Fall of Houston Series | Book 2 | No Other Choice

by Payne, T. L.

  “All righty. Let’s do this thing,” Rod said as he pulled back the charging handle to his AR-15 rifle.

  Savanah felt kind of naked compared to Rod. She clutched her AR-15 close to her chest and followed Jason and Rod across the field and over his neighbor’s fence. Rod stopped and held a hand up. “Wait here. I’m going to tell August to keep an eye on my place.”

  Rod ran up and knocked on August Rubin’s door. A moment later, the six-foot-four, three-hundred-pound man appeared. Savanah knew August to be a gruff but generous man. Keegan often earned extra cash helping him around his small hobby farm. He’d been good to her son, and Savanah appreciated it.

  August looked around Rod and nodded to a greeting to Jason and Savanah before disappearing inside. Rod just stood there, holding the door open. A moment later, August exited his house dressed similarly to Rod. The two men joined Savanah and Jason.

  “Once we cross the road, we should split up. Rod and I can make our way around to the other side near the golf course. From there, we can see anyone coming and going from the north,” August said.

  Savanah hadn’t been aware the community had more than one entrance. August seemed much more familiar with the layout.

  “That sounds like a good plan,” Savanah said.

  “Can someone explain what we hope to learn by spying on them?” Jason asked. “What good does it do to know how many people live there?”

  “I’m more concerned with how many guns they have than how many people live there,” August said. “They're targeting the elderly and defenseless folks along the road. They be afraid of getting into a gun battle, but I want to be sure what weapons they have available.”

  “Doesn’t that mean that they know who lives in what houses?” Savannah said.

  “Could be. Before the lights went out, a few folks had reported being broken into. They could have been casing the houses to see who to rob,” August said.

  “Still,” Jason said. “We’re risking them seeing us, for what?”

  “I think it’s about time we put a stop to their shenanigans before we lose any more neighbors. I waited, thinking the sheriff would be around soon, but evidently, that ain’t about to happen. I’m not usually one for taking the law into my own hands, but enough is enough. Folks like the Bertrands worked hard for what they got, and they don’t deserve to be gunned down in the driveway like dogs,” August said.

  “You really think there is something we can do about it?” Savannah asked.

  “Won’t know until we see what we’re up against,” August said.

  Even before they crossed the road to the Spring Hill gated community, Savanah could see the high roofs peeking above the eight-foot wall surrounding the property. Savannah and the others stopped and crouched behind a row of bushes that lined the road and listened. Savanah heard voices, but they were too far away to make out what was being said.

  “I’ll go first. Savanah, you follow after me,” August said as he straightened.

  As Savanah stepped around the shrubbery, she spotted an older red truck in the ditch down the street to her left. Jason gasped. Savanah recalled seeing a similar truck filled with men chasing down rich kids when she’d first seen Jason after the lights went out. It looked like they’d followed them home. The bullet hole through the windshield was a good indication that the encounter hadn’t ended well for the men in the truck.

  As August and Savanah crossed the road, Jason ran to the truck. August dropped down beside the perimeter wall and pulled Savanah down with him while Jason circled the vehicle. He shook his head and ran back to join Rod.

  A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. The men had been someone’s sons and fathers. How would their families make it without them? Would they ever even know what had happened to them? She thought how awful it must be for them not knowing.

  August pulled a pair of binoculars from a pouch on his belt and scanned down the wall running along the road in front of the community. He lowered the binos and waved for Rod and Jason to join them.

  Together they traveled west along the wall to where it dropped down to three feet. All Savanah could see from that point were the spacious lawns and the backs of the large southern French country-style homes. The tall, sloping, hipped rooflines with barrel-tiles, along with tall rectangular windows, and the natural stone facade of the exterior of French country architecture were common among the homes in the community.

  Savanah didn’t see a soul outside. Most of the windows were closed. That detail told her that the residents hadn’t made it home before the lights went out. No one could bear to remain inside a closed-up house in south Louisiana without air conditioning.

  At the back of the community, there were several houses with their windows open. Towels hung over the lounge chairs that flanked a large pool of one home.

  “See the cooler?” Rob pointed. “Next to the grill. Someone’s home there. You smell that. I bet it’s steaks.”

  “Bastards,” August said. “Probably from the Johnsons’ cows.”

  “We’re coming up on the golf course,” Rob whispered. “The wall ends where the green begins.”

  “The back of the community is wooded,” August said. “Past the trees is a chain-link fence.”

  Just before reaching the green of the golf course, Savanah spotted the community pool. Her heart flipped inside her chest. She recognized the half-dozen or so men lounging around it—and so did Jason.

  “Isn’t that…?” Rod said, turning to Jason.

  Savanah was having a hard time reading Jason’s face though he was definitely surprised to see his brother and cousins lounging around the pool of this exclusive community. It was bad. Very bad for all of them. It meant that they’d be going up against the Blanchard family. Were they behind the residents’ crime spree? They had to be.

  “I thought they’d set up in town,” August said.

  “I thought so too,” Jason said.

  Nine

  Will

  Day Six

  Will and Gus had just entered the apartment complex before a paunchy man came running out, yelling something about Rudy.

  “I told those fools he had nothing to do with the shooting. Why didn’t they listen?” Gus said.

  “Maybe they had their own agenda and used the kid as an excuse,” Will said.

  Gus handed his bags of medication to the man in front of him. “I gotta go find him.”

  “You probably shouldn’t go alone,” Will said.

  “Don’t tell Jaz,” Gus called as he ran off.

  Will had no intention of telling Jaz, but he wasn’t going to lie to her if she asked.

  “What is all this?” the paunchy man asked.

  “Vitamins.” Will lied. “He was afraid that if the man knew that he was possibly carrying prescription painkillers, he might not be so keen to hand them over.”

  “You heading to Gus and Jaz’s place?”

  “No, Isabella and Kevin’s.”

  “They still together? I saw him with that chick Gus found in old man Hernandez’s apartment,” the man said.

  “Last night?”

  “No. This morning. They were coming out of an apartment on the back side of the complex. They’ve just about cleaned out every unit in here.”

  “Of food?” Will asked.

  “No, man. Drugs. Prescription. Illegal. Don’t matter to him.”

  “He’s a druggie?”

  The guy nodded. “Bad.”

  “Shit,” Will said. “Does Isabella know?”

  “I don’t think so. I don’t think she’d keep him around if she knew where he spent all his money,” the guy said.

  “You might want to hide these,” he said, holding up one of the bags.

  Will nodded. In light of this new information, he hoped that Isabella was through with the guy. She deserved much better.

  As they approached Isabella’s building, Will tried to think of a way to find out what was in the pill bottles. It would be useless to have them if they couldn
’t use them if someone got injured or sick.

  “Do you know if there is anyone around here who’s a nurse?” Will asked as they climbed the stairs.

  The man pointed over his shoulder. “Candice works at a nursing home. I’m not sure if she’s a nurse.”

  Nursing homes were filled with elderly people who took lots of medication.

  “That’s good to know. Thanks.”

  Cayden must have seen them coming from the window and opened the door before Will even knocked. The paunchy man dumped the bags of pills onto the floor and backed out the door. “I gotta go help, Gus. Jaz will have my ass if he doesn’t make it home.”

  “Thanks for your help,” Will said, closing the door.

  Isabella sat up on the sofa. “What’s up with Gus?”

  Will nodded toward the door. “Some guy told Gus there had been some issue with Rudy and he went to find him.”

  “Oh shit. We just saw some gangbangers chasing him through the complex.”

  Will was torn. He should go after Gus, but he had Cayden to think about. What would happen to his son if he got himself killed in the middle of Rudy’s business?

  “Don’t even consider it,” Isabella said. “Gus knew what he was getting himself into. He knows the people Rudy runs with.”

  “I know. It’s just—he’s got a kid on the way,” Will said.

  “I know. Jaz is going to kill him for being so stupid.”

  Will wouldn’t want to be Gus when Jaz found out about the kid in the grocery store.

  “What’s in the bags?” Cayden asked.

  “Medications,” Will said. “Hopefully, there is at least one bottle of antibiotics, but all the labels are missing. But we do have this.” He opened one of the trash sacks and rummaged around until he located the burn cream for Isabella’s arm.

  As he sat down to apply the ointment to her wound, he heard voices outside. He listened. None of them sounded like Gus or Rudy. He handed the medication to Isabella and rushed to the window.

  Two of Kevin’s bandmates were in the parking lot.

  “What’s up? Are Gus and Rudy all right?” Will called down.

  “Don’t know about them. We’re looking for Kevin,” one of the bandmates said.

  Will thought about telling them what Gus had said about Kevin being with that other girl, but he decided he should mind his own business.

  “What happened at the store?” Isabella asked.

  Will turned away from the window, leaving Kevin’s friends to worry about locating him on their own. “Some kid got shot. For some reason, Gus was afraid Rudy would be blamed since they’re from rival groups.

  “Is that where you lost your shirt?” Isabella asked.

  Will glanced down and his face flushed at realizing he’d forgotten that he was shirtless. “I used it to control the kid’s bleeding.”

  “Cayden, there are three trash bags on the floor by my bed. One of them should have a shirt your dad can wear,” Isabella said.

  As Cayden left to retrieve one of Kevin’s shirts, Will turned his attention back to the parking lot below. More people were moving about now that the water was receding a little. He thought about heading back to the store and seeing if he could retrieve the shopping cart filled with supplies he’d been forced to abandon. There was a chance it might still be there. He’d sure feel much better heading out with those supplies, but it was risky. Maybe too risky.

  Cayden returned with a small yellow and green striped polo style shirt. Will held it out in front of him.

  “It might be a little tight on you,” Isabella snickered.

  Cayden pulled a second shirt from behind his back. “Here, I know you prefer black.”

  Will was pleased to see some of his son’s old sense of humor returning. They’d used to razz on each other all the time. He suddenly realized that he’d seen more of Cayden’s teeth in the last few days than in the past two years. He wasn’t sure how he could be so light-hearted under the circumstances but suspected Isabella’s presence had something to do with it. Either way, it was good to see.

  Will was pulling the T-shirt over his head when he heard a woman scream. Isabella shot to her feet and sprinted to the window. “That was Jaz,” she said.

  “Gus!” Will said.

  Regret flooded in. He knew he should have gone with him.

  Isabella rushed to the door with Cayden on her heels.

  “Wait. I’ll go. You’re in no shape,” Will said, pushing past her.

  “Jaz needs me,” Isabella said.

  Will grabbed his rifle and followed after her. “Hold on to my arm then. I don’t want you falling down the stairs.”

  A crowd was gathered on the second-floor landing. Jaz was at the end of the walkway with her head hung over the railing, barfing.

  “There’s Izzy,” someone in the crowd whispered, and everyone turned to stare at her.

  “Jaz?” Isabella called over them. “Is everything all right?”

  Jaz spun around wide-eyed. “Oh my God, Izzy.” Jaz started toward her.

  Isabella stepped around a man and a woman to move toward Jaz. The crowd parted between them.

  “Izzy, stop!” Jaz yelled, holding out her hand, palm facing out.

  “What? Jaz, what’s wrong?” Isabella asked.

  Will rushed toward her just as the crowd engulfed her. He pushed his way through and reached for her arm, but she turned toward the apartment door before he got to her. Isabella screamed. It was one of those blood-curdling screams like from the horror movies. Will had never before heard such a thing in real life. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, and she dropped to her knees as Jaz reached her.

  “No! No! No!” she cried out. She turned to Jaz. “Who would do such a thing?” she sobbed into Jaz’s chest, her shoulders shuddering.

  Jaz pulled Isabella to her feet, moved her out from the doorway. Will stepped up to see. The smell hit him first. It was like a mixture of vomit, piss, and feces. And then he saw him, splayed out on the floor like a butchered animal. Blood covered the floor and walls. There was hardly a surface that was clear of it. Blood even splattered the ceiling. Kevin looked as if he had been gutted. It was an inhuman sight. Will found it hard to accept that one human could be so brutal to another. And then he remembered Cayden.

  Will spun around, grabbed Cayden by the arms, and pushed him back toward the stairs. “We have to go.”

  “What about Isabella?” Cayden asked.

  Isabell was hysterical. She was in no shape to travel. Could he just leave her like that? Would Cayden leave her like that was the bigger question, and Will knew the answer was no.

  “Let’s get her back to the apartment,” Will said.

  “What’s in there?” Cayden asked.

  “Kevin. He’s been killed.” Will knew he couldn’t sugarcoat it, but he wasn’t about to describe the gruesome scene for his son.

  “Isabella,” Cayden said softly.

  Will made his way through the crowd and walked up behind Isabella and Jaz. “Let’s get her away from here. I’ll take her back to her place.”

  “Okay,” Jaz said, nodding. Mascara ran down her smooth cheeks. He feared she wasn’t safe there without Gus. “You want to come with us?”

  “I’m leaving. As soon as Gus gets back, we’re getting the hell out of here.”

  Will nodded.

  Cayden took Isabella’s hand and led her toward the stairs. “Let’s go back to your apartment.”

  Jaz grabbed Will’s arms as he attempted to join them. “Where’s Gus?”

  Will knew she needed to know that her boyfriend was safe, and he hated to tell her where he’d gone. “He went after Rudy. There was trouble at the grocery store. A young man got shot.”

  “I’m going to kill him. He’s the one that brought those two psychos over here and them in the apartment across from me. I told Gus that I thought they killed Mr. Hernandez. Now they’ve done gone and butchered Kevin. Any of us could be next.”

  “Has anyone seen them?”


  “I saw them,” a teenage boy said, stepping up beside Jaz. The scrawny kid stuck his chest out and glared at Will, trying to look more formidable than he was.

  “Where? How long ago?”

  “This morning. They were going into that apartment at the end of Building C.”

  “Someone should go check it out,” Will said.

  “You the one with the big-ass gun,” the kid said, pointing at the rifle in Will’s hand.

  Will said nothing. He turned his back on the kid and made his way through the crowd to join Cayden and Isabella. He wasn’t about to leave them alone to go on some wild goose chase. If Gus returned, he’d discuss it with him and they’d come up with a plan. In the meantime, he was getting them back to Isabella’s apartment and barricading the door.

  Ten

  Savanah

  Day Six

  Savanah leaned against the stone wall that surrounded the exclusive subdivision feeling ill. The revelation that Jason’s brother and cousins were behind the crime spree that had occurred on their road had knocked the wind out of her. Their situation was so much worse than she’d imagined. The Blanchards were a ruthless bunch and had previously only been kept in check by the sheriff of Calcasieu Parish and the major crimes task force assigned to investigate their criminal activities.

  “So what do we do now?” she asked.

  “We go home and protect our families,” Rod said, jabbing a finger in the direction of their houses.

  “What we need to do is organize folks to come back here and take those bastards out,” August said.

  “What do you think, Jason?” Savanah asked.

  Jason looked at her with a blank expression. She knew what a difficult position this put him in. Some part of her worried that he’d leave them to join his family. It couldn’t be easy to hear August contemplating killing them.