***
The cast turned out to be tougher than it looked and it took over a minute until he could damage it enough to open it just a crack, but then Jace got a grip on each side and ripped it apart.
The key worked as promised, but the gun was a joke. It was so small that it fit easily in the palm of his hand, and if he had to use it, he knew it would have to be up close, any distance and it was useless.
He handed it to Jace.
“Use that on the lock for the gun rack, but first check to see if anyone is around, and be careful, the slug might ricochet.”
Jace laughed.
“This is a gun? I’ve seen bigger bullets,”
He stayed in the cell room with the deputy until he heard the shot, which was louder than he thought it would be. He went to the window and checked to see if the shot had attracted any attention, it hadn’t, the town outside looked like an abandoned movie set. He helped the deputy into the office, where Jace was already extracting guns and ammo from the cabinet.
He tried the phone, but the line was dead. He would have to contact Lawson another way.
“There are a few bags of chips in that bottom drawer,” Kent said, “And some sodas in that little frig.”
He got the chips and tossed a bag to Jace and then to the deputy. All three of them ate quickly, while keeping watch outside.
“I wish those two would come back,” Jace said, “I’d liked to lock them away for a while.”
The deputy looked at him.
“We need more food, plus I have to check on the witness, Eve Simmons, and bring her something to eat. I hope she’s all right; she looked as scared as a mouse the last I saw her.”
“Where is she hiding?”
“In the basement of the church, there’s an old mine shaft that the pastor discovered when part of the basement wall collapsed. There’s a bookcase in front of it, but if anyone really looked, they would find it. You can feel a draft whenever you’re near it.”
“Where should we go for food?” Jace said.
“Bob’s house,” Kent said. “Bob was the sheriff, he went missing, but he lived alone and there should be something in there, plus, it’s not far and it’s close to the church.”
He wiped his hands on his jeans to get rid of the grease from the potato chips, and then grabbed a shotgun and shells. The gun was a pump-action Remington, all black, a tactical weapon.
He found two flashlights and handed one to Jace. “All right, let’s go.”
***
They stayed to the back of the buildings and saw no one, and only once did they hear a car drive by on the street.
He whispered to Kent. “Is the whole damn town involved?”
“No, not by a longshot, but the ones that aren’t involved are scared and lying low. The Sheriff went missing and then they beat me in front of everyone, after that, I’m sure folks are staying inside. What I can’t understand is why the State troopers or the FBI aren’t here.”
“They sent us instead, to assess, but that was before you were beaten.”
“Just you two?”
“It’ll be enough,” Jace said.
They reached the sheriff’s house without incident and broke in from the back door. Loud barking greeted them from an old hound, but when the dog got a whiff of the deputy’s scent, he became quiet and wagged his tail.
“That’s Jake, the sheriff’s dog, hey boy, how you doing?”
He found food to eat, while Jace roamed the house to make certain that they were alone, and to find pain reliever for the deputy, who was obviously in distress from his beating.
There was a roasted chicken in the refrigerator with a drumstick missing, and he placed it on the table along with a bowl of white rice and a pan of creamed spinach. There was a light already lit over the stove and he used it to navigate around the room and heat the food up in the microwave.
When he looked for Jace, he found him in the mudroom, he was busy feeding the dog and filling his water bowl.
“Come eat.”
“Chill, I had to feed the dog first, he hasn’t eaten in two days and his water bowl was empty, and ah, watch where you step in the living room. He hasn’t been walked either.”
“That’s what that smell is,”
“Yeah, and I’ll have to let him out before we go,”
“I want to leave in ten minutes. We have to take the deputy’s witness something to eat and then put them both somewhere safe.”
“Who made you boss?”
“What’s your plan?”
“Nothing, I just hate taking orders,”
“And I hate giving them, do what you want,”
“You’re no fun.”
***
After everyone was fed, and the deputy had been medicated, they headed for the church. Like everything else in the town, the building’s surface appearance was picture perfect. It was a tan brick building with a lot of stained glass and a tall, white steeple.
When they tried the door, it was locked, but Kent knew where a key was hidden, and they let themselves in through the back door.
After entering, they stood still, listening.
As their eyes adjusted to the gloom, the deputy pointed at an open door.
“That leads to the basement,” he whispered.
Kent stuck his head through the door and called out.
“Ms. Simmons, Eve, Eve it’s me, Deputy Kent.”
There was a sudden sound behind them and they all turned with guns at the ready.
“I’m over here, Deputy.”
The voice came from the center of the pews on the far side, and was followed by the silhouette of a woman rising up from the floor,
Jace turned on the flashlight, and in the yellow beam stood Hanna Jones.
CHAPTER 11
He pressed his shotgun against Kent’s chest as the man stood between him and Hanna.
“I can’t just let you shoot her!”
“That woman killed a cop in my town and most likely killed your sheriff. Now, get the hell out of my way.”
Jace placed his gun against Kent’s head.
“Three seconds...two...—”
“Someone will hear the shot!” Kent said, as he moved away from Hanna.
Hanna’s eyes were darting about in their sockets as she searched for a way to survive.
“I called! I called someone for help, ask the deputy, he knows.”
“Is that true?” he asked.
“Yes, the line died after a few words, but she did call someone. After that, a man named Ralph found me and dragged me out into the street to beat me with two other men.”
“If she had gotten through, they would be here by now.”
“Don’t kill me! I can help.”
“How?” he asked.
“There are over two dozen men out there, all armed. There are only three of you and one is wounded.”
“That’s why we need a working phone. Do you have one?”
“The town doesn’t have cell service,” Kent said, “Folks here liked it like that, survivalist types, you know? And my guess is that they disabled the landlines.”
Hanna smiled.
“See, you need me. Even you can’t take on two dozen men.”
“I’m willing to try,” he said, as he turned the gun around and smashed her in the face. There was a spray of blood and the brittle sound of her nose breaking, and then the soft, thud, as she fell limply to the floor.
Kent protested. “Jesus! That’s a woman, you know?”
“She tried to kill my wife, twice, she dies, but you were right, it needs to happen silently.”
He took a step towards Hanna as outside two sets of tires screeched to a stop. There was a rush of footsteps, and then someone was at the doors, trying the knob.
“Get down,” he said.
They heard the sound of a kick, then a curse, followed by a double shotgun blast. The church doors blew apart at the door handles, and shortly after, six men entered, all heavily armed.
“Ha
nnah?” a husky voice called, and he guessed that these were Gant’s men.
A different voice spoke.
“She could be hurt. Search the church, her tracking signal is definitely coming from here.”
He nearly stood up to stare at the man when he recognized the voice, but instead he eased his head slightly over the top of the seats, and was looking at Jeffrey Mitchell.
***
My brother, he thought, while looking at Mitchell, and wondered how the man was still alive.
When he noticed the eye patch covering the left eye, he grinned. Jessica had wounded him in their last encounter and it looked like she did permanent damage.
He lowered himself back behind the seats just as the lights came on, then he turned his head to speak to Jace, and discovered that he had vanished. When he looked at Kent, he found the man quivering. He put a finger to his lips, telling the deputy to remain quiet and then waited to be discovered.
Mitchell and the other men couldn’t miss them, they were on the floor in the middle of an aisle and trying to conceal themselves under the seats would be useless, because the seats only stayed in a down position if someone were sitting in them. He readied his gun and waited, as the sound of footsteps grew closer.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The shots came from behind, but when he spun around, he saw nothing, but then he heard a moan come from beneath the seats and he dropped down flat to find a man lying in a spreading puddle of blood, behind him was Jace, who sent him a wink and then slithered on his belly and away.
“Where the hell did those shots come from?”
It was the man with the husky voice again.
He moved along on his elbows and knees until he spotted three pair of feet at the end of an aisle, men who were stupidly bunched together, even after hearing the shots. He aimed the shotgun as well as he could while lying flat, and let loose several shots.
Screams erupted and the men hit the floor, hard. He fired several rounds into the clump of bodies and then scrambled away before his position could be ascertained, then, he heard more shots of a similar sound, and knew that Jace was shooting again. One man began shouting and running, and he was sure the survivors were still uncertain as to where the shots came from, but then he caught movement to his left, and saw Jeffrey lying flat and looking in the direction where Hanna lay.
He brought the shotgun around to shoot at him, but it was an unwieldly process, due to the long barrel and the confines of the seats, and Jeffrey saw him before he could fire.
A look of surprised recognition was sent his way, followed by two shots, both of which ricocheted off the base of the seats. Jeffrey had a handgun, which afforded him an easier time in the tight space.
Before he could be fired upon again, he scrambled away, and towards the door.
He called out. “Deputy Kent, there’s a man headed your way beneath the seats. Kill him!”
His words were answered by silence, but then the sound of gunfire erupted, gunfire from a handgun, and he had to assume Kent was dead and that Jeffrey had Hanna.
He stood in a rush and climbed atop a seat, gun at the ready, while surveying the scene. Jace was standing by the front door, peering out, and four of Jeffrey’s men lay either dead or severely wounded.
Jace spoke to him without turning his head.
“There’s more company, the two dudes that locked us up and one, two... six, six of their friends.”
A shot came from outside.
“The last of the dudes that attacked us just got his,” Jace said.
The man outside wasn’t the last, he thought, as he began walking atop the backs of the seats. When he reached the spot where Hanna had fallen, he found Kent, dead, and his shotgun, missing.
Jeffrey hadn’t stood up, that meant that he was still on the floor, and hampered by having to drag along an unconscious Hanna.
“They’re coming!” Jace yelled.
He stood atop the seats, and for an instant, was unable to move, as his desire to track down and kill the Mitchells conflicted with his sense of self-preservation. Self-preservation won out, and he dropped off the seats and ran back towards Jace.
Jace had moved to the next to last aisle and laid flat, with shotgun at the ready.
“It worked last time,” he said.
He lay at his side, looked back, and saw nothing but Kent’s unmoving legs. Jeffrey and Hanna were gone.
“I’m down to twelve shells,” Jace said.
“I’ve got nine left,”
“Where’s Kent?”
“Dead.”
“Shit.”
“All we have is the element of surprise, so don’t start shooting until everyone’s inside.”
“Got ya, but hey, where’s the cougar? Is she still out cold?”
As if in answer, a shot rang out from the back of the church. The men out front must have sent a man to secure the rear. He hoped that the shot meant Jeffrey was dead, but he doubted it.
“I think there’s only seven now.”
“That’s what that shot was?”
“Maybe, or maybe there’s someone coming up from behind,”
Jace laughed.
“I should go to church more often, it’s so much fun.”
The doors banged open and two men entered, guns swiveling back and forth, then the rest came, seven in all, with the eighth man either dead or alive at the church’s rear.
“I got the ones on the right,” Jace whispered, and they both began firing.
Five of the seven fell to the floor, as two of their companions began blasting the seats.
He and Jace skittered away, knees and elbows pumping rapidly to propel them backwards.
“One shot left,” Jace whispered,
He answered, “The same,” as the sound of moaning came from their victims.
He spotted something then, it was a satellite phone, and it was in a holster on the belt of one of the fallen. He pointed it out to Jace.
“We have to get that phone; Lawson has to know what’s going on.”
He removed his final shell from the shotgun and handed it to Jace.
“I’ll distract them. When I do, nail them.”
“But we don’t know where they are,”
“We will when I stand up, so be ready.”
He stood in a rush, with the intention of taking a quick glance around for the enemy’s position, but when he rose up from the floor, he found one of the men, the one named Ralph standing atop the seats in the next aisle, while the other man stood atop the seats four aisles back.
“On your right!” He called, and then tossed the empty shotgun at Ralph’s face, that caused the big man to lose his balance and he toppled from the seats.
The other man had him in his sights when Jace rose up and fired. The shot hit the man in the throat and a spray of blood erupted, even as the man fell backwards to the floor.
Jace was off and running. “I’ll get the phone!”
He moved over to where Ralph went down, and found the huge man getting up. Ralph’s gun was gone, lying somewhere beneath the seats, but he smiled as if he didn’t miss it.
“Mr. gas can, I’m gonna beat you to death, brother.”
He waited for the charge, knowing it would come, and when it did, he was ready. Ralph came at him fast, right arm extended, grasping, and he took Ralph’s wrist in both hands. Next, he swiveled around while bending over, and used the momentum of the charge to flip Ralph over.
Ralph hit the floor with a Whump! and then lay there blinking in shock.
He stood over him with one foot raised high and said five words.
“This is for Deputy Kent.”
The foot came down on Ralph’s throat, crushing his windpipe, and Ralph made a choking sound and died.
“The call’s going through,” Jace said,
“Good, and while you’re doing that, I’ll check the back.”
He searched until he found Ralph’s gun, a Colt Python, and then walked to the rear. Outside was a dea
d man, he was also one of the faux deputies who had locked him up, the young one.
Jeffrey and Hanna were gone.
CHAPTER 12
Lawson arrived in a Sikorsky helicopter that held him and twelve other men. The twelve men were clad head to toe in black and equipped with night vision goggles and weaponry. Another force of men ware landing at the south end of town, where the terrorists were supposedly operating.
As the black-clad men scattered in a search pattern, Lawson followed him into the church alongside a soldier who was also a medic.
“Good God, how many dead?”
“Eleven, and the two wounded over there, and some of the dead came here with Jeffrey Mitchell.”
“Mitchell is alive?”
“He has only one eye now, but it was him, and he escaped with Hanna.”
Lawson’s phone rang. He listened to the caller and then spoke in a low voice, when he was finished, he put the phone away and whistled.
“It’s a bomb factory up there all right. They’ve recovered several large ones, along with dozens of pipe bombs. It looks like they were planning something for the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination in Dallas. If they had gone undetected, they might have killed dozens, maybe more.”
“What about the Mitchells? Are they being pursued?”
“I know how much you want them, but no, everything in the area is being diverted here. We have to make certain that this nightmare is contained.”
“Mitchell arrived by car and left on foot, which means he had to steal a vehicle and can’t have gotten too far. He also wasn’t alone, so they must have a base somewhere nearby. Give me a car and a gun and I’ll go search for them.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“No,” Jace said. “I’ll go with you.”
He stared at him.
“You didn’t get enough excitement here?”
Jace shrugged.
“I can help.”
“That’s an understatement, kid; you’re as good as anyone I’ve seen.”
Lawson nodded.
“All right, more troops should be arriving soon. I’ll let you have one of their vehicles and some supplies; in the meantime, I want you to brief me on everything that’s happened.”
***
Two hours later, they were ready to go. They had a black Hummer, water, rations, satellite phones, guns, and enough ammo to start a war.
The TAKEN! Series - Books 9-12 (Taken! Box Set Book 3) Page 6
