Ichabod

by Mark Goodwin

  “So the fact that they’re ex-military, is that bad?” Danny stuck his hands in his pockets.

  JC raised his eyebrows. “Depends on how you look at it. On one side, if they know what they’re doing, it will be hard to get the drop on them. On the other side, if they’re all ex-military, or even just the top guy, they might have a higher level of honor about how they treat Alisa while she’s a prisoner. Even if they’ve gotten desperate enough to pull off something like this, most guys who were in the service wouldn’t rape or stand by while anyone else mistreats a girl. I don’t want to scare you, but I’m sure I’m not saying anything that hasn’t already crossed your mind.”

  Danny had tried to avoid thinking about that subject, but he was inevitably going to have to deal with it. “Yeah. Well, I pray they’re not complete scumbags.”

  Dana looked away in horror. She said nothing as she crossed her arms and shivered.

  “Have you thought about how you’re going to get two cows to let you tie a rope on their necks or load stuff on their backs?” JC handed the note back to Danny.

  “Pop used to have a few dairy cows. I could put feed in two of the milking bays. Each of the bays has a clamp that locks the cow’s head in place while someone milks them. I could at least get a rope around their neck. I don’t think any cow is going to let you load saddlebags on their back if they haven’t been broken.”

  “Yeah, me neither. Obviously, these clowns don’t know too much about cattle,” JC snorted. “We could use that to our advantage.”

  “How?”

  “Give these guys everything they’ve asked for. Load ‘em up with tons of heavy supplies, then let them deal with getting it back to their base of operations. If they actually bring Alisa back, somebody could tail them back, since they’ll be easy to follow with all of that weight. Then we can see what size force we are dealing with, draw up a plan, and hit them at a later date.

  “If they are messing with us and don’t bring Alisa back, we can take them while they are bumbling around with the loot and the cows.”

  Danny was already starting to breathe a little easier. Just having someone who could even think through this situation gave him hope. “And you think we could take them?”

  “If they don’t bring her back, we’ve gotta try.”

  “How many guys do you think it is?”

  “I don’t have a clue. They’re asking for two cows with ropes, so you might have two guys planning to lead the cattle back plus a security team. Maybe two guys working security for the two leading the cattle back, and two more working overwatch security from a distance. But it could be way more. I’m just guessing here.” JC shook his head.

  “Do you have a plan? What can we do?”

  JC drug his foot through the dirt on the barn floor. “How good of a shot is your buddy, Steven?”

  “I don’t know. He hasn’t really trained a lot.”

  “Yeah. Nobody has. This is not the best-case scenario. Rocky can shoot distance. He’s been hunting these woods since he was a kid. So has Catfish. Korey Reese looks like he could shoot and move. That leaves me, you, Korey . . .” JC paused. He obviously didn’t want to finish his sentence. “And Jack for the fire team. We need Steven, but he’s got that bum leg. He won’t be able to move fast if we get in trouble.”

  “I’ll fight. I’ll do whatever I can.” Dana had quit crying. Now she looked mad.

  JC sighed. “You know how to shoot a shotgun?”

  “Yes.” She looked determined to do her part.

  “We might have to use you. We need about four times the amount of people we have to even consider an operation like this.” JC bent down and began making marks in the dirt floor with a stick.

  “We’ll give them a bunch of cumbersome stuff so they have to figure out how they’re going to carry it back. We’ll put Rocky and Catfish up along these two hedgerows looking down on the barn. Steven will be up in this clump of trees, a little closer so he won’t have such a long shot. If they don’t bring Alisa, the fire team will walk in from the back woods and try to locate and capture their overwatch support. Then, we’ll capture the people planning to make off with the goods.”

  “Then what?” Dana asked.

  “Then we’ll make them talk. Make them tell us where Alisa is.”

  “What if they won’t tell us?” Danny asked.

  JC didn’t flinch. “If I can catch two of ‘em alive, one of them will tell me everything I want to know.”

  Danny furrowed his brow. He didn’t know exactly what JC meant, and he didn’t want any clarification.

  JC stood up. “For now, we need to get everybody rounded up. Dana, you go tell Nana what we’re doing. Explain that everyone is going to need to eat. Next, wake up Steven and tell him what’s going on. Then run over to Rocky’s and have him go get Korey. Tell everyone it’s urgent and to meet up at Nana’s as quick as possible, and tell them to bring guns.”

  JC looked at Danny. “Where’s your gun?”

  “I don’t have it.”

  JC shook his head. “Never leave the house without it again. Run and get it. Meet me back here. We need to sweep the property and make sure they don’t have somebody watching us right now.”

  “Okay.” Danny ran to the house, grabbed his AK, two extra magazines, and came right back.

  JC was waiting when Danny arrived. “Let me see your rifle.”

  Danny handed it to him. JC pulled the ejection port lever just enough to verify that there was a shell in the chamber. JC switched off the safety and handed it back to Danny. “You got extra magazines?”

  “Two, in my jacket pocket.”

  “Let me see you do a magazine change.”

  Danny fumbled to hold the rifle in one hand and retrieve one of his other magazines from his jacket pocket. It took him nearly twenty seconds to switch out the magazine.

  JC shook his head. “What if someone were shooting at you while you had to do all of that? Let me see your rifle again.”

  Danny handed the rifle back to JC.

  JC held out his other hand. “And let me see one of those extra magazines.”

  Danny complied.

  JC stuck the magazine in his back pocket. “I’ve got an extra vest for you at the house. Practice with it before we go out tonight. For now, if you have to change magazines, keep your mag in your back left pocket. Hold your rifle up against your chest like this with your right hand wrapped around the trigger guard and hit the release lever. Keep your right hand like this while you extract the spent mag with your left. Drop your spent mag in your jacket and quickly grab the other. Make sure the bullets are facing out so it will naturally go directly in the mag well.”

  JC demonstrated the instructions then handed it to Danny. “You try.”

  Danny took the weapon and performed the exercise in about five seconds. “That’s much faster. Thanks.”

  “Improvement is all we’re looking for. Let’s roll out. Stay about ten feet behind me so they can’t kill us both with one bullet. If you see something, click your teeth twice. It sounds like a woodchuck.”

  Danny sucked his teeth in an attempt to make the desired sound effect. “That doesn’t sound like a woodchuck.”

  “Yeah, not when you do it. But still, it blends in better with nature than yelling ‘Hey, buddy.’” JC drew his pistol and led the way.

  They worked their way around the perimeter of the fence that ran along the road, then circled around the back side of the property and into the woods. They walked cautiously, picking a methodical path through each section of forest.

  Once they’d covered all the areas from where they could be watched, JC motioned for Danny to come up closer to him. “What does your brother in-law have in that RV?”

  “I don’t know. He has a really good lock on it.”

  “Yeah, I saw that. Think he has any hardware in there? I’m sure if he knew our circumstances, he wouldn’t mind us getting into it.”

  Danny shrugged. “If we do get into it, we wouldn’
t be able to lock it back. Then it would be wide open for looters.”

  JC nodded. “You’re right. We’ve probably got most everything we need for this in the way of guns. Me and Jack both have ARs. You’ve got an AK. Everybody has shotguns, and we’ve got plenty of deer rifles for our long-distance shooters. I’ve got two night vision scopes. It would be nice to have a few more of those. Do you remember Nick saying anything about having night vision?”

  “No. Wow! That’s awesome that you have some.” Danny followed JC as they continued back toward his house.

  “Yeah, they’re Gen 1, which isn’t the best, but in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. And that’s exactly what working at night is, the land of the blind. If we have night vision and they don’t, we’ll eat them alive.”

  Danny was starting to feel better about the situation. “If we had silencers, we’d be like ninjas.”

  “I thought of that after your Nana told me about your dreams. I was going to splurge and get one, but there was no way I could get through all of the paperwork in time. We do have bows, and Jack has a .357 Benjamin air rifle. Those weapons systems might work if we can locate and sneak up on the overwatch team.”

  Danny glanced over at JC. “An air rifle? That will kill someone.”

  “A head shot with a .357 Benjamin will. People hunt deer, hogs, coyotes, you name it, with that gun.” JC held down the top wire of the fence for Danny as they crossed over onto his property.

  Danny’s mind was racing, thinking about the fight that was coming in a few short hours. He had to focus on the task at hand, gearing up, training on the fly, and being mentally ready for whatever was ahead. As stressful as it was, the intensity of the circumstances was a welcome distraction from worrying about his young wife. Each time he caught himself drifting into the territory of speculating on her condition or how she was being treated, he forced himself to refocus on the mission before him.

  When they arrived back at JC’s house, he called out to his son. “Jack.”

  “What’s up?” Jack hurried off of the porch.

  JC shook his head. “It ain’t good. They grabbed Alisa. We’re going to try to get her back. Hopefully, they’ll play nice and it will be an easy exchange, but we can’t count on that. We gotta be ready for anything. Gear up. We’ve got a bunch of guys to get trained in the next couple hours.”

  Jack snorted. “Two hours? You can’t train anybody in two hours.”

  “I know, but we’re gonna do it anyway.” JC headed toward the house. “Danny, come on in here. Let’s get you in a good vest to carry your magazines. I’m going to have Melissa and Annie head on over to Nana’s also. If things get rough, it would be best to have all the ladies in one place. Melissa can hold her own with a gun, so she can defend the house as long as Nana or Rocky’s wife can watch Annie.”

  JC led Danny to his bedroom and went into his walk-in closet. He came back out carrying an olive drab tactical vest. “See how this works for you.”

  “Thanks.” Danny put on the vest and zipped it up. He placed his two spare magazines in the pouches.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m worried. I just can’t let myself start thinking about what they’re doing to her.”

  JC looked at the floor. “Yeah. I’m sorry for your situation. What I really meant was, how are you feeling about a potential gunfight?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll just do what I have to do, I guess. I felt sort of sick after I shot those people when we first left Savannah. And pretty much the same way when I had to kill that kid’s dad, maybe a little worse because of the kid.”

  JC looked back up at Danny. “You’ve been through it. It ain’t ever fun, but at least you know you ain’t gonna freeze up. That’s all I need to know. I wouldn’t wish that sick feeling on anybody, but I do wish everybody else on our team had been tested in the fire, so we’d know for sure that they’re good when it comes to pulling the trigger.”

  Jack walked into the room. He had a similar green tactical vest with a Glock in the pistol holster and several magazines for his AR-15. “Ready.”

  JC looked up at his son and sighed. Danny could see the tears welling up in his eyes. He felt bad for JC. His oldest son, like Cami, was still out there, somewhere. Now, he had to deal with putting his youngest son into harm’s way. Danny watched as the man took hold of his emotions and pushed back the tears.

  JC nodded and smiled at Jack. “Good. Grab your bow and your Benjamin. We need to have plenty of options.”

  “Okay, be right back.” Jack leaned his rifle against the door jam and left to retrieve the other items.

  JC went back in the closet and retrieved his vest, magazines, rifle, and two small cases. He opened one of the cases and took out the night vision scope. He removed the reflex sight from his AR-15, and replaced it with the scope. He placed a forty-five-degree offset rail on the back of the rifle and placed the reflex sight on that. Next, he repeated the process for Jack’s rifle. “We won’t be able to sight these scopes in until the sun goes down.”

  “Won’t they hear us shooting when you sight them in?”

  “No, I have a chamber boresighter. It’s the same size as a 5.56 round. Basically, a laser pointer that shows you right where the round will go.”

  “And the EMP didn’t affect it?”

  “No circuitry in it. It’s just a flashlight.”

  “And what about your night vision?”

  “I don’t know if they’re not susceptible to EMP or if the gun safe protected it, but they both still work.”

  “That’s all that matters.” Danny watched as JC double-checked all the changes he’d made to the configuration of the rifles.

  “I’ve got everything, Dad.” Jack stood at the door with his bow and the Benjamin rifle.

  “Wow. That’s a cool-looking air gun.” Danny inspected the rifle.

  “It’s called a bullpup. Here, take a look.” Jack handed him the weapon.

  “Thanks, I can carry it back to Nana’s if you like. It looks like you’ve got your hands full.”

  Jack accepted his offer. “That would be great.”

  The three men packed up all of their gear, waited for Melissa and Annie to get ready, then the group headed back to Nana’s to meet up with the rest of the posse.

  When Danny and JC’s family made it back to Nana’s, Catfish had just arrived. “Sorry to hear about Alisa, but we’ll get her back.” His sympathy for Danny showed through his unkempt beard and bushy eyebrows.

  Danny forced a smile. “Thanks for coming. I appreciate your help.”

  Steven was sitting on the couch and loading the shotgun with buckshot. “JC, do you have a plan?”

  “I’m working on one. As soon as everybody shows up, I’ll go over it.”

  Dana had returned from Rocky’s and was sitting next to Steven. “I’m still on the team, right?”

  “Yeah. We need everyone who’s willing. But when it comes time to pull the trigger, you can’t hesitate. You’ll get yourself and everybody else killed if you do. If you think you’re going to have a problem with it, it’s much better to tell me now. No one will think any less of you. Catfish, Steven, that goes for you guys, too.”

  Catfish scowled. “Them filthy vermin, grabbin’ that little girl. Boy howdy, I’d skin ‘em all alive. They’ll be fortunate if all I do is shoot ‘em!”

  Nana was cooking a large pot of chili for everyone. “Hush up talkin’ like that, you old coot! Y’all get in here and get cha somethin’ ta eat.”

  “I ain’t just talkin’, Miss Jennie. I’ll send ever one of ‘em straight to hell. Let the devil contend with ‘em.” Catfish made no argument about being told to eat as he made his way to the dining room table.

  JC looked at Steven as the rest of the group meandered toward the table. “What about you? Think you can do it when the time comes?”

  Steven pursed his lips. “Yeah. Getting shot sort of changed the way I feel about people pointing guns at me or the people I care abou
t.”

  Dana did not look happy about any of this business. She looked at JC. “I can do it . . . if I have to. Alisa saved my life by getting me out of Savannah. I owe it to her to do whatever I can to save her life. I’ll do what you tell me. Please, just help us get her back.”

  “I’ll do my best.” JC put his hand on her shoulder.

  Rocky, Pauline, and the Reese family came in shortly after the others had begun eating.

  Danny stood up to give his seat to Pauline. “I can eat chili standing up. You sit here.”

  JC, Jack, and Catfish all stood to offer their seats to the ladies as well.

  Steven started to get up, but Danny stopped him. “There’s plenty of chairs. You stay seated. Save your leg for tonight.”

  “Okay.” Steven nodded.

  Everyone talked about how horrible it was that Alisa had been taken. Danny tried to block the conversation out. It was all he could do to eat. His stomach was queasy and shaky, and he had no appetite whatsoever, but he knew he needed his strength, so he forced himself to finish the bowl of chili.

  Once they’d finished eating, JC addressed the ladies and the children. “Melissa is your tactical commander for the house. It’s very important that everyone follows her directions tonight. If you hear gunfire, stay low to the ground and away from windows. Pauline, you, Tracey, and Nana all know how to handle a weapon, so you’ll be Melissa’s backup. She knows how to make sure none of you get caught in a crossfire and end up shooting each other, so you have to follow her lead.”

  JC tussled the hair of ten-year-old Jason Reese. “Think you can handle the kids tonight?”

  Jason looked offended. “I can shoot. Let one of these women watch the children.”

  It was obvious that the response had caught JC off guard as he fought back a laugh. JC turned to Korey.

  Korey gave a reluctant nod. “He’s pretty good with a .22.”