Lone Survivor (Book 4): All That Rises

by Hunt, Jack

  In less than fifteen minutes he was home. Climbing the trellis, he grumbled under his breath. His thoughts turned to his father and the discussion they would no doubt have. Once he was on the roof he noticed there was a light emanating from his bedroom. A flicker from a candle. Great. His mother had seen him and now he was about to get the third degree from her. “You know I really don’t need this tonight,” he said as he climbed through his bedroom window to find Beth perched on the edge of his bed reading one of his magazines. They looked at each other and she smiled.

  “Always enter your house through a window?”

  He hopped down onto the floor and frowned before taking the magazine from her hands. “Maybe. What are you doing in my bedroom? I thought you were staying at my grandmother’s?”

  “I am. I thought I would swing by and chat.”

  His eyebrow raised and a sudden wave of embarrassment came over him. If she’d found this magazine, what else had she come across? He tucked it back into a drawer, placing it on top of the Playboy mags, and turned to find her looking amused.

  “Does my mother know you’re here?”

  “She does. I figured you’d be a no-show but… here you are.”

  “Here I am,” he said slowly placing his hands behind his back and looking around the room for anything else that might cause him further embarrassment. He spotted a pair of dirty underwear and quickly scooped them up and stuffed them in the closet. His cheeks went a bright red. Since her arrival they really hadn’t spoken except for small talk. The weather. Good morning. Good night. The usual awkward exchange when he didn’t know someone.

  “So… what did you want to chat about?”

  8

  Jake exited Carl’s room early that morning with the doc. They’d returned from Ellsworth in the early hours of the morning and informed Ray’s guys to let him know that his brother had been murdered. “So, how is he?” Jake asked.

  “He’s in pretty bad shape, that’s for sure.” Doc Summers, thirty-nine, dark hair and tall, had been a physician operating out of Bucksport but his home was in Castine. “He’ll need frequent monitoring so I will stick around for today and tomorrow, if that’s okay?” he said turning to Sara who was nearby. She nodded. “For now I’ve given him something for the pain, and set up an IV. I’ve done what I can but without a hospital his condition could get worse.”

  “Okay, thanks, doc,” Jake said patting him on the shoulder.

  “There’s coffee and breakfast in the sunroom,” Sara said. “Help yourself.”

  He thanked her and headed down the hallway, leaving the two of them standing outside the first-floor room. Jake yawned and rubbed his eyes. “You should get some sleep,” Sara said.

  “Yeah. How are you holding up?” he asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  He cocked his head and she pulled a face. “Okay. I’m not exactly having a good day but compared to what Carl just went through I think my troubles are minor.”

  “Finding out you lost your daughter isn’t minor, Sara,” he said.

  She nodded but didn’t look as if she wanted to get into it. They ambled toward the sunroom to get some coffee. It was just after seven and the few remaining people in the home were just beginning to stir. “Did I tell you that we are down to Tess, and Rita now in the house?”

  “What? The others left?”

  “Yesterday,” she replied stepping into the sunroom. Doc had filled his cup and taken a seat on one of the sofas. “I guess your leaving was the catalyst.”

  “Ah Sara, I’m sorry. I just felt it was the right thing to do with Landon back and all.”

  “You’re not at fault. It was going to happen one way or another. People think it’s safe. Obviously not. I tried to tell them but you know how folks in this town can be. Besides, I get it. I don’t think I would want to be anywhere else.”

  “Now you bring it up, I was thinking. With all that happened. The location of Castine. Have you considered moving out of town?”

  “And go where?”

  “I actually have a cabin up near Caribou Lake, north of Bangor.”

  “Yours?”

  “It used to belong to my parents. I only went there a couple of times a year. But I was thinking it might be safer than here.”

  Sara pulled a face as she filled up her cup with hot coffee. “Thanks, Jake, but I grew up here and I plan on dying here. Besides we are close to the water and people I know. I couldn’t leave them behind.”

  “They could come too.”

  She shook her head and was about to reply when Max walked in all chipper. “Morning, Jake. Morning, Mom. Morning, doc.” He had a spring in his step that looked strangely out of place when compared to his usual shuffling. He’d also removed his beanie, and was wearing a shirt she’d bought for him a year ago but he’d never worn.

  She narrowed her eyes. “What’s got into you?” she asked.

  “What? Can’t someone feel cheerful?”

  “Yeah. But you’re usually dragging your feet and looking like the whole world is against you.”

  Max poured himself coffee and brought it to his nose and sniffed. “It’s a new day.” He smiled and Jake’s gaze bounced between them.

  “Has this anything to do with Beth who dropped by last night?”

  “Beth?” Jake asked.

  “Yeah, the girl with Landon. She stopped by last night and wanted to speak with Max.”

  “Is that so?” Jake asked getting a big grin on his face and bringing his own cup up to his lips to take a sip. Now it all made sense. It was astonishing the effect a girl could have on a guy. “I thought I recognized that expression,” he said.

  “What expression?”

  Jake patted him on the back and was about to take a seat when a door slammed. “Where is he?” Ray’s voice carried. They heard Rita reply and then boots pounding the hallway.

  “I should go and make sure things are okay.”

  Sara nodded and he set his drink down and set off. He hadn’t spoken to Ray since they’d left for Ellsworth. He could only imagine why he wanted to speak with Carl but Carl was in no state. Drugged up on heavy meds he was already asleep when Ray charged into the room demanding answers. Jake managed to get there just as he was trying to shake Carl awake.

  “What happened to my brother? Huh?”

  Jake rushed in to help Carl. “Hey. Hey. Ray. Leave him alone.”

  He had to forcefully pry Ray’s hands loose from Carl’s collar. Carl’s eyelids were heavy and he was barely able to summon a reply, let alone one that would have been logical. His memory of the incident was foggy at best. Carl sank back into his pillow as Jake dragged Ray out and slammed the door behind him. “What the hell are you playing at?”

  Sweating profusely as if he’d run to the Manor, Ray came straight back at him. “Four of them went and only he came back? Doesn’t that strike you as a little odd?”

  “Did you see the state of him?”

  “I want to know what happened.”

  “And you will but for now he needs to rest.”

  Ray clenched his jaw and balled a fist as if he was about to strike Jake.

  “Look, the little I managed to get out of Carl was that Bennington was behind this. Him and a group of reserve soldiers showed up and ambushed them. They didn’t stand a chance.”

  Ray turned to leave. “Then I’m going to get his body.”

  “Don’t bother. They took it.”

  He spun around. “What?”

  “Carl saw them take Lee with them.”

  His brow furrowed. “So he’s alive?”

  “No. He’s dead.”

  Ray looked confused, shell-shocked. “Then why would they take him?”

  Jake shook his head. “No idea. I just know that we need to increase the security in Castine.”

  Ray lifted a finger. “No. We need to strike back.” He turned and headed down the hallway cursing. Jake took off after him.

  “Hold up, Ray. You’re not thinking clearly.”

/>   “I’ve never been clearer.”

  “If you go charging at that camp they will open fire and more lives will be lost. Do you want that?”

  He stopped walking and jabbed a finger at Jake. “I want those bastards to pay.” Tear welled up in his eyes. It was the first time Jake had seen him show any emotion beyond anger. The militia had survived this long because of smart decisions and good leadership.

  Jake placed a hand on his shoulder. “And they will. Okay? They will. But we need to talk with the others, plan, strategize how to do this, if at all.”

  “If at all?” He studied Jake’s face in a way as if he couldn’t comprehend him. “That sounds to me like you’ve already given up.”

  “Is staying alive giving up?”

  He gritted his teeth. “Let me tell you something. I didn’t come this far to back down now. Lee would turn in his grave if he knew I did nothing. I won’t stand by and do nothing.”

  Jake closed the gap between them to make it clear that he wasn’t afraid of Ray, nor was he intimidated by the bellowing in his face. “I’m not saying do nothing. I’m saying that these kinds of things are all about timing.”

  “Jake, you ever served?”

  “No.”

  “And yet you want to tell me what to do?”

  Jake took a deep breath and blew out his cheeks. He ran a hand over his head. “I might not have served but I know nothing good comes from reacting in the heat of the moment. Just take some time.”

  “Did Bennington take time killing my brother?”

  That shut Jake down in an instant. Ray backed out of the house but then returned a moment later. Jake was still standing where he left him. “How did he know?”

  “What?”

  “How did Bennington know?”

  Jake shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Exactly. The only people who knew about that run were Carl, Sam and…” He trailed off, a look of shock spreading across his face. “That bitch.” With that said he hurried out. Wherever he was going, it wasn’t good. Jake took off after him but by the time he got outside, Ray was already on his horse and leaving with four of his men. Jake knew better than to intervene any further.

  As they were leaving, Eddie came pedaling like a madman up the driveway.

  “Hey Jake! You seen Max?”

  He jerked his head toward the house. “He’s in the sunroom.”

  Eddie barreled past him not slowing for even a second.

  Max was sipping on coffee relishing thoughts of his conversation with Beth from the previous night while his mother chatted with the doc. Outside the sun was rising high in the sky spreading a warm orange glow through the clouds. It was gonna be another beautiful day. Except this one seemed even better than the others. Lost in thought he smiled causing his mother to frown again. He hadn’t felt this good in God knows when. It wasn’t that the conversation with her was anything significant but something about being around her made him forget the world had gone to shit. It shouldn’t have affected him but he couldn’t help but feel upbeat and positive that morning.

  Out the corner of his eye he spotted Eddie swerve around the house and drop his bike, yelling something. “Oh great, what now,” he muttered.

  “Max. Isn’t that your friend?” his mother asked.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said getting up to cut him off before he entered the sunroom. Knowing him he’d open his mouth and get him in trouble, and after slipping under the wire with his mother over the visit from Ray the previous night, he was looking to avoid any unwanted trouble. He figured his mother would have grilled him after last night but Ray hadn’t mentioned the theft of property or that he’d pursued them, instead he only said good things, which only added to the feeling of guilt that Max was carrying.

  Still that was then. This was now.

  “You gotta see this.”

  “See what?”

  “Just get your bike. Let’s go.”

  “I haven’t had breakfast yet. I was just enjoying a nice cup of coffee,” Max replied, smiling. Eddie caught it. He hadn’t known him a long time but he knew him well enough to know that smiling was generally at the bottom of the totem pole in his world.

  Eddie frowned. “What’s the matter with you?”

  Max shrugged. “Nothing’s the matter.”

  “No.” Eddie nodded. “Something’s off with you. You changed your hairstyle?”

  “No.”

  “Changed your clothes?”

  Max chuckled. “I do shower.”

  “Could have fooled me.” Then Eddie stabbed a finger at him. “That’s it! You changed your clothes. You’re usually wearing black but…” He stepped back. “Is there a full moon tonight?”

  Max decided to nip this conversation in the bud before it circled around to Beth and he had to go into fine detail about his interaction with her which Eddie wouldn’t believe amounted to conversation only. He’d want to put some weird sexual spin on it.

  “Eddie. Shut up. What do you want me to see?”

  “The cache of weapons. The ones that went missing. I know where they are.”

  “Finally remembered, did you?”

  “No. I know who took it.”

  “Well then why didn’t you say when we were over there?”

  He waved him off heading for his bike. “Not then. Last night, after I left you, I decided to head back to the island.”

  “But my boat was gone and Ray left yours out in the water.”

  “I found one.”

  “Found?”

  “Borrowed,” Eddie shot back before grinning.

  Max rolled his eyes. “Okay, so… you found it. Whoopee doo. What does that mean to me?”

  “I didn’t get it back. I… well, I was hoping you would help with that.”

  “Man, I was lucky my mother didn’t ream me out this morning.”

  “Oh yeah, how did that go last night?”

  “Well I didn’t speak to her because Beth…” Her name shot out of his mouth before he realized.

  Eddie caught it. His eyes narrowed. “Beth? Go on. What were you about to say?” A sly grin formed.

  “I meant my mother.”

  “No, you said Beth. There’s a big difference between mother and Beth. C’mon, you old dog,” he said lifting his bike up and staring at him waiting for an answer. When he didn’t give it, Eddie continued. “She came over, didn’t she?”

  Max couldn’t help but smile. He must have looked like a Cheshire cat.

  “Oh please tell me you did the double backed beast.”

  “Double back….? Eddie. Shut up, man! Is that all you think about?”

  “Please. A girl with an ass like that shows up in your house and you—”

  “My bedroom.”

  “What? Hold on. Your bedroom? Oh that’s even better. And you’re telling me you did nothing?” He raised his hands all theatrical, like he was conducting an orchestra.

  Max ran a hand over his face as they strolled over to the bike shed to collect his bike. “You think we can get back to the part where you tell me who took the cache of weapons?”

  “Oh right. Yeah. Probably best I just show you. You packing?”

  Max grabbed his own crotch. “Always!” then started laughing.

  Eddie thumped him on the arm. “Idiot.”

  They collected his bike and headed for the harbor. Eddie had stolen some small fishing boat from a home not far from the lighthouse. It was slightly smaller than the one he had before it was confiscated by Ray but at least it would get them across the choppy waters.

  There was an air of excitement to Eddie’s conversation that morning as if he’d consumed one too many cups of coffee or hit the jackpot. Max didn’t fully understand why until they made it to Holbrook Island Sanctuary. The nature preserve on Penobscot Bay near the town of Brookville was often used for hiking and cross-country skiing. A huge area of land covered in forest, meadows, and wetland marshes was the last place Max expected to find those responsible for the theft.

/>   9

  Rage blocked out common sense as Ray dismounted outside Emerson Hall. He charged through the main doors with all the urgency of a police officer but he wasn’t there to protect. As he approached Teresa’s office, his men stepped out of the way, knowing better than to try and stop him. He burst into the room to find Teresa sitting in front of the ham radio. She glanced at him and muttered something then signed off. “Ray.”

  He slammed the door behind him and locked it.

  “Who was that?” he asked gesturing to the radio.

  Teresa’s brow knit together. “A colleague.”

  “Yeah? As in Bennington?!”

  “No.”

  She backed up behind her desk as if sensing the threat.

  Ray swung a hand across the desk sliding off paperwork, a mug of coffee and her scheduling book. It clattered on the hard floor and liquid splashed against the filing cabinet. “Don’t lie to me!” he bellowed.

  “I’m not.”

  He jabbed a finger at her. “I’ve known for some time you’ve been conversing with Harris. You even admitted it. But Bennington?” He paused for a second to catch his breath. “What did he promise you for telling him about the ammo run?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t lie!”

  She lunged toward her drawer and he let her slide it open. It was empty. “Looking for this?” he said removing a firearm from the small of his back. “I took it a while ago. Had a feeling you might try to use it one day.” He stuck it back into his waistband and made his way around. She backed into a corner.

  “I’m warning you. I can have you removed.”

  “Removed?” He laughed. “You have zero authority in this town anymore. No one trusts you. No one likes you. Everyone thinks you’re a bitch.”

  “Yeah, well this bitch pulled the wool over your eyes.”