by S A Jacobs
I was about to forgo watching any of these videos, even though I had nothing better to do, then one title caught my eye. “Hidden Confederate Gold on Appalachian Trail.” The thumbnail image for the video was a cheesy photo of the Appalachian Mountains with a giant clipart image depicting a pot of gold superimposed on top of it. With great reservation, I started the video.
The video launched with a full panoramic view of the Carver’s Gap parking lot. Then Jack entered the scene. He was super excited and could only be described as zany, wearing ostentatious sunglasses and speaking like a teenager hopped up on energy drinks. As I continued watching, what really caught my attention was the fact that he was not just some kid who heard a rumor of the KGC treasure. He spoke with accuracy and authority on the history of the area. He stood at the foundation of the Cloudland Hotel and intricately described the opulence and the layout of the hotel that had once stood there. Whoever he was, he was intelligent and had done his research despite his goofy persona.
As the video played on, Jack described how the hotel, among other things, was the cornerstone for finding the hidden cache.
“The treasure could only be found by standing in the private study of the hotel and following a straight path based upon a specific compass bearing. That bearing has never been disclosed and is believed to be lost to time. However, standing right here, I know it is out there. I can feel it. One direction or another, if you travel a straight line you will walk across the KGC’s cache! Smash that like button! Hit subscribe to see where I end up next! This is Renegade Jack.” He smiled as the video image faded out.
I pulled the earbuds from my ears and set down my phone. Had this been any other day, I would have certainly reached out to Renegade Jack. However, on that day, my mind was more focused on Melanie. I took a sip of Cheerwine and rubbed my legs, trying to coax some energy back into them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an older woman in a white doctor’s coat approach the reception desk. I watched intently as she spoke, and the receptionist looked up and pointed my direction. The doctor then approached me.
“David?” she said.
“That’s me.”
“Hi, I’m Dr. Weaver. I’m the E.R. doctor overseeing Melanie’s care.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, she is going to be fine. It appears she was just extremely dehydrated. I have her on a saline drip. She passed the battery of exams with flying colors, including the liver enzymes. I wanted to ask you about that. When she was admitted, the EMT said the Forest Ranger on site was concerned about possible liver failure. Any idea why that would have been a concern?”
“I don’t have a clue,” I lied. “All I know is she passed out on the trail, and I thought she was gonna die. I’m no doctor.”
“Interesting. Well whatever the reason, her liver is fine. I can take you to her room if you are ready to see her.”
The doctor escorted me to Melanie’s room. She instructed me to try to keep her calm. When I stepped into the room, Melanie was sitting up in the adjustable bed and appeared to be awake and alert.
“David! I can’t believe you’re here!”
Her voice held a hint of nervousness, combined with excitement. Following the immediate surprise of seeing me, her eyes dropped and her expression changed. She looked sullen and sad.
“Look, I don’t know what to say. I know you’re probably here to yell at me and tell me to stay out of your life… and I deserve that…”
“Actually, I’m here because I was worried about you!”
“I’m sorry! I never intended for you to follow me down there. You were never supposed to be in danger.”
I took a deep breath and bit the inside of my lip. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how I felt. Up until that moment, I was concerned for her safety. But as she brought it up, the pain started to bubble up inside me. I just stared at her.
“Say something! Please David, tell me what you’re thinking.”
“What I’m thinking?” I said as I began pacing the room. “I want to know the truth!”
“I woke up, and I just saw that coin laying there on the table. You were sound asleep, and I thought I could end this all without you ever knowing. It was a stupid idea.”
“End what exactly?”
“The treasure... Austin. You know he won’t stop until he has it. I just thought with the coin, I could get it and never have to worry about him threatening you again.”
That pushed me over the edge. Whatever restraint I’d had was gone with that statement. In my head I heard Gordon tell me to not let her know that I’d seen the video. Part of me wanted to listen, but in the end all I could do was give him a mental middle finger as I stepped over the edge.
“Oh for me? That’s right, I forgot I’m the one he pistol whipped. And that happened after he snuck up on you and tied you up, right?”
“Yeah, I’m the one that passed out, but I still remember that,” she said defensively.
“And here I asked for the truth. So... where were you two planning on flying off to once you got the cache?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Stop with the bullshit! Look, I know the story you told me, but I also know that you two walked down there together. That you planned this ahead of time. So, by the time you stole the coin, let’s just say I wasn’t exactly surprised. Hurt, angry, ashamed, annoyed. I was a lot of things, but not surprised.”
“It’s not like that.”
“And I should believe you why? Oh, because you have been so fucking honest with me? Jesus Melanie, you sat there while that asshole pointed a gun at my face as part of a plan you had with him, and you want me to believe you?”
“Let me explain. Austin, you don’t know what it’s like… what he does if I…”
“No, you’ve explained enough… I just want to know one thing. You owe me that much for hauling your ass out of there today. How long have you been planning this? Were you ever really interested in me or was this all part of a long-term scam?”
I was enraged, and I couldn’t contain it anymore. I looked at her with disdain and watched how my last words impacted her. It was like a blade slicing through her heart. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Her lip quivered as a stream of tears ran down her cheeks. All she could do was shake her head as if she was saying ‘no’. My words had done their damage. In that moment, I realized that whatever reason she’d had for doing this, it was clear she didn’t want to hurt me. It was clear that the feelings she had for me were real.
She was hurt. The woman I loved, I had just destroyed. She had lied and betrayed me. I was perfectly within my rights to fight back, but I had gone too far. She was broken. We were broken. Nothing could change that. I stood there staring at her for what felt like an hour. Tears were now running down my cheeks as well. The inside of my lip screamed in pain from my teeth locking onto it. I couldn’t do anything but leave. In that moment with her destroyed, I turned away and walked out of the room.
I jogged down the hallway to the exit of the hospital. I couldn’t stop. I kept running until I reached my truck in the parking lot. I jumped in and sobbed until I couldn’t cry anymore. I was holding the steering wheel with white knuckles, praying that holding onto it would keep me from going off the edge. Then I saw my phone. I took a few deep breaths to regain some composure and called Gordon.
“Gordon, I need a favor, no questions asked.”
“What do you need?”
“I need you to meet me. Bring me my father’s service revolver you kept after he died. I need it loaded. This is ending tonight!”
24
I arrived at the substation before Gordon and waited in my truck. I wasn’t planning on going inside. There wasn’t a need to go in there and relive more memories. It was damp and humid outside, and a thick fog covered the ground. I stared out the windshield as the headlights of my truck illuminated the fog around my old home. I turned off my lights. The last thing I needed was to draw any unwanted attention. E
motionally, I was standing on the edge of a razor. At the moment I was fine, but it would take nothing at all to push me over that edge.
I looked at my watch. It was exactly two in the morning, the time I’d told Gordon to meet me. My eyes watched the sweeping second hand of my watch. With every moment that passed, I became more and more anxious. I finally saw approaching headlights in the fog. The ranger truck pulled up and parked in front of me. I stepped out, standing in the light of his truck and waited.
“Dammit kid, you look like shit.” Gordon said as he stepped out of his truck. “You sure you need this now?”
“Yeah. Tonight is my only chance.”
“Look David, I brought your dad’s service piece like you asked, but you gotta understand, right now this is looking like the worst decision I have ever made.”
“I said no questions asked.”
“I’m not asking a damn thing. I’m talking. You never said nothin’ about me not talking. Since you won't let me ask any questions and you need that piece, I s’pose, you have no choice but to listen.”
I sighed in frustration and held up my hands.
“Fine, give me your damn speech.”
“I don’t know what the hell you are going to do out there, but I know one thing that you should understand. Whatever you plan to do out there with your dad’s gun…well, I can’t help you. I can’t protect you.”
That little nudge was all that it took for me to stumble emotionally. “First off, I never asked for you to protect me. Secondly, if you could cover up the death of my dad and everyone else for this long, I am pretty fucking sure you can cover up whatever the hell you want.”
“How do you think this works? You think I can convince anyone that a man lying in the woods with a massive bullet hole in his skull died of natural causes? Look, all I am saying is, the minute this thing gets fired, you’re on your own. “
“Message received,” I said flatly.
Gordon looked at me with hardened eyes for a moment. I knew he was concerned. I knew he was disappointed. I didn’t care. I also knew that Gordon wouldn’t stand in my way. He took a deep breath as his shoulders slumped in defeat. He went to his truck and came back carrying my father's Beretta M9.
“I trust you know how to use this?” he asked.
“Yup.”
“All right.” He handed the gun to me. “Like you asked for, it has a full clip, but I ain’t giving you a spare clip. Whatever you are planning on doing, you have fifteen shots to do it in and no more. You sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
“I know how to kill Spearfinger. I am going to end her tonight.”
“It’s that easy? Just shoot her? Pretty sure that’s been tried. You can’t tell me that none of her victims ever fired a couple rounds into her before.”
I checked the clip in the M9. It was full as promised.
“No, it’s not that easy at all, but I know how to kill her, and I will kill her.”
“All right, all right. Just know you don’t have to do this alone.”
“Thanks, but I do need to do this alone,” I said as I slid the M9 into my waistband. “Hey Gordon… one other thing. Make sure you shut down those cameras for a while. Pretty sure anything they record will only create unanswerable questions for both of us.”
I left Gordon standing there, not really caring what he thought about any of it. I didn’t care what repercussions I faced. I was hyper-focused on the task at hand. As my truck entered the deserted streets of Roan, I slowed down to try and compose myself. I knew that once I started it, I couldn’t stop until I saw it through. I tried to step back and think logically, but I couldn’t. I pulled off the main street in town onto one of the few side roads. I drove as slow as I could to not draw any unwanted attention. When I got within a short distance from my destination, I killed the headlights and continued on at a snail's pace.
Up ahead was the secluded dirt driveway, leading through a junkyard that surrounded an old run down trailer. I parked my truck a few hundred feet away from the trailer and turned off the truck. There were a few lights on in the trailer, but I knew no one was awake. I sat in the truck for a few minutes just watching and listening. Once I was confident that I’d arrived unnoticed, I pulled out the M9, ensured the safety was off and there was a round chambered.
It was time to pay a visit to Austin.
The moonlight reflected off the windows of the rusted trailer as I approached. I tightened my sweaty hand around the M9 and gently reached for the handle of the aluminum screen door with my other. I held my breath as I pulled the door open, expecting it to creak loudly. It didn’t. I stepped into the dingy living room. I scanned the room, looking for anyone. It was empty. I closed the door silently.
Under the orangish glow of the overhead light, the room was a mess. Empty bottles of Jack Daniels covered a poor excuse for a coffee table. The yellow couch was deeply stained. On it was Austin’s prized possession, a black Dean guitar complete with blue lightning bolts. A cord from the guitar traveled to the other side of the room where a giant amplifier stood where most would have a TV. Numerous other guitars hung on that wall, making it look like a junk yard from a 1980’s metal video.
I made my way to the door on the other side of the room. Everything beyond that doorway was dark. I gently stepped inside. There was a short hallway that led to the bathroom and the bedroom. Both doors were open. I held my breath as I stepped further into the hallway and then through the doorway to the bedroom.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could make out the majority of the cluttered room. Lying in the center of the bed was Austin. I could see his chest rising and falling under his white tank top. I inched closer until I was standing directly over him. I tightened my grip on the M9 and in one fluid motion brought it down on his skull.
“Fuck!” he screamed.
His body shot up. In an exaggerated motion to cover his head with his hands, he toppled off the side of the bed. He thrashed on the ground for a few moments before rising to his knees with his hands on his head.
“I’ll fucking kill you, motherfucker!” he yelled.
I stepped back and ran my free hand up the wall until I felt the light switch. I flicked it on and stood there motionless with the gun pointed straight at Austin’s head. In the light, I could see the blood covering his hands and dying the top half of his tank top red.
“You will do nothing other than what I tell you to do, understand?” I spat.
“David? You piece of shit! You know you’re a dead man, right?”
“Shut up, stay on your knees, keep your hands on your head, and turn around!” I ordered.
He complied. I ordered him to slowly put his hands behind his back. I cautiously approached while putting the gun in my waistband. I began tying paracord around his hands, securing them behind his back. I’d expected him to try to bolt or to turn and face me, but he didn’t. Despite what I’d already done, he clearly didn’t feel threatened by me.
“Stand up!”
“Alright smart guy,” he sneered as he stood. “So tell me, what are you going to do now? I mean, we both know you don’t have the balls to kill me, and if you don’t, there isn’t a damn thing you can do to stop me from coming after you. I feel like a smart guy like you would’ve thought this out better.”
I stared at him. His wicked smile taunted me.
“Oh you didn’t think this through... you idiot! You’re just pissed off cause that bitch of yours set you up, and this was the best plan you could come up with. Alright, you got me, dick. Whatcha gonna do with me now?”
“Walk outside!”
“Hey, I let you tie me up without even trying to sucker punch you. If I’m goin’ outside, you think I can get some shoes?”
Dammit, not only was he cocky but he was also making sense.
“Fine, put on your damn shoes, but I’m not helping you or untying you.”
He sauntered across the living room and awkwardly stepped into a pair of old basketball sho
es.
He shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards the door. I followed closely behind with the gun trained on him. He got to the front door and kicked it open, nearly knocking it off its hinges.
“Where to now, bossman? Got some secluded trailer out in the forest somewhere you’re gonna try to lock me up in?”
“Go to my truck.”
“Ah yeah, there you go. Drive me out of there, take me to your makeshift jail cell you think I won’t get out of. How long do you really think you can keep this shit going?”
“I’m not locking you up. I’m giving you exactly what you’ve always wanted.”
“Really? You’re gonna blow me? Listen, I appreciate it an’ all, but you’re not really my type.”
With every word he spoke, he pushed me further and further toward the edge. It wasn’t possible for me to hate any one person more than I did him.
I forced myself to remain silent. We got to my truck, and I opened the door. I gestured with the M9 for him to get in. For the first time I saw a hint of fear in his eyes. Behind the cockiness, he was truly unsure what I was capable of.
“Really man, where the fuck are you taking me?”
“I told you already. I’m giving you exactly what you always wanted! Tonight you are getting that horde of KGC Gold.”
I stepped in the truck, started it, and sped off into the night.
I pulled up to the entrance of the trail and parked. I looked over at Austin. The bleeding had stopped, but his face was covered with orangish dried blood. He didn’t look scared or in pain. He looked bored.
“Get out.” I ordered.
Austin turned to look at me. He was grinning.
“Look, I gave you too much credit. Now I realize you don’t have a clue what you’re doin’. First off, how the fuck am I supposed to get out of your truck with my hands tied behind my back? Secondly, you don’t have a clue where the gold is!”