Irrefutable Proof: Mars Origin "I" Series Book II (18 page)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Thanks
to Greg and Jack’s scouting expeditions out to the Jerusalem Forest,
we found the tree without a hitch.

It
was dark when we headed toward the outskirts of city to the Jerusalem Forest. We
took both the cars. Addie rode with me and Claire. Jack drove with Greg
“shotgun”, as Greg put it. I think that he was beginning to enjoy our little
mission.

All
of us dressed in dark-colored jeans and T-shirts, we ran, bent over, like cat
burglars, speaking in hushed tones, to the tree that Greg and Jack had marked
earlier. Greg taking his cue from our brother Michael on our last trip to Jerusalem had a black duffle bag with everything we needed. He passed out flashlights to
Addie, Claire and me. He and Jack pulled out the collapsible shovels they’d
bought. Addie and Claire stood over Greg and Jack holding flashlights, while they
dug holes around the tree, looking for what Dr. Sabir had left. I leaned up
against the trunk of the tree where it was supposedly buried, right over Jack.

A
light breeze welcomed us to the grassy field filled with cypress trees
thousands of years old. They were large and cone-shaped, planted close
together, providing good cover for us, although in the pitch black night we
really didn’t need it. The tree we needed was close to a clearing, not too far
from the road, and was surrounded by low, dense bushes and shrubbery.

Standing
there in nervous anticipation, watching my brother and Jack dig, I thought I heard
a
swoosh
sound. It sounded like something was moving in the bushes out
along the perimeter. I tried to focus my eyes on it, but it was too dark to
see.

It
made me anxious because I couldn’t see if anyone was there, but with all the
light we had around, I knew someone could see us. It would be just my luck that
the police came, drawn by our beacons, and kicked us out. Greg had said, after
he and Jack got back, that the place was more or less public, and that we
shouldn’t have any problems. Still, we weren’t supposed to be digging, and we
didn’t have a permit.

Then
I heard that
swoosh
sound again. I turned my flashlight toward where I
heard the noise.  

“Justin,
where are you flashing that light? Bring it back over here,” Greg said.

 “Shh.
Be quiet,” I said. “You hear that?” It sounded as if someone was breathing,
hiding in the shadows.

“What’s
wrong, Justin?” Greg, on his hands and knees, looked up at me. “What’s wrong,”
he whispered louder, more urgently.

“I
heard something.”

“Did
anyone else hear it,” Jack asked. He got up on one knee.

“No.
I didn’t.” Addie looked at me. I looked at Claire, which made everyone else
look at Claire, too.

Claire
looked at me. “If Justin heard it, it’s probably something.” She was always on
my side.

“Or
nothing,” Greg said. “So, what you want me to do? Stop digging?”

“Just
be quiet for a minute,” I said.

I
heard a click. Everyone else must have heard it too, because we all turned and
looked toward the direction of the noise. I heard the swooshing sound, again.
Jack and Greg stood up. Greg walked over and stood next to Claire and Addie.
Jack stayed over by me.

A
crackling boom ripped through the stillness of the pitch black night, and exploded
with a flash of light. I let out a shriek. Birds frantically fluttered up and
about, and then another
boom
! I saw Jack reel back and grab his shoulder.
He stifled a grunt as he fell to one knee.

“Jack!”
I screamed. “Oh, my God! Are you okay?” I bent over him, I was shaking like a
leaf on a tree.

Addie
turned her flashlight on us. “Jack!” she shouted, and ran to him.

“Oh
shit,” Greg said at the same time Addie had called out. “Everybody get down.”

Greg
dropped pulling Claire with him. “Give me your flashlight,” he said to Claire.
“Come with me.” Holding onto Claire’s hand, he slithered on the ground making his
way over to Jack. “You okay, man?” Greg said putting a beam of light on him.

Jack
shook his head, “I don’t know.” He pulled his hand away from his shoulder. “I
think it just grazed my arm.”

Greg
pointed his flashlight over to where the noise came from.

“Did
someone just shoot at us?” Claire pushed herself up and peered into the dark from
where the noise came.

Me
and Craig both turned our flashlights on Claire.

“What?”
she said.  Even with Jack being shot, she needed help understanding what had happened.

Addie
looked at Jack, and then at Claire, and all of a sudden she just got up and started
running. She ran toward the bushes where the gunshots seemed to come from.

“What
is she doing?” Greg looked at Jack as he got up and ran toward Addie.

“C’mere,
girl,” Greg said in a loud whisper as he caught her. He had ran up behind her
and wrapped his arms around her waist. “What is wrong with you?” He lifted her
off the ground and started trotting back toward us.

“Somebody
just tried to kill my brother,” she said, kicking her feet.

“Yeah,
and what? You’re gonna catch ‘em? And do what? You’ll get yourself killed if
you go over there. Man, you as bad as my sisters.” He made it back over to us,
his body bent over, practically carrying Addie on his side.

“Jack,
man,” Greg said, dropping her on the ground by the tree. “What was she
thinking?” Greg looked over at Addie, who was breathing hard, anger boiling
over on her face. “What was she going to do? Outrun a bullet and tackle
somebody who had a gun?”

Jack
just shook his head, and sat back on his butt.

“I
just want everybody to get down, stay down. And c’mon, let’s get on the other
side of these trees,” Greg said. “Behind them. Justin, turn off your
flashlight. Everyone, turn them off for a minute.” Greg turned his off, and
gave Jack a hand as we moved around the trunk of the tree. “Just be quiet,” he
said.

“Are
you okay, Jack?” Addie, not listening to the “be quiet” instructions, leaned
down to look at Jack’s arm.

“Yeah,
Addie. I’m fine,” he said quickly, softly. “Get down,” he said pulling on her
arm. “We should all stay low.”

Claire
crawled over by us, took my flashlight, and looked at Jack’s arm, then clicked
the flashlight back off. “I’ma rip your shirt, Jack,” she whispered. “I need a
piece of it for your arm.” She helped him pull it off over his head. Then she held
the bottom of his shirt between her teeth and ripped it up the middle. She did
it again about an inch over, securing a strip. “Let go,” she instructed him to
move his hand from the wound.  “Let me do this.”

We
all sat quietly for a few minutes while Claire tended to Jack.

 “Who
could that have been?” Claire said, tightening her homemade tourniquet,
breaking the silence. “Why would someone shoot at Jack?”

“Or
me,” I said. “I was standing right next to him.”

“We
better get out of here,” Jack said.

My
eyes got big and I went to Greg, turning my flashlight on him.  “Greg,” I
whispered, “We can’t go. We don’t have Dr. Sabir’s things.” Greg held his
flashlight with the beam pointing up on my face. I knew he could see I was
about to start crying. “We can’t leave without it.”

“Jack,
if you’re really okay, man . . .” Greg said slowly.

Addie
turned the third flashlight back on.

“I
am,” Jack said.

“Well,
take Addie and Claire, and the three of you take the SUV and head back to the
hotel. Let Claire clean your arm up and make sure you don’t need any stitches.
Justin and I are going to find that box.”

“Greg,
man, that’s not a good idea,” Jack said.

“It’s
really not,” Addie added, “Because I want to be here to help find it, too.”

“No.
I mean it’s not a good idea because whoever tried to shoot us might still be
here.”

“I’m
staying with Justin.” Claire came over and linked her arm in mine.

With
all three flashlights back on, we were sitting (standing) ducks, having an
argument on who stays and who leaves. Getting shot at, again, was a real
possibility.

But
for some reason I didn’t care about that. I just knew that we had to get the
box.

“It
may not be a good idea,” Greg said. “But it’ll be hell living with my sister
until she has that thing. It’s been quiet. No more shots. No more rustling
around. I think we’ll be okay.”

“Greg,
if you and Justin are going to stay, we’re all going to stay,” Jack said. “But
we need to see what’s going on over there where those shots came from, first.
This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to turn off the flashlights. Greg
you go around that way.” Jack drew an arc with his good arm out around the left
side and back in to the bushy area. “And, I’ll go around the other way. The
three of you sit here, quietly. Unless you hear something, then I want you to
start screaming and just keep screaming. Scream your heads off, if you see
anything. You got me?” We all nodded. “Okay. Greg you ready?”

“Yep.”

“Okay,
turn the flashlights off.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

 “I
think it’s all the coffee she drinks,” Claire said, matter-of-factly, glancing
up from tending to Jack’s wound. We all looked at Claire.

 
“Coffee is a good antioxidant, though.” Claire looked at us and nodded.

Me and Greg had our mouths opened.
What was she talking
about?

“It is,” she said, frowning up her face as if she thought we
didn’t agree.

We
had gotten back from our “treasure hunt,” returning triumphantly. My prized
possession in hand. Claire was tending to Jack’s arm. And until that was taken
care of, I wasn’t going to open up the box. But Claire, with her off the wall
comments, was taking forever to fix him up.

I
was sitting in a corner of the room, cradling the dirty box in my arms, the
bottom of it resting on my thighs. I kept repeating, “
I can wait. I can wait
,”
in my head. I didn’t want to seem selfish. But it was hard.

“What
are you talking about, Claire?” Greg asked.

“Addie.
That’s probably why she took off running after our would-be assassin. All that
caffeine.”

Greg said, “Don’t you have to drink a lot of it for it to be
an antioxidant?”

“Duh,” Claire said. “You have to drink about six cups a day.
Haven’t you seen how much she drinks?”

“I hate when people talk about me in third person as if I’m
not even here,” Addie said, coming out the kitchenette with a cup of her
addiction.

Claire pointed at Addie as if to say, “See.”

“Well, it’s making her crazy,” I said.

Greg looked at me, amusement in his eyes. “Well, ain’t that
the pot calling the kettle black.”

 
“No, you
guys, that’s just Addie,” Jack said. “I remember once she was on the MARC
coming back from DC and she called me. Told me someone had tried to attack her.
Man, my heart was beating so fast. Thinking how could I get to her fast enough
to help her? She was just crying, in the phone. I could hardly understand her.
Then I thought ‘Wait, how is she calling me if someone is attacking her?’ So, I
said, ‘Addie, where is he now?’ And she told me she didn’t know. She said she beat
him up and he ran off.”

Claire
and Greg started laughing.

Cute
story, I thought, but it was making the wait thing drag out longer. I was
counting off the seconds in my head.

“How
much longer?”
I wanted to
shout.

“Oh,
so you could’ve taken that gunman out, huh, Addie?” Greg asked, and winked at
her.

“When
she cries it’s not because she’s upset,” Jack said. “It’s because she’s mad. So
I’m telling you guys, you better watch out for my twin. Her and her little dog,
they patrol the neighborhood like a cop on a beat. Like what could they do?”

“
My
sister. Justin,” Greg said, looking over at me. “Cries over Coke commercials
and the ASPCA commercials on TV. She cries about everything. Anything.”

“I
do not. And I don’t cry over those ASPCA commercials because when they come on,
I change the channel.”

“Jack
is fine,” Dr. Claire announced, causing me to pop up from the chair.

“But
he may want to see a real doctor when he gets home,” Claire said, “One that
actually sees patients. I wish everyone would keep in mind that I don’t
practice. I do research.”

I
walked over and put the box atop the bar, and stood next to it, arms at my
side.

“I
don’t need to see another doctor.” Jack smiled. “I’m fine. I just liked Claire
fussing over me.”

“Yeah,
you’ll be sorry you had me looking at it instead of a practicing physician when
it starts to puss and ooze out green stuff. Wait till gangrene sets in, you
lose an arm, and the Air Force tosses you out on your butt.”

I
was tapping my heel against the floor at a rapid pace.

“Okay,
enough of that,” Greg said, looking over at me spazzing out. “Let’s see what’s
in Dr. Sabir’s box.”