Bug Out! Part 11: Motorhomes on the Dark Road (14 page)

They entered the clubhouse.

“Here you go, Malcolm,” Kurt said, putting the unit on the table. “It worked last time I tried it, but that was a few years ago.”

“Thanks, Kurt,” Malcolm said. “Where should we set this up? I don’t think we want to show them in here.”

“The TV in the lounge,” Kurt said. “Jake put that other flat screen in there during the siege, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Malcolm said. “Anybody interested, come on down.”

“I’ll pass,” Charlie said. Hilda nodded in agreement.

“Doesn’t sound very entertaining,” Mary said, a grim expression on her face.

“I want to see them,” Heidi said.

“Me too,” Trish said.

“You sure?” George asked.

“Yeah,” Heidi said.

“Alright, let’s go,” Malcolm said. He picked up the VCR, and they took the kitchen stairs.

“Hey, what’s up?” asked Gabe, as Malcolm and the others entered. He was sitting at the bar with Jackson, Earl, The Sheriff, and Jake.

“We need to review those VHS tapes,” Malcolm said.

“Why?”

“I made a deal with Sherry, remember?” he replied.

“You’re going to hide the ones with her on them?” the Sheriff asked. “Sure that’s a good idea?”

“For now, yeah,” Malcolm said. “You guys saw what happened in Columbus today, right?”

“I told them,” Gabe said. “You planning something?”

“Our associate from the LAPD is joining us tonight,” Malcolm said. “Ted Crowley.”

“You’re trying to hide these from him?” the Sheriff asked.

“No, he already knows about them,” Malcolm said. “I’m just upholding the deal we made with Sherry.”

“We notified the FBI about the house in Columbus through Ted,” Heidi said.

“Shit, they’re liable to padlock this place and kick us out,” Earl said.

“No, we aren’t telling them where we are,” George said. “I’ve got coverage. Already had the discussion.”

“Thought you were former CIA, not former FBI,” the Sheriff said.

“I am, but those guys all know each other, and I talked to the CIA liaison. Don’t worry. We’re good.”

Malcolm set the VCR on top of the old console TV and connected it to the flat screen. He turned both of them on, switching the TV to Aux Video with the remote. The blue VCR screen came up. “Well, it powers up, anyway. I’ll go get the box of tapes. Somebody want to give me a hand?”

George and Earl stepped up to help, pulling the heavy door back and over.

“Phew, wish we could do something about that stench,” Earl said, squinting.

Malcolm went down quickly, coming back up with the box of tapes. “Let’s close this damn thing.”

The men closed the trap door as Malcolm carried the box to the VCR.

“Who wants to watch?” Malcolm asked, putting the first tape into the VCR.

“I’m out of here,” Earl said. “It’s my turn to man the roof of the barn, anyway. Dobie’s up there now. He’ll probably want to watch. He’s into this shit.”

“I’m leaving too,” Jake said. “You coming, honey?”

Trish looked at him. “No, dad, I’ll stick around. I’ll leave if it bothers me.”

“I’m going with your dad,” Terry said.

“Okay, honey, catch you later,” Trish said.

The Sheriff and Jackson stayed at the bar.

“You going, Sheriff?” Jackson asked.

“Nah, I’ll hang out. Probably won’t watch the screen much though.”

The video appeared on the screen. A scared young girl was looking through the bars of the cell. She was whimpering. There was a nasty snicker off camera.

“No!” Heidi said. “I’d know that laugh anywhere.”

“Who is it?” George asked.

“Earl Wilson,” she said, her eyes tearing up.

“You sure you want to be here, sweetie?” he asked.

She nodded yes.

“That the last of them, Frank?”
Jane asked.

“Yeah, everybody has the new apps except the folks watching the VHS down in the lounge.”

“Who’s that?”

“George, Malcolm, the Sheriff, Jackson, Trish, Heidi, and Dobie.”

“I wouldn’t mind going down to watch that,” Jane said.

“Ewwww,” Jasmine said, looking over at her. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I’m interested,” she said.

“I must admit I am a little too,” Jerry said. “I’ll go down there with you.”

Jane looked at Frank. He sighed.

“Go ahead, but if it’s too much, don’t hang around,” Frank said.

“Okay,” Jane said. “C’mon, Jerry.”

They headed for the trap door in the kitchen, just as the general was walking into the clubhouse.

“Hi, Frank,” he said. “Seen any more activity?”

“I just got finished loading the motion sensor app on the phones,” Frank said. “I was going to take a look in a few minutes.”

“I’ve been looking,” Jasmine said. “Nothing new.”

“Where are Jane and Jerry going?”

“They want to watch those VHS tapes that Malcolm’s running in the lounge.”

“Oh. You see the video of those guys in Columbus?” the General asked.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “They’re toast.”

“Probably. When does this other guy show up?”

“Ted Crowley. Four or five hours,” Frank said. “I suspect we’ll be losing Malcolm, Heidi, and George tomorrow or the next day.”

“Probably, but I hope they come back.”

“Anything new on Carlsbad Caverns?”

“Yeah, we’ve got drones and a satellite focused in.”

“They won’t see the drones, I hope,” Frank said.

“They’ll have a hard time seeing
these
drones,” the general said with a smile.

“My son’s unit is on its way down from Denver to Lubbock,” Frank said.

“He called you?”

“Yeah,” Frank said. “We wanted to talk to you about that. What if Carlsbad Caverns is a trap?”

“A trap?” the General asked.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “What if all that lead isn’t for vehicles? What if they’re making a hiding place for themselves?”

“Oh,” the General said, staring into space, his mind working. “You’re afraid that they’ll try to lure our men into the caverns and then let them have it.”

“Yeah,” Frank said. “They have that nerve gas.”

“That’s a valid concern. I need to have a chat with the Joint Chiefs.”

“Maybe the drones or the satellite will pick up something,” Jasmine said.

“Maybe,” the General said. “Wish we would have had them in place earlier.”

“When did that lead disappear?” she asked.

“It started about two weeks ago. The last heist was four days ago.”

“They aren’t done, then,” Frank said. “Keep the eyes on them.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make that call,” the general said.

***

Jeb’s eyes opened. He looked around, afraid to move his head. The heart monitor was running, beeping softly.

“Oh, you wake,” Rosie said, smiling at him. “How feel?”

“Everything hurts,” Jeb said softly. “They get it all?”

“Yes, they do good. You on road to recovery.”

“Our friends okay?”

“Yes. You don’t remember? You in and out for days. We talk already.”

“Really? No, I don’t remember much. Hope my brain ain’t going sour.”

“You be okay. Take time. You no spring chicken.”

“True,” he said, smiling. “Any more attacks?”

“Yes, we talk about. One here, also one at park. Cretins lose.”

“Good.”

“They lose everywhere. Apps out. Everybody have now. They hide and run. Many surrender.”

“Denver?”

“Enemy defeated there. Mexico too. Clean up in southwest going now.”

“How long am I gonna be laid up?” Jeb asked.

“At least two more week,” Rosie said. “You take easy. Don’t worry.”

***

Jane and Jerry walked quietly into the lounge. Everybody in the room was focused on the big screen TV, except for Jackson and the Sheriff, who were at the bar sipping whiskey from small glasses.

“You want to see this?” Trish whispered to Jane. “It’s pretty strong stuff.”

“For a few minutes at least,” Jane said. “What’s been on there so far?”

“No killings so far,” she whispered. “Mental torture and sex. That Sherry woman is pretty bad. I don’t believe she’s no longer dangerous. She was enjoying this too much.”

Jane sat and watched the grainy video.

“You alright, honey?” George asked, looking at Heidi.

“No, but I still need to watch it,” she whispered. “If we wouldn’t have gotten the drop on Carol, I would’ve gone through this with Jill.”

“I know, but why do you need to watch it?”

“So I can stay with you,” she said, not looking at him.

George’s eyes welled up with tears, and he put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her close.

“Oh, geez,” Jane said. “He’s gonna kill her.”

The screams from the soundtrack got louder. Jane and Jerry both looked away as it was happening.

“That does it for me,” the Sheriff said. “I’m outta here.” He picked up his drink and headed for the steps, climbing up into the barn. Jackson poured more whiskey into his glass and followed him.

“You okay, Sheriff?” he asked.

“No. I’ve been on the scene after shit like that’s happened. That’s bad enough. Listening is as bad as watching it.”

“You look really upset.”

“I’m pissed, Jackson. That woman is going to skate. She ought to be executed for that garbage.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jackson said as they walked around to the clubhouse.

Frank and Jasmine looked up as they walked in.

“Good, I’ve got new phone apps for you guys,” Frank said. “Bring them over.”

They both walked to Frank, pulling their phones out of their pockets.

“You look upset, Sheriff,” Jasmine said.

“Yeah,” he said. “Why’d Jerry go down there to watch that garbage?”

“I don’t know,” Jasmine said. “He’s been obsessed with this stuff since he’s been doing all the research. I hope he gets out of there before too long.”

“Me too,” the Sheriff said.

“That woman on there?” Frank asked.

“Yeah,” Jackson said, shuddering.

“We can’t let this woman off the hook,” the Sheriff said.

“You think Malcolm’s really going to?” Jackson asked. “He said he was still thinking about it.”

“Good question. His priority is catching Scott and Howard,” Frank said.

“He’s not going to let her go,” Jasmine said. “He’ll get her.”

“Why do you say that?” the Sheriff said.

“I’ve been studying this guy,” Jasmine said. “He never lets people like her go.”

“I hope you’re right,” Jackson said.

The Sheriff sighed. “Murder begets murder. This is my problem with these guys. That VHS should be going to the FBI.”

“Maybe you should hand it over, Sheriff,” Frank said. “After they’ve taken off for Ohio.”

“If I do that, we’ll lose this place,” he said. “You alright with that?”

“Yeah, as long as we time it right,” Frank said. “The war isn’t over yet.”

“That’s the tricky part,” Jackson said. “If we don’t do something fast, she’ll disappear after George and Malcolm take off with that friend of theirs.”

“We could always snatch her and throw her into one of those cells,” Jasmine said. The others looked at her in disbelief.

“No way,” the Sheriff said.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea either,” Frank said.

“Okay, just a suggestion,” Jasmine said.

***

Howard sat in the living room with Bailey and Kerry, watching cartoons. He was antsy, on the verge of panic.

“Maybe you ought to have a drink, Howie,” Bailey said as she studied his face. “You don’t look so hot.”

“No, that would make things worse,” Howard said.

Kerry looked at him, concerned. “What’s the matter, Howie?”

“Oh, nothing, Kerry. I’m okay.”

Scott came into the living room and motioned to Howard. He got up joined him in the kitchen.

“You talked to Sherry lately?” he asked.

“No, why?”

“Your truck stop is in the news. Look.” He walked back to his laptop, Howard following.

“News crews in front,” Scott said, pointing to the screen.

“This is a feed from the local TV station,” Howard said. “Shit.” He took his phone out of his pocket and punched Sherry’s contact.

“Sherry?”

“What do you want, Howard?”

“I’m watching video from in front of the truck stop.”

“What did you expect?”

“You still there?”

“Hell no. After that video of your face hit the internet, people were showing up asking all kinds of questions. I padlocked the place and split.”

“Dammit.”

“What’d you expect me to do, Howard? If they look into my past, guess what they’ll find.”

Howard sighed. “Oh, I’m not mad at you. You’re right. What are you going to do?”

“Split.”

“When?”

“I’ll be gone in about ten minutes, Howard.”

“Where you gonna go?”

“Like I’m going to tell you that.”

Scott motioned to Howard.

“What, Scotty?”

“Remind the bitch that I’ll find her if she runs. If I can’t find her, I’ll find her family.”

Howard shook his head, disgusted. He put the phone back to his ear.

“I suppose you heard that.”

Sherry laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You guys have a lot bigger problem than I do, Howie.”

“Why?”

“I know who that black guy was.”

“Who?”

“Malcolm Davis.”

Howard turned white as a sheet.

“You still there, Howie?”

“Yeah. Are you sure?”

“Yes. Scott can say all he wants, but he’ll be dead long before he can get to me or my family. I’m leaving. Have a nice life.”

She hung up.

“What did the bitch say?” Scott asked.

“That black guy she told us about,” Howard said.

“Yeah?”

“It’s Malcolm Davis,” Howard said.

Scotty got a horrified look on his face, but it melted into a nasty grin.

“Are you nuts?” Howard asked. “He’ll kill you, idiot. He’s probably got the spook with him, too.”

“That jerk has killed family members and dear friends,” Scott said. “He’s just a man. We know he’s coming. We’ll be ready for him.”

“He doesn’t know where we are. We need to lie low.”

“He’ll find us,” Scott said.

“How?” Howard asked.