by B. B. Hamel
It was now or never. I struck fast, slapping the gun with the outside of my right hand. He pulled the trigger and the gun went off, but the bullet flew harmlessly into the air.
I followed that move by stepping forward and turning slightly. I grabbed the wrist of his right hand and pivoted my body, shoving my left hip into his gut. I tossed him over, throwing him to the ground. I held onto his wrist, twisting as he hit, causing him to scream in pain. I put on a little more pressure and made sure it broke. He dropped the gun instantly.
“What’s happening?” Piper said, terror in her voice.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Randy here was just trying to rob us.”
“You broke my damn hand,” he yelled. “Oh you bastard, you broke it!”
“You tried to kill me. What did you expect?”
He groaned. “Let me go, you son of a bitch.”
I squeezed tighter then kicked him in the gut before releasing him. I quickly patted him down, making sure he had no other weapons, but he was harmless.
“Asshole,” he groaned as he rolled over.
“Come on,” I said to Piper. “Get your stuff. We have to run.”
“Run? Why?”
“Randy here said that some tough guys in a nice truck came around looking for us.”
“They’re here,” she said and the fear intensified.
“They must be checking anywhere that my family has any connections to. I don’t think they actually know we’re here.”
“Okay. Okay. Let me get my stuff.” She ran inside.
Randy rolled off the porch and onto the gravel. He was slowly crawling away and I just watched him. That piece of shit. I would have paid him something if he hadn’t pulled that gun, but he had to be an asshole.
I went back inside and gathered what little I had. I got a bag from a closet and threw some supplies in there. Some food, some water, some survival gear. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I wanted to be prepared. Five minutes later, we were out front and ready to go.
Randy was sitting behind the wheel of his truck, breathing deeply and trying not to look over at us. I smirked at him but didn’t push it. I knew there wasn’t much honor in beating up an old man, even one that had a fucking gun pointed at my face.
“Ready?” I asked Piper.
“Ready.”
We stepped off the porch.
Just then, the sound of gravel churning up came echoing up the road.
I looked at her and we walked faster. Randy climbed out of his truck and peered down the hill.
“That’s them,” he said.
“Fuck,” I answered. “Is there another way out?”
He shrugged. “Might be.”
“Listen to me, you motherfucking cunt. You’re going to drive us out of here, and now.”
“No,” he said. “Don’t think I am.”
The truck was gaining, coming faster and faster. They could see us as well as we could see them, and the truck was flying now.
“Listen to me,” I said, pulling my gun. “How about I just kill you right here?”
“Then you’re really stuck.”
“Gates,” Piper warned.
“Fuck.” I wanted to break this bastard’s teeth in through his skull. “Fifty dollars.”
He smiled. “Two hundred.”
“I’ll do one hundred, and I won’t fucking break your knees when we’re done.”
“Fine. Get in.”
I nodded at Piper and we jumped around the front of the truck. She threw open the door and climbed inside.
But it was too late. The mafia truck pulled up, not too far away. Randy started the engine and it roared to life as I took aim at the mafia’s car. I squeezed off some shots, hitting their front windshield and cracking it.
One of the doors in the back flung open and a man jumped out. He took aim and fired as I dove back behind Randy’s truck. Piper screamed.
“Get down,” I yelled. I fired back, winging the guy, forcing him back. He yelled in anger and pain. I squeezed off a few more shots and hit one of the tires of their car as I climbed into Randy’s truck.
“Go!” I yelled. “Go, motherfucker!”
Randy hit the gas and we lurched forward. I leaned out the window and squeezed off more shots, pinning them back, as Randy’s truck flew off the gravel path and down a thin dirt track.
The mafia truck receded into the distance as Randy drove. I climbed back inside. “Everyone okay?”
“Yeah,” Randy said.
“Shut up, Randy.” I looked at Piper. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I’m okay.”
“Good.”
She hugged me, pressing herself against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.
That was too fucking close. If Randy had been a bigger piece of shit, or if those mafia guys had been a little more competent, we’d be caught. Hell, if Randy hadn’t come to warn us and rob us, we’d be fucked.
We drove like that for a while. Randy eventually turned back onto a gravel path, and I could tell we were winding our way down toward town. It took another forty minutes before we saw signs of civilization, and another ten before we finally pulled into the parking lot of a Wal-Mart.
We climbed out of the truck.
“Here’s where I leave you,” Randy said, holding his hand out.
“Actually,” I said, “this is where we leave you.”
He looked at me. “Oh, fuck no.”
“Sorry, Randy,” I said. I stepped toward him and pressed the gun against his gut. “Keys,” I said.
He dropped them in my hand. “Son of a bitch. Just like your daddy.”
I smiled at him then reached into my pocket. I took out the hundred dollars that I had counted out earlier and shoved them into his hand. “Payment, just like we agreed.”
“Asshole.”
“Good luck, Randy. If I ever see you again, I’ll break your knees.”
“Fuck off.”
I smiled and waved, then climbed back into the truck. Piper got in beside me. I rolled the windows up and pulled away.
“Did you have to steal this truck?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “It was the only way we’d get a ride. Safest way, at least.”
“I feel bad.”
“I gave him money. Plus, he tried to fucking kill me.”
“Good point.”
“Those mafia guys aren’t after him. Randy will be fine. And if he’s not, I won’t lose any sleep over it.”
Piper sighed and leaned back, shaking her head. “I can’t believe they found us so fast.”
“I know. I underestimated them.”
“How, though?”
“That cabin is in my father’s name. I’m guessing they’re going around checking records all over the place, making calls, trying to find any hole I might crawl into.”
“Nowhere is safe,” she said softly.
“That’s not true.”
“Where can we go? We’ll run out of cash eventually. We can’t use our cards. We’re screwed.”
“I know somewhere safe.”
“Where?” she asked, breathless.
“The safest place on the planet, actually. The United Stated Military.”
She looked at me as I grinned back at her and she started laughing. I hit the gas harder and let the truck lurch forward as we headed down the highway.
I had a plan, but I didn’t know if it was a good one. It was a long shot, but at this point, any shot was better than nothing.
I just hoped that my old commander was in a good mood.
17
Piper
We drove south for most of the afternoon, not stopping for anything. Around two, we had a little bathroom break, but then it was right back on the road.
“Where are we going?” I asked him for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Naval base,” he said.
I perked up. For most of the morning, he was giving me half answers and dodging the ques
tion, although I wasn’t sure why.
“Naval base? Why?”
“I used to be stationed there a long time ago.”
“Where is it?”
“Southern Indiana. Way down at the bottom. We should get there tomorrow morning.”
“Can’t we make it tonight?”
“Base won’t be open tonight. We’ll rest in a nearby motel then go to the base in the morning.”
“Why are we going there?”
He frowned and stared at the road. He drove alertly and seriously, which only made me want him more.
But watching him in action scared me. His face was blank, just like Tony’s was, except Gates seemed even more in control. Gates was willing to do whatever it took to save me, including shooting at those mafia men, maybe even killing one of them.
I even felt bad about what we did to Randy. That guy was clearly a big creep, but he was still a person. He didn’t know that our situation was life or death. He was just trying to get by. But I didn’t blame Gates for wanting to beat the crap out of that old asshole. He did say some nasty things about Gates’s father, after all.
I didn’t know how to process everything that I had seen. Gates moved into action so quickly that it was almost like he expected to have to do things like that, like he was constantly ready to shoot at mafia men, constantly ready to fight for his life.
I didn’t know how a person could live that way. I was doing it for only a day or two, while Gates made that his entire career. It was probably even worse out in Syria, or at least about the same. I could see how that might mess a man’s mind up after living so hard for so long. I could see how that would make you into a different person.
But I had to admit, knowing how strong he was and how capable made me absolutely soaking wet. I knew he was a dangerous and intense man, but I didn’t know exactly how skilled he was. Seeing him in action was an entirely different thing, and it made me excited.
I didn’t want to be the kind of girl that got all crazy about a nice pair of muscular arms and a cocky attitude, but apparently I was. At least Gates had the skills to back up his swagger. He was the real thing, an actual Navy SEAL, not some macho asshole poser.
I wanted him so badly in that moment, but I knew Gates was still amped up from the fight. He was keeping it together and driving well but I could see the excitement in his eyes.
“We’re going there because I know someone that might help.”
“Will they take us in?” I asked him.
“No,” he said. “Not exactly.”
“Gates. Please be clear.”
He grunted. “My old commanding officer still is stationed at that base, or he was the last time I heard. I think he can help us.”
“What can he do?”
Gates shook his head. “I don’t know. But he has connections, serious ones, and if someone can do it, he can.”
I sighed. “Okay. I trust you.”
Gates was quiet for a few minutes. “When I joined up, I was lost,” he said. “I didn’t know what I wanted with my life. General Maron gave me purpose. He saw something in me that nobody else saw.”
“He was the one that got you to join the SEALs?”
Gates nodded. “Maron gave me everything. He gave me my life.”
“Were you two close?”
“I guess, in a way. He was a mentor to me when I was going through my training.”
“That’s amazing. Having a mentor like that is the greatest thing.”
“It’s rare in the military to have a man like Maron take an interest in you. Because of him, I was able to go back to Syria and serve my country.”
“You love it, don’t you?”
Instantly, I wished I hadn’t asked that. He stiffened and his jaw clenched, and I knew I had found a sore spot.
But slowly, he relaxed and shook his head. “It’s hard to explain.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to.”
“The military is my life. It’s my purpose. I don’t love some of what I do, but it makes me feel more alive than anything else. When I’m out there, I’m more myself than I am anywhere else.”
I nodded and knew that I could never compete with that.
“I wish I had something like that.”
“You do and you don’t. Because you can’t stay out there forever, you have to come home eventually. And when you come home, nothing is ever the same. The things you do out there are for the good of your country, but they’re not things people back home would think are normal.”
“We all know soldiers do things overseas, things that are hard.”
“Yeah, you read shit. You watch movies. But you’ve never lived it, so you’ll never know.”
I nodded and didn’t say anything. I knew that I couldn’t say a word. He was absolutely right. There was no way a civilian like me could ever understand the things he went through.
Although they were difficult, I was happy he did them. They made him a stronger man, a better man, and he served our country. Gates was a hero, even if he didn’t feel like one or think he was one. To me, he was a real hero.
“You know, I started dating Tony because of you,” I blurted out.
He glanced at me, a small smirk on his face. “How’s that work?”
“You didn’t answer my letters,” I said. “I guess I was hurt. Tony was the first guy to be really nice to me.”
“So he was a rebound?”
“I guess so, at first.”
“I knew you were sitting at home, thinking about what it felt like to be with a real man that night.”
“I wasn’t just sitting around.”
“You’re right. I’m sure you were in the shower, and in your bed, and on your couch as well.”
“Don’t be an ass.”
“I’m not. We both know it’s the truth. You get dripping wet every time you think about me, and you couldn’t help yourself.”
He was more right than he probably knew, but I wasn’t going to tell him the truth.
“Don’t make me regret telling you things,” I said, looking away.
He laughed and continued driving, tearing the road to pieces.
I didn’t know what was going to happen, but it didn’t matter. Gates may have been a cocky asshole, but he was my hero. He was my protector.
I felt safe in that car with him, even if I was in the most dangerous situation of my life.
18
Gates
We drove for hours down Indiana. Cornfield after cornfield interspersed with soy fields flashed by. I saw more fucking cows than I ever wanted to see in my whole damn life.
Up north, Indiana used to have a bunch of marshes, probably leftover from whatever big ass glacier created the great lakes. Down south, though, was more like the plains. Everything was flat, so fucking flat. I missed the hills and forests of New York, but it didn’t matter.
We were on a mission, and sightseeing wasn’t a part of that mission.
I last spoke with General Maron two years ago, just before I deployed for Syria. We hadn’t left things on a good note, and I had no clue how he was going to receive us. Truth was, he might laugh in my fucking face and tell me to go sit on a ten-foot pole, and I might even deserve that.
But I had to try. If there was one person in my life that could help us, it was Maron. He had serious connections, political and otherwise. He was the kind of person that you could count on to solve a complex problem like this.
I was a hammer. I could break shit, and break it very well. But Maron was subtler than that. Maybe I’d be that way too one day if I ever decided to embrace post-war zone military life like Maron wanted me to, but I liked being a hammer. I was good at being a hammer.
I didn’t know anything else.
I couldn’t just turn off the parts of me that needed action and craved excitement. I was a killer, trained in combat. I couldn’t just come back to civilian life and sit behind a desk like Maron did. He understood how to play the game, how to amass power without using ha
mmers like me all the time.
Maron had subtlety. I needed to learn that skill, and learn it fast. Otherwise, I might be failing Piper. I knew what I was. I was a bad man, a dangerous man. I had skills that set me apart from most of the people living in normal society.
I was going to have to use all of those skills and then some if I wanted to make sure that we got out of this alive.
The base was situated in a small town at the very southern edge of the state. It was in the middle of nowhere, basically, and that was on purpose. The commanders didn’t want their trainees sneaking off base to go drinking or some shit like that, and so they made sure that the only thing worth doing in a fifty-mile radius was strictly controlled by the military.
Which meant there was just one motel near the base. It was about five miles away, a little Motel 6 chain place that was a total fucking dump, but it was better than nothing. We parked in the lot and I was already experiencing some intense memories as we stepped out of the truck.
I did a lot of my early training at this base. I was an idiot back then. I knew absolutely fucking nothing, and through the military’s training I became something. They broke me back then and remade me into the man I had become, and I was thankful for it.
But fuck, those were some good times, too. I remembered some of my squad mates, Jimmy and Leon and Bridges, all good guys. We used to go buy cheap moonshine from a nearby farmer and drink that garbage out in his fields until we were practically blind-drunk. Then we’d stumble back to base, sneak back over the fence, and puke our fucking guts out the next morning during physical training.
Jimmy was dead now. He took a sniper shot in Iraq. Bridges lost a leg during an IED attack that took out his convoy in Afghanistan. I couldn’t remember what had happened to Leon.
It seemed like I was the only one left that was still intact. None of those guys went through SEAL training, which was what set me apart in the end. Maybe it was what kept me alive through all the shit.
“Nice place,” Piper said as we headed toward the front desk.
“It’ll do,” I said. “What did you expect?”