, she sure does know her drugs”. Gordon and I sported a confused look on our collective faces. “What exactly is that, I’ve never heard of it”, I inquired?

  The Sheriff ran his hand through his hair, and motioned for us to join him in his office. We all sat in our usual spots and the Sheriff began. “I recognized the name of that stuff from when my wife’s Mother was sick. She had a brain tumor and an operation was a last hope. They didn’t think it would work but wanted to try it anyway. Balcofen, is needed to basically eliminate brain activity while an operation is being performed. They said it would help keep all vital functions stable. One of the side effects of the drug was that her eyes were fixed and dilated, kind of like when you’re in a coma”.

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  That sounded like some heavy duty shit that I didn’t want any part of. Though if we’re able to pull off my idea then no one would have to take the Coma pill. We dis-cussed various options available to us to skirt around the issue of the drug, but the bottom line was, it all depended on how Boling wanted to play this out. I was hopeful she would play nice, but my intuition told me otherwise. Our plan was a good one, but not without risks. That didn’t mat-ter to me right now as all I was concerned with was getting Jennifer back safe and sound. For shits and giggle’s I could always nuke Boling in the process. Some visuals just make you want to smile.

  We took the hint that the Sheriff wanted some alone

  time when he called his wife, so being the obedient minions that we were, we headed outside for a couple of Marlboro’s finest. We puffed in silence, watching what little traffic was cruising Marine Drive. It was a clear evening. We don’t get that many of those around here. You could still make out the orange hue from the sunset on the western horizon. Gordon started to say something when I coughed out some smoke while smacking Gordon’s shoulder. “Ouch, What”? I pointed to Marine Drive and driving right past us was an old but cherry looking GTO. It was starting to get pretty dark but we could still make out the canary yellow paint job. Wow did that thing ever sparkle under the street lights.

  I started running after the vehicle while Gordon must have thought I was nuts for doing so. I heard Gordon holler for the Sheriff and then he quickly caught up to me like I was hardly moving. I knew it would take the GTO a few minutes to go around the bend, so I motioned for

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  Gordon to follow me as we took a shortcut through some of the small side streets. Gordon looked back toward the

  jailhouse, “What’s wrong”, I coughed out. “Heard the front door of the jailhouse slam open”, he replied not winded at all. Show off. And how does he hear stuff so far away. To me that was just as spooky as some of the stuff I can do now. Damn Vulcan hearing.

  We made it to the western edge of the bend. I had my hands propped on my knees while trying to catch my breath. Gordon wasn’t even breathing hard. I was tempted to check to see if he was actually breathing at all. There was something about his cardio that just wasn’t human; at least not to me. Gordon turned as he heard a noise behind us. Really, well I guess I didn’t think that my hearing would last forever; though I was hoping it would hold out until I was at least eighteen. Damn his Vulcan hearing. The Sheriff pulled up beside us at the side of the road about a block before you get to Marine Drive. “This better be good, I too damned weary to go chasing after you two; get in”. We obliged and told the Sheriff we had seen the GTO that was going to be used tomorrow night by the Four Horsemen and we were waiting for it to come around the bend. It did not. I looked at the

  Sheriff and I guess he knew what I was going to ask, “Fine, we’ll turn and take a peek at where they might park it”. I don’t know if it was the look on my face or his years in law enforcement that told him what I wanted. Or it could have

  been the fact that we just ran like a couple of scared rabbits and he wanted to corral us before we got hurt. Whatever the reason, he’s pretty sharp.

  The Sheriff turned right onto Marine drive. We were

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  starting to come up to the West side of the bend. Numerous shipping yards filled with old fishery warehouses and canneries lined up on the edge of the Pacific and the mouth of the Columbia River. The Sheriff slowed as we got close and I noticed headlights down the first side road to the warehouses.

  The Sheriff acknowledged my sighting but kept driving. “But what if that’s it back there”, I asked? “Settle down Billy, we don’t want to startle anyone, especially if they happen to be armed”. We turned into a small strip mall, mostly empty these days but there’s still a dry cleaners surviving the times. The Sheriff killed the lights as we parked away from the parking lot light and was pointed at that first side road. Two large cars, dark in color and I couldn’t tell what kind they were, turned right on to the side road as did the first car, the one that already had his lights off.

  “Gordon, you want to hand me that box right behind my seat”, the Sheriff asked? Gordon located said box and handed it to the Sheriff. “What’s that”, Inquiring minds want to know? He brought out a set of night vision goggles. “Sweet, when do I get to try them”, I asked? “As soon as I know that you have twenty two hundred dollars to replace them if you break them”. Ouch, I can take a hint. He started making adjustments to the goggles as I started trying to focus in on the cars parked a few hundred yards away. I do not have that much focus unfortunately, but I was checking out the warehouses. There were six of them on this side of the bend. Each

  one just about the size of a football field. I noticed that the other two vehicles had turned off their headlights. I
noticed a flicker of activity at the warehouse just to the right of the one where the three cars pulled into. Not many windows in these

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  buildings. Mainly corrugated metal covering the frames in kind of a Quonset hut shape.

  I saw it again, there was a light that came on, down at the far side of the building, farthest away from us. According to my Dad, most of these warehouses had closed shop some years back when they made changes in the fishing laws causing many businesses to go belly up. The Sheriff had just put on the goggles. It reminded me of the guy in Silence of the Lambs, right before he kidnapped the Senator’s daughter. “Sir aren’t these warehouses closed up, I mean nobody has opened up any new business in them have they”? He slowly turned his head to me and I could swear he was going to say, “She puts the lotion on its’ skin, or else it gets the hose again”. It looked creepy.

  “No, these first five huts have been unoccupied for a while. Ray’s Fishery still operates out of the last one, but we don’t know for how much longer; fucking regulations”. A second light came on in the same building. If there’s not supposed to be any one in there the…… “I never thought I would see this piece of shit again”, the Sheriff exclaimed, temporarily bringing my attention back to the parked cars.

  “That’s definitely a GTO, I would say maybe 1966 or 1967, sweet car, and that heaping pile of sheep dung I was referring to is Nicholas Langella; Little Nicky”. “You know him Sir”. “Know of him, and his buddies”, the Sheriff replied in a reserved tone. “Are they the Mob”, Gordon chimed in? “They haven’t called them the Mob for years, it’s a sensitive issue these days, but yeah they’re the Mob”.