by Liscom, Sean
“Okay.”
“When nurse Finley was treating you, I was in the room and I saw all of your scars. Your uniform, body armor and even your horse told me something about you. When you woke up, you were having nightmares about someone named Marvin. When you told me the story of how you ended up here. It all proved my intuition was right.”
“What was it your intuition told you?”
“You’re a fighter, Jack. You’re a man who can handle violence, you’ve been around it. Ray and his men have wronged you and you’re on a mission to set things right. They have taken something from you and you are going to exact your vengeance in the most personal and violent of ways. It doesn’t matter what he throws at you. You will see the mission to its
conclusion.”
“You gave me back my gun so that I could go after Ray?”
“No. I gave you back your gun because you are the type of man who sees something wrong and you fix it. I’ve told you how many enforcers are here. After dinner, I’m going to go patrol the streets and I’d like to have your company. I’ll show you the post office, the feed store, where the enforcers are staying and all of the other sights in beautiful downtown Lund,” again she adjusted the rabbits over the fire.
“I see….”
Thursday August 24th, 2017
North of Duckwater, Nevada.
After the water break and a little deliberation, Dan and Jill decided to follow the horse and tire tracks. It didn't take them long to find the burned out Hummer or the trail that led off of the other side of the mesa. Choosing to follow the game trail down the steep embankment on foot, a few things became clear.
The first thing they found were the four badly burned bodies. Further down the trail they discovered the wrecked M16 rifle lying on the trail. There were fairly fresh boot prints around it. Prints probably made after the fire had swept through. Reaching the floor of the narrow canyon, they discovered how the fire was started.
“Those are the safety caps from a road flare,” Dan pointed to the two plastic caps. “I've got hoof prints and it looks like one set of boot
prints.”
“I've got 14 spent .45 casings on the ground over here,” Jill replied as she picked up the last one. “Wait, there's an empty magazine between the rocks,” she stopped and looked at the dried droplets of blood that speckled the top of the rock. “Blood too.”
“Blood?”
“Yeah. Lots of drops and a few smears on the rocks….. Glock 21 magazine,” she said as she pulled the empty mag from the narrow space between two boulders. She held it up for Dan to see. Dan first looked at the magazine and then he looked around on the ground.
“I’m beginning to think that your idea of them splitting up has a little merit to it,” he remarked.
“How so?”
“I’m only seeing one set of boot tracks down here. They are roughly the same size as mine. That leads me to believe that Jason was the only one down here. There’s only evidence of one gun in the fight, apparently a Glock 21. The way I see it, he started the fire using a couple of road flares. That’s one hell of a force multiplier and it seemed to work in his favor,”
“I still don’t know why they would split up though….” Jill’s voice trailed off.
“Doesn’t really matter now, but if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he sent Melissa back to
the ranch for help.”
“Help? With this?” Jill questioned waiving her hands at the surrounding canyon.
“I wouldn’t think so. C’mon, let’s get back to the horses,” Dan started back up the trail, Jill right behind him. “I don’t know if you saw it but there are hoof prints leading back up this trail. I think he rode down here hoping to escape his pursuers but instead got boxed in and had to fight.”
“Do you think he’s hurt?”
“Yeah, I do. I just don’t know the extent. It wasn’t bad enough to prevent him from leaving.”
“Where the hell is he going though?” Jill asked not expecting an answer. Dan didn’t even bother trying to give her one either. They walked the last half of the canyon trail in silence. When they reached the rim, Dan showed her the hoof prints leading to the south.
“I guess we’ve got a choice to make. Follow that trail or go back and pick up the trail of the motorcycle,” he said after taking a long drink of water. Jill followed the hoof prints for a few yards before returning.
“We do both. I’ll follow Jason’s trail, you follow Melissa’s,” determination backed up Jill’s
words.
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. If Jason sent Melissa back to the ranch, he had good reason. I don’t know
what it was but it had to be good. There’s also a good chance that she knows where he’s headed.”
“That’s gonna leave you out here, alone, following a cold trail to God only knows where…..”
“I’ll be fine, Dan!” she snapped a little louder than she intended. “We’ve still got three, four hours of daylight left. Get back to the ambush site and follow that motorcycle trail. If Melissa knows where he’s going, then you can gather some help and come get us.”
Thursday August 24th, 2017
Ely, Nevada.
The sun was just beginning its decent over the mountains west of Ely when Cory heard the shower in his bathroom turn on. Forty five minutes later Kari and Melissa emerged from his room. Melissa had exchanged her fatigues for a pair of snugly fitting blue jeans and a black t-shirt from Cory’s closet. Joy started to protest when she saw Melissa wearing her pants but was waived quiet by Cory.
The two women shared another long embrace in the hallway before they moved into the living room. They ignored the curious looks from both Cory and Joy. Melissa picked up her body armor and donned it, her pack quickly
followed. Kari leaned against the wall and
watched her.
“Hey, Cory?” Melissa said as she slung her rifle.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Thanks for the hot shower, the food and your hospitality,” she looked over her shoulder at him.
“Any time Mel. My door is always open for you,” he replied. She nodded and returned her attention to Kari.
“Give me two days to get back to the ranch before you guys make your move, okay?”
“That will be cutting it close but it should be acceptable,” the taller woman answered. She pushed off of the wall and took the two steps toward Melissa. She pulled her into another embrace. “Be safe my love,” she whispered into her ear.
“You as well,” Melissa whispered in return and she stepped back. They shared a long look and then Melissa moved to the front door. Without looking back, she walked from the house and climbed onto the waiting horse. She steered her mount out into the street and quickly
vanished into the growing darkness.
“Get some pants on, Cory. We have work to do,” Kari said, wiping her eyes. Cory was sure he had heard her voice crack ever so slightly.
CHAPTER 30
Friday August 25th, 2017
Lund, Nevada.
I checked my watch again, 12:45 in the morning. It was now or never, I thought to myself. Kaitlyn had made sure to impress upon me the schedule the enforcers kept while we were out on her patrol the evening before. Midnight was shift change in their makeshift office at the old post office. That’s where the radio was so it was going to be my first priority.
She also showed me the house next door where they slept. She explained, through casual conversation, the layout of the small two bedroom house. Back entrance was the laundry room that opened up into the kitchen. Past the breakfast bar into the living room. The door to the right was the master bedroom with its own bathroom. Short hallway to the left, bedroom door on the right, bathroom on the left.
She never did come right out and say what exactly it was she wanted me to do. I asked her questions about the behavior of these men and, from what I could tell, they had actually treated the residents of Lund decently. I’d
already made up my mind that I wasn’t going to kill these men, they hadn’t earned that.
I’d been sitting on the bed since about
11pm. I’d gone over all of my gear, gave my pistol a good wipe down to get all of the grime off of it and mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do. I’d gone over the layout of the house a couple of dozen times in my head just as I had done with the layout of the post office. There was nothing left to do but go make things happen.
I slipped silently out of the bedroom and into the dark hallway. Kaitlyn’s gun belt was hanging on the staircase banister and I relieved it of the two sets of handcuffs that were in leather pouches. Slipping out of the house was just as easy. Thankfully none of the floorboards or doors creaked to give me away. I elected to go out the back door, the gate at the front of the house could be quite loud in the night.
I didn’t even try to hide, it seemed foolish seeing as how the town was as quiet as a graveyard. That and I didn’t want to risk tripping on anything that might be lying on the side of the road. Within 10 minutes I had the post office in sight. There was a yellowish light being emitted through the front windows. The house next door was dark. The only sound now was the small generator out behind the post office. It was used to power the radio set.
I eased up to the open door and took a quick look inside. One man sitting at the radio
desk. His head was resting on his arms and he
appeared to be asleep. The distinct odor of a kerosene lantern was heavy in the air, it also sat on the desk. Another quick glance at the house, still dark.
I cautiously stepped through the open door into the post office and I heard the man at the desk start snoring. Taking my time, I eased up to the desk and turned the wick of the lantern down until the flame went out. Didn’t need that thing getting knocked over and lighting the place on fire. The sleeping man snorted and lifted his head just as I took a step back.
His confusion was working for me at this point. I quickly slipped my Glock from my waistband and hit him in the side of the head as hard as I could with it. He was unconscious before he hit the floor, blood pouring from the laceration the raised sights had given him.
I grabbed both of his feet and quickly drug him away from the desk. I pulled one of the handcuff sets from my back pocket and cuffed his right arm to his left ankle. It was akin to hog tying him. I then tore his dirty t-shirt off and made a gag out of part of it. The other part I used to tie his other hand behind his back. I didn’t figure he would be waking up any time soon but I wasn’t about to make it easy on him when he did.
I stepped back to the desk, set the Glock down and slid the chair to one side. I quickly
turned the lighted frequency knob and picked up
the microphone.
“Rogue base, Rogue Two…. Do you copy?” I said quietly. I gave it a silent 10 count then keyed the mic up again. “Rogue base, Rogue Two. Emergency traffic, do you copy?” This time the reply was almost instant.
“Rogue Two, please authenticate!” Braden’s voice was as plain as day.
“Copy. Authenticate. Tango, Tango, Sierra…..”
“Who the hell are you?” a man bellowed from the doorway. Out of pure reaction, I dropped the mic and kicked the chair as hard as I could toward the man in the doorway. It hit him in the knees. He lost his balance and toppled over the top of it.
Wasting no time, I ran toward him and kicked him in the ribs like a punter kicking the game winning field goal. I could hear the sound of his ribs breaking over the sound of breath being forced from his lungs. He rolled across the floor giving me another chance to land a solid kick to the side of his head.
“Rogue Two?” I heard coming from the radio. There was an edge to Braden’s voice. He was going to have to wait a minute. I drug the man that I’d just knocked out over to the first one. I interlocked their arms with the second set of cuffs. There was no way they were going
anywhere. Again, I turned my attention to the
radio.
“Rogue base, authenticating. Tango, Tango, Sierra, one, eight, Romeo. How copy?” Before he could answer, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. The third enforcer had come into the post office and had a 12 gauge shotgun leveled in my direction.
I jumped backward just as he pulled the trigger. He missed me but the radio set exploded in a shower of sparks. In my haste to clear myself from the bore of the shotgun, I slipped in the blood on the floor and fell flat on my back. The gunman pulled the trigger again. This time he hit his two comrades on the floor behind me.
His biggest mistake was stopping to see what he had done. He muttered something under his breath and began to run toward his friends. Before I could get to my feet, another man burst into the room, leapt over me and hit the gunman in the back of the head with an aluminum baseball bat. I knew it was aluminum because of the distinctive “PLINK” it made.
“You okay, Mr. Kenshaw?” the bat wielding man asked without turning around.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said standing back up. The radio sparked a few more times and then stopped. So had the generator. “Damn,” I muttered.
Friday August 25th, 2017
The ranch.
“It was Jason! I’d know my brothers voice anywhere and he had the right authentication code, Bill!” Braden said loudly as he paced the security office.
“I understand that, Braden! Did he give his location or anything that we can use to find him?”
“No! Like I told you, he was in the middle of authenticating when he was interrupted. A few seconds later he finished the authentication code and then the transmission stopped. I tried a dozen times to call him back but got nothing but dead air.”
“Braden, I need you to calm down. I need your head in the game. Can you do that?” Bill asked calmly.
“Yeah,” Braden finally muttered and sat back in the office chair.
“Okay. What exactly did you hear when he was interrupted the first time?”
“I heard somebody yell “Who the hell are you?” that’s all.”
“Man or woman?”
“Man.”
“You said that there were a few seconds before he got back to you, right?”
“Yes. He sounded a little winded this time.
He gave me his code and then the radio went dead. I kept calling but got nothing.”
“It sounds like he got surprised by the first threat, he neutralized that one and then something else happened…..” Bill paused for a moment. “If I know your brother, Braden. He’s fine but something happened to the radio he was using.”
“I hope you’re right, Bill. I really hope you’re right,” he stood and walked out of the shack.
Friday August 25th, 2017
Lund, Nevada.
It was obvious the radio set was wrecked beyond repair. The 12 gauge slug fired by the enforcer had seen to that. When it was done shorting out the internal circuits, it shorted out the generator and killed it too. That wasn’t the only dead thing in the room either. All three enforcers were dead in a pile on the floor.
The second slug from the shotgun had killed both men that I had bound on the floor and the baseball bat hit from Deputy Kerns had killed the third one. So much for my grand plan I thought to myself as I left the post office.
As I walked through the cool night air, I could feel the adrenaline begin to leave my body. My hands were trembling and my knees felt a little weak. It was hard to hear anything but the
steady ringing in my ears form the two shotgun blasts in a confined space.
All the way back to the Sheriffs house, I was replaying events in my head. I knew what went wrong. I had gotten over anxious to use the radio. I should have taken out the other enforcers first. Stupid, amateur mistake.
I slipped back into the dark house as quietly as I had left it. Once I was back in my room, I lit the candle next to the bed and sat on the edge of it. I removed the Glock from my waistband and put it on the night stand. My pants and t-shirt both had
blood on them from the fall on the floor. I guess I was pretty lucky that it wasn’t my blood. I stripped down to my shorts and piled the clothes next to the bed.
I was about to blow the candle out when I heard the bedroom door open. Kaitlyn was standing there wearing an almost see through white t-shirt and not much else. Her hair was down and there was no mistaking the look in her eyes or the way that she moved toward me.
“Is it done?” she asked quietly from halfway across the room.
“Yeah, it’s done and I’m going to bed,” I replied.
“How about some company?” she asked, still walking toward me.
“I’m fine, Sheriff. I just need some sleep,” I tried to let her down gently.
“Are you sure?” she was now standing directly in front of me. So close that our knees were touching and I could smell the scent of her freshly washed body.
“We’re NOT doing this, Kaitlyn,” I stood up but she refused to back away. Her thinly clad breasts were rubbing against my chest with each breath she took.
“Jack…..” she started but stopped when I put my hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back a step.
“I said no. We’re not going there.” I repeated. This time she pulled the shirt off over her head to reveal her naked body.
“Please?” she started to move forward again. I sidestepped so that I was no longer between her and the bed.
“Kaitlyn, I’ve had a long day. There are things that you don’t know about me and I’ve told you no. I meant it. Now, either you can leave this room or I will. The choice is yours!” I said as I pointed toward the door. She stood there long enough that I thought I was going to have to repeat myself. She finally bent down and picked up her t-shirt.
“Well…. If you change your mind….” I waived her silent with my hand.
“Go put on some clothes and meet me at the dinner table in a few minutes,” I said. She simply nodded and left the room. I closed the
door behind her. “Really?” I questioned quietly as I looked up at the ceiling. I shook my head and set about getting re-dressed in my fatigues.