“I said you’re not going in. Torrence, you will not fuck this up,” Gripper slipped up. It hit Torrence like a swift kick in the head. She paused her movement for a few seconds and turned her head in matrix-like motion to face him.
“You…you were fucking setting this whole thing up all along. You knew that wherever we found her you weren’t going to go after her because you wanted her to lead you to the rest. You lied to me,” Torrence growled. Feelings of betrayal trampling on her like a stampede.
“No. I told you from the beginning we wanted her to lead us to the rest,” Gripper corrected. Something in his voice made Torrence sick to her stomach. He was a liar. He probably had his men lined up everywhere ready to follow Fallon to her siblings, which would leave Torrence out.
“No. What you told me was that you would have her get you wherever you thought they were planning to meet up and then I could grab her. Well, we know it must be the Mexican border, so why can’t I go grab her?” Torrence said. Her eyes were squinted into evil dashes. “Let me tell you why I can’t. I can’t because you wouldn’t get the glory you’re looking for, for catching all four Porters. I see what this is, your job in all of this was just to take me by the hand, keep me happy with making me sit outside waiting like a fucking lame duck and you have your men posted up ready to follow Fallon. To capture everyone while the little dumb black woman U.S. Marshall sit in a car like a fucking dummy hoping and praying for her shining star moment,” Torrence hissed. “Well I’m smarter than that agent fucking Gripper. You and the entire FBI can kiss my little black girl ass,” Torrence said with feeling. She wrenched her arm from Gripper’s grasp and she rushed out of the car door.
“Wait! No. We don’t want to risk the clerk in case Porter decides to fire. Besides, we just want to tail her so that she leads us to the others. We are not grabbing her…get back in. Torrence that is an order,” Gripper shouted but his tone a bit more demanding than Torrence liked. She turned around and stopped for a minute. She pointed her finger towards Gripper accusingly.
“To hell with her leading us to the others. If she was going to come out of that fucking store she would’ve been out,” Torrence snapped back, turning her back and rushing forward towards the station.
“Shit!” Gripper cursed, forced to get out of the vehicle too. He punched at the air and cursed under his breath. Then he picked up his agency issued two-way radio. He was going to have to do some real work now.
***
After Fallon rushed through the back door, she kept her back against the back wall of the station for a few minutes. She was breathing hard like she’d ran for miles. Her hands trembled fiercely as well. It was a mixture of excitement to see her siblings and fear of getting caught.
Fallon dipped her head out around the side of the building and she could see the tail of the two of the federal law enforcement unmarked cars. Fallon quickly moved her head back behind the wall. With her chest heaving and sweat rolling down the sides of her face, she looked across from where she was standing. Fallon could literally see the border gates in the distance in the woods behind the station. Fallon closed her eyes for a quick second, swallowed hard and tried to get her hammering heart to slow down.
“You’re going to have to make a run for it Fallon. You didn’t come this far to lose,” she whispered, psyching herself up. She was just sorry she’d left the gun she’d stolen in the glove compartment of the car. Fallon knew there was a very strong possibility that when she dashed out in the open there might be a federal agent or cop waiting to blow her ass away. At this point, going out in a blaze of glory was still better than spending the rest of her life behind bars. Standing up against the building Fallon heard the wind chimes from the front door make noise. That meant someone had just entered the store. It would only be a matter of minutes before they realized she was gone.
“Now or never Fallon,” she said and with that she took off running towards the wood.
“Stop! Fallon Porter! Stop before I shoot!” Torrence screamed with her gun extended in front of her. Fallon looked back over her shoulder as her feet pounded on the pavement. Torrence thought Fallon was going to stop. Fallon kept running heading into the woods.
Torrence took off running as fast as she could manage with all of her gear on.
“Torrence! Stand down! Stand down! Do not go after her without backup!” Agent Gripper screamed as he made it to the back doorway.
Torrence hesitated for a few seconds when she heard his voice, but not for long. She didn’t trust him and she was not going to let this opportunity slip through her fingers. Torrence’s obsession with catching Fallon Porter spurned her forward despite the unknown dangers lurking in those woods. She had been preaching that Fallon Porter was armed and dangerous. Throwing all caution to the wind, Torrence followed Fallon into unknown territory with just a handgun and a bulletproof vest. Gripper was too late with his warnings. Both women had quickly disappeared into the dense woods. “Fuck. I knew I should’ve just thrown her off this case,” Gripper grumbled as he headed back into the store.
“Back up! I need back up!” Gripper screamed into his radio as he rushed back to his vehicle. He wasn’t as brave as U.S. Marshall Torrence. Gripper and the entire bank robbery unit had been studying up on and chasing the Porter clan for a while now, so he knew exactly what the siblings were capable of. Agent Gripper wasn’t running into those woods without heavy backup, just off the chance the other Porter siblings were out there waiting for their sister to lead law enforcement right into a trap.
It didn’t take long for all of the cars that Gripper had posted up between the gas station and the border to get going. The problem was it was going to take time for them to exit vehicles and make it into the woods where they weren’t able to drive. Only God knew how far Fallon Porter would get with those precious minutes ticking by. Gripper banged on the hood of his car in frustration. He may have just missed his chance to get the Porters, all thanks to U.S. Marshall Veronica Torrence.
***
Fallon was running so fast it didn’t even feel like her feet were touching the ground. As she whipped through the heavily wooded area, tree branches were whipping against her face leaving scratches and welts. Her legs were burning and her ample breasts were bouncing so hard it was painful. Fallon was soaking wet with sweat and she could feel blood trickling out of her nose. Since she was a kid, she would always get nosebleeds when she got too hot.
Fallon didn’t care; she was running for her freedom. It was like she could see Dayvid, Rain and Autumn right in front of her so she ignored the pain rippling through her body and continued plowing forward. There was no way after all she’d been through, Fallon was going out without a fight.
“Porter! Give up! There is no place for you to run! This is the end of the line!”
Fallon heard Torrence screaming commands at her from a distance. That didn’t deter Fallon, although her head was starting to spin. She could hear that the stomps of feet coming behind her were getting closer because she had been forced to slow down. Fallon finally decided that she couldn’t run forever. She was going to have to have a standoff with this bitch Torrence, Fallon decided. She stopped running and ducked behind a huge tree. She could hear Torrence’s footfalls getting closer and closer. Fallon balled up her fists and got ready. Finally Torrence was close enough.
Wham! Fallon slammed her fists into the side of Torrence’s head just as Torrence made it past the tree Fallon was hiding behind. Torrence was caught off guard and stunned. She stumbled sideways. All of her gear making it hard to keep her footing. Fallon hit her again, but Torrence still didn’t fall. This was way too personal for each woman. Still wobbly, Torrence went to raise her gun but Fallon was too fast. This time when Fallon hit Torrence the gun went flying out of her hand. Torrence’s eyes popped open. She was left to use sheer survival skills now that she didn’t have her gun.
“You ain’t so tough without that gun now bitch,” Fallon spat, hitting Torrence again.
Fallon
was getting frustrated that this woman just wouldn’t fall for shit. Torrence finally got her bearings. This was her moment to show Fallon who was the better woman. When Fallon went to hit her again, Torrence blocked the hit. She grabbed Fallon’s arm. Torrence was able to slam her fist across Fallon’s face for the first time. Torrence made it good. She hit Fallon so hard more blood splashed from Fallon’s nose. Fallon was seeing little squirmy stars swirling around in her eyes. Torrence hit her again, this time square on her chin. Fallon wasn’t used to being hit hard like a man; she folded to the ground. Dazed, Fallon tried in vain to get back up to her feet. Torrence hit Fallon on the top of her head. Fallon slid back down to the ground. “Give up Porter. It’s over,” Torrence huffed. Those words seemed to empower Fallon even more. When she looked over, she was only a few feet away from where Torrence’s weapon had fallen. Fallon started inching towards it.
“You ain’t tough…fed,” Fallon gurgled out. She wanted to keep Torrence distracted.
“No you ain’t so tough…hood girl,” Torrence growled, lifting her foot and kicking Fallon in the ribs. Fallon let out a painful wince and fell back down into the dirt. Torrence landed a few more blows, but she didn’t see Fallon stretching her body towards the gun.
“You are just going to lay there? After all of the shit you put me through, now you’re not even going to give me the satisfaction of a good fight. I knew you were fucking weak. Killing helpless people is weak,” Torrence taunted. She went to lift her foot to kick Fallon again when she was halted. Fallon quickly flipped over onto her back and pointed Torrence’s service weapon at her. Torrence was frozen. In the few seconds that she was staring down the barrel of her own .40 caliber weapons, she suddenly felt like someone had drained all of the blood from her body.
“No bitch you’re weak,” Fallon snarled.
Pop! Pop! The loud sound had rendered Torrence dumbfounded.
Her eyes popped open so wide they looked like they’d come out of her face. She felt her body falling but she wasn’t sure why. Suddenly a searing heat engulfed Torrence’s body entire body. She knew then what had happened.
“You fucking shot me,” Torrence struggled to get her words out. Her left leg felt like someone had removed it from her body. Torrence suddenly seen the faces of both of her kids. She felt regret for so many things in her life. She imagined that this was what her brother felt like when rival gang members had gunned him down mercilessly just two blocks from their home in Baltimore. In that moment, Torrence realized that chasing bad guys wasn’t something she had chosen to do lightly. It had become her passion after her brother was killed.
Fallon stood over the woman that had been chasing her and making her life hell for the past two weeks. The gun shook in Fallon’s unsteady hand.
“All I want is to be with my family. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but you couldn’t just give it up. You made me do it all,” Fallon gritted, still holding the gun tightly. Fallon began sliding her finger into the trigger.
“Drop the weapon Porter!” Agent Gripper called out.
Fallon raised the gun up in front of her and pointed it towards the man. She whipped her head around and out of the corner of her eye she saw a man. He looked Mexican. He put his hand up to his lips and waved her over.
“Last warning…drop it,” Gripper demanded. Fallon turned her attention back to Gripper.
“If you come over here I will shoot her in her fucking head,” Fallon warned, bending down and grabbing Torrence’s collar. Fallon put the gun up against Torrence’s head.
“You don’t want to do that,” Gripper told her. Fallon was a Porter and she hadn’t been through hell and back to get to that border only to quit before she got there.
“Drop your weapon first. Let me go and I’ll spare her life,” Fallon demanded.
“You know we can’t do that Porter. C’mon if you live at least you’ll be able to see your siblings one day, if you die they will never know what happened to you,” Gripper negotiated. He would’ve loved nothing more than to let Fallon cross the border so he could follow her to her siblings, but that option was out of the window. He had a fellow law enforcement officer wounded and under threat, he was going to have to give up on his original plan in order to get Torrence out of harm’s way.
Fallon started dragging Torrence so she could get close enough to the man to slip under the unmanned part of the border gate.
“Porter! If you move I’m going to be forced to have my snipers blow you away,” Gripper said. That was the wrong thing to say. Fallon was too smart for that.
“Get up! Get the fuck up! Fallon demanded, forcing Torrence up on her wounded leg. Torrence was barely able to stand. She was weak from losing blood and her leg had no feeling. Fallon held Torrence up in front of her. She put Torrence’s gun to her head.
“Now, I bet your snipers won’t shoot another fed. I don’t want to kill her, but I will if I have to. Now call off your people because I am going,” Fallon shouted, slowly putting her finger into the trigger guard on the gun.
“Ok…ok. Let’s talk about this,” Gripper placated. He could not afford to have Torrence’s brains blown out.
“There’s nothing to talk about. Either you call off your dogs or I shoot her,” Fallon said.
“I’m dying. Just shoot her,” Torrence said weakly.
“Shut the fuck up,” Fallon snarled through clenched teeth, squeezing Torrence’s neck even harder.
“Ah,” Torrence winced.
Gripper picked up his radio. “Stand down. Don’t take the shot. I repeat. Don’t take the shot,” Gripper commanded.
“Good boy. Now, I’m going and when I make it I’ll let her go,” Fallon said.
“You know Fallon you did all of this to yourself and to your siblings. You just couldn’t stay away from Lincoln Drake…or what to you call him…Linx,” Gripper said. He was going to have to use mind games now. It was his last chance.
“What?” Fallon asked. Just hearing Linx’s name come out of the mouth of a federal agent had made her heartbeat speed up. “Hey…let’s go,” Fallon heard the Mexican man whisper. She was stuck in that spot now; her feet seemingly rooted to the dirt.
“Oh, you didn’t know that Linx was the one who told us where your safe house was? You didn’t now that he wore a wire those last couple of times you snuck out to see him? Ohhh, poor Fallon Porter, you thought you were smarter than that. Sniffing that cocaine with Linx was like truth serum. You told everything he asked. All about your last diamond heist, the location of the safe house, where Smitty lived and how he helped all of you case each job, how much he got paid, the lawyer that was washing the money for all of you, everything. Yes, Mister Drake told us everything,” Gripper announced.
With each revelation Fallon felt like someone had punched her in her stomach over and over again. She had been so stupid. Rain and Dayvid had warned her about Linx, but she was in blind love. In the beginning she didn’t tell Linx much of anything, but like the agent said, once Fallon started snorting coke with Linx it was like she would run her mouth nonstop.
“No,” she cried, tearing running through the dried blood that was already caked on her face. “I don’t believe you!” Fallon screamed. Although she said the words, she didn’t mean them. She actually believed every word that Gripper was saying. Linx had betrayed her in the worst way once again. But, even worse, Fallon knew that she had betrayed her siblings and Smitty in the worst way. How could she have been so stupid over a piece of married dick?
“Oh, Fallon, you believe me. You know I am right. So see, no matter where you go we will catch you. We already knew that all of you were heading for the Mexican border,” Gripper continued. He could see Torrence’s face was totally pale now and her eyes were closed. He knew if he didn’t act fast, he would lose her.
“Let Torrence go Fallon and just make this right for yourself and your siblings,” Gripper said. He was praying Fallon took the bait. He could see that she was sobbing and shaking her head from side to side.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
“No!!” Gripper screamed.
It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion around him. The gunshots had made him partially death and the smoke from the weapon was clouding his view. He felt himself running towards where Fallon and Torrence had been standing but it seemed like they were miles and miles away. Finally able to see clearly, Gripper could see Torrence’s body falling to the ground. He couldn’t see Fallon Porter though. As he approached, he could tell Torrence had been hit again. Both sides of her pants were soaked with blood. There was no blood on the top of her, which meant, Fallon had not shot herself. She had faked it.
“She…she…ran,” Torrence struggled to get her words out. “She’s…uh…mmm” Torrence moaned, still trying to say what she wanted to say.
“Shhh, save your strength,” Gripper kneeled at her side. He picked up his radio; his hands trembling fiercely.
“Officer down! Officer down! I need an ambulance stat! Stat!” he screamed. He threw his radio in the dirt and began applying pressure to Torrence’s leg to stop some of the bleeding. Fallon had shot her in the right leg this time, dangerously close to her femoral artery.
“Tell…tell my k…ki…kids that,” Torrence forced.
“C’mon Torrence you’re going to make it. You’ll tell them yourself.
“I…love them. Never…meant to hu…hurt them,” Torrence said, and then her eyes shut. Gripper heard the rush of footsteps coming towards him. The EMT’s took over from there.
Gripper stood up and pinched the bridge of his nose. All of his men were there now. He felt like everyone was looking at him accusingly, since he was the one who’d prevented them from taking the shot at Fallon.
“Over here!” Gripper heard someone yell out. Gripper walked slowly over. When he got to the spot, he saw Torrence’s gun lying on the ground next to a hole in the border fence.
The Circle: Fallon's Story (THE CIRCLE SERIES) Page 16