by Brook Wilder
“So, he’s out then? Your daddy decided to drop the charges after all? I knew you could sweet-talk him around.”
“No, that’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Elsie took a deep breath, trying to keep a rein on her own patience. But Jackrabbit was making it damned difficult. “He just called me from the police station. He said that Mad Dog isn’t going to just give up and that we’re both in danger.”
“Well, I can tell you one thing,” Jackrabbit said after a long moment of loaded silence. “He’s right. Mad Dog is on the warpath.”
“The warpath? But Hatchet… he’s still locked up. He’s in danger there, Jackrabbit.”
“I know, swee… Elsie, but I’m at a loss at the moment as to what to do to help him. It’s not as if we can just waltz right into that police station and break him out… Hang on.” The way Jackrabbit’s voice changed on the tail-end of his sentence made worry rush through her, enough to forget all about his near miss.
“What are you talking about? Jackrabbit, what am I waiting for here?”
“Just… hold on one god-damned second and let me think this through.” He all but shushed her and she impatiently tapped her foot on the floor until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hold on for what? I’m basically under house arrest. There’s no way for me to get out of here and there’s no way for you to break him out of jail. I’ve known Sheriff Donohue since the fifth grade and he’s not going to listen to some dirty, leather-wearing asshole of a biker gang.”
“No, but he would listen to you,” Jackrabbit said slyly. “And I’m not dirty. I’ll have you know, I shower. Regularly!”
“I’m sure you do,” Elsie said, over-emphasizing her words enough to let him know that she meant no such thing.
“I’m not joking around, girlie,” Jackrabbit snarled. “Hatchet is in real trouble here. He’s not kidding about Mad Dog. Old bastard will do everything he can to get Hatchet and you both. Believe me, Hatchet is your best chance for getting out of this alive.”
“A… alive? Would Mad Dog really try and kill me? And Hatchet?”
“Try and succeed, I have no doubt about that.”
She could practically feel Jackrabbit’s nervous energy reach her from across the phone call and she found herself pacing around her room once more. “So, what do we do about it?”
“There you go! Now you’re asking the right questions,” Rabbit said, before continuing on and speaking so quickly that Elsie struggled to keep up with him. “Mad Dog has gone totally off the deep end. Most of the Roadburners aren’t backing him on this. Most of them disagree with what he did, kicking Hatchet out of the club, and now… now he’s taking things too far. But he’s still got enough of his thugs to make plenty of trouble.”
“Hatchet told me to call you and ask for help. So, what do you want me to do? He told me to stay here and stay safe, but I’m not about to let Mad Dog get anywhere near him.”
There was a slight pause from the other line, before Jackrabbit finally spoke again. “You really care about him, don’t you? I mean, I knew he’d gone and gotten himself wrapped around your little finger, but… Anyways, that’s not important right now. We don’t have much time. Mad Dog is already on the move.”
“What?! Why didn’t you say so?”
“I just did!”
“Ugh, you are the worst,” Elsie growled, stomping her foot for good measure.
“You’re no walk in the park either, sweet… damn it! ...Elsie. But we gotta get to Hatchet, quick.”
Elsie nodded her head, forcing her frustration away. “Okay, what do I do? I can’t get out here. I’m just as trapped as Hatchet is.”
“Just sit tight,” Jackrabbit shot off quickly. “I think I might have a plan.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” Elsie snorted. “You think you might have a plan. Well, that’s real reassuring, let me tell you.” She didn’t realize until she’d finished speaking that it was pointless. She’d been talking to dead air. Jackrabbit had already hung up.
The next two hours crawled by. Elsie was sure that she’d worn permanent tracks in the rug on the floor of her bedroom from her endless pacing. When she heard a familiar ringtone fill the air she glanced down at the cell phone still clutched in her hands, but it wasn’t Hatchet’s phone. It was her own.
Elsie bit her lower lip, glancing at the caller ID, and then winced guiltily. It was Rachael calling. Again. She’d tried to call her twice now and both times Elsie had let it go to voicemail, too unsure of what to tell her friend. In all the years that they had known each other, Elsie had never once been able to pull off lying to Rachael. It was like she had some sort of third sense; she could sniff out a lie from a mile away.
Elsie sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Rachael the truth. Oh, no, Rae, everything is totally fine. There’s just some psychopath coming after me and Hatchet. Yeah, well, he just wants to kill us for getting in his way and foiling his evil plan to sell me to the highest bidder, but no big deal, really. We’re going to rescue Hatchet and break him out of prison. Easy peasy. Well, me and Jackrabbit, of course. He thinks he might have a plan. It’s practically foolproof!
Elsie snorted out a soft, slightly desperate laugh at the stream of thoughts rushing through her mind, and shook her head at how ridiculous it sounded, even to herself. It doesn’t matter though, does it? that quiet voice of old Elsie inside her whispered. You’re still going to go through with it. You’re still going to go after him.
Her brows furrowed, and she took a sharp breath. Of course I am! I love him. As soon as the thought registered, the force of it had her stumbling back a full step. She loved him? Where had that come from? How could she possibly love him? She barely even knew him. She had just met him. But nonetheless she knew it was true. Everything they had gone through together, everything she had seen, everything she had felt, told her that was exactly what she needed to know about him. That he was a good man with a good heart.
Sure, maybe he was a little rough around the edges. But who didn’t have their own secrets, their own ghosts?
I love him. I love Hatchet. The thought tickled through her again. And this time, when she laughed, it was a tinkling sound of pure joy. She was still getting over the shock of her discovery when a sudden, loud ruckus reached her ears.
Curious, Elsie walked over to the window to see where it was coming from and, after a second, she was able to spy the source of the sound. She threw open the window, poking her head out and around to look out across the field.
She could see a large figure that could only be Lorenzo trying to corral a bunch of cattle that was running loose, frantic over something. Immediately, concern rushed through her. Concern for the animals, and Lorenzo. If something had spooked them, anything could happen, and even the gentlest of animals could cause serious damage when it weighed over a ton.
A moment later she saw another figure, shorter this time but just as wide, rushing over towards the chaotic scene. It was her father, his hands waving wildly in the air, and she could make out the anger in his raised voice, if not the words themselves, as he hollered at Lorenzo.
And then she heard it.
“Pss!”
Elsie glanced down at the hissing noise and nearly jumped back as she caught sight of Jackrabbit standing below her window, grinning up at her like a fool.
“I figured that should keep them distracted for a while. Not sure how long though, so you better get your ass in gear.”
“You… you did that?” Elsie asked, nodding towards the barn and the panicked, scattering animals. There were cows running in every direction, while Lorenzo and her father went rushing after them.
“Sure did. You said you needed a distraction.” He shrugged, his words overly casual, but with that damned grin growing even wider. She swore he was actually enjoying himself. The idiot. “Now, you need to hurry it up. We might not have as much time as I thought.”
“What exactly is your plan, Jackrabbit?” Elsie hissed back in a whisper. She knew it
was silly. There was no way her father would ever be able to hear them over the raucous noise coming from the cattle. But, even still, she kept her voice down as he asked.
“The plan, well…” Jackrabbit trailed off, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck before shrugging again. “It’s simple, really. I break you out. You break Hatchet out.”
“Right,” Elsie said slowly, drawing out the word as she crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s your big plan?”
“Come on, Elsie. Go on and get out of here, girl. Go save your man. If he stays in that prison cell, he’s a dead man. Mad Dog knows right where he is.” Jackrabbit grew serious after a moment. “Hatchet needs you, Elsie. Be brave for him.”
“How the hell am I supposed to break him out of prison?” Elsie threw her hands up as she asked, unsure and doubtful. At the same time, she knew that Jackrabbit was just telling the truth. Hatchet needed her. And she wasn’t about to let him down.
“Do whatever you have to. Lie that pretty little ass off if you have to. You love him. No use denying it, Elsie. The two of you are about as subtle as an elephant. You love him. Now, go save him.” That damned lop-sided grin of his was back in full force and Elsie rolled her eyes in irritation.
But she didn’t argue. Instead, she just answered him with a quick nod before pulling her head back inside her room and looking around to see if there was anything she would need.
Unfortunately, the answer was no. Her father had taken the revolver from her desk. The only thing she’d have to make this thing work were her wits. She’d have to be brave and bluff her way through. Trying to ignore the roiling, churning feeling of nausea that was growing bigger and bigger in her stomach, Elsie turned to leave. At the last minute she stopped, jogged back to the window and hissed to get Jackrabbit’s attention.
“You better get out of here,” Elsie said sharply, throwing a nod towards the barn where everything was still in chaos. There was no telling how long it would last. “If my daddy finds you here and finds out that you were the one who caused that mess, well… let’s just say you really don’t want to be on his bad side. Just get out of here, quick!”
“You do the same, girly!” Jackrabbit said, looking up at her one more time, and Elsie was struck by the sincerity in his eyes. The jester-like mask he normally wore disappeared for a second. “You save him, alright? Hatchet’s one hell of a man. Hell, he’s the best person that I know in the whole damn world. You keep him safe.”
“I will. I promise,” Elsie said, just as solemnly, before they both slipped away in different directions, Jackrabbit to who knew where. One moment he was there and the next he was gone, disappearing into the tree line along the back of the farmhouse.
Elsie tiptoed downstairs, her mind racing with how she was going to sneak away. There was really only one choice and, holding her breath, her fingers shaking with nerves, she pushed open the door to her father’s office, grabbed the keys to his truck, and crept outside to the front.
She didn’t breathe again until she had snuck across the front porch and the driveway and was sitting in the driver’s seat of the big truck. Sending up a short but heartfelt prayer, she slammed the keys in the ignition, started the truck, and was tearing off down the long, gravel driveway.
She would keep her promise to Jackrabbit. She would save Hatchet.
She had to.
Chapter 20
Elsie couldn’t have remembered the drive to the police station had her life depended on it. It was all just a blur of pavement and a constant sick feeling in her gut, tightening with every mile that drew her closer.
By the time she was pulling into the parking lot in front of the worn brick building, her hands were shaking so bad that she could barely take the keys out of the ignition. It took her three tries just to turn the truck off.
She sat there for a moment, her hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel and her mind racing with nonsensical thoughts that she couldn’t stop, no matter how hard she tried. What if Sheriff Donohue arrested her for interference, even though he treated her like a third daughter in his little family?
Or that Mad Dog would just stroll in to the station while she was sitting there, frozen in fear. Maybe the sheriff would somehow realize who he really was and arrest him on the spot. Then none of them would have to worry about getting hurt by the insane leader of the Roadburners crew.
But she knew that wasn’t going to happen. More likely, Mad Dog would waltz in and hurt Hatchet while she sat there like a helpless little frightened thing, unable to move, unable to help the man she loved.
The thought sparked something inside her, thawing a bit of her fear, enough for her to at least peel her fingers one by one from the steering wheel and clamp them together in her lap. They were still shaking, but not as badly as before.
“You can do this, Elsie,” she whispered to herself, trying to settle down enough to do what she needed to do.
During the drive, one plan and one plan only had popped into her head, and it was the only thing she could think of doing. She would convince Sheriff Donohue that her daddy had decided to drop the charges and demand that Hatchet be released immediately.
It was the only chance she’d have, and she prayed the sheriff would believe her. He had no reason not to. She’d never lied to him before. And, besides, this was almost too big a lie, too ridiculous, not to be believed.
“You have to do this, Elsie. You have to save Hatchet and get him out of there. It’s his only chance,” she told herself and forced her legs to move, forced her hands to grasp the handle of the driver’s side door and push it open.
Finally, she was sliding from the cabin of the truck, her whole body trembling like a leaf in the autumn breeze as she slammed the door shut behind her. It took another moment before she could get her feet moving, one in front of the other.
During the whole walk across the black top parking lot towards the front door, her legs felt like jelly, like they would collapse out from under her at any moment.
But she could hear Jackrabbit’s gruff voice in her head, telling her how much danger Hatchet was in. How Mad Dog was on the war path and would stop at nothing to get back at him, and her. It was his life on the line!
If there had ever been a time that she needed to be brave, it was right then, right that second. She had spent her whole life being scared. Scared of confrontation. Scared of voicing her own opinions. Scared of disappointing the people she cared about.
But not anymore.
The old, scared Elsie was gone for good and in her place was a new Elsie. A brave Elsie. An Elsie who would waltz into that police station as if she owned the place and proceed to lie her ass off!
Forcing down the sick feeling of nerves in her stomach, she threw her shoulders back and tipped up her chin. She would be brave for the man that she loved. She would save him. She had to.
With that thought echoing over and over in her head like a mantra, she stomped up to the front door with as much confidence as she could muster and pulled it open with a heave.
Elsie didn’t stop as she entered the station. She couldn’t. She was too afraid that, if she did, she wouldn’t be able to start moving again. She would just be rooted to the same bit of scuffed linoleum tile forever.
With her blue eyes focused straight ahead, Elsie didn’t waver as she made her way to the far end of the brightly lit police station, straight towards Sheriff Donohue’s office. It was little more than a closet with a scratched wood desk and some beige filing cabinets crammed inside it. But behind the desk sat the very person that she needed to talk to.
“Ahem!” Elsie cleared her throat softly to get his attention, but all she could see was the top of his wide brimmed cowboy hat as he bent over some paperwork. He didn’t budge at all.
“Um, ah, Sheriff?” she tried again, her voice still timid but forcing herself to stand up tall, remembering her pep talk from earlier. “Sheriff Donohue!”
He jolted from his seat, startled at her sudden raised voice.
/> “Jesus, Elsie, you don’t have to go shouting in here.” He gave her a perturbed look, but it was softened by the familiar affection. “Now, what are you doing here? Rachael isn’t here. She’s at home with Hannah, thank God.”
Elsie nearly winced. The sheriff might be happy about that fact, but she was pretty sure Rachael wasn’t. She and her twin sister Hannah were about as opposite as two people could be, and more often than not they were like oil and water when left alone together for too long. But she wasn’t there for Rachael. She had bigger things to worry about.
“No, actually, I came to talk to you, Sheriff,” Elsie finally forced out, swallowing hard on the sudden tightness in her throat.
He gave her a quizzical look before shuffling the paperwork on his desk and setting it aside.