G-Force (Book 2): Forced Gravity

by Nye, Laine

  “We have to get out of here.” Brad suddenly said. He had awakened while she had her head down, crying.

  Her head shot up and she got up and went to him. She gave him a tender hug trying not to hurt his injured shoulder. “You can’t leave here Brad. You need to be in the hospital. Should we tell them that our son has been kidnapped or will that lead to further problems for us?”

  “I would want to involve the police if the circumstances were different. But I feel very strongly that it is up to us to get Brad back. We have to leave now.” Brad told her earnestly.

  It was dark outside. It was the best time for him to escape his room. Plus, the sooner, the better. “Brad, we can’t leave. There are police outside your door. They won’t let you leave and you are hurt.”

  Brad was silent for a time, thinking. “We will have-to go out the window then.”

  He started to sit up and immediately found out he was too weak and woozy to be doing that.

  “We’ll wait a little while and then we will go. Even if I am too weak, we have-to get out of here. Too many people saw me. Took pictures of me. You know that I will heal quickly from these gunshot wounds.”

  Charlene walked over to the window and looked at it.

  “This window is sealed. You can’t open it.”

  “I’ll throw that chair through it and we’ll jump out.” He said referring to the overstuffed chair in the corner of the room.

  Charlene reluctantly nodded her head.

  “Charlene, we don’t know where they took Steve, but we have to get him back somehow. We can’t go back to our house because we know the police will try to detain me if we go there. There is a dead body lying in our living room. We will get a motel room and start figuring this thing out about Steve. I will call my dad and get him involved. His intelligence background will help us a lot. We will have-to change our appearance. We don’t want to be stopped by the police while Steve is missing.

  After a time, Brad felt a little better. He changed his mind about both-of them leaving through the window. “Go to our banks honey. Withdraw all the money that you can. Then meet me under this window. Or near it. Drive onto the grass if you have-to. I will jump out the window, climb into the car with you and you can drive us out of here. Make sure you don’t park under the window, so the chair doesn’t hit our car.”

  “I already withdrew a total of eighty-thousand from three different banks this afternoon. I knew we would need it. They will probably freeze our accounts once we go missing. I kind of expected this.

  “Good-job hon. Good-job.”

  “I’m scared Brad.” Charlene announced.

  “So am I. But we are going to get our son back no matter what it takes.” He slowly started getting out of bed, so she helped him to stand. Then she helped him put his street clothes on. His shoulder was beginning to ache, and he had limited mobility on his left side as a-result of his double injury, but he pushed aside the pain and focused on what he had to do. The pain shouldn’t last much longer with his rapid healing. Charlene kissed him and left to get the car. She called him on his cell a few minutes later to tell him she was near his window five stories below.

  Brad stood to the side of the window and used his forced gravity to pick up the chair and started it moving at high speed toward the window. Just before it crashed into the window a nurse came in his room. Not seeing him in the bed she looked toward the window just as the chair went through shattering the glass and taking a portion of the window frame with it. The nurse was so startled that she screamed. The police officers jumped out of their chairs and ran into the room with guns drawn. They arrived just in time to see Brad jump through the window. They ran to the window ledge and looked out. They saw Brad drifting down to the ground at a much slower speed than someone who falls but rapidly enough to escape quickly. They looked on in astonishment before they turned and ran to the hallway and then the stairway while using their shoulder mic to call for back-up. The patient had escaped through a five-story high window and was uninjured from his fall.

  It wasn’t long after they made their escape that the police received reports out of Ogden Utah about circumstances that were very similar-to what they were dealing with. Brad Shaw had surfaced under the alias, Seth Collins. A manhunt was now beginning. There was a death associated with his history as well as multiple injuries of several people. The dead body at the Collins residence coupled with the death in Utah put him on the most wanted list. He was considered-to be extremely dangerous.

  Brad knew they were going to have to take steps to secure their names and whereabouts very quickly. They found an out of the way motel to stay in that night. While Brad rested, his wife went to a drug store to buy hair dye, scissors and some food. She also picked up glasses and baseball caps.

  She came back to the motel and cut her hair much shorter. Then she dyed her hair from blond to black. She shaved Brad’s hair down to about a quarter of an inch. She handed him glasses to wear to change the shape of his face. She bought sunglasses for herself.

  Brad called his father in the morning.

  “Hi Dad.”

  “Seems you’re in the news again, Brad.”

  “Yeah. There was nothing I could do to stop it. They kidnapped Steve.”

  “What? Who did?”

  “Jeff Rowley and his brother Dan. Some other guys too.”

  “How could they do that? Steve has more ability than you do.”

  “It appears they drugged him somehow. When I got home, there was a dead guy bouncing off the floor and walls. Blood all over. I had to stop his motion, then had to release gravity control that was keeping Charlene in a closet. Steve was already gone when I arrived.”

  “So, while Steve was out cold, he managed to keep g-force working.” Brad’s father Steve stated.

  “Yes. As strong as he is, they still got him. There were several of them.”

  “He was in that van I saw on T.V. floating in the air with you above it?”

  “I got that close to Steve, Dad. Then they shot me and got away.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fair.” Brad responded. Shoulder hurts. Can you come Dad? I really think I need your help on this one.”

  “I’ll be there. I will fly in, get a car and meet you. What’s the timeframe?”

  “The sooner you can get here the better. I sort of snuck out of the hospital where they had a police guard on me so I’m pretty sure I’m wanted by the police now. Also, I don’t want to wait any longer than necessary because I believe they are keeping Steve drugged up, so he can’t use his gravity control.”

  “That’s not good. Too many sedatives can cause problems.”

  “That’s what I am afraid of.”

  “How is Charlene holding up?”

  “She’s very distraught. But she has a lot of strength in her and she will stay strong until we get Steve back.”

  “Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. She’s got a lot of character, that one. I’m glad you found her.”

  “It’s more like she found me. And I’m glad she did.”

  “Okay son. I will make the arrangements to fly out. I’ll call you as soon as I know when I can be there.”

  “Thanks Dad.”

  Dad was gone. Already working on the arrangements.

  They found a car rental place and dropped their car off in an alley after they rented a car. They went to a phone store to buy high speed charging batteries for their phones and a couple of chargers as well. Their own chargers were at their home. They didn’t dare return there. If the police attempted to detain them it could make the difference whether Steve lived or not. Besides, Brad would not take the chance that his wife could get shot while he battled with the police.

  The news agencies married the floating van story to the one of the two people that were upside down in the Safeway store. More people believed there was something credible to these stories. Then the information out of Utah was discovered by the news people and they had Brad and Charlene’s names as
well as Brad’s alias. They were all too happy to rush that information out to the public.

  Meanwhile, Brad and Charlene were trying to pick any threads that might lead them to their son. They saw news footage of the front of their house where it showed investigators going in and out. The reporter said that Seth Collins, his wife, and son were now wanted for questioning for the violent death of a man who was found in the Collins residence.

  As they were feeling the tension ratcheting up from that, they got a phone call from Jeff still using their son’s phone.

  But they had hoped when they saw the familiar number that perhaps it was Steve.

  “Steve?” Brad asked with trepidation.

  “Steve?” Jeff retorted back in a mocking voice. “It’s me stupid. Getting shot rattle your brain?”

  “Are you going to bring our son back Jeff? Or is this going to turn deadly for you?”

  “It’s going to turn deadly for your son if you don’t shut up and listen to me.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I want you to suffer. I already told you that. When you get out of the hospital, I expect you to drive down to Napa. I will give you more instructions once you do that.”

  “Is my son okay?”

  “Yeah. He’s fine. Although he seems to be sleeping a lot.”

  “I was your friend Jeff. You decided to turn against me. All these years. All this hatred. Now you want to hurt my son to get at me. My wife doesn’t deserve this. She has never met you. My son never met you. Leave them alone and deal with me.”

  “My mother died of a heart-attack just years after you killed my father. Her doctor said that it was because of the strain she had been under since you killed my father. All of us suffered at your hands Brad. My sister is an alcoholic. All because of you.”

  “Your sister is an alcoholic because she drinks too much. I didn’t put one drink to Sherry’s mouth. Did you? Your mother’s doctor is a quack. No doctor can point to one specific event and say that it caused a heart-attack. Bad hearts cause heart-attacks. Bad cholesterol levels that clog the arteries cause heart-attacks. Substance abuse causes heart-attacks. Furthermore, millions of people lose their loved ones in a traumatic situation. It doesn’t kill them Jeff. It just makes their lives harder while they adjust. Stop blaming your family problems on me. It was one little date with your sister wherein she got hurt in an accident. All the rest of this garbage was brought upon me and upon yourselves-your family, by everyone attacking me. You are not the victim here Jeff. I was. Now you are doing it to me again. Hope I do not catch you again Jeff. I will send that van with you in it over a cliff.”

  “Wow. So dramatic. But I have you right where I want you. I will decide what happens. By the way, How’s your shoulder?”

  “Where’s my son?” Charlene screamed loud enough for Jeff to hear.

  “And that would be the missus.” Jeff said sarcastically. “We will talk some more when you arrive in Napa. Have a good day.”

  He hung up.

  “We have to calm down.” Brad told his wife while he put his hand on her leg. They were driving down the street when Jeff called. They continued-on. Looking for a place to eat breakfast. Charlene tried to call back to Steve’s phone over and over. But Jeff did not answer.

  “I’m just as upset as you are. But we have to calm down.” Brad added.

  She nodded. Did not speak.

  They found a little breakfast place. Brad parked the car at the side of the business rather than the front. Trying to be inconspicuous. They both went in and were seated immediately. Brad had his left arm in a sling that Charlene had bought for him at the drug store the night before. He was trying to protect his shoulder from re-injury while the rapid healing was happening.

  They ate breakfast and were getting ready to leave when Charlene told Brad she needed to use the restroom. He waited for her at the table for a little while then got up to go pay for their meal at the register. While he was standing there a police officer walked in. He was casually waiting for a place to sit down. The cash register sat on a long bar with several stools for those who didn’t want a table. Behind the bar where the cash register was, there was a T.V. At that very moment a picture of Brad was shown on the screen with a report that the police wanted Brad. The report went on to describe what had happened locally and the dead body at the Collins home and then expanded to the stories out of Utah. Brad froze.

  The officer had been looking at the television and finally looked at Brad.

  “Sir. Can I talk to you for a minute?” The officer said to Brad.

  “What about?” Brad asked in a mechanical voice.

  “I believe I just saw you on that T.V. and I need to verify your identity.”

  Charlene came out of the restroom and saw Brad with the cop. She gasped.

  Brad was reaching for his wallet very slowly, trying to buy some time to think about what to do. His heart was pounding, and he knew that he looked very afraid. No matter what Brad did to the officer, the police radio was a powerful tool that would summon an army of police down on Brad.

  It was at that moment that Brad realized that his hyper quick reflexes had been restored to him as well as his G-force. His hand shot out faster than the cop could react, grabbed his police radio and jerked it free from the uniform belt that held it. The cop looked shocked. He grabbed for his gun. The customers all started to panic. Brad jerked the radio back far enough that the shoulder mic came flying off. Then he knocked the gun away from the cop the second it cleared the holster with his lightning speed. The gun slid across the tile floor as the officer reached for his Taser. Brad lifted him off the floor and pushed him up tight against the ceiling face up. Brad kept him pinned there while still holding the radio. He motioned to Charlene and they both ran out the door after he threw a fifty-dollar bill on the counter.

  They were out the door in an instant. The cop was still pinned to the ceiling. Brad looked at his police car knowing there was another radio on board. He rolled the prowler upside down with his g-force, then picked it up as high as the eatery and dropped it on its roof. The roof crumpled flat. There would be no getting to the radio. Nor would they be able to be followed. But Brad knew it wouldn’t be long before a cell phone was used to call the police station and the search for Brad would be tightened up to the vicinity he was in. He was glad that he had parked on the side of the eatery.

  When they were pulling out onto the highway, they saw that the cop was down from the roof and was about to come through the door. Brad was never any good at using g-force beyond his vision. That’s why the cop was down already. Brad threw a heavy load of gravity control into the doorframe of the eatery to keep the cop locked up inside as-long as possible. As Brad sped down the highway at high speed so his license plate could not be read, three guys were at the restaurant door trying to force it open. Brad turned a corner onto a different street and the door was suddenly released. The three men stumbled out the door and two of them fell on the ground including the cop.

  Brad hoped he had not hurt the cop when he fell from the eight-foot height he had been at. It was not Brad’s intention to hurt him. He just wanted to get away. Find his son.

  They decided to take I-5 down to Fairfield then go from there to Napa. It was not a direct route. Brad called his dad back and told him they were heading to Napa on Jeff’s demand. His father changed up his flight just in time to keep from being committed to a flight into Sacramento. There was an airport outside of Napa that he would land at then meet up with his son.

  Brad and Charlene stopped in Fairfield, so Brad could get some rest. The pain he was having was wearing him down. So, a rest was in order. They parked in a church parking lot hoping to not be disturbed. Charlene sat in the car with Brad while he slept for two hours. When he awakened, they would continue-on their way to Napa. Before they got out of town, they stopped to get some lunch. And ran into yet another policeman.

  ∆∆∆

  Steve woke up. Much sooner this time. No one was ta
lking. He could tell that they were using something less potent on him than they had originally. He was glad for that. He gathered his wits about him looking for a way to attack these guys or at least to find an escape. This could not keep happening to him. He had to find a way to get away from them. The drugs they were giving him was hard on him. After about twenty minutes of being awake, he heard one of them speaking.

  “Jeff, he’s awake again.” Someone said.

  “Well give him some more before he does something crazy to all of us.” Another said.

  ∆∆∆

  As Brad and Charlene were walking out of a Burger King back to their car, a patrol suddenly pulled up right in front of them with his emergency lights flashing. Jumping out of his car, he pulled his gun pointing it at Brad.

  “Turn around and get down on your knees.” The cop said.

  Brad was getting tired of all this drama. His sarcastic side came out. He spun around. All the way around until he was facing the cop again.

  “You mean like this?”

  The officer looked surprised momentarily then his anger kicked in.

  “Face the opposite way and get on your knees.”

  This time Brad complied.

  “Put your hands behind your heads. Both of you.”

  “My hands behind her head?” Brad asked innocently.

  “Do it now.” He yelled. Stop smarting off.”

  Charlene looked at Brad questioningly while he painfully brought his arms up. His left arm started protesting vigorously but he did it anyway. However, there was already more mobility then he’d had a couple hours ago.

  “Nod to me when he puts his gun away.” Brad said quietly.

  Brad knew that the cop was approaching them and would holster his gun while pulling his handcuffs. He would lock one wrist in the cuffs and then pull his arms down behind Brad’s back to lock his wrists together.