by Mark Goodwin
“You can never be too careful. You have to be sure they’re dead. If they’re not, it could ruin your whole day,” JC whispered, then led the way to the next possible overwatch position along the tree line.
Danny didn’t need JC to explain the logic, but neither did he want to watch the gruesome deed.
The two men soon completed the sweep of the tree line and potential enemy sniper positions without locating any others. Rather than return to the original position, JC slid out from behind cover and stuck his hand in the air making a circular motion. This signaled to Jack’s team that they should rally to JC’s position rather than wait for him and Danny to return.
Jack quickly moved from his position, with Korey and Dana close behind. Once they’d arrived, JC leaned up against the barn wall to listen. Danny and the others did the same.
The low voice of one of the hostiles said, “Joey, we need you guys to help with this stuff. We can’t get the cow to stand still long enough to let us put the sack over its back.”
Another voice replied. “Two of you stand on that side. Bret, you and Pat stand on the other side so the cow can’t move.”
Danny could hear the ruckus going on through the boards of the barn. The cow, Old Red-Eye most likely, began lowing, a loud, annoyed bawl. The noisy cries of the animal provided the perfect distraction.
JC motioned with his hand that it was time to engage. He led the way out and away from the barn wall with Jack right on his tail. Danny came around the wall and stood with his rifle leveled at the nearest enemy assailant. Korey and Dana stood side by side, between Danny and the wall. The formation created an L-shaped perimeter around the kidnappers. With the wall of the barn on the opposite side of JC and Jack, the enemy had only one path of retreat.
JC screamed, “On the ground! Face down! On the ground now!”
The four men who had been fumbling about with the cow and the supplies put their hands in the air and quickly complied; the two remaining men standing guard turned their rifles toward JC.
Several shots exploded from both sides. When the air had cleared of the ringing sounds of rifle cracks and shotgun blasts, JC, Jack, Dana, Korey, and Danny were still standing. The two men who’d fired on JC were dead. One of the kidnappers, who hadn’t lain prone on the ground as instructed, also caught a stray bullet in the chest. He lay lifeless in a puddle of his own blood.
The other three lay motionless, with their hands on their heads. JC walked around shooting the three injured men twice in the head, then moved in quickly to the others. He pointed his rifle at one. Jack and Danny did the same, covering the other two as Dana and Korey moved in with the restraints.
Once they had the zip ties securely on their hands, Korey and Dana made a quick search for pistols or knives.
JC turned the first one over so he was lying face up on his back. “How many other people are with you on the farm?”
“None,” the man answered.
“Bad answer.” JC shot him twice in the head and moved to the next. “How many?”
“One, there’s a sniper over in the tree line.” The next man was shaking and quivering as he spoke.
JC moved to the next guy and flipped him over with his foot. “This is kind of like a reality show where only one contestant gets to live. Lying to me is an automatic elimination and you have to leave the island immediately, if you know what I mean. How many other people are with you guys and what type of weapons do they have?”
This man was also shaken up very badly. “Like he said, just one, in the tree line. He has a deer rifle with a scope.”
JC kept the rifle pointed at him. “Now, where’s the girl?”
The other man cried out. “Don’t say anything, Bret. Make him promise to let us both go.”
JC glanced over at the man, then back at Bret. “That’s right, Bret. Don’t say anything.” JC walked over to the other man. “First, I’m going to demonstrate on, what’s your name?”
“Travis.”
JC smiled. “Travis. I’m going to demonstrate on Travis here, exactly what I’m going to do to you if you don’t draw me a map and tell me everything about who’s watching the girl. And I mean I want every detail, right down to what type of flooring and paint color you guys have at your place.
“Jack, you and Danny get a rope over that rafter and string Travis up by his hands. Korey, you and Dana go keep watch behind the barn and make sure nobody slips up on us.”
Korey and Dana looked happy to get out of the barn before Travis was placed in suspended interrogation.
Jack and Danny did as they were instructed, and JC pulled his knife from its sheath. “Jack, run and get Catfish. Tell him to get his truck and pull it up to the barn. Then go get Rocky and Steven and bring them back here.”
Jack immediately followed the directive.
Danny again turned away while JC worked his craft. The shrill cries from the tortured man made Danny’s blood curdle, but he felt no sympathy for him. If he’d known that it would get Alisa back, he would have done it himself, although he was content to have JC doing it instead.
He walked over to Old Red-Eye and the other cow and untied them. At least they could escape being in the vicinity of the carnage. As the two cows ran away, he recalled the image of the blood red cow in his latest dream. He wondered whether the event he was now in the midst of might be the war and violence that the vision had foretold, or if the worst was still yet to come.
Four minutes later, Travis’ agonizing screams faded into incoherent moans, and then into silence. His eviscerated body dangled lifelessly from the rafter beam above.
JC walked back over to Bret and bent down. He wiped the blood from his knife in Bret’s shoulder-length brown hair. “I’m a little pressed for time, so I had to work kind of quick with Travis over here. But let me make you a promise.” JC stuck the point of the knife firmly to Bret’s sternum. “If you screw with me, if we don’t get the girl back alive, or if you pull any funny business whatsoever, I’ll spend weeks on you getting in touch with my creative side. You’ll be like my Sistine chapel.
“Now, you ready to tell me where we’re going and who we’re going to find there?”
Bret’s face was as white as a ghost, and he shook like a leaf. “Ye-ye-yes, sir.”
“Good boy!” JC stood and kicked dirt in Bret’s face. “How many people are there?”
“Two. Gwen and Jena. They have a revolver and a shotgun. The girl is tied up in the bathroom of the master bedroom. It’s about two and a half miles from here on McClain, up New Hope, left on Mar-Mac, right on McClain.”
“Do you know where that is?” Danny asked JC.
“Yep, it’s back in that neighborhood.” JC turned back to Bret and pointed the knife at his eye. “If you’re lying to me, I’m going to cut you up in little pieces. You know that, right?”
Bret nodded.
The others came in shortly thereafter. None were prepared to see Travis’ mutilated body dangling from the rope.
And no one said anything, except for Catfish who walked up to Travis’ cadaver and poked him with the barrel of his gun, causing the corpse to swing like a morbid pendulum. “Lucky I didn’t get a hold of ’im. He’d a-been a mite messier ‘n he is now.”
JC looked over at Catfish. “If this one’s lying, I’ll let you show me a thing or two.”
Catfish smiled a sinister grin at Bret. “Hmmm.”
JC looked at Steven. “You hang out here and watch our new friend. If he moves, blow his feet off with your shotgun. Make sure he doesn’t die. If Alisa isn’t where he said, he’s got Catfish to answer to.”
Steven nodded but said nothing. He looked appalled by the grotesque scene of blood and corpses littering the barn.
JC pointed to the men as he called their names. “Danny, Jack, Korey, and Rocky, you guys ride in the bed of the truck. I’ll sit up front with Catfish.”
Dana asked, “JC, do you want me to go with you guys?”
“Yeah, it might help Alisa to see a frien
dly female face. She’s had a tough day. You might have a more calming effect on her than all this testosterone. You can ride up front in the middle.”
Danny patted Steven on the arm as he walked toward the truck. “You’ll be okay till we get back?”
Steven nodded. “Just go get our girl.”
“I will.” Danny put his foot on the back bumper and hoisted himself into the back of the truck.
Catfish drove down the driveway and to the road. In less than five minutes they hit the subdivision. Catfish turned the lights off and used the intermittent moonlight to navigate slowly toward the house. He pulled off the road three houses down from where Alisa was supposedly being held.
JC surveyed the surrounding area. “If Bret is telling the truth, there should only be two girls guarding the house. Don’t let your guard down because they’re girls. A bullet from a girl’s gun will kill you just as fast as one from a man’s. If anyone thinks they’ll have trouble defending themselves against a woman, speak now. Rocky?”
Rocky lowered his head. “You better put me in the back of the line.”
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. It is what it is and you recognize it. Anybody else?” JC looked each of them in the eye.
Catfish looked away when JC’s stare met his. JC put his hand on his shoulder. “Catfish, you’ve got a shotgun. I’m going to make you the key man. You’ll shoot the door knob off when we breach, then fall in the back of the line when we enter. Do you have any deer slugs? That’s the best round for a breach.”
Catfish nodded and JC quickly showed him the angle that he would hold the shotgun for the breach.
JC looked his son in the eye, then moved to Danny.
Danny looked straight ahead. “They’ve got my wife. I’ll kill anyone who gets between me and her.”
JC nodded. “Okay. When we stack up, the order will be me, Danny, Jack, Dana, Rocky. Catfish will breach and follow the rest of us in. We’ll penetrate as deep into the house as we can. If you hesitate to take a shot, and the hostile is able to get Alisa to use as a shield, your hesitation might be the thing that kills her. Sorry to be so direct, but this is life and death. I can’t sugarcoat it, people.”
Everyone nodded, and they approached the house. There were no sounds or light coming from inside and Danny wondered if this was the right place. But of course, with no power or electronic devices, a human voice was one of the few sounds one could expect to hear.
Catfish approached the door with the shotgun and held it up at a forty-five-degree angle from the door knob. He waited for JC’s signal. JC looked behind him to ensure that the rest of the team was stacked up properly, then dropped his hand.
Catfish blew the lock and kicked the door. JC led the way through and cleared the living room.
Danny saw a shadow move across the candlelight in the kitchen. “Gun!” He turned to see a woman with blonde hair and a shotgun take aim at him.
He fired his weapon as did JC and Dana. The woman shot into the air as she fell limp.
JC had Danny, Jack, and Dana stacked up again outside of the bedroom door. He checked the knob; it was locked. JC took out his knife and used it like a screwdriver to turn the lock of the bedroom door. He sheathed his knife and turned the knob slowly. JC simultaneously kicked the door open and leveled his rifle as he entered the room.
A young woman sat screaming in the corner of the room with her hands on her head. “Don’t shoot! Please! She’s in the bathroom.”
Danny rushed to the door and opened it. “Alisa!”
She looked up at him, her hands duct-taped. “Danny! You found me!”
JC came in next and cut the tape off of her hands. “How many people were in the house?”
“I don’t know. Since the men left to get the ransom, I’ve only seen the two girls.” Alisa looked rough.
JC patted Danny on the shoulder. “Take care of your wife.” He turned to Dana and pointed at the girl crying in the corner. “Get restraints on that one. Jack, Rocky, help me clear the rest of the house.”
JC, Jack, and Rocky left the room to ensure that no other hostiles were in the house. Dana zip-tied the crying girl, and Danny held his wife close.
He pulled his head back to look her over. “Are you okay?”
Tears were streaming down her face. She smiled and wiped her cheek with the sleeve of her shirt. “Yeah. I am now. I was so afraid, Danny. Afraid I wouldn’t see you again. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too. I’m sorry I let this happen.” He pulled her close again. “Did they hurt you?”
“Not too bad. When they grabbed me, they were pretty rough. Someone grabbed me from behind, and another person stuck a sock in my mouth and duct-taped it in. Then, they held my hands and feet together and wrapped them with duct tape.”
“But no one . . . bothered you?” Danny couldn’t bring himself to say the word.
Alisa was still crying. “No, but I was afraid they might. One guy, I think his name was Bret, he kept bothering me, saying stuff, but Gwen, the girl over there in the corner, she stopped him. She brought me food, water, and cut my hands free so I could go to the bathroom. Take it easy on her.”
Danny looked over at the prisoner. “But she didn’t set you free either.”
Alisa pleaded with Danny. “I know, but it would have been a much worse experience without her. If she hadn’t protected me from Bret, it could have been a lot worse. The only reason she was even mixed up with these guys is because of her boyfriend, Travis. He tells her what to do, and if she steps out of line, he knocks her around. Regardless, God used her to help me through this.”
Danny pursed his lips. “But God could have used her to get you free. It was just her and the other girl here. There’s a pistol on the nightstand. She could have got both of you out of here. We would have taken care of her.”
“I told her that, but she was so scared of Travis.”
“Well, whatever happens, she won’t have to worry about him anymore.” Danny thought about the butchered remains dangling from the rafter back in the barn. “Let’s get you home. Nana will boil you some water for a hot bath; there’s a big pot of chili waiting for you. You can eat, have a nice cup of tea, and go to bed.”
Alisa squeezed his neck. “Thank you.”
JC’s voice rang out from the living room. “All clear! Let’s move out!”
Dana stood in the door way. “I’m glad you’re okay. We were all praying for you.”
“Dana, you look like a commando,” Alisa said.
“Anything for you.” Dana pushed Alisa’s hair out of her face with her fingers. “You did the same thing for me.”
“Not exactly.” Alisa held Danny’s hand as they walked out of the bedroom.
Dana followed. “Close enough. You got me out of Savannah. Who knows what would have happened to me if I had stayed. I doubt I would still be alive. And if I were, I might be wishing I was dead.”
Jack and Korey grabbed Gwen and escorted her to the truck.
Alisa instructed them. “Take it easy on her. She’s a good person. What are you going to do with her?”
Jack shrugged. “Dad wants her to see her friends.”
“What does that mean?” Alisa asked.
“I don’t know. I guess he wants her to see what we did to them. Maybe just to frighten her, so she’ll think twice about getting mixed up in a crew like this again.”
“What did you do to her friends?” Alisa asked.
“They’re dead, all except for Bret.” Danny opened the passenger door of the truck for Alisa. Dana and JC rode in the back with the others so she and Danny could be up front.
Catfish drove the truck up to Nana’s front door. “Danny, you take care of your wife. We’ll get that mess cleaned up down yonder.”
“I want to see. I need to know what JC is making Gwen look at.” Alisa said.
“You’ve been through enough for one day. Go on inside and get cha somethin’ to eat.” Catfish gave her a warm smile.
“Don
’t let anybody hurt Gwen, Catfish. She protected me, fed me, and did what she could. Promise me, Catfish.” Alisa wouldn’t get out of the truck until she got her answer.
Catfish nodded. “I’ll look after her, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Alisa stepped out of the truck and looked at everyone in the back. “Thank you all for coming to get me. You’re good friends. Be kind to Gwen. She’s not like the rest of them.”
JC smiled at Alisa. “We all love you. Everybody here would do anything in the world for you.”
“Thanks.” She put her hand on JC’s arm. “Everybody.”
“Dana, you can get out here. You did a good job. I’d be happy to have you on my team any day,” JC said. “You, too, Danny. Good work.”
“Thanks. And thank you for coordinating the rescue.” Danny took Dana’s hand to help her down from the back of the pickup.
Catfish drove off toward the barn while Danny, Alisa, and Dana went in the house.
Pauline was in the living room with the kids. “You’re home! Praise Jesus!”
Melissa walked in with Annie in her arms and her pistol on her side. “Is everybody okay?”
“Everybody from our team. The other team wasn’t quite as fortunate.” Danny took his boots off before continuing into the house.
“No injuries?” Tracey Reese asked.
“Nope. Not a scratch. Where is Nana?” Danny asked.
“She’s still in her room praying. She hasn’t been out except to get a drink of water or use the restroom since you guys left,” Pauline said.
“We were praying with her, too.” Kalie Reese put her arm around her mother’s leg.
Danny had been pushing his emotions back all day, and he’d reached his limit. He began to sob as he held his wife close. “Well, I guess God heard your prayers.”
Nana came in the room, followed by Rusty wagging his tail.
“Oh, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Lord. Hallelujah!” She threw her hands in the air.
“I’m so glad to see you both.” Nana put her arms around Danny and Alisa. “Let’s get you cleaned up and fed.”
Alisa sighed. “Thank you, Nana. It’s good to be back.