“It was on one of those classified covert missions we’re not allowed to talk about. Your father saved my life after I’d been severely wounded by enemy fire.”
“Must we rehash war stories in front of my daughter?” Jackson remarked.
“Who better?” Abbott announced cheerfully.
Jackie hugged her father and smiled proudly. “I never get tired of hearing about your heroic acts, Dad.”
Her father returned the embrace while seemingly embarrassed and kissed her on the forehead.
Chapter Ten
Jackie woke from her light sleep with a startled gasp and stared at the ceiling fan rotating lazily above her. It took her a long moment to realize she was still lying on top of the quilted bedspread in the safe house bedroom. Faint sounds from the lake could be heard through the sealed windows. She uncertainly looked around the room with some disorientation and realized she must have inadvertently fallen asleep. She hadn’t been sleeping well since the murders at the library, and when she did, they were usually nightmares involving Dexter and the governor. Some nights, she didn’t survive the experience. On rare occasions, she managed to save either Vicki or Harris, although, usually never both. The dream she just had about her father disturbed her more than she’d ever admit. Although she loved being able to see her father in her dreams, the reminder that he was dead when she woke was almost too much to bear. It was as if she’d lost him all over again each time she woke. She placed her hand to her forehead and held back her sobs.
†
It was nearly half an hour since Jackie went to her room for the night, and Pam had gone outside to make rounds. Carter picked up the scattered cards and chips, stacking them neatly, while Phil peered outside through the kitchen door window. He couldn’t hide the concerned look on his face. He touched his earpiece transmitter and spoke aloud.
“Pam?”
There was no response through his transmitter. Phil frowned and looked at Carter with possible concern for their fellow U.S. Marshal.
“I hate when she doesn’t answer me,” Phil scoffed as he became further agitated and worried.
“She’s probably just cooling off,” Carter remarked while stacking the chips in the plastic tray. “You were a little hard on her this evening.”
Phil was surprised by the comment and stared at his partner. “Me? I’m pretty sure you were the ringleader.”
He snorted a soft laugh. “She’ll probably report us for having a good time with Jackie.”
“I don’t like this,” Phil announced, again staring out the window. He shook his head while looking at Carter and appeared serious. “I’m making the call.”
As Phil removed his cell phone and pressed a button, Carter removed his gun and hurried across the living room for the second floor stairs. Phil became alert when someone picked up the phone on the other end.
“It’s Phil,” he announced into his cell phone. “Pam went outside almost thirty minutes ago and isn’t responding on her transmitter. I’m going to check on her.” There was a moment’s pause. Phil nodded. “Yeah, Carter’s heading upstairs to watch her. I’ll call you back in five.”
Phil shut his phone, removed his gun, and headed outside. There were few outside lights on by design, leaving the exterior dimly lit, mostly from the moon shining off the lake. Sounds of wildlife from the area surrounding the lake were almost deafening. There were no other sounds. Phil cautiously walked along the deck while keeping his back partially to the wall and his gun lowered near his hip. The last thing they needed was a lookie loo taking a stroll and reporting a man with a gun sneaking around one of the cabins. There was still no sound other than that coming from the lake and woods. If Pam was patrolling, her footfalls should be heard along the wooden deck. At the very least, there should have been sounds coming from her transmitter. Turning it on while patrolling was by the book, as was Pam. If something had happened, she would have given them some sort of signal. Had she been unable to respond, they would have heard something through her transmitter. As he approached the rear deck, he could see Pam sitting on one of the deck chairs with her back to him, facing the lake. Phil groaned softly and relaxed while lowering his gun as he approached.
“Damn it, Pam,” he said gruffly and paused alongside her chair by the railing. “You gave us a scare. Why the hell didn’t you respond to my calls?”
†
Jackie lie reclined on top of the multi-colored bedspread in her tank top and sleep shorts while reading a book. It was a steamy romance novel, which she borrowed from Pam. With some of the love scenes, she was surprised it was something Pam would even consider reading. Having never read a romance, Jackie was convinced they were sappy love stories for desperate women with no prospects of ever finding a man. Instead, she found the story was actually captivating, judging by the tingling sensation it sent throughout her body. As she read the next paragraph, her mouth fell open with surprise.
“Oh, wow,” she moaned softly and quickly turned the page. As she read, her hand covered her mouth and a slight gasp escaped. “She’s one naughty girl.”
Her bedroom door abruptly opened without warning, causing her to jump. She instinctively shoved the book under the bedspread as she sat up. She wasn’t permitted to lock the doors, but none of the men had ever busted into her room unannounced before. Mild panic pulsated through her body. She watched as Carter hurried across the room with his gun in hand, approached the window, and looked through the small, clear pane.
“What is it?” she asked with concern.
“Pam’s not answering,” he replied without looking at her and continued to scan outside through the small opening. “Nothing to worry about just yet. Just a precaution.”
His words didn’t comfort her. Jackie hurriedly slipped into her jeans, sweatshirt, and shoes then quietly sat on the bed. She watched Carter and attempted to listen for any unusual sounds. When Carter didn’t notice anything outside, he returned to the bedroom door and touched his earpiece.
“Phil? Anything?” He awaited a response, but there wasn’t one. “Phil? Do you copy?”
Again, there was no response. The look on Carter’s face was enough to send shivers down Jackie’s spine. Carter hesitated only a moment then looked at Jackie. She didn’t like what she saw in his eyes.
“We’re going--now.”
Jackie sprang from the bed and quickly joined him by the bedroom door. She’d played enough paintball battles with her father to know the drill. She needed to remain glued to Carter and be the eyes in the back of his head. Carter peered outside the bedroom door, making certain the area was secure, and then motioned for her to follow him. Jackie shadowed him and kept watch behind them. She understood the concept to the open floor plan of the lake house and the open railing to the studio below. From their vantage point, they could view the entire first floor. There was no sign of either marshal. Carter and Jackie hurried down the open stairs to the main room. He made certain nothing moved before hurrying her to the front door.
Carter looked through the peek hole and studied the area carefully before quietly unbolting the door. He again looked around outside then hurried Jackie to the SUV. They moved against the vehicle while keeping low. He wasn’t taking any chances, and Jackie felt confident in his abilities. Carter wasn’t the most serious man during their poker games, but he was certainly field ready when called upon. There was a gust of air that immediately sent chills through Jackie. She’d heard that sound before at the library. Carter gasped, clutched his side, and struck the SUV. He immediately fired in the direction of the silenced shot. Jackie instinctively ducked and got a closer view of his wound. It wasn’t caused by your average handgun. This was a much larger weapon. He’d been lucky it’d only grazed his side. A direct hit would have torn him apart. Another shot hit the car, leaving a large hole in the metal. Carter threw open the passenger side door and aggressively motioned to her.
“In!”
Jackie jumped into the SUV and leaped into the driver’s seat, allow
ing room for the marshal. Carter jumped in after her, handed her the keys, and slammed the door. Jackie started the SUV, threw it into gear, and burned out on the gravel driveway. She didn’t know where she was going, but she intended to make record time. The front tire suddenly blew and the vehicle swerved wildly, turning the SUV toward the lake and away from the back road. Jackie attempted to control the vehicle while Carter clutched his bleeding side.
“Don’t stop for anything!”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Jackie announced with panic in her voice.
The windshield suddenly chipped, startling her. Jackie let out a scream and attempted to keep the SUV going straight after jerking the wheel. She looked at Carter alongside her for further instructions. He was slumped in the seat with blood streaking his face. As his head jolted, she saw the right side of his skull had been blown from his head and out the passenger side window. Panic flooded her only a moment before she returned to attempting to steer the SUV away from the lake house and the lake itself. What sounded like an explosion was actually the rear tire blowing from another shot meant to cripple the vehicle. The SUV suddenly pulled right. She fought the jerking steering wheel to retain control, but it was too late. The lake was suddenly in front of her. Jackie screamed.
The SUV with two flat tires on the passenger side veered into the lake alongside the dock. The front of the vehicle sank into the water halfway up the driver’s side door. The gunman, dressed entirely in black, quickly approached the partially submerged door and yanked it open. Jackie sat facing the door with Carter’s gun in her hand and aimed at him. She fired twice shooting him with both rounds in the chest. The shooter fell into the water with a splash. Jackie jumped into the water, hurried around the car with Carter’s gun clutched in her hand, and ran from the lake for the nearby dock. Gusts of air flew past her as dirt exploded near her feet. She bolted toward the dark area beneath the cabin’s deck and the safety of darkness. Jackie fired blindly behind her without even looking and tripped over something in the darkness just before the deck. She fell roughly to the ground and flipped onto her back.
She saw Pam’s lifeless body lying broken, having fallen or been thrown from the upper deck. Closer inspection revealed a small hole through her left ear. She’d been shot with precision through the transmitter in her ear. Jackie held back her horrified gasp and scrambled over Pam’s body just within the darkness beneath the deck. There were no shots fired, so she knew she was no longer visible to the shooter, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be closing in fast. She looked at Pam’s body just in the edge of the deck’s shadow. Jackie needed her cell phone. As she leaned forward to check her pockets, she realized the bullet that had gone through her left ear had exited out the right side of her head, taking most of her skull with it. Jackie fought the nauseous feeling in her stomach and avoided looking at Pam’s remaining hollowed out skull. She quickly searched her jacket pockets and removed the cell phone. Jackie pressed a single button then looked around while shivering from the cool night air chilling her soaked body.
“Yeah, Pam,” came Holden’s voice void of enthusiasm from the other end.
Jackie whispered into the cell phone, “They’re dead. He’s here!”
“Jackie?” Holden was heard gasping. “I’m on my way. Find a place to hide.”
“There is no place to hide,” she whispered with panic in her voice.
There was a gust of air followed by splintered wood from the support beam near her head. Jackie randomly fired back in the direction of the shot.
“Who’s firing?” Holden suddenly yelled from the other end.
“Who the hell to do you think?” Jackie cried into the phone, no longer attempting to keep her voice down. She’d already been made, so it no longer mattered.
Jackie shoved the phone into her pocket, removed Pam’s gun from her shoulder holster, and fired wildly while running for the boat attached to the dock. The wood on the dock splintered behind her running feet. Jackie dove into the boat and fired randomly while untying it from the dock. Silent shots were fired back, striking the water disturbingly close to the boat. Jackie crouched alongside the driver’s seat, threw the boat into gear, and fired back at the shooter while speeding away. She maintained speed for several minutes until she was safely out of view of the cabin and nearly to the other side of the lake. Jackie stopped the boat a safe distance from any homes and conducted a quick search of the boat. She found a tackle box, searched through it, and removed a fishing knife. She stared at the knife a moment then recovered Pam’s cell phone and pressed the same button. It barely rang before Holden answered.
“Jackie? Are you okay? Where are you?” Holden gasped from the other end.
“Carter and Pam are dead,” she informed him while looking around the secluded lake. There was a house in the near distance with one light on inside. It appeared to be the only house around. “I don’t know what happened to Phil. I shot one of them, but it wasn’t Dexter.”
“Listen carefully, Jackie,” Holden said from the other end while attempting to sound calm. “The local sheriff will be there any minute. I’m about thirty minutes away.” She could hear the sound of his vehicle’s siren. “Where are you?”
“I’m in a boat on the lake,” she replied and again looked to the nearby house. “There’s a house not far from here with an old boathouse next to the dock.”
“I know exactly where you are,” he announced from the other end. “I’m coming for you, Jackie. I just need you to hold on, okay?”
Jackie drew a deep breath and looked at the knife in her hand. She nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Okay,” she replied softly.
Jackie disconnected the call, placed the phone in her pocket, and then drove the boat closer to the boathouse with as little sound as possible. She cut the engine alongside the dock, using the boathouse to keep anyone within the house from seeing her. She looked at the knife in her hand, took a deep breath, and dragged the blade across her forearm. Jackie gasped with agony from the stinging sensation as she self-induced an inch long cut, which bled freely. Jackie dropped the knife while clutching her arm and took several deep breaths. She recovered the bloodied knife, placed it in her pocket, and ran her hand across the blood on her arm. She carefully dragged a bloody handprint along the outside of the boat. Jackie jumped onto the dock, tossed one of the guns into the boat, and put it in gear. She sent the boat across the lake then removed the second gun and fired twice into the air. Jackie turned and ran into the woods as the house lights came on.
Chapter Eleven
Jackie shivered from her still damp clothing as she walked through the woods parallel with the dark, back road. She carefully wiped her blood and fingerprints from the knife, using her damp sweatshirt. Luckily, her sweatshirt was dark, so the blood wouldn’t be visible once she reached a populated area. Once she was convinced the knife contained no traces of her DNA, she tossed it into the woods. Even if someone eventually found it, without seeing any visible blood, she doubted they’d think anything of the find. She had no idea where she was, but she knew the road had to lead somewhere. She knew for a fact she was heading away from the lake house almost certainly crawling with police by now. She’d been walking nearly thirty minutes before she saw lights through the wooded area. As she approached, she discovered it was the local tavern, tucked away within the woods, and packed with mostly pick-up trucks. There were two things she was counting on being so far from civilization. Country boys leaving their pick-up trucks unlocked and, more importantly, the boys forgetting their cell phones inside their unlocked pick-up trucks.
Jackie hurried across the parking lot and looked into several trucks. Going inside the tavern wasn’t an option. Her damp clothing would cause unwanted attention. After the third truck, she discovered what she needed most at that moment. She opened the passenger side door and removed a cell phone from the cup holder. She hurried to the side of the tavern, hiding within the shadows, and pressed several numbers. Despite having Pam�
�s cell phone, she couldn’t use it to make any ‘private’ calls. She didn’t need the FBI learning she was still alive, but more importantly, she didn’t need them knowing whom she had called. She shivered, feeling colder than she had before, now that she had stopped walking. She attempted to control her chattering teeth as the phone rang relentlessly. Soon the voicemail would pick up, and leaving a message wasn’t an option. She saw Holden’s SUV fly past with its lights flashing. He’d been right on time. Now that she was standing in a clearing, she could hear the sirens on the other side of the lake.
Someone picked up the other line. “Hello?” came the puzzled, male voice.
Jackie had never been so happy to hear a familiar voice in her life. She nearly jumped while clinging to the phone. “Monroe, it’s Jackie,” she announced a little too quickly and with more urgency than she was attempting to convey.
“Jackie!” The male voice belonging to Monroe was overly enthusiastic. “You better be calling to say you’ve finally decide to run away with me.”
She wanted to melt into his voice, but her fear took hold. “I’m in trouble, Monroe. Real trouble,” Jackie said in a tone she knew he’d pick up on. She kept her back to the tavern wall and looked around as if expecting someone to jump out at her at any moment. “I need someone I can trust--someone smart.”
There was a strange silence. “Are you okay?” Monroe suddenly demanded with a sense of urgency. “What do you need? Where are you?”
She nervously looked around. “I’m in a town called Harmony Lake outside a bar, Harmony Lake Tavern. Do you know anyone near here?”
“I know someone everywhere,” he informed her. “Give me a second to look.” She could hear the clicking of his fingers tapping feverishly on a laptop keyboard. The typing continued as he spoke. “I have a guy about twenty minutes from Harmony Lake. What do you need?”
“I need an exit and a change of clothes,” she said and felt relief for the first time in over an hour.
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