Twistered

by J. L. Wilson

  "What are you doing?" I whispered.

  Jack's arm didn't waver, pointing straight at the man behind Baby Dot. I stared into Jack's face but his concentration was complete.

  "Move away, Dorothy." Drew's voice was firm but gentle.

  "Baby Dot's there, Drew. She's in danger."

  "I know. Move away. Give Jack room."

  "I have a shot." Jack stared fixedly at the yellow-shirted man.

  I looked frantically at Baby Dot. The knife was still pressed at her throat. The man's arm was tight across her upper chest, keeping her pinned against him.

  "Jack, you can't." I wanted to grab his arm but I didn't dare, afraid his gun might discharge and Baby Dot be hit.

  "Strawn." Jack ignored me as though I hadn't spoken. "I have the solution."

  "That's not a solution," I whispered frantically. Baby Dot's eyes were huge blue pools full of tears, so large in her thin face. I remembered that news story, when Jack killed his girlfriend's son. Did he have the solution then?

  "Auntie D, I'm scared," Baby Dot sobbed.

  I shifted toward Drew and he shook his head slightly, warning me against action. "It'll be okay," I said in a trembling voice. "Drew will take care of us."

  "I wouldn't count on that," the tall businessman-type sneered.

  "Jack?" Drew's voice was soft. "It's your call."

  Before the words had faded, a shot rang out, filling my ears with reverberating noise. I rushed through the cloud of smoke? Cordite? Dust? I wasn't sure what the acrid-smelling stuff was. I reached Baby Dot as Drew closed in, his gun pointing over me to the greasy-haired man who was moving toward the front of the cave and Mina, still standing there as though paralyzed.

  "Back off." Drew's voice was cold and commanding. "You can't get out."

  "She's bleeding, oh, God, she's bleeding." I saw the bright red blood on Baby Dot's pale throat, a trickle of red oozing over her Adam's apple. It dribbled along her throat and onto her T-shirt, a darker red stain on the red of the fabric. I put my arm around her and she sagged against me.

  Drew glanced down at her as he moved to the middle of the cave. "It's not critical." He spoke over his left shoulder. "Do you have him?"

  I turned and saw Jack, his gun now pointed along the left side of the wall at the businessman and beyond him, the greasy-haired man. "I've got them both. Tend to the girl."

  I turned back to Baby Dot, who was staring up at me, her eyes wild. "Auntie D, what happened?" She began a slow slide to the ground.

  "Come on, honey, you'll be fine, come on." I supported her as she sank down. She was almost to the ground when I was grabbed roughly from behind.

  I struggled against whoever held me, wresting myself away from the grip to spin against the side of the cave, stepping on poor Baby Dot as I did so. The businessman reached for me, his face contorted with anger. I dodged him but stumbled against Baby Dot's legs, pitching forward.

  A gun. I saw it in one startling moment of clarity. He had a gun pointed at me. I flinched. I know it was stupid. I was so close I couldn't avoid it, but I couldn't help myself. Before I could do anything, I was grabbed again. Jack had his arms around me and he turned, carrying me with him. We spun, a gun went off, and we crashed into the ground, all actions happening simultaneously. Another shot was fired, then another, then it was terribly, eerily, quiet.

  "Jack?" He lay on me, his weight crushing my breath. My cheek pressed against the rough stone of the cave. I managed to twist and turn, sitting up partially. Drew was already kneeling nearby, helping to pull Jack away from me. I put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, are you...?" The words died in my throat when I saw the gaping wound a few inches below his right collarbone. "Oh, God."

  "We need a medic." Drew's voice was calm and controlled. He pressed the device on his ear. "We need the medics." He moved Jack quickly but gently away from me, supporting Jack's limp body with both arms. "Dorothy, help me. I need your coat."

  I didn't question him. I stripped off my jacket and upended it. Phone, papers, pencils, and my key chain all fell to the floor of the cave. I wadded the coat and handed it to Drew, who pressed it against Jack's chest. I knelt nearby, not sure what to do.

  "Support his head," Drew said. "Don't raise it, just give him support."

  I scooted closer and leaned over, putting my hands under Jack's head. This brought my face directly over his. I stared down and saw him watching me, his eyes vague and unfocused.

  "I'm here, Jack," I whispered. "Help is on the way." He tried to smile but it appeared to be too much effort. "We'll get you fixed up like new."

  He blinked in acknowledgement. His eyes were very bright against the stark whiteness of his skin. I saw the small hairs of his beard, the fine lines around his eyes, and the deeper lines around his mouth. Don't let him die, I thought feverishly. He's a good person, he's a good man. He deserves better than to die in a cold cave like this.

  "Hard...to...breathe," he wheezed.

  Drew's eyes narrowed. "His heart. He has a bad heart. It must be..." Drew suddenly stood, gesturing to Mina. "Get over here and keep pressure on his wound." Mina scurried forward and stood next to Jack, hesitating. "Damn it, help us." Drew pushed her down and Mina sank to the floor, putting her hands on the wadded mass of my jacket.

  Drew went to a dark shape on the floor dressed in Dockers and a windbreaker, pulling handcuffs from his jacket pocket as he went. I watched him lean over and touch the body. He straightened without putting the handcuffs on the man. Next he went to the greasy-haired man, who was splayed on the floor near the alcove where K.K. still huddled. Drew paused briefly before going to the yellow-shirted man who was sprawled a few feet away from where I crouched over Jack. He wasn't yellow-shirted any more. His shirt was covered with red blood. I caught a glimpse of what remained of his face before I looked away.

  Drew touched the gadget on his ear again. "Three suspects down. FBI agent wounded. I need backup and the EMTs now. Possible heart attack complicated by gunshot wound."

  I tried to visualize how a rescue might play out. We were two stories above a flood plain, now probably covered with water. The only path to this cave was narrow and twisting. It was the middle of the night and it was raining. The other alternative was to come through the Tube and the cave we just traversed. I met Mina's eyes across Jack's body and saw the same grim knowledge there that I knew was in my eyes.

  "We'll get a doctor here and he'll stabilize you," I said, praying my voice didn't reflect my skepticism. Can they make it in time? There's so much blood. Is he bleeding to death? He's so white. He seems so weak. Don't think about it. Focus. He took a bullet for me. The words resonated in my head. He took a bullet for me. Don't think about it. One thing at a time. Focus on Jack. He took a bullet for me.

  "Good." Jack's face relaxed. His body, too, seemed to loosen as though he was allowing the pain to wash away and leave him. "I like it here. Maybe...I'll stay." His voice was very soft and faint.

  "You do that," I babbled. "Mina can find you a house." I stared at her, bending over Jack with a single-minded determination. She raised her head, her eyes bleak then she refocused on him as though her concentration was an antidote to the blood seeping through my coat.

  "They're on the way, Jack." Drew knelt next to Jack. He picked up Jack's hand, gently prying the gun out of it. "Hang on. It'll just be another minute or two." His eyes went to the right, at the back of the cave. "Are you okay?"

  "He's hurt." Baby Dot's voice was teary and tremulous. "He tried to protect me."

  I peered around Mina, careful not to jostle Jack's head. Baby Dot knelt next to King. When she turned to lift him, I saw that the cut on her throat was red but not bleeding.

  Drew touched his earpiece again. "We need a vet. Yes, I said a vet. We have an injured monkey." He smiled down at Jack. "Yes, you heard me correctly. A monkey. We'll bring him out with the others."

  "That's...one...for...the...books," Jack wheezed.

  "In here!" Voices shouted from the black curtain-like op
ening as people started to swarm into the chamber. I glimpsed Deputy Ginger and Deputy Wane, but the others were all strangers.

  Drew stood, moving away from Jack. "Agent Tinsley is here. Two suspects there," and he gestured toward the left and front of the cave, "And one there." He gestured to the red-and-yellow crumpled body on the floor.

  "Where did you come from?" I watched in amazement as four men in black jackets made a beeline for us, bringing with them the smell of rain and mud. Two of them carried a stretcher. "How did you get here so soon?"

  The men with the stretcher set it next to Jack. "Move aside." The medic's voice was brisk but sympathetic. "We've got him now."

  Mina sank back on her heels and slid along the rough stone floor to get out of the way of the men leaning over Jack. A man appeared at my side and put his hands next to mine under Jack's head. "I've got him. You can release him."

  I scooted along the floor to give them room. I peered into the faces as I did so. I didn't recognize anyone. I knew all the EMTs in town. I volunteered to cook at their fundraisers every year. "Who are they?" I asked Drew as I pulled myself to my feet, using the wall to help me when my knees started to shake.

  He moved carefully around the men to stand next to me. "FBI. They were in place at the top of the hill, above us."

  "But there's no trail," I said. "How did they get here?"

  "There's a trail," Mina said, her voice hoarse. "It's on the far side of the pasture. Old steps cut into the hillside. They lead to a path that comes into the cave from the opposite end of the side we always used." Her smile was fleeting and tremulous. "When we were kids we thought it took too long to use the stairs and the path, so we always took the hard way up the slope." She shook her head. "I forgot all about it."

  I leaned forward, trying to glimpse Jack. "Is he okay?"

  "Hell, no, he's not okay," one of the rain-coated men snapped. "He's in shock, a bullet plowed through his chest, and I think he's had a heart attack." He grinned at me. "But he's tough as nails. I think he'll make it."

  I sagged against the wall, exhaustion making my knees shake. Something cold and sticky pressed against my shoulder blades. I tugged at my golf shirt, trying to peer at my back. "What is it?"

  Drew gently turned me so he could check. "Blood. Where the hell--Dorothy, are you hurt?"

  "Of course not." I twisted, trying to see my back. "I keep running into things. It's probably a bruise or something." I shifted to the other side and as I did, a sharp pain tore through my right shoulder blade. It felt like somebody stabbed me with an ice pick or a knife. "How could I be hurt?" I leaned against the wall again, suddenly needing its support when my knees started to buckle. My back hurt like crazy and my shoulder ached with a fierceness that reminded me of the one time I tried to lift weights. "Jack held me. I can't be hurt." I slid to the floor cave, my legs shooting out in front of me so I landed with a thump.

  One of the medics broke away from Jack and came to me, leaning me gently forward. "It was a through-and-through," he said grimly. "She's got the bullet."

  "I've got the what?" I peered groggily at him as he knelt next to me. My last thought was that he had the prettiest brown eyes.

  Then I passed out.

  Chapter 19

  If this was a secondary gunshot wound, I don't know how anyone managed a primary one. I drifted in and out of consciousness, shocking pain making me gasp and cry any time I was awake. I was vaguely aware of a car ride and pain, bright lights, voices, and more pain. Faces drifted in front of me as I struggled to wake up.

  The next thing I knew, I awoke in a hospital room where Leo sat by my bed, his face haggard and with exhausted dark circles under his eyes. "Hey, kid," I muttered when I pried my eyes open. "I thought you were in Branson." Then I remembered. Leo? In a hospital? "What are you doing here?"

  He dropped the magazine he held and was at my side in an instant. "Well, thank heavens. I was starting to wonder when Sleeping Beauty would awake." He leaned over my bedside, his dark brown eyes wide with wonder. "I came back as soon as I heard what happened. You've set Broomfield on its ear, Dorothy Gaylord, that's for sure."

  "What day is it?" I moved my shoulder experimentally. It was tightly bound and stiff, but otherwise there was little pain. Whatever drugs they were giving me were working just fine. I smacked my lips. There was a nasty taste in my mouth.

  "Thursday morning." Leo regarded me critically, his head tilted to one side. "You look like crap, you know."

  "Thursday! All this stuff happened on Saturday night." I thought back. "No, on Sunday morning!"

  "Apparently when two people share one bullet, infections occur. I'm sure Jack's a very nice person, but his blood and yours don't mix." Leo smiled. "You got blood poisoning. Then you got sick from the antibiotics." He frowned at me. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were allergic to penicillin?"

  "Penicillin?" I smacked my lips again. "Is that what tastes so awful? I don't think I've ever had penicillin before. Whenever I need an antibiotic, the doctor gives me that five-day stuff. Why do I have such a bad taste in my mouth?"

  "You've been five days without a toothbrush, for one. And yes, it probably is the drugs. They kept you knocked out while they put tubes down your mouth and in your arms and other places I don't really want to know about." Leo grimaced and gave a dramatic shudder. "Today is the first day you haven't had oxygen. The doctor said you could go home as soon you can eat and poop on your own. I brought you some clothes so you'll be ready to escape when you get the word." Leo took my hand in his and squeezed it. "I've been manning the home fires. It took SoSo a day to leave his hiding place but once he did, he became my best buddy. Of course, I am feeding him, so I suppose it's not my sparkling personality that has him sitting on my lap."

  I swallowed experimentally. My throat hurt and my skin felt scratchy. I squeezed his hand back. "How long have you been here?"

  "The whole time. I came as soon as Drew called me. He had to leave town but he's called almost every hour."

  "You've been here for five days? Leo, you hate hospitals!"

  "I know," he said proudly. "This may have cured me."

  Good God. The man deserved a medal. "What happened? The last I remember I was in a cave and Jack got--Oh, my God, is Jack okay?" I tried to sit up but instead floundered in the bed like a beached fish until Leo found the controls and the bed under my shoulders lifted.

  "He had a whomping big bullet hole then his heart went into a kind of fit so they put a pacemaker in." Leo lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I was schmoozing with a couple of Federal agents while they waited outside Jack's hospital room. They said he'll have to take a desk job. The recovery period is going to be long and he's getting close to retirement age and a pacemaker..." Leo shrugged. "Desk job. He's been in to see you."

  "What? He's moving around?"

  Leo nodded. "He's down the hall. I've chatted with him a few times. He's not too happy about the desk job idea, I can tell you that."

  I lay back on the bed, exhausted. "Where's Drew? What happened to Mina? Is Baby Dot okay?" I slapped a hand on the starched white sheets. "Damn it, I want answers!"

  "Baby Dot is fine and that monkey of hers will make a full recovery." Leo wrinkled his nose. "He has broken ribs. The Humane Society is thinking about giving him a medal or something. Apparently they give medals to animals for courage under fire. Who knew?"

  "What about Mina? Why was she there? How did Baby Dot get kidnapped? What happened to the men who got shot?" I winced. I was pretty sure I knew the answer to that question. "Answers, Leo. Answers!"

  "And you shall have them," he said soothingly. "Soon."

  I yawned. "I want them now."

  "We have to wait for Drew to return to get the full story. He's in Kansas City, making statements and talking to the Feds. I can tell you this. They caught three other men at the Fleming farm. Mel recognized one. She said he came to her house. The ones in the cave were there to meet Mina."

  "So I was right. That health inspector w
as bogus. What does Mina have to do with all this?" I yawned again, struggling to keep my eyes open. When Leo spoke, it sounded like he came from a far distance.

  "She was being blackmailed by Wade so she had to help him. I haven't gotten the details yet. Honey and I have a bet. I think Mina had a love child with Wade and she was covering up." Leo sang the words 'love child' in a high falsetto. "Honey thinks it's something to do with Mina's business. She's in deep shit. I've heard about land fraud, criminal conspiracy, and aiding and abetting assholes. Lawyer Sawyer will have his hands full defending her. Don't worry, I'll get all the details and..."

  His voice faded away.

  o0o

  I spent a fitful afternoon and evening sleeping in between visits from Leo, the Professor, and Glynnis. I awoke the next morning able to eat and poop on my own, albeit shakily. The doctor insisted on keeping me in the hospital until the afternoon, when I called Leo and he promised to be there within the hour. I took the flowers I received to the geriatric ward then came back and pulled on the clothing Leo brought.

  I sank onto the window seat, staring at the nearby park where children were swinging on a swing set with mothers sitting at a picnic table, watching. It was a typical day in Broomfield--sunny, green, pretty, innocent. The sight made me realize how close we came to becoming one of those wounded little towns with a big drug problem.

  I turned when I heard footsteps in my doorway. Jack paused on the threshold. His powder blue T-shirt appeared loose and his jeans were crinkled around his waist where his belt was pulled tighter. As he moved into the room, I saw the edge of a bandage under his right sleeve. "They told me you were going home today," he said.

  I nodded. "I was going to come and see you."

  He went to the window to view the prosaic scene. "Who would have thought I couldn't stop a bullet?" He shook his head in bemusement. "You think I'd be good for something."