Betrayal: Society Lost, Volume Two (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Reaching the end of the tunnel and what appeared to be a dead end, Jessie felt around in the darkness, looking for a way out. “Here,” he said as he began to sit down, “Rosa, help Jack keep his leg stable while I sit, then you can undo the pack and cut us lose.”

Doing as he asked, Rosa helped Jack to the ground as he grunted in pain.

“The throbbing is getting worse,” Jack said with concern in his voice. It’s a weird feeling...like something’s not quite right. Even for a broken leg.”

“Is there someone in town that can take a good look at it when this is all over?” Jessie asked.

“When it’s all over? You’re an optimistic fellow, aren’t you,” Jack said in reply to Jessie’s comment.

“It’ll all be over at some point,” Jessie replied. “Whether you’re around to get your leg checked out is what remains in question.”

“Ha, ha, funny man,” Jack replied.

Flipping on his light, Jessie scanned the area looking for a way out. “I sure as hell hope we didn’t crawl through all of this rat-poop infested muck for nothing.”

Hearing the muffled sounds of gunfire echoing through the tunnel from the courthouse, Jessie’s thoughts were interrupted by his fears of what T. R. might be facing.

“I wonder if he was the one doing the shooting?” Jack wondered aloud.

“That’s impossible to say,” Jessie replied. “I’ll go back for him once we’ve got you two to safety.”

“You’re something else, you know that?” Jack said. “I mean, I just can’t figure you out. You lost everything. En route to find your sister, you take a diversion to investigate something you found along the way, to help total strangers, and you keep risking your neck over and over again for something that I can’t even figure out. What do you have to gain from it all? Are you trying to get yourself killed? I mean, you didn’t know T. R. from Adam, you didn’t know me, you didn’t know Rosa, and you sure as hell don’t know the woman or the kids. You could have just kept on going in safety and you wouldn’t even know all of this was going on. But here you are. Do you have a death wish? Is this a suicide by another’s hand kind of thing?”

Thinking for a moment before replying, Jessie said, “What point would there be in living if I had just kept going? If I kept avoiding trouble as I went, sure, I could stay alive for quite some time. I might even avoid danger long enough to live to be an old man, somewhere hidden from the world. But you know what? I was hidden from the world, and it found me anyway. No, I don’t have a death wish, but I don’t have a desire to wander this world like a coward or a ghost either. If my life has no meaning, well, then it just...”

“I understand,” interrupted Jack. “I understand completely.”

Turning his attentions back to the task at hand, Jessie began searching the ceiling for a way out and noticed something of interest. Focusing his light on what appeared to be an old, rusty handle caked in layers of dirt and decay, he stood up in the cramped space the best he could, held the handle, and slammed his shoulder into the ceiling in an attempt to loosen the exit, if that was what he had found.

As several inches of dirt and dust fell from the ceiling of the filthy tunnel from the impact of his shoulder, Jessie, Jack, and Rosa all began to cough and fan the dirt-particle-filled air from their faces.

“Sorry about that,” Jessie said, shining his light back to the ceiling. “I think I see the edges of the opening.

Placing his shoulder against it once again while holding on to the handle tightly, Jessie pushed with his legs as hard as he could, getting the large, heavy stone door to begin to move as he stood.

With light shining down into the tunnel, Rosa said aloud, “Thank you, God,” as she clutched and kissed the Catholic rosary that hung around her neck.

Climbing up out of the tunnel and into the light, Jessie looked down and said, “Brilliant.”

“What?” asked Jack, curious as to what they had found.

“We are in the graveyard across the street from the courthouse. We’re literally crawling up out of a false grave inside of a granite family burial vault.”

Chuckling through the pain, Jack said, “At least we’re going in the right direction.” Seeing that both Jessie and Rosa were confused by his statement, Jack clarified, “You know, coming out of a grave instead of going into one.”

With a smirk, Jessie replied, “The day’s not over yet.”

“That’s not funny,” Rosa replied.

“Oh, I meant him,” Jessie added. “I’m sure you and I will be all right, but him, well, who knows.”

Changing the subject, Rosa said, “Let’s get out of here. The thought of being beneath the graves isn’t serving my nerves well.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jessie replied as he forcefully slid the large, heavy stone door that they now knew to be the lid to a tomb inside of a false mausoleum. 

Pulling himself up and out, Jessie squinted as the day’s failing light shined through the mausoleum’s stone window openings. Looking back down to Rosa and Jack, he said, “The sun will be gone soon. This mausoleum will be a good place to hide out until then. We can try to make a move under the cover of darkness.

Looking down to Jack, Jessie asked, “So how do you want us to do this? You’re the one that’s gonna have to go through the hurt of it all.”

“Just get me out of here. I can deal with it.”

“Rosa,” Jessie said while extending his hand. “You come on out. I’ll go back down and lift Jack out while you pull from up here.”

Taking his hand, Rosa climbed out of the tunnel and into the mausoleum. Once clear, she immediately took her rosary into her hand and said a prayer of thanks for being delivered from her captivity. Turning to Jessie, she tucked her rosary back into her shirt and said, “Okay, let’s get him out.”

Climbing back down into the tunnel, Jessie said, “If you sit on my shoulder, I can stand and lift you toward the opening. Swinging your busted leg over that stone edge at the top will be the tricky part. Keeping it good and straight, that is.”

As Jack and Jessie positioned themselves to lift Jack out of the tunnel, Jessie added, “Oh, and one more thing.”

“What’s that?” asked Jack.

“If it hurts, try not to scream or make any noises. Remember, we’re right across the street.”

With a nod in the affirmative, indicating that he was ready and understood, Jessie stood, lifting Jack up and into the false tomb, where Rosa took his hands and began to pull him up and into the mausoleum. Reaching the edge of the tomb, Jack placed his hands on the stone while Rosa reached in and took hold of his leg, attempting to help Jack to swing it over the ledge.

Gritting his teeth through the pain as he had to bend his leg slightly to clear the structure, Rosa could see that Jack’s pain was severe. Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, and his skin grew pale.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Nodding in reply while breathing heavily, Jack’s leg cleared the opening while Rosa helped him down to the floor where he could lie down and recover from the pain for a moment.

“Okay, we’ve got him,” Rosa quietly said to Jessie down below.

Handing Jack’s rifle up to Rosa, Jessie said, “Here. You two stay put. I’ve got to go back for T. R. He should have caught up with us by now. And those shots...”

“Be careful,” she said with fear in her eyes. “Please don’t leave us here alone. He’s going to need medical attention very soon, and I can’t get him there alone with Peronne’s men out there.”

“I’ll be back. I promise,” Jessie said in a reassuring voice.

~~~~

Slipping out of sight and back into the darkness of the tunnel below, Jessie worked his way back toward the courthouse, occasionally pausing to listen for any sounds that T. R. could be heading his way.

Reaching the rubble where the dozer had entered the building, Jessie climbed through the debris and into the basement corridor and began working his way toward the stairwell, leading to the above ground floors. Slipping into the stairwell, working his way up and around the stairs to the main floor above, Jessie paused and listened for activity.

Hearing nothing but silence, Jessie worked his way into the main floor hallway, uneasy about the silence.
This doesn’t make sense. Where are Peronne’s men? How did we assault one of their facilities without having them come down on top of us like a ton of bricks?

Clearing each room as he went, Jessie worked his way toward a room on the left at the end of the hall. The door to the room stood open, with everything around him eerily silent. As he approached the room, the silence was broken by a static-filled incoming radio transmission.

All units report to the intersection of 2
nd
and Mc Gee. The female suspect has been located. Standoff in progress. All units report to the intersection of 2
nd
and Mc Gee. Standoff in progress. Shots fired. Officers down.

Gripping his rifle tightly, double-checking with his thumb that the safety selector was in the fire position, Jessie raised his barrel to the high ready as he worked his way toward the door. Expecting to hear a reply from the officer in the room, Jessie waited for the opportunity, knowing that the officer would be momentarily distracted by the radio communications.

Hearing no response, or no activity of any kind, Jessie sliced the pie with his rifle around the door, making entry into the room, ready to engage the threat as it presented itself. As the last rays of the sun’s light faded from the building, Jessie saw two dead officers laying on the floor in front of him. He quickly saw that the radio transmission had been coming from the belt-mounted radio of one of the dead officers.

Continuing his scan, Jessie saw T. R., lying still and lifeless by the window, in a pool of blood. Rushing to his side, Jessie touched him, to feel that his skin was cold and lifeless. “Ah, man. I’m so sorry,” Jessie said as he closed T. R.’s eyes. “I’m sorry you won’t make it back to your family. I’m sorry I treated you the way that I did. You really have redeemed yourself. You died a hero to us, serving others instead of yourself.”

Hearing another radio transmission, this time, a very faint incoming transmission from the hand-held radio that T. R. had taken from Jack to reach Angela, Jessie heard:

Are you still there? Are you okay? Please answer...

Picking up the radio, Jessie pressed the transmit button and replied, “Angela?”

After a brief pause, he heard a woman’s voice answer, “Yes.”

“It’s me, Jessie,” he replied. “T. R. didn’t make it.” Looking up at the broken window and the way the glass was dispersed on the floor, Jessie said, “It looks like you were still his guardian angel, though.”

“I tried,” she replied through her tears.

“Are you safe?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m fine. How’s Dad?”

“He busted up his leg, but he’ll be okay. You just get somewhere safe, but not too far. Stay within radio range of the courthouse. I can’t say where we’ll be, but we’ll be safe. Just keep yourself that way as well.”

“Okay,” she replied. “Tell Dad I love him.”

“I will,” Jessie said as he clipped the radio to his belt.

~~~~

With the day having fully given way to the night, Rosa peered anxiously out of the stone mausoleum’s window as she watched for movement at the courthouse across the street.

“Don’t worry,” Jack said from behind her, laying on the floor with his leg elevated. “If Jessie ran into trouble, you’d have heard it by now.”

After a few more minutes of silence, Rosa and Jack heard rustling from the tunnel below. Picking up his rifle, Jack prepared for the worst as they heard a faint voice say, “It’s me, Jessie. I’m alone.”

Climbing up into the mausoleum, Jessie dusted himself off and said, “T. R. didn’t make it,” as Rosa’s eyes filled with tears.

“What happened?” Jack asked.

“Two of Peronne’s men cornered him in one of the rooms. He did his job, though. He had made contact with Angela, and she’s fine. It looked like she had even managed to provide him with a little bit of fire support during his struggle.” Reaching to his belt, Jessie unclipped the radio and handed it to Jack, saying, “Here. She told me she’s safe. I told her to stay within radio range of the courthouse, but to stay put for now. Oh, and she told me to tell you that she loves you.”

Closing his eyes and silently saying, “Thank you, God,” Jack turned to Jessie and said, “Now what?”

“The woman is held up near 2
nd
and Mc Gee. It sounds like she’s holding her own for now.”

“How do you know that?” Jack asked with a confused look.

“One of the dead officer’s radios was still on. Peronne’s men are all being called to the scene, which explains why they didn’t rain hell down upon us. They’ve got other fish to fry. It sounds like she’s taken a few of them out down there as well.”

“Good girl,” Jack said with a crooked smile.

Looking down at Jack’s leg, Jessie asked, “How are you holding up?”