Fancy Gap (34 page)
The priest could see the two police cars catching up to him. He pounded the steering wheel as he realized that they had installed a tracking device in his car.
Those motherfuckers are smarter than I gave them credit for,
he thought.
He cut the wheel and took a hard left onto 608. He went no more than a quarter of a mile and he took a hard right onto the dirt road. Then he drove straight up into the woods toward the old cemetery near the abandoned A-frame.
Leroy was now no more than fifty yards from Father Tony’s back bumper.
“He’s driving into Tranquility Acres. He can’t go far in there with that Buick,” he said as he slammed on his brakes and skidded around the corner by the old abandoned A-frame. He saw the priest, starting to put the key into the trunk lid.
Father Tony stopped when he saw the two police cars. He pointed his gun at the trunk and fired once. Then he dropped the keys and ran toward to woods. He stopped, turned, and fired two rounds at the police cars. They ducked behind the Buick. They looked at each other when they heard a little girl’s cry from inside the trunk.
Quinn looked at the sheriff and said, “You stay here and take care of Katie.”
Then he, Louisa, Levi, and Leroy scooted around the car and ran as fast as they could in the direction the priest had gone.
The sheriff searched the ground and found the Buick’s keys. He opened the lid and discovered a terrified Katie. She was safe. The bullet had missed. He started to cry as he lifted her out of the trunk.
Quinn understood that this madman wouldn’t surrender. They ran from tree to tree as they heard him moving ahead. Louisa jumped into the lead. Father Tony turned in the shadow of a large oak and saw her coming. He smiled as he took aim and squeezed a round. The bullet hit Louisa just below her right collarbone. She let out a scream as she fell to the ground.
Quinn stopped and huddled over her as she whispered, “I’ll be OK. Go get the mad motherfucker.”
He shouted at Levi, “Stay with her and call for an ambulance!”
Quinn ran through the woods with a vengeance. Leroy had a hard time keeping up. They both ducked and stopped when bullets whizzed by too close for comfort. Leroy had hiked in the area before and knew that if the priest kept going in this direction, he would soon run out of road at the top of the ridge. All that was left was a sheer drop down for several hundred feet. He could hear shots exchanged in front of him.
Quinn suddenly lost sight of the priest. He ran a few more steps and suddenly felt like his head was hit by a sledgehammer. The priest had stopped behind a large tree and hit Quinn as he came around the bend. As he lay prone on the trail, he turned his head slowly and painfully to see the priest, standing over him with his pistol aimed at his head.
“Well, now, McSpain it’s time for you to die. I already killed your fucking bitch girlfriend. Now you’ll die without ever knowing if I live to love and fondle another little…”
Leroy was fifty feet away. He braced himself against a tree. This was the most important shot of his life. He smiled as he squeezed it off.
Quinn heard the shot and saw the bullet hit the middle of the priest’s forehead. The back of his skull exploded into dozens of pieces. He tumbled backward onto the trail.
“Are you all right?” Leroy yelled as he rushed to Quinn’s side.
Quinn sat up and looked at the priest. “I’m a hell of a lot better than that crazy son of a bitch is. Great shot, Leroy. You saved my life.”
Leroy held out his hand to help Quinn up. “That was a shot I didn’t mind taking. One less sick bastard in the world.”
They soon were joined by deputies and state police officers who had come to assist. Quinn and Leroy walked out of the woods to where Louisa had been shot. A Carroll County EMT team was about to load her into the back of their ambulance. Quinn ran over to her. She smiled as soon as she saw him. He didn’t realize that he was covered in blood.
“Are you hurt, Quinn?” she asked.
“I’m not, and the priest is dead. Leroy shot him the moment before he was going to kill me.”
The sheriff ran over. “I’ve already made arrangements for Louisa to be taken to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. Katie is fine,” he told Quinn. He pointed across the road, where Susan and Tim were hugging their daughter. Quinn smiled as he climbed into the back of the ambulance for the trip to Winston-Salem.
He took Louisa’s hand and held it tight.
By some accounts, every newspaper in the country carried the story of the dramatic rescue of little Katie and the killing of the mad priest by the now-famous Carroll County Sheriff ’s Department. Sergeant Leroy Jefferson was a genuine hero. News and TV crews descended upon Fancy Gap to cover the story. Libby Thomas volunteered for as many interviews as she could, reminding everyone that it was now business as usual for the flea market and gun show, which was now just a week away. Fear and panic subsided now that the killer was dead.
The news accounts gave details of the investigation and of the cooperation among the Virginia State Police, the Park Service police, and the Carroll County sheriff ’s department. It was a win-win situation for all. No mention was made of Louisa or Quinn. From an official standpoint, they didn’t exist. Only one news account mentioned that a female hiker was accidently shot during the dramatic events.
What did exist was a bullet hole in Louisa’s shoulder. It had grazed and chipped her collarbone before coming out her back. The doctors at Wake Forest Hospital gave her a good prognosis: a quick recovery and full use of her arm and shoulder. Quinn was already planning her intense physical therapy sessions once she was discharged.
Angelina and Sara flew out from California to be with her. They stayed with Quinn at the Chateau. Louisa was happy to see Angelina and was pleasantly surprised that Sara was friendlier than she had ever been.
Every police officer involved in the case visited her in the hospital. Quinn was impressed with this show of respect. Even Libby Thomas came one evening and thanked Louisa and Quinn. Louisa found her sincerity refreshing until, she winked at Quinn and blew him a kiss as she left the hospital room.
“That woman would just love to get her hooks in you,” Louisa said.
Quinn walked over to the hospital bed and kissed her.
“Not while you’re my bodyguard, she won’t!”
Louisa bit his ear.
The most satisfying visitors were the Prestons. Tim and Susan brought Katie to Louisa’s room. Susan cried as she said, “Katie these are the two people who saved your life. We will be eternally grateful to them both. We will never forget you both!” They hugged and cried together for the longest time and they shared a long prayer…for Pete.
The day before Louisa was discharged, Quinn was at the Chateau, cleaning and straightening everything up. The UPS truck pulled in to the driveway and the driver got out, carrying a box. He walked up the front door, handed Quinn the package, and said with a smile, “Hope you have a nice day.”
Quinn opened the box and found a tightly packed bottle of wine. He slowly unwrapped it to discover a nineteen eighty-two Chateau Lafite. A note inside the box read, “Quinn, the world is now a better and safer place for us all. God’s will was done! Enjoy!” The card wasn’t signed.
He soon heard another car pull in to his driveway. He looked through the screen door to see the sheriff, getting out of his car.
“Come on in. The door’s open,” he called out. The sheriff walked in and chuckled as Quinn wheeled the vacuum cleaner around the front room carpets.
“Bet you didn’t know I could dance with a vacuum cleaner, did you, sheriff ?” he asked.
“Quinn, you’re a man of so many talents, the least of which is saving my ass. I just don’t know where to begin to thank you.”
“Sheriff, the only thanks I need is to see little Katie Preston with her mother and father. Nothing else is required. That’s all that mattered to Louisa and me. In fact, I thank you for having Sergeant Jefferson work with us. He saved my life.”
“Quinn, I believe you mean Captain Jefferson.”
Quinn smiled as the sheriff hugged him and left. He was headed back to Hillsville. He still had a lot of work to do to get ready for the flea market. The sheriff had to pull off the dirt road quickly leading down from Quinn’s Chateau as a Porsche roared by, rocks flying from the rear wheels.
That woman always gets what she wants,
he thought.
* * *
The next morning was discharge day for Louisa. Quinn wheeled her down to the front of the hospital and gave his ticket to the parking valet. There was a hint of fall in the air. Louisa smiled as she watched the flags flutter in the breeze. Then she laughed and smiled as the valet drove up in her Volvo. Quinn opened the door for her and helped her gently slide into the seat and buckled her seat belt. He walked around and jumped into the driver’s seat.
“This is the nicest thing you could have done, Quinn. You’re so sweet!” Louisa said, looking fondly at him.
“Miss Hawke, after you fully recuperate, I’m going to do my best to make you think I’m not so sweet as we spend the next six months hiking the full length of the Appalachian Trail. You’ll be trying to keep up with me from Georgia all the way to Maine.”
She reached over with her good hand and patted his cheek. “Bring it on, big man! Just bring it on!”
Quinn was happy they got an early start for the ride back to Fancy Gap. He knew what was coming that night…
The fog.
This novel is the first in a series of six new novels by C. David Gelly. Follow Louisa Hawke and Quinn McSpain as they continue their adventures in
Orchard Gap, Volunteer Gap, Willis Gap, Squirrel Gap,
and
Low Gap.
To all the good people who call Carroll County home, you are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful place along with all of the interesting folks who visit and make it special.
To
Fancy Gap
…may you become the true southwest Virginia gateway to the Blue Ridge Parkway as you so richly deserve!
All the best!
CDG
C. David Gelly
has authored numerous essays and short stories on global travel, athletic accomplishments and life experiences. A raconteur and oeno-phile of note, he is an avid marathoner and cyclist who explores unusual places in his travels on domestic as well as international assignments.
He has plied his trade in government agencies as well as in the corporate ranks of many significant entities taking him through the streets and alleys of concrete canyons as well as the twists and turns of the Silk Road to the wheat fields of America’s heartland.
He is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston and currently resides in North Carolina as well as the mountains of southwest Virginia.
Follow him on
Twitter
at
FancyGap
.
