Lawson clapped him on the shoulder.
“Keep in touch, and if all hell breaks loose, give a holler.”
“Will do,”
Jace caught Lawson’s eye.
“Yo, boss man, have someone go to the sheriff’s house and get his dog.”
“And do what with it?”
“Find a home for it, dude, that dog’s alright.”
“I’ll handle it, and good luck you two.”
He sent Lawson a nod and headed for the highway, in search of a brother, to kill.
CHAPTER 13
“Jeffrey Mitchell is alive?”
“Yes, but not well, it seems he lost an eye somewhere.”
Jessica giggled at that, and he felt a pang for home. He was sitting in the Hummer at a gas station. The pumps and the convenience store they sat in front of were the only things visible for miles in any direction. As Jace gassed up, he told Jessica what had happened in Destina.
“I also learned something from Lawson. William Gant was definitely my grandfather, which makes Billy Gant my father, DNA confirmed it.”
“No wonder your mother snuck off with you and Jeffrey.”
“Yes, she didn’t want him raising us, not that it did much good, considering how we turned out.”
“You turned out wonderful, but Jeffrey is a lost cause, and now it looks like he’s reunited with your father.”
“Is Carly still searching for her, for my mother?”
“Yes, but apparently your mother is an expert at flying under the radar, either that, or she’s living under a different identity.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t even look for her,”
“Don’t you want to know what she’s like?”
“Yes, but what’s the point? She obviously wants to be left alone.”
“Speaking of alone, I’ve been alone too much lately, when are you coming home?”
“I’ll keep searching until the end of the day, and then I’ll come home, but I can’t miss a chance to finish things with Mitchell.”
“Your brother,”
“Yes, my brother,”
“Maybe you should let them go for now, you’re outnumbered.”
“Outnumbered, but not alone, that kid Jace is with me.”
“And you say he was helpful in Destina?”
“We kept each other alive, he handles himself well.”
“He had a rough upbringing and lost his way, but Dr. Harven saw something in him and made sure he had a second chance.”
“What’s his story?”
“A father who beat him and a mother who drank, then he fell in with a bank robbing uncle who was a part-time mercenary. He was teaching Jace to be like himself when a bank robbery went bad. The bank guard and the uncle shot each other dead, and Jace was on his own. He was wearing a ski mask, carrying a shotgun, and had sixteen hostages.”
“What happened then?”
“SWAT showed up, and a shrewd police negotiator realized that he was dealing with a seventeen-year-old kid. In the end, the hostages were freed, and because of the dead guard, Jace was sentenced as an adult to a twenty year sentence.”
“When was this?”
“Nearly two years ago. Dr. Harven saw the case and pulled strings, and now Jace serves his time with Lawson.”
“So, he’s technically still in custody?”
“Technically, but it’s better than being locked up.”
“Yes, if he survives his missions,”
“You like him, don’t you?”
“He’ll do.”
“Good luck, baby, be safe and hurry home,”
He said goodbye and got out of the truck to stretch.
Jace was walking towards him with a hotdog in one hand and a Playboy in the other, while smoking a cigarette.
“Let me have the keys and I’ll drive; I see you have reading material.”
“What? You mean there are articles in here? I never noticed.”
He placed the key in the ignition and then got out of the Hummer.
“Pit stop,” he said, and then walked off towards the bathroom. Jace called to him.
“You want to borrow my magazine?”
“I have a wife for that,”
“The girl on page sixteen looks a lot like her.”
“Watch it.”
Jace laughed and he went on to take care of his business. When he left the men’s room, he noticed two men in a jeep staring at him. When he started the truck and pulled onto the highway, the jeep did the same.
“We may have company, or it could be a coincidence.”
“The guys in the jeep?”
He turned his head and stared at Jace.
“Yeah, the guys in the jeep, when did you spot them?”
“One of them was following me around the store; I thought he was gay or something, but now he and his friend are following us.”
“They could be Gant’s men.”
“Who is Gant exactly?”
“For one thing, he’s my father,”
“No shit?”
“None, but I’ve never met him.”
“So why is he sending guys to kill you?”
“In the church, did you spot a man wearing an eye patch?”
“Patchy the Pirate, yeah, what about him?”
“He’s a serial killer named Jeffrey Mitchell. He’s also Hanna Jones’ husband... and my brother.”
“You got some family, yo,”
“Jeffrey and Hanna have tried to kill me before, and I don’t think he knows I’m his brother, but brother or not I’ll kill him, and Hanna too.”
“Thanksgiving is gonna be lonely at your house.”
“Yeah.”
***
Three miles from the gas station, a second jeep fell in behind the first one. He drove on. They had gone out looking for Jeffrey and Hanna and it appeared as if they may have found them, or rather, Billy Gant had sent men out to kill anyone on Jeffrey’s trail.
As he crested a hill, he saw something glint off metal inside the second jeep and guessed that they were readying their weapons. There were no other vehicles in sight. Traffic out this far was rare, and the Mexican border was mere miles away.
He spoke to Jace.
“I’m going off-road, maybe we can lose them in the sandy soil.”
He turned off the road and the jeeps followed, and with all pretenses at an end, they came closer, the first one nearly hitting the Hummer’s rear. When he began to climb up a hill, the jeeps began losing ground, and that’s when the gunfire started.
Jace answered in kind, while he drove, and their lead on the jeeps expanded, but then the right front tire exploded, and the Hummer lost its traction.
When another tire in the rear went, he grabbed the backpack containing the ammo, water, and phones, and tapped Jace on the shoulder.
“The Hummer’s done, it’s time to fight.”
They both jumped out of the driver’s side as a fusillade of bullets slammed into the Hummer.
They scrambled behind an outcropping of rock and returned fire, and he saw the driver in the second jeep lose control and slam hard into the rear of the first one. There were five men left, as the driver looked dead, but they were as well armed as themselves, during a lull in the shooting, he shouted a question.
“Who sent you?”
“Jeffrey Mitchell sends his regards,”
“Not Billy Gant?”
Silence, a silence that told him they were surprised by his knowledge.
“Don’t know no Gant, now shut up and die.”
They began shooting again and he let out a strangled cry and fell backwards behind the rock.
Jace looked at him with concern, but he got up and whispered in his ear, as he pointed overhead.
“They think I’m done. Give me time to climb this rock face and then let them think you’re wounded. When they close in for the kill, we’ll have them.”
Jace followed his gaze and looked up at the steep wall of rock.
�
�You can climb that?”
“I’d better, or we’re done.”
Jace nodded, “Go.”
As Jace returned fire again, he began the climb. The rock wall was nearly perpendicular to the sandy earth surrounding it, but its pocked face supplied enough handholds to ascend it. When he was near the top, he heard Jace moan convincingly, and hoped that it was just part of the act.
He stayed locked in place for a moment. If he crested the top too soon, they would still be behind the safety of their vehicles. He had to wait until they were drawn out into the open, then, with the advantage of high ground and the sun at his back, they would be easy prey.
“They’re coming,” Jace whispered, before releasing another moan.
He scrambled up the last few feet and straddled the narrow summit with his chest. The last man approaching spotted him, and he shot him as he opened his mouth in warning.
Jace took out another one as he took out a third. The fourth man tripped over the bodies of his comrades and lost his balance along with his gun. He put two in the back of the man’s thighs, as Jace finished off the last man with three closely spaced shots.
He climbed halfway down and then leapt to the sand. Jace was leaning against the rock with his gun hanging loosely at his side.
“Good shooting, kid.”
Jace turned, and the left side of his abdomen was wet with blood.
“They were good shots too.”
“How bad is it?”
“It went right through, but I’m bleeding pretty good.”
“C’mon, lean on me and we’ll get you help,”
They made it to the Hummer, opened the tailgate, and fished out a first-aid kit. Jace pointed at the man with the wounded legs, who was trying to crawl away.
“What about him?”
“He’s going to tell me what I want to know.”
“Go to it, I can bandage the wound myself.”
He went to the man and stared down at him, then flipped him over. The wounds were worse than he thought, one of the bullets had shattered the right femur and the man was losing blood by the pint.
The man held up a satellite phone. “Billy’s coming,” he said, and then he died.
***
When he walked back to the Hummer, he called Lawson.
“We were attacked by Gant’s men, and the man himself is headed here, also, Jace is wounded.”
“How bad is he?”
“He’ll live, but he needs medical attention soon.”
“All hell broke loose after you left. One of the bomb trailers was rigged and we lost six men, we’re also getting sniped at from the woods. I’ll send someone, but I can’t promise when.”
“Don’t take too long, or there won’t be a reason to come.”
“I hear you,” Lawson said.
He put the phone away and checked the gauze covering Jace’s wound, it was already soaked with blood.
The jeep that ran into the back of the other one was leaking from its radiator and with the Hummer having two flats, they climbed in the first jeep.
“We’ll head back to that gas station.”
Jace pointed north.
“I saw a small ranch house over that way when we crested the hill on the way here. It’s a lot closer, can’t be more than three miles.”
“I spotted it too, but I doubt anyone living out here would be welcoming to strangers with bullet wounds.”
“Yeah, I know I wouldn’t.”
They drove off in the jeep, bumping along the sand and rocks, and Jace let out a moan.
“You okay, kid?”
“I’m dizzy,”
In an attempt to smooth out the ride, he slowed as much as he dared, and still keep traction. When he glanced at the gas gauge, he saw that the tank was nearly empty, where before, he had seen the needle at the quarter mark,
“We’re losing fuel; the tank must have taken a bullet.”
Jace merely nodded in response, and he knew the kid was getting worse. The road was in sight when the engine coughed and he eased off the pedal even more, then Jace leaned his head on his shoulder and winced in a grimace of pain.
“I forgot to bring my Playboy,” he said, and then passed out, and as if in sympathy, the jeep’s engine sputtered and died.
He shook Jace and found him unresponsive, but the kid’s breathing was normal and his pulse, steady. When he checked the wound, he found the bandage dripping with blood. He had to rewrap the wound.
There were rags in the jeep’s rear. He took the ones that looked unsoiled, along with a role of duct tape, and taped the rags to the wound as tightly as he could. Afterwards, he leaned on the jeep and thought over his options.
It was the middle of the day, the sun was hot, and the gas station was a ten-mile walk, while the ranch they spotted was maybe four miles away. There was gas in the vehicles left behind, but no way to ferry it back, and the round trip would eat up three miles, three miles of rocky shifting sand.
He tossed Jace over his shoulder, grabbed the backpack off the seat, and began walking north towards the ranch.
CHAPTER 14
The dog ran up to him as he was walking towards the home and he stood still and let it bark.
The door on the ranch house opened and he was surprised to see a woman. She was about fifty, maybe a bit older, but in good shape. Her dark hair was tied back in a ponytail and her green eyes studied him, as she walked ever closer.
It occurred to him that she looked a bit like an older version of Blue Steele, right down to the gun in her hand.
“Tell me your story,” she said.
He had been wearing sunglasses, but he dropped the pack and used his free hand to take them off, when he did so, the woman jumped back in shock, and he saw her raise the gun slightly.
“Who are you?”
“The name is White; the boy I’m carrying has been injured and needs help.”
She kept staring, and he saw something in her eyes soften, even as her posture grew more rigid.
“Your name’s not White, it’s Gant.”
“So I’ve been told, but I’ve never met any of them.”
The woman kept staring at him.
“Will you help us? If not, then I’ll have to turn around and walk back to that gas station, and I don’t think this boy will last that long.”
“The Gants, are they on your trail?”
“Yes, but there’s also help on the way, help from the law,”
More staring, and in such an intense manner that it nearly unnerved him. It was as if the woman were trying to read his soul. Then, with a swiftness that surprised him, she turned and headed for the door.
“Name’s Vera, follow me and we’ll see to that boy.”
***
The inside of the house was warm as he stepped inside, but as the woman guided him deeper inside the dwelling it grew cooler, he realized that he was walking on a incline, and that the home had been built down into the rocky soil, making the structure twice as long as it appeared from up top.
As they came to a room off the kitchen, he had just enough time to catch a glimpse of what lay inside, before the woman shut the door. The room had appeared to be an office with a desktop computer and a large monitor, and he wondered briefly how she got Internet service, and decided that she must have a satellite hook-up.
She pointed to a bed in a small room at the very back of the house, and went off to get medical supplies. He laid Jace upon the bed, and the kid’s eyes fluttered open.
“What’s going on?” he whispered.
“I found help for you; you’re going to be okay.”
“What about Gant, Mitchell?”
“I’ll handle them.”
“You shouldn’t... shouldn’t have to kill your own...” Jace said, and then he was out again.
The woman returned with supplies, including a needle and thread. She rolled Jace on his side and went to work removing the duct tape and rags.
“This was crude work,” she said.
“It was all I had.”
“Well, crude as it was it helped to staunch the bleeding, and probably saved his life, but this wound still needs stitching. What was he shot with?”
“I’m not certain, but I think it was a 9mm.”
He watched her work, and as she stitched the entrance and exit wounds, her hands were steady and the weave of the thread tight. When she finished with the wound, she took a pill bottle out of her pocket.
“Is he allergic to penicillin?”
“I doubt know.”
“I’ll have to wake him.”
She slapped Jace lightly, but when he didn’t stir, she put some power into her slaps, and Jace awoke with a start.
“Hey!”
“Sorry about that, but I need to know if you’re allergic to penicillin.”
“Nah, I ain’t allergic to nothin’, but I sure am tired.”
“Swallow these pills; they’ll help you feel better.”
Jace sat up and took the pills, and then laid flat again.
“I’m so damn tired.”
“Then go back to sleep,”
“Yeah...”
“He’s down for the count again, probably weak from the blood loss,” Vera said, as she covered him with a blanket.
When she stood up abruptly, they were standing face to face.
Vera looked up into his eyes.
“Are you a good boy, mister?”
He smirked. “That seems to be the question of my life.”
“And what’s your answer?”
“Yes, yes ma’am, I’m a good boy,”
She brushed past him.
“You’d be the first of the Gants to make it.”
***
He went back outside and called Lawson, to let him know their new location.
“Help is on the way, two state troopers, it’s all we could spare.”
“What’s going on where you are?”
“Things are better here. The snipers have all been killed, and now we’re doing a house-to-house search. You may not have gotten Hanna Jones, but you helped to stop a terrorist plot, damn good work, you and Jace both.”
“Thanks, but I’m hoping to get another shot at Hanna too.”
“You think she and Jeffrey will show up there?”
“I can only hope,”
The TAKEN! Series - Books 9-12 (Taken! Box Set Book 3) Page 7
