by David Nees
“In a couple of days.” Leo frowned. “Maybe. I got to think more about the plan. The bridge goin’ in is a dangerous place. We got a problem if it’s the only way in.”
“Well, don’t take too long. I want you to head out the day the army leaves.” Leo looked back at him from under his heavy brows without answering. Joe stared at him for a moment, then sighed. “Okay, figure it out, but don’t take too long. Let’s get this done and then we can concentrate on our projects here in town with no interference.”
“Why you want to see Leo’s woman? That ain’t healthy, and it ain’t healthy for me if you get caught.”
Lori Sue looked up at him and giggled. She’d been working on the door guard for a half hour, and she could tell she was getting through. His reluctance was one thing, but the eager flush on his face was something else.
“Aw, Reggie, I won’t get caught, and you can always say that I must have slipped through while you were taking a pee around the corner.” Her voice and smile continued to tease him. “You have to do that sometimes, don’t you?”
“Not now I don’t, you got me all excited. Damn, we should just go around the corner for a minute.”
Lori Sue smiled and stepped back from his groping hands. “I don’t want a quickie. I want to do it right with you. Get the full effect.”
“You’ll get it. Just come around tonight when I get relieved.”
Lori Sue made a sad pout. “I’d like to but I’ve got some bigwigs want me tonight. Fact is, they got me scheduled for most of the week. My ass is gonna be tired by the end.”
“Shit. They get all the breaks.”
“Much as I like you, and how you’re helping me, I got to make a living.” She gave Reggie her most soulful look, promising delights to come.
His voice trembled. “So why you keep seeing her?”
“We girls got to stick together. She’s got a kid at the school. Leo don’t let her see him much, so I stop by and let her know how he’s doing. It makes her feel better.” Lori Sue decided it was time to move, before Reggie got nervous again. “Now I better go. Don’t want Leo to find me here.” She quickly stepped through the hotel entrance as the guard reached for her.
Donna answered her knock almost instantly. She had an eager look on her face.
Lori Sue slipped inside. “How much time we got? The guard said Leo just left a little while ago.”
“He said something about going to see Joe. I don’t know how long it’ll be. You shouldn’t stay long.” Lori Sue headed for the kitchen. Donna followed her, dragging her long chain.
They sat down at the table. “I’m bettin’ that’s an important meeting. He’s going to be doing something big pretty soon.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s getting ready to attack the valley,” Lori Sue said.
Donna looked blankly at her.
“You don’t know? The valley where those farmers are from. The ones that came to town.”
“Oh yeah, Leo said something about them.”
“Well, Joe doesn’t like them. He wants to go get rid of them.”
“I thought they were bringing food.”
“It don’t matter. Stansky thinks they’re a threat to him. He’s boss of Hillsboro now, taken over and he’s going to get rid of anyone in his way. He went and had two people shot last week, and made everybody watch. And he wants those farmers out there gone. They’re friends of some people here that don’t like Stansky.” Lori Sue grabbed one of Donna’s hands. She wanted to give the woman hope. “There’s people here that are starting to work against him. They’re starting to link up. If the valley don’t get wiped out and if the army can help too, we may be able to get rid of Stansky and Leo.”
“Maybe I can get free,” Donna said.
“You will. I’ll help you. We girls got to stick together.”
Donna nodded and kept looking at her. “What else do you have to tell me?”
“Oh, I got to see Danny again,” she said.
Donna’s face lit up. “How is he?”
“He’s okay. Healthy. I think he needs more sun.
“Did you tell him I love him?”
“Every time. He said he misses you…”
Chapter 9
Clayton’s people had set up camp in the orchard again. Catherine stood at the porch rail looking out at the tents and canopies, her mind drifting away from the conversation going on behind her.
Seated around the porch table were Jason and Clayton, joined by Tom Walsh and John Sands. Tom was a Vietnam veteran and no stranger to battle. John, who lived farthest up the valley, had been an architect. He was married with a seven year old daughter. He had little knowledge of fighting, his first battle having been the one where the valley defeated Big Jacks’ gang. The experience had taught him that fighting was necessary when reason would not prevail.
As they talked about placement of men, how long they would have to wait, whether or not they could have scouts that could signal when Leo’s men approached, Catherine kept thinking about the back door; the bark road over the saddle to the west.
It didn’t feel right to leave it unguarded. The road was old and unused…but it existed. That fact was enough to continue to worry her. It was over a hundred years old, but it had been used at some point, otherwise why would anyone have expended the effort to carve it out of the mountain side? She had hiked part of it before; it was rough, but not impassable. As Clayton had said, a four-wheel-drive vehicle could travel it. She knew it had to have been mapped. Maybe on Geological Survey maps, tax maps, property maps. She didn’t know much about any of that, but logic indicated that, if the road existed, it was on a map somewhere.
Leo was no fool—a killer, but no fool. He’d check. Catherine knew with a deep conviction that Leo would want to find an alternate way into the valley. He’d look for maps. The thought chilled her; she shivered in the morning’s cool.
And he would find maps. There had to be older ones in the library in Hillsboro, or at the courthouse.
There were maps; they would show that old road; they would be found.
Finally she spoke up.
“I can’t agree that we leave the bark road unguarded,” she said.
The men stopped talking. Everyone turned to her.
Finally Jason replied, “We already agreed that we can’t split our forces. We just don’t have enough men, and we aren’t sure if Kevin will be here before the attack comes.”
She looked steadily back at him. She was now calm in her conviction. “I know all that. But it doesn’t change things. That’s our back door and we’re leaving it unguarded.”
“I have to bet they don’t know about it,” Jason said.
“That’s what worries me,” Catherine replied. “There’s got to be maps in town. Old ones that will show that road, and it’s possible Leo will find them. He’s not stupid. When he plans this attack, he’ll want some maps. You said he would want another way into the valley. And that Frank guy…he probably knows where to look.”
Jason looked at her for a long time. She could tell he was trying to decide whether she was just being stubborn or she had a valid point. His face grew darker as she realized he saw the danger.
“Do you have any solutions?” he asked.
She nodded her head slowly. “I do. But don’t interrupt when I tell you. Hear me out.”
As she assembled her thoughts, she became aware of her mother standing in the doorway listening.
“I’m the best shot in the valley next to you,” Catherine said to Jason. “I want Mr. Jessup here to give me his best marksman. The two of us will go up to the saddle and guard it.”
Jason started to object, but Catherine put up her hand. “Please, let me finish. We’ll act as snipers as well as spotters. We’ll set up multiple shooting positions, each one a fallback. We won’t be fighting to the death, we’ll be sniping, slowing them down, retreating when our position gets too hot and then slowing them some more. When we can’t do any more, we can me
lt away into the woods. They won’t find us.”
“You could be overrun. You can’t stop them, you already said so.”
“I said we’d slow them up. If they come that way, we give the valley time. Those waiting at the farms will hear the gunfire. They’ll know the attack is coming from the west.”
“What if it comes from both directions?” Clayton asked.
“If it does, we’ve got big problems, but we’re better off taking some of them out and slowing them down. Everyone who isn’t fighting can head for the woods, the others will be ready. And we can keep attacking them from the sides.”
Jason was looking doubtful. Catherine continued, “Look, you know I’m the best shot. You taught me how to set up ambushes in the woods. I know how to fight like a sniper, from a distance. It’s how I saved your life, don’t forget. And I’ll have Mr. Jessup’s best shooter with me. I know the woods and how to move in them, and I expect Mr. Jessup’s shooter does also. We can harass them all along the way. You said yourself that a sniper can hold up a much larger force with lethal shooting.”
“Until he’s discovered and neutralized,” Jason said.
“Or falls back, melts away into the woods only to show up in a new spot pinning them down again. Remember, they’ll be on the road, in the open. We’ll select spots that have sight lines to the road. They’ll be in the open, not us.”
She turned to Clayton. “How far can your best men shoot?”
He thought for a moment. “Don’t get long shots in the forest, you know that. Hard to say. If it was open, across fields,” he paused, looking down into the valley, “I’d say one of my men could hit a can down there, along the fence.” He pointed down the drive to the barbed wire fence across the valley road.
“That’s about a hundred and fifty yards,” Catherine said. “That should be far enough. I can make that shot and more. We just have to set up ahead of time to maximize the distance we can shoot from.”
Anne spoke suddenly. “You’ll be out there all alone, without anyone helping you.”
Catherine looked at her mother. “Mom, I’m going to be out there somewhere fighting. I’m the best shot and I have experience and I’m not staying out of this battle. But I think I can be most helpful in this role.”
Jason sighed. “You’re right. Slowing them down, giving the valley warning with the shooting, that all helps. If that’s the only way they’re coming, then we can regroup and attack them while they’re distracted by you. If it’s a two pronged attack,” he paused, “then God help us, but, like you said, we’re better off knowing than not.”
Lori Sue knew she had to leave. She had been in Leo’s apartment for an hour and Leo would be coming back soon. Donna kept hungrily asking her more about Danny, what he had been doing in school, if she could bring Donna some of Danny’s school work.
Finally Lori Sue interrupted Donna. “Look, when Leo goes to attack the valley, he’ll be gone for a couple of days at least. I’ll get you out of here and we’ll pick up your son from the school.”
Donna blinked. It seemed hard for her to focus on any hope beyond news of her son. “How will you get me free? I’ll have that ankle cuff on. And where will we go?”
Lori Sue got up, anxious to be gone. “I’ll figure something out. I’ll bring a chisel or a hack saw. And don’t worry about where we go, I can hide you. I know lots of hiding places in town…lots of empty places. And folks who can help.” She stopped for a moment to think. “Course I got to give that dumb doorman a tumble. He’s getting damned impatient to collect his reward for letting me in. Promises ain’t cutting it anymore.”
Donna was looking at her. Lori Sue saw her expression brighten. “Oh bless you!” She wrapped Lori Sue in a big hug. Then she pulled back. “But you better go. If Leo catches you here, you’ll get thrown in prison, or worse.”
“Got that right,”
They walked to the door. As Donna turned the doorknob, Lori Sue heard the stairway door at the end of the hall open. Donna jerked back her hand away from the knob like it was on fire. “Oh God, it’s Leo,” she said, panic in her voice.
“Shit!”
Donna looked around frantically. “Quick, here in the closet,” she whispered.
“Won’t he open it—”
“I’ll stop him, I’ll do something, get back in the corner, get some coats in front of you!”
Lori Sue shoved herself through the coats to the back corner. The closet door closed silently, and she was enveloped in blackness. She heard the door open and then Leo’s voice. “What are you doing at the door?”
“I heard you coming. I was going to open the door. I missed you this morning. You left before I got up.”
There was the sound of the deadbolt turning, a rustling and murmuring, and then Leo’s voice again. He sounded pleased. “Let me take my jacket off,” he said.
Lori Sue shrank back into the corner. She was concealed from the waist up, but she knew her legs had to be in plain sight. All Leo would have to do was look down and he’d see her. Her heart raced. Her body wanted air, but she didn’t dare breathe.
“I’ll take it,” Donna said.
“That’s okay, I’ll just hang it up.” The closet door opened. The pounding in Lori Sue’s chest increased. Could it be heard? It was so loud in her ears. She saw Donna’s arm reached in and grabbed a hanger off the pole, and the door drifted half-closed again. “You’re being awfully helpful,” Leo said. “Haven’t seen you like this before. What’s up?”
“I just missed you. I’d like you to take my shackle off.” Donna’s voice became sultry, provocative; a voice Lori Sue had never expected to hear from her. “We can go into the bedroom and have some fun. You’ve been good to my son, so I want to be good to you.”
“I might just take your ankle cuff off if your attitude keeps improving.”
“I just want you to be happy.” The inviting purr continued in Donna’s voice. Donna’s slim hand slipped the hanger hook over the closet rail, and the darkness returned. Lori Sue heard them recede, the chain clinking along the carpet.
Later, when Donna’s cries of passion rose in a crescendo, Lori Sue pushed her way out of the closet, quietly unlocked the door, and slipped out.
Later, when Leo’s appetites had been satiated, he wandered naked from the bedroom to the kitchen. Donna followed him out, and then she thought of the front door with the deadbolt now unlocked. Her heart jumped in her chest. She had to keep Leo from seeing that; he’d know something was up.
Pushing down a surge of panic, she grabbed him round the waist and pulled him back toward the bedroom. “You’ve got me so excited, I want some more of you,” she gasped, panting from the surge of adrenalin.
Leo looked down at her and smiled. “You’ve changed,” he said. “I think you’re starting to enjoy our relationship.” He followed her into the bedroom and grabbed her, pulling her down onto the bed with his body hovering over her. His face held a wicked smile as she looked up at him and trembled, her lips slack, her face full of mute wanting.
She was pretty sure she could wear him out and get a chance to lock the deadbolt while he slept.
Feigning excitement and willingness was still distasteful, but she had gotten better at shutting down her emotions and acting her part as the submissive, excited woman. It had been necessary to survive and appease Leo. Now she was beginning to hope it might be the price of a chance at freedom.
Chapter 10
Clayton led Catherine and Jason out into the encampment in the orchard and picked a boy to be her partner. He was about sixteen, tall, rangy and unkempt, with shaggy light brown hair. Clayton explained the assignment to the boy, pointing towards the western ridge. When Clayton was done, the boy just nodded and looked curiously at Catherine. His eyes were hazel, and Catherine noticed that they looked very sharp and clear.
“This here’s Burdett Early. We call him Bird,” Clayton said.
Catherine reached out to shake Bird’s hand. He responded awkwardly, almost shyly. Yet t
here was a calm presence about him.
“What kind of rifle do you have?” she asked.
He unslung it. “.30-06,” he said.
“How many shots?”
“Five rounds in the magazine.”
“That’s not many rounds,” she told him.
“I got six shots total and extra mags,” Bird said. “Takes only a second to change ‘em out. Course, when I’m done, I got to reload them.”
“That’s a bolt action,” Catherine said. “Can you fire fast enough? We’ll have to put a lot of shots out when we get the chance. Can you cycle your shots fast enough?”
He smiled shyly, but there was no hesitation in his eyes. “Shoot as fast as you want,” he said. “Fast as need be.”
“How much ammunition do you have?”
“Fifty rounds.”
“We can give Bird some extra,” Jason said. “Tom and I are using the .223 rounds. And I think you should use the M110. It’s more accurate at long range and delivers more punch.”
“I’m pretty comfortable with my rifle,” Catherine said.
“Yeah, but you’ll be shooting longer distances now. It’s a better tool for the job.”
“What about Bird? Shouldn’t he upgrade as well?”
Bird looked anxious for the first time. “I don’t want another rifle. Mine’s just fine.”
Jason shook his head. “Bird’s .30-06 will punch about as hard as the 7.62mm M110. Both hit harder than your .223, especially at a distance. The .30-06 is accurate, and if Bird’s used to it he should keep it.”
“I’m used to mine as well,” Catherine said irritably. “I’m not sure I want to be up there with a brand-new gun.”
“Just try the M110 out. See how you like it. I’ll feel better with you having it. I won’t use it in the woods, I won’t have any long shots there,” Jason said.
Catherine tried to argue more, but Jason kept insisting she try the weapon. Clayton looked at Bird. “I said you could hit a can at a hundred and fifty yards,” he said. “Was I right?”
“Yes sir.”