Now all he wanted to do was take Preston down.
* * *
Joshua woke to vibrations underneath him and the cool night air blowing through his hair. Wait. His eyes shot open.
Cool night air? Vibrations? What the hell?
His hands were tied in front of him. There was nothing but endless stars above him, which were blotted out abruptly as Preston’s head intruded on his view.
“Oh, you’re awake,” he yelled over the rumbling sound that was all around them. “Fantastic! Wouldn’t want to do this while you were unconscious.”
Glancing around, Joshua saw that they were atop the large rectangular hay baler that was moving at a slow pace across an open field. The tractor was unmanned, and Joshua guessed that Preston must have thrown him up here, then put the vehicle in gear, smashing out of the burning warehouse they’d been trapped inside.
“You know, it’s funny,” Preston chattered away. “You were the one that gave me the idea. There you were, staring at the tractor when I came out. And it’s just about perfect, don’t you think?”
Joshua watched as Preston waved his gun around as he gestured. He must’ve found the weapon back in the warehouse once he’d knocked Joshua out.
Preston stared down at Joshua, his eyes nothing but dark shadows in the moonlit night. “This is the closest thing I could come to a wood chipper out here. A fitting death for you, doncha think?” He gestured down at the machine beneath them.
Joshua glanced behind him. There was an opening in the baler, through which he could see the hay being compressed underneath them. Preston meant to toss him inside.
“Hey…” Preston stopped, seeming to make a realization. “Ha! Hay, get it?” he glanced down at Joshua, seeing his expression. “Oh, come on. It’s the best I could do on short notice,” he said, grinning. “Man, it’s been a fun ride, hasn’t it? And don’t worry. I’ve got plans for your friends, too. You’re not going out alone.”
The mention of Had and Coop did something to Joshua. A pain, completely separate from his broken ribs, spread through his entire being. His façade of nonchalance was breaking away in tatters.
The thought of harm coming to those two filled Joshua with a burning rage, deep in the core of his being. He could not let that happen. Would not.
But even as the anger cleared away the last cobwebs of his unconsciousness, it caused him to back up and calculate. There wouldn’t be much more than one shot at this, and there might not even be that.
To buy time to look for that opening, Joshua baited Preston. “So, you’re not Humpty. Just a cheap knock off.”
It was immediately clear that Joshua had hit pay dirt. “Knock off?” Preston growled. “I took what that bastard taught me and improved on it.”
His words hit Joshua with a force greater than the pipe had delivered. “Hold on. You know Humpty?”
“Of course,” the killer shrugged, his movements casual. “How do you think I knew how to get under your skin so well?” He peered into Joshua’s face. “And I did, didn’t I?”
“But you…” Joshua’s voice trailed off. His brain was short-circuiting as he tried to put together all of the pieces of the puzzle.
“Yeah. That was the most fun part of it. Knowing that you thought I was him.” Preston smirked. “He taught me all he knew, that mean asswipe. But I took what he had and improved on it.”
What Joshua had intended as a distraction for the killer ended up being a distraction for him. There was information here that they needed. Information that meant that taking Preston in alive had become even more of a priority. Joshua needed an opening now more than ever.
“If by improved, you mean dumbed down and turned into a made-for-Lifetime movie of the week, then yeah, I would have to agree with you.” Joshua braced, knowing what was coming next.
And sure enough, Preston didn’t disappoint. He reared back with his foot, connecting with Joshua’s left side with a savagery that left Joshua clinging to consciousness. But it also left Preston unstable. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Joshua rolled, catching Preston’s legs and sending him sprawling, almost sending him over the edge of the baler.
Joshua tried to push him over the edge, looking to get off of the deadly machine, but his body betrayed him. Pain shot through his side, crippling him.
Preston pulled himself out from under Joshua, rabbit punching him in the side, each blow a punctuation for his words. “You. Are. Old. Washed up.” He stood finally, pointing the gun at Joshua’s head. “And now you’re finished. Maybe I’ll just shoot you in the stomach so you’ll still feel it when you go through the baler.”
A shot rang out, but it wasn’t from Preston’s gun. A police cruiser had come up beside the tractor, its passenger-side window open. Agent Cooper was hanging out of it, pointing her weapon up at the baler.
A shoulder shot to this bastard would be really helpful right about now, but Joshua had to keep her from killing him. They might be moving slowly, but there was no way she could aim well enough in a moving vehicle at the best of times. And Joshua was pretty sure this wasn’t the best of times for her. Doing his best to ignore the pain it caused, he pushed himself up to a kneeling position, putting himself enough in the line of fire that he knew Coop would stop shooting. It seemed to work, as the firing stopped. The cruiser raced up ahead.
But now there was nothing to hold Preston back. He reigned blows down on Joshua, forcing him ever closer to the gaping hole in the top of the baler.
“You like my modifications, Joshua?” Preston panted. “I took off all of the safety features. Nothing to stand between you and the baler.” He kicked out at Joshua’s head, catching him just under the jaw. Joshua fell back, managing to twist away from the opening at the last moment. As he did so, he felt something pop inside of him, and new pain blossomed, a dark flower that spread through his torso.
And suddenly, the tractor stopped. Peering forward in the darkness, lit only by a half-moon, Joshua could see Coop at the wheel. She must have jumped from the car.
“No!” Preston screamed, leveling the gun at Agent Cooper.
There was nothing Joshua could do. He was too far away. But just as Preston went to squeeze the trigger, a blonde blur shot past, latching itself onto the killer’s ankle.
It was Bella.
Preston swore and lashed out with his foot, flinging the puppy away from him. He then turned the gun on her and fired.
Bella screamed once, an unnatural sound that shot through the air, bludgeoning Joshua, the sound a sledgehammer to his soul. Time shattered into tiny fragments, moving forward in increments of ever diminishing duration.
This man was the key to finding his family’s killer. This man had just shot Bella, who had risked her life to spare his and Coop’s.
It wasn’t even a decision any more. He scooted forward, ignoring the pain, and hooked a foot behind Preston’s knees, forcing them to buckle. Preston pitched forward toward Joshua.
Using all of his remaining strength, Joshua rolled to the side, grabbing Preston’s shirt and twisting him down toward the opening at the top of the baler. The torque from the movement pulled at Joshua’s ribs, and agony exploded outward, but he kept the pressure on.
Preston slid around sideways, his left leg catching in the mechanism. He screamed as his leg was shattered into a million pieces by the compression within.
“Please, help me!” he cried out, his voice hoarse with pain.
Joshua just watched.
The killer reached his hand out, trying to grab for something, anything. But there was nothing there. He’d gotten rid of all of that.
“Think about this,” he panted. “Without me, you can’t find the man who killed your family.”
Once more, that gave Joshua pause. He glanced to where Bella was huddled. Preston’s death wouldn’t bring her back. And it could bring closure to him and a lot of others. Maybe that was more important.
Preston’s body slipped down into the machine even farther, and blood spurted u
p and out of his mouth, spattering against the side of the baler.
Joshua moved toward the opening, grabbing the attendant’s hand. Pain shot through his side, hampering his efforts to pull Preston to safety.
But then Had was there, and they were pulling together, each one attached to one of the killer’s arms. They pulled hard, harder, fighting the suction of the hay baler.
And suddenly, Preston came free.
Well, part of him did.
Like a grotesque mockery of the earlier crime scenes he’d created, Preston’s severed torso flopped onto the upper surface of the hay baler, bathing the old paint in new, glistening red.
He was beyond dead.
Joshua swore. “He was our chance to find Humpty.”
“Oh,” Had answered. “That’s why you were saving him. I didn’t know.”
“What?” Joshua did a double take. “Then why did you try to pull him out?”
“Because you were doing it,” he answered simply. “And it looked like you needed some help.”
There it was. It was Had to a T. Helping just because someone needed the help. No other reason. No need to explain the whole thing. Just there to give a hand.
And then, as the adrenaline rush faded, Joshua felt himself drifting into blackness, and hoped as he faded out that Had would be there to help him once more.
Somehow, Joshua had a feeling that he would.
* * *
Sariah walked toward the ambulance, watching as the paramedics finished up with Joshua. Bella was bandaged up. Joshua had forced the paramedics to treat her first. It turned out, the bullet went through her haunch, and the shock of the impact had knocked the puppy out. She wiggled in his arms, and would thrust her face up into his from time to time, licking his nose with vigor.
They had been lucky. She could recognize that. But the faces of the dead kept intruding, superimposing themselves on the faces of those who had survived. They were all dead because of her. Tears threatened again, and she turned her thoughts to the positive. Or at least she tried.
Not only had the entire third team that Reggie was with escaped unscathed, but also none of Joshua’s injuries had been too serious. Although Sariah wasn’t so sure he would feel that way about it. He was going to be in a lot of pain for the next few weeks.
Had, on the other hand, had come out of his kidnapping experience with nothing more than some light chafing on his wrists where the rope had been tied too tight. He seemed even more chipper than usual, and was there, right at Joshua’s side. It appeared that he was dividing his time between telling Joshua all about what had happened during his capture, and asking the paramedics what they liked best about their jobs.
The most miraculous part of the scenario was that Joshua didn’t look annoyed. Not only did he not appear irritated, he seemed to be enjoying himself, laughing and then wincing at something Had just said. If Sariah hadn’t seen it, she wouldn’t have believed.
Just as she was coming up close to the two men, a taxicab pulled up. Before the vehicle even came to a complete stop, the back door swung open and a tiny woman leapt out, rushing straight for them.
“Kyle, sweetie, you’re okay,” she gushed as she pulled Had into a bear hug. How a woman that size managed anything close to a bear hug was beyond Sariah, but she couldn’t deny the evidence of her eyes.
“Ms. Hadderly,” she said. “How—?”
Had’s mother pulled away from her son with obvious reluctance, and turned her gaze on Sariah. It was in that moment that Sariah remembered her last almost-conversation with the woman in front of her. All of the sudden she wasn’t so sure she wanted to be here.
“You must be Special Agent Cooper,” she said, looking her up and down. “You’re a lot prettier than your voice sounds on the phone. Not that I had much of a chance to find out…” She glared at Sariah, moving in to face off with her. How did such a tiny woman manage to be so damn intimidating?
“Right,” Sariah said. “About that…”
And then Ms. Hadderly’s face broke out in a smile. “Aw, honey, I’m just yankin’ your chain.” She reached out and drew Sariah in for a squeeze. “My boy’s all right, the killer’s dead, and I brought a picnic. Far as I’m concerned, it’s all good.”
“It wasn’t Humpty,” Joshua spoke up, then winced. “But they had met.”
“Oh, you must be Joshua,” Had’s mother gushed. “I’ve heard all about you. And you need to stop being such a grumble-puss all the time. This killer’s dead. The other one can just wait a spell.”
“Did you say picnic?” Had asked, his face hopeful.
“Oh, right. I’ve got it all there in the cab. Hold on, sugar.” She shuffled back to the taxi and started pulling out bag after bag. “I brought all of your favorites and then some. I got collard greens and baked beans and cornbread and some brisket…” Her description continued as she unloaded the equivalent of a busy restaurant on a weekend out of the back of the car.
It seemed only moments before a feast was spread out on a huge homemade quilt, and everyone there, including the paramedics, were busy chowing down on the finest southern meal Sariah had ever seen. The woman had somehow even managed to produce a pitcher of lemonade. Impossible. She’d have to talk to her about how she’d managed to get that past security at the airport.
“But how did you get here so fast?” Joshua asked, moving his face away from another of Bella’s demonstrations of love.
“Oh, honey, I started movin’ the second my boy stopped answerin’ his phone. He may not talk to me as much as he should, but he knows better than to screen my calls.”
“Okay, fine,” he said, waving off her explanation. “But how did you know we were out here?”
“Sugar, please.” She pulled herself up, offended. “If you can’t figure that out, you ain’t much of a federal agent.”
That echo of Sariah and Joshua’s earlier argument almost pulled a smile from her. Almost.
The most shocking part of the meal, though, was the fact that Joshua stayed there in the midst, eating some of everything he could put his hands on. And he was smiling. Well, nearly. It was what Sariah imagined passed for a smile with the former agent.
And Reggie was right there as well, looking more a part of the team than Sariah herself. Maybe that was something that she should make official. They had certainly benefitted from her presence, and now that it was clear that Humpty was still out there and active, they could use her help.
As Sariah looked over the group, she was overwhelmed with how much they looked like a family. They fit together. As distinct and separate as they all were, they belonged.
And she did not.
She turned to find a darker corner where she could deal with her feelings alone. There was no need to impose her negativity on the celebration that was happening around her. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.
A hand rested on her shoulder. Sariah turned around, expecting to see Had, or maybe Reggie.
It was Joshua.
He was holding Bella still, and the puppy tried to sit up when she saw Sariah, her tail wagging. Sariah reached out to scratch her ears, but Bella attacked the hand with her tongue before she got there.
“What is it, Joshua? I kind of wanted—”
“Shut up, Coop,” he cut her off. “Shut up and come eat some food.”
“But I—”
“I said, shut up. You’re part of this, whether you feel like it or not. Whether you admit it or not. You are sitting down with us, and you are eating this amazing food.” He stared at her for a long moment. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you earned this.”
He grabbed her by the arm, even though she could see it was painful for him, and dragged her over to the inner circle, pushing people aside to make room for her as Had shoved a plate overflowing with food at her.
What else could she do?
She sat down and broke bread with her new family.
* * *
Another airport after another flight in another airp
lane that looked just like every other airplane in the US. Man, Joshua hated to travel.
But at least having Bella with him made it more interesting. Two different flight attendants had given him their number on cocktail napkins. The puppy was like a magnet.
Bella hadn’t left his arms since the paramedics had placed her there two days ago. Made showering a bit awkward, but at least it kept her clean.
Reggie was with them. It had taken some serious talking on their parts to get her boss to part with her, but when she asked if he would put her on full-time status, all of the sudden his arguments evaporated. She looked over at him, possibly having felt his gaze, and smiled. That was a dazzling smile. One of which he was going to have to be wary.
Once more, Had was off talking to a newly acquired friend from the flight. Agent Cooper was standing by herself, watching the interaction with a look that someone else might have thought was wistful.
But Joshua knew better.
They were back in DC, and in a few minutes Bilal would be picking them up to take them back to Quantico. It was time to start back up on the search for the real Humpty Dumpty killer.
But what Coop, Had and Reggie didn’t know was that Joshua had a side trip he had to take first. He approached the agent, watching her come back to herself as she felt his presence nearing.
“How’s the ribs?”
“Still broken,” Joshua replied.
“Yeah, I guess so.” And as if he had just accused her of breaking them herself, she dropped her gaze to the ground.
“Hey,” Joshua said, bending down to catch her eye. Wow. That was painful. He reminded himself not to try that move again. “You’ve got to stop this.”
She said nothing for a bit, and then gave him what looked like a grimace. It might have been meant as a smile.
“I did everything right, Joshua. Everything.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I know. Look, last time I said this, I was yelling at you, but let me try it again. Sometimes you do everything right, and it still goes to shit.”
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