Blood and Justice (30 page)
He dug out his cell phone. Still no signal.
He waited a moment, didn’t hear any sound, so he chanced a quick look around the corner. Jeremy was aiming the rifle right at him.
He dropped to the ground and looked again. The rifle was down. He was fiddling with it. It was hard to tell from this distance, but he appeared to be reloading.
Now’s my chance.
He sprang to his feet and sprinted. Jeremy’s head shot up, and then he turned and dashed the other way.
Jake was thinking as he ran. Should he turn back and find Annie? No, she was probably tied up, and if Jeremy came back, they would be helpless. Should he run to the road and hope for a passing vehicle? Not enough traffic on this road.
He followed his instincts and kept running.
He could hear Jeremy crashing through the forest ahead of him. He could see him appear and disappear as trees blocked his view, and then appear again.
Suddenly there was silence. He couldn’t see him, or hear him.
He crouched and went ahead slowly, dodging from tree to tree. He had to be careful. He was certainly no match for a man with a rifle.
Suddenly he heard an explosion and he dropped to the ground. It was coming from behind a fallen tree. He heard another explosion, and then felt a searing pain in his leg.
He’d been hit.
He heard another shot as he rolled a couple of times and came to rest against the trunk of a large maple. He was sheltered from the view of the gunman, but now what?
His leg was burning, and he bit his lip. Blood was seeping from the wound and soaking his pant leg.
He heard a snap, snap, behind him. He poked his head around. The killer was running away.
He stood and tested his leg. He could stand, but it was painful. The problem was the bleeding.
He sat back down, and took off his t-shirt. He struggled with it awhile but finally managed to rip a strip from the bottom of it. That should do. He rolled up his pant leg, wrapped the strip around the wound a couple of times, and gritted his teeth as he tied it tight.
The blood stopped oozing from the wound, and he stood and tested his leg again. He would be ok, for now.
He lifted his head and looked through the forest. Jeremy seemed to have run directly ahead, in a straight line.
He wondered a moment, what the killer’s plans would be. Jeremy had tried to shoot him several times. Would he come back and try to finish him off? Or would he head back to the barn? Or the house? Or just run away as far as possible?
He won’t run. He wouldn’t get far, and Jake realized Jeremy’s only chance of escape would be to eliminate any witnesses. That meant Jenny, Annie, and himself were targets.
Ahead of him, but over to the right, a flock of birds could be heard taking to the air. Jake watched them. Undoubtedly, Jeremy had disturbed them, and he now appeared to be circling back.
He’s heading for Annie.
Jake spun to his right and ran. His leg pained him, but he made good time. With his sore leg, he couldn’t possibly make it to the barn before Jeremy did, so he decided to see whether he could cut him off, somewhere between where Jeremy was now, and the barn.
Here in the forest, he wasn’t sure how far that would be, so he stopped often to listen.
Finally, he realized he must be getting close, so he ducked behind a tree and waited.
Soon, he heard the unmistakable sound of someone coming, perhaps a hundred feet away yet, but coming closer.
He listened carefully. He could tell his estimate was off. He needed to be another twenty feet ahead.
He gritted his teeth and disregarded the pain. He didn’t want to give himself away, so he watched the ground carefully as he sprinted. He struggled to avoid any twigs or debris that could betray him.
His calculations were correct. He stopped behind a tree and waited. The steps came closer. He could hear loud breathing, panting. The killer was out of breath now, and making much slower progress.
He crouched, ready to spring.
There he was. Just into view, but a few feet away.
He dove from his hiding place, remembering his football days, and made a perfect tackle.
They hit the ground. The rifle was knocked from Jeremy’s hands and went flying a few feet away. Jake winced as a sharp pain ran up his leg. He was stunned a moment, and his prey broke loose as he stumbled and fell.
Jake rolled to a crouch, ready to pounce again.
He raised his head and looked straight into the barrel of a 22 revolver.
The gun exploded, and a bullet whipped by his ear as he rolled behind a tree.
Another bullet skinned the bark beside him. He had to get away.
He ran in a zigzag pattern for a few seconds, and chancing a look over his shoulder, he saw the killer running the other way.
Toward the barn.
The rifle was still on the ground where it had fallen. Jake ran back and scooped it up.
The magazine was missing.
In frustration, he threw it aside. His leg was paining him more, but he had to get to the barn before Jeremy did.
Before long, he realized he wouldn’t make it in time. He stopped briefly and checked his leg. It had been bleeding again, so he tightened the makeshift bandage, and gritted his teeth.
Thoughts of Annie forced him to his feet, and pushed him forward. He strained to take no notice of the throbbing pain in each step.
He needed to be cautious, in case he’d misread the killer’s intentions, and may be waiting ahead for him.
He was limping now, but he glanced back and forth, and in all directions, as he slowly made his way through the forest, and finally to the edge. He could now see the barn, not too far in the distance. No one was in sight. He stopped and listened, and looked around for a minute or so.
There were no sounds or movement warning him of any imminent danger to himself, so he continued on, keeping low, and stopping often to listen.
The barn was close. Annie was close. He prayed she was ok.
He stumbled the last few feet and looked for a crack in the door, or some way he could see inside. There was nothing.
The door was unlatched, so he drew it back just an inch or so. He couldn’t see anything. Another inch.
Then, he saw them.
He closed the door and thought a moment on what he had seen.
Annie was on her knees near the far wall. Jeremy was crouched behind her, holding the revolver to the side of her head.
He didn’t see Jenny. She was probably still in the house, waiting for him to come back.
He fought back a sudden panic, but it was quickly replaced by anger. If he hurts Annie, he would tear the filthy bastard apart, limb by limb.
He had no choice. He had to go in. Jeremy could’ve killed Annie at any time, but he didn’t. Now he knew why.
The killer was waiting for him. He was the real target now.
He opened the door and stepped boldly inside.
Jeremy had been intently watching the door. He grinned evilly, and laughed, as he tightened his grip on the gun.
Jake moved forward and stopped about twenty feet from them. “Here I am,” he said.
Jeremy was scowling now. “Come closer.” His voice was low, guttural, hostile.
Jake shook his head and said nothing.
“I’ll kill her,” he gritted through clenched teeth.
“No you won’t.”
The killer glared.
“Put the gun down,” Jake demanded.
“Never,” he screamed.
“The police are on the way,” Jake said calmly.
“I don’t care. If they come, I’ll shoot her right through the head, and I won’t care.”
“You can have me, but leave her alone.”
“Come closer.” Jeremy was shouting now.
“Come and get me. I won’t move.”
Jeremy glared, breathing heavily. He looked frantically from Jake, to Annie, and back up again. He seemed to come to a decision.
Jake waited.
Jeremy stood and moved the gun to the top of Annie’s head. “Get up,” he shrieked.
She rose slowly to her feet. His hand tightened on the back of the collar. The gun moved down again, the steel pushing into her neck, just below her ear.
He prodded her forward a step, by the firm grip on her collar, and kept his eyes on Jake.
The chain rattled as they moved another step.
Once more. Rattle. Then, once more. Rattle.
They were about ten feet away now. Jake abruptly took three strides to the right, and then one forward. He stopped and turned back to face them.
“Stay still,” Jeremy screamed, as he turned toward Jake. “What’re you doing?”
“Sorry,” Jake said mildly. “It won’t happen again.”
Jeremy stood as if paralyzed, and glowered for almost a full minute, his eyes fixed on Jake, unmoved, unblinking.
Then, he shook his head, blinked, and prodded Annie forward one more step.
Jake put his hands up.
Jeremy drew the revolver away from Annie’s neck and pointed it at Jake’s head. He couldn’t possibly miss at this distance.
His hand began to squeeze the trigger, just as Jenny stepped out from behind the large wooden pillar, and slammed a 2x4 into the back of his head.
He went down. The gun flew from his grasp.
He lay unconscious on the straw covered floor of the barn, directly below the massive beam where Mother had hanged herself, all those years ago.
JENNY was curled up in a comfortable chair, reading. She dropped the book into her lap and looked up. She smiled. “I think I’ll go to bed and leave you two lovebirds alone.”
Hank laughed, and said, “Goodnight Jenny.”
“Goodnight my dear,” her mother said.
Jenny climbed from the chair and dropped her book onto the side table. She gave a teasing smile over her shoulder as she left the room.
Amelia looked deep into Hank’s eyes. She gave him a long kiss and sighed, snuggling up close. “My hero,” she said.
Hank held her a bit tighter. He knew he wasn’t the hero. Annie and Jake had been mostly responsible. He was pretty sure Amelia knew that as well, but even two months later, she still called him that. He was happy to hear her say it nonetheless.
“It’s so great to see Jenny has finally gotten over her ordeal,” Hank said.
Amelia nodded. “She’s a strong girl.”
Hank reluctantly removed his arms from around Amelia and stood. He yawned. “I need to be going home now. It’s getting late.”
Amelia stood and followed him to the door. They kissed long and passionately before she finally let him go.
“Goodnight my darling,” she said, as Hank opened the door.
Hank grinned. “See you tomorrow.”
He was still grinning as he shut the door behind him and left.
ANNIE stuck a stamp onto the final envelope and tossed it into the “Out” bin. She picked up a paper from the desk and looked at it again.
Since Jenny had been found, the news coverage had been tremendous. The story had received national attention and there were more phone calls than they could handle. Not just from news people, but from prospective clients. It seemed as though they were going to be rather busy.
Jake limped into the office and plopped down into the guest chair. He gave a groan and rubbed his leg.
Annie sat back in her chair and smiled at him. He had been so supportive to her, helping her through the first rough days after the ordeal in the barn. She just couldn’t bear to tell him she knew his leg was better. So, she pampered him anyway. He deserved it.
She had chided him gently for endangering his own life, perhaps being a bit careless in trying to rescue her. He had taken it in good nature, and promised to be more careful in the future. But she loved him all the more because of it, and knew she would likely do the same for him if necessary.
“So, what’s our next job?” he asked.
“I have an important mission for you,” she said.
He cocked his head. “Oh?”
“It involves a beautiful woman.”
“And . . .?”
“And a room upstairs.” She looked at his leg and said, “Oh, but I don’t know if you’re up to it.”
He grinned. “I’m up to it.”
THE CHAINS around his ankles rattled and clanked as he was led down the passageway. The heavily barred door behind him slammed shut. Another one ahead squealed as it opened.
He was prodded through.
The cuffs bit into his wrists. The smell of sweat was in the air and he could taste it. The constant echo of metal on metal assaulted his ears.
Other inmates yelled and whistled, slamming and shaking the bars that contained them. They hooted and howled at him as he was pushed ahead.
He faced one last door. It swung open, and a hand on his back thrust him into the small room. The leg constraints were removed, and then the cuffs binding his wrists.
Finally, the crash of a massive latch grinding into place, and he was left alone.
He looked around, and then stood gripping the barred door for a while, contemplating his situation.
It may not be so bad. There could be opportunities here.
Jeremy chuckled as he turned and sat on the lower bunk. He didn’t have his knife or his gun with him, of course, but he was resourceful. He could make do.
He was in the perfect place to find all the bad guys he could handle.
He laughed out loud. His voice echoed in the small room, finally blending with the continual low roar of Cellblock A.
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