by Cindy Bell
“As for you,” Nick growled beside the man's ear. “We're going to take a walk right into that cabin. If you so much as make a sound I will not hesitate to shoot.”
The man was slightly subdued by the threat and the weight of Nick's gun against his midsection. Nick spun him around, using him as a shield, and began walking in the direction of the cabin. Bekki stuck close behind him, holding the rifle awkwardly in her hands. When they reached the door of the cabin, Nick nudged it slowly open.
“Put down your weapon,” he commanded before the door had even opened all of the way. Bekki caught a glimpse of two men sitting at a small table. Both had guns laying in front of them. When she shifted her gaze, she saw Danielle and Kim. They were sitting so limply in their chairs she thought perhaps they were too late. Then Kim slowly raised her head. She looked with wild eyes at Bekki. Nick was mostly blocking the door, not allowing her entrance until he had the situation under control.
“Well, don't you think you're something,” the older of the two men muttered as he stood up from the table. “A real tough guy, huh?”
“This doesn't have to end badly,” Nick said as he continued to hold his weapon on the man he was restraining. “We just want to get these two women to safety. Stand up and put your hands on your heads.”
Nick took a slight step forward. That was what Bekki was waiting for.
Bekki quickly ran up to the two women. She tugged at the rope that was used to secure each of the women to their chairs, as well as secure the two chairs back to back to each other. The rope was much thicker than she expected. Getting it untied was not going to be easy.
“We're not doing anything you say,” the older man said. “You're not in charge here. You have no idea how much trouble you're in.”
Nick moved the gun from the man's stomach to the side of his head.
“If you want your friend to live, you're going to do what I ask,” he said with a growl.
Bekki didn't have to be a math genius to know that Nick was in real trouble. Danielle began to stir in her chair. She woke up with a short cry of pain. When she lifted her head, Bekki could see that she had a black eye and blood on her head. Bekki remembered the bloody scarf. Her blood boiled at the thought of what these men might have done to them.
“Help us,” Danielle squeaked out.
“I'm trying,” Bekki hissed as she fumbled with the rope. She felt completely useless as the knots were not budging. Kim and Danielle were looking up at her desperately. Danielle kept wiggling, which only made the knot on the rope tighter. Bekki knew that if she didn't do something fast the entire plan was going to fall apart.
“Bekki,” Nick called out. Bekki looked up at him. The two men near the table were reaching for their weapons. Nick tossed her the lighter from his pocket. Bekki caught it with some confusion, until she realized what he was telling her to do. She didn't think it was the best idea, but without getting the two women free of the chairs, she was never going to get them out of there. She cringed and ignited the lighter. She played the flame at the rope.
“No, don't,” Danielle gasped out in fear as she felt the heat caressing her wrist.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” Bekki mumbled. “I can't get them untied.”
“You're burning me,” Kim complained and she tried to pull her wrist away. When she did one of the ropes snapped beneath the pressure of the flame.
“Put down the gun,” one of the men shouted at Nick as he raised his own weapon and pointed it directly at Bekki. Bekki caught sight of what he was doing, but she kept her focus on the task at hand. She knew that every second counted. She remembered what she had overheard earlier. They weren't going to kill anyone without the boss’ permission. She could only hope that still held true.
“Lower your weapon!” Nick shouted with fury in his voice. Bekki knew that it was because the weapon was pointed at her. Another of the ropes snapped. It was enough to free one hand of each woman from the chairs. She immediately began working at the last ropes. She was trying to pretend she didn't even notice the gun pointed at her.
“What did you call her, Bekki?” the older man who was still pointing his gun at Bekki asked. “You're not showing much concern for her wellbeing, are you?” he asked. “If you're going to hold a gun on my cousin, then I'm going to hold one on Bekki. So, I think we're at an impasse.”
“If you so much as move in her direction, I will pull the trigger,” Nick warned.
“No you won't,” the older man laughed. “You won't do anything, as long as she's at risk.”
Bekki's heart was pounding. She whispered to the two women.
“You're free, but I need you to pretend that you're not, understand?” she asked.
“We understand,” Danielle whispered. Bekki pretended to be fiddling with the lighter.
“You've already killed one woman,” Nick accused. “I'm not going to stand by and let you kill another.”
Bekki could tell that he was trying to stall for time. He wasn't going to open fire until he knew that she, Danielle, and Kim were able to make a run for it. But Bekki wasn't going to leave him at a disadvantage either. She shifted the rifle with her hip. She got the trigger close to her hand, without displaying that she was reaching for the weapon.
“Put your heads down,” she whispered to the two women. “Whatever you do, don't run. We're going to get you out of here, okay?”
“Okay,” Kim sniffled and tried to hold herself together. The two women lowered their heads in the same moment that Bekki lifted the rifle. She aimed it at the leg of the man shouting at Nick. She didn't have time to try to line up the shot. She could only hope that it would hit its mark. The recoil of the rifle was enough to knock her backwards a few steps. The man she had aimed for cursed loudly and fell back against the table he had been sitting in front of. Nick quickly threw the man he was holding to the ground and grabbed the weapon the older man had dropped. The third man was caught in the collapse of the table from his partner's weight falling on it. Bekki saw her opening.
“Run!” she instructed the two women. Danielle and Kim grabbed hands and ran towards the door of the cabin. The man Nick had tossed down on the floor was struggling to get up. He reached out and grabbed Bekki's foot. Danielle and Kim were already outside the door.
“My friend, Sammy, is waiting for you,” Bekki called out to them as she struggled to get free of the man's grasp on her foot. “Run for the woods, as fast as you can!” Bekki's heart ached as she knew that they would be completely exposed as they ran. Morris ran around the corner of the cabin. He had his weapon pointed as he burst through the door of the cabin. He nearly tripped over Bekki.
“You okay?” he asked quickly.
“I'm okay,” Bekki nodded. Morris aimed his gun at the man holding onto her leg.
“Give me a reason,” he taunted the man and released the safety on his weapon. The man on the ground released Bekki's leg. Bekki sprinted after the two women who were running across the clearing towards Sammy.
Sammy gestured for them to hurry. She heard something in the distance. Danielle and Kim reached Sammy first, with Bekki running closely behind them. She glanced over her shoulder, certain that Nick and Morris would not have a problem subduing the men inside the cabin. But as she turned, she heard the squeal of brakes, and saw a dust cloud rising up. The ranger's truck had pulled up right in front of the cabin.
Chapter Ten
Bekki and Sammy watched in silence as the ranger and another man jumped out of the truck and surged towards the door.
Bekki grew dizzy with fear as she watched them. She knew that Nick and Morris were not prepared for this, and there was no time to warn them.
“I have to go back,” Bekki said as she started to step towards the door.
“Bekki no!” Sammy cried out and grabbed her by the wrist tightly. She tugged her back into the trees. “No, you can't,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“But Nick is in there,” Bekki gasped out as she stared at Sammy. “I can't leave him
there, I can't.”
“There's too many, Bekki, what are we going to do?” Sammy asked. “Morris is in there, too, don't think I don't want to go running after him. But we made a promise to get these two women to safety. We made a promise that when we were free we would run, no matter what.”
Bekki's heart was straining against her chest. Tears were running down her cheeks. She could hear things breaking, and shouting coming from the cabin.
“I have to help him,” Bekki said and tried to free herself from Sammy again.
“Who is out there?” a voice shouted from the edge of the woods. The man was still far away from them, but he was steadily looking through the trees. Bekki had no idea he was even there. She had no idea how many more men might be with him. She looked at Danielle and Kim's terrified faces. Then she looked back at the cabin. It broke her heart to do so, but she turned away.
“We have to get them out of here,” Bekki said shakily.
“Down the mountain,” Sammy agreed.
“No,” Bekki suddenly said. “That's what they will be expecting. We need to find a place where no one will know to look for us.”
“The trail,” Kim suddenly said. “We visited it after Nick told us about it. It's really remote.”
“Do you think you can get there from here?” Bekki asked urgently.
“I think so,” Kim nodded.
“I remember how to get there,” Danielle nodded with tears in her eyes. “Where's Penny?”
“I'm sorry,” Bekki said quickly. “I'm so sorry for your loss.”
Danielle started to cry. Sammy hugged her gently.
“We have to go, we have to get to safety,” Danielle sniffled and nodded. Kim led the way through the woods.
“Move as quietly as possible,” Bekki instructed. Her voice cracked. With every step she took away from the cabin, she felt her heart being torn into shreds. In the distance she heard gunfire.
“No, no, no,” she whispered to herself.
“It's going to be okay, Bekki,” Sammy said through her own tears. “It's going to be okay.”
***
The ranger burst through the door of the cabin behind Nick and Morris. When Nick heard the sound of guns being readied to be fired he slowly lowered his weapon. He gave a short nod to Morris, and Morris did the same.
“Now, what are you going to do?” the ranger asked in a gritty voice. He stepped around in front of Nick and Morris. The man with him remained behind them, so that they were essentially blocked in. The ranger narrowed his eyes as he looked from Nick to Morris.
“You two must think you're some kind of big shots to try to pull off a plan like this.”
“We don't want any trouble,” Nick said calmly as he placed his gun on the ground. “We just wanted to make sure those two women were safe. Now, we can be on our way. I don't care about your distillery.”
“Oh, you were just trying to be heroes?” the man laughed bitterly. “Nice try, but not nice enough,” he smirked. “Now, you're both going to pay for that mistake,” he added.
“I've got these two, the rest of you go find those women,” he barked. “Don't bother bringing them back here, just pick them off one by one.”
Nick and Morris glanced at each other fearfully. “As for you,” the ranger said as he glared down at the man who had been shot. “You need to stop bleeding all over my floor. Take him out,” he nodded to the two men who were preparing to search for the fleeing women. They did as they were instructed and slammed the door to the cabin closed behind them.
***
“It's up here,” Kim said as they continued to climb up the mountain. Sammy was exhausted, but she kept plodding along. Bekki was trying to focus on getting to safety, but her mind and heart were with Nick back at the distillery. She knew that he and Morris were skilled at their jobs. She knew that they faced danger sometimes on a daily basis. She knew that they could handle the situation. But that didn't make walking away from them any easier.
“I'm so tired,” Danielle breathed out. “Can we just rest for a minute?” she pleaded.
“I know you’re very tired, Danielle,” Bekki said with sympathy. “But we really can't stop. They're not going to stop looking for us. We have to keep moving.”
Danielle nodded reluctantly and kept climbing. Bekki's hips and knees were burning. She wasn't used to this kind of physical activity. Sammy looked like she was going to pass out.
“Here,” Kim said as she pushed through a thick tree line. The others followed behind her. On the other side extended a long stone slab.
“It's a beautiful view,” Danielle said shakily as she walked closer to the edge of the ridge. Bekki looked down at the steep slope that seemed to go on forever. She felt sick to her stomach as she realized that they had just positioned themselves at a dead end.
“Hopefully they won't look for us here,” Sammy said quietly. Bekki didn't speak. She couldn't bring herself to point out that the men seemed to know every spot in the woods. With no one looking for them, no one calling for help, there was a very good chance that the ranger's men would find them first.
The four sat down for a few minutes to collect their breath. Bekki's mind kept returning to Nick. She had no idea how he was ever going to make it out of there alive. She couldn't believe she had left him behind. She had such an urge to go back to check on him. She was about to give into it, when she heard some rustling in the distance. Bekki's eyes widened. She hadn't expected anyone to find them so fast. Slowly Bekki got to her feet. She gestured for the others to do the same, and to be silent.
Sammy took a step forward, and froze as she heard a twig snap. There was a chance it was an animal. There was a chance that the ranger's men hadn't found them already. But Bekki's heart was in her throat. She knew that it wasn't an animal. She could hear the footsteps. They were far too heavy. There was more than one set. There were more than two sets. It couldn't be Nick and Morris. It had to be the ranger's men.
Bekki hovered close to Sammy as the footsteps progressed. Danielle and Kim stayed behind Bekki and Sammy, but they were dangerously close to the edge of the ridge. Bekki's heart was pounding. She was sure that at any second the ranger would burst through the trees and open fire. There was nowhere to run. There was no way to escape what was about to happen. She took a deep breath and inwardly told Nick how much she loved him. She knew that she might never have the chance to actually say it again. Sammy squeezed Bekki's hand tightly.
“Do you think we could jump?” she asked as she glanced over her shoulder at the steep drop from the ridge.
“No,” Bekki shook her head. “It's too far down. I'm going to do my best to fight but…”
“Everyone get down!” a commanding voice shouted from beyond the tree line. Sammy looked at Bekki questioningly. Bekki only nodded. The four women slowly knelt down on the ground.
“Are you alone? Is anyone with you?” the voice barked out.
“We're alone,” Bekki said shakily. She saw the barrel of a rifle protruding through the leaves and grimaced. She was sure these would be the last moments of her life.
“Clear!” the voice called out. Then a man dressed in camouflage rushed forward. When Bekki saw the flash of his badge on his belt, she started to have hope. Three other men dressed in the same uniform surged out from the trees. They lowered their weapons.
“You're safe,” the first man said as he looked into Sammy's terrified eyes. “We're here to help you.”
Kim began to cry with relief. Sammy turned into Bekki's outstretched arms and they hugged tightly. Danielle collapsed on the ground and had to be helped to her feet by two of the men.
“Nick?” Bekki asked as she looked up into the eyes of one of the men.
“Let's just get you to safety,” the man said without a trace of emotion in his expression.
“But is he safe?” she insisted. “Did you find him?”
“And Morris?” Sammy asked as she grabbed Bekki's hand.
“There's a car waiting,” the man sai
d without answering either of their questions. Bekki and Sammy held tightly to each others’ hands as they followed the men. There was a narrow dirt road not far from where they had been hiding.
Bekki was about to climb into the SUV that was waiting for them, when she hesitated. She looked suspiciously at the man in fatigues beside her.
“How did you get up here?” she asked. “The roads were washed out leading up to the mountain.”
“We were doing a wilderness training exercise,” the man replied. “We heard the call for help.”
“What call for help?” Sammy asked.
“Someone dialed 911 from a cell phone and left it open,” the man explained. “Our base command was contacted and we offered to help.”
“No one called 911,” Bekki said sternly. “How do we know you're not lying?”
“Ma'am, I know you've been through a lot,” the man said. “But I can assure you, we are only here to help. We heard a conversation on the call between a group of men, and threats, and a woman screaming.”
Bekki realized they must have heard what happened in the cabin when Danielle and Kim had been rescued. But she still had no idea how. Reluctantly she climbed into the back seat of the SUV. Sammy climbed in beside her. As the man closed the door, Bekki hoped they had made the right decision.
Chapter Eleven
It wasn't long before Bekki realized that the vehicle was driving back towards the illegal distillery.
“What are you doing?” Bekki asked with urgency. “Why are we coming back here?” she was beginning to think that they were part of the ranger's team as well.
“We have a few passengers to pick up,” the man driving said, and smiled over his shoulder at Bekki and Sammy. The vehicle came to a stop in front of the cabin. Two men in fatigues were standing in front of it talking quietly. Bekki opened the door and jumped out. She ran up to the cabin, with Sammy at her heels. The door swung open, and Nick scooped Bekki up into his arms. He carried her out of the way so Morris could get to Sammy.