Days of Reckoning (25 page)

“Go see who it is,” Eldon commanded. He turned back to Miranda. His gun was in his hand again. “And you, if you make a sound, I’ll blow your head off and then fuck your dead body.”

Miranda raised her eyebrows and choked back a laugh. Tim stopped and turned around. “Dude, don’t say shit like that. It’s too fucking weird.”

Eldon scowled. “Will you shut up and see who’s out there?”

Tim shrugged but did as he was told. “Shit,” he said. “Hey Eldon, looks like it’s that cop that was here before. He's got a partner this time.”

Eldon swore as well. “All right, get her in the bedroom. Keep her quiet and out of sight. I’ll try to get these two the fuck out of here.”

Tim grabbed Miranda and dragged her into the bedroom. Eldon waited until the door was closed, then went to the door. He opened it a crack. “Yeah?”

“Right. Well,” Sam scratched behind his ear, “I was wondering if maybe you’d be willing to come by the station tonight and answer a few more questions.”

“I see. Well…” A loud thump and a scream cut Sam off. Both he and Eldon stared at the bedroom. “Doesn’t sound like sleeping in there…”

Tim stormed out of the bedroom, holding a hand to the gash in his arm.

“What the hell just happened?” Eldon’s hands shook.

Tim went over to the kitchen sink and began splashing cold water on his wound in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. “Fucking bitch had a knife strapped to her leg. She jumped me and got me in the arm. I gave her a good thumping, though. She’s out like a light.”

“Well good going, genius. Now we’ve got the cops outside, and I guarantee they ain’t too happy. Hell, that detective tried to pull down on me.”

“Fucker.”

A voice came from outside, spoken over a bullhorn. “Eldon, Tim! This is Detective Connor. I just want to talk with you fellows, make sure you’re all right.”

“Damn it. Bet this place is crawlin’ with police.” Eldon wipe spittle away from his chin. “You all get the fuck outta here, or we’ll kill this bitch!” he hollered.

“Eldon, what the hell?” Tim said. “We don’t wanna get in no stand-off here. This ain’t fuckin’ Ruby Ridge. It’s a trailer park. Let’s just kill the bitch, tell ‘em it was self-defense, and cut our losses. Fuck, she came in here with a fucking silenced gun!”

“Yeah? Well who do you think she’s workin’ for? Probably the Feds. Hell, they done wiped out our unit, her and that Damon kid. They was probably doin’ it for the government the whole time. Reverend was right.”

#

Sam swore at the threat. He spoke to the two newly arrived officers. “Start evacuating people from the near-by trailers. Arnie, get on the horn to the Sheriff; we need more troops here. And put a call in up to Columbus. We might need help from their SWAT team.”

#

“Right now that bitch is our only ticket out of here,” Eldon said. “Go in and get her, so we can show her off to the cops. Maybe we can even use her as a shield.”

Miranda rubbed at her head. Her fingers came away sticky, and she could feel the knot swelling even without touching it. Tim had thrown her hard into the side of the trailer. Fortunately, her shoulder had taken most of the blow, but it was the same one that was already injured, and she couldn’t keep her head from slamming into the wall. She wasn’t sure how she had missed with the knife. Some survival instinct in Tim’s subconscious must have kicked in, and at the last second he had taken the blade in the arm. She had no idea where her weapon was now.

She picked herself up and moved behind the dresser, crouching there and listening to the exchange going on. Sam was outside; not a good thing. But he thought she was being held captive, which could prove useful. She heard Eldon’s instructions to Tim, and steeled herself.

Tim came charging through the bedroom door like a raging bull. Miranda sprang up to meet him. He was taken by surprise; she didn’t come from the spot where he had left her. He turned and brought his gun up, but she was ready for that and grabbed the barrel of the weapon. Using his momentum against him, Miranda kept the gun moving past her head while she brought a fist up into Tim’s throat. He grunted and gasped, but she didn’t let up, kicking him first in the knee and then in the groin. His grip loosened on the pistol, and she yanked it out of his hand.

Eldon was still exchanging threats with Sam when he realized that Tim was in trouble. He saw Miranda in the bedroom with the gun and let of a wild shot before diving behind the kitchen counter.

Sam groaned inwardly as he thought of Miranda. Had they executed her? “We’re going to have to go in,” he said grimly. “Kevin, you take out those hinges with the shotgun. Arnie, you drop the door. I’m first through, and I’ll cover the left side. Arnie, head right. Kevin, you’re on me and Hal, you’re on Arnie. Rest of you guys will cover windows and be ready to move in on my word.”

#

Miranda didn’t have time to get into a gunfight with Eldon. That single shot he had fired meant she had maybe a few seconds before the police stormed in. She knew that Sam wouldn’t waste any time if he thought a hostage was in danger. Sparta didn’t have a separate SWAT team, but all the officers were trained in tactical entries. Keeping a wary eye on the door, Miranda scrambled around the room looking for a way out.

She thought back to how she had been caught in the first place. There had been movement under the trailer right before Eldon had pulled his gun. Maybe there was a hole or something cut into the floor. She didn’t think that was standard on a mobile home, but then these militia guys were always modifying things with an eye to getting away. It made sense. She searched the floor on the other side of the bed and found the escape route, still uncovered from when it was used to trap her. Perfect. Then Tim groaned from the floor. Miranda was surprised; the blow she dealt to his throat was supposed to have crushed his larynx. Maybe she had been off a bit. No matter. She lifted the trap door free and then walked to where Tim lay. Her two pistol shots coincided with a pair of shotgun blasts from outside. And then she was gone.

#

Arnie kicked the door out of the frame, and then Sam was through. He saw Eldon crouched behind the counter, clutching a pistol. “Drop it!” Sam ordered. Eldon spun around as Arnie and Kevin came through the door. As Hal Golding was making his way in, Eldon fired, knocking the officer out of the door way. Two shotguns and a pistol answered, and Eldon crumpled in a heap.

“Kevin, check on Hal. Arnie, clear that bathroom and then stack up on me.”

While Arnie made sure the bathroom was empty, Sam swept behind the counter area in the kitchenette. Kevin called up to him. “Hal’s all right. His vest caught the brunt of it. I’ve got Strunk and Boomer helping him back to the cruiser.”

“Good man. We’ve got a bedroom there, door closed, and I’m guessing at least one suspect waiting for us behind it.”

“How do you want to tackle this one, boss?”

“Whoever’s back there is probably waiting for us. I’ve already got one man down; I’m in no mood to lose another. Have Smithy and Gerard get one of the pepper-spray canisters out of my trunk. We’ll put it through the back window, wait for the room to ventilate and then go in.”

Miranda lay in the dirty gravel beneath the trailer as she listened to the brief exchange of gunfire erupt inside. She winced when she heard one of the officers fall, but took the opportunity to crawl out from underneath and make good her escape. While the officers were busy tending to their wounded comrade, she managed to make it around the side of another trailer. She held there for a minute catching her breath. The Smith and Wesson automatic remained clutched in her hand. She would get rid of it as soon as she was clear; she had enough weapons already and no magazines that would fit this one. “Dammit,” she said. Her Walther was still inside, along with her handbag and her wig. That pretty much shot any hope she had of passing as a victim. Her prints were on the gun, and there were plenty of hairs in the wig. She hadn’t killed any of the known casualties with the Walther. But eventually Tracy would be found, and even barring that, the serial number would be a match for the weapon stolen from Beaumont’s store.

There was nothing she could do about it now; she had never really expected to get away clean in the first place. Miranda figured that if she made it out of here, she would be able to hold out long enough to get through the next day. After that… well, she tried not to think about it too much.

She watched as a pair of officers came around to the rear of Eldon’s trailer and put out one of the bedroom windows. They tossed in what looked like a small grenade. Miranda realized that they thought someone was still holed up in the room, and they were flushing them out. Tim probably wouldn’t be bothered anymore by the tear gas or whatever they used, but the commotion gave her a chance to move further away.

She kept low, ducking quickly between mobiles, making her way to the visitors’ lot. A small group of people evacuated from their trailers mingled about, close to her car. Many of them were in nightclothes, stamping their feet to stay warm. Miranda tossed the pistol away and strode over to the group. There weren’t any officers with the people, but sirens told her that they were on the way. She shook her head. Sam would catch hell for not having a uniform available for crowd control, except for the fact that the person most likely to give him hell was already dead.

Miranda made her way around the crowd to her stolen car and drove off without her headlights on, attracting more than a few curious glances. She turned them on as she pulled out of the trailer park and onto the county road.

Sam slumped into his recliner at home a few hours before dawn. The media, the Sheriff and the FBI had all arrived on the scene at about the same time. He had been able to meet with the other law enforcement officials away from the news cameras, and under their suggestion had gone home to get some rest. He and his officers all had to be at the Unity Day rally to help provide security and crowd control. After filling out a hasty report, he left the crime scene technicians to do their job. An ambulance carried Hal Golding to the same hospital in which Hector Gutierrez lay. Hal’s wound wasn’t severe, but it was standard procedure to be taken in for observation. He was the third Sparta officer to be put out of action in a week. We’re being wiped out almost as fast as the militia, Sam thought.

That brought his mind to Miranda. He simply couldn’t believe she was the one responsible for so much carnage. Even when he was stationed in Iraq his unit hadn’t suffered as many casualties as the town of Sparta had the past two weeks. And over there, the threat of snipers, unexploded mines and sabotage had been constant concerns. One of the draws of his current job had been the relatively quiet atmosphere. He liked the scene in a college town; there was plenty going on through the school year, and then a whole summer to recover from the action. Having done his degree in the Army, Sam had never experienced campus life. In this capacity, he was able to get just enough of a taste of it to be satisfied. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined being tossed into a situation like this one. Nor did he ever think he could botch an investigation as badly as he had.

Sam’s phone rang just after dawn, and he realized he must have dozed off for a bit. It hadn’t done much to rest his body, but his brain was working in overdrive and supplied him with all the energy he needed. He took a sip of lukewarm water to wash the tackiness out of his mouth and then picked up the receiver.

“Sam Connor.”

“Did Tim offer much resistance?”

Sam froze at the sound of her voice. It was a while before he answered, but Miranda made no other sound. “I guess you would know,” he said.