Damon (22 page)

Connor could feel every time the car stopped then started. He’d roll to the front of the car then to the back every time it did
. T
here was a terrible smell back here, something like the old hamburger that he’d had to take to the trash can once when his momma and he lived with Mr. O
. P
icking up the gun again, he cradled it to his chest and
tried to think of what to do.

The policeman that had come toward them at the bus stop was dead, Connor knew this
. H
e’d been yelling at them to stop, for Mr. Ormond to drop the gun and to let him go
. C
onnor had been so afraid for his momma. She was lying so still and there was so much blood on her face and head
. M
r. O had just pulled up his gun, pointed i
t at the policeman, and fired.

There had been so much blood then too
. T
he man had just stopped moving and dropped to his knees
. H
e had dropped so slowly like he couldn’t believe that he’d been shot
. B
ut the hole in his head and the blood coming down his face made Connor know that he was dead
. W
hen he’d finally fallen to the floor, Mr. O had hit Connor with the gun and he didn’t know anything else
. N
ow here he was in the trunk of a car and didn’t know if his momma was alive or not.

~~~

They were just eating some late night or early morning snack when Cait’s phone started ringing
. S
he got up from the table after looking at who might be calling
. S
he went into the other room and it wasn’t long before she was back
. T
hey all knew right away that something else had happened.

“One of my men was shot at the bus station about twenty minutes ago
. T
hey didn’t call me sooner because they’d been trying to contact Tuck
. S
ingle gunshot wound to the head, DOA. It was Ormond and he has Connor and Charlie.”

“Fuck! Are they all right?
Did anyone see where the
y went?
Da
mn it, I want them back here.”
Damon exploded.

“Damon, watch your mouth
. B
ut I quite agree we do need to get them back here
. A
nd soon
. I
’ve grown quite fond of that little boy and his mother
. S
he was a perfect match for you too
. V
ery nice young lady
. W
e’ll get her back. Cait, I want you to tell us what you know
. D
amon, do sit down
. Y
ou’re making me a nervous wreck
. P
i, could you please make s
ome of that nice tea of yours?
Dane, sit
. T
hat baby will be born with colic if you don’t settle down a bit
. I
swear, you children just don’t know what to do when there’s a crisis.”

Damon leaned over and kissed his mother
. S
he was gathering her troops and putting down the strategy
. S
he would make a great commander in any type of war or in a large corporation
. H
e loved his momma too.

“Charlie was seen being carried out over Ormond’s shoulder and Connor was dragged out by his leg
. C
harlie had been knocked unconscious before my man was shot
. I
don’t have a lot of details, but I’ll get them for you
. C
onnor was out when he was taken
. I
’m trying to get the tapes from the bus station now
. I
’m headed downtown to the station house.”

Cait’s phone rang again
. T
his time, she didn’t bother leaving the room and within a few seconds of listening, she sat down hard in the chair
. W
hen she looked up at Damon as she listened, he walked over to her and leaned his ear next to hers to listen.

“…everywhere
. I
’ve never seen so much blood, to tell you the truth
. H
e had an entire set up in the basement—chains, leather, straps
. W
e’re still trying to find his trophies
. I
’m not sure why, but I got a feeling that they’re here
. W
e’ve called in the dogs to look at the yard, but it doesn’t bode well for Ormond
. W
ith that much blood, there has to be at least two or more dead, we figure
. I
should have more for you in a couple of hours.”

“How about his accounts? Have
you had any luck in that area?
My contact out here, another woman he may be holding, says that he had money. I want to be able to stop him here if at all possible
. H
e took out one of my men today
. H
e’s going down here and I’m going to take him down.” Cait said. She picked up a notebook that she had been using earlier and made a note on it
. C
aptain Samuel Sanders—boss of Ormond. He is very cooperative now
. J
ackass
. R
aided his house two hours ago

“Sorry about your man
. H
ard to take when one of your own is taken for a senseless reason
. F
roze his accounts as of this morning
. H
e won’t be touching anything at this end
. M
oney, though?
Wasn’t much in the bank, but the bedroom had over forty grand in it hidden around the room
. I
t was the only room in the house that was clean, and I mean no blood in it,” Captain Sanders said.

“Thanks
. Y
ou’ve been a great deal of help
. I
f there’s anything else,
will you please let me know?”
Cait asked.

“You could let me come out there and help you arrest this bastard
. H
e did some horrible things to some nice people out here
. I
’d like to be there if you think you can wait for me.”

Cait looked at Damon and he shook his head
. H
e didn’t want to wait for anyone and especially someone that had to come all the way across the United States
. S
he smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

“Can’t do that, Sanders
. T
his ass has two people that are very close to me and I’m not going to give him anymore time to hurt them
. B
ut if you leave right now, I’ll let you in on the press conference when we catch him
. I
’ll even make sure that they spell your name right in the papers.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Captain
. I
’ve got a seat out on the next flight to Columbus in about twenty minutes
. I
should be there in about three hours
. I
’ll be the one with the crow pie in my hand.”

Cait laughed
. “
I’ll have an officer there to pick you up when you land and bring you to us
. Y
ou know the rules when you come into my sandbox so I won’t go into it
. I
’ll see you in a few hours.”

~~~

Charlie came awake slowly
. S
he found that she was hanging from some sort of overhanging in a dark place. Her feet were tied to something heavy an
d her mouth was taped closed.
Her body hurt in places she hadn’t since she’d left Anthony
. T
rying to move, she realized that her leg was hurting very badly and she was sure it might be broken
. A
nd her head was pounding.

Straining as much as she could, Charlie tried to see if Connor was in the room with her and she couldn’t see anyone
. W
hen she tried to stand up, she screamed behind the tape. Pain surged though her body like a knife
. B
reathing though her nose, she tried to control herself and work through the pain
. I
t took everything she had to keep from letting the blackness take her
. C
onnor needed her and she needed to figure out a way to get to him.

Bits and pieces of what had happened were coming back to her
. T
he police officer had come up to them at the bus station
. H
e was shouting for Anthony to drop the gun and to let the child go
. H
e’d been saying something…something about her, but she couldn’t remember what it had been
. H
er head started to pound more and she thought she might be sick
. B
reathing though her nose and trying to concentrate on not throwing up, she finally managed to get it under control.

Anthony had shot him, shot the poor policeman in the head
. S
creaming, she remembered the screaming around her
. I
t occurred to her that she was the one screaming in addition to some of the people around her
. A
nthony kicked her soon after that
. C
onnor
. C
onnor had been hurt. His nose was bleeding and his mouth had been cut
. A
nthony had done that too
. T
he pain in her head was making her so ill she closed her eyes.

The next time she opened her eyes, there was more light in the area she was at
. S
he could tell now that she was in some sort of box
. I
t looked like she was in a trailer of a semi
. T
here were holes in the side and it gave her enough light to see that she was tied to a cinderblock and that it was covered in blood
. H
er leg was brok
en.
The bone was sticking out through her shin and it made her belly jump from the sight
. B
lood didn’t pour from the wound, but there was a lot of blood around her
. B
ending her head, she looked up at her arms and could see that blood had dried on her arm
s.

Charlie was weak and she could barely stay off the broken leg
. S
he tried to stand on the good leg, but it got to be too much too
. H
er arms were sore and the strain of having them tied above her head was pulling at her shoulders
. S
he didn’t have any idea how long she’d been there or how long Connor had been away from her, but she figured it had been a full day, if not longer
. C
rying again, she knew that even if Anthony came back right now, she’d not be able to do anything to him. She wouldn’t be able to do anything at all to save her son
. C
h
arlie had failed Connor again.

And Damon
. C
harlie had failed him too
. S
he’d never given him any chance to help her
. S
he’d never given him any information that he and his family could have used to keep Anthony away and them safe
. S
he’d just done what she always did, ran away
. C
rying harder now, she wished that she could do it all again
. S
he’d tell Damon everything
. T
ell him that she wasn’t worthy of him
. S
he would also tell him that she loved him and that she always would.

~CHAPTER 1
8
~

Connor could feel the car slow then stop
. H
e was terrified that Mr. O was going to hurt him once the trunk opened
. P
icking up the gun again, he tried to figure out how to aim it
. H
e didn’t have any idea if he could shoot anybody, but he wasn’t afraid to point it at someone
. H
e had seen Mr. O use his gun
. H
e seemed to just hold it and it would shoot whatever he aimed at
. C
onnor didn’t think it was that easy
. I
f it was, Connor thought that everybody would be able to shoot perfectly. 

The car was stopped now
. T
here wasn’t any more vibrating under him and the outside noises were quiet
. W
hen something scarped against where his head was, Connor nearly shouted out
. W
hen other noise started, like the sound of water being poured into the trunk, he started to panic
. W
hen nothing poured over him, he realized that Mr. O was putting gas in the car
. C
onnor could hear him whistling now
. W
histling some stupid country song that had been on the radio. Connor could hear how close he was to him
. A
fter a minute, Anthony started talking to him.