Bug Out! Part 11: Motorhomes on the Dark Road (17 page)

“That’d be good,” the Sheriff said. “Wonder how many people are inside?”

“No lights on the ground floor,” Malcolm said. “Is that’s still a store?”

“Can’t tell,” the Sheriff said.

The three men got out of the car. The street was quiet, it’s early 20
^th
century Main Street buildings all dark. George parked his jeep behind Malcolm’s and got out with Heidi and Charlie.

“What’s the plan?” George whispered.

“I’ll try to get close enough with the cross bow,” Malcolm said. “You guys cover me, but stay against the buildings so numb nuts up there doesn’t see us.”

“Wonder if there’s an alley behind that side of the street?” Charlie asked.

“There has to be,” the Sheriff said. “Otherwise how’d they get deliveries?”

“Wanna go back there?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. They walked back on the road a ways and then trotted across the street with their hunting rifles, going behind the row of buildings.

Malcolm snuck down the street silently, cross bow in hand, rifle slung on his shoulder. The man on the roof wasn’t visible, giving Malcolm a chance to get in a good position across the small side street from the building. He got down on one knee, cocked the cross bow, and slipped an arrow on.

George crouched down behind him, on one knee, rifle aimed at the roof as Malcolm took aim. Jackson and Heidi stayed behind, watching the street.

The man appeared again, and Malcolm let his arrow go. He hit the man in the chest.

“No! Josh!” yelled another man on the roof. He fired a rifle in Malcolm’s direction.

“Look out!” Malcolm shouted. Then another rifle shot rang out, from across the street, hitting he man on the roof. It was Charlie.

“Man in the second story window,” Jackson said. George fired into the second story, and screams came out of the building. Somebody broke out another window and fired a handgun several times. Then there were two shots from across the street. More screams inside.

“Crap, how many people are in there?” Malcolm asked, leaning his cross bow against the building. He got his rifle off his shoulder and they walked forward.

“Who’s out there?” shouted a woman. “Scotty?”

Malcolm laughed. “Hi, Sherry. You really think Scotty got here from Ohio this fast?”

“Malcolm, you son of a bitch. You killed my son.”

“Sorry,” Malcolm shouted. Then there was the crack of a rifle shot, breaking the window downstairs.

“Dammit,” Sherry shouted. “Stop. What do you guys want?”

“You, sugar plum.”

“We had a deal,” she shouted, punctuating it with several handgun shots.

“Yeah, we did,” Malcolm shouted back.

“So what are you doing?” she shouted.

“We watched those tapes,” Malcolm shouted. “You weren’t coerced. You dug it. My partner found out you’re still active. I’m not letting you go.”

“Fuck you!” she said, firing off a few more pistol rounds. The Sheriff and Charlie fired several more rounds into the windows.

“Somebody coming behind us,” Jackson whispered, turning around. A shot rang out, the bullet whizzing by his head. “Crap!” Jackson got down on one knee and fired a couple of shots.

“Get them?” George asked.

“No, can’t see them,” Jackson said. “They got us pinned down, but I don’t think they can hit us if we hug the building.”

“Look,” Heidi said. A man tried to run across the street, but Jackson fired, hitting him square in the back, sending him crashing to the ground. Two more shots whizzed by his head.

“Damn, how many folks does she have with her?” Jackson shouted. That brought a cackle from the building.

“You don’t think I’m just going to roll over, do you?” Sherry shouted.

Lights were starting to come on up and down the street.

“Crap, the civilians are waking up,” Malcolm said. “She’ll try to run.”

“I know, I’m texting Charlie right now,” George whispered. “Letting him know that we’re pinned down.

“I’m texting Ted,” Malcolm whispered.

“He close?” Heidi asked.

“Waiting for a reply,” Malcolm said.

“Another one,” Jackson said, firing, hitting a man in the head as he ran onto the street. More rifle shots buzzed by them.

“Ted’s only a few minutes out,” Malcolm whispered. “He’s coming down the street from the other side of the building. He’s also calling the local sheriff.”

“Good, then we’re covered,” George said, a wicked smile on his face. “I’m going through this building. Back up a little bit.” He pulled his handgun and blasted the lock on the storefront, then kicked in the door. “You guys stay here and watch the street. She’s going to try to split out the back. I’ll make sure she doesn’t.”

“I’m coming with you,” Heidi said. She followed him inside the dark store, and they rushed to the back door.

“There’s liable to be bad guys outside this door,” George said. “They got behind us through the alley. Stay back.”

George unlocked the door and pushed it open. Two shots rang out, hitting the door from the right. He pushed it open more and held it there with his foot.

“Get your phone focused through the crack in the door, and tell me where the guy is,” George whispered. Heidi got the camera app working and stuck it up there, snapping several pictures. She handed it to him.

“They can’t shoot through this door, can they?” she asked.

“Nah, this is a metal door,” George said. “Okay, there’s a dumpster right beyond the door. Kick that doorstop over here.”

Heidi saw it and tossed it to him. He shoved it under the door with his foot, and then turned around in a crouch, his rifle ready.

“Be careful,” Heidi whispered.

A car started, in the direction of the hideout.

“Crap, they’re getting ready to take off!” George whispered, typing a text message. He sent it to Malcolm and Charlie.

“Look,” Heidi said, as two men ran past in the alley. She shot one of them. George shot at the second one, but missed.

“Malcolm, two men just ran back down the alley towards Sherry’s place,” George shouted. “Heidi got one. I’m after the other. You might not be pinned down anymore.”

“Roger that,” Malcolm shouted.

George ran out into the alley, looking behind him. He got a little ways down, and a rifle shot flew past him. He dived on the round and returned fire. The engine of the car sped up, and then a police siren sounded, from behind the hideout.

George got up in time to see the SUV pulling out of the driveway behind the hideout. Shots rang out, hitting the windshield, and the SUV backed up, attempting to get onto Main Street. A police car pulled sideways across the side street to block them in, and two officers jumped out and fired at the SUV as it tried to get going. Charlie and the Sheriff poured fire at the vehicle from across the street, but it was still moving.

“Crap, they’re gonna get away,” George shouted, running towards Main Street.

Malcolm and Jackson were firing at the fleeing SUV from behind, but then they heard several shotgun blasts from the other direction, and the SUV slowed and ran into the curb.

“Ted,” Malcolm shouted. There was silence now. Everybody headed onto Main Street. George turned to see Heidi trotting over to him.

“Stand fast!” shouted one of the officers, holding his gun on them.

“They’re with us,” Ted shouted. The cop lowered his gun.

“Why don’t you two go check the building?” Ted asked the officers as everybody gathered around him.

“What the hell were you shooting at those guys?” Malcolm asked, grinning, shaking Ted’s hand.

“Shotgun,” Ted said. “Sherry’s splattered all over the inside of the SUV, along with a couple other folks.”

“All dead?” asked the Sheriff.

“Yeah,” Ted said, glancing over at him.

“Ted, these are our friends,” Malcolm said. “The Sheriff, Charlie, and Jackson.”

“Heard great things about you guys,” Ted said, smiling.

The officers rushed out of the hideout. The lead officer eyed the group suspiciously. “One body on the ground floor, two on the second, and two on the roof,” he said. “One of the guys on the roof has an arrow in him. Care to explain that?”

“Yeah, I’ll brief you on the whole operation,” Ted said. “The Serial Killer Task Force has been working on this case for a while. We just found out where they were tonight.”

“So that must be why you didn’t call our department,” the officer said, his eyes darting around the group. He sighed. “Alright, I’m glad you guys found them. We’ve had several kids go missing over the last year and a half. We knew there was somebody here, but they were good – we couldn’t catch them. Our investigations always hit a dead end.”

“We figured you were here because of Howard,” the other officer said. “Still can’t believe that one. I used to play with his kids.”

“Hell, everybody around here knew Sherry,” the first officer said. “She had a wild streak when she was younger, but she got along fine here after her mom passed. She brought her four boys with her. I saw three of them lying dead in the building.”

“Wonder who the others are?” the Sheriff asked.

“I didn’t recognize them,” the first officer said.

“You guys need any help mopping this up?” Ted asked.

“Nah, I’ll call in the meat wagon, and close up the hideout,” the first officer said. “Want to help investigate the building tomorrow?”

“We’re leaving in the morning,” Ted said. “Pressing work in Columbus, Ohio.”

“Howard,” the first officer said. “I figured.”

“You know who that group is, right?” Ted asked.

The officer looked blankly at him.

“Howard and Scott are what’s left of the Nighthawk Road clan.”

“Scott? Wait a minute, Scott died in Jersey,” the second officer said.

“No he didn’t,” Malcolm said. “That was convenient for him. Until recently.”

“And who might you be?” the first officer asked, eyeing him.

“Malcolm Davis.”

The first officer’s mouth dropped open. The second got a big grin on his face. “Can I have your autograph?”

Malcolm laughed. “Sure, why not.”

“Malcolm has fans,” Heidi said, laughing and rolling her eyes.

“You guys aren’t going after anybody else in this town, are you?” the first officer asked. He didn’t look amused.

“No,” Ted said. “Luckily we know where Howard and Scott are. If we didn’t, they’d be back here eventually.”

***

Back at the RV Park, Frank was at the PC in the clubhouse with Jane, Jasmine, and Jerry. General Hogan walked in.

“Frank, could you take a look at something for me?” he asked.

“Sure, General,” Frank said. “What?”

“Check your email. There’s a link.”

Frank found it and clicked. A picture came up. There were a group of men in the picture, sitting around an ornate placard that had the WTO logo on it. His mouth dropped open. “Daan Mertins.”

“Yeah,” General Hogan said. “He’s not a delegate. He’s staff. That’s why he’s in the back of the picture.”

“Do we know where this picture was taken?” Frank asked.

“Somewhere in Europe. They’re on their way to the US of A,” General Hogan said. “Big hush-hush WTO meeting.”

“Where?” asked Jane.

“That’s the problem,” the General said. “We don’t know.”

“You don’t think that Mertins is going to set up a massacre of these folks, do you?” Frank asked.

“Hell, for all we know, some of these folks were behind the invasion,” General Hogan said. “Most of them are globalists who take a dim view of individual liberty. Except for their own, of course.”

“Don’t they usually coordinate with the authorities when they hold a big meeting?” Jane asked.

“Not always,” General Hogan said. “I thought the same thing, so I looked into it. They’re very secretive. They’ve done this many times before.”

“Are you going to warn them?” Frank asked.

“Not yet,” General Hogan said. “As I said, I’m not sure of their motives. They might be on the same side as Daan Mertins.”

“What are we going to do?” Frank asked.

“I want to chat with George about this when he gets back.”

“Why?” Jane asked.

“He has experience with some of these folks,” General Hogan said.

***

Agent Keith walked behind Howard, a pistol pointed at his back. Sy walked behind Scott, who still had handcuffs on, his wrists behind his back.

“The door’s locked,” Howard said. “Scotty probably has the key.”

“Just ring the doorbell,” Scott said, snickering.

“Sy, get his keys out of his pocket, will ya?”

“Yeah, okay,” Sy said, checking. He found the keys in his right front pocket and tossed them to Agent Keith.

“Here,” Agent Keith said. “You unlock it. One false move and I’ll splatter your head all over the door.”

“Relax,” Howard said as he unlocked the door. He pushed it open and all four men walked through.

“Where’s the kid?” Agent Keith asked.

“Probably upstairs in his bedroom,” Howard said. “He’s gonna be real upset when he finds out that Bailey was killed.”

“Who cares,” he said. “This place have a basement?”

“Yeah, first door past the end of the hall,” Scott said. “To the right.”

Howard opened the door, and they started down. Howard pulled the chain to turn on the light. The studio filled with dull light.

“This all? What’s behind that door?” Agent Keith asked, pointing to the back wall.

Howard didn’t answer. He walked to the door and pulled it open, seal breaking around the edges. He pulled the light chain, and Agent Keith followed him in.

“Perfect,” Agent Keith said. “Sy, pull that door closed. Nice cells. Go on in, gentlemen.” He held the cell door open and shoved both men inside as Sy looked on.

“Can I go now?” Sy asked.

“In a minute. Keep the gun on them while I lock this up.”

He fumbled with the keys, trying one after another until he found the right one. He locked the cell and slipped the keys in his pocket.

“Okay, now can I go?” Sy asked. There was sweat beading on his forehead.

“Yeah, just give me the gun and you can leave,” Agent Keith said. Sy handed it over nervously, his hand shaking.

“Okay, see you,” Sy said.

“Thanks, buddy,” Agent Keith said. Then he leveled the pistol and shot him three times in the chest. Sy crumpled to the ground, eyes staring into nothingness.