Scars Of Defiance (18 page)

But, what if they never found Sierra? Would his family still
be forced to move? The only people at present who knew his family worked for
Reginald were the three adults in the next room, and they could be removed
easily enough. Paul probably didn’t know, nor Sam. If the three adults were
dead, Greg’s family could go on living in Slaterville and draw the large wage
from Reginald. Greg would play the supportive best friend for the soon to be
grieving Paul. It could work.

*****

The next day began the same way as before. Paul and Sierra
made breakfast and cleaned up, sharing smiles and unsaid words between them.
Since the revelations that came about the night before, the two of them were
looking at each other through different eyes.

For Paul, being around Sierra was near torture. He wanted to
hold her, be near her, and kiss her. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to control
himself if he started that again. It was hard enough last night to reign in his
hunger for her.

She needed his protection. He watched as she hobbled over to
the kitchen for a drink of water. She could put some weight on her bad foot
now. She was healing. After enough time, her bruises would heal and disappear.
Her back would probably always have a degree of scarring, but most of the
injuries would fade with time.

Part of protecting Sierra included caring for her basic
needs, and they needed food. Paul decided at three o’clock he would call home.
He had to find out what was going on and why his father hadn’t come to get him
yet.

*****

Greg paced the kitchen floor nervously. Any second, Victor
might call for an update, and Greg had nothing. He’d been certain Paul would
call home by now, but he hadn’t. If only Victor had raided when he’d first
found out about Sierra, then Greg wouldn’t be in this situation right now.

The phone rang, startling Greg. “Hello?”

“Greg?” Paul’s voice sounded on the other line.

Finally! Oh, there is a God!
“Yeah man, where are
you?”

“Why are you at my house?”

“This whole raid thing turned the entire town crazy, man. My
parents and yours are in the other room talking with the sheriff.”

“Can you get one of them please?”

“Yeah, hang on.”

Paul put his hand over the receiver end and explained the
situation to Sierra. “The sheriff is at my house talking to my parents and the
neighbors about the raid. My friend Greg answered the phone. It sounds pretty
crazy there.”

After a few more seconds, Greg got back on the phone.
“They’re really busy, but your dad says to come on back home now.”

“Can’t he come to the phone?”

“Well, he just went out the front door with the sheriff, but
hang on and I’ll go try to grab him.” Greg pulled the phone away from his ear
and held it on his lap for twenty seconds.

“Paul, he said to tell you the danger is gone and to come on
home.”

“The danger’s gone?”

“Yeah.”

“I sort of can’t come back. Our car died.”

“No problem, dude. I’ll come get you.”

Paul didn’t feel good about this at all. “Greg, have my dad
call me when he gets back in.”

“Oh, alright. What’s the number?”

“He knows the number.”

“Okay then, goodbye,” Greg said and hung up the phone. What
did Paul mean by ‘he knows the number’? Did that mean Paul is actually at the
cabin? Or are there other locations with phone numbers commonly known to their
family?

Greg grabbed a butcher knife from the knife block and walked
into the front room, where Zachary, Elsie, and Martha sat on the couch. He stood
behind them. The two guards across the room held their automatic rifles at the
ready in case any of them got any ideas. He had to try again to get information
out of them before Victor called.

“Zachary, where would your son run to in the event of a raid?”

Zachary said nothing.

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to tell me. I’ll find out
my own way.” Greg grabbed Elsie’s hair and yanked her head back quickly and
placed the butcher knife at her throat. Elsie screamed, and Zachary moved to
fight back, but the armed guards intercepted him.

“Wait! Don’t hurt her!” Zachary sat back and conceded the
possible whereabouts of Paul. “We usually run to Northtown to a hotel there. Of
course it depends on the time of day where we stop to hide.”

“What does that mean?”

“If it’s early in the day, we drive further up the road.”

“Where else do you hide crossers?”

“Nowhere else.”

Greg yanked Elsie’s head back a little further, and she let
out a gasp.

“Are you sure there isn’t a place that starts with a ‘c’ and
ends with ‘abin’?”

“Are you talking about our vacation cabin? Why would he go
there? There aren’t any supplies, and no food to care for a crosser.” Zachary
hoped he sounded convincing. “Besides, the cabin is on a dead-end road. It
would be suicide to hole up in the cabin.”

Greg let go of Elsie’s hair, and she let out a muffled sob.
He walked to the guards and whispered something to them and then went out the
front door.

Greg climbed into his car and drove toward the cabin,
cursing all the way. Would Paul have gone all the way to Northtown? There
weren’t many hotels in Northtown. It wouldn’t be too difficult to find him
there. The cabin was definitely a bad choice, and it would be foolish to hide
there, like Zachary said. Still, this was Paul he was dealing with:  inexperienced,
too trusting, and overpowered by his emotions.

Greg made a quick, most likely rash decision as he neared a
gas station along the highway. He pulled over near the pay phone and got out of
his car. Dropping in his coins, he called Victor.

“You better have good news for me, Greg.”

“I’m on my way to pick them up. How soon can you meet me at
the Gas’n’Grub along the outlet?”

“One hour.”

“Alright. I’m in a yellow sports car. Watch for me.”

Victor hung up, and Greg slowly replaced the receiver on the
hook. He really hoped they were at the cabin. He climbed back in his car and
peeled out of the parking lot, cutting off a car as he headed west.

As Greg stopped his car at the unmarked turnoff to the
cabin, his heart dropped to his stomach. No tracks. He got out of his car and
stared into the trees to look for smoke rising and listen for any tell-tale
sounds of life. Nothing. Damn.

He got back into his car and debated whether or not he
should drive to Northtown. He decided not to. Why waste any more time searching
when he could coerce the answer? He had already blown a half hour as it was. He
flipped his car around in the snow and headed back to town.

*****

When Greg entered the Bronson home, he sat in an arm chair
adjacent to Zachary.

“You’re going to call your son and tell him exactly what I
tell you to say.”

“I don’t know where he is.”

“He said you know the number to call.” Greg pulled the phone
over to Zachary.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Look, Zach, I know you do. I may seem young to you, but it
won’t stop me from killing your wife and mother to get the answer.”

Zachary looked over to the two most important women in his
life. They had been in this situation for nearly sixty hours. Their chances of
survival were slim to none. He was definitely very proud of Paul for flying
under the radar this long, but this was a stalemate unless Zachary called his
son. The odds were in favor of Paul coming out of this intact and Sierra being
taken back to Rendier. There was always the slim chance of harm coming to Paul
because of Zachary’s decision. Slim to none that Paul would be harmed, slim to
none that Zachary and his mother and wife would live.

As he weighed the pros and cons of the overall situation,
Elsie and Grandma Martha nodded at his unspoken concern, giving him the courage
to call.

He dialed the number and waited.

*****

Paul sat on the couch, nervously twisting his hands.
Something didn’t add up. Why would the sheriff be at their home two days after
the raid? Why would the sheriff be there at all?

The phone rang, slicing through the thick air of the cabin.
Sierra was startled, and Paul ran to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Paul?”

“Dad, is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything’s good. You can come back now.”

“Is it safe?”

“As safe as it will ever be.”

“Dad, our car died. We’re stuck here.”

“I’ll send Greg to come pick you up.”

“Greg? Why not you?”

“I’m busy right now. I’ll tell him where you are, and he’ll
be there in about twenty minutes. It will be alright, son. I’ll see you soon.”
Zachary hung up the phone.

Greg scooted the phone away from Zachary. “Twenty minutes
eh? So, he is at the cabin.”

“Yes.”

“There weren’t any tracks going in. I’ve checked repeatedly
since the raid. They aren’t there.”

“Greg, sometimes what seems to be isn’t what really is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is the road the only way into the cabin?”

“Yes.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Are you saying there is another road in?”

“No. There isn’t another road, but when you’re on foot, you
can walk through the trees. It would seem you made a judgment based on a very
narrow assessment. Have you been so narrow in your assessment of the Rawlings
family too?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you honestly think they will let you live after you turn
in Paul?”

“Victor needs me!”

“And without you he wouldn’t be able to spy over here any
other way? Come on Greg, broaden your assessment of the Rawlings family. You
are replaceable. You are expendable. Turning in Paul won’t secure your future.
It will end it.”

“You’re just trying to scare me, and it won’t work.”

“It’s too bad you won’t listen. Go pick up Paul, and good
luck.”

Greg left the room. He went into the kitchen and ripped the
phone cord out of the wall, then stormed out of the house.

Zachary went to work on the two guards, trying to break them
down and make them doubt the integrity of their boss. If he could succeed, he
could get to the neighbors and call to warn Paul. One thing was for sure:  he
didn’t have much time.

*****

“I love how the trees are weighted down with snow on every
branch,” Sierra said to Paul as they waited on the porch. “It doesn’t seem
possible any snow could gather on the branches with all the wind we had.”

“I think the wind died once we made it to the cabin. The
snow fell straight down after that.”

“But now we have a beautiful sight in front of us, don’t we?”

“Yes, it’s beautiful. Still cold, though.” Paul sat staring
out at the winter wonderland. His mind reeled with anticipation. His father had
said, ‘
it was as safe as it would ever be
,’ but what did that mean? Did
it mean Sierra would be relocated soon? Would she be whisked off to Densfield
to assume a new name and identity while Paul was left in Slaterville to help
the next crosser?

He would lose her, just like Sam had told him, ‘
You don’t
go and get attached to crossers because they leave and never communicate with
you again.
’ His body filled with fear. What was wrong with him?! Paul knew
exactly what the problem was:  he loved her, and there wasn’t anything wrong
with that. He decided at that very moment that wherever she relocated to, he
would go with her. He never wanted to be apart from her ever again.

Greg arrived in his souped-up coupe with the bottom dragging
on the snow and his chained wheels spinning, not a good vehicle for winter
driving.

“Hey guys, get in before you catch your death, as my mother
always says.”

Paul slid into the center position on the front seat. He
turned to help Sierra into the passenger seat.

Greg started to drive away from the cabin, where inside the
phone was ringing.

“Thanks for picking us up, Greg,” Paul said.

“No problem at all, man. Have you guys been here since the
raid?”

“Pretty much,” Paul answered.

“Wow. Everyone was wondering what happened to you. The raids
must have been successful because the military guys disappeared as quickly as
they showed up — oh, and Sam resurfaced.”

“Really? Is he okay?” Paul couldn’t believe he was asking
Greg for information about his own family.

“He’s fine. Oh, damn!”

“What?” Paul and Sierra asked in unison.

“Ah, it’s nothing serious. I only need to get gas soon. I
don’t think I’ll make it back on this tank.”

Paul leaned over to look at the gas gauge. “It looks fine to
me.”

“You don’t know my car. It gets like two gallons per mile.
Plus, the gauge is wrong. We’ll stop at the Gas’n’Grub.”

The drive there was rather quiet with minimal talking, and
for some reason it disturbed Sierra. She caught Greg glancing over at her
multiple times on the way down the mountain, and it made her even more nervous.

“Here we are.” Greg pulled up so that the passenger side of
his car was next to the gas pump. He exited the car and began filling the gas
tank.

“I don’t like this, Paul.” Sierra’s voice shook slightly as
she stared toward the front doors of the convenience store.

“There’s nothing to be worried about. He’ll be done before
you know it.”

“Paul, I love that you trust people, but something doesn’t
feel right about this.”

They both stared out the front window at the large Trejo
Mountains in front of them. Rendier lay on the other side of the range. Paul
looked over at Sierra, who stared at the mountains.

“Don’t worry, Sara. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Greg finished pumping the gas and attached the cap. The fuel
door snapped shut, and they watched as Greg walked toward the building to pay
for his gas.