Here and Gone

by Haylen Beck

  ‘Don’t let him move them,’ Whiteside said, too fast, too hard. He took a breath. ‘It’s just the FBI are running this show. There’s this woman Mitchell.’

  ‘Is that the black lady I saw on TV?’

  ‘Yeah, that’s her. She’s a real hard-ass, needs to be in charge all the time. You know the type. She’ll want to organize a team to go up there. If she finds out I let you go past her on this, she’ll tear me a new one. Best to just let her handle it.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ McCall said. ‘Like I said, John Tandy’s a survivalist, and his cabin’s full of guns from floor to ceiling. He sees feds rolling up, he’s liable to come out shooting.’

  ‘Tell you what,’ Whiteside said, ‘why don’t I tell Mitchell and her team to stop by your office on the way, take you with them. That way you can smooth things over with this Tandy fella.’

  Silence as McCall thought it over for a moment.

  ‘Well, I guess that’d be all right,’ he said. ‘Like I told you, it’s more than likely it’ll be a waste of everybody’s time. We’ll get out there and old John Tandy’ll say those kids just left ten minutes ago. But if that’s the way you want to do it. You got a number I can reach her on?’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll pass it on,’ Whiteside said. ‘Save you the trouble. You got some GPS coordinates for this place?’

  ‘Yeah, you got a pen to hand?’

  ‘Sure do. Go ahead.’

  Whiteside scribbled the numbers on the back of his hand, thanked McCall, and hung up. Then he steadied himself against the wall as a torrent of giggles rose in him. He laughed so long and so hard that his knees weakened and his head went light. When he thought he could stand it no longer, he slapped himself hard across the cheek, once, twice, three times. Clarity came back in a brutal wave.

  He straightened and said, ‘All right. You know what to do.’

  Collins’ body no longer mattered. They would find her soon enough, no matter what he did with her. There was a more urgent task that needed tending to.

  Whiteside left the house through the front door and went to the passenger side of his cruiser. Inside, he opened the glove compartment, reached up, and found the phone. He waited while it powered up, then opened the web browser. Within a minute, he had logged in to the forum.

  One new direct message:

  From: RedHelper

  Subject: Re: Items for sale

  Message:

  Dear AZMan,

  Exchange will take place today at 4:00 p.m. at the aforementioned location. Once exchange has taken place, monies will be deposited to your nominated account. Please confirm.

  Once again, I remind you of the importance of discretion. Security is our paramount concern.

  Best wishes,

  RedHelper

  Whiteside hit reply:

  To: RedHelper

  Subject: Re: Items for sale

  Message:

  Dear RedHelper,

  I confirm exchange today at 4:00 p.m. as discussed.

  Regards,

  AZMan

  Whiteside sent the message, powered off the phone, then secured it beneath the dash once more. He went back to the house, fetched his bag, then returned to the car. A few minutes later, he had the coordinates McCall had given him programmed into the GPS on his main phone and was steering the cruiser out of his yard.

  One hour fifty-four minutes, the route calculator said.

  Less than two hours, and he’d have them back.

  A few hours after that and he’d be heading south to the border, three million dollars richer.

  50

  Private Forum 447356/34

  Admin: RR; Members: DG, AD, FC, MR, JS

  Thread Title: This Weekend; Thread Starter: RR

  From: RR, Saturday 10:57 a.m.

  Gentlemen, it’s a go. Seller has confirmed handover of the goods for this afternoon, which my assistant will take care of. My driver will pick up at the airport in two groups, at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. respectively.

  And don’t forget, we also have three more imported items, so plenty to go around.

  Looking forward to seeing you all, my friends, and to a lovely evening.

  From: DG, Saturday 11:05 a.m.

  Leaving for the airport now, hope to get some sleep on the flight. I’m looking forward to seeing you all, but even more than that, I’m eager to meet the goods.

  From: FC, Saturday 11:13 a.m.

  Likewise. See you all soon.

  From: MR, Saturday 11:14 a.m.

  On my way. It’s going to be a wonderful evening.

  From: AD, Saturday 11:20 a.m.

  I’m so glad it’s all worked out. See you all there!

  From: JS, Saturday 11:27 a.m.

  Excellent. And thank you once again, everyone, for allowing me to join this group. I can’t tell you how good it is to find like-minded people. So many times I’ve felt isolated and alone with this thing inside me, but not anymore.

  And RR – thank you for procuring these goods. We’ve all seen the photos on the news, and you were quite right, they are beautiful.

  51

  DANNY STOPPED AND leaned his hand against a tree, his chest heaving. He pulled his phone from his pocket, checked the compass. As far as he could tell, they’d followed the direction they thought the children had taken in more or less a straight line. He was no Boy Scout, didn’t know the first thing about tracking, but it seemed they’d given it a good shot. They’d found nothing, but they’d tried.

  ‘We should go back now,’ he said, knowing she would argue.

  ‘No,’ Audra said. ‘They’re children. They can’t have gone that far. We can’t give up.’

  ‘It’s not a question of how far they got,’ he said. He pushed off from the tree, came face to face with her. ‘They have no way to navigate. They could have veered off in any direction. Besides, it’s not giving up. We go back the way we came, find the road, try to get to a town. Then we can get hold of Mitchell, tell her what’s happened, and they can organize a search party. They’ll have search planes, dogs, all of that. They know how to look for someone out here. We don’t.’

  Her eyes brimmed, and she wiped the back of her hand across them. ‘But we’re so close. They’re here, I know it.’

  Danny took her in his arms. ‘The further we go, the more time we lose. We can’t just keep wandering out here. For all we know, somebody might have found them already. We need to find a town, or get to somewhere with a cell signal, then we need to call Mitchell.’

  ‘Another hour,’ she said. ‘Thirty minutes.’

  ‘No, Audra, we have to—’

  Her eyes widened, and she clamped her hand over his mouth.

  ‘Listen,’ she said.

  He did so, heard nothing. Taking her hand away from his mouth, he inhaled, ready to protest, but she sealed his lips with her palm once more.

  ‘Listen.’

  Now he heard. A rumble in the near distance. Metallic rattles. The sound of an engine rising and falling with the gears.

  ‘This way,’ Audra said. ‘Run.’

  She took off through the trees, and Danny followed. Though his lungs, legs, and lower back ached, he kept pace with her, just a few yards behind. Up ahead he saw the thinning of the trees, a change in the light. A road or a trail there. The engine noise swelling.

  The track – that was all it was, he could see now – rose from right to left, climbing higher into the forest. Down the slope, Danny caught a glimpse of white. A car climbing as its engine revved hard.

  ‘Come on,’ Audra called, breathless, nearing the treeline.

  The car came closer, and Danny saw the gold insignia, the dark-blue lettering. The blue and red lights on top.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Get down.’

  If Audra heard, she didn’t let it show. She kept her arms churning, her feet hammering on the ground. Danny dug deep and found a shred of extra speed. He cried out at the effort, reached for the back of her shirt, grabbed the tail with his fingers. She wen
t down on her knees, and he landed hard beside her.

  ‘What are you—’

  ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Look.’

  The car passed in front of them, the lettering clear: ELDER COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT. The driver with the big hands and bigger shoulders.

  ‘Whiteside,’ Audra said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Danny said between gulps of breath.

  ‘Why is he here?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Danny said. ‘But it’s no coincidence.’

  ‘We have to go after him.’

  ‘Yeah, but keep to the trees. Let’s go.’

  They followed the trail, keeping it to the right, even as the engine noise faded into the distance. They maintained a steady jog until they heard gunfire.

  Then they ran.

  52

  SEAN SAT OPPOSITE the old man, his hands on the table. Tiredness dragged at his eyelids, filled his head with cotton. Louise lay on a couch covered in animal furs, sound asleep, little snorts and wheezes coming from her. Occasionally she gave hard coughs that rattled in her chest.

  The walls of the cabin were lined with guns suspended from hooks. Rifles, shotguns, pistols, a couple of bows, quivers of arrows, even a crossbow. Sean couldn’t count how many. The old man had said his name was John Tandy. He had made the call using a radio hooked up to a car battery. The place had a low smell, as if the air hadn’t moved in years.

  ‘You doing all right, kid?’ Tandy asked. He scratched his stubbled cheek. ‘You want a smoke?’

  ‘No thank you, sir,’ Sean said.

  ‘You want a drink?’

  Sean hadn’t realized until that moment how thirsty he was. The idea of some water, maybe even a soda, made him move his tongue around his teeth. ‘Yes, please,’ he said.

  Tandy rose from the table, went to a box by the fireplace, and fetched two glass bottles. He brought them back to the table, popped the caps of both on the edge, then set one in front of Sean.

  Beer, Sean realized.

  ‘Sorry it ain’t cold,’ Tandy said. ‘Ain’t got no fridge. I’d fix you something to eat, but Sheriff McCall should be here any minute. Do me a favor when he gets here, though, would you?’

  ‘What?’ Sean asked.

  ‘Don’t tell him I had a fire going. Ain’t supposed to, on account of how dry it is up here. Might burn the whole damn forest down.’

  ‘I won’t tell.’

  Tandy winked. ‘Good boy.’

  Sean looked at the bottle. Tandy fetched a tobacco pouch from his pocket, pulled a pack of papers from it, and proceeded to roll himself a cigarette.

  ‘Drink up,’ he said. ‘Do you good.’

  Sean reached for the bottle, put it to his lips, took a small mouthful. He tried not to grimace, but he couldn’t help it.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Tandy asked, lighting his cigarette. ‘They don’t got beer where you come from?’

  ‘Not for kids,’ Sean said.

  Tandy let out a single bark of a laugh along with a billow of smoke. ‘My daddy gave me my first beer when I was five, and my first cigarette when I was six. Momma never thanked him for it, mind, but I didn’t complain.’

  Sean took another swallow. This one wasn’t so bad.

  ‘Do you live alone?’ he asked.

  ‘Yep,’ Tandy said. ‘Ever since Momma died. That was, oh, twenty years ago now. She’s buried out in the yard with my daddy. Your folks still around?’

  ‘Yes. But they got separated. We live with our mom.’

  ‘You get on with your daddy okay?’

  Sean shook his head. ‘He doesn’t really care about us.’

  ‘Sounds about right,’ Tandy said, taking another drag. ‘See, men, for the most part – except for you and me – are generally assholes. That’s why I keep myself to myself.’

  Sean looked around the room once more. ‘You like guns.’

  ‘I guess you could say that. And I intend to keep them till the day I die. Any government man comes round here looking to take them, well, he’s going to have a fight on his hands.’

  Sean took another swig of beer, not minding the taste at all now. ‘Government man?’

  ‘The feds,’ Tandy said. He leaned across the table, spoke in an angry whisper. ‘They’re everywhere, those bastards. Always watching me. They think I don’t know it, but I do. Any one of them shows his face, he’ll get two barrels of buckshot up his ass, let me tell you.’

  Sean giggled, though he wasn’t sure why he found it funny.

  ‘Look down there,’ Tandy said, pointing to the floor.

  Sean saw the trapdoor there, and he didn’t want to laugh anymore.

  ‘My daddy dug that out with his bare hands, lined it with concrete, back when they thought the bomb was going to fall any day. I still keep it supplied. Enough tinned food to last me a couple years at least. The feds come around here, they’ll get shot to hell, then I’ll hole up in there. The government man won’t get John Tandy, no way, no how.’

  Outside, Constance growled.

  Tandy turned in his seat to look out the window.

  Constance’s growl turned to a steady bark.

  ‘Sounds like Sheriff McCall finally decided to show hisself,’ Tandy said.

  He got up from the table, went to the door, and opened it. Sean heard the engine now, rumbling as it climbed the track up to the clearing. He went to Tandy’s side to see it approach. The white cruiser emerged from the shadows of the trees.

  ‘Wait now,’ Tandy said. ‘That ain’t McCall.’

  Sean’s stomach went cold. The cruiser slowed to a halt, the engine running. Sean peered at the windshield, but he couldn’t make out the driver. Tandy didn’t look away from the car as he spoke.

  ‘Son, reach over there and fetch me that rifle, there’s a good boy.’

  Sean went to the corner, lifted the gun, felt the weight of it. An assault rifle, he thought, like the kind he’d seen in movies. He brought it back. Tandy took it from him and held it loose by his side. Sean slipped behind him, peeked around to see the cruiser.

  ‘Step on out of the car,’ Tandy called. ‘Let me get a look at you.’

  A few moments passed before the driver’s door opened. Constance sprang forward, hysterical barks ripping from deep inside her.

  ‘Constance, wait,’ Tandy said.

  The dog froze, growling.

  Sheriff Whiteside climbed out, and Sean’s bladder suddenly cried for release.

  ‘No,’ he said.

  Tandy glanced back and asked, ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Not him,’ Sean said. ‘Don’t let him take us.’

  Tandy raised the rifle, aimed it at Whiteside’s chest.

  ‘Just hold it there, friend,’ he said. ‘I radioed Sheriff McCall, and you ain’t him. State your business.’

  ‘I’m Sheriff Ronald Whiteside from Silver Water, Elder County. You may have seen it on the news. Those children have been missing for four days now, and I’m here to take them back to their mother. Maybe you could do me a favor and call off your dog.’

  ‘I ain’t got no television set, so I don’t much keep up with the news. Either way, the boy here tells me he doesn’t want to go with you. So I guess you wasted a trip. Best just turn around now and head back where you came from.’

  Whiteside kept the car door between him and Tandy. ‘Afraid I can’t do that. These children belong with their mother, and I promised her I would bring them back safe and sound. Now, let’s not have any trouble.’

  Tandy smiled and said, ‘Well, friend, trouble’s what you’ve got. Seeing as you ain’t shaved in a couple days, and you got blood on your shirt, I’d say you’re up to no good. Now, you got about ten seconds to get back in your vehicle and drive away before I tell Constance to go for your throat.’

  The old man glanced back at Sean and spoke in a low voice. ‘Take your sister down into the cellar, bolt the door behind you.’

  Sean looked at the trapdoor. ‘No,’ he said.

  ‘Do it right now, boy. Go!’


  Sean ran to the couch, where Louise had stirred. She rubbed her eyes and asked, ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘We have to hide,’ he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her from the couch. He dragged her over to the trapdoor, let go of her hand, and took hold of the handle. The door hardly budged, no matter how hard he pulled. ‘Help me,’ he said.

  Louise wrapped her hands around his, and they both hauled at the door. Now it lifted, and Sean held it long enough to see the ladder inside.

  ‘Get down there,’ he said.

  ‘No,’ Louise said.

  ‘Just do it.’

  She mounted the top rung of the ladder and descended, her arms and legs shaking. Once she’d cleared the bottom rung, he lowered himself in, struggling to hold the door open with his shoulder while he descended. He heard Tandy say something, some final warning, before the door sealed shut. Sean felt around in the dark for the bolt, found it, slid it home.

  He dropped down the last few feet as the first shots rang out overhead.

  53

  WHITESIDE DREW HIS service pistol, a Glock 19. He held it behind the door, out of the old man’s sight. He didn’t doubt that Tandy would plug him with the AR-15 before he could aim, let alone fire.

  ‘Tell you what,’ Whiteside said. ‘Why don’t you lower the rifle and go radio Sheriff McCall. He’ll tell you he called me and told me to come up here.’

  ‘I don’t think I will,’ Tandy said. ‘I don’t know if you’re keeping count, but those ten seconds are up, and then some. I’ll give you just one more chance to be on your way. You going to take it?’

  Whiteside readied himself. ‘I guess not,’ he said.

  ‘Well, then.’ Tandy nodded and spat on his porch. ‘Constance, go get him.’

  The dog launched forward as if its hind legs were coiled springs. Whiteside ducked inside the car, pulled the door over, but his left foot trailed behind. The dog seized the heel of his boot, mostly grabbing the rubber sole, but a few of its teeth pierced the leather. Whiteside howled as he tried to pull his foot away, but the dog growled and shook its head from side to side, refusing to give up its prize.