Ava's Crucible- The Complete series Box Set

by Mark Goodwin

  Ulysses said, “Stack up by the stairs.”

  Foley and Ava lined up behind Ulysses, who led the team up the stairs. One by one, they cleared each room, with Ava’s bedroom being last.

  “Clear.” Ulysses lowered his rifle.

  Ava walked into her room, which had been ransacked. On the wall, written in what looked to be blood, a message was inscribed. It said you were warned.

  “Chip and Raquel,” she said.

  “How did they figure out you were staying here?” Foley asked.

  Ava thought back to the shootout at the warehouse. “When Raquel was lying on the floor after the firefight. I suggested to Dad that we bring her to Sam to get her fixed up. She must have figured out this is where I was staying. It’s my fault. I got them killed.”

  Ulysses held his rifle low and put his free hand around Ava. “Even if that’s what happened, it’s not your fault. Chip and that little witch killed Sam and Betty. But we’ll talk about this later. We have to clear the garage, the barn, and the rest of the property. SJL could still have people here. I need you to keep it together and be brave for me right now. Can you do that?” He looked into her eyes, which were tearing up.

  She swallowed hard again and nodded. “Yes.” Ava pulled the butt of her rifle tightly against her shoulder.

  Ulysses wiped her eyes with his thumb. “Okay. Let’s go. Foley behind me. Ava behind Foley.”

  The team worked their way back down the steps, out the front door and moved quickly toward the garage. Ulysses opened the side door and led the way up the stairs to the FROG. Foley and Ava followed close.

  “Clear.” Ulysses lowered his rifle then went to the window and looked out.

  Ava stood beside him. “No sign of Charity or James. Do you think they took them?”

  “I don’t know. We still have a lot of farm to cover.” Ulysses finished surveying the property from the window and led the team back down the stairs.

  All three of them kept their rifles up as they exited the side door of the garage. Ulysses started toward the garden. He put his hand up for them to stop.

  Foley went to one knee. Ava followed suit.

  Ulysses proceeded cautiously, pausing at what appeared to be another body lying face down in the grass. After inspecting his find, Ulysses waved them over.

  Ava soon recognized the body to be James’. Flies swarmed around his corpse, just as they had Sam and Betty’s.

  Ava’s heart sank. Whether she found Charity dead, or if she’d been taken by Chip and Raquel’s team, neither scenario offered a palatable outcome. Ava’s fear melted away into sorrow and anger. “I can’t believe Raquel did this. Sam tolerated her coming in late, showing up hungover; and that’s what he got in return. I can’t believe I let her live. I should have put a bullet in her skull at the warehouse. I should have put her out of her misery and mine.”

  Ava turned to her father. “And Chip. We should have taken him out before we left to Houston.”

  Ulysses looked around the farm. “We didn’t have time. We can’t go back and change the past. So, there’s no use in debating how we could have done things differently. I spent thirty years learning that lesson, but believe me; it’s true. Let it go and move on.”

  Ava looked at James’ motionless body, face down in the grass. “I can’t let it go. We have to get Chip. And we have to kill Raquel.”

  Ulysses glanced at her tight-lipped, then continued to watch the landscape surrounding them. He did not respond.

  Foley kept his rifle at a low-ready position and watched the opposite direction. “She’s right. This guy is never going to let this go. We have to take him out, or he’ll follow us to Oklahoma.”

  Ulysses stared blankly for over a minute. Finally, he said, “We need to get Chip. But it can’t be about revenge.” He turned to Ava. “If you can’t put that aside, you’ll have to sit out. Foley and I will bring him in.”

  “It’s not about revenge,” Ava lied. “It’s like Foley said, we have to take him out before he takes us out. And we have to get Raquel, also.”

  “First, we have to clear the property. Stay sharp.” Ulysses raised his rifle and continued walking toward the animal pens.

  When they approached the hog pen, Ava saw that the wild pigs were gone. The door had been left open. She heard the chickens clucking. They were out of the cage, but most of them appeared to still be in the vicinity.

  Foley branched off from the group toward the rabbit hutches. “They let the bunnies go, too.”

  Ulysses checked inside the barn. “Clear.” He lowered his weapon. “They may be back, but no one is around now.”

  Ava kept walking. She continued to the river’s edge and walked the serene bank where she’d fished with Charity only days earlier. A glint of something in the bushes caught her eye. “Pink.” She hurried over to the item. A sneaker was lodged in the mud. Ava pulled it out. “This is Charity’s shoe, I’d recognize those pink laces anywhere.” Ava gazed up the river in the direction the shoe was pointed. A breath of hope filled her lungs. She sprinted back to her father with the shoe.

  “I think Charity may have gotten away.” She held the muddy sneaker for him to see.

  Ulysses looked toward the river.

  Ava pointed south. “It looks like she followed the river. I think she might have gone down to Riemer’s Swimming Hole. The park has a restroom and a pavilion. It would be the only shelter she knew about. Since we kept the trailer there for the bombing raid on the collection points, she might think we’ll go back there.”

  Ulysses nodded. “Foley, take Ava down to the park and check it out. I’m going to try to get these chickens back in the cage. I’d like to take them with us when we leave. I’m also going to get started on some graves. Once that’s all finished, we’ll dig up those AK-47s and get out of here. I don’t want to be here when Chip comes back with his SJL squad. Keep your radio on.”

  “Yes, sir. We won’t be gone long.” Foley led the way back to his truck.

  Ava opened the back door of the vehicle to let the dog out. “Stay with Dad, Buck.” She closed the back door and took her seat up front.

  Foley turned the truck around and headed back out the drive. The most direct route to the riverside park took them down a dirt road. A cloud of dust kicked up in the wake of the truck as Foley drove hard toward Riemer’s Swimming Hole.

  They arrived a few minutes later. Ava jumped out of the truck with her rifle ready for trouble. “Charity?”

  Foley exited the vehicle in a much more cautious manner. He carefully scanned the area with his AR-15 at low ready.

  The door to the small public restroom building creaked open. Ava tightened the stock of her rifle against her shoulder. “Charity?”

  The girl peeked out the door. “Ava?”

  “Are you okay?” Ava had to be sure this wasn’t a trap and that no one else was behind the door before embracing her frightened friend. “Are you alone?”

  Charity emerged from the facility. Her face contorted with sorrow as she began to weep.

  Ava let the rifle hang by its sling and took hold of Charity. “It’s okay.” She nodded for Foley to double check the restroom, to be sure they were indeed alone.

  Foley seemed not to need the cue as he was already walking toward the door.

  “It was awful, Ava!” Charity spoke between sobs. “I was feeding the animals. I didn’t take my rifle. I couldn’t do anything. It’s all my fault. James, Sam, Betty, they’re all dead because of me.”

  “No. You didn’t kill them. Chip and Raquel killed them.” Ava held her tightly.

  Foley came out of the restroom. “All clear.”

  Charity wailed for a long while. “They came in armored vehicles; five of them. They didn’t stand a chance.”

  “Did you see Raquel?”

  “Yeah, she was in the last vehicle with a really tall guy.”

  “That sounds like Chip.”

  “They didn’t get out of the armored vehicle until the soldiers had already kill
ed James. I hid in the bushes by the river. When Raquel and the guy got out I heard him order the soldiers to search the property. I didn’t know where else to go, so I came here.”

  “What day was this?”

  “Monday afternoon.”

  Ava pulled back enough to get a good look at Charity. “Did you have food and water?”

  “No. The power is out, so there’s no water in the restroom, but it did provide me with shelter. Yesterday, I gave in and drank water from the river.”

  “We’ve got water in the truck. Come on. Let’s get you back. You can take a shower in Dad’s trailer. I’ll have something ready for you to eat by the time you’re cleaned up.”

  Late Wednesday evening, Foley closed the Bible he’d been reading aloud from in the fading light. Charity placed a bouquet of wild flowers near the simple wooden cross, which marked James’ grave. The long green stems with fluffy purple rods at the top were the only thing that distinguished James’ final resting place from that of Sam and Betty’s.

  Ava cried for her friend who’d held the exact same flowers for her wedding only weeks earlier. Like bookends, the flowers marked the beginning and end of Charity’s brief time of being one with her husband; one bouquet heralding such great joy, the other unspeakable sorrow.

  Ulysses stood next to Foley. Both were filthy from having dug the graves and excavated the cached weapons behind the barn. Ulysses said, “Daylight is fading fast. We need to be gone before dark.”

  “You two don’t want to get cleaned up first?” Ava asked.

  “We don’t have time. We need to leave. We’re very vulnerable being here at all. Darkness will make this place that much more dangerous.”

  Foley tucked the Bible under his arm. “Buchanan Lake is less than an hour away. It has a campground. Probably no electricity, but it’s a place to park.”

  “Then that’s where we’ll go.” Ulysses kicked the dirt off the shovel he still held in his hand. “Let’s load up.”

  “Come on.” Ava felt cruel pulling Charity away from James’ gravesite so abruptly, but it had to be done.

  Ulysses had put the chickens in the vacated rabbit hutches. The temporary cages were loaded into the back of Foley’s truck along with a few scavenged items from the Hodges’ farmhouse.

  All the food and most of the other consumable provisions stored at the house had been taken by the SJL soldiers who’d come with Chip and Raquel. Ava drove Sam Hodge’s GMC Sierra. Charity rode with her. Ava’s team left very little behind except for the roof which had provided their shelter, the soil which they’d worked for food, and the terrible memories of the loss they’d just suffered.

  CHAPTER 25

  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another.

  Matthew 10:23a

  Thursday morning, Ava exited the travel trailer to walk Buckley. Like the campground at Lake Livingston, Black Rock Park on Buchanan Lake was empty except for Ava and her team. Unlike the Livingston Campground, Black Rock was officially closed, which meant the team could get unwanted attention if they were spotted. Ulysses chose the camping space farthest from the road.

  Ava restrained Buckley’s leash to keep him from wandering after his morning business had been settled. “Come on, Buck. Sorry, no exploring today.” She led him back to the campsite.

  Ulysses and Foley sat at the picnic table provided by the campground. “How’s Charity?” Foley asked.

  “Not good. She doesn’t want to get out of bed.”

  “It’s best that we leave her be.” Ulysses folded his hands. “I doubt she got much rest during the two days she was hiding out in the public restroom. But let’s make sure she stays hydrated. We won’t know for sure whether she picked up anything from drinking river water for another day or so. If she does get sick, it will be easier for her to deal with if she’s fully hydrated. Plus, keeping the water going will help flush out any potential toxins.”

  “I started her on a course of prophylactic antibiotics.” Ava held the leash firmly and took a seat at the table.

  “That will help if she was exposed to bacterial contaminants, but we have to think about viral pathogens, also. River water is a little different than a crystal-clear mountain stream. She could have chemical pollutants as well. The only thing you can do to mitigate that at this point is keep drinking clean water,” Ulysses said.

  Ava asked, “So, what are we going to do about Chip? Are we going to get him before we leave Texas?”

  Foley looked at Ulysses before turning his attention to Ava. “We were discussing that before you walked up.”

  “Don’t let me stop you. Please, continue.” She gestured with her hand.

  “Markovich has a full-scale manhunt going for you.” Ulysses straightened his back. “I’m thinking it might be best if we took you and Charity across the border first. Foley and I can come back to collect the target.”

  “Without me?”

  “The regime is making wallpaper with your mug shot, Ava. It’s not safe for you anymore.” Foley shook his head. “We need to get you into friendly territory.”

  “I’ve never been arrested, it’s not a mug shot. It’s my driver’s license photo. But still, you’re blowing it out of proportion.”

  “I disagree with you, Ava.” Ulysses gave her a stern look. “We’ll have to go into Austin to capture Chip. The majority of the population there would give you up in a second. They’re mostly loyal to the regime.”

  “We’ll go in at night.”

  “Yesterday morning, you were finished fighting. Why can’t you let this go; sit this one out?” Foley quizzed.

  “Because he killed my friends.”

  Ulysses shook his head. “I told you, this can’t be about revenge.”

  “It’s not revenge. It’s justice. Besides, two people can’t pull this off. His apartment will have a twenty-four-hour guard posted outside. He’ll probably have SJL soldiers inside the building, also. You need me.”

  “We only have one silencer. I need to go back to Oklahoma to get more suppressed weapons anyway.” Ulysses stood up to pace, as he often did when he was developing a plan.

  Ava turned around to watch him walk about. “That’s a nine-hour drive each way. More if you plan on taking the backroads. Plus, you have to get across the border twice; no, three times. You’d save two days of driving and reduce the risk of getting caught at the border if you’d just snatch him up first, then take him with us. I think traveling back and forth is more likely to get you caught than the noise of gunfire. If the guards don’t see us coming, one suppressed rifle will be enough.”

  Ulysses turned to Foley. “You look like you have something to say.”

  He raised his shoulders. “She has a point. It’s a long trip, most of it through enemy territory. Making the run once is better than three times.”

  Ulysses grunted. “I need to mull this over. Why don’t you two scratch up some breakfast? I may not think better on a full stomach, but at least I won’t be so irritable. And make sure Charity eats. I’m going to take Buck with me for a walk along the lake. Come on, boy.”

  Ava watched Buckley quickly abandon her for Ulysses. “So much for my faithful companion. I thought Buck was different.”

  Breakfast consisted of eggs, oatmeal, and bread. Ulysses said nothing during the meager meal. Figuring that he was still contemplating what to do, Ava didn’t prod him. Despite Ava’s pleas, Charity did not get up to eat with the others. She remained in bed but did agree to drink some water and eat a bowl of oatmeal.

  After breakfast, Ava and Foley walked hand-in-hand by the lake.

  “Something is on your mind.” Ava wrapped her free arm around Foley’s.

  “Wow. You’re pretty observant. As boring as it’s been around here, you’d almost have to be psychic to pick up on that one.” A subdued grin broke out across his face.

  “Shut up.” She slapped his arm playfully. “I know you, Foley. You take all of this fighting and blowing stuff up like water off a duck’s back. It�
�s something else. Talk to me. You can’t expect me to share my deepest darkest fears if you won’t.”

  His face became more somber. “Now’s not the right time to talk about it, but after yesterday, I’m afraid of it going unsaid.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He bent over to pick up a stone. He spun the smooth rock between his fingers. “Coming home to Sam, Betty, and James being dead; it made me realize how temporary life is; at least life on this planet.”

  “Go on.” She waited for him to finish his thought.

  “If something happens—to me . . . or you; I want you to know how I feel.” Foley sent the stone skipping across the lake.

  She hugged him. “I know, you love me. And I love you.”

  He pulled back from her embrace. “It’s more than that. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Whether it’s two days or eighty years, win or lose, live or die, whatever time I have left on earth, I want to spend it with you.”

  Her heart fluttered, causing her to gasp. She watched his hand go into his jacket pocket and come back out. Her pulse quickened. She felt faint.

  Foley produced a ring made of wire that had been woven together in a beautiful pattern. “You deserve so much more than this homemade ring. If you say yes, and I’m around long enough, I’ll get you the most beautiful diamond you’ve ever seen. Will you marry me?”

  Ava covered her mouth and nodded. Her eyes welled up with tears. Ava knew all about engagement rings. The one Lee had given her adoptive mother held an absolutely stunning 1.5 carat diamond, but in the end, the commitment behind it didn’t mean squat. In her mind, it was the promise represented by the ring which merited true value . . . or lack thereof.

  She held out her hand, letting Foley slip the emblem of his affection on her finger. Only time would tell, but Ava actually believed that Foley would keep his pledge to her. She trusted him to hold to his vow, forsaking all others and ‘til death do us part.

  Later that evening, Ava sat at the picnic table with her father.