by J. D. Faver
This place is even worse than the Jessup farm. Jenna sat transfixed, unable to move, unable to breathe.
Leon switched off the headlamps, the sudden pitch black startling her like a slap in the face.
“Come on, little darlin’. This is our home, sweet home until your boyfriend coughs up the cash.”
Jenna reached for the door handle. The thought of running flashed through her brain, but once again, she hesitated. She might outrun the man, but she would have to run a very long way to reach the highway, and Leon could certainly run her down in the truck. Even then, a passerby wouldn’t necessarily be driving at this time of night. She swallowed and stepped down out of the truck. Being shot in the back is not going to work for me either.
Leon motioned for her to follow him to the house. There was a padlock on the outside and when she got closer, she saw there were some kind of grid-like bars on the inside.
Oh shit! What does he keep locked inside here? She stumbled and caught herself before she ate a dirt sandwich. Her legs felt shaky, but she took a few hesitant steps forward.
“C’mon,” Leon insisted, grabbing her arm and pulling her forward. He flipped on a light. “See, we got electric ‘n everything.”
The squalid conditions inside were hard to believe. A broken down sofa with torn upholstery and a wooden kitchen chair were the only furnishings in the small front room, other than a rusted iron bedstead in one corner with a threadbare mattress.
Another shiver coiled down her spine as she eyed the bed. She definitely didn’t want to be in the same room with Leon and a bed.
“You cold? Here, I’ll warm you up.” He started taking off his jacket as he walked toward her.
A scream tried to escape her throat, but died when he wrapped the jacket around her shoulders. “Put this on and you’ll stay warm. I can’t have my meal ticket getting puny, now can I?”
She nodded, struggling to push her arms through the sleeves. “Thanks.”
“Sit on that chair,” he directed.
A wave of relief washed through her. The chair. Not the bed. She heaved a sigh and settled on the chair, not sure what was coming up, but it appeared she might not be molested.
Leon ducked into a closet and turned back to her with what looked like a length of clothesline in his hand. “This should do it.”
“Oh, no! You don’t need to tie me up. I’ll just sit here and wait.”
“Well, I can’t take a chance on that. You’re my meal ticket outta this dung heap, so make yourself comfortable.”
Jenna could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She watched in horror as Leon tied her ankles to the chair legs and then bound her wrists together. She felt as though she was watching herself sink into quicksand. She wished she had waited until tomorrow to see E.J. She wished he was coming to save her…
That’s ridiculous! Even E.J. doesn’t have a million dollars lying around.
~*~
E.J. sat on the passenger side of Breck’s pick up. He clutched the canvas duffel with both hands. He could feel his heart thudding inside his chest like a blacksmith’s hammer.
“This is ten miles,” Breck announced, slowing the truck. He pulled over to the side of the road and shifted into park, letting the engine idle.
E.J. nodded and let the duffel slide to the floorboard between his feet. He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out as he reached for his cell. Please let her be all right.
Leon answered on the first ring. “Where are you?”
“Right at ten miles from the Langston city limits. Where to now?”
Leon erupted with rough laughter. “Good boy. Just keep following my directions and you’ll get your girl back in one piece.”
A spasm of fear clutched his gut. “Where do you want me to go?”
“Drive ten more miles down the highway and then turn to the right on a little dirt road. It’s on your property. An old abandoned farm house. Roll real quiet up to the house and then stop. I’ll be checking you out from inside.”
The phone went to dial tone in E.J.’s hand.
Breck climbed down and came around to the passenger side. He opened the door and motioned E.J. to climb down. “You need to drive the rest of the way. I’ll get down so he doesn’t see me.”
E.J. got out of the truck, reaching back for the duffel.
“No, put that on the seat. I’ll be behind you.” Breck reached in the glove compartment and removed a handgun and a box of bullets. Then opened the back door and climbed into the back seat.
E.J. tried to breathe like a normal man. He was in awe at how calm Breck remained, although his life was on the line as well. He swallowed hard and rounded the truck to take his place behind the wheel. As he shifted gears and pulled the big truck onto the open highway, he heard Breck speaking into his cell phone.
“Sheriff, Leon Harwell is holed up at the old abandoned Atwater place. It’s on Kincaid property and was one of Eldon Kincaid’s first acquisitions.”
“I remember that,” The sheriff’s voice boomed over the speaker phone. “I always thought there was something fishy about that. I mean, Brody and Marie Atwater just had a brand new baby boy.”
Breck uttered a grunt. “And then they turned up dead in the caves on the Carmichael property.”
“Chalk up two more kills for Eldon Kincaid. That man must be burning in hell right now.”
E.J. glanced in the rear view mirror in time to see Breck give him a pitying look. A stab of pain in his chest reminded him that he had so much to atone for on his father’s behalf. He clenched his jaw together and checked the odometer to make sure he didn’t overshoot the turn.
“I’ll get a chopper in the air and have some ground troops ready to follow up, if needed.”
“Stay back, sheriff,” Breck ordered. “Let us see if we can get Jenna out safe first.”
The sheriff agreed and Breck returned the cell to his pocket. He took the shotgun off the hook in the back window.
“Good to know you have some fire power, Breck,” E.J. said, trying to keep his tone light.
Breck broke the shotgun over his arm and loaded it. “I’m always armed, and usually dangerous.”
“Good to know.” He concentrated on looking for the dirt road to the abandoned Atwater place.
“Up ahead there, on the right,” Breck directed.
E.J. turned down the heavily rutted caliches road, noting the furrows looked like there had been some big vehicles running up and down this road. Maybe a cattle truck. “I see a little house up ahead. And a couple of out buildings, but it looks like those are about to fall down.”
Breck scooted down on the rear seat. “Go slow and don’t pull too close to the house. If he comes out and shows himself, I’m going after him. If he stays inside, I’ll just sneak around and be outside the door waiting to see what happens next.”
E.J. slowed to a crawl, the headlamps on bright to light the road ahead. He turned toward the small house, bathing the structure in the high beams. He let the truck idle for a moment and then shut off the motor.
“Git out!” Leon shouted from behind a torn screen door. “And bring the money.”
“Good luck,” Breck said under his breath.
“Thanks. I’m going to need it.” E.J. hauled the duffle off of the passenger seat and opened his door. He moved in slow motion, stepping to the ground and hoisting the bag over his shoulder. He stood for a moment as the porch light came on. He felt exposed, the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention. He could imagine Leon standing inside the darkened house with a gun pointed at his heart.
He took a couple of steps forward and stopped. “Send Jenna out,” he yelled. “You can have me, but let her go free.”
A snort from Leon. “She’s a little tied up at the moment. Come on in and you can do the honors. All I want is the money.”
Yeah, right. He walked slowly toward the house, hoping Breck could ease out of the truck without alarming the enemy. He might have to make some noise to cover Breck’
s advance.
The screen door swung wide and he saw Leon step out onto the small porch, a large caliber revolver in hand. He motioned for E.J. to step it up.
As E.J. entered the darkened house, he heard Jenna gasp.
“You came!” she said. He heard the scrape of a chair against wooden floors.
“Git inside and gimme my money,” Leon snarled. He leaned out and gazed around, before flipping on the light inside the house.
E.J. blinked a couple of times as his eyes became adjusted to the light. He saw Jenna and felt a swell of relief in his chest. She sat with her ankles bound to the legs of the chair and her hands tied in her lap. Her expression was hard to read. He couldn’t tell if she was happy to see him, or terrified that they might both be killed now that Leon had the money. He tried to give her a little smile, but it died on his face as Leon jerked the duffle bag from his shoulder.
“Git over there by her and don’t make any trouble.” He sat down on a ratty looking couch and unzipped the bag, spilling cash out onto the floor.
E.J. quickly knelt by Jenna’s chair. He untied her ankles as fast as his nervous fingers would allow. “Go outside now.”
Her eyes widened, but he gave her a little nod and stood, shielding her with his body. “It’s all there,” he said to Leon.
Leon grinned from ear to ear, gazing at all the money spread around him. “I never knew what a million dollars looked like, but it sure is purty.”
Jenna stood up behind E.J.’s back, her hands still bound together. He heard her take a soft breath and let it out. He gave her a little push and took another step toward Leon. “Don’t you want to count it?”
Leon stared at the cash in his hands. “Nah! It feels like a million to me.” He saw Jenna edging to the door and stood up, the cash falling all around him. “Whoa, there. Don’t you go getting any big ideas about leaving, little missy.” He groped around behind him for the gun.
“Run, Jenna!” E.J. yelled and dove at Leon. He landed one good punch, landing his right fist squarely on the side of Leon’s jaw. He turned his head to make sure she had gone out the door and Leon rebounded, catching him on his cheekbone, close to his eye.
E.J. fell back. He saw stars for a moment; his vision narrowing into a tunnel of darkness with Leon’s scowling face at the other end.
“Why, you little asshole. You thought you could take me? I’ll show you.” He turned, trying to find the gun buried under the cash on the sofa.
E.J. kicked out and caught his adversary under the chin, lifting him slightly, just as his fumbling fingers located the revolver. He scooped it up clumsily and swerved toward where E.J. stood.
E.J. dodged to the left and ran at Leon, like a tackle going for the quarterback. His shoulder landed in Leon’s soft belly and they were both on the floor grappling for the gun.
A shot rang out and Breck burst in the door, shotgun leveled at Leon’s chest. “Drop it!” he ordered.
E.J. drew back, checking to see if he’d been hit. The sound of the gunshot still rang in his ears, but the bullet had gone wild. His shoulder been grazed, but it was hardly more than a scratch. Pressing his fingers to the wound, he let out a shaky breath and climbed to his feet.
“I said, drop it.” Breck’s voice had nose-dived a whole octave lower. He glared at Leon with nothing less than menace.
Leon aimed the gun at E.J. “If I’m a-gonna die, I’m gonna take this asshole with me. His daddy owes me, and I aim to get it one way or another.”
E.J. swallowed and tried to look as tough as Breck. He hoped his frenzied heart beat wasn’t shaking his whole body. He stared down the barrel of the gun and let out a derisive snort, hoping to keep the man talking. “My daddy didn’t owe you a thing. I paid you off when I fired your worthless ass, and it was good riddance. Then I find out you’ve been ripping off my cattle.”
Leon emitted a short laugh, keeping the gun aimed at E.J.’s chest. “Eldon was in business with me. He started going down to the Rio Grande Valley and picking up a load of illegals in the cattle truck. He used that little hidden room to hide them from the border patrol. He’d give them his good ol’ boy spiel and they let him go right through. That was when he needed them to pick cotton. When he found out there were others who needed some hands, he kept making the trip a couple times a year. Then he had me make the run and I wised up and made the run a little more profitable.”
“What else?” Breck asked. “Drugs?”
“Yeah. Drugs and wetbacks. I started making the run every month.”
E.J. shook his head. “My dad would never have allowed you to traffic in drugs if he knew about it.”
“Your so-called daddy was mighty pissed off at me, at first. Then he just said he didn’t want to know about it, and I kept making the runs.”
“What do you mean, my so-called daddy?” E.J. widened his stance.
“You ain’t no kin of Eldon Kincaid and that’s a fact.” Leon struggled to his feet, keeping the gun trained on E.J. at all times. “Now I’m gonna take that money and this pretty boy with me and get out of here. You better not try to stop me, or I’ll kill the little bastard.” He turned to look at Breck. “Cause I got nothin’ to lose.”
“I can see that, Leon.” Breck kept the shotgun pointed at Leon.
It’s a standoff and I’m in the middle of it.
“Tell me one thing,” Breck said. “Why did you kill Nick Jessup?”
E.J. heard the sound of a helicopter approaching. Hooray! Reinforcements have arrived. Hope it’s not too late.
Leon eyed him with skepticism. “How did you figure that out? I hired the little piss-ant, thinking he could help as a relief driver, but when we was unloading the truck, one of them wetbacks started giving me trouble, so I shot him. That’s when Nick jumped in and I had to shoot him too.” He tilted his head to one side, grinning at E.J. slyly. “I didn’t know how to get rid of the bodies, so I called ol’ Eldon in prison. That about gave him a heart attack, but he said to hide the bodies up where he’d dumped some others a long time ago. Me an’ the boys hauled them up there to that cave. An’ while we was gone, that whole load of Meskins vamoosed. They pried the bars off a back window and climbed out. But I still had the drugs.”
Breck appeared unmoved. A twitch in his jaw was the only sign he wasn’t a statue. “And Nick’s wife? What did you hope to gain by trying to kill her too?”
“Hell, I wasn’t trying to kill her. Just scare her enough so she’d leave and go on home to wherever she come from. Nick swore he didn’t tell her nothin’, but I couldn’t be sure.” With that, Leon swung around, aiming his weapon at Breck who unloaded the shotgun into the man’s belly.
E.J. grabbed the gun from Leon’s hand and stepped away quickly as the man fell back onto the sofa, bloodying the cash.
Leon’s gaze traveled from Breck to E.J. in disbelief.
“I’m going to see if Jenna’s okay. She must be wondering what all the shooting is about.”
Breck nodded. “Tell the sheriff to come on in now and take his prisoner.”
E.J. went outside and quickly raised his hands when he was confronted by the sheriff, along with two shotgun-wielding deputies. “Breck wants you inside.”
The armed officers rushed inside with the sheriff bringing up the rear. “Good to see you in one piece, Kincaid.” The sheriff gave him a firm slap on the shoulder. Unfortunately, it was the one that was bleeding.
As E.J. walked toward Breck’s truck, he saw that the eastern sky was growing light.
Jenna climbed out of the truck and ran to him, her hands still bound together. “Oh, E.J., I was so scared.” She looped both arms around his neck and he lifted her off the ground.
“Yeah, me too.” A surge of joy filled his chest as he hugged her so tight he was afraid he might break her, yet he couldn’t seem to let go.
~*~
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Tears rolled down Jenna’s cheeks, even though she was grinning so wide she thought her face would break. She held on to E
.J.’s neck as tight as she could, her wrists still bound with clothesline. He must have been glad to see her too, because he had a good, double-armed grip on her and didn’t show any signs of releasing her any time soon.
“Oh, E.J. I was so frightened. I thought he would kill me for sure. I wasn’t certain I wanted you to come save me, because I was afraid he would just kill us both and disappear with the money.”
“Idiot…” he murmured into her hair. “I would never let anyone take you away from me. I happen to be in love with you, you know?” He set her gently on her feet and ducked out from under her bound wrists. He stood gazing down at her with a tender expression that caused her already pounding heart to flutter.
“I know,” she whispered. He turned toward the house, and she got a good look at him. His shirt was drenched in blood and he had a cut high on his cheekbone. “You’re hurt.”
“Nah, not so much.” He began to untie the clothesline around her wrists. She had worked at it, but couldn’t get free. “Let’s get you out of this rope.”
When he took a folding knife out of his pocket and sawed through the knot, the line fell away.
“Thanks.” She massaged her wrists, where they had been constricted.
E.J. put an arm around her and drew her toward the house. Her knees locked for a moment, dread stopping her in her tracks.
“Come inside with me,” he said. “Leon is wounded, but he was spewing some weird crap about my dad, and I may not get a chance to hear it later. “Please come with me.”
She heard the sound of a siren approaching and glanced behind her to see an ambulance bumping toward them on the rutted road. She nodded and tucked herself tight against E.J., slipping her arm around his waist. She hooked her thumb in his belt loop and reflected on how fast things could turn around. One minute, she thought she would die and a few minutes later, here she was, all safe and sound under E.J.’s protective wing. I guess he proved how much he loves me. She thought about all the money in the duffle bag. Maybe it’s not such a big deal when you have so much…but it’s something.