by DJ Dalasta
The place was eerily silent when just hours before it was a flurry of activity. Not one person, besides Nate, was elated with Rock for making the decision to leave the safety of the cabin. After his announcement, they didn’t speak to one another and moped around, lethargic in their efforts. They didn’t see his point. They thought they were safe. But Rock believed otherwise. He harbored a bad feeling about being cornered at the end of this remote mountain road
After hours of work, the place looked clean again and the last of the boxes were ready to be loaded on the vehicles. They had backed up all the data twice over and didn’t leave any piece of evidence on its own. Earlier, they had all agreed upon a new location not too far to the North East, in Johnson City. Wallace had a friend who lived there that agreed to take them in until they could find another suitable location.
Sayla, he didn’t let do anything. She couldn’t be trusted and so Rock didn’t assign her a single task. For now, she sat on the couch and hadn’t said much in the past couple of hours. She tried to talk with Nate when he woke up but he completely blew her off and disappeared into the kitchen. Rock was fine with her waiting alone. He disapproved when Wallace approached her.
The old man sat down, letting out a long breath. “Sayla dear. Rock told me why we have to leave. He also said you claimed to have not had contact with your organization in some time. I like to give people a second chance, so I hold no ill will towards you if you truly have not betrayed us.”
“I haven’t,” she interrupted. “I wouldn’t. I’m done with all that. It’s the truth.”
“Then I believe you,” he said. “And there is no reason for us to leave.”
She nodded her agreement. “No there isn‘t, I haven’t talked to anybody since Oak Island. There is no way they know you are here. It’d be stupid to leave.” Sayla gave her best innocent look. Her big eyes stared at the old man and then she glanced over to Rock.
He wasn’t buying it.
Before he could say anything, Nate struck into the room having overheard the conversation. He made straight for the couch. “You caused all this.” He stuck his finger into her face. “Had you told us from the beginning maybe we wouldn’t be hiding and doing all this shit. I almost got killed a couple of times because of you. We can’t trust you now. Nobody can trust you now. You’re a lying bitch and I don’t know why we haven’t tied you up and locked you in closet. If it were up to me I’d lock you away and forget about you.”
Sayla’s eyes welled up with tears. “I never meant to hurt anyone. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Ignorance is your defense?” Nate shook his head. “You knew exactly what you were doing.”
“I know now. I stopped. I’m done. I don’t know what else to tell you.” A single tear cut a path down her cheek. Nate simply turned away.
Wallace sighed. “I believe her. Maybe we should stay.”
“I can’t take that risk Wallace. If she’s lying, they’d kill us if they caught us.” Rock wouldn’t have anybody else get hurt if he could help it. He partly blamed himself for Brett and he knew if anyone else died, it would lay squarely on his shoulders. He had found the relic and now it was clearly a deadly item. They had to go and hide again or abandon it all together. The second choice was an option that had crossed his mind more than once.
“Well I can’t get a hold of Mickey now and he’s on his way here to drop off some of my research and contact numbers. He should be here soon. We should wait for him before we go.”
Sayla’s face turned white. Her hands started shaking.
“What is it Sayla,” Rock said.
“Mickey,” she whispered. “It’s Mickey.” She grabbed Wallace’s arm and squeezed, “did you call Mickey?”
Rock immediately turned to Wallace, “When did Mickey become your assistant?”
“Costa Rica, it was his first trip, same time as Sayla.”
Rock jumped into action. “Everyone get to the cars now! Skylar! Get your weapons.”
They all stared at him. Nobody moved.
“Now!” Rock grabbed Wallace by the arm and yanked him up. “Gather whatever is left. We leave in 2 minutes.”
“What?” Wallace looked confused.
“Mickey, Wallace. He’s one of them.”
“No. That’s absurd. Mickey is delicate young man. He’s harmless”
Sayla stood up. “Mickey is part of the organization, we don’t leave anything to chance. I forgot all about him. I should have thought about it. He’s with them. I can’t believe you called him.”
“You fucked us again,” Nate said. He stormed by her and slammed the front door.
“How long do you think we have?” Rock asked.
“I don’t know, but as soon as Mickey had the location, they would be on their way. Shit, they’d come fast. They’re very fast.”
“Then not much, stay or come along.”
“What?”
“Stay for your people or come along. I’m not going to leave you if you want to come, if you’re telling me the truth now, they’ll kill you. But if you come, when we get to the next town, I’ll drop you off and you’re on your own.”
Before Sayla could respond Nate walked back in the front door. “I hear helicopters,” he said. “And they’re getting louder.”
Chapter 35
Tennessee, August 2012
