"You have, have you?" Donna-Lou replied tersely in a low voice. She snorted, "I guess you're not as smart as I thought you were, Mr. Calhoun." With that said, Donna-Lou marched in a huff around to the driver's side.
Chet stood there, blinking, embarrassed and feeling a little foolish.
Donna-Lou got in the driver's side, setting the pistol on the seat beside her.
"You leave the minute you even suspect trouble," Rory told her and then he closed the car door. There was a clunking sound as Donna-Lou locked the doors.
Rory took a look in both directions down the street, making extra sure there was no police car or any other suspicious vehicle in sight. So far so good. He walked around the front of the Jaguar to Chet, "Okay, let's go check the yard and the house. Keep your eyes and ears open."
Chet took a deep breath and nodded, following behind as they headed for the house.
Rory moved to the left of the house while he indicated he wanted Chet to check out the right side. Moving slow, Rory held his Baby Eagle in both hands as he swept it back and forth, peering into the darkness of the yard. He reached up and checked the first window. Locked. He moved further down to a smaller window and found it locked as well. Skirting some bushes, Rory moved carefully to the next window. He reached up and checked. Locked. Reaching the corner of the house, Rory peered around into the dark backyard. He spotted movement on the far side of the house. Dropping to a knee, he brought the Baby Eagle up and then realized it was Chet.
Chet was moving low in the dark, his Glock held in both hands. He swung around to his left when he detected movement.
"It's me," Rory whispered.
There was a visible drop of relief in Chet's shoulders and he nodded.
Rory moved out from his position, gesturing towards the back door as he knelt and kept his gun trained on the darkness around them.
Chet tip-toed to the back door, reached out and turned the doorknob. He looked back over his shoulder and whispered, "Locked,"
Rory nodded and indicated for Chet to move back around the right side of the house. Rory kept his eyes trained on the darkness behind them as they moved back to the front of the house. Standing at the bottom of the front porch, Rory indicated for Chet to go check the front door while he kept alert for movement in the surrounding darkness.
Chet walked softly onto the porch, reached out and checked the door. He quietly and quickly moved back to Rory. "Locked," he whispered.
"Okay," Rory whispered, "You stay here and keep your eyes open. I'll go get the others."
Chet tiptoed back up on the porch, holding his Glock 19 in two hands as he kept an eye on the darkness around him.
Rory went back to the sidewalk beside the Jaguar. He looked up and down the street in both directions again - he brought his weapon up when he caught movement down the street. Every muscle was tense, ready for battle. But after a few moments, everything stayed quiet, the only sound his own breathing as he watched, listened and waited. Rory slowly let his breath out and he lowered his weapon. Finally, he tapped lightly on the vehicle and motioned for Donna-Lou to bring the kids.
Donna-Lou looked back over the seat and called to the kids. They had fallen into a slumber and she had to reach back and shake them both. Then she grabbed her pistol, jumped out and ran around to the passenger side back door. She looked at Rory and whispered, "Did you see something? It looked like you did...."
Rory shook his head, "Probably just a cat."
Donna-Lou licked her lips, nodded and then opened the back door, urging the two sleepy heads to get moving.
The two kids slid across the seat, grumbling and got out.
Rory stood on the sidewalk, his head on a swivel as Donna-Lou got the kids moving towards the house. Then he followed, constantly keeping an eye peeled for any sign of an attack.
Donna-Lou fished her key from a pocket and unlocked her front door.
"Let us go in first," Rory whispered.
Nodding, Donna-Lou stepped aside, standing with the kids, holding her Glock low in both hands.
Rory moved quietly ahead, slipping inside the house, followed closely by Chet. Rory gestured for Chet to check the living room on the right while he slipped into the kitchen.
Donna-Lou and the kids stepped inside behind them, closed the door and waited.
Meeting Chet back at the front entrance, Rory whispered to him, "I'll check upstairs while you check the sitting room and the closets down here. Come up to the top of the stairs when you're finished."
"Okay."
Keeping close to the wall, Rory crept slowly up the stairs. The stairs squeaked softly despite his best efforts to tread lightly. Once at the top of the stairs, he moved from room to room, checking the closets and under the beds, clearing each. Last was Corry's treasure room. He opened the door carefully and slipped inside. It was empty and quiet in here as well. Moving back to the stairs, he found Chet just coming up.
"Everything is clear downstairs," Chet said.
"Only one other place," Rory said as he holstered his weapon. He walked over, jumped up and pulled the attic stairs down.
Chet kept watch as Rory climbed the stairs into the attic.
Rory cleared the attic quickly, checking behind all the boxes and every possible hiding spot. He went back to the top of the attic stairs and called down to Chet, "Okay, everything looks good. I'll get the stuff from the trunk. Send Donna-Lou and the kids up and then you get what we need out of the car."
"Okay." Chet headed back down the stairs.
Chapter 29
AS CHET REACHED the bottom of the stairs, he found the kids leaning against each other and the wall beside the door, eyes closed. When they heard his footsteps, they opened their eyes, wondering what was going on. Donna-Lou stepped out from the kitchen area, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Everything is fine. Rory says to go on up and help him gather everything we need."
Donna-Lou nodded in return but still looked nervous and concerned, despite his assurance, "Okay."
Chet held his hand out, "While you do that, I'll need your house key and the car keys."
Pulling them from her pocket, Donna-Lou passed the keys over to Chet, "What are you going to do? You're not going out there again, are you?"
"Yeah. Rory wants me to bring in the oilskin. It's in the Jaguar's trunk." Chet turned and placed his hand on the front doorknob.
"Chet?"
He turned back, "Yes?"
Donna-Lou took a step forward, looking into Chet's brown eyes, "You be careful out there, okay?"
Chet gave her a sheepish smile and nodded. He turned back to the door and opened it, "Lock the door behind me."
"Chet?"
He turned back again, one foot out the door.
"You don't still have a thing for Josie McDaniel, do you? I mean...she's divorced and you're single and...."
Chet had a surprised look on his face, "Uh...no...."
A small smile played on Donna-Lou's lips, "Okay, so we just have more work to do." She gave him a gentle push with both hands to get going.
Emma looked at Corry, "That's what mama always says, we always gotta work on our men."
Corry rolled his eyes.
Chet had a confused look on his face as he slowly closed the door.
With the door locked again, Donna-Lou slipped the Glock 19 into the waistband of her jeans at the back. She walked over to the telephone by the stairs and quickly dialed a number.
"Who you calling?" Corry asked.
"Emma's mother. The police said they couldn't get hold of her from Mississippi. They were supposed to let her know and she would call us but –" She got a voice message and cursed under her breath as she listened. Then she left a message of her own, "Charlene, it's Donna-Lou Haney. We have Emma with us. She's fine. Call us as soon as you can." She hung up, "For some reason, your mother went to Mississippi to get you. I guess you'll have to stay with us–"
"All right!' Emma said as she gave a fist pump.
Donna-Lou had
to smile and shake her head, "Okay. Let's go upstairs kids."
RORY WAS JUST COMING back down the attic ladder as Donna-Lou and the kids reached the second-floor hallway. "Corry," he said, "we need to through everything about finding the treasure before we leave here and head up to Cherokee Ridge. Can you to set up things in your room back there and fill us in?"
Corry nodded eagerly and ran to his treasure room, followed closely by Emma.
Rory handed the folded Confederate flag, the stag hat and the Confederate uniform to Donna-Lou, "I just have to get the gun and I'll join you."
Donna-Lou took the items and followed the kids into Corry's treasure room as Rory hustled back up into the attic.
Rory retrieved the gun, climbed back down to the hallway, then pushed the attic ladder back up into the ceiling. He listened for Chet but didn't hear anything. He moved to the top of the stairs and listened. It was quiet. He stepped to the left and walked down the short hallway to the second story window overlooking the front yard. He saw the trunk of the Jaguar up and someone bent over, looking inside. "C'mon Chet," he whispered to himself. Turning, he walked back to Corry's treasure room.
"The slicker thing is gone," Corry said excitedly as soon as Rory stepped into the room. He pointed at the whiteboard, "It was on there–"
"Somebody broke in to get it after you were taken but we got it back. Remember? We told you that in the car on the way back."
"Oh, yeah."
"Chet has gone out to the Jaguar to get it."
Corry looked at his mother, a concerned look on his face, "I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have brought it home."
"You didn't know what would happen. And I wasn't here when they came in," reassured his mother. Then she pointed to the items she had just set on a small table, the folded Confederate flag, the stag hat and the Confederate uniform, "And they didn't get all that stuff."
"Or this," Rory said as he handed her the gun case.
Corry looked relieved for a brief moment and then he turned quickly and went to the large whiteboard in the center of the room, "But they took the photocopies of the signs we need to–"
"Do you have other copies?" his mother asked as she set the gun case on the table.
"Uh, yeah...maybe...I...I think so," said Corry. He headed to the desk at the back of the room. Emma joined him to help look. Corry shuffled through some papers until he finally held two up, "Here they are." He handed them to Emma, "You hold those and I'll take the map." Corry reached down to a long, rolled up paper leaning against the side of the desk and put it under his arm. He took a couple of hand spring-clamps from a drawer and then led Emma back to the whiteboard. Unrolling one end of the long paper, Corry clamped it against the right side of the whiteboard with one of the spring-clamps.
Rory went over and helped Corry unroll the paper across the whiteboard.
Donna-Lou moved closer, "What is that?"
"It's a topographical map all around Cherokee Ridge," Corry said. "We learned about these in school last year and the teacher sent away for this for me." He clamped the other side of the map at the top and bottom so it wouldn't curl up. "Now we just need the slicker and we put it over top of this."
Rory nodded, "I'll go see what's keeping Chet. He should have been back up here by now."
Donna-Lou nodded, then listened as her son explained the topographical map to Emma. After a few moments, she began to worry about Chet herself. She left the kids behind and headed for the window overlooking the front yard.
RORY OPENED THE FRONT door and stepped out onto the porch. He could see the dark outline of Chet standing by the side of the Jaguar. He walked across the porch to the edge of the top step and called softly, "Chet? Everything okay?"
Chet stayed silent. Then his form seemed to grow taller.
Rory cocked his head. It looked like Chet had two heads. He looked down to the top step–
"Crack!
The bullet hit Rory square on the heart. His body slowly fell backward and bounced once on the old boards before coming to rest on the wrap-around porch.
Chapter 30
TROOPER BUCK WALKER HARRISON kept his hand firmly over Chet's mouth, "See what happens when folks don't listen? I told that man to leave. Now he'll be doing it in a pine box."
Chet twisted his head, trying to get the big man's hand off his mouth.
Harrison put the still smoking Glock against Chet's temple, "Now why don't you tell me who else is in the house? And keep in mind, if you make any attempt to warn anyone, I'll kill you and then everyone else in the house. Of course, if that sweet Donna-Lou Haney is in there, I'll have a little bit of fun with her first. Know what I mean?" A moment later, he took his hand off Chet's mouth, Now who's in there–?"
"You touch Donna-Lou and I'll–" Chet winced as Harrison pressed the end of the gun barrel hard into his temple.
"You'll do what?" Harrison asked smugly. "You always were a little piece of–"
A light flashed in the window on the second floor, catching Harrison's attention.
Chet looked up as well and fear registered on his face. Flames were climbing the drapes on the second-floor window.
"Are you people crazy?" Harrison hissed. "That house is a tinderbox and we'll lose anything of value in there–"
Chet struggled to free himself.
Harrison smashed the Glock against the back of Calhoun's head.
Chet's world exploded in a mass of stars and pain as he fell to his knees. He clutched the back of his head and groaned, his eyes squeezed shut. A moment later, he looked towards the old house and his heart skipped a beat.
Buck was running for the porch, the weapon in his hand swinging back and forth.
Chet desperately bought a foot up, wanting to give chase but his legs betrayed him. They were jello and his hands clutched desperately for something to hold onto as he fell face down, landing hard on the sidewalk.
Harrison ran up the two steps to the porch, leaped over Rory Mack Steele's body and barged into the old house.
As soon as the trooper disappeared inside, Donna-Lou appeared at the side of the house, running ran low in the darkness, the Glock 19 in her right hand. She carried the Confederate flag, folded around the gun case in her left hand.
Closely behind her came Emma and Corry. Emma carried the stag hat and the Confederate uniform, while Corry had the topographical map along with his photocopies. They all ran for the Jaguar, with Donna-Lou dropping to her knees beside Chet, laying the flag and gun case down, "Chet, Chet! Are you okay? Speak to me. Chet?"
Chet rubbed the side of his head as he rolled over on the sidewalk, "Yeah...yeah... I think I'm okay–"
Donna-Lou kissed him squarely on the lips, "Thank God, I saw someone with you and I heard a shot...."
Blinking for a moment at the kiss, Chet then said, "Uh, yeah. It was Buck Harrison–"
"Buck Harrison! Is he part of the KGC too?"
"Yeah...looks like it...."
"Where's Rory?" asked a very worried Emma.
Chet's head snapped up and he looked at the house. "Oh, no!"
Whirling around on her knees, Donna-Lou brought the gun up, looking for a target, "What's wrong, Chet? Who is it?"
Chet pointed a shaky hand to the house, "No, no. It's Rory. Buck shot him when he came out of the house. I think...he's dead."
Donna-Lou put a hand to her mouth as she looked at the house. Flames were leaping out of the second-floor window now and a body could be seen on the porch in the flickering light. She got to her feet, running for the porch.
Corry and Emma dropped everything and ran for the porch as well.
Chet tried to rise, moaned as he put a hand to his head and collapsed, hitting his head on the side of the Jaguar.
Donna-Lou bounded up onto the porch and dropped to her knees beside Rory.
Corry and Emma jumped onto the porch, crying as they got on either side of the body.
"Rory, Rory," Emma cried as she shook his shoulder.
Donna-Lou lay the Glock d
own beside her knee and placed her hands on Rory's head, searching for an injury. Then she slid her hands to his chest, feeling for a bullet wound.
Rory's head snapped up, "What–?"
Startled, Donna-Lou pulled back, "Chet said Buck Harrison shot you! Where are you hit?"
Rory coughed as his hands went to his chest. His fingers fumbled for a moment and then held up a flat metal object.
"Is that a bullet?" Corry said in amazement.
Rory's voice was hoarse as he nodded, "Yeah, I'm still wearing my bulletproof vest the government guys gave us."
Tears of relief flowed from Donna-Lou's eyes.
Corry tugged urgently at his mother sleeve, "Mom, mom. Look!"
Donna-Lou grabbed the Glock as she looked at her son and then realized what he was pointing at. Through the crack of the still open door, they could see flames engulfing the main floor of their house. Donna-Lou spoke urgently as she slipped the Glock into the back of her jeans, "We have to get out of here, Rory. Help me get him up, kids."
Rory grunted in pain as he struggled to get to his feet with their help. But his body was still weak from the force of the gunshot and he fell over with his first step, taking everyone down with him, the old porch boards rattling and groaning under the force.
Donna-Lou, Corry, and Emma scrambled back to their feet, all three of them nervously eying the open door and the flames beyond as they worked to get Rory back up.
Rory shakily got to his feet again, his legs rubbery as they helped him down the stairs. "Where's the guy who shot me?" he asked, his voice raspy.
"He ran into the house," Donna-Lou said as she and the kids helped Rory move away from the burning structure.
Glancing back, Rory looked at the dancing flames as the fire intensified, "What the hell happened?"
"That was me," Donna-Lou said. "I looked out the window and saw someone had hold of Chet. Then I heard a gunshot. I figured it was the KGC after us again and I panicked. I didn't know what to do so started a fire to distract them. Stupid, I guess...."
Knights of the Golden Circle Page 16