by Dave Conifer
After strapping on his tool belt, Nick grabbed the hank of rope and climbed onto the roof. He knew Dewey was marveling from below at how effortlessly he walked across the shingles, averse to the dangers of height and gravity. It was just something you learned, he knew. He still remembered the first time he’d been on a roof. As soon as he’d stepped off the ladder he’d sprawled flat on his stomach, petrified with fear. Now he moved around as easily as if he was back in his living room.
Despite Dewey’s nerves, they quickly settled into a system for removing the panels and getting them to the ground. The hardest part was the still-slick roof, but that was nothing that Nick hadn’t dealt with before. With the darkness broken by the light clipped onto the gutter, Nick mastered the process of unbolting panels from the rails they were mounted on. Each time he removed a panel he let it slide down the roof to Dewey while it was still tethered by a rope line. Dewey then took the rope and paid it out until the panel was safely on the ground. By then Nick had moved on to the next panel while Dewey climbed down, untied the panel, and added it to the growing stack in the trailer.
They worked through the night. The last panel was down before the first streak of pink appeared in the eastern sky. Once it was safely on the ground, Nick shut off the light and carried it down. Leaving the ladder where it was, he wandered over to the trailer, where Dewey was sprawled on his back.
“My legs are like Jello, dude,” he said. “Like, I must have crawled up and down that ladder two hundred times tonight.”
Nick opened his mouth to reply, but froze when a powerful beam cut through the darkness from behind him. He turned and stared into a blinding light. “Who’s there?” he demanded.
“Now, I’ve been sitting over there across the street wondering,” a voice from behind the light said. “Were you one of them boys who shot this place up and chased us out? Or were you just passing by tonight and decided to help yourself?”
“Help ourselves to what?” Nick asked. He’d already recognized the voice as Ryne Cronin’s, and wasn’t even surprised. Roethke’s assurances had been completely hollow. “I don’t know—“
“Save, it, will ya?” Cronin barked, cutting Nick off. Even with light aimed directly in his eyes, Nick could make out the figures of Cronin’s flunkies filling in the space behind him. “I know what you’re doing. We’ve been watching all night. Thanks for saving us the trouble of stealing those panels ourselves. You made it easy.”
“The panels?” Nick asked. “What do you want with them?”
“The same thing you want them for.”
“It’s not that simple, Ryne,” Nick said, wondering why he was bothering. “Even if they’re not fried, it’s not like you can just plug your toaster into a panel.”
Cronin turned to one of his men. “Take their guns, if they have any,” he ordered. “Then, tie them up.”
“Whoa, whoa,” Nick protested. “No need for that. We don’t have any weapons on us. And you can take the panels. They’re yours. Just let us go on our way.”
“Check them for weapons, anyway,” Cronin said. Nick felt hands on his body, patting him down. Dewey was groped as well.
“What’s this in your pocket there?” Nick’s groper demanded. He shoved Nick violently to the ground and flopped on top of him, grinding his knee into the small of Nick’s back. “I thought you said you were unarmed.” Nick felt something cold against the side of his throat.
“Take it easy!” came a voice from the darkness. “He’s a roofer. He’s roofing. Of course he’s got a knife. Relax.”
“Is that you, Chuck?” Nick asked, his face now jammed into the weeds that used to be the Delaney’s back yard. “I heard you switched sides. Now I know for sure.”
“He should have told us about it. Somebody cut me some rope,” he said as he forced Nick onto his back. “Keep your hands at your sides,” he warned.
“Why are we tying them up?” Nick heard Chuck ask.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cronin told him. “Look, this chump lives next door to you, right? You better go help out with the panels. You ain’t thinking clear.”
Chuck locked eyes with Nick before walking away. Meanwhile, half a dozen men, each carrying weapons that made Nick’s rifle back home look like a child’s toy, surged around him. One of them turned the work light back on. Nick grimaced. That would make escape harder.
Ten minutes later both Nick and Dewey were bound at the wrists and ankles. Sprawled flat on his stomach again, unable to see what was happening around him, Nick was fighting the first licks of terror. He hadn’t forgotten the feel of the blade on his neck a few minutes earlier. But they were safe for the moment. The noise and commotion told him that Cronin and his gang were busy with the panels.
“Are they going to let us go or what?” Dewey whispered. Nick hadn’t realized he was still so close by.
“That’s the best we can hope for,” Nick whispered back. “Cronin’s a mean sucker, and he’s hated me for years.” Neither spoke again for a few minutes. The activity had died down some when he felt the toe of a boot slam into his ribs. Then the knife was back at his throat.
“I got no use for you, roofer,” Cronin said. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for a long time. Things are different now. I can do something about it.” Nick struggled, but Cronin subdued him by sitting on his back. Nick was wondering what the blade was going to feel like going in when gunfire erupted. Cronin pulled the knife away and stood. “What’s that?” he shouted, trying to be heard over the semi-automatic rounds being discharged. “Is that incoming?”
“No,” somebody yelled back. “It’s that wacked out new guy you just sent away. He’s shooting into the woods!”
“Get him over here!” Cronin commanded after the shooting stopped. Then he looked at Nick. “Wait, I don’t want him over here. Go find out what his story is.”
“He just took off into the woods!” somebody else reported. There was more shooting. “Wait! Now he’s back! This guy’s crazy!”
“Stay here,” Cronin said to whatever thug was at his elbow waiting for orders. “I gotta’ go straighten him out.” The other man stepped on Nick’s back to keep him down, but not before Nick shifted position so he could see what was happening. As Cronin walked away, Nick spotted Chuck across the yard, down on a knee with his rifle carefully aimed into the woods. With a windmill motion of his arm, without taking his eyes off the target, he signaled the others to join him.
“What in God’s name do you think you’re doing?” Cronin demanded.
Chuck pulled him down. “Stay low! There’s a lot of men in these woods! If we want to hold this ground, we need to root them out. I don’t think they’re too happy that we came back!”
“Are you sure somebody’s in them woods?” Cronin asked. “The only one I heard shooting is you.”
“You heard wrong,” Chuck said. “These guys are good. They’re trying to flank us before they show themselves. If we don’t hurry, they’ll pull it off, too! You want to keep the solar panels, don’t you? You gonna’ let them push us out of here again?”
Cronin considered this before answering. “Okay. But you better be right. What do we need to do?”
“What do we have, ten or fifteen men?” Chuck asked. “It doesn’t sound like they have many more than that in the woods. Take six and go over by the garage. Head into the woods, find some cover, and track anything that moves.”
“What about the rest of us?” Cronin asked.
“Leave three or four men here,” Chuck said. “Send the rest straight into the woods from right here. We’ll have them pinned between our two groups.”
“Where will you be?” Cronin asked.
“I’ll stay here,” Chuck answered. “We’ll ambush them after you flush them out.”
“No,” Cronin said. “I’ll get somebody else for that. I want you in the woods. You lead the group that goes in from here. I’ll take my men in from the garage, like you said.”
“Okay, boss,” Chuck answered. “W
e better get on it right now.”
Cronin called the group together in a rush, assigned them duties, and reminded them that this was not a drill. Nick, who had managed to flop onto his side without being noticed, took the entire scene in without uttering a sound.
The two groups scampered off in different directions, leaving four of Cronin’s men to stand guard and prepare the ambush. Two went to the far corner of the house, while two remained with Nick and Dewey. At least the numbers are getting better for us, Nick thought.
“What are we supposed to do with these two?” one of the remaining men asked.
“Nobody said, exactly,” the other answered. “So I guess we won’t do anything, right? We’re supposed to conserve our ammo.”
The first man shrugged. “Suits me. Even though the boss was about to run him through with his knife.”
“Yeah, he was, wasn’t he? Maybe we could have a little fun with them, then,” the other said, pulling out his own blade.
Even before the man’s knife was out of its sheath, Nick saw the bodies of both men twitch and fall. The shots he heard weren’t the long, rat-tat-tat blasts that came from Cronin’s guns, but single shots from non-automatic weapons. Two men popped out from the darkness to pounce on the downed men and check for signs of life. Nick’s confusion was complete when he realized that the shooters were Matt Shardlake and Tom Hellikson.
“Come on!” Matt whispered. He was already cutting away the rope from their ankles.
“There’s two other men close by!” Nick hissed. “They’ll kill us all if they can!”
Tom pushed Nick’s Remington over his shoulder, leaving it hanging limply on its strap, and tore the semi-automatic rifle away from one of the dead men. “This one looks better.” He’d just picked it up and was fumbling for the trigger when they heard footsteps pounding toward them. “Here they come!” Nick whispered. “Spray ‘em, Tom!” While Tom opened up on the onrushing attackers, dropping them just a few feet away, Nick scrambled to his feet. Matt grabbed the rifle from the other fallen man and thrust it at Dewey, who’d somehow managed to free his hands. The four of them hunched down and ran to the front of the house. There was still enough darkness to cover their flight across the street.
~~~
Nick hugged Tom and Matt in turn as they cowered behind an abandoned house. All four were breathing hard, doubled over with their hands on their knees. Nick spent that time replaying what Matt and Tom had just done. Especially Tom.
“I don’t know how to thank you guys,” he said between breaths. “Especially you, Tom. I didn’t deserve it. Not from you.”
“I just killed some human beings,” Tom said. “I ended their lives. I feel like I’m gonna’ be sick.”
“But you saved these two guys by doing it,” Matt pointed out. “I think it was worth it.”
“Right here in my own neighborhood,” Tom continued. “Never thought that would happen, I can tell you that. I’ve never been so scared as when I was holding that gun.” He felt for the shoulder strap of the rifle, still slung over his shoulder.
“Like, how’d you find us?” Dewey asked.
“You told us where you were going, remember?” Matt said.
“And your next door neighbor tipped us off,” Tom added. “Hey, did you know he was working with Cronin?”
“I found out last night,” Nick said. “He was playing us all along.” He thought for a moment. “What do you mean, he tipped you off?”
He dropped by a couple hours ago and asked for you,” Matt said. “Sarah told him where you’d gone before I could stop her. But it’s a good thing, because he told us what Cronin had planned. He said if things looked bad, he’d create a diversion. But he said we better be there waiting, because we’d only have one chance.”
“Cronin was about to cut my throat,” Nick said. “I know he’d have done it. I can feel the cuts on my neck.” He paused. “I can’t believe it’s come to this. We’ve gone completely lawless. Animals like him can do whatever they want.”
“I did the same thing a few minutes ago,” Tom said.
“It’s not the same thing from where I sit,” Nick replied.
“Chuck’s in a tough spot now,” Matt said. “Is there anybody he hasn’t betrayed?”
“But he stuck his neck out for me tonight,” Nick said. “I can’t figure him out.”
Nearly a minute passed with no sound except for heavy breathing. “Tom,” Nick finally said. “Speaking of betrayal, I’m sorry for what I did to you. I’ll be ashamed of myself for as long as I live.” He began to choke up, but continued. “You risked your life to save mine, even after what I did.” He paused to collect himself. “I’d like to think I have it in me to do what you did. I hope so.”
“You’d have done it,” Tom said.
“I can’t say that for sure. I had a chance to stick up for you and keep our group together,” Nick countered. “But I didn’t. I’m sorry, Tom. You deserved better from me.”
“Water over the bridge,” Tom said. “I have no regrets. All I know is if I can’t sleep at night, I did something wrong. That’s just how I am.”
“Touché. That’s fair. But the night isn’t over yet,” Nick said.
“It’s getting there,” Matt commented. “The sun’s about to rise. Maybe we should think about getting away from here before it does.”
“You all should go home,” Nick said. “ASAP. As soon as Cronin finds out what happened, he’ll go straight there and he’ll bring his army. Leave everything behind and get to the compound as fast as you can. That includes you and your family, Tom.”
“Us Helliksons aren’t invited,” Tom said. “What’s going to happen when we show up at the compound door?”
“Whatever it is,” Matt warned, “it’ll be better than what will happen if you stay home.”
“What about you?” Dewey asked Nick.
“I’m going straight from here to the compound,” Nick said, “and I’m gonna’ go Incredible Hulk on them. They won’t like me when I’m angry. And if I can’t make them see it my way, I’m staying here with Tom. That’s a promise.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Matt asked.
“No. I have to go right now to fix this, like I should have done in the first place.”
Twenty-two
As he made his way to the compound, Nick reminded himself that if he didn’t keep his cool, there was no way he was going to get a meeting with Grover. He had to control his emotions, and it wasn’t going to be easy. There was a lot on the line. Anybody who was left behind in Crestview wasn’t going to make it. He wasn’t going to sit by and let anybody play God like that. At least not without a fight. On top of that, he felt lucky to be alive after the ambush at the Delaney house. They’d been set up to fail, or worse. Somebody was going to hear about that.
“Why is it always you?” he asked when Roethke appeared in the foyer after Nick blustered his way past the guards.
“It isn’t always me,” Roethke replied. “It’s always me when they see you coming. I’m the lucky one.”
“I have to see Grover,” Nick told him.
“Calm down,” Roethke said. “That’s impossible. You know I speak for him. Just tell me what’s on your mind.” He paused. “I take it the solar panel job didn’t go too well. Any injuries?”
Nick pushed forward until there were just inches between the two men. “You’ve got a lot of nerve!”
Two men rushed in from an adjoining room, but Roethke waved them away. “It’s okay,” he told them. “I’ve got this.” He waited until they’d retreated before continuing. “What exactly happened?”
Sputtering with anger, Nick told the story. He finished by explaining that only an hour earlier he’d been tied up, scared, and on the wrong end of a blade.
“Yes, I can see the wound,” Roethke said. “And the blood. Obviously I was wrong. I’m sorry about that. But it was unintentional. I wouldn’t lie to you, Nick. Why would I?”
“Well, it’s done with,” Nick
answered. “That’s not why I’m here. I have to see Grover. You owe me.”
“What do you want to see him about, exactly?” Roethke asked.
“About the agreement I made with him,” Nick said. “We need to make a change.”
“Be specific,” Roethke said. “It’s you that we really want. Does this change involve you? Otherwise--”
“Yes it does,” Nick said. “My entire group comes, or I’m staying behind.”
Roethke studied Nick. “Are you sure about this? Have you thought it through?”
“Yes I have,” Nick answered flatly.
“I wouldn’t go back on your word if I were you,” Roethke said. “It could be hazardous to your health.”
“Is that a threat?” Nick asked. “You nearly got me killed tonight. But here I am, so do your worst. You can pass that on to Grover, too.”
Roethke smiled as he stepped backward. “You misunderstand. It’s not a threat. I merely meant that staying here would be a very bad decision.”
“Well, I’ll take my chances if I have to,” Nick said. “But get me in to see Grover first. Or whoever makes the decisions around here.”
Roethke rolled his eyes, but walked to the doorway through which the two guards had disappeared. After a few words were exchanged, one of them returned to the foyer with an automatic weapon in his hand. “Come on,” Roethke said to Nick. “We’ll follow him there.”
~~~
Tom, Matt and Dewey set out for home at a walk, but that didn’t last long. Matt was the first to break into a jog. Tom quickly joined him. Dewey held out the longest. They all knew Nick was right. There was danger. Cronin and his men might already be on their way.
~~~
"I guess I don't need to tell you we didn't get the panels," Nick told Roethke as they walked out the back door. The common area between the houses looked like pictures Nick had seen of the beaches at Normandy the morning after D-Day. Heaps of supplies and equipment were everywhere. Most piles were either shrinking or growing right before their eyes as swarms of workers scurried back and forth. Nick found himself admiring this group anew for the work and planning it must have taken to get this point. He wanted more than ever to be a part of it moving forward.