by Warren Ray
Chapter 68
Addison Michigan
By the time Vatter reached the barn where one of his officers had reported seeing the girls, the fire had already destroyed the barn and was starting to go out. He got out of his squad car and walked over to Tannenbaum to get an update.
“What’s the status? Have you found any of the girls?” he asked.
Tannenbaum looked sheepishly. “Hmmm, no we haven’t, not yet anyway.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, it’s just that, I don’t think they’re anywhere around here.”
“Why would you say that? Who called this in?”
“That’s the thing, we don’t know who called it in.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“I talked to Ryker and Carter, who were the first ones on the scene, and they said they didn’t see any other squad cars here.”
Vatter gave Tannenbaum a frustrated glare.
“It’s just that the rebels played this kind of trick on us before.”
“Trick? Oh, do go on.”
“You see, a few weeks back, we had them trapped in Detroit and they set fire to an old high school. They somehow got one of our cars and called in a false report, which allowed them to escape.”
Vatter shook his head and let out a big sigh. He remembered they had lost two squad cars Sunday. “It would have been nice to have been told about what happened in Detroit,” said a frustrated Vatter.
“Didn’t figure they’d do that again,” said Tannenbaum.
“Well, they did now, didn’t they? I think we can forget about finding those girls now. Damned friggin bastards.”
Vatter continued cursing under his breath as he started back to his car. He couldn’t believe he was commanding such a bunch of idiots. When he took this position, he did it for one reason and one reason only, and that was to make money. He figured he’d lost about twenty grand tonight with the loss of these girls. Mordulfah was not going to be happy when he checks in tomorrow and finds out there are no girls for him.
He got in and slammed his fist down on the steering wheel. He then grabbed onto the wheel with both hands and started shaking it as if he wanted to yank it off. He looked down at the radio and picked up the mic.
“Hey, you friggin rebels, you friggin Shadow Patriots, I know you’re listening. That was a nice little trick you played on us tonight. Just heard you’ve played that one before, so I just want to let you know, I won’t be falling for any more of your tricks. And, I’m going to find you bastards and when I do, I’m going to see to it you all die real slow and painful deaths.”
Chapter 69
Somerset Center Michigan
Scar looked down at the radio, did he just hear what he thought he just heard. He looked up at Bassett and started laughing.
“Should we answer him?” asked Bassett.
“I don’t see why not.”
“What should we say?”
“I’ll handle it,” said Scar, grabbing the mic.
“Hold on a minute,” said Bassett. “Nate and Burns have to hear this.”
He got out of the squad car and brought them over. They got into the back seat and Scar filled them in on what they had just heard.
Scar put the mic up to his mouth. “Good luck with that buddy.”
“Who is this?” asked Vatter.
“This is the person who just rescued the girls you captured, you sick pedophile.”
“That was a nice trick you played on us, but don’t worry, I’ve got several tricks to pull on you bastards, too.”
Scar let out a laugh. “It was an old trick, one that we’ve played before. Personally, I can’t believe you dumbasses fell for it again.”
“Well, I wasn’t here then, so don’t get so cocky.”
“Oh, you’re the one who replaced the witless, Captain Cox. He was another greedy dumbass pedophile. What’s your name?”
The radio went silent. Scar looked at Bassett. “Think he’ll tell me?”
Bassett shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m Captain Vatter. I’m telling you this so when I capture you, you’ll know what to call me.”
Nate leaned forward. “Call him Captain Bladder.”
Scar busted out laughing and nodded. “Well, Captain Bladder, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s Vatter with a V.”
“Bladder, that’s what I said.”
The four of them couldn’t stop laughing and were rolling around in their seats.
“This friggin guy,” said Bassett trying to catch his breath. “He really is an idiot. It’s Vatter with a V.” Bassett tried to imitate the voice. “You know that’s the not the first time he’s had to correct someone.”
“He got his ass kicked in school,” said Nate.
“Oh, hell yeah he did,” said Burns.
Scar moved the mic back to his mouth. “Well, Captain, it’s been a lot of fun tonight, but we’ve got to be getting back for a nice hot meal. You boys have fun tonight in the rain keeping an eye on us. We’ll be seeing you in Detroit.”
“No, you’ll be seeing us in Jackson.”
“Like I said, good luck with that, Bladder, over and out.”
Scar put the mic back in its cradle. “Now that…was a lot of fun. Something tells me they’ll be giving up on chasing Meeks and Reese.”
“Yeah, that had to be disheartening to hear,” said Bassett. “He must have been pretty pissed off to get on the radio like that.”
“It was pretty stupid,” said Burns.
“I’ll bet he’s got to report to Mordulfah in the morning,” said Scar.
“Has to be,” said Bassett. “Why else would you tell your enemy how pissed off you are. We’re definitely not dealing with an experienced guy here.”
“Good news is that we won’t have to worry so much about Meeks. I wonder how those two are doing?” asked Scar.
Chapter 70
Wet and exhausted from running all night, Meeks and Reese pushed themselves to get as far away from the old man as they could. They had to be even more careful now since they were unarmed. They couldn’t afford to make another mistake. Meeks timed their run from the old man’s house and figured at their pace, they had gone about a mile. He pulled out the map and knew they had crossed Sterns Road, he also saw they had approached another body of water. Lombard Lake was much bigger than the pond that got them soaked.
Meeks discovered a trail that went through part of the lake. They hit the dirt trial, plodded across the first leg and entered a more secluded area of the woods. Meeks checked behind them and seeing nothing, felt it safe to stop and rest. With all the running, they were burning up carbs at a rapid pace and needed to eat again.
“Let’s eat something,” said Meeks.
“Ahem,” grinned Reese.
“Yes, nice call on getting the food.”
“I thought so too.”
They sat down on the ground.
“Oh, this feels good,” said Reese. “Helluva a lot better than being tied up.”
“Too good,” said Meeks. “We can’t stay down long or we’ll never get up.”
Reese dug into the crackers and trail mix while Meeks opened the water bottles. They eagerly drank the water and devoured the food without saying another word. Their bodies felt like rubber and neither wanted to get back up.
“Told you, if we sat too long,” said Meeks.
Thunder boomed in the distance. They looked at each other and shook their heads. Meeks let out a big sigh when the first raindrops fell on them.
“At least we’re already wet,” chuckled Reese.
Within a few minutes, the sky opened up like a spigot and rain came pouring down on them. Meeks got up and grabbed Reese’s hand pulling her up.
“I’d say this is par for the course,” joked Reese as she put her hair in a ponytail.
“Why’s that?” asked Meeks.
“We’ve been running, we’ve been hiding, we’ve been swimming and we
escaped Jason.”
“Jason?”
“Yeah, the old man. I’m calling him Jason but instead of a machete, it was a shotgun,” she said with a dramatic flair.
Meeks let out a chuckle.
“So really, the only thing left is rain,” she exhaulted shaking Meeks’ shoulders, “and lots of it. Why we’ll never run out of water now,” she finished, holding her bottle above her head to catch the rain.
Reese loved the rain and being outside. To her, those two things represented freedom and she was loved her freedom. The old man represented the third time she had escaped the chains of bondage. First, when she was held as a sex slave, the second when she was at Mordulfah's and now, the old man. She spun around in the rain dancing in celebration of being free again. It is only after you wear the chains can you truly appreciate freedom.
Meeks let out a small laugh and shook his head as she pranced around and waving the water bottle over her head. He wondered for a second if she wasn’t losing it but was grateful she wasn’t complaining. He decided to go along with her on the lemon aid thing remembering they did just eat and still had some food left, plus they certainly had plenty of water now. He then thought, maybe since it was raining so hard, perhaps the cops would give up the chase.
Chapter 71
Jackson Michigan
After Mayor Simpson and Nordell left the cafeteria of the hospital, Winters shook his head and looked at Elliott. He was sure Nordell would somehow cause them more problems in the very near future. There was something off about him and Winters didn’t know what it was. He wondered if the man would go so far as to try to take him or any of his men out. He thought about that but decided it was a bit of a stretch and chalked it up to paranoia in the heat of the moment.
“You think you can trust this guy?” asked Elliott.
“I was just wondering the same thing. Hell, I don’t know, I mean, you’d think we’d all be on the same team by now.”
“You would think so,” said Elliott.
“Right now, he’s the least of my worries. Have you heard anything from Scar?”
Elliott filled him in on Meeks’ escape.
“So, he let an old man capture him. Poor guy is not going to hear the end of this one.”
“No, he won’t.”
“Duct tape, huh,” snickered Winters, relieved that the cops didn’t have them. “At least they’re still on the run.”
“And now it’s pouring down rain.”
“Tired, wet and hungry, sounds like Seal training,” quipped Winters.
“They’ll be alright.”
Winters nodded. He had a lot of faith in Meeks but couldn’t help but worry about them. Looking at Elliott, he remembered how he had been short with him during the battle. “Hey, about what happened earlier in the shootout.”
Elliott cut him off. “Cole, don’t even worry about that, we had a lot going on.”
Winters knew Elliott was always sincere whenever he called him by his first name. “I about blew it tonight.”
“I wouldn’t say that. Under the circumstances, we did what anyone would have done.”
“It was the perfect set-up. They saw us coming a mile away.”
“We were really lucky tonight,” said Elliott.
“Yeah, we were, but they weren’t lucky, they knew we were coming.”
“You know, it’s more than likely they have eyes here,” said Elliott.
“I’ve had the same thought. So the question is, is he out in the open or hiding somewhere in town?”
“You don’t think it’s Nordell, do ya?”
“No. He’s a lunatic, but I don’t doubt where he stands. If there is a spy, I imagine Mordulfah hired him, it would have to be someone associated with the cops or just a cop, to begin with.”
“How are we going to operate if we’ve got someone lurking around?”
Winters took his hat off and scratched his head. “Hell if I know,” he said in a frustrated tone. “One more thing to deal with.”
He sat down to contemplate their situation. Looking at his watch, he noted it was just after midnight. It would be another six hours or so before the sun came up and it was pouring down rain. He didn’t think the Jijis were going anywhere in the rain and he still had men up on the interstate keeping an eye on them.
He thought about what Nordell had said about the Jijis being sitting ducks. He was right and they were not taking advantage of that situation. They needed to rough them up and keep them off balance for a change. He cringed at his next thought. He needed his team leaders to conduct a raid. His most experienced leaders were out looking for Meeks and Reese. Either he called them back or he would have to take a chance and bring Nordell in on the operation. He didn’t like either option.
He told Elliott what he had in mind. They walked out of the cafeteria, grabbed a radio and called Scar. He asked them for an update.
“Captain, they’re headed west,” said Scar. “He’s trying to get around their flank. It’s a smart move, over.”
“You think you’ll be able to find them?”
It took a moment before he responded. “Not sure. The rain is not helping and if they see any kind of a vehicle, they’re going to hide from it.”
Winters told him what he had in mind and what his choices were. He waited for a minute before getting an answer.
“Bassett and Burns will join you.”
Winters put the radio down. He didn’t blame them for wanting to stay. He knew it was asking a lot of Scar, who had been friends with Meeks since they were kids. He would have done the same thing if it had been his life-long friend. He only wished his friends were still alive.
Winters turned to Elliott. “Besides those infrared goggles, didn’t the Brits give us some thermal ones?”
“Yep, we got a couple of those.”
The thermals lit up anything that gave off a heat signature by giving out a solid white glow. They weren’t great for the identification of an individual, but that wasn’t a problem because anyone they came across would be the enemy.
Chapter 72
Jackson Michigan
Winters felt a lot better about what they were going to do. He felt certain the Jijis on the interstate were not going anywhere, especially in this downpour. Mordulfah had those guys there for a diversion, to keep the Shadow Patriots’ forces divided. Of course, they would not stay there forever, as Mordulfah would use them when it was time to invade the town of Jackson.
Elliott pulled up to the overpass on Van Horn Drive. Winters opened the door and stepped out into the rain. He walked over to the guardrail and looked down on Highway 127. Through the thermal goggles, he saw twenty-five vehicles parked in the right lane of Highway 127. He scanned the area and didn’t see any other white glowing bodies except the ones sitting in the vehicles.
He hurried back inside the SUV and told Elliott what he saw. He then received a radio call from Bassett and Burns reporting the same number of vehicles west of Jackson. He ordered them to get over to his position. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up behind them.
Bassett and Burns approach Winters' SUV
Bassett wore a camouflaged Boonie hat that kept the rain water off his face. “What do you want to do, Captain?”
Winters lifted the thermal glasses and looked down at the vehicles again. “Ever see the movie, Bonnie and Clyde?”
Bassett shook his head.
Burns nodded and broke out into a grin.
“At the end of the movie, cops shot the hell out of them,” said Winters.
Bassett understood the reference. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“We’ve got enough guys here. Let’s line everyone up on one side. I don’t want anyone caught in a crossfire.”
“Sounds good, Captain. We should leave some men up on the overpass to keep an eye on things.”
Winters agreed and sent out orders to the men who were more than eager to pay the Jijis back for ensnaring them in an ambush. They slid down the embankment and made their
way to the convoy of parked vehicles.
Winters and Bassett led the way, each stopping occasionally to look through the thermal glasses as they trotted through the woods that kept them hidden from the road. After lining up the whole length of the convoy, they crept up to the road. Just as he was reaching the edge of the woods, Winters spotted a white glow of someone outside his car relieving himself about fifty feet to his left. He froze, but would not be able to stop his men from advancing without warning the Jiji.
Chapter 73
Somerset Township Michigan
Meeks unscrewed the top of the water bottle and took a large gulp. Despite the fact that rain was pouring down on them, he was thirsty because the ground had turned to mud and it made the going much more difficult than it had been before. He was pushing his leg muscles to the point of collapse. The cold wet clothes drained his energy. His muddy shoes were like lead weights. Reese was in no better shape and both hung on to each other pulling and pushing themselves forward. He remembered his football days and silently thanked his coaches for pushing him to his limits. Granted, he wasn’t in the same shape he was in his younger days, but the training had toughened him mentally. This was something that never left you and he was grateful for it. He didn’t think he’d have made it this far was it not for that. He looked at Reese and thought how lucky that she, too, had the same type of training with cross-country.
They had already finished the rest of the food Reese had insisted on taking before they left the old man’s house, Jason’s house, as she liked to call him. He handed her the bottle and she finished it off. She didn’t playfully hold the bottle out for a refill this time. She was too tired for such antics.
They had broken out of the woods about fifteen minutes ago and were in an open field of tall grass. From his constant study of the map, Meeks knew they were coming to Waldron Road. He felt it was far enough from the intersection they could finally start heading north, back into Jackson. Traveling on a paved road would be such a relief compared to what they’d endured while making their way through nature’s obstacle course. He wondered if Scar was looking for them. He figured they would at least be trying, but how could they possibly find them, especially in this weather. Besides, they would have to avoid any approaching vehicles not knowing if they were friend or foe.