by Morris, Kate
“I’ll call spades,” her father said.
“Shit,” Stephanie immediately responded, never one for a poker face, although they were playing euchre.
“Yes!” Roman said, also not good at hiding his hand.
“Okay, partner,” Stephanie said to her. “You better have a hand full of spades so we can set these assholes.”
Jane looked up slowly and grimaced.
“Shit,” Stephanie repeated and got a laugh from Roman.
Between herself and her father, Brutus woofed softly and looked at the door. The windows were all boarded up, and they were only using an oil lamp set very low. Noah wasn’t using any light, and Connor was dead out in a pitch-black room. If they were out there, she wondered if they’d seen their dim light. Roman immediately rose and lowered the wick to barely the amount of light a single match would put off.
Brutus stood and barked, a full, robust one.
“Shh!” she shushed the dog and pulled him back when he lunged for the door.
“Hey, there’s headlights out there,” Roman said, and her heart began hammering in her chest.
Stephanie darted over and picked up her handgun off the living room stand. Roman had his on his hip and never took it off until he went to bed at night. Her father picked up a shotgun resting against the pass-through counter into the kitchen.
“It’s coming toward the house,” Roman explained. “What do you want to do, Gyles?”
Her father paused and peered carefully through the slats of wood on one of the windows, flanking either side of the front door.
“Hold steady,” he warned quietly. “Let’s see what they want.”
Roman shot her an uncertain glance as if he didn’t agree with this.
“There’s two getting out. Men,” her father said.
“I see ‘em,” Roman stated.
“Jane, you should…”
Roman interrupted him and blurted, “Wait. Hang on. That’s Tristan and Abraham.” He blew out a heavy breath. “Phew. That scared the crap outta’ me.”
“Obviously, we need to install a gate,” Stephanie remarked.
“I’m just glad it’s them,” Jane admitted as Roman opened the door to let them in.
“Hey, sorry to scare you if we did,” Tristan said.
“Dude, you took like ten years off our lives,” Stephanie complained.
“Yeah, we obviously need a form of communication with each other,” Tristan complained, as well.
Roman was the first to ask, “What’s going on?”
“Abraham and I were talking with Remmie at the house, and with his knowledge of the town, and my special abilities,” he said with a funny grin, “we think we’ve got a pretty good idea of where it might be.”
“Where what is?” her father asked.
“Right, sorry. The girl we took in. She gave us some clues as to where her captor first held them.”
“Are we going to kill him?” Roman asked, assuming he was in on whatever Tristan was getting at.
That caused Tristan to pause before continuing, “This asshole sold her sister to someone. He sold a few other girls, too. Remmie was the only one at the house who survived it all. We think we know where they were held in town before they were taken to that farm.”
He proceeded to tell them everything they knew. Jane felt so sick, so sorry, and had the most incredible rush of sympathy flow through her for this girl and her sister. He also told them of a covert spying mission they were going on tonight.
“I want in,” Jane blurted as Roman began to say something. “Sorry, I just want to go.”
“Honey, I’m not so sure about that,” her father said.
“Dad, I want to. This girl could be me,” she told him, reminding him of what happened to her at Nana Peaches’s house. His eyes dropped a moment.
“I’m going,” Roman stated. “Steph, I’ll want you to stay with Gyles. He’s only getting better. Keep an eye on Connor for me?”
She nodded without hesitation and refrained from a rude comment. Something about this situation made everyone feel obligated to try to help in any way possible. Even her father wasn’t putting up an argument.
“Ready in ten?” Tristan asked, to which she and Roman nodded.
She dressed quickly in warmer clothing since she’d dressed earlier in sweats and a t-shirt in preparation for going to bed after their card game. Pulling on her thermal pants and shirt, she next grabbed a pair of jeans, a heavy wool turtleneck sweater, and took a pair of thick socks. The temps had dropped outside, and she wasn’t sure what all a recon mission would entail. When she shut the closet, a glimpse of Dez’s winter coat there caused a quick knot in her stomach to ball up so big that she had to take a deep breath to dissolve it. She was now moved into the second-floor bedroom next to Roman and Connor’s since her father was doing a little better. Noah was still sleeping in the loft space on the Murphy bed and had the space to himself since Brian was dead. They’d been so busy she still hadn’t found time to clear out Destiny and Harper’s things from her new room. It made her feel terribly depressed, so she tried not to dwell on it. She also planned on keeping a lot of their clothing since most of it was better quality than hers and would hold up longer. Jane knew her friend and mother would’ve wanted her to. They’d been like family to her for the past four years, and their loss was hanging heavy over her heart. If heaven was real, and she had to hold out hope that it was, she knew Destiny and her whole family was reunited, which made it a little easier to handle.
Roman met her in the hallway upstairs, “Are you sure you want to go?”
“Yes, absolutely. I want to. I feel horrible this happened to her and her sister. We have to help.”
“Okay, just be careful. If anything were to happen, stay close to me. If anything happens to me and Tristan, your dad said he’d come to town and pick you up at the old historical home we just hit the other day. So you’ll need to get to that spot.”
She zoned for a moment but nodded. The idea of something happening that would separate her from Roman also made her stomach knot.
They left with Tristan and Abraham a short time later after picking out a few minimal provisions like water, granola bars, and extra socks and gloves in case they were left somehow to exposure. Jane sincerely hoped that didn’t happen. Those things were out there. Frostbite was the least of their worries.
“When you get to town, it might be a good idea to take the road where the stat care is located instead of driving down the main street,” Abraham suggested.
“Good,” Tristan praised. “That’s great, Abraham. You’re thinking like a tactical warrior already.”
“Hm,” he muttered and resumed staring out the window next to him.
Beside her, Roman held her hand in the dark backseat of the truck’s cab. She had no idea how Tristan was seeing where he was going because he refused to turn on the headlights out of concern for being discovered. He would occasionally turn them on but then right back off or use the other ones, which she thought were called fog lights. Either way, she couldn’t understand how he kept them on the road. She definitely would’ve put it in a ditch a few times already.
“The shopping plaza is close to the country bar,” Abraham said next. “We might be able to pull around back of it to get a good spying position.”
“Yeah, let me check it out,” Tristan said as the truck climbed the hill into town, slipped, and the tail end swung back and forth on the unplowed road before finally gripping. “I know the country western bar. That’s where your sister and I met each other for the first time.”
“You met Avery in a bar?” Roman asked in an incredulous manner.
Tristan chuckled. “Yeah, believe it or not. I’d seen her at the house because of her mother being my shrink. But I actually met her at the bar. She was there with her friends.”
“Yeah,” Abraham broke in to say. “And that’s where you saved my sister from one of those freaks, too.”
At Roman’s insistence, Tristan
told them the story. By the end of it, Jane felt it was a lot less romantic. Ending up in a hospital was hardly a successful first date. Or even a romantic first meeting.
His next words cut off all thoughts of romantic dates, “Eyes up, everyone. Here’s where we could get into trouble.”
He drove them past the medical center, the one that Roman went to with him where they found Noah, and kept going further into the epicenter of town.
“Just a few more blocks,” Abraham instructed.
“I’m turning here,” Tristan said. “I know this side street neighborhood butts up to the back part of the country bar property. We might be able to park this there and walk in on foot.”
“Is that a good idea?” Roman asked.
“If I can get us closer, I will,” he told them. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive down the main drag and pull into the bar. I saw a car back there idling when we went past the gas station. Not sure if they saw us or if they were trying to syphon gas, but let’s not take any chances.”
Jane peered out her window and was glad it was no longer snowing. The night was clear, the stars out, the moon casting a glow on the sparkling snow covering everything, nothing having been shoveled or plowed since this started. It was strange contemplating things that they used to take for granted like roads that were salted, sidewalks that were scraped clean, or turning on the light switch with a guarantee it would respond with the correct result. She was ready for this to be over.
Tristan transitioned to a slow pace, passing house after house in the neighborhood, most of them older and either one-story or small bungalows, all pitch dark.
“Listen, if you have to take one of them down, try to do it quietly,” Tristan warned. “We don’t want the whole hoard of them after us. I don’t have a clue how many linger around this town at night.”
She was beginning to regret her decision. Back at the house, she’d felt so brave.
“We’ll stick together unless I deem otherwise,” he said. “We should be getting close. I can see the bowling alley up ahead and their rear parking lot. The country bar was right by that.”
“That’s correct,” Abraham agreed. Then he announced, “There! There it is, Tristan. See through this yard?”
The truck slid a few feet to a stop as Tristan stared out Abraham’s window.
“That’s it all right. Cool, these people are obviously long gone, and they’ve got a driveway that pulls around back.”
He turned into their lane, or what Jane guessed was their driveway under the snow, and she sat tensely and worried he was wrong and would get them stuck. He didn’t, though, but drove the truck to the rear garage and parked next to it. Tristan cut the engine but made no move to get out.
“Let’s observe for a while.”
“But the Chinese food place is across the street from the country bar,” Abraham pointed out. “We can’t even see it from here.”
“But we could see it from the bar,” he said. “That’s where we’ll be observing from. I want to make sure the area isn’t overrun with the night crawlers first.”
“Yes, sir.”
Roman offered, “We’ll watch out back.”
He swiveled in his seat, and she copied the move. They must’ve sat for a good half hour like that, each staring out their windows until they finally fogged up.
“When we get out, shut your doors quietly,” Tristan ordered. “I’m locking it. If anything goes down or I get shot or something, get my keys. Front right pocket in my coat. Abraham has the spare if you’re not with me.”
He patted his side.
“Let’s move.”
Roman grabbed her hand after the other two got out. “Stay close, Jane. This could be really dangerous.”
“I know,” she said, trying hard not to sound as afraid as she really felt.
Roman pulled up the rear, and she followed Abraham through the yard beside the garage and beyond onto the back portion of the bar’s lot where the dumpsters and discarded pallets were located against the country bar’s wall. She actually jumped when one of those things screamed somewhere in the distance. Up ahead, Tristan picked up the pace across the lot and tried the back door. It didn’t budge, so he took out a tool from his backpack.
“Abraham, light,” he instructed, to which Abraham took out a small flashlight and held it for him. “Roman and Jane, watch behind us.”
She didn’t need to be told twice and spun around at once. Within a few minutes, Tristan had the lock picked with a tiny screwdriver and was pulling hard at the door because it was covered nearly halfway up by drifted snow. Abraham helped get the snow moved away from it, and Tristan went through first. She followed after Abraham, and Roman came in last. Then Tristan locked the door from the inside, and they all stood still listening. Just waiting and listening.
Tristan whispered, “I’ll use the flashlight. You guys stay close. I don’t want us all lighting the place up, okay?”
“Yes, sir,” Abraham answered.
She gave a nod, and so did Roman.
The place was dark and cold, and Jane followed very closely because there were just too many shadowy corners, in her opinion. Tristan led the way and went towards a set of stairs. He motioned for them to follow, and Jane held onto the hem of Roman’s black coat.
She successfully avoided running into tables and chairs or hitting them with her rifle. Empty beer bottles and other debris like dirty dishes, wine and champagne bottles, and glasses were on the floor, which they all tried hard to miss, too. Behind her, Abraham accidentally kicked a beer bottle, and it skidded across the floor into the wall. Tristan paused to glance over his shoulder.
“Sorry,” Abraham whispered and got a nod from their leader.
They went up the stairs to the second floor, where it was just as ransacked. A place like this with food and liquor made sense to have been hit first. She wasn’t sure why the back door was locked still, but whoever looted the place obviously hadn’t come in or departed that way.
Tristan led them to the front wall of the building, where many windows lined it.
“Set up here and start watching across the road,” he told them. “I’m going to make sure we’re alone here. Abraham, come with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
They left without a discussion or even the possibility of a rebuttal, and Roman immediately took out his binoculars.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to see anything with these. What I wouldn’t give for some night-vision ones.”
“Yeah,” she lamented in harmony.
“Jane, don’t stand in front of the window like that. Someone could see your shadow. Stand beside it like this.”
“Oh,” she said with an embarrassed nod and felt stupid.
“It’s okay.”
They watched quietly, and she looked over her shoulder frequently. It was a habit. One she wasn’t going to give up anytime soon.
There was a balcony beyond the doors that seemed to run the entire length of the second floor, and many windows and French doors that led out to it. With the moonlight, they could see the buildings across the street in the strip mall. The Chinese food restaurant still had its sign attached to the top of the building, but it was hanging slightly askew. Next to it was a dry-cleaning business, something small and locally owned.
“Crap,” he said. “One of those things.”
“Where?” she asked with urgency in her voice.
He pointed past the strip mall, “Gone now. Saw it running between those two old houses.”
The bar was cold, probably had pipes in it that would soon burst as they settled into late January and February’s lower temperatures that sometimes never reached above zero. Unfortunately, the chill that spread through Jane was not from the drafty building. A shiver of fear racked through her.
“Anything?” Tristan asked as he strode with purpose to the windows upon his return.
“Nah, night crawler. Just one. Nothing else.”
They watched for
another hour out the window, but nothing happened.
“Maybe the men running the operation don’t come out at night like the rest of us normally don’t,” Abraham commented finally, breaking the eerie silence. “Scared of the freaks like we are.”
“I don’t think anyone’s in there,” Roman said. “They’d have to have a source of heat. Electric’s out. Or it was at our place. No chimney smoke. They’d have to vent any other source of heat other than electricity.”
“I agree,” Tristan said. “We need to check it out.”
“I can go,” Roman offered.
Tristan thought on it a moment before saying, “Fine, take Jane. We’ll spot you from up here.”
“Got it,” Roman agreed and rose from his one-kneed position.
“Are you okay with that, Jane?” Tristan asked.
“Yes, fine.” She felt anything but.
Tristan explained what to look for, what signs to seek, and how to handle it if something happened. Then he gave them signals to use with the flashlight that would convey what they wanted to communicate back to him on this floor through the windows.
“I’m ready when you are, Roman.”
They left out the back again, and Abraham followed them down and locked the door. She walked beside Roman this time, and they crossed the empty street devoid of illuminated traffic lights, street lamps, or the neon glow of business signs. It felt like the Old West and not at all the year in which she was living.