Warren Numbers Squires, Jr. stood directly in the way of the lights, pulling his hood off, his hair falling across his shoulders, sprinkles of snowflakes flitted fast on his hair. He didn't care. His only mission was Lieutenant Commander James Perkins. Stepping forward, he grinned wickedly. At first, James stood there, then moved closer again. A flash of recognition plastered James' face.
"I know who you are!" he cried out with widened eyes. Before James could put his hands up, Warren let off a shot from his gun.
Chapter Thirty-Five
James opened his eyes to see that Warren had pointed the gun in the air to take the shot. At first, James thought if he should tackle him, but the snow was coming down heavier now. Warren doesn't seem phased by it at all, but James needed to act fast and smartly.
"Now, listen Squires, why don't you put the gun down, easy now," James shouted, placing his hands out in front of him to show he wasn't armed.
"No, fuck you! You don't get to tell me what to do anymore! Those days are over!" Warren snarled, firing off another shot in the air.
James cringed and cowered, dropping to his knees. He looked up to see Warren Squires, Jr. still standing in the same stance. Legs apart, hood off, hair wild-looking, eyes like daggers and a crazed tight look of rage splattered across his face.
Warren walked closer to James who was still on one knee.
"Squires. Please, man, whatever it is that you need help with, I can guide you. I am sure of it," James said calmly.
Warren laughed. "Help? Fuck outta here! I don't need your damn help. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day. For years, I couldn't wait to get my revenge on you. You destroyed my life Perkins and I am about to ruin yours!" He swung the gun in James' direction recklessly. James stood still without flinching. He'd been up against crazed nuts in his early days in the Navy while on tour, but Squires seemed like a different animal.
James gave him a puzzled look. He stared at him and squinted. "Squires, that was a very long time ago. You need to let that go. If this is about your discharge from the Navy, well I'm here to tell you that was on you. They decided to put you out because of your behaviors, dishonesty, drug use and the lack of integrity toward the uniform and everything the Navy stands for. You also stole classified information. You were a stand-up guy at once, but I don't know what happened to you. I tried to give you chances, but you-"
"Shut up!" Warren hollered, smacking James on the side of his face with his gun. James fell down, to the ground, landing in the snow. He saw droplets of blood leak from his lips. Slightly dazed, he shook his head and got back up.
"If it weren't for you, plotting against me, I would be a better man. But let's admit it, Perkins, I am better than you. You know that. You got away with shit because you're an officer and I was a low-level petty-officer. You could doctor papers, take leave when you want, smoke as much weed, screw as many females as you wanted to and the command would turn a blind eye to it all," Warren said, shaking his head in disgust. He lifted up his foot and kicked James in his chin sending him flying backward on his back.
James grunted, but got back up, still feeling the sting from the impact. He tried to reason with Squires but realized he had turned into a madman over the years. Or perhaps he always was one. Another good reason he was out of the Navy.
Warren circled slowly around James, not caring about the freezing temps or the snow falling in his eyes. He continued to tell James what he had been wanting to tell him for all these years.
"If it weren't for you, I would still have my career. Who knows? I probably would've married that cute blonde Michaels and had a bunch of kids by now. I might even be a chief petty officer as we speak. Wearing my dress blues, receiving my many ribbons, crying fake ass tears while I salute you as we smile for the camera. Because you know, you're still Lieutenant Commander Perkins after all. I respect that. But you took that dream away."
Warren stopped in front of James, offering an evil glare. Gone was the maniacal laugh he was used to giving. This time, his blood was boiling on the inside. He could've easily killed Perkins right then and there, but he wanted to make Perkins suffer. Just like he had. Torture was good.
James' jaw was slack as he stared Warren Squires, Jr. down. He would've beaten his ass by now if it weren't for that damn gun he was waving around like a toy. James knew straight away that he was the one holding Rodney captive. He needed to fix this and fix it fast. He ignored the pain that was throbbing on his left cheek.
"Yeah Perkins, if it weren't for you, I would still have my career and not resort to being a criminal. I wanted so badly to be a lifer in the Navy. Twenty, twenty-five years tops. Get my benefits, pension, government gig, security clearance, you know, normal shit. But that was cut short. And here we are today!" he yelled out, slapping James on the side of his arm. He made sure to hold onto the gun.
"Say, man, don't worry. There was one way I did get you back. You want to know what that was?" Warren teased.
James didn't answer at first. His clean-shaven face was etched with anger. "Enlighten me," he answered dryly, staring angrily at Warren.
"Well, let's see. It starts with a J and rhymes with hill. That's right I screwed your wife Jill!" Warren exclaimed, letting out a hearty laugh in James' face.
James shoved him out of his face. Warren kept laughing, retorting back to waving the gun in the air and letting off another piercing shot. This time James stood still. He was angry at everything now and wanted to kill Warren Squires.
"That's what happens when you're so busy having your own little fling that your own wife had to be taken care of at home," Warren taunted.
James looked away. It was only a couple of times he messed around on his wife Jill with a Filipino woman. She got deployed in Afghanistan and he never heard from her again. He always thought about her, but he told her several times he wasn't leaving his wife. Who knows what life would've been like for him if he had left Jill's slutbucket ass and got with Elvira? He took in several deep sighs wishing a boulder would just fall and drop right on Warren's head.
"All my life I was considered a loser. By my father the most. That's why I joined the Navy in the first place. To please him. He still thought I was a wimp. Well, his cold ass in the ground doesn't think that anymore now does he?" Warren jibed, making an invisible gesture with his arms, pretending to shoot someone with a shotgun.
"Daddy goes boom! Mommy goes boom!" Warren howled.
James closed his eyes for a quick second and shook his head. This couldn't be happening. He didn't even need to know how Squires found him. He was a hacker so of course, he found him.
"Squires, where's my son?" James gritted between his teeth.
Warren pondered for a moment. "Um, let's see. He is about to be killed any moment now. But first I had to get to you to make sure you don't try to save him." Warren turned around to the side tossing his hands up in the air. He thrust his arms like he was a god, tossing his head back.
"Life is going to be-" Warren trailed, cut short.
James tackled Warren with all his might with the loudest feral growl, pushing Warren to the ground. Landing on top of Warren, James delivered harsh blows to Warren's face, punching him in the eye. The gun went flying out of Warren's hands. James' face was filled with rage as he mashed his thumbs in Warren's eyes, causing him to scream out.
"You stupid crazy-ass bastard! Where's my son?" James hollered, letting out a guttural sound as he hammered away at Warren. He wasn't letting up as Warren tried his best to cover his pretty-boy face.
Blood and spittle went flying every which way, but James made a mistake. He tried to get up and snatch Warren up with him when Warren leg-locked his legs around James' ankles, causing him to fall down on his bottom. James saw something in the snow flash before him when he went down. It was the gun.
He twisted and turned to get out of Warren's hold which was very strong he admitted to himself. Running out of breath, the cold whipping his lungs a mean one, he managed to turn over an
d reach for the gun.
"See you're not so smart after all Lieutenant Commander Perkins," Warren seethed. He stood up, reached inside his pocket and pulled out Bly's gun he took from him. The other one James was trying to reach belonged to him, too.
James crawled on his knees, coughing as the snow blurred his vision. Making it to the gun, he reached for it and heard a loud pop!
"Gotcha, you privileged arrogant bastard!" Warren hissed.
James fell down, wailing out a loud cry. He felt a burning sensation in his back. His eyes closed as he started to feel faint, sweat formed on his forehead, but he still tried to crawl toward the gun. He then dropped in the snow, his face to the side.
"Don't make me shoot you again!" Warren shouted.
Just then, sirens could be heard in the background. Warren turned just in time to see the mishmash of red and blue lights illuminating in the night.
"Ah dammit!" Warren cursed. He wanted to make sure James was dead but he couldn't be caught. He ran back to his truck, reversed it, the wheels spinning under the snow. He U-turned around, took a look at James and aimed at him giving a squeeze towards his legs and missed. Warren grunted, but he took off instead. He looked at his rearview mirror to see an ambulance and firetruck had stopped.
Warren banged his hand on the steering wheel repeatedly. His phone chimed with a text from Brennan which would only make matters worse.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I was in another world by the time I reached the bottom of the ditch on the other side of the road. Flickering my eyes, I felt around me. Felt like a bank of frozen snow saved me from tumbling all the way down. But I knew from driving past here in the warmer days that there was water that usually ran through here. So that leaves a frozen creek beneath me if I didn't get my ass out of here. Either that or freeze in this snow. I struggled to crawl carefully up to the road, only to fall back down again. I landed with a hard crash on my bad shoulder, biting my tongue in the midst. I fainted again.
***
Luckily, Ms. Lily was leaving her shift early due to the heavy snowstorm. She cleaned up as best as possible and headed out of the bar fifteen minutes after Nina left. She was about to stop at the store and called her husband to ask if he needed anything.
"No baby, please get home safely. I tried to call you an hour ago to let you know I was coming to get you, but you didn't answer. Are you alright?" Mr. Harris bellowed deeply into the phone.
"Yes, I'm fine dear. Don't worry about me at all. I'll be alright. We've been through this before. Should be home in around thirty minutes. I would love a warm bath though," she said, chuckling.
Mr. Harris laughed lowly, too. "I got you, don't worry. Rose petals and lily scented bubble bath, coming up!" he said with a hearty laugh. "But no, all jokes aside, I need you to get home safe."
"I love you, baby, see you soon," Ms. Lily said. Mr. Harris said it back and they hung up.
Ms. Lily turned up the radio in her car to an oldies but goodies station. The Four Tops' I'll Be There blasted through her speakers. Ms. Lily had a beautiful singing voice and sang along with Levi Stubbs. After a few minutes, she was still humming, driving slowly along the snowy roads.
"Oh, I forgot to ask what was for dinner," she said to herself out loud. She redialed her husband, but he didn't answer. She then dialed Davion to ask him instead.
"Hi Grandma, are you on your way home from work?" Davion asked.
"Yes, I sure am baby. What's for dinner? I forgot to ask your grandfather when we spoke a few minutes ago," she asked, turning her SUV onto a long narrow road leading to a bridge.
"Oh, Granddad is in the shower, that's why he didn't answer. Um, let's see, for dinner, I cooked chicken pot pies from scratch. You're gonna love it, Grandma, even Granddad gave me a thumbs up," he said proudly.
Ms. Lily smiled, a tear coming to her eye. "Wow, my baby can cook! I see culinary school in your future," she beamed.
He giggled. "I don't think they can handle all of this," he boasted.
They both shared a laugh and chatted some more about the weather, and how she was almost home. Ms. Lily drove on the road and just as she was passing by, she saw red lights flashing from a car when she neared a guardrail. Ms. Lily stopped her car.
"Grandma, you stopped talking. Is everything okay?" he asked, sounding worried.
"I don't know Davion. I see some lights flashing, but I don't see the car," she said, swallowing hard.
"Grandma, please be careful," Davion suggested. He heard her getting out of the car. His left eye began to twitch like it always did whenever he got nervous. "Maybe I should let you speak to Granddad," Davion told her.
She didn't reply to him. Instead, she reached behind her for the lantern she usually kept in the backseat, thankful that her husband George didn't put it back in the house.
Turning off the ignition, she stepped out of the car and planted both of her petite grey duck boots in the snow. She crept slowly toward the rail.
"Hey, is anybody down there?" Ms. Lily shouted, leaning over slightly. Using her lantern, she made out a vehicle that was starting to get covered in fresh snow.
"Whoever is down there, do you need help? C'mon, I can help you!" Ms. Lily yelled out for whoever it is down below. She didn't get an answer.
She turned around, heading toward her car. "Davion, let me place you on hold, I'm calling the police about this," she said hurriedly without waiting to hear what Davion had to ask her. She got in the car, placing the lantern in her passenger seat.
She dialed 911, explaining to the dispatcher what she saw. "Yes, that's right. It's a car down here, it looks like it could've been a car accident. No, I don't see anyone out here. I yelled out but no one answered."
After a few more details from Ms. Lily, the dispatcher thanked her and hung up. She clicked over to explain to Davion what was going on.
"Grandma, I don't like this. Something doesn't feel right," Davion said in a whisper.
"I know, I feel the same way, but someone is obviously hurt. Listen Davion, I'm going to wait until the police get here, find out what happened and then I'll be coming home. Why don't you let your grandfather know what's going on, okay? He's probably more than worried that I'm not home now," she said, her voice quivering a bit.
She waited for them to arrive at her estimated location. Just as she was about to crank the ignition, she felt a big BOOM rear her from behind! It pushed her continuously away from Nina and the car accident.
Ms. Lily screamed out loud, dropping her cellphone as she attempted to put on her seatbelt.
"Grandma! What happened? Are you okay?" Davion cried repeatedly over the phone.
The person in the vehicle kept hitting her without a care in the world.
"Davion call your grandfather to help me!" Ms. Lily shrieked with paranoia. Davion's voice cracked, screaming on the other line. He startled his grandfather Mr. George Harris, who came rushing out of the bathroom. He took the phone from Davion listening to what was going on with his wife. His shoulders tensed at the sound of her cries.
"Baby, what's going on? Where are you? Tell me so I can save you!", he bellowed.
She couldn't answer him. She glanced up at her rearview mirror to be met with a big dark truck with the lights off. She yelled for help repeatedly and began hitting her horn. She dropped her keys also and swore.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! "Somebody help me! He's trying to kill me!"
Mr. Harris gritted his teeth and held fast to the phone as he buttoned his flannel shirt and slipped into his Clark's boots. He whispered a silent prayer for his wife to be okay. If something happened to his wife of decades, he would murder them twice over.
He looked at Davion with wild eyes. "Get your shoes on and come with me. I have that app on your grandmother's phone that lets us know where her geolocation is at. Same as yours, all of ours. So let's go!" He went to his den and grabbed his shotgun he kept in a case with him.
Breathing hard, Ms. Lily stopped blowing her horn. The person in the
vehicle behind her rammed into her one good time forcing her head to hit the steering wheel. She cried out in terror, her hands trying to reach for her keys. Unsuccessful in doing so, she put her arms over her head when she felt another large impact from behind. Someone is trying to kill me, but why? Is this some sort of sick joke? She thought to herself this couldn't be happening, but it was.
The side of Ms. Lily's face was cut open from the hits. Blood gushed from her nose and lips dripping onto the steering wheel. Just when the truck was about to ram into her once more, Ms. Lily, who was about to faint, saw a flash of red lights. The vehicle stopped pounding into hers, reversed, spun around and zoomed off. Paramedics and two fire trucks screeched near her.
Before she passed out, she informed them that a car was over the ditch.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The younger cop, Stevens, who is Bly's new partner, called Bly once again on his phone telling him they needed him to come in earlier than eleven.
"Man, let me know you're alright. We've got a few situations on our hands now. Need your help as the lead on this. Lieutenant is asking for you," he said, leaving a voicemail.
He hung up and walked over to the lieutenant.
"Sir, I can't reach him or his wife. Should we do a wellness check on him? Perhaps something is wrong, sir and I am worried that-"
"No, help me out with trying to figure out what the hell happened here. Bly is probably somewhere drunk or sleep. I'll get on his ass when he strolls in. In the meantime, I need you to take the lead on this, gather the other troopers to help find the missing owner of this vehicle. It didn't just flip out of thin air!" He tossed his hands up and stormed off to go speak with the firemen.
The lieutenant barged in the conversation the fire department captain was having. "Okay, so what we got?" He waited impatiently, folding his arms across his chest.
"Certainly," the woman turned to him and spoke up. She adjusted her cap and glanced around at her team. "Looks like a hit and run. However, we're going to need some eyes in the sky to help figure out where the driver is." She pointed to the skid marks in the snow. "This here determines that there were two vehicles that hit this mid-size SUV, sending it into the ditch. We're using our equipment now to pull it up."
I Know What I Saw Page 16