Final Touch

by Brandilyn Collins

  I didn’t want to think about that. I pulled my thoughts away, turned them to Mom and Dad. Brittany and the band. Even if I got out of here alive, what would my life be like? How do you go back to living normally after something like this? Only God would get me through it.

  The air above the cabin beat a thwap-thwap. The helicopter was back.

  Only then did I realize why the police were giving us the radio this way. Even in all the protective gear they surely wore, no one was going to take the chance of walking up to the front door.

  Joshua stood like a rock in the middle of the room, gun in his hand and feet apart. He caught my eye, and his mouth pulled into his now familiar threatening sneer.

  I know, my expression told him. I know.

  Something heavy fell on the porch.

  Joshua pivoted and aimed his gun at the door.

  Long seconds ticked by. The thwap-thwap continued—then faded.

  “Shaley!” Schwartz’s voice came over the bullhorn. “We’ve left the radio on the porch, two feet from the door.”

  Joshua strode to the couch and yanked me to my feet. Left hand clamped around my burning wrist, he pulled me to the kitchen table. He tossed down the shotgun and picked up the weapon he’d used to shoot the policeman. Joshua moved behind me and wrapped his left arm around my chest. Dragged me over to the front door.

  The gun pressed into my skull beneath my right ear. “When I tell you to, you open the door. When you lean down to get that radio, this gun stays at your head. Got it? One funny move from them and you’re dead.”

  I managed a nod.

  “You move real fast.” Joshua’s arm squeezed against my lungs. I gasped for air. “Unbolt the door, get the radio, get back in. Hear me?”

  “Uhh…huh.”

  The gun barrel dug deeper into my head. “On the count of three.”

  Please, out there, don’t shoot.

  Why had I pushed this? It was insane. I was going to die.

  “One. Two. Three—go!”

  My hand unbolted the lock. Opened the door. Sunlight poured over me, so bright I could barely see. In a split second my eyes grazed over too many vehicles to count. I leaned down toward the radio, Joshua moving with me. A long rope was tied around the radio. Is that what we’d heard drop? My fingers snatched up the bundle. We backed inside the cabin, a large section of the rope trailing at my feet. Joshua pulled me around the corner and out of sight. I tried to slam the door, but the rope still lay over the threshold.

  “Get it!” Joshua yelled.

  I reached down with my left hand, trying to reel it in. I couldn’t see the end of it. In my mind I envisioned men running toward the door. They’d get me killed. Panicked, I pulled harder. The last of the rope whipped toward me.

  Joshua leapt around me and slammed the door. Bolted it.

  I sank to my knees, then collapsed on the floor, heart flailing.

  Joshua grabbed the radio. He fumbled with it, searching for a talk button. Raised it to his mouth. “Schwartz. You there?”

  From the floor I watched him, too shaken to get up.

  “I’m here, Ronald.” The voice came through loud, startling.

  “My name ain’t Ronald, it’s Joshua!”

  “All right. Joshua.”

  He flicked me a menacing look. “Shaley’s got somethin’ to say to you.” He thrust the radio toward me. I took it with a trembling hand.

  “Shaley?” Schwartz’s voice.

  “Yeah. I’m here.” I ran the back of my hand across my sweaty forehead. You can do this, Shaley. “I want you all to go away. I want to stay with Joshua.”

  Silence.

  Joshua grabbed my hair. “Tell ’em again.”

  My finger keyed the radio. “I…do you hear me? You all need to leave. I—”

  Joshua wrenched the radio from my hands. “Hey! You get that? You have one hour to get every last person outta here. One hour. If you ain’t gone by then—she dies.”

  44

  Rayne’s body felt tight, her lungs parched for air. She walked the great room, unable to stop. They’d watched the horrific scene unfolding on TV until Rayne had to turn away. Those rustic cabins in the middle of nowhere, police cars littering the road, men in gear carrying multiple weapons. The news was being broadcast courtesy of the closest TV station crew, who’d rushed to the scene. Rayne knew other local and national crews were on their way from all points in the country. Let them film all they wanted. She couldn’t bear to watch.

  Ross, Ed Schering, Morrey, and Kim remained in the den, eyes glued to the TV. They would report if they saw anything new.

  Rayne paced. Every minute was torture, every ring of Al’s phone a nightmare waiting to unfold. Brittany, Gary, and the rest of the band had gathered in the great room, their official location to wait. No one spoke. The very air twanged with tension.

  An hour ago Al had received a call about John Baynor, the man who owned the Utah cabin where Shaley had been taken the first night. Baynor had stumbled into the police station in Lewistown, Montana, frightened and shaking, and spilled his story to a detective. Al related the information to Rayne and Gary.

  “He and Ronald Fledger built cabins outside of Peace, Montana, planning on starting some sort of religious community. The kind cut off from the world—no phones, no TV. Baynor stayed at the place while Fledger left, saying he’d come back as soon as possible with his ‘bride.’ Baynor insisted he had no idea about Fledger’s plans to kidnap Shaley.”

  Gary huffed. “His Utah cabin sure was convenient. The electricity was even left on.”

  Stan and Rich crowded in, listening. Brittany gripped Carly’s hand.

  Al shrugged. “He says his brother was going to move into the Utah place. At any rate, Baynor happened to go into Peace yesterday. In a diner he saw Fledger’s face on TV, wanted for kidnapping Shaley. Baynor says he ran out of the restaurant and took off south. He didn’t want any part of that. He stayed in Lewistown last night, and this morning on TV saw the news about the Montana cabins being surrounded. That’s when he went to the police.”

  Rayne pressed her hands to her temples. “Will he talk to Fledger? Try to convince him to let Shaley go?”

  Police were flying him to the scene, Al had said. Baynor was going to try.

  The latest news from Al was that Baynor had arrived at the Montana cabins. A few minutes later a radio was delivered to Fledger. Now at least the police could communicate with him.

  Al’s phone went off again. Rayne pulled up short and swiveled toward the sound. Gary strode over to the FBI agent.

  “Scarrow.” Al’s eyes met Rayne’s across the room. He listened.

  Rayne’s fingers laced so tightly they cramped. What is it, what is it? She walked toward him, part of her wanting to back away. To not hear.

  “Thanks.” Al punched off the line.

  “What?” Gary demanded.

  “They’ve talked to Shaley. She’s insisting she wants them to go away and leave her alone.”

  Gary’s face reddened. “He’s making her say that!”

  “We know.” Al looked from him to Rayne, hesitating. Fear whirled through Rayne. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to tell them.

  “Fledger’s given an ultimatum. The police must leave in one hour.”

  “Or what?” Gary’s face paled.

  “No!” Rayne’s knees sagged. “Don’t say it.” She sank into the nearest chair. “Just…don’t.”

  45

  From my place on the couch, I eyed the two-way radio sitting on the coffee table, useless and silent. Joshua had quit talking to Schwartz, and now he didn’t want me near the thing. “Nothin’ left to do but count down the hour,” he’d told me. “There’s no halfway about this. Either they leave or they don’t.”

  And what if they do go, Joshua? I wanted to ask. Did he really think they’d just leave me here, a kidnap victim, forever? My guess—he knew they wouldn’t leave. He was just buying time. Otherwise, why give them an hour? Why not demand they leave
in five minutes?

  Joshua didn’t dare get near a window to see what was happening outside. One sighting of him, and a sniper would shoot in an instant. He’d given an ultimatum, and he couldn’t even check to see if it was being followed.

  He was trapped. He didn’t know what to do. Somehow I had to use that.

  But I hadn’t gotten a chance. Minutes streamed by, and Joshua grew more volatile than ever. By now the hour had to be almost gone. The man couldn’t stop pacing. His limbs trembled and jerked as if hooked up to electrodes. His right hand gripped a handgun. Any second he might explode. Just pivot and shoot me. Joshua cursed Caleb for abandoning him; he cursed me. Finally he cursed God. After a while my ears grew so used to his verbal abuse I barely heard it. My body sank in on itself, wrapped in cotton. I tried to tell myself I wasn’t really there. I was…somewhere else. Drifting. This was all a dream.

  Joshua strode to the coffee table and slapped a hand around the radio. “Hey, Schwartz!” His eyes fastened on me as he talked. They were flat and hard. At that moment I knew it was over.

  “Schwartz here, Joshua.”

  “You got five minutes.”

  “According to my watch we have fifteen.”

  “I just moved it up. I’m tired of this.”

  “There’s someone here wants to talk to you. Just a minute.”

  I didn’t dare move.

  “Joshua.” A new voice crackled over the radio. “It’s Caleb.”

  Joshua cursed and threw the radio on the table. “I ain’t talkin’ to that Judas.”

  I cringed on the couch and studied Joshua, pulse skimming. Caleb’s voice had thrown him.

  You’ve got five minutes.

  “I’ll talk to him.” I pushed to the edge of the sofa.

  “No, you ain’t!”

  “Let me find out why he abandoned us.”

  Us. Joshua gave me a long look. His lip curled. Us. I could see the effect that word had on him. He wanted Caleb to hear my loyalty.

  Joshua shrugged.

  I leaned over and picked up the radio. “Caleb, it’s Shaley. You here—outside?”

  “I came back to talk to Joshua.”

  “We want to know why you left.”

  “Why do you think? I didn’t know he was going to kidnap you.”

  I locked eyes with Joshua. “That how you treat your friends? Just up and ditch them?”

  “I didn’t want any part in what he did.”

  Silence. I waited him out, envisioning Schwartz standing nearby, telling Caleb what to say. What a game of chess we played. With my life at stake.

  “Get Joshua on the radio,” Caleb said.

  I stood and held out the radio to Joshua. He cursed again and turned away.

  “Come on, Joshua. Here’s your chance to tell him what a traitor he is.”

  No response.

  “I want to hear you tell him. I want to hear the kind of man you are.”

  My captor’s gaze cut back to me, his eyes narrowed and cold. His mouth tightened. He closed the gap between us and whisked the radio from my hand. “I’m here, Caleb, so whad’ya want?”

  “I want you to come out of there. You think I want to see you killed?”

  “Ain’t nobody killin’ me. They all got to leave now.”

  “They’ll leave for sure if you come out.”

  Joshua’s face turned crimson. “I am not giving up! They leave now or Shaley dies. You tell them that!”

  I sidled toward the front window.

  “There’s no good can come of this, Joshua.”

  “I ain’t goin’ to jail!”

  “Why would you go to jail? I thought Shaley wants to be with you.”

  “You heard her.”

  “Then come on out with her. She wants to stay with you, you can be together. Don’t have to be holed up in that cabin.”

  I reached the window. Stepped just beyond it and edged aside the curtain an inch. My line of vision cut diagonally across the yard.

  “What’re you doin’?” Joshua bellowed.

  My insides shook, but I didn’t let the curtain fall. “Checking outside. Stay where you are, they can’t see you.” I pushed my face toward the glass.

  “Close it!”

  “I see him.” My eyes raked over the police cars. No sign of a man who could be Caleb. “He’s just standing out in the yard, nobody around him. Like he trusts you. He knows you won’t shoot him.”

  Joshua snorted. “Man that stupid won’t live long.”

  Motion down the road caught my attention. I leaned a little to the right. More cars rolled toward the cabin. And a huge armored vehicle some distance behind them.

  Did they want to get me killed?

  I licked my lips. Glanced at Joshua.

  “What’s Caleb doing?” He took a step in my direction.

  “He’s waving at me,” I said in a rush. “Don’t come any closer. The police cars are still out there.”

  Joshua pulled the radio close to his mouth. “Hey, out there! You got five minutes. Hear me? The hour’s up in five minutes.”

  The cars drove up a little more and stopped. The armored vehicle stopped too but remained about thirty feet from the cars. Maybe they didn’t want to bring it any nearer for fear of being heard. A thing like that had to make a lot of noise. Men in camouflage gear and vests, carrying large weapons, piled out of the cars. They made no sound.

  SWAT team.

  Part of me couldn’t believe it. This should be Brittany and me watching a cop movie. Eating popcorn. I couldn’t really be here. In this.

  “What’s he doing now?” Joshua smacked the gun against his leg.

  I peered out the window. “He’s talking to people behind the police cars. I can’t see them. I think he’s telling them to leave.”

  “That’s right, Caleb,” Joshua spat into the radio. “You tell ’em to go.”

  I left the window and trotted over to Joshua’s side. If he found out I was lying, he would shoot me in an instant. “Give me the radio.”

  “No.”

  “I can watch them out the window and talk. You can’t.”

  Suspicion creased Joshua’s face. “I got to see for myself.”

  “How? They see you, they shoot you.”

  He studied me, unsure.

  “Come on, Joshua!” I reached for the radio.

  He handed it over.

  I swiveled away and ran back to the window before he could change his mind. Lifted up the outer edge of a curtain. “Caleb, it’s Shaley. I see you in the yard. You were talking to the police. You telling them to leave?”

  The SWAT team men were bent over, running in different directions.

  Please get what I’m doing.

  “Yeah, Shaley.” Caleb’s voice crackled. “I’m telling ’em to go. I’ll stay. Joshua and I can talk. We’ll figure out what to do.”

  “I got nothin’ to say to him,” Joshua retorted.

  Two SWAT team members were headed straight for the front door. The front door! Others moved toward each side of the cabin. That bedroom I’d been in had a back window.

  A tremble started in the soles of my feet. Moved up to my ankles. If I die, I’m takin’ you with me, Shaley. I resisted the urge to glance at all the weapons on the kitchen table. The gun in Joshua’s hand was enough. One noise from those back bedrooms and I was dead. I knew that. Looking at Joshua, seeing the craziness in his eyes—I didn’t stand a chance.

  “Shaley.” Caleb’s voice.

  I could stop this charade right now. Stop the gamble on my life.

  And then what?

  “Shaley?”

  “Shut him up!” Joshua barked.

  My shaking finger slipped as I keyed the radio. “I’m here.” I could barely hear my own words. Blood whooshed in my ears.

  “You see them getting in their cars?”

  Policemen emerged from behind the vehicles. Slid inside the cars and slammed doors. I turned to Joshua. “Hear that?”

  He cocked his head, listenin
g.

  More policemen got into the cars that had just brought the SWAT team. Engines started up. They began to move—away from the cabin and down the road. Even the armored car made a wide turn and rolled away.

  They wouldn’t have to go far. Just around the hill.

  “They’re leaving.” My voice trembled. “They really are going. Only our car’s left.”

  “I got to check.” Joshua strode toward the window in the kitchen. “You see anybody with Caleb?”

  “I don’t even see Caleb. I think he moved behind the Camry.”

  “Yeah, him and who else?”

  No reply from me.

  “Tell him to stand up and put his hands in the air.”

  It was so quiet outside. Where were all those SWAT men? Was Schwartz behind the Camry with Caleb, still telling him what to say?

  “Caleb, Joshua wants to see you. Stand up behind the car and put your hands up.”

  A pause. “What for? So he can shoot me?”

  “He wants to see you don’t have a gun in your hand. He’s not going to shoot you.”

  “How do I know that?”

  I pierced Joshua with a look. He gripped the handgun, his teeth clenched and wildness on his face. My heart smacked against my ribs. I lowered the radio. “You’re not going to shoot him, are you? Everyone has left. There’s no point.”

  He aimed the gun straight at my head. “I just want to see that they’re gone.”

  I had to let them know where Joshua was.

  I raised the radio to my lips. “He won’t shoot, Caleb. Just look toward the other front window.”

  Joshua’s gun remained pointed at me. I had to make this happen.

  “Okay,” Caleb said. “I’m standing up. See? Nothing in my hands except the radio.”

  I swallowed hard, nodded to Joshua. Do it!

  He turned his gun away from me, positioned himself at the edge of the window—and edged back the curtain.

  Gunfire exploded. The front door blew open.

  46

  Randy stormed into the cabin, Bray, Rex, Bear, Volt, and Eagle stacked behind him. Glass broke toward the back of the building. Starsky and Coop breaching the rear window.