Dorothy Garlock (32 page)

“We do what we set out to do,” he answered simply.

“Right now?” Riley asked with more than a hint of excitement in his eye.

“Yeah, now,” Ellis said with a nod, pulling the gun from his waistband and holding it up to the faint light. “Now’s the time
to show them Krauts what disobeyin’ us gets them. Now’s the time to end this.
Once and for all.
”

C
OLE DROVE
his father’s truck from the Hellers’ farm back toward Victory with one elbow slung easily out the window, whistling a happy
tune. Thousands of stars lit the night sky, all witnesses to the epic change in his life that the night had brought. He wasn’t
aware of any of the bumps, shakes, and skids of the gravel road; it was as if he were floating on air, racing across the heavens
like a comet.

The memory of Sophie’s touch, the feel of her skin beneath him as they made love to each other, remained fresh in Cole’s mind.
Every sensation, every passing second of their time atop the rocks had been burned into his brain with such an intensity that
he knew he would be able to recall it all even on his deathbed; the sound of the wind in the trees, the smell of her hair,
the pounding of his own heart would all be treasured as if they were precious jewels. The pleasure of her company, sharing
an experience that could never be undone, would link the two of them forever.

I am in love with Sophie Heller!

The truth of that thought was as undeniable to Cole as the sight of the moon hanging in the western sky. From the first moment
they had met, he’d known he was on a slippery slope. With every meeting, every smile, and even every tear, feelings had grown
between them until they became a passion impossible to contain. When she’d led him into the woods, he’d known that they were
about to cross a threshold from which they could never return. To that end, he’d gone along willingly.

Though Cole could not help but dwell on the past, his thoughts were also exploring the future. When Jason had first spoken
to him about his relationship with Mary Ellen, Cole had hoped that he and Sophie could someday share the same. Now it seemed
as if that dream had come true. Once he was settled in at the school, once he had moved out of his father’s home into lodgings
of his own, he would go to Hermann Heller and ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. When the time was right, he had little
doubt that Sophie would accept his proposal.

Still, Cole wasn’t naïve enough to believe that the future did not hold menace, as well; Graham Grier’s sudden drunken appearance
at the barn dance was a reminder of what challenges they faced. Ellis Watts was still out there somewhere, plotting his misguided
plans to rid Victory of a threat that didn’t exist. Until Ellis was sharing a cell with Graham, Cole knew that his relationship
with Sophie would never truly be secure.

Not for the first time, Cole wondered if he should have confided in his father or Jason, anyone who could have helped him
pursue the right course of action. Come morning, he’d once again speak to Sophie about the matter; she’d be upset, but now
with all that had been shared between them, maybe she would allow him to persuade her to finally tell the police.

Stifling a swelling yawn, Cole crossed the edge of town; Victory was sleeping peacefully, only a random light or two behind
closed drapes indicated any activity. Ahead of him, an automobile turned a corner and began heading in his direction, gathering
speed. The two vehicles passed each other underneath one of the few streetlights in town, illuminating the interior of the
car for only an instant, but it was more than enough time for Cole to see who was inside and to set his heart to pounding.

Ellis Watts and Riley Mason, the squirrelly man who had grabbed Sophie in the diner, both stared ahead grimly, their car quickly
crossing underneath the streetlight before being swallowed by the darkness and heading away from town. Cole had no doubt as
to whom he had seen; Ellis’s was a face he could not forget no matter how much he tried. Encountering them now, so soon after
his confrontation with Graham, made Cole’s nerves stand on end. For them to be out at this late hour surely meant that they
were up to no good. Looking into the truck’s rearview mirror, he could only watch as the men drove out of town.

“What the hell?” he muttered into the night.

Pressing down firmly on the truck’s brakes, Cole stuck his head out the window and peered intently into the inky darkness
into which Ellis had gone.

Why were those two out at this hour?

Why were they headed toward the Hellers’ farm?

In his gut, Cole already knew the answers to both his questions; the threat he and Sophie had faced from these men had not
disappeared, but had instead been lying in wait, biding for time until the opportune moment to strike. Watching Ellis Watts
and his crony drive past him, their faces masks of bad intentions, he knew that their moment appeared to have come.

The only thing left to was to decide what to do about it.

While Riley drove toward the Heller farm, Ellis’s attention was fixed on the pistol he held in his hands. He snapped open
the weapon’s chamber, spinning the bullets quickly as he watched the ends of their casings shine in the moonlight, before
he flipped it shut with a flick of his wrist.

“You reckon you’re gonna need to use that?” Riley asked, watching him.

“More likely than not,” Ellis answered plainly.

“What about them hoods?” The burlap sacks they had worn when they had burned the Krauts’ barn to ashes lay strewn haphazardly
on the backseat.

“It’s too damn late for us to go hidin’ our faces,” Ellis explained as he repeated his examination of the gun. “Besides, ain’t
like there’s gonna be one of ’em left to point us out when this night is over.”

“Goddamn right there ain’t gonna be!”

Outside, the Illinois countryside sped past the open window, a cool breeze the temperature of a summer pond washing over Ellis’s
hot skin. Countless insects called from the night, a thousand droning voices that were at once earsplitting and calming.

Ellis paid it all little heed. He felt at ease, almost relieved that all of his plans were coming to an end. Once the moon
had set, the sun rising to take its place, he would know that he could head off to war secure in the knowledge that he’d already
served his country.

“You suppose she’s gonna put up much of a fight?” Riley asked.

“Which one?” Ellis answered indifferently.

“The one from the diner. The daughter.”

“I don’t think any of them is gonna just let us have our way.”

“I sure wouldn’t mind gettin’ me a taste of that one before we’re done havin’ our fun,” Riley cackled as he ran his tongue
over his lips. “Can’t be no harm in screwin’ a Nazi if’n you finish her off after, is there?”

“I suppose not.”

“Then she’s gonna be screamin’ my name before this here night’s out!”

Smoke from the cigarette in Riley’s mouth curled off into the night with each word he spoke, wisps that disappeared in the
blink of an eye out the open window. Ellis had decided to give the man a few indulgences before they acted, but both Riley’s
cigarette and his less than amorous intentions toward Sophie Heller would have to be extinguished before they reached the
farm. On this night, he would allow for no mistakes.

“Graham’s gonna be missin’ out,” Riley said.

“It was his choice to go on a bender and get his ass tossed in—”

Suddenly, the coal black dark of night was lit up as brightly as the noon hour of a July day, blinding Riley so badly that
he struggled to keep his beat-up car straight on the road. Though the light clearly came from behind them, it was so glaring
that Ellis had no alternative but to shade his eyes. Unpleasant as the light was, it was soon followed by the incessant blaring
of a horn; itself such an obnoxious sound that Ellis believed it could have wakened the dead. The noise sounded over and over
again.

“What in the hell’s goin’ on?” he shouted.

“Beats the shit out of me!” Riley replied.

Turning around in his seat, Ellis’s confusion dissipated at the realization that the origin of the light and sound was a vehicle
right on their tail. He could only stand to look at it for the briefest of moments, the beams seemingly piercing him, before
he had to turn away.

“How in the hell did another car get on our ass?” Ellis bellowed.

“I don’t know!” Riley answered defensively. “I’ve been watchin’ in the rearview mirror but I ain’t seen nothin’ comin’ up
on us! It’s like it appeared out of thin air!”

Jarringly, the vehicle behind them rammed the back of the Ford, the force of the blow sending both men bouncing from their
seats, the pistol skittering from Ellis’s hand down into the footwell. By some miracle, Riley managed to right the car after
a dangerous drift to the left, but he was clearly unnerved. “What the hell am I supposed to do, Ellis?” he shouted.

Searching blindly for his missing pistol, Ellis didn’t answer. The truth struck him as solidly as the vehicle that collided
with their bumper.

The driver of the car behind them was Cole Ambrose.

Planting his foot on the accelerator, Cole once again drove the front of the truck into the back of Ellis Watts’s car. The
force of the impact was violent, a blow that sent him reeling backward in his seat before rebounding hard enough for his chest
to strike the steering wheel. Through it all, his eyes never left the rear of the car in front of him, fixed intently on the
men who meant to hurt his beloved Sophie.

After passing Ellis’s car on his way back to town, Cole had turned around and followed. He knew that he would have to hurry,
pushing the truck until its frame shook. Dousing the lights in order to maintain the element of surprise, he’d driven by what
scant light was offered by the moon and stars above, ready at any moment to slam on the brakes. Sure enough, he had come up
behind them a little more than two miles from the Hellers’ farm. Flipping on the lights, he’d put his plan into action.

All I can do is drive them off the road!

In the blinding glare of the pickup truck’s headlights, Ellis’s face once again became visible through the Ford’s small rear
window. Though the man was shielding his eyes with his hand, Cole could see that his face was contorted in rage and confusion.

“How do you like it, you son of a bitch,” Cole muttered.

Pounding on the truck’s horn, Cole hoped that if he were unsuccessful in his plan to drive the other vehicle from the road,
he would at least be able to draw attention to what was happening. If someone were to hear him, to notice two cars speeding
dangerously down Colvin Road, then it might not be too much to hope that they would contact the police. That way, even if
he were to fail, Sophie’s family might be protected.

Before him, the country road began to dip as it ran south toward the river, to descend into the low valley in which the Hellers’
farm lay. Cole knew that little opportunity remained for him to prevent the men from reaching their intended destination.

If I’m going to act, I’m going to have to do it soon!

With Ellis in the passenger seat, it was Riley Mason behind the wheel; somehow, he had so far managed to avoid a crash, surviving
two collisions with the truck and still hurtling forward. There was no guarantee that the scruffy bastard couldn’t keep up
the driving until it was too late for Cole to stop them.

“Think, damn it all, think!” he exhorted himself.

Cole was well aware that one if not both of the men might be armed; the idea that a thug the likes of Ellis Watts wouldn’t
be carrying a weapon seemed ridiculous to him. Drawing closer to the Ford, giving the men a moment to steady themselves might
get him a lead slug for his troubles. If he were going to make a move, he would need to be fairly certain that it would have
a chance to succeed.

Once again, Cole stomped on the gas and brought the two vehicles together in a sickening collision. But this time, instead
of falling back and allowing the Ford’s driver to steady himself, he waited until the car swung awkwardly to its left before
zipping into the space that it had vacated. The truck’s engine growled angrily but Cole turned a deaf ear to its protests,
pulling alongside the car’s passenger side.

“Goddammit, Ambrose!” Ellis snarled into the night.

“Go to hell, Ellis!” Cole shouted in answer.

So close to the Ford that he could see the worry and anger in the other men’s eyes, Cole kept a steel grip on the truck’s
wheel. When Riley compensated for being pushed left by swerving back to his right, Cole was ready; the screech of metal when
the two vehicles collided was deafening, but he refused to budge, holding his line as he raced down the dirt road.

Time and again the two vehicles banged together, each contact more bone-rattling than the last as each driver tried to drive
the other off the road. Cole had an advantage; since the pickup truck was both wider and heavier than the automobile, it had
more traction. Still, he was worried; the Hellers’ farm couldn’t be much more than a mile away.

He was running out of time.

Glancing over at the speeding car, Cole was surprised to see Ellis hunched over on his side, his face turned away from the
window. For a moment, Cole hoped that the bastard had been flung against the car door and been knocked unconscious, but that
thought proved fleeting.

Ellis suddenly sat upright, a pistol clutched in his hands. Even as the vehicles continued to slam against each other, the
man’s eyes found Cole’s and an unchecked glee seemed to light his face. When Cole had confronted Ellis in the tavern after
his first picnic with Sophie, he had been warned what would happen if he chose to interfere. Now it seemed as if Ellis Watts
were about to make good on his word.

“Shoot that cripple!” Riley bellowed. “Shoot the son of a bitch!”

Cole knew that he had only a few short seconds in which to act. There was always the option of slamming on the truck’s brakes,
but that would allow the two of them to reach the Hellers unscathed.