“Might not be a good idea,” Joey said. “We picked up a couple of tails,” Joey informed him.
Luke looked out the back window and saw two sets of headlights.
“I saw them speeding up fast but they both slowed down behind us and seem to be keeping pace,” Joey added.
“Speed up to that traffic ahead,” Luke instructed.
Joey followed Luke’s orders and sped up. Immediately, the two other vehicles accelerated to keep up. Joey proceeded to weave in and out of traffic.
“Try and lose them,” Luke ordered as he pulled out his gun. Vinnie mimicked Luke’s action and pulled out his gun as well. Austin hugged Julie tighter.
Joey meandered in and out of the mostly light traffic. It consisted of late night truckers and a few pick up trucks. The two cars followed even as Joey purposely cut in front of vehicles.
“Get off the next exit and then lose them that way,” Luke suggested.
Joey waited until the exit was only a few yards away before cutting across two lanes to exit the highway. Horns blared and tires squealed as traffic responded. Joey cursed when he saw the other two cars make the exit.
“Open the windows,” Luke told Joey. “Vin, aim for the tires,” he instructed Vinnie.
Joey slowed down as Luke and Vinnie stuck their heads out of the windows and pointed their guns at the two cars.
Luke fired two shots. One shattered the windshield and the other hit the tire of one of the vehicles. The damaged car veered off the road into a ditch.
Vinnie fired off two shots as well, but the other car maneuvered out of the path of the bullets. Joey came to a complete stop and put the car in reverse. He backed up quickly, causing the other car to lose control and hit a road sign to avoid them. Joey laughed as both cars appeared disabled.
“Let’s finish this,” Luke said, getting out of the car. “Bring them,” he added.
Vinnie opened the back door and pulled Austin out. Julie followed as she and Austin held hands. Joey got in between, separating them.
All parties approached the first vehicle. The driver was slumped forward on the steering wheel with the used and deflated airbag. Luke reached in and leaned the man back against the seat. There was a bullet hole in his forehead. “Damn, I’m good,” Luke bragged.
Joey pushed Julie towards Luke. He wrapped his arm around her and forced her to look at the dead man. “Who is he?” Luke asked.
“I… don’t know,” Julie replied, looking away.
“Boss,” Vinnie called out to Luke. He turned and saw Vinnie looking at Austin. The boy’s face was white.
“You know him?” Luke asked.
Austin swallowed hard and nodded. “My cousin, Ray,” Austin replied softly. Julie moved to go to him but Luke pushed her back to Joey.
Luke grabbed Austin’s arm and brought him closer. “See what happens when you disobey me?” Luke told him.
Julie felt helpless. She wanted to tell Austin how sorry she was for allowing him and his family to be brought into this mess that was her life. Words would not matter now.
Everyone walked over to the second car and looked at the two occupants. A man and a woman appeared unconscious inside. “Recognize them?” Luke asked Austin. He shook his head no. “Check them,” Luke instructed Vinnie. After checking their bodies, Vinnie brought the man’s wallet and the woman’s purse and handed them to Luke.
“They are both still alive,” Vinnie informed him.
Luke dumped out the woman’s purse and found her wallet. “Sonya Blatters,” he noted, reading her license. He pocketed the cash he found and looked in the man’s wallet. “Maxwell Tarten,” he read aloud. He looked at Julie and Austin both. Neither reacted to the names.
“We’re done here,” Luke decided. “Joey, torch them,” he instructed.
“Luke! No!” Julie cried out.
“It’s all your fault, sweetheart,” Luke said, wrapping his arm around her.
Julie knew pleading with Luke never worked, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Please, Luke. No more. I swear… I’ll never run again,” Julie pleaded.
“Consequences, Laney,” Luke said, pushing her against the car. He wiped one of her tears with his thumb and tasted it. “My favorite,” he whispered.
Austin was in a daze; none of what was happening seemed real. Vinnie got into the backseat with him.
Joey set about his task, joyfully. After sticking rags in the gas tanks of the cars, he tossed a lit piece of cloth into the backseat of each vehicle before igniting the rags. He ran back towards Luke as both cars exploded.
Julie’s knees buckled, but Luke kept her upright. “No way. Watch and remember,” Luke said, turning her to face the flames.
Luke heard the strange bird call again that he had heard at the motel. Seconds later, the rain started. Heavy, pouring rain. Luke opened the car door, and pushed Julie in, and followed closely behind. A sudden gust of wind swirled around the burning vehicles, causing mounds of dirt to be tossed on top of them. The dirt along with the rain helped to extinguish the fires.
Lightning flashed and Luke saw a figure near one of the vehicles. Luke thought he recognized the figure. He had encountered its kind before. How the hell did you get mixed up with them? Luke thought, looking at Julie. “Drive!” Luke yelled at Joey. Joey put the car in gear and sped off. It was all making sense now. Luke picked up the phone and called up an old friend.
“Tilley, it’s Luke… put Steve on, will ya?” he said into the phone.
“Hey, Luke, my man. What’s up?” Steve greeted.
“Steve, I got a situation here. Remember that group we dealt with a few years ago, the nature ones?” Luke reminded.
“Yeah, yeah. We made an agreement with the head guy. We stop the toxic dumping in the valley and they leave us alone,” Steve recanted.
“What was that guy’s name?” Luke asked.
“Suron…yeah, Suron… that was it. Why did ya wanna know?” Steve asked.
“‘Cause I think they are having a memory lapse. Do me another favor?” Luke asked. “Get a crew down by that valley with a load and be ready to release it when I tell you to,” Luke ordered.
“Gotcha,” Steve replied.
“One more thing… get with our east coast fliers and have a helicopter ready to pick me up near Marion, Virginia. Tell them to use the GPS in my phone to locate me. I’ll phone them when I am ready.”
“Will do, boss,” Steve answered. “Hey, did you find Laney?” he asked.
“She’s right next to me, right where she belongs,” Luke laughed and hung up.
Julie only heard bits and pieces of Luke’s conversation. She kept looking back at Austin. He seemed to have zoned out. She was concerned about him. Julie refocused on Luke when she heard the word helicopter. “Helicopter?” she asked.
Luke smiled and put his arm around her. “Laney, Laney, Laney. What have I told you about listening in on private conversations?” he reminded in a gentle tone. His demeanor alarmed Julie. Whenever he spoke this way in the past it meant something bad was about to happen.
“Luke… can’t we just go home?” Julie tried to play up to him.
“You want to go home, baby?” he asked, caressing her cheek.
“Please?” Julie replied. She tried releasing a small amount of the Lure.
Luke pulled her into his lap. “Show me you mean it,” he whispered in her ear. She looked back towards Austin and met his eyes. She hoped he would understand.
“Let’s go home,” she said, looking back to Luke. She kissed him gently at first, but he held her head and forced her to deepen the kiss.
Austin leaned forward, but Vinnie placed an arm on him, warning him to stay put.
Julie tried not to panic; Marcus had been able to control this. She was able to pull back from Luke and look into his eyes. “Let’s go home,” she repeated.
“Joey,” Luke said, his breathing was becoming heavy. “Get back on the highway and head home,” Luke ordered.
“But boss, I thought�
��” Joey began to say.
Julie looked over at him. “Drive home, Joey,” Julie said.
“O… kay,” Joey replied and drove back onto the highway.
Julie knew it was dangerous using the Lure on both Joey and Luke. The air in the car began to feel very heavy. She wanted to get them far away from Eli and her friends. She would deal with the consequences later.
Luke moved Julie so that she was straddling his lap. She grabbed his hands when he tried to remove some of her clothing. “Not now,” she whispered. “When we get home,” she promised, trying to maintain control. Luke began kissing her again. It was getting harder for her to keep her own self control. She pulled out of his kiss and rested her head on his shoulder. The Lure seemed to have some sort of kickback, getting her lost in the moment she was trying to control.
“Faster,” Luke growled at Joey.
Joey increased his speed even though conditions were getting worse. He criss-crossed the highway, cutting in front of trucks and trailers. One dangerous maneuver proved to have fatal consequences.
Cutting in front of a tractor trailer, the trucker slammed on the breaks in order to avoid hitting Joey. This reaction caused the the driver’s cab to jack-knife and the trailer he was carrying skidded sideways, out of control.
A tanker truck filled with petrol swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting the trailer and tipped over on its side. The tanker’s payload immediately combusted, engulfing both tractors and causing a chain reaction of explosions that could be seen for miles. The eruption of flames was so powerful that it caused a pickup truck to be tossed into the air like a toy. It landed on its roof, right in front of Joey.
Just before the BMW hit the pickup truck, a tornado-like cloud descended over them and lifted their vehicle into the air. Yells and screams could be heard as the SUV spun furiously. When the cloud dissipated, the BMW dropped to the ground. The impact shattered the windows.
Eli received word of what had taken place and relayed the location information to Uncle Gregg. They knew that they were close, as the fire from the tanker truck could be seen about three miles away. Uncle Gregg indicated that he was close as well.
A short time later, Eli pulled up behind a car that had stopped along the side of the highway. “That’s Uncle Gregg’s car!” Marcus called out and ran over to the vehicle.
A man stepped from the car and embraced Marcus. “Marcus, it’s good to see you,” Uncle Gregg said.
“Come meet the doc,” Marcus said.
Eli was already beside the car. He had taken off his coat and was unbuttoning his shirt as they approached.
Marcus raised his eyebrows as he introduced his Uncle. “Uncle Gregg, this is Doc Elsworth,” Marcus presented.
“I apologize for my appearance. My people have them in sight. I must join them,” Eli stated, tossing his shirt into the car.
“How can we help?” Uncle Gregg asked.
“I’m going on ahead. Follow a southeasterly path and you will find us,” Eli spoke as another vehicle joined them. “I’d take him with you,” he added, gesturing towards Fred. Eli tossed his shoes and socks into the car and ran towards the woods.
“Crazy elf,” Marcus commented.
“Not quite,” Uncle Gregg replied.
“The crazy or the elf part?” Marcus asked.
“Both,” Uncle Gregg said and went to greet the newcomers.
Marcus helped Fred from the car. “You’re going to be a hindrance, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Not if you fix my damn ankle, I won’t be,” Fred grumbled.
“Who is this fellow?” Uncle Gregg asked when he returned.
“One of the men who came for Julie, I mean Laney,” Marcus answered.
Uncle Gregg stepped up to Fred and placed his hand on the side of his face. “You are going to sleep now. You will not wake up until told to do so by me or Marcus. Do you understand?” Uncle Gregg asked.
“Yes,” Fred replied as if in a trance.
“Sleep,” Uncle Gregg said. Fred collapsed in Marcus’ arms. “I’d put him in the trunk in case someone wanders by,” Uncle Gregg instructed Marcus.
“Sure thing,” Marcus grunted under the weight of Fred’s unconscious form. Once Fred was secured, the group proceeded into the forest.
The BMW had come to rest in a clearing. Tall trees were plentiful, surrounding the area.
Luke was the first to recover. He was still shaking off the effects of the Lure. Julie was unconscious in his lap. His anger towards her built as he became more aware.
Everyone was covered in bits of glass.
Luke tried to rouse Julie. He pushed her back and grabbed her head. “Wake up, Laney,” he growled, shaking her. Julie moaned a bit but did not open her eyes. “Wake up, damn it!” he yelled, shaking her again. She let out another moan and opened her eyes. Julie gasped when she saw Luke’s eyes boring into her. He grabbed her chin. “Know this, when you are fully healed, I’m going to break every bone in your body for this latest stunt. Then, I’m going to do the same thing to your boyfriend,” Luke seethed.
Everyone else began moaning and groaning as they approached consciousness.
Luke opened the door and climbed out of the SUV. He had minor cuts and bruises but felt intact otherwise. He would have Laney heal him later. “Everybody out. Be ready for anything,” Luke ordered.
Julie slid out and looked around. The darkness only added to the eeriness of the night.
“Ah, my ankle!” Vinnie cried out. “I think it’s broken,” he said, leaning against the BMW.
“Fix him,” Luke told Julie, “I need everyone prepared.”
Joey assisted Vinnie in getting to the other side. Austin was next to Julie and they squeezed hands, letting each other know they were alright.
The bird call could be heard high in the tree tops. Luke kept a watchful eye as Julie knelt down to help Vinnie. “Which ankle?” She asked. She was unsure how much strength she had left and wanted to save time searching. “Left,” Vinnie grunted.
Julie placed her hands on his ankle and entered him. Her own ankle began to throb as she started the healing process. She barely had enough strength to finish the job. She collapsed on the ground as her body began its own healing. Austin was next to her and wrapped his arms around her.
The bird calls had seemed to escalate in volume and intensity as Julie was healing Vinnie. Now, the forest was quiet.
“What do we do now, boss?” Joey asked.
“Get the money from the truck. We are gonna wait for backup,” Luke answered before pointing to Austin. “You help her,” Luke instructed him. “Everyone else… stay alert,” he added.
Luke called Steve. “Everything set?” he asked him.
“Ready when you are,” Steve replied.
“Wait for my signal. If you don’t hear from me within one hour… dump it,” Luke ordered. “What about the chopper?” Luke asked.
“On its way. Should be near your location in about ten minutes,” Steve confirmed.
“Good work,” Luke praised before hanging up.
Austin helped Julie to her feet. He wanted to tell Luke that she needed more rest, but kept quiet. He was quickly learning that only bad things happened when he challenged Luke.
“You okay?” Austin whispered to her.
“I will be,” Julie replied, holding tightly to him.
“What were you doing before, with Luke?” Austin asked. “I felt something… strange,” he recounted. Before Julie could answer, the bird calls started again.
This time, the bird calls were accompanied by other animal sounds. The surrounding forest sounded more like a jungle as leaves began to blow furiously around the stranded group. Austin and Julie embraced each other to shield their faces from the sharp-rimmed leaves.
“Stop!” Joey yelled as his anxiety caused him to fire randomly into the trees.
A small but powerful draft swept through the group. The draft seemed to target Joey, pushing his body backwards until he was pinned to a tree. The d
raft swirled around the tree, pelting Joey with rocks and debris. A vine seemingly caught up in the whirlwind wrapped itself around the tree, entrapping Joey. “Hey, hey! Get me out of here!” he yelled until the vine cut off his air supply. The vine tightened once more and all struggle ceased.
Julie and Austin were stunned at what had taken place. The trees grew silent once more.
“Get the bag,” Luke ordered Vinnie.
The sounds of the forest began once again. Luke pulled Julie in front of him with his gun pointed at her head. The sounds ceased. Vinnie took note and did the same thing with Austin. “It’s got something to do with you, alright,” Luke said in a hushed tone.
Four figures suddenly emerged from the densely grown forest. Julie recognized one of the people as Marcus.
“Who the hell are you guys?” Luke asked. He knew that they were not the same things that were in the trees.
“I am the uncle of these children you have wrongly imprisoned,” Uncle Gregg spoke.
Julie looked at this man claiming to be her uncle. She tried hard to conjure up a memory of him. She saw fleeting images of a very tiny girl running around and laughing as this same man playfully chased her. “Come and get me, Uncle G,” she heard her tiny self giggle.
“Uncle G,” Julie said as the memory faded.
Uncle Gregg smiled, “Yes, Laney. I’m your Uncle G,” he replied. “I’ve been searching for you a long time,” he added.
“Aw, now isn’t that sweet. We have ourselves a family reunion. Sorry we can’t stay for pictures, but we have to go. Now, call off your pals in the trees and we’ll be on our merry little way,” Luke said.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Uncle Gregg replied.
Luke pointed the gun at Julie’s head. “Want to rephrase that?” Luke asked.
“You know that won’t kill her,” Uncle Gregg reminded.
“It’ll cause a lot of pain, and in her weakened state, my hunch is you wouldn’t want to take that chance,” Luke surmised.
“May I approach so we can talk about this?” Uncle Gregg asked. He was seeing first hand just how volatile this man was.
“Yeah right. You think I’m stupid?” Luke laughed.
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