Strengthen What Remains (Book 2): A Time to Endure (21 page)

DeLynn
screamed.

Zach
stifled a gasp as he looked through the scope for a target, but the gang
scurried for the car. One of them grabbed DeLynn by the hair and threw her in
the backseat. Cruz and the driver were already in. Before he could decide what
to do, the Cadillac roared down the driveway.

Zach
watched as it turned left onto the main road and disappeared.
DeLynn!
His stomach twisted into knots.

Remembering
Bo, he sprinted to where he lay and pressed two fingers to his neck. The bloody
wound was severe enough that he wasn’t surprised when he detected no pulse.
What am I going to do? Call the police? No,
I need to follow them—but how?

A
young neighbor boy stood at the edge of the woods staring at Zach with his
mouth agape.

“It’s
not what you think. I didn’t shoot him.”

The
wide-eyed kid darted into the woods.

Suddenly,
he had a plan. Zach raced down the driveway and across the road to the
Hollister home. He was about to bang wildly on the front door, but instead
paused, drew a deep breath and knocked politely. Zach cradled his rifle and
waited.

As
he expected, the door cracked open but, when DeLynn’s father saw Zach and tried
to shut it, he kicked it hard.

“DeLynn
is in trouble.” He said stepping into the house. “I don’t have time to explain.
Where are your car keys?”

“What
kind of trouble? You’re stealing my car?”

“Borrowing.
Get me the keys now!” He brandished the gun in the man’s direction.

“Okay.
Okay. Has DeLynn been hurt?” Mr. Hollister slid the keys across a table.

Zach
grabbed them. “Call the sheriff and tell them to go to my house. Do it now!” He
ran for the garage.

Watching
the garage door go up was slow motion agony. Zach squealed the tires backing
out and ran off the driveway into the yard before arching back onto the road.
Then he pursued the Cadillac, prayed he would find it, and wondered what to do
when he did.

*
              
*
              
*

Hoover
walked toward the body in the driveway. It hadn’t surprised him when Caden said
Bo and Zach knew each other. Zach had been on his radar for years and if there
was an illegal sale of alcohol, tobacco or pot in the county, Bo was probably
involved. The two were bound to come together.

The
sheriff stared at the body, face down in the dirt of the driveway.
If anyone was going to supply Zach’s drunk
of a mother with booze or drugs, it would be you. But you were always good at
keeping your hands clean. I never had quite enough to arrest you.

The
sheriff looked over his shoulder as a detective exited the trailer. “What have
you found?”

“We
have witnesses that saw Zach argue with the victim at the Library Park market a
few days ago. A kid saw Zach standing over the body moments after hearing the
gunshot. Zach is still missing, along with the Hollister girl and their car.
The young man clearly had means, motive and the opportunity to kill Bo. My
initial conclusion is the victim came here. They quarreled. Zach killed him,
and fled with DeLynn Hollister.”

Hoover
stared at the body. “Sounds reasonable, but did DeLynn go willingly, or was she
kidnapped?”

The
detective shrugged. “The boy’s comments to Kent Hollister make that unclear,
but when we find the boy, I’m certain we’ll find the girl.

What did all that
cleverness get you, Bo?
As the EMTs lifted him onto the gurney, Hoover looked over
the body.
A single
bullet to the head—execution style.
The kid has a mean streak.
“Why do you think Zach told Mr.
Hollister to call 9-1-1?”

The
deputy shrugged.

“The
boy has a sister, right?”

“Yeah,
Vicki. She was at the hospital all night with the mother.”
 

Hoover
stifled his amusement that it was a boy that finally got Bo. From what Caden
had told him, he could hardly blame the kid. Hoover thought of his own mother
barely hanging on to life in the hospital.
If
someone treated her like Bo treated Zach’s mom….
He sighed. “Issue an
arrest warrant for Zach Brennon and advise that he is armed and
dangerous.”
   

*
              
*
              
*

When
Zach spotted the Cadillac it wasn’t difficult to follow. They weren’t speeding,
but it was tough to remain inconspicuous in a red sedan with no other cars on
the road. They had such a lead that he nearly missed when they turned onto the
gravel logging road.
Why are they going
into the national forest?

Zach
parked the car.
Think! Think! Why would
an urban gang take this road? Where are they going?
He had walked this road
several times while hunting. Now he tried to imagine it in his mind. Any good
map showed the road connecting with two
others, that exited
in the next county,
but those crossed over high ridgelines and were
still snowbound. He laughed at the thought of urban gangsters stuck in snow on
a primitive logging road. Only the thought of DeLynn, stranded in the cold with
a bunch of killers, chilled his amusement.

Assuming they don’t
want to go to the next county, why would they turn up this road?
In his mind he walked
up the road. Almost immediately he recalled the ranger station. Normally, the
modern wood frame building would be staffed by a couple of rangers, but with
the bad economy, faltering paper money, and failing government, the rangers
probably hadn’t been paid and were forced to fend for themselves and their
families. He hoped he was right, and they weren’t there. Cruz and the others
would kill anyone they stumbled across.

Zach
looked in the direction they had gone.
How
did they find this hideout?
Sure, logging roads were in most GPS systems
and the station was even marked on many maps. Still it was a stretch to imagine
that they had been driving around and found it. Perhaps Bo knew about it, but
that seemed unlikely. Driving logging roads was not his style. No matter how
they found the cabin, it would be a good hiding place. About a mile off the
main road and, he hoped, deserted.

He
put the car in drive and headed up the gravel road to a wide spot. There he
parked it behind brush and bramble to hide it. Stepping from the car, he looked
up the road.
I’m sure getting my exercise
today.
He sprinted into the forest and followed the road toward his
destination.
 

The
station sat in small clearing about a mile off the paved road. Sunlight poured
down on the simple brown building that served as the headquarters for rangers
in the area. Normally, he would go in and talk with the rangers, but not today.
In front of the building, the road widened allowing cars to pull off and park. There
was only one vehicle there, Bo’s Cadillac.

Okay, I’m here, now how
am I going to rescue DeLynn.
He thought DeLynn would be safe until they had
secured his cooperation. At least, he hoped that would be true—prayed it would
be true.
 

It’s
simple really, I either kill them all before they can hurt DeLynn or convince
them to stay and not hurt her until I can get help. He sighed.
God help me. I know this is
all my
fault, but…well, help DeLynn, if you can’t help me. I
wish Major Westmore was in town.

He
sat thinking for several minutes until he determined there was only one way. He
hid the rifle in a Vine Maple at the edge of the forest. Then he positioned
himself behind a nearby tree and shouted. “Cruz, this is Zach. I hear you’re
looking for me. Let’s talk.”

For
several moments nothing happened. Zach was about to try again when he saw the
door creak open.

Then
DeLynn stumbled into the doorway.

Zach
could see an arm reaching across to the back of his girlfriend’s head.
I could grab the rifle, shoot through the
wall, and kill whoever is holding her.
He shook his head.
No, the others would kill her.

Cruz
called from the cabin. “Yeah, let’s talk kid. No guns or your sister dies.”

Sister? They think
she’s my sister.
He wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad, but for the moment he decided the
less they knew, the better. “And I want to talk to my sister.”

“Sure.
You first kid. And I want to see your hands.”

Zach
sucked in a deep breath. As he slowly let it out he stepped from behind the
tree into the light, but with Bo’s car between him and the cabin.

With
a push on the back of the head, DeLynn lurched forward and Cruz followed. The
thug held his girlfriend by her hair.
  

DeLynn’s
face was pale and her cheeks streaked with tears.

“Have
they hurt you?” Zach asked.

She
shook her head.

“I
want to see all of you. Move out from behind the car.”

Zach
moved slowly and kept the car between him and much of the cabin.”

“My
friends in the house could kill you and we could keep this pretty thing as a
prize, but I’d rather do business with you. Bo seemed to think you can get M4s,
magazines and ammo for me.”

Zach
nodded. He had no idea how he could steal them, but he knew his only option was
to agree. “It will be difficult and the soldiers….”

“That’s
your problem. I need as many as you can get. Twenty is a nice number. I can
give you three….”

“Five
days. I’ll need five and let her go while I….”

Cruz
laughed. “Four days. That way we will leave while the good people of this
community are still asleep or in church—and the girl stays with us.”

“When
I steal the guns the soldiers that do the inventory will notice. It won’t take
them long to figure it out and come hunting for me.”

“Again,
amigo, that
is your problem. After we settle a couple
of scores, we will be moving on to another town. Maybe you’ll be moving on,
too.” Cruz rubbed his chin. “About the scores we need to settle, do you know
anyone who is good with a bow?”

DeLynn’s
eyes grew wide and her face paler.

Zach
shook his head. “I can’t help you with that.”
 

“Okay.”
Cruz smiled, released DeLynn’s hair and put his arm around her. “I don’t want
to hurt her. Family is important, but this is business.”

Zach
locked eyes with DeLynn. “She is family and I do love her. Keep her safe and
I’ll be back on Sunday.”

Placing
his hand over his heart Cruz said, “Really touching, kid. You bring me twenty
M4s and I guarantee you two go home safe. You bring me nineteen….” Cruz put his
hand to DeLynn’s head like a gun. “Pow.”

“I
understand.”

“A
couple of things I should mention. It’s not smart to follow us on a deserted
road in a red car. Since you know about this place, we’ll be leaving. Don’t try
to follow us again or we kill you both.”

Cruz
shoved DeLynn forward, pulled a phone from his pocket and slid it along the
trunk of the car. When you get the guns call the number in that phone. You can
be early, but don’t be late and don’t bring the law, or she’ll be the first one
to die.” Cruz smiled. “Do the right thing.”

Zach
nodded.
If she dies, you die with her.
“There
won’t be any police.”
  

“Good.
Then I’ll see you no later than…let’s say nine on Sunday.”

How late do you think
we sleep in around here? A lot of people will be up by then.

Cruz
grabbed DeLynn’s hair and backed toward the cabin.

He
was reluctant to turn away from his girlfriend, but it was best to be in the
cover of the woods before Cruz had a chance to change his mind. Zach retrieved
his rifle and raced for the car.

I’ve got to find
Lieutenant Brooks and somehow contact Major Westmore and First Sergeant
Fletcher. They’ll know what to do. I should have just gone back to the armory
when they went up the logging road.
The car disappeared around a curve.
I’m so stupid.

As
he backed the Hollister car onto the road, he still hadn’t seen Bo’s car.
They’re taking their time leaving the ranger
station.

Twenty
minutes later Zach was relieved to see the armory. He rolled down the window as
he drove up to the sentry.

“Nice
car, Zach. Is it yours?” The sentry asked.

“Where’s
Lieutenant Brooks? I need to talk to him.”

“You
didn’t hear? He was shot Monday morning and is still in intensive care.”

“Who’s
in charge?”

“Sergeant
Adams, I think.”

Zach
shook his head. The sergeant was just a few years older than him. There was no
way he would authorize the kind of operation Zach needed.