Paradise Falls (43 page)

“Jacob,” Jennifer cut him off. “That is not a
car
. That’s a tank.”

3.

Jennifer was reasonably certain that everything about this was illegal.

Jacob called it the Martyr. It was twice as long as a car and about half again as wide, angular and hunched over two big wheels in the front with aggressive, knobby tires. Instead of wheels in the back there was a single tread, like a bulldozer, or a tank, very wide with rubber cleats on the metal plates. When he first showed it to her, she did nothing but stare for half a minute. It didn’t have an interior so much as a cockpit, with two seats one behind the other rather than side by side. The seat up front faced a yoke, like an airplane, rather than a steering wheel. The seat behind faced a computer screen and a joystick. It was surprisingly small on the inside, and not as large as looked on the outside- but it looked enormous.

That back seat was, apparently, her seat. The stick controlled a small turret mounted on top of the machine that folded into a pod when it wasn’t in use. She settled into the seat and Jacob began running her through the buttons and switches.

“It’s not complicated,” he said, sitting on the edge of the cockpit. “Well, it is, but not
that
complicated. You can handle it. The idea is that the gunner, that’s you, takes the pressure of operating the munitions system off the driver.”

“Munitions systems? You mean weapons?”

“Yeah.”

“Like what?”

“I have her loaded up with nonlethals.”
 

“Her?” said Jennifer.

“It’s just a car, hon.”

“Tank.”

“Whatever.”

“It has a tread thingy. It’s a tank.”

He hovered his hand over a panel of switchers to her left. “These are the area denial systems. Smoke, pepper gas, this one turns on a sound emitter that puts out a high frequency burst that causes intense gastrointestinal distress.”

“What?”

“It makes people shit their pants,” said Jacob.

Jennifer looked at him side-eyed and huffed.

“It causes spontaneous gastrointestinal discharge. Better?”

She rolled her eyes. He went on.

 
“This one runs a high voltage, low amperage current over the skin of the vehicle.”

“What are these?” said Jennifer.

“This one is a wide band radio jammer. Puts out a burst of radio transmissions to temporarily scramble all radio communications in the area. It’s supposed to have a microwave transmitter mounted on a gimble on the roof to…”

“Jacob,” she said, suppressing a grin.

“Right. Push that button and nobody has a radio. This one turns on a ultraviolet pulse that will ruin any cameras trying to snap a picture.”

Jennifer prodded the joystick with her finger. “What does this do?”

Jacob cocked his head to the side. “Well, it’s not all nonlethal. There’s a turret mounted on top. There’s a fifty cal anti-materiel rifle, semi-automatic. One shot per pull of the trigger. Next to that is a liquid cooled, belt fed machine gun firing five-point-seven millimeter steel core copper solids. It’s only good for a few short bursts, but it’ll cut an RPG round right out of the air. The designers of this vehicle felt the best defense is a good offense.”

Jennifer scowled at him.

“It’s not for shooting people, I swear. It’s to disable vehicles.”

“Right. What else?”

“Defense stuff. This switch drops caltrops.”

“What?”

“Pointy things to take out tires on pursuing vehicles. Here, hop out of there. I need to run you through the controls in case you need to drive it.”

Jennifer stared at him.

“Come on.”

He took her hand. Jennifer slipped around and dropped into the driver’s seat. There were fewer switches, at least. The yoke had a few. There were no pedals, but to her right there was a throttle lever, again like an airplane. To her left was another lever that was clearly a gear selector, even if it wasn’t marked. Jacob rested his hand on it.

“It keeps your hands busy, I know. This lever controls the power to the drivetrain. It’s all drive-by-wire. It’s in park, now. The first setting back is reverse, then neutral, then drive, just like a car.”

“Okay.”

“If you pull it all the way down, it diverts power from the main engine to two electric engines on the front wheels. Use that for extra traction, or if the tread in the back is damaged. It can drag itself even if the rear drivetrain is shot, but not very fast.”

She nodded and rested her hands on the yoke. “What do these buttons do?”

There was one in particular. It had a cover that had to be flipped back with her thumb before it could be pressed.

“Don’t touch that one.”

“Why?”

Jacob sighed. “It turns on the superchargers. You can’t run them very long or the engine will explode.”

“Okay,” said Jennifer. “Don’t press the red button.”

“Right. Other than that, the yoke steers, just like a wheel. You have to be careful, though. The front wheels aren’t linked by an axle, so they can turn independently and the rear tread also turns. You control that with this little hat switch on the yoke, but there’s no screen. You have to eyeball it. The triggers on the back of the yoke control the guns. This one big pedal is the brakes.”

“Okay,” said Jennifer. “Got it.”

“Good, we’re taking her out tonight.”

“What?”

“I want that drug shipment. I want to know who’s delivering it and where it comes from.”

He took her hand again and pulled her up, out of the seat. His arm naturally folded around her waist and he lifted her bodily through the air, resting her feet on the floor of the carriage house before stepping down himself. He winced and flexed his shoulder, and Jennifer scowled at him. It only made it worse than she liked it. When he picked her up, her lower belly tightened and her chest fluttered. Her hands still rested on his chest. She could feel the bandage over the fresh gash, and the old scars through his shirt.

She didn’t pull away and he didn’t either.

“I like your car.”

“Good.”

He leaned down and kissed her. His breath tickled her lips before his own did. It was a very chaste kiss, until Jennifer opened her mouth. He leaned back against the ‘car’ and she leaned on him and rose up her tip toes to keep from breaking the kiss. Jacob’s hand slid down her back, stopped, and abruptly moved back up just before he touched her backside. His other rested just above her hip. She moved her arms down to hold him around the middle and feel the big, tight muscles of his stomach moving against her hands when he breathed. That it also pushed his hand down properly onto her hip was pure coincidence.

She pulled away from him and took a step back, not because she was afraid but because she wasn’t.

Her ring itched.

Folding her arms around herself, Jennifer stared down at the floor.

“Sorry for being such a tease,” she muttered.

Jacob stood up, and swallowed. He was beet red and the corners of his mouth kept twitching. Gingerly, he stepped to her side and put his arm around her shoulders.

“Who says I mind?”

His smile was infectious. She laughed a little, and as soon as she did a heavy cold swirl of guilt in her middle tugged her smirk into a frown.

“Jennifer,” he said.

“I need some air.”

He shrugged, and walked with her into the back yard. It was a nice day, with a cool breeze blowing over the gorge. Jennifer pointedly did not look at the new bridge, but hopped up on the picnic table and sat down, propping her chin on her hands. Jacob grunted a little as he sat down beside her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything.”

“Tell me.”

She looked at the ground. There was a beetle carrying a leaf.

“Krystal. Franklin. I’m alive and they’re not.”

Her hand came up to scrub at her eyes before she realized she was crying.

“If you throw that Tolkien quote at me I’ll slap you,” she added, quickly.

Her threat made a grin flicker on his face, but his expression grew distant. He looked over her shoulder, out at the river.

“I don’t know what possessed me to buy a house here, where I can see that thing.”

“The new bridge?”

“Yeah.”

“I try not to think about it.”

“All those people,” he said, “and they just built another one. Just like that. People still had to get to work.”

Jennifer sighed and pulled the end of her sleeve over her fist, and scrubbed at her eyes. Jacob settled his arm across her shoulders and pulled her against him. She turned and buried her face in his neck.

“You know, I feel guilty, too.”

“About what?”

He shrugged, and her head bobbed on his shoulder.

“For everything that had to happen for us to be sitting here right now.”

“Survivor guilt,” said Jennifer. “You know how many people told me Franklin would want me to move on? How many times they told me? Everybody from my sister to my landlady.”

“They want what’s best for you.”

She nodded. “What do you want?”

“I want everybody that went down with the bridge back. I want my mother and father and sister back. I want it to be like it was, and I want you.” His voice caught.

“It wouldn’t work both ways,” said Jennifer. “If the collapse never happened I’d still be married.”

“Would that make you happy? That’s what I want.”

Jennifer choked out a little sob as her stomach flipped.

“I don’t know,” she managed. “It was never like… with him… it wasn’t like… with you, I…”

She plunged her face into her hands and sobbed. Jacob threw his arms around her and pulled her to his chest.

“Jesus, I’m sorry,” he said, scrubbing his fingers through her hair.

Jennifer squeezed him and he let out a little grunt, but she didn’t let go.

“I’m awful,” she choked out.

“No, you’re not.”

Gingerly, he curled his fingers around her shoulders and pushed her back just enough to wipe at her tears with the hem of his shirt. She’d made a mess of it.

“I don’t know what anything is supposed to be like anymore. I feel things about you and I don’t know how to say them. I want to…” she managed to look him in the eye and snapped her gaze away when her cheeks burned. “I’m a mess. Look at me.”

“Come here.”

He pulled her to her feet. He was limping just a bit and she could feel his fatigue, no matter how strong he acted. He walked with her to the edge of the grass, where a tall tree stood out from the others. There, he reached into his back pocket and flicked out a knife. Jennifer eyed the blade.

“What are you doing?”

He stabbed the blade into the tree, and began cutting into the bark. Jennifer watched in silence, slowly getting herself together, a few stray sobs hitching her breath as he carved. J + J.

“Oh please,” she said, smirking.

Slowly, grunting as he pulled at the bark, he cut a heart around the initials.

“Doesn’t that hurt the tree?”

“Maybe,” he said. “This tree has probably been here since before the house was built. I bet it’ll be here after the house is gone. Eventually these marks will get covered back up, but they’ll always be part of the tree.”

Jennifer touched the bark. The green wood was a little sticky.

“Besides, this is a rock maple. You’d have a hell of a time killing it.”

Jacob carefully put his arms around her from behind.

“You’re still upset,” he said, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Why?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

Resting her arms on his, she pressed back against him. He was sagging a little.

“I need to rest a bit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she sighed. “We’re still going out tonight. To attack drug runners or whatever, I mean. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll help you upstairs.”

He stood to his full height. When he let go of her, she felt a little flutter of sadness even though he was standing right behind her, and an urge to step back until she was pressed up against him again. She stared at the tree for a good half minute before she turned around and walked him back to the house, and up the stairs to the master bedroom. She bit her lip as he changed his shirt. He was still covered in bandages, but he could get his clothes off on his own now. He still winced and slowed when he needed to use his left shoulder.

He caught her staring at him and met her eyes, and she turned away, hiding a smile behind her hand. Without putting on another shirt, he flopped on the bed and gave her a look.

“I’ll be right back,” said Jennifer.

She stepped out, closed the door, and walked over to the guest bedroom. Katie sat perched on the bed, computer in her lap. Jennifer walked over snatched off her headphones.

“Why are you still here? Don’t you have classes?”

“I told my professors I’m taking a sabbatical.”

Jennifer eyed her. Katie huffed.

“Since you’re here, you can do something for me.”

Katie gave her the look, this time. “Like what?”

“Hop in the Beetle and run down to the Walgreens for me. I need you to get something.”

4.

It wouldn’t be full dark for a couple of hours, but the sun was low enough to send long shadows across the earth and paint the world in golden tones. Jennifer followed Jacob out of the house, tugging at her vest. It was uncomfortable, and too rigid to really flex or breathe, but it beat getting shot. Jacob opened the back door to the carriage house, tugged the tarp off the Martyr, and threw the switch that lifted the top section and slid it open. He gave Jennifer a boost, lightly squeezing her waist as he lifted her up over the side.

She could have done it herself, but for some reason, it made her feel fluttery whenever he picked her up.

Jacob grunted as he climbed up. Jennifer watched him sink into the seat and wished they could sit side by side in this thing.

“This baby has everything,” said Jacob. “Heated bucket seats, AM/FM radio, and power windows.”

The top section slid over her head, and lowered down, clamping into place with a loud
thunk.
Jennifer strapped on her helmet- not the one she’d worn before, but a special one for the Martyr. It pressed a small speaker against her ear and held a microphone in front of her lips so she could speak to Jacob more easily. His voice was a little loud in her ear.