Through the Storm (The Montclair Brothers) (9 page)

"Emma's right," said Sean. "We have to come up with a place to stay after we leave here."

"Let's go out of state," offered Brian. "Anywhere but Ohio," he laughed.

"You gave me an idea, Brian," said Vincent. "I think we should stay here, though, but we'll have the detectives leak it to the media, that we've gone to Florida or something."

"If we go to a location where there're other people, we'll be putting them all in jeopardy." Tyler shook his head. "Robert knows what we look like, other than Brian."

"I say we go after the son of a bitch," said Jacob as he put his hand over the dressing on his abdomen. "I have a personal beef with him."

"We have a little bit of time to hatch a plan. It has to be a good one, or we'll all be killed," said Sean.

"We're not safe here," began Renee. "We're not safe here at all."

Jacob heard a soft tap on the door and watched as his brother, Tyler, came in. He knew people were feeling guilty over the shooting, thinking they could have somehow prevented it; Jacob knew differently, though. It'd be like trying to stop a waterfall with your mind. There was nothing that could have been done. He wished he was the only target. Jacob worried more about the others than he did himself. Something had been bugging him, however, and Jacob knew it was information, real or not, that must be shared. God only knew how many people were after them at this point.

"Jacob, how are you?" Tyler patted his shoulder.

"The doc said I'm mending just fine. They're supposed to come in to remove this tube from my nose at some point tomorrow." Jacob hated the tube. It was making his nose raw.

"I just came in to check on you," said Tyler as he glanced at Emma. "But I see you're in great hands."

Jacob watched Emma's face glow red. "That I am."

"I'll let you two visit. Call Vincent if you need anything. His cellphone is the only one that still has juice," laughed Tyler as he turned to leave.

"Wait a second." Jacob hated to add anything more onto his brother's plate, but he had to say something.

"What's up?" Tyler asked.

"You can probably take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I was pretty drugged up at the time." Jacob could see the concerned looks on their faces. "I could have sworn the lady we saw in the kitchen before the fire, stopped at the doorway to my room. I know, it sounds crazy."

"Angelique? You saw her?" Emma pushed some stray hair strands behind her ear.

"I'm not sure. She looks like every other older woman, and it could have been a nurse for all I know. It was the long hair that caught my attention though. When I tried to get a better view, she was gone." Jacob had a feeling she really was there.

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Emma.

"It's not like I've been thinking about her. I've slept for most of the time." Jacob reached up and took her hand. He hoped she wasn't going to get angry with him again.

"Jacob, I need to let the detectives know about this. She probably had to sign in. It's very possible that she's working with Robert. The only reason I can think of for her to show up here, was to see if we were still alive." Tyler walked over to a chair and sat down.

"Tyler," began Emma. "I think she started the fire. I really do."

"It's possible, but I highly doubt it. She looks too frail to be pulling off a fire. I'll make sure the detectives are made aware of this. I'll be back in to let you know what's up." Tyler turned towards the door and briskly walked out.

Jacob saw that Emma was still frightened. "
Em, I think I was just seeing things."

"No, you weren't. I'm telling you, if she can get on the floor so easily, then so can Robert!" Her eyes got huge.

"Let Tyler and the detectives figure out if she signed in or not. If she didn't, and somehow she snuck up to the floor, my brother will blow a gasket." Jacob pulled her down to his chest.

Emma quickly straightened back up. "This isn't working, Jacob.
Brian's parents were even able to get up here!"

"Brian's parents were allowed to come up. He's a minor, so it's not like they could stop them. Angelique on the other hand…" Jacob was afraid to agree with Emma. He'd just upset her again, but truth be told, she had a point.

"All Robert has to do is change his looks and lie."

Jacob moved over in the bed. "Lay down with me."

Emma took off her shoes, and then crawled in next to Jacob. She let her head rest on the pillow next to his. With his arm around her, he could feel how tight every one of her muscles was.

Tyler walked down to the nurse's station and asked to use their phone. He pulled out his wallet and removed a business card to call the detective. Maybe Jacob was seeing things, but maybe he wasn't. Tyler couldn't take any chances. It was strange how this woman showed up right before the fire, and then somehow disappeared in the parking lot. She hadn't even bothered to stick around and make sure they were okay, but she snuck onto the floor where Jacob saw her. If she didn't have anything to hide, why would she sneak in?

"Delcan," answered the detective.

"This is Tyler Montclair. I was talking to my brother, Jacob, and he claims he saw Angelique, the one who waltzed into our house right before the fire. He said she appeared in his doorway, and then vanished." Tyler hoped he'd take this seriously.

"I'm actually on my way there now. I have to talk to Brian. Seems his parents are saying Brian lied, and you helped him. The prosecutor will be contacting you and the kid. We don't believe them, of course, but they're going to plead not guilty. They've hired a pretty ruthless defense attorney."

"Great…" This was something Tyler wasn't expecting. He sighed heavily.

"I wouldn't worry about it right now. Just know it'll go to court at some point. About the fire, it was arson, started by an accelerant. Gasoline."

"I don't think that woman is strong enough to be making her way through that jungle of a front yard, while hauling a can of gasoline."
Maybe Robert helped her
.

"At this point, nothing would surprise me. The shooting happened right after the fire started, so perhaps Robert was already there."

"This isn't good. So now we have Angelique, Robert, and Brian's crazy parents to worry about. Have they gotten out of jail?" Tyler hoped he wouldn't have to stress about them coming after Brian again.

"There hasn't been a bond hearing yet, but when it's set, I'll let you know. The last thing we want is for Hank Waters to make good on his threat."

"Can we file a restraining order or something?" Tyler couldn't believe his ears.

"Because no one's allowed to leave the unit, I'm bringing one over just in case they post bond." said
Delcan.

"While you're here, we need to brainstorm. We won't be able to stay in the hospital much longer."

"I talked to Detective Joy earlier. We came up with a plan, but you guys have to agree to it."

Whatever plan they came up with, Tyler knew they'd have to do
the opposite. One leak to the media was more than enough.

"On another note, the prosecuting attorney in Southfield responded to Brian's written testimony, and he's dropping the charges against you in your assault case.  Roger Murphy has been placed under arrest for attempted robbery and for filing a false police report."

"So it's over with?"

"You'll have to testify against Murphy, but that's not something you have to focus on right now, either."

Tyler was glad that he'd be able to rid himself of Roger Murphy, however, he'd much rather deal with that homeless man then Robert.

∞  ∞  ∞  ∞

Robert found a can opener in a drawer and opened a can of hotdog chili. Too bad he didn’t have a few wieners to go with it. With the shitty rations in this rotten cabin, he was sure he'd starve to death. At three o'clock in the morning, Robert was startled awake by the sound of a door slamming.

"Get the hell off of my property!" demanded the Big Fat Jackass standing over him.

It took a minute for Robert to focus with the stupid flashlight shining in his eyes. He looked at the idiot's twisted face…The
idiot
who was holding
his
rifle.

"What kind of a weirdo are you?
Sneaking up on a sleeping man like this!" Robert wanted to rush the guy, but knew he couldn't get up fast enough.

"You need to find somewhere else to flop, maybe under a bridge or something. Get out!" yelled The Gorilla.

"Okay, I'm going, but this cabin is vacant. You don't live here." Robert tried to figure out a way to overtake him and get his rifle back. He'd blow his damn head off then.

"Of course I don't live here. This is my property and I'm selling it. You get out of here!
Last warning!"

Robert slowly got up. There was no way he could wrestle this man to the ground.

"Move!" yelled the Idiot.

Robert slowly approached the door with his hands up in the air, just
like on television. The jerk's mistake was lowering the gun to hold the door open. Robert hit him in the face with the elbow of his good arm, as hard as he could. The goon fell flat on his ass. When the rifle flew out of his hand, the man reached for it, but Robert's size fifteen high-tops were faster. He stomped the man in the head until he saw blood coming out of his ears. He didn't really want to waste a bullet, but he fired one anyways, just to be sure. He liked that funny throat wound deal, so he gave this jerk one, too. Robert laughed as he searched the man's pockets.
Ta-daaa
! He opened up the wallet and found the man's driver's license. Buck Roy. Who the hell names their kid '
Buck
?' Good ole' Buck would be perfect.

Robert laughed at his new plan.
Easy peasy
! No one was probably looking for Big Fat Buck. He had a few pounds on Robert, and had a buzz cut, and glasses, but that could easily be rectified. He'd waltz right into a restaurant and order himself some fried ham and eggs, buy one of those disposable phones like on the detective shows, and get Ron the Cop to rent him a nice motel room. Robert would have to hit him up for some more cash too.

He'd have to ditch the crappy rental car.
I'll sink it in the lake, just like I wish I could have done to my ignorant wife's pickup
. People sure were dumb. No wonder there was so much crime. Robert didn't see himself as a criminal, though. He was King of the Jungle, where only the strongest survived. Renee and her goons were nothing but a bunch of weak links.
Idiots
. So was Buck the Schmuck.

Robert was excited to see sixty dollars in the wallet.
Buck has bucks
, laughed Robert. He should sink the jackass with the car, but he knew there'd be no way to lift him with his bum arm and all. The idiot's front pocket contained some change, keys, and a pocketknife. Robert removed the glasses from the dead man's face, walked outside, and hopped in Big Buck's rusted Oldsmobile. He drove towards the address on the driver's license. The bossy jerk better not be married. He'd hate to waste another bullet on a stupid woman. If there were kids, Robert would have to think fast and leave. He wouldn't shoot kids. He could just imagine wasting even more bullets trying to target the little Curtain Climbers.

Archwood
Drive was a little dirt road about ten miles away from the cabin. Robert was happy to see an old trailer back in the woods. Hopefully the jerk had some food. He took the keys out of his pocket, grabbed his rifle and let himself in. It didn't take long for him to search the little dump. There were no pictures lying around, so the ugly Lard Ass was probably single. There were stupid little curtains on the windows, so Robert turned on the small light over the sink. He rinsed the blood off of Dumb Buck's glasses, and then got to the important matters at hand. Opening the fridge made him feel warm all over. The frozen dinners in the freezer made him ecstatic. Cereal. Beer. Cheese corn.
Holy hell, I've hit the jackpot
!

Just in case someone came to the door, or was nosey and looked through the curtains, Robert went into the bathroom and found a small pair of scissors and a cheap electric razor.
Goodbye beautiful hair
, he thought. He'd always compared himself to those wild looking rock stars. If only he could play the guitar and sing.

After cutting his hair and shaving his face, Robert put the
glasses on. He tried to look in the mirror, but damn, that jerk was blind!
Was.
Robert laughed again. Heading to the kitchen, he flicked on the television. The picture was kind of a joke, but it would do. He grabbed the cheese corn, the last two beers, and a roll of sausage, and sat down in the recliner. It wasn't as nice as his, but it'd have to do, just like the television. Robert was asleep in the recliner by six that morning. He dreamt that Renee had a bobble head.

∞  ∞  ∞  ∞

Emma woke up when she heard the nurse come in. She hurried to get out of Jacob's bed, which caused him to awaken.

"Where are you going?" he asked softly.

"Um, the nurse is here." Emma blushed as she said good morning to her.

"I'm here to take that annoying nasogastric tube out, Jacob. I know you're happy about that!" The young nurse didn't make any comments about the woman being in her patient's bed.

"I sure the hell am ready!" Jacob used his controls and sat the bed up.

"This won't hurt, but you'll feel it coming out. I'm going to do it fairly quickly so you don't think about it." The nurse smiled as she put gloves on.

Emma held Jacob's hand as the nurse removed the tube from his nose.

"Does that feel better?" she asked.

Emma smiled down at Jacob. "He certainly looks more comfortable."