by E. E. Borton
“Why do you say it like that?” asked JD.
“Nothing is done for free anymore,” said Tom. “They’ve become the new 911, but you’ll be expected to pay for it.”
“I figured as much,” I said. “We have no problem paying for what we need with food and supplies. If we don’t get help soon, it won’t matter what we have. We’ll lose everything.”
“You make it sound like we gotta make a deal with the devil,” said JD, trying to speed up the process of determining their loyalty.
“I don’t know if he’s the devil,” said Tom, “but I do know he’s no angel. I’d prefer to take care of things myself. So would most of the people in this town. We’ll get there eventually. We don’t like owing anybody anything.”
“I hear ya,” said JD. “We’re the same way. Wish you folks were a little bit closer to us. I believe we could help each other without needing the militia.”
“I don’t think they’d be too keen about that,” said Tom. “Their leader, General Castle, has an agenda. He’s looking to bring in other towns under his umbrella of protection. That way, more folks have to pay for it. He’s not big on independence, if you catch my drift.”
“So you’re telling me he may eventually give us protection whether we want it or not?” I asked.
“I’ve already said too much,” said Tom, shifting in his seat. “I don’t want to discourage you from asking for help if you really need it. I guess I’m just trying to make you ask yourselves the right questions.”
“What questions are those?” asked JD.
“Do you really need it, and what are you willing to sacrifice to get it.”
It was becoming more obvious to us on which side of the fence they stood. They looked at the militia as a necessary evil. I believed if we offered them a different option for the leadership position, they would help us make it happen. It was becoming more obvious, but I still wasn’t convinced. It was easier for JD when Angie stood and went into the kitchen. She came back out a few moments later with a stack of plates in one hand and the rest of the cake in the other.
“My kids will be up all night if they get ahold of this,” said Angie, setting it down on the coffee table. “I say we put a bigger dent in it before they eat the whole thing.”
“Ma’am,” said JD, “we’ve caused you enough problems. I can’t take your food too.”
“This isn’t food,” said Angie. “It’s dessert. Besides, you’ll be doing me a favor.”
“Well,” said JD, sitting up in his chair and rubbing his hands together. “Since you put it like that.”
“You’re an oak,” I said, grinning.
“Not today,” said JD, accepting a plate.
“Henry,” said Angie, “would you like a piece?”
“A small one,” I said. “I do have to try it after seeing JD’s reaction.”
It was fantastic. It melted in my mouth after a sugary explosion. I couldn’t help but smile after I took a bite. Before I could swallow and attempt to refuse a bigger slice, Angie had it on my plate. JD offered no resistance.
We changed the tone of our conversations. It didn’t seem fitting talking about something bad while eating something so good. JD spoke about his mother’s best dishes and how much he looked forward to getting back for one of her home-cooked meals. I spoke about Aunt Donna and my cousins and how much they loved living in Stevenson. Tom and Angie talked about their children. That’s when I realized I hadn’t seen or heard them since they went upstairs.
The cake turned in my stomach when I looked over into the corner of the room where JD and I set down our rifles. They were gone. Tom knew what I was looking for. When I turned to face him, a gun was pointed at me.
JD didn’t realize what was happening until I put my fork down and he looked up from his plate. Angie had pulled another gun from the space between the cushions on the couch. JD and I both turned our heads when we heard a creak on the stairs. Bear, their fourteen-year-old son, was pointing my rifle at me. I had a strong feeling he knew how to use it.
Chapter 46
Turning Tables
Not seeing things coming was getting old. I had fallen asleep again, but this time with my eyes wide open. There was some consolation that JD was in the same boat. That thought wasn’t helping our situation.
“You’re making me think not squeezing the trigger when you and your family walked through that door was a mistake,” I said. “What are you doing, Tom?”
“It was a mistake,” said Tom. “We know who you are and why you’re here.”
“I seriously doubt that,” I said. “If you knew, you wouldn’t be pointing those guns at us.”
“Bear,” said Tom, keeping his eyes – and pistol – on us. “Come on down, son.”
“Yes, sir,” said Bear, taking his time to keep the gun sights steady.
“Take their weapons,” said Tom.
I had another feeling that Bear had seen and done things no fourteen-year-old should ever have to see or do. He put the barrel of the gun in my ear and pushed my head to the side. He was letting me know he wasn’t afraid of us. It worked.
Bear removed my gun from the holster and knife from the sheath. He then shouldered my rifle and pulled me up to my feet. I discovered why they called him Bear. The kid had a strong grip.
He used my zip ties against me and patted me down for more weapons. When he was through with me, he did the same to JD and then pushed us back down to our seats. He took a few steps back to put more distance between him and us. The kid was also smart.
“Good job, son,” said Tom, lowering his gun to his lap, but keeping his finger on the trigger. “How’s it looking outside?”
“Snowing pretty hard, but there’s only a light wind,” said Bear. “It’s not as bad as the last one.”
“Good,” said Tom, smiling at his son and then turning back to us. “We’re not going to shoot you. We at least owe you that.”
“You might not hurt us,” I said, “but the people you’ll be handing us over to will.”
“Not my problem,” said Tom. “You earned whatever you have coming to you.”
“How’s that?” asked JD. “They came to kill us, our families, and take our town. What were we supposed to do? Just let it happen?”
“They said you’d try to lie your way out of trouble,” said Tom.
“What else did they tell you about us, Tom?” I asked.
“They told me enough,” said Tom. “Some of those men you murdered in cold blood were my friends. People I’ve known my whole life. Good people who didn’t deserve to be slaughtered on that dam.”
“What the hell do you think they were comin’ to do to us?” asked JD, leaning forward in his chair and raising his voice.
“We’ll never know,” said Tom. “You didn’t give them a chance.”
“Good Lord, you’re insane just like the rest of ‘em!” said JD. “How can so many of you be so damned blind to what that man really is?”
“Easy, buddy,” I said. “They just don’t know him like we do.”
When JD took a deep breath and leaned back into his seat, I knew his hands were already free. He had raised his voice as a distraction while he leaned forward and cut the zip tie. I’ve learned a few things from JD.
The most recent lesson was to carry a little pocketknife on the inside of my waistband in the small of my back. It was easy for Bear to miss it. (It would’ve been easy for the men who caught me sleeping to miss it as well, if I had been carrying it. I try not to make the same mistakes twice.) My hands were free as well, but there were too many guns aimed at us to make a move. We kept them pinned behind our backs until the moment to take action revealed itself to us.
“You made it sound like you weren’t a fan of Castle,” I said. “Why would you hand us over to him?”
“Doesn’t matter if I’m a fan or not,” said Tom. “His militia is the only thing keeping us alive. None of us in our town would be here without him. We don’t like it, but we’ll pay for that
kind of protection for our families. You take that away from us, and we have nothing. You know what they’ll do to my little girl and my wife.”
“I do, Tom,” I said. “I know exactly what’s going to happen. We’re not trying to destroy the militia. Just the man running it.”
“Then why did you kill all those men?” asked Angie. “There must have been a hundred.”
“Six of Castle’s men murdered a house full of unarmed people,” said JD. “We met those people on our way to open up the dam. We were gonna help ‘em make their way down to Scottsboro. When we got back to ‘em, they were all dead. There were young women with them and a couple of kids. We found them tied to beds after they’d been beaten and raped. One of the girls was just a little bit older than Ashley.”
“Oh my God,” said Angie. “Are you sure it was the militia?”
“They’re lying to you, baby,” said Tom. “They’re just trying to save their own necks.”
“It was them,” said JD, ignoring Tom and looking over at Angie. “We made those six pay for what they did. Even after that, we was gonna try to and reason with the militia. I’ll let Henry tell you what happed when we did.”
“I told you my uncle was killed in an attack by refugees,” I said. “That was a lie and I’m sorry for telling it, but I didn’t know if you were loyal to Castle. I couldn’t tell you that we were here to kill him.”
“What happened to him?” asked Angie.
“Baby, we don’t need to –”
“I want to know,” said Angie, cutting him off. “I’ll decide if he’s lying or not.”
“It’s going to sound crazy,” I said, trying to avoid giving Tom a chance to argue with her, “but my uncle and I just walked into their camp. We were unarmed and no threat to a hundred men who were. My uncle was a serious man as well, but he was more of a diplomat than I am. He was tired of the killing and knew a lot of people would die for what six men did. He believed they paid the price for their actions, but didn’t want to see anyone else get hurt because of it.”
“He sounds like a good man,” said Angie.
“Better than we are,” said JD, “by a mile.”
“Before my uncle could plead his case,” I said, “the general cut his throat in front of me. One of his other men hit me with the butt of his rifle. All I could do was lie there and watch my uncle die choking on his own blood. He let me live to deliver the message to our town that he was the new man in charge. If they resisted, he’d burn the town and everyone in it.”
“I’ve heard enough,” said Tom. “Get on your feet. You can tell your lies to the man himself.”
“Do you believe me?” I asked, keeping eye contact with Angie. “Do you believe that’s the kind of man the general really is?”
“I said on your feet, damnit,” said Tom, standing and aiming the pistol at me.
“I’m not –”
“Angie!” said Tom, trying to reestablish control. “We’re taking them in. That’s the end of it. No more conversations.”
“Five seconds after you step out of that door with us at gunpoint, Ashley will be an orphan,” I said, turning my attention to Tom. “Your wife is right about us. We are very serious men, and so are the men with us. They have a standing order to shoot to kill in this situation.”
“You won’t be the first,” said JD. “My brother is out there with a few others. They’re crack shots, and he’ll put one through your brain first, Tom. I swear to you, he will.”
“Based on what you do,” I said, “she’ll die next and then your boy. Ashley won’t just be an orphan, she’ll be alone.”
“We ain’t bluffin’, and this ain’t bullshit,” said JD. “Our men are out there.”
“I believe them,” said Angie, trembling.
“I don’t,” said Bear. “I’ve been at my window for hours. I didn’t see anyone moving out there.”
“You wouldn’t, kid,” I said. “My men are very good at what they do. The general and a hundred of his militia couldn’t spot them until they opened fire. Most never see them at all.”
“Your boy is smart, and I’m sure he’s good with a rifle,” said JD, “but he ain’t that good.”
“I told you we weren’t going to hurt you and your family, and I meant it,” I said. “Now that’s off the table and out of my hands.”
“You’d kill my family, you sonofabitch,” said Tom, clenching his teeth.
“To save mine,” I said, “yes, I would.”
“Jesus, Tom,” said Angie, pleading. “What if they’re telling the truth?”
“Just be quiet,” said Tom, rubbing his eyes. “Angie, please. Just let me think.”
“That’s a good –”
“You shut up,” said Tom, putting the gun in JD’s face. “Everyone just shut the hell up.”
We needed to ease the stress on Tom’s trigger finger. We gave him a few quiet moments to work out his next move. He was so close that JD could have snatched the gun out of his hand.
“We’ll give them back their guns,” said Tom, turning to look at Angie. “They’ll be unloaded. We’ll keep them in front of us and tell them which way to walk. That way their guys can see that they’re armed and not at gunpoint.”
“Not a bad plan, Tom,” I said, “but do you really think we haven’t thought about that? If they don’t get confirmation from us that we’re okay, the order still stands. You don’t get it. I’ve been with these men for a long time and through worse situations than this. We know what each other is thinking. A subtle hand gesture that you will never see is all they need. Your plan may add ten seconds to how soon Ashley becomes an orphan.”
“Stop saying that!” said Angie. “Please.”
“I have a better plan,” I said. “And it will keep you and your family safe even after we’re gone.”
“I’m supposed to believe that?” asked Tom, shaking his head. “We’re sending you to your death, and you want to make sure we’re safe?”
“I don’t blame you for what you’re doing,” I said. “I’d do the same. I don’t want to see your family destroyed because of us. I don’t want to see you, your wife, or your son face down in the snow. I’m nothing like Castle, Tom. The sooner you believe that, the sooner we can get this over with.”
“At least listen to them,” said Angie. “Where’s the harm in that?”
“Bring them to us,” I said. “Send Bear to tell them where we are and that we’ve been captured. Before he does that, he needs to take Ashley to a friend’s house or somewhere else. She doesn’t need to be with him when he gives the message to the militia. Don’t let either one of your kids come back here until you go get them.”
“I’m not sending my kids out there to get shot,” said Tom. “That’s crazy.”
“My men aren’t going to shoot your kids, Tom,” I said. “And they’re not going to shoot anyone coming inside, even if it’s militia. They have to get their eyes on us before they do anything. We all know they’re going to try and kill us; we just need to make sure it’s not inside your home. If my guys hear any shooting, they’re coming in after us. Doesn’t matter who or how many, they’re coming in. You don’t want that.”
“As soon as the militia gets here, we’ll leave with them, and we’ll do it without a fight,” said JD. “Our guys will be outnumbered and outgunned. They won’t fire, and they’ll start working on a new plan.”
“One that doesn’t involve you, your home, or your children,” I said. “More than likely, it’ll be an ambush in the valley or somewhere down the road. The odds are better for my guys, and they’re more effective when targets are out in the open.”
“How do you know the general won’t just cut your throats while you’re sitting in those chairs?” asked Tom.
“Because Castle won’t be coming here,” I said. “He’s not that brave. He’ll stay where he feels safe and send his men to retrieve us. Like I said, you don’t know him like we do.”
Chapter 47
Sail
It
took a few more minutes to convince Tom that it was the best plan. I wasn’t sure if Doug was with Tucker, but I knew he was out there waiting for us. There was no doubt in my mind he would have pulled the trigger if he knew his brother was in trouble. It wouldn’t have mattered to him that a woman and a teenager were part of that trouble. Tom made the right choice. It also reduced the number of guns pointing at us by one.
Tension inside the house was still high, but I wasn’t ready to execute our escape. Sending Bear out with a message to the militia had bought us a little more time to figure out another way. A way that didn’t involve killing his parents.
There were no gunshots and no screams coming from outside after the children left the house. That seemed to ease the tension inside. I didn’t know if Tom and Angie trusted us, but I think they did believe us.
“He would’ve been with them,” said Angie, breaking the silence and placing her gun on the table.
“What’s that?” asked JD, looking up at her.
“Bear,” said Angie, leaning back into the couch. “He wanted to go with the militia to Bridgeport. They said he could when he asked them. Of course, I lost it.”
“You would’ve killed our son,” said Tom. “He’s not ready to go out on his own. Not yet.”
“Then I’m glad he wasn’t there,” said JD. “You folks are makin’ us out like we’re the villains. We ain’t the bad guys here.”
“Neither are we,” said Angie.
“They didn’t give us a choice,” I said. “Do you understand that?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” said Angie. “Things may look peaceful around here, but they’re not. There isn’t a second that goes by that I’m not scared for my children. Neither one of us hardly sleep at all, and we certainly don’t sleep at the same time. We just can’t.”
“We’re just like you folks,” said JD. “We don’t like killin’ people. We’re not out here ‘cause it’s fun. But people and this crazy weather sure do like tryin’ to kill us. We just wanna go home and put all this mess behind us.”