by Alex Gunwick
“This.” Boyd held up the ring. “I caught Bart Nicklinson hanging around the sidewalk outside the house. I asked him if he needed something. He said he was out jogging and lost his ring. But it was sitting on his damn finger. When I pointed it out he laughed and said he didn’t mean that ring. That one was his high school ring. It had his graduation year engraved on the side. From 1990. It’s the same ring.”
“Wait, back up. Who’s Bart Nicklinson?”
“The son of a bitch who lives across the street.”
“A few doors down on the right?”
“Yeah. Why? Did you see him?” Boyd stomped toward the door.
“No. Stop. Don’t open the door. If it really was Nicklinson, he’s probably watching the house. Earlier, I thought I saw a flash of light across the street about three houses down on the right.”
“That’s it. That’s his house.”
“Okay wait. You can’t go running over there half-cocked.”
“The hell I can’t.”
When Boyd tried to grab the doorknob, Luke gripped the back of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall.
“Calm the fuck down for two seconds. Shit.”
“How calm would you be if the man who murdered your whole family was right across the street?”
“I’d be fucking pissed.”
“Exactly.” Boyd tried to move away from the wall, Luke pushed him back with his forearm.
“Wait. Hear me out. First of all, you don’t know for sure it was him. It could be anyone’s.”
“No. See this?” He tilted the ring on its side. “Maryborn High. He told me it’s on the East Coast. So there’s no way it could belong to someone else.”
“Even if it’s his, it doesn’t prove anything. He could have come in here before or after they were killed. He could have come to check on you guys to see how you were doing.”
“No, he’s not that kind of guy. He didn’t give a shit about the neighborhood. He never went to any of the barbecues. Kept to himself.”
Boyd stared off into space. The look in his eye curdled Luke’s blood. He radiated pure rage. His knuckles were white; his fists, clenched. Murderous intent contorted his features. He was a powder keg of revenge, just waiting to explode.
“I’ll make them suffer,” Boyd whispered. He slowly turned his faced toward Luke. “If you’re not going to help me, then get the fuck out of my house.”
“Shit.”
Luke ran his hand through his hair. How could he convince Boyd not to go over there and get himself killed? And why did he even care? Boyd had just cold-cocked him. He should let him go get his ass kicked, but he couldn’t. If this Nicklinson guy really did kill Boyd’s family, he wanted him to get justice.
“Look, I’ll help you,” Luke said. “But we can’t go running over there without a plan.”
“Dammit.” Boyd spun around and punched a hole through the drywall.
“What the fuck?” Luke backed up a step.
“You’re right, but I want to fucking kill him. Right now.”
“I know. I know. But hear me out.” He waited until Boyd made eye contact. “I think we should wait. It’s almost sundown. We can afford to wait a few hours. Then we go on recon, stake the place out. Is anyone else living with him?”
“Porky, his son.”
“Porky?”
“I don’t know his real name. The little prick sits around watching TV all day. I see him in his living room sitting on his ass all the time.” Boyd scratched the side of his face. “I wasn’t spying. They always had the curtains open so I’d see him when I was out walking with the kids.”
“Are they open right now?”
“Lemme check.” Boyd pushed the curtain aside and looked outside. “No. They’re closed.”
“Okay, so we can’t walk by and look inside.”
“No, we’re going to have to get into the house.”
“Or, we could try drawing them out.”
“How?”
“Create some kind of diversion. Start a fire.”
“Then what?” Boyd asked.
“Then we hold them at gunpoint and get confirmation that they’re the ones who did this.”
“I know it was them. Both of them. There’s no way one could take on four people.”
“One of them could have used someone in your family as a hostage. Everyone else would have been forced to cooperate.”
“Bart’s not smart enough to pull something like that off alone. He had help.”
“We can question them. Find out who was in on it.”
“You think they’re going to tell us?” Boyd laughed sharply. “Those lying bastards will deny everything.”
“Maybe. But we have to try. Don’t you want to know for sure? What if it wasn’t them? If we kill them and they didn’t do it, then we’d be murdering them.”
“Fuck.”
“Let’s wait a couple of hours until it’s dark.”
“I can’t just sit around.”
“We won’t.” Luke swallowed and hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake. “We’ll be burying your family.”
Boyd moaned and brought his hands up to cover his face. He walked into the living room, stumbled over the edge of the coffee table and plopped down next to his wife.
As he cried, Luke headed into the kitchen. He opened the fridge. The stench of rotting food mingled with the scent of death. He grabbed an unopened water bottle and slammed the door. The smell made him gag as he walked back into the living room.
“Here.” He handed the bottle to Boyd who shook his head. “You need to drink.”
“How can I go on without them?”
“You have to.”
Boyd took the bottle and twisted off the cap. His red rimmed eyes shimmered with fresh tears.
“They were my life.”
“I know.”
“This is just…How do you bury your family?”
“We don’t have to do it right now.”
“No. I want to. They deserve to rest in peace. The shovels are in the garage.”
After Luke retrieved the shovels, he leaned them against the wall outside on the back porch. He brushed his hands against his pants and slid open the door. Boyd hadn’t moved from the couch, a forlorn expression on his face.
Instead of bothering him, Luke grabbed a shovel and headed into the backyard. A flowerbed formed a perimeter around the edge of the fence. Several tall shade trees blocked the setting sun. The rest of the space was covered in grass.
He picked a location near the back of the lawn and jabbed the shovel into the earth. With his boot, he pressed the edge down several inches before pulling up the first clump of dirt. He continued the process, ignoring the ache in his arms, occasionally stopping to wipe sweat from his eyes.
Halfway through the first grave, Boyd joined him outside. He didn’t say a word as he picked up the other shovel and began digging the second grave. As they worked, several doves perched high up in the trees. Their lamenting whinny seemed appropriate. Maybe they’d been sent from Heaven to guide the souls of the dead.
It took three hours to finish the first two graves. After wrapping his wife in a sheet, Boyd carried her to the grave. Luke helped him lay her in her final resting place.
“I feel like I should say something,” Boyd muttered.
Luke bowed his head.
“Vicki, baby I love you so much. I’m going to get justice for you. I swear it. I know you’re not here anymore. You’re up there looking down on me. Well, close your eyes, because you might not want to see what I’m about to do to the man who hurt you.”
With that, Boyd shoveled a pile of dirt into the grave. He sobbed as he laid more dirt over his beloved wife.
His daughter followed. Then three hours later, his sons. By the time they’d buried Boyd’s entire family, Luke arms burned and exhaustion sank into his bones. He dumped one last shovelful of dirt before tossing the shovel aside. He left Boyd at the graves. If it was him, he’d have wanted a moment alo
ne.
Inside the house, Luke sat in a kitchen chair. He covered his face with his hands and tried to blot out the image of his family in a grave. He wasn’t one to pray too often, but from the depths of his soul, he called out to God, silently asking him to please keep his family safe until he could return to protect them.
20
Liz hit the button on the walkie-talkie and whispered into it to give her location. She and Harvey lay on their bellies on a ridge overlooking the preacher’s compound. Using a pair of binoculars, she scanned the dining area. Several men and women lingered at the picnic tables, while others filtered off toward other areas in the compound. Breakfast had ended thirty minutes earlier and she still hadn’t spotted the preacher or her kids.
“We should move to another location,” Liz said.
“Isn’t this their main meeting place?”
“Yes. Everyone has to pass through here to get to the other areas. I thought we’d see them here.”
“Maybe the kids aren’t at the church. Maybe they’re in one of the other houses,” Harvey said.
“Could be,” she said. “But I have a feeling the preacher’s keeping the kids close. When we find him, we’ll find them. Right now we can’t see anything from this location. We should move.”
“We can’t risk being spotted. If they know we’re spying on them, they’ll bring in the rest of their patrol. As it is, they outnumber us two to one. Making the odds worse isn’t going to help us at all.”
Liz raised the binoculars and scanned the area. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She fought against the instinct to rush down and start shooting until someone told her where the kids were being held. Someone had to know. The preacher couldn’t have kidnapped them without help.
She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. As she lowered the binoculars, Melinda, Adam’s mom, walked into the forest a hundred yards to her left. She was on her feet before Harvey could protest.
“Adam!” Melinda called. “Are you up here?”
“If you scream, I’ll shoot.” Liz stepped out from behind a tree and pointed her gun at the other woman.
“Liz?” Melinda slowly raised her hands in surrender. “Have you seen Adam? He’s been missing since this morning. I got up and he was gone.”
“Have you seen my kids?”
“Your kids? No. I haven’t left the compound.”
“I know the preacher has them. Where are they?” Liz’s gun hand trembled.
“What do you mean he has them?”
“He kidnapped them last night. Or early this morning. I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”
“Are you sure they’re gone?”
“Yes. And he took them. I want my fucking kids back, Melinda. Where are they?”
“I think she’s telling the truth,” Harvey said. “She doesn’t know.”
“The hell she doesn’t. She’s one of them,” Liz said.
“I don’t know where your kids are. I don’t even know where my son is,” Melinda said. “I’m afraid…”
“What?” Liz lowered the gun but held it at her side.
“I’m afraid Elijah did something to Adam.”
“Why?”
“He’s missing and… I shouldn’t have done it…”
“What did you do?”
“I challenged Elijah in front of everyone. This place is turning into a cult. He’s been ruling over it like it’s his own personal commune. I kept ignoring all the red flags. We have nowhere else to go. We could go home, but there’s nothing there. We wouldn’t have any food, any water, or any protection. But I’m done. As soon as I find Adam, we’re leaving. It’s not safe here anymore, especially if he’s kidnapping people.”
“Adam could be with Sierra and Kyle,” Liz said. “When you were at breakfast, did you hear or see anything unusual?”
Melinda frowned. Her gaze focused on a point in the distance before returning to Liz.
“I overheard Turner tell someone to bring food to the Olmens’ house. But that’s weird because the Olmens left over a week ago. As far as I know, no one is living there.”
“Where is it?” Harvey asked.
“About a half mile up the road.”
“We’ll check it out,” Liz said.
“Wait!” Melinda grabbed her arm. “You can’t go running down there with guns. If the kids are there, you could shoot them by accident. If there are guards inside, they could shoot the kids.”
“They might not even be in the house,” Harvey said. “We need to do recon to find out.”
“What if I did it for you?” Melinda said.
“Why would you help us?” Liz asked.
“Because I need to find Adam. Today’s the last day I’m going to let Elijah control us. As soon as I get Adam, we’re going home. We might end up starving to death, but at least we’d have a chance. We’re not safe here. Three people have gone missing in the last week. Elijah keeps telling us that they chose to go home, but each of the missing people had fought with Elijah a few hours before they went missing. I think he killed them.”
Liz’s knees went weak. She wobbled toward the closest tree and leaned against it. What if he’d already killed her kids?
“They’re probably still alive,” Harvey said. “My guess is that he’s using them as bait. Pull it together.”
Liz took a breath and pushed off the tree.
“Let me go check the house,” Melinda said. “I can get closer than you. I’ll just tell them I’m looking for Adam. It’s the perfect cover.”
“How do we know we can trust you?” Liz asked. “How do I know you’re not going to find Elijah and tell him we’re up here?”
“Look at me.” Melinda raised her arms to display a much-too-large tattered shirt. “Look at what he’s doing to us. We’re all hungry. Tired. Overworked. He sits there like a king, demanding we wait on him like slaves. I’m done. I don’t care if you believe me or not, but I’m going to find my son.”
“If he’s at the house and you manage to get him out, will you at least come back to tell us if Sierra and Kyle are inside too?” Liz asked.
“You have my word, mother to mother.”
Liz nodded. When Melinda turned to walk along the tree line, Liz followed.
“You can’t come with me,” Melinda whispered over her shoulder. “They’ll see you.”
“I want to know the house’s location.”
“Okay. I’ll take you as far as I can. But if they see us, we’re all dead.”
“They won’t see us,” Harvey said. “If you do find Adam, be careful. We don’t know what the preacher’s motive is for taking him. He could want you dead too. It sounds like he’s weeding out troublemakers.”
“I’ll be careful.”
As Liz picked a silent path through the forest, she studied Melinda’s hunched shoulders. No one could fake such a defeated tone in their voice. Her heart went out to the other mother. Regardless of how they ended up with the preacher, they wanted out. And if Melinda helped her find Sierra and Kyle, Liz would do everything in her power to help her in return.
A few minutes later, Melinda stopped. She pointed at a house which was set back from the main road. Three men sat outside. They each had a rifle strapped to their chest.
“That’s the Olmen house,” Melinda whispered.
“They’re guarding someone,” Liz said. “What’s your plan to find out who’s inside?”
“I’m going to offer them food. I’m in charge of all the baking, so I can bring them cookies.”
“You should have brought some with you,” Liz said.
“I thought I’d find Adam in the forest. There wasn’t any reason to bring cookies.”
“Be careful,” Liz said. “You don’t know what their orders are. Maybe they’re supposed to take you too.”
Melinda’s eyes went wide. Her head whipped toward the house, then back. “What if they make me go inside?”
“We’ll find a way to rescue you,” Liz said. “I highly doub
t they have houses full of prisoners. Just be careful about the way you word things. Don’t let on that you’re looking for anyone but your son.”
“I won’t. I may not be the best liar ever, but they don’t look very smart.”
“Never underestimate the enemy,” Harvey said.
“Okay.”
As Melinda walked through the trees toward the house, Liz raised her rifle. She sighted one of the guards. Her finger shifted toward the trigger, but she paused. She couldn’t kill them until she knew who was inside. If they’d help capture her kids, she’d shoot all three of them. But until she got confirmation of her kid’s location, she couldn’t make a move.
Liz frowned as Melinda’s conversation with the guards continued. After ten minutes, she was ready to race down and wipe the smirks off the guards’ faces, preferably with a few well-placed bullets. If Melinda didn’t get her ass back up the hill soon, Liz was going down there.
“Patience,” Harvey murmured.
“How patient would you be if your kids were missing?” she asked in a hushed tone.
“She’ll be back soon. If we make hasty decisions, they could end up dead.”
“I know.” She swatted a fly away from her arm. “I just wish she’d hurry up.”
“They’re opening the door.”
Liz grabbed the binoculars from him. The door cracked open to reveal a sliver of darkness. She couldn’t see anyone, or anything for that matter. The guard slammed the door and pushed Melinda back. She screamed at him and pointed toward the church. The guard shook his head and smiled. When she reached to slap his face, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back. He whispered something that made her sag against the wall. The second he released her, she turned and ran down the road.
“She’s escaping.”
Liz jumped to her feet and raced along the tree line. Without knowing Melinda’s motivation to run, Liz couldn’t risk confronting her on the road. She kept pace with Melinda until she abruptly changed course and ran up the hill into the forest.
“They have them.” Melinda bent over to catch her breath. “They have all of the kids.”
“Did you see them? Are they alive?”
“Yes. And yes. They’re alive.”
“Why didn’t they take you too?” Liz asked.