Back on Solid Ground (40 page)

Jason got up
and was frantically swatting at Niki’s head. “Your hair’s on fire!” Jason exclaimed. 
They squelched the fire in Niki’s hair and when the drama was over, both of
them burst out laughing.

“Holy shit!”
Niki said, standing up and brushing himself off.  “He’s creative.  I’ll give
him that.”

“What a sick
son of a bitch.” Jason said.  “Damn your hair stinks,” he said, fanning the smoky
air.

Trent watched in fury from the blind as the two men came diving out the window.  Not only
had they made it out alive, but they were actually walking around and laughing
about it.  Trent was livid.  He looked over at Stacy and she had a huge smile
on her face as she watched Niki and Jason walk away from her father’s trap. 

“This is all
your fault,” Trent said, snatching Stacy up by her hair. 

“Ouch!  Let
go of me!” she yelled.

He dragged
Stacy out of the deer blind, holding her by the hair with his bad hand and
pointing his gun in her ear with the other.  He fired a shot in the air, to get
Niki’s attention then replaced the gun at Stacy’s ear.  Niki and Jason looked
in the direction of the gunfire and Niki’s heart stopped.  Trent brought Stacy
within 10 feet of Niki and Jason and stopped. 

“Are you okay?”
Niki asked Stacy.

Trent’s face contorted, “Don’t talk to the bitch!” he shouted.

Stacy gave
Niki a feeble smile, “I’m okay,” she mouthed.  It was so good to see him that
she wanted to cry.

“Toss your
weapons over there,” Trent ordered, and Niki and Jason both threw their pistols
to the side.

Niki looked
Stacy over.  She had dirt marks on her face and clothes, her knees were scraped,
and there was dried blood in her hair, but he’d seen her look a lot worse.  Her
father, on the other hand, looked completely crazed with the blood smeared all
over his face and with the grimaces he was making. 

“Let Stacy
go,” Niki told Trent.  “She’s never done anything to hurt you.  It’s the two of
us you want, not her.”

Trent laughed.  “Oh, that’s a nice try loverboy, but I’m afraid not.  I have big plans in
store for Stacy.  But first I have to deal with you.”  Trent scratched his
head.  “Pity my fire trap didn’t work.  I was so excited about that too.”

The cabin was
completely engulfed in flames and it had ignited the tree that Trent had climbed earlier to douse the roof.  As dry as the land was, they were about to
have a huge fire on their hands, but Trent was completely oblivious.

“Maybe you
should call the fire department,” Niki said.

“We’re going
to take a little walk,” Trent said, ignoring him.  “You try anything and she
gets a bullet in her ear.”  He directed Niki and Jason to lead the way and they
set off through the brush towards the cabin where he had held Stacy. 

The black
smoke could be seen from miles away, and Alex got on his radio and identified
himself to the Victoria fire department.  “We’re going to need a pumper truck at
the Trent ranch, but you are not to use your sirens and you are not to enter
the property under any circumstance until I give you the go-ahead.  And bring
an ambulance,” Alex added.

Eli and
Carlos and Alex’s men had entered the Trent ranch from the neighboring
property, then they had split up to cover different areas of the ranch.  Eli
and Carlos took the ranch house, and Alex and his men took the three cabins and
smokehouse.  Holly stayed at the car and Alex made her swear up and down, under
threat of federal charges, that she would not step foot onto the Trent ranch until everything was over.  She had begrudgingly done so, but Alex still
wasn’t sure whether she’d stay put. 

Alex took off
in the direction of the cabin where Stacy had been held and it was a 15-minute
jog before he came to it.  He went from window to window and looked in and
determined that the cabin was empty.  He drew his gun and went inside.   The
cabin was deserted, but Stacy had definitely been there.  Alex picked up the
handcuffs that were hanging from the bedpost and tossed them down on the bed,
then he went outside and headed in the direction of the smoke. 

“Stop,” Trent said.

Niki and
Jason stopped and turned around. 

“This way,” Trent said.

Niki was
looking over Trent’s camouflage get up and something caught his eye that sent
his heart racing.  Trent was wearing short boots and Niki could make out the
outline of a pistol tucked inside his left pant leg.

“Dad, please
don’t do this,” she begged. 

Trent moved the pistol from Stacy’s ear to her forehead and he looked her directly in the
eye.  “Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” he said, so softly it was barely
audible.  He pushed the pistol hard into her forehead.

Stacy started
crying.  “I don’t think so.”

“Oh . . . well
in that case,” Trent said softly, then he yelled in her face, “
SHUT UP
!”

While Trent’s eyes were fixed on Stacy, Niki managed to catch her eye.  He motioned to his own
leg, then pointed at Trent’s and made his finger and thumb into the shape of a
gun.  Stacy looked away from Niki with no response, but he watched as she cast
her eyes down towards her father’s feet and then back to her father’s face. 
She looked back over at Niki and made the slightest nod with her head and Niki
couldn’t help but smile. 

Stacy’s
adrenaline started flowing and she could feel the rush running through her
body.  She needed a distraction so she could get to the gun without getting her
head blown off.

They set off
walking again in the direction where Trent had indicated, and Stacy realized he
was walking the men to the grave she had stumbled into.  She didn’t have much
time.  A few more minutes and they would be there.  She was afraid to speak to
her father again, but she had to try something. 

“I love you,
Daddy,” Stacy said softly.

“Shut up,
Stacy,” her father said, irritated.  “You already tried that, and it didn’t
work the first time.”

“Please don’t
kill them,” Stacy said.

“How stupid
are you?  You just don’t get it,” Trent laughed. “They’re already dead.  You’re
looking at two dead men.”

Stacy
continued to plead with her father as they walked, but nothing she said was
getting through.  They had come to the giant pit and Trent ordered Niki and
Jason to turn around.  Trent saw something move in the trees and he pulled
Stacy closer and jammed the gun up against her temple. 

“Who’s out
there?” Trent yelled, looking out into the brush.  Without warning he turned
the gun on Niki and fired. 

“
Shit
!”
Niki said, in disbelief.

A red spot
appeared on his chest and Stacy watched in horror as it spread into a large
circle covering the top right quarter of his shirt.

“Niki!” Stacy
screamed.  She tried to run to him but Trent grabbed her by the hair and pulled
her back.  “Let go of me, you bastard!” Stacy was screaming, trying to get away
from her father. 

The color
drained out of Niki’s face and he clutched his chest then looked down at his
bloody hand.  He reached out to Jason for support, but Niki’s legs buckled
underneath him and he fell backwards into the pit. 

Trent laughed and fired again and Jason dived into the pit after Niki.  Stacy’s father
laughed wildly and headed toward the pit to finish the job.

Stacy
screamed bloody murder, and dropped down to the ground and wrapped herself
around Trent’s leg.  She pulled up his pant leg trying to get to the gun as Trent kicked his leg trying to get her off.  When Trent realized Stacy was going for the
gun, he pointed his pistol at her head.

“Goodbye
bitch,” he laughed.

“Stop!  FBI,”
Alex shouted, and Trent moved the gun from Stacy to Alex. 

Stacy pulled
the gun out of Trent’s boot and in a split second, she rolled onto her back,
aimed and fired.  The boom was deafening.  Stacy’s ears were ringing when she
watched her father’s head jolt back as the bullet struck him squarely between
the eyes.  Alex’s bullet hit him a fraction of a second later right in the
heart.  Trent’s gun discharged, and Stacy could hear the bullet whistling
through the trees.  Her father’s eyes rolled back in his head and his body
collapsed on top of her. 

Stacy was
screaming, trying to get out from underneath her father, but he was literally
dead weight and she couldn’t budge him.  His glazed eyes were staring at her
wide open, and she tried to push his head away from her face.  Alex ran over
and pulled Trent’s body off of her. 

“Are you
okay?” Alex asked.

Stacy
shivered and nodded her head yes, but she wasn’t concerned about herself.  She
got up and stumbled over to the pit and Jason helped her down into it. 

“Niki,” Stacy
cried.  Stacy crawled over next to him and bent over him sobbing.  “Please
don’t die!” she cried. 

Niki opened
his eyes and reached out for Stacy.  “I’m okay,” Niki said, taking her hand. 

Stacy was
crying hysterically while Jason unbuttoned Niki’s shirt and checked out his
wound.  The bullet had hit him on the right side of his chest below his
shoulder.

“How bad is
it?” Stacy asked Jason.

“We need to
stop the bleeding.” Jason yelled to Alex, “Help me get him out of here!”

Jason untied
Stacy and he and Alex lifted Niki out of the grave. Stacy climbed out and knelt
down on the ground beside him, sobbing.   Jason took off his shirt and wadded
it up and held it on the wound, putting pressure on it, trying to slow the
bleeding.  He put his other arm around Stacy and hugged her. 

“I’m glad
you’re okay,” Jason told her.

They heard
sirens in the background and Carlos and Eli came running over. Eli dropped down
on the ground next to his brother. 

“Niki!” Eli
said, slapping his cheeks, trying to wake him.

“Stop hitting
me,” Niki said groggily. 

Stacy was
crying uncontrollably and Eli put his arm around her.  “I’m glad you’re okay,”
he told her.

Niki opened
his eyes again.  “Help me up,” he told Eli. “I can’t breathe,” he said.

“There’s an
ambulance on the way.  Just stay there,” Eli said, looking over at Jason with  worry
all over his face.

Niki’s
breathing was becoming more and more labored, and by the time the ambulance
arrived he was gasping for breath.  Stacy, Jason and Eli moved over and made
way for the paramedics.

Holly had
followed the ambulance in and she ran over to Stacy.

“Are you
okay?” Holly asked, looking Stacy over. 

Stacy nodded
her head yes, but burst into another round of tears.  She fell against Holly
and cried hysterically while Holly hugged her. 

“He shot
Niki,” Stacy sobbed.

“I know.  But
he’s going to be okay.  I just know it,” Holly said emphatically.  “What about
you?  Did he hurt you?”

“No.  What if
he dies, Holly?” Stacy said, choking on her tears.

“He’s not
going to die, Stacy!  Don’t even think that!”

The two stood
by and watched as the paramedics worked frantically trying to save Niki.  One
of the paramedics was on the phone relaying information to the ER doctor. 

“There’s no
sound whatsoever on the right side,” the paramedic said.  “His neck veins are
distended, and his trachea has shifted to the left.”

“It sounds
like tension pneumothorax.  He’s going to need to be airlifted to San Antonio,” the doctor said, then he instructed the paramedic how to proceed.  The
paramedic ran to the ambulance and returned with a 16-gauge needle and knelt
over Niki as he gasped for air.

“What’s he
doing?” Stacy asked Jason.

“I have no
idea,” Jason said.

Everyone
watched in horror as one paramedic held Niki down and the other brought his arm
up then shoved the enormous needle down into Niki’s chest.  Niki’s body lurched
and he yelled out in pain as the needle penetrated under the second rib. There
was a “
whoosh
” sound as air spurted out through the needle.  Stacy
screamed and buried her face and Holly put her arm around her again and hugged
her. 

Niki’s breathing
improved instantly, but his blood pressure had dropped drastically.  The
helicopter was buzzing overhead and the paramedics were putting Niki on a
gurney.

“You need to
call your parents,” Jason told Eli.

“Will you do
it?  I need to stay with him,” Eli said, running over to the paramedics.

As soon as it
landed, the paramedics loaded Niki onto the helicopter.

“He needs a
family member with him,” Eli said, trying to get into the helicopter. 

“We can’t do
it,” the helicopter medic yelled.

One of the paramedics
from the ambulance pulled Eli back and the helicopter took off.  Eli turned
frantically to the paramedic.  “I need to charter a plane!”

“There’s a
guy in town who will take you.” 

The paramedic
got on his radio and relayed information to the dispatcher. The smell of smoke
was heavy in the air and when the wind blew, smoke wafted through the area.

Stacy ran
over to the paramedics.  “Where are they taking him?” she cried. 

“Methodist in
San Antonio,” the paramedic told her.  He turned to Eli, “We’ll drop you at
the airport.  The pilot will be waiting.”

“I’m
chartering a flight.  I’ll meet you in San Antonio,” Eli told Stacy.

“I want to go
with you,” Stacy said.

The paramedic
shook his head.  “It’s a two-seater.”

Stacy turned
and saw Carlos for the first time. “Carlos,” she said.  She put her arms around
his waist and cried into his chest. 

“Come on. 
Let’s get to the hospital,” Carlos said.

Alex went over
to Stacy with a paramedic.  “You should be checked out,” he told her. 

“No.  I need
to get to the hospital.  Can I leave?”

Alex looked
down at Trent’s body then back over to Stacy.  “Yeah.  Get out of here.”