“I couldn’t consult him when he was inside.”
“Then you have to do what you know is right before that happens. Help us with this. You don’t have to do much. It’s the only way this is going to work out for you.” Michael’s mouth felt dry. “I don’t want to have to come after you. None of us do. But we will. You know what he’s like.”
Isaac was silent a long moment before he responded. “After everything he did to you, you still hold faith with him?”
Michael swallowed a lump at the back of his throat. The comment came out of nowhere.
And he knew exactly what he was referring to.
“That… was a long time ago,” he said.
“It still hurts you, doesn’t it? The same way it hurts me, knowing what I did to you, what we all did to you.”
Michael’s eyes stung and he had to look away. “It was for the best.” The words tasted like rotten food in his mouth.
“Only the Lord can help us bear this pain.” Isaac reached out and cupped his hands over Michael’s.
He never held much truck with religion. All it ever seemed to do was wage wars in other people’s names in its quest for money and power, but right then, when Isaac laid hands on him, he swore he felt something, electricity up his arms and into his body.
“How do you know God doesn’t want you to help us?” Michael said.
Isaac gave him a flat stare.
Michael raised his hands. “I don’t pretend to know God’s will. I’m only throwing out suggestions here.”
“God wouldn’t want me to break his laws.”
“It’s not his laws you’d be breaking.”
“Or society’s laws. He built our society too.”
Michael sighed. He was never going to win this argument. Isaac already decided what he believed. He thought he understood God’s will, and there was no changing a man’s mind after that.
“Is there any way I can convince you to help us release Quentin?” he said. “Any way at all?”
“No.”
Michael got to his feet, disgusted at the man he once thought of as his brother. “Then we don’t have anything else to talk about.”
Michael eyed a sharp rock. If he picked it up and threatened him with it, how would Isaac react? Would he flinch? Would he try to defend himself? Or would he roll over and let him do whatever he wanted to him and put up no resistance at all?
Bashing him over the head would be doing him a service compared to what would happen if Quentin ever got hold of him.
Not yet, he told himself. Not until we get Quentin out. There was still a chance they would fail to bust him out. And that was just about the only chance Isaac could cling to now.
It was the day he dreamed about, the day he spent most of the entire past year planning for. And now it was drawing nearer, he found he didn’t want it rushing up quite so fast. He needed time to think, to consider. Did he really want to gain one brother and lose another?
“Look at what he’s making you do,” Isaac said. “Look at the things you’re doing because he wants you to. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do any of this.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying leave him in prison. Let the authorities take care of him. By himself, he’s nothing. He has no power. His power comes from us. It always has. It always will.”
Michael couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I can’t leave him in prison to rot. Is that the kind of thing you do to your friends?”
Michael was lashing out, trying, struggling, failing, to find a good counter argument.
Isaac only pressed his hands to his shoulders and smiled. “We’d be doing it for everybody. Not only for us and this town. For everyone, everywhere.”
Michael turned to his friend. “You need to think again, Isaac. Rethink what you want to do here. We’re not going to turn against Quentin. He’s our leader and always will be.”
“You can be their leader,” Isaac said. “You’re a good man, despite the things you’ve done. There’s a reason God set you free. It’s to lead Jack and Jill away from darkness. To somewhere safe where Quentin can’t reach them.”
“There is no such place.”
“There is if you just look.”
What Isaac was asking for was impossible. If they didn’t have each other, they had nothing. They would be wanderers in a world gone dark.
“You need to rethink your strategy,” Michael said.
Isaac smiled. “I’m not smart enough to have strategies. You’re the one with plans. Not me.”
Quentin wouldn’t care if Isaac had a plan or not. If he turned against him, if he was dead weight, Isaac wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
“Get ready,” Michael said. “We’re making our move now.”
He would have to think harder on the problem. Time was running short and if he was going to do something about Isaac, he’d better do it soon.
36
When it rains, it pours.
“I caught them trying to escape through the forest,” Ronnie said as he led them through the fields made muddy by the drizzly rain to the tool shed. “They took some food and water – no more than enough to last a week or two at most – and some of the kitchen knives. They weren’t too happy I caught them, and even less happy I forced them to come back.”
The couple sat side by side on the floor, heads bowed low like whipped animals.
“Why did you run away?” Katie said.
Louisa snorted and her voice was thick with tears. “We didn’t mean for any of this to happen. We knew what we were giving up when we decided to run away. We thought we could hide out here while they looked for us. The place was empty and they wouldn’t think to come here.”
“But they caught you creeping out,” Camden said. “The same way we did.”
“I guess we need lessons in how to be better creepers,” Luke said with a smile that was too sad and painful to watch.
“We want you to stay here,” Katie said. “We decided you were worth protecting, and the way you look at each other only goes to prove we were right. Both of your families support you. They understand what you’re doing and they want to help you.”
“We don’t want any of you to get hurt,” Luke said. “And that’s exactly what’s going to happen if things carry on the way they are.”
“Your brother came and we stopped him,” Katie said. “If he tries it again, we’ll stop him again. He’s not going to get to you. He won’t.”
“You don’t know my brother,” Louisa said. “When he has something he wants, he’ll never stop until he gets it.”
“He’s going to be sucking soup through a straw after what Katie did to him,” Ronnie said with a chuckle.
Louisa shook her head. “You don’t understand. That’ll only make him angry. They’ll come back and try again. They won’t stop.”
“You’re not thinking clearly,” Katie said softly. “I’ve been out there. I know what’s beyond those hills. All the love in the world isn’t going to help you survive out there. You need help. You need support. You both come from strong families and you’ll need to rely on them if you want to survive. Trust me. You don’t want to go out into the world the way it is right now.”
Louisa sniffed. Katie lifted her chin so she looked her in the eyes.
“Don’t run again,” she said. “We’re here to help you. And if we have to keep an eye out for you all the time it’ll make things much more difficult for us.” She wagged her finger under both their noses like a chastising aunt. “Don’t run again.”
The couple nodded and managed small smiles of relief – they didn’t really want to run either. They only felt the pressure to do so.
“Get back to the lodge and get yourselves washed up,” Katie said.
Ronnie led them back into the rain.
“What do you want to do about them?” Camden said.
“Them? Nothing. Let’s double the watch. It won’t hurt to be ready in case something does happen.
”
She hoped to God it wouldn’t. It wasn’t like they had an infinite supply of people.
37
The carriage pulled into the generator room. It was the second time Katie, Bill, Aaron and the twins helped with the supply drop and the second time nothing had happened. There wasn’t even a rotten old tree laying across the road this time. An hour’s work for as many supplies as they could carry. That didn’t seem like such a bad day’s work to Katie.
Already Inspector Taylor wanted to dismiss them, to tell them he no longer needed their service, but then what would happen if the carriage was attacked and they had no one to protect them? He simply couldn’t take the risk. Still, it didn’t mean he had to be happy about the arrangement.
“I’ve been thinking about these notorious prisoners you’ve got in this prison,” Katie said. “Why not kill them? They’re going to be incarcerated for the rest of their lives anyway. You could save a lot of resources if you just end them right here and now.”
Inspector Taylor’s mouth fell open. “That is against the law, missy.”
“There is no law anymore, not like there used to be.”
The inspector’s mouth curled into a pout. “There’s law in this town while I’m the chief.”
“Those men will escape eventually, and when they do, they’ll go on a killing spree. And worse. Do you want to be held responsible for their crimes?”
Inspector Taylor had his response ready. “I won’t be responsible. Our system of law will. And when they look back and see that I did all I could to keep the generator running, they’ll judge me innocent.”
“Then what about the townspeople?” Bill said. “Do you think they’ll be so understanding when it was their little girls who were raped, their sons who were murdered? They’ll want to blame someone, and there you’ll stand, in your nice crisp uniform. A symbol to attack.”
Inspector Taylor licked his lips, suddenly nervous. He leaned against the carriage and shook his head. “I’ll be honest. It’s kept me up nights. I’ve never failed in my duty before, but that doesn’t mean bad things haven’t happened on my watch. You know what you never forget? The screams. The cries from a mother who lost her child because you let a criminal slip through and harm her children. Or the anger of a man with nothing to lose, so he comes at you with a crowbar and bad intentions.” He shoved himself off the carriage and brought his exhausted eyes up to meet them. “But I won’t murder incarcerated men.”
“You don’t have to.” Katie checked over her shoulder so no one could hear. “Bullets aren’t the only option. Lock them in a cage together and let them go at each other. With fewer resources, no one would blame you.”
“What we’re trying to say is, you have options,” Bill said. “We don’t want to have to keep checking over our shoulders when they do escape, and eventually, they will. It’s cleaner this way.”
Inspector Taylor looked on the verge of giving in to their ideas when a horse tore up the landscape toward them. It wasn’t until it got within thirty yards that Katie recognised the rider.
Darryl pulled up sharp, kicking a cloud of dust in their faces.
“What is it?” Katie’s heart was in her throat.
“The lodge…” Darryl fought for oxygen, but he needn’t say more. Along with the look of helplessness on his face, it was enough information.
Katie swung herself up onto Vincent’s saddle with a single movement and heeled him into a gallop. He was big, and it took a moment for him to find his stride. Within seconds, he found it and pushed himself hard.
All Katie could think about was getting to the lodge as fast as possible. If they lost it… It didn’t even bear thinking about.
Her brow drew down into a scowl. The families had gone too far this time. If they wanted a fight, they would get one.
38
Camden put his fork down. The evenings when the others went to help out with the supply drop were always the quietest, calmest moments of Camden’s day.
Every day, Jodie surprised them with an even more delicious meal than the one from the day before. He leaned back and opened the top button of his trousers to let his stomach hang down.
Although he would never admit it, Jodie had far superior cooking skills than his mother. He thought his mother recognised that fact too, as she went from being in charge of the kitchen to taking on a more subservient role. It was a good thing too. His mother always did overdo it with the herbs and spices.
Sitting across the table from him, Hannah stared into space and fiddled with her hair. A smile rose to her lips in the middle of her daydream. She sighed with contentment and peered around the table at the others. Camden looked away before her eyes could meet his.
The worst of his heartbreak was over. The hardest part was letting go in the first place, knowing that even during all their time together, from their school days through to their journey to the lodge, and even now, she had never belonged to him. She never subscribed to the same feelings and emotions he had for her.
Still, it was nice to look at her.
At the far end of the table, Louisa sat cutting up meat and feeding it to Luke. She wiggled her nose with each morsel, and he peered into her eyes as if it were manna from heaven. Camden hated looking at them. What he wouldn’t give to have Hannah look at him like that…
Steve wasn’t there again, having spent another day in the library. No one knew what he was up to in there, whether he was catching up on his reading or doing something of worth. Even Nancy, his mother, didn’t know. She was always dour and downbeat when he wasn’t there. She had the same far away, distant look in her eye that Hannah wore, only without the reflective smile.
“Everything all right, Mum?” Camden said.
Nancy started. She looked up at him and smiled. It was a sad, limp smile. Nothing like the ones that usually lit up her face. “Yes. Everything’s fine.”
Another day when she didn’t come clean about whatever was happening between her and Steve. Camden breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t think he would ever be ready to hear about that. But he knew it would come. One day.
A knock at the door and Louisa was the first out of her seat. She eased it open and peered through the crack.
Jodie was on watch duty tonight. She decided to let whoever it was at the door through, so it couldn’t have been anyone particularly dangerous.
Louisa opened the door. It caught on its locks.
Gregory pushed up against the crack. “Open the door, quick.” He cast a look over her his shoulder.
Camden’s ears pricked up and he snapped to attention.
“Gregory?” Hannah said, rushing up to the door. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Let me in. Something’s wrong.”
“What is it?” Camden said.
Hannah shut the door and began opening the locks. “It’s Gregory. We can trust him.”
She didn’t wait for his approval before removing the locks and throwing the door open. They hugged, their hands all over each other.
Camden swallowed the bile at the back of his throat.
Louisa shut the door behind him.
“It’s cold out there.” Gregory shuddered and rubbed his hands together.
Hannah led him to the small fire burning in the kitchen’s oven. The spring evenings were usually fairly mild, but the odd jealous winter wind could still sap the warmth from your bones and the temperature took a steep nosedive. Not freezing, but enough to remind you winter wasn’t quite done yet.
“What’s wrong?” Camden said. “You said something’s wrong?”
“Let him recover for a minute,” Hannah spat. “Can’t you see he’s cold?”
She bounced on the balls of her feet, excited her boyfriend was there. Camden couldn’t bear to watch.
Hannah poured him some hot soup. He took it, checked the temperature with the first gulp, and finding it lukewarm, downed the rest in a single gulp. He wiped an arm across his face. “That’s better.”
�
��What is it?” Camden said. “Is it something to do with the supply drop?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what?”
“It’s the Chelsea Smile gang. We thought it was just the two families we had to worry about. It’s not. There’s a bigger danger out there. They escaped the prison a few days ago. That’s why the others are helping with the supply drop. The gang are trying to spring their leader from the prison.”
“The Chelsea Smile gang?” Nancy said, the blood draining from her face.
“What does this have to do with us?” Camden said.
Hannah led Gregory toward the bench. “Take a seat.”
She wiped his sweaty brow and rubbed his arms.
For once, Camden didn’t notice. He focused on the words coming out of Gregory’s mouth.
“They’re coming here,” Gregory said. “They are coming here to take you all hostage.”
“What? Why?” Camden said.
“We only know they’re heading this way. Some of the police are coming to protect you. I had to rush here early to alert you they’re on their way. Is everybody inside?”
“No,” Camden said. “Jodie’s keeping watch in the tower.”
“Bring her down. If she’s up there when the gang get here, she’s not going to be safe.”
Camden ran to the door and threw it open. He cupped his hands over his mouth and made the sound of a dove. Jodie replied with her own cooing bird.
“How long do we have?” Camden said.
“The police should get here first. Inspector Taylor said to wait inside. We don’t want to exchange friendly fire.”
Jodie jogged up to the lodge.
“There’s a gang coming here to take us hostage.” Camden tugged the curtains aside to peer outside. “The police should get here first.”
A knock at the door interrupted Camden’s line of thought.
Louisa reached for the handle.
Gregory waved a hand. “Stay back. It could be the police. Let me open it. They’ll recognise me.”
“Be careful,” Hannah said.
Cut Off (Book 3): Cut Loose Page 13
