Gateway to Chaos (Book 2): Seeking Refuge

by Payne, T. L.

  The story JJ had told him about her father-in-law replayed in his mind. Were these the hired killers that the drug cartel had sent after her? It had to be. But how did they find her—again?

  Scott slowly made his way to the front of the Jeep, moving around it undetected. He wanted to get the jump on the men. Should I just shoot them both? Could he do that? Shoot a man in the back like that? He was sure that if the men detected him and turned around, they’d shoot at him. He was defending JJ. He was trying to save her life. It would be a justified defense of others case, right?

  Scott felt a wave of dizziness as he crouched and moved. His ribs screamed with pain. It hurt so bad to breathe that he wanted to hold his breath, but he couldn’t think about himself right now. He didn’t think JJ could make it through a beating like he’d just had.

  “Get the hell off me,” JJ screamed, telling Scott she still had some fight in her.

  He quickened his pace and rose long enough to confirm that the two men still had their backs to him. He had a clear shot from that vantage point, but he needed to see if JJ’s attacker held a weapon. If he did, she might be killed if he acted too soon.

  Scott knelt with one knee on the ground and bent forward to look under the Jeep. JJ was curled up on her side facing the SUV. In her arms, she clutched the rifle. On top of her was a man dressed in a light gray parka and knit hat. He appeared to be trying to wrestle the weapon from JJ’s grasp. Scott had to act fast before the man got it and turned the rifle on her.

  As he tried to stand, the world began to spin, and he coughed. Panic shot through him. Scott jumped to his feet. At the same time, he brought the pistol up and fired at the man closest to him. The man turned slightly in Scott’s direction and then dropped. The second man twisted his upper body toward him. Scott’s second shot hit the man in the shoulder and his arm flew up.

  The man stumbled backward, but he righted himself and brought his own pistol up. Scott ducked just in time as a hail of bullets whizzed past him, striking the Jeep. JJ was screaming, but he didn’t have time to check on her. The man was charging toward him. Scott swung the pistol around and fired two rounds, hitting the man in the neck and abdomen. The bleeding man dropped to his knees then fell on his face in the snow.

  Scott moved around to the side of the Jeep where he could now fully see JJ still in the fight of her life with the man in the gray coat. Scott rushed over to them. He put the gun to the back of the man’s head and pulled the trigger.

  Nothing happened. The gun had misfired. The man turned and stood. Scott backed up, tapped the magazine hard with the palm of his left hand, racked the slide on the pistol to eject the misfired round, and fired two rounds into the man’s chest. He’d practiced the maneuver dozens of times at the firing range, though shooting paper targets was so different from facing a living, breathing human being.

  Staring at the man as he writhed on the ground, Scott knew that his wounds would prove fatal. A growing pool of crimson stained the snow. He was bleeding out. Scott was vaguely aware of JJ standing beside him. She kicked at one of the other men and rolled him over with the toe of her boot. He too was either dead or soon would be. Scott turned his attention to the third man. He was slowly inching along the street attempting to get away from them. The blood trail he left in the snow confirmed he’d be no threat either.

  “Are you all right?” Scott asked, turning back to JJ.

  “I’m good,” JJ said, running her hands through her blonde hair. “How are you?”

  Scott felt a trickle of blood run down his face. He felt the side of his head. It felt wet. He held his hand out. His fingers were covered in blood.

  “We need to get out of here,” JJ said. “You think you can drive?”

  “Yeah,” Scott said as he turned and looked at the intersection. The world began to spin, and Scott stumbled backward. He braced himself against the Jeep to keep from falling.

  “Get in. I’m driving,” JJ said.

  Chapter 8

  Manchester, Missouri

  February 18th

  After helping Scott in on the passenger side, JJ ran around to the left side of the Jeep, tossed the rifle into the back, and hopped into the driver’s seat. She twisted in her seat and looked down to buckle her seatbelt.

  Scott elbowed her.

  “JJ.”

  When she looked up, Scott’s hands were in the air.

  “What the—” JJ said. Her car door flew open. Hands were on her. She landed hard on her butt looking up at a man wearing a hoodie and a bandana over his face.

  The man pointed the pistol at her as he lowered himself into the driver’s seat. She couldn’t see if Scott was still inside.

  “Scott!” JJ yelled as the man slammed the door.

  The man put the Jeep into gear and floored it. JJ could hear the traction control engaging, trying to stop the vehicle from skidding sideways as he pulled away. She watched the Jeep continue straight through the intersection, turn left, and disappear. Scott appeared beside her.

  “What the hell just happened?” JJ said as Scott helped her to her feet.

  “I think we just got carjacked.”

  JJ dusted snow off her butt and tugged on the hem of her coat.

  “Damn. This sucks,” JJ said.

  Scott ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his stubbled face.

  JJ looked down at the dead men on the ground.

  “I think we should go.”

  Scott nodded and looked around.

  “We need to find someplace to hole up and regroup while I figure something out.”

  They needed to find a running car. There was no way either of them could make the trip in the snow. They’d lost their gear and rifles.

  JJ shoved her hand into the front pocket of her jeans, felt the USB flash drive, and pulled it out. At least she still had her insurance policy. She kissed it and placed it back in her pocket.

  Scott turned and started walking back toward Route 141.

  “Where are you going?” JJ asked, rushing to catch up with him.

  “I saw a building a block or two back that looked like a good place to warm up for a while.”

  As JJ stood in front of the red brick building, she doubted they’d be any warmer inside. She saw no chimney, which meant no fireplace or wood stove. Unless it had solar panels somewhere she couldn’t see, the only thing that the building could provide was a place out of the wind.

  Scott scaled the six-foot chain-link fence and disappeared around the side of the building. A moment later, he stood at the corner waving her over.

  JJ stared at the fence. She hadn’t climbed a chain-link fence since she was a kid. Scott had made it look easy, but she knew it would be anything but. JJ grabbed the top of the fence and placed the toe of her boot into one of the holes. After she slung her leg over the top and threw her body over, Scott grabbed her waist and helped her safely climb down.

  JJ inhaled as Scott’s hands gripped her waist. As he lowered her to the ground, feelings stirred in her that she’d thought were dead. JJ pushed them away as she turned to face him. He took a step back. Their eyes met for a moment before JJ looked away.

  “It looks like some kind of daycare center,” Scott said as he turned and began walking to the front of the building.

  “You found a way in?”

  “Yep.”

  A panel window next to the door was broken.

  “Did you do that?” JJ asked.

  “Yeah,” he said as he climbed through the opening.

  JJ wasn’t judging. She just wanted to be sure that they were alone in the building. She was exhausted and wasn’t ready to fight for her life anymore that day.

  “There’s a small kitchen. The food in the fridge will be bad, but they have plenty of juice boxes and Goldfish crackers,” Scott said, grinning.

  They walked down the hall and entered a room on their left. The small, tidy kitchen looked as she expected with builder-grade cabinets and Formica countertops. A large prep table sat in the
middle of the room. Scott walked over and opened a floor-to-ceiling cabinet. Inside were large boxes of Goldfish crackers, raisins, animal crackers, pretzels, and tubs of applesauce. Scott reached in and grabbed a box of raisins and a bag of pretzels.

  “Want some animal crackers? Scott asked.

  JJ nodded and took the small bag from him.

  Scott held up a tub of single-serve applesauce and shook it.

  “It’s frozen.”

  JJ opened another cabinet door. It was lined with juice boxes. JJ picked one up and squeezed it. The apple juice inside was frozen solid. They wouldn’t be drinking any of those. Any liquid here would be frozen. She placed the juice box to her swollen cheek. At least it was good for something.

  She bristled at the frigid air filling the room through the broken window. She was sick of being cold. Her feet and hands were frozen. Her nose and face hurt. Her bones were cold.

  Her thoughts drifted to her mother and father’s house with its large fireplace and wood stove. It would be warm there. She’d have plenty of liquids that she didn’t have to thaw to drink. Her mom would make her favorite French toast and they’d have homemade bread with honey butter as they sat by the fire in the living room. The house would be crowded with all her family there and likely noisy with children’s laughter. She was truly homesick for the first time since she’d gone away to college seventeen years ago. Had it really been that many years? She’d met David right out of college. They’d only dated for a little over a year before they got married. She’d visited her parents every few months, but until now, she hadn’t realized how much she missed the simple life she’d led there.

  “We’ll hole up here for a bit in case those men come back around looking for us,” Scott said.

  “How long are we going to wait? I don’t know how much of this cold I can take,” JJ said, the condensation in her breath causing a thick cloud with each exhalation.

  “I’m not sure, but I am sure that we drew a lot of attention with all that gunfire back there.”

  “How am I supposed to get to my folks now?” JJ asked.

  “We’ll have to find another old car somehow. I’m not sure, but I know that we need to get away from the city. It was stupid to come here. There are too many desperate and dangerous people.”

  “We aren’t going to last very long without heat or warmer clothes,” JJ said.

  Scott looked at the ceiling.

  “I did a job over here about six months ago. I think we’re near Manchester Road. I bet we could find a sporting goods store or even a Walmart to get some new gear.”

  “You don’t think all those places would have been looted out by now?” JJ said.

  “We have to look.”

  JJ nodded, but she was less than enthused about the idea. It sounded dangerous, and she didn’t have the energy for another fight.

  Scott shoved several kindergarten sleeping mats together and piled more on top to make grownup-sized cots for them to lay on. JJ plopped down and stretched out. The energy that JJ had started the day with had all been drained away. She was sure that there was no way that she had the energy to fight the way she had earlier. She needed food. Real food.

  As she lay back on the cot, JJ’s mind raced through the moments before the Jeep had been stolen, like an after-action review. Had she been responsible for escalating the encounter with the carjackers, believing the men to be the hired guns sent by the cartel? If she hadn’t resisted and pointed the rifle at the men, would they have done like the second group and just stolen the car? Those men might still be alive if she hadn’t jumped to conclusions.

  When she looked over, Scott appeared to be sleeping, curled up on his mat with two tiny blankets covering his torso.

  Where’d he find blankets?

  Chapter 9

  Bright Day Early Learning Center

  Manchester, Missouri

  February 18th

  After an hour of fitful sleep in the shivering cold daycare center, JJ rolled over to see if Scott was awake. He was sitting on a tiny desk eating crackers.

  “Did you sleep?” JJ asked.

  “A little.”

  “I tried, but I’m just so cold. I really need to find heat and warm my toes,” JJ said, sitting up and removing her right boot. Her feet felt frozen even with two layers of wool socks. JJ rubbed her toes, trying to cause enough friction to bring them back to life, but it wasn’t working.

  “Let’s go see if we can find a sporting goods store,” Scott said as he stood.

  JJ pulled her boot back on and rose to her feet.

  “You think that’s safe?”

  “I think it’s our only option at this point,” Scott said as he stuffed a bag of animal crackers into his coat pocket and headed for the door.

  JJ followed him through the broken door and down Route 141 toward Manchester Road. Walking on her frozen toes was painful. She quickly realized that she might be stranded in the city. There was no way for her to walk to her parents’ home in these conditions.

  After walking down the exit ramp and reaching Manchester Road, JJ’s heart quickened. To her right stood a big, white building with blue letters spelling out Academy Sports and Outdoor Store.

  “Scott,” JJ said, pointing in that direction. “Over there.”

  A broad smile crossed Scott’s face, and he headed down the snow-covered hill toward the store. Several buildings stood between them and the sports store. A few cars remained in the parking lots. Scott ran over and pulled on the door handle of a newer model Honda Civic. It was locked. He tried the doors of all the other vehicles in the lot, but they all were locked.

  “If we find one unlocked, do you know how to hotwire it? It’s not likely that the driver would have left the keys in the ignition, you know,” JJ said as she pulled on the handle of a beat-up Dodge truck.

  “I might.” Scott smiled.

  JJ looked up.

  “Misspent youth?”

  “Lost keys. Long story.”

  Giving up on finding any of the vehicles unlocked, and with nothing to break the glass with, JJ and Scott headed toward the store. About halfway across the parking lot, JJ stopped in her tracks. All the store’s front windows were broken. Trash littered the parking lot. The snow in the lot had been trampled by multiple feet, and a path had been worn in and out of the store. Her eyes followed the trail of footprints in the snow. They disappeared around the side of the building.

  “We won’t have to worry about how to get in,” JJ said, pointing to the broken doors.

  “I figured that’d be the case,” Scott said as he approached her.

  “You think it’s safe to go in? There could still be people inside.”

  Scott took off toward the door. When she didn’t follow, he stopped and turned toward her.

  “I don’t think we really have much choice. If we stay out here, we’ll freeze to death.”

  JJ scanned the parking lot. She had a bad feeling about it, but he was right. They had no choice.

  “I’d sure feel better if we had some type of weapon,” JJ said, catching up to him.

  “Look for something as soon as we go in. A bat, hockey stick, a golf club, anything that can do damage if you hit someone with it. If we’re lucky, we’ll find knives. I seriously doubt there will be any guns or ammo left, though.”

  The place had been thoroughly ransacked. Empty shoeboxes, clothes hangers, plastic bottles, and pieces of cardboard boxes littered the aisle as far as JJ could see. Due to the low light, she couldn’t see the back of the store, but she imagined it looked much the same, if not worse.

  “Stick close to me,” Scott said as he turned to their left and proceeded toward the back. Racks and displays had been overturned, making it difficult to distinguish one aisle from another. JJ’s gut clenched as they ventured deeper. Her heart thrummed in her chest, anticipating someone jumping out from behind one of the toppled racks.

  Scott stopped at a mound of sports equipment on the floor. He bent over and rummaged around in
the pile, eventually pulling out a bat. They now had a weapon, but JJ didn’t feel any better.

  Eager to find her own weapon, JJ lifted a toppled bin of sports balls and moved it aside. Beneath it lay a tennis racket. It’d be better than nothing, but she was looking for something that would give her better odds against an attacker than a flimsy piece of plastic. She had stepped forward to inspect another mound of equipment when her toe hit something solid. JJ bent over and picked up the dumbbell. It could do significant damage, but it was much too heavy for her to carry so she put it back on the floor. She shoved aside a baseball glove to reveal a metal bar. She lifted it. It felt heavy. JJ swung it around and made a chopping motion as if hitting someone.

  This will do.

  JJ looked around but didn’t see Scott. She was afraid to call out for fear that if someone else was in the building, she might give away her location. She backed out of the aisle and headed deeper into the store. Even though her eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness, she still struggled to navigate through all the things littering the floor.

  “Over here, JJ,” Scott whispered.

  “Where are you?”

  She could tell the general direction his voice had come from but couldn’t be sure which aisle he was in.

  “This way,” Scott called back and stepped into view.

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him. He held onto her and pulled her closer.

  “I have good news and bad news,” Scott said.

  “Bad news. I want the bad news first,” JJ said, knowing how this conversation went and wanting him to cut straight to it.

  “Don’t panic, but we aren’t alone,” Scott whispered in her ear.

  Him saying that raised her anxiety even more. It meant that there was a reason to panic. Her mind raced with all the possibilities. She wished her imagination weren’t quite so creative.