Long Holler Road - A Dark Southern Thriller (26 page)

  “That’s enough,” Madge yelled, “let’s go.” She threw the shotgun the other man had been carrying over to me and gave Carl’s pistol to Glenn as we started running for the door. Just before we reached the door, I saw Madge running and suddenly drop to the floor on her butt, like a baseball player sliding into second base. She raised her pistol and squeezed off a shot just as the man on the other side of the door fired his gun. I saw the man fall and at the same time heard a scream behind me. I turned and saw Snake drop to the floor, grasping his right shoulder. I grabbed his other arm and kept him moving as we started up the stairs. Snake was yelling that he had been shot and was going to die.

  “I promise you’re not gonna die, old buddy,” I said.

  When we had gotten part of the way up the stairs, I could hear footsteps running down the corridor at the foot of the stairs. I let go of Snake and ran back to the bottom of the stairs. I made a quick dive and slid into the  corridor on my stomach. The man stumbled over me and fell. He turned around quickly, but before he had time to pull his trigger, I shot him right in the face with the shotgun. A sawed off shotgun can make a terrible mess of someone’s face at close range. And that image would be indelibly burned into my mind as long as I lived.
I had taken another man’s life,
I thought. Then I thought,
Piss on him. He was about to take mine, or one of my friends lives
.

  I rushed up to the top of the stairs where Madge was waiting. Glenn and Snake were already standing outside. Glenn had taken off his shirt and was holding it on Snakes shoulder, applying all the pressure he could to try and stop the bleeding. Madge jumped in the drivers seat of the van and told me to get in the front seat with her.

  “
I need to help Glenn tend to Snake,” I told her.

 
“Glenn can take care of Snake,” she said, “all he has to do is keep pressure on that wound. Snake is going to be fine. I can be at the hospital in Fort Kane in fifteen minutes, I promise. Now come on, there’s no time to argue.”

 
I jumped in the front of the van and we were off, weaving our way down a winding mountain road, Madge taking the curves practically on two wheels. Her driving had me almost as shook up as the gun battle we’d just left behind.

  “I couldn’t find my pistol,” I said to Madge.

  “That’s because one of the other men that was in the building with us did a search of the room and found it,” she said. I guess that explained why the other man and not Madge had come in the room with Carl.

  “And there’s something all of you need to know. The sheriff is in on this. He had no idea who was going to kidnap you or dispose of you, but he knew somebody would. He and Jake Bullard are business partners in a business that is not exactly legal. In fact it is highly
illegal
. I’m sure your parents went to him pretty soon after they realized you were missing and I’m sure he felt relieved when he heard the news. You were the only witnesses against Jake and James and if they were convicted, he would have gone down with them. So don’t say to much to him. Act as though you know nothing about why you were taken and watch your back. You need to tell your parents as soon as possible to contact someone with the state police and the FBI before the Bullards have a chance to send someone else to try and succeed where we failed. Please, watch yourselves and trust no one you don’t know well. It’s better that you trust only family.”

  I was speechless after hearing what Madge had just said. Sheriff Andrew White, who I’d known all my life, was involved in some nefarious dealings with the Bullards. Daddy always said he thought he was able to live awful high on the hog on the salary of a county sheriff.

   When we were finally on Long Hollow road, Madge really put the hammer down. Before I had time to relive the events of our escape in my mind, we were sitting at the patient drop off of the emergency room at Putnam County Medical Center. Madge told Glenn to get Snake in there quick and tell them that there had been a hunting accident.

  “And promise me, both of you, that you won’t tell anyone who brought you here.”

  “We promise,” Glenn yelled over his shoulder as he was hurrying Snake toward the door.

   I started to jump out and Madge told me to wait, that there was something she had to tell me. I didn’t want Snake to go in without me, but Madge looked very serious.

  After Glenn had rushed into the emergency room with Snake, Madge drove the van out to the far corner of the hospital parking lot and shut off the lights to the van.

  “I’ve only got a few minutes,” she said. “The cops may be called in even if Glenn tells them it was a hunting accident. Please listen to me closely. There is a culvert that runs under the old sawmill road where you turn to go to our house. On the opposite side of Mrs. Fuller’s house. Do you know where I mean?”

  “Of course I do,” I answered.

  “I’m going to leave a letter wrapped up in some old newspapers and covered with a plastic bag inside the culvert. Get it out as soon as you possibly can. Whatever you do, go alone. And when you read it, make sure no one else is around. When you’re finished with it, destroy it completely.”

  I couldn’t imagine what was gonna be in the letter, but I couldn’t wait to read it. I almost wished she had given it to me right then and there.

  “Where are you goin’ from here?” I asked her.

  “Carl and I will have to leave immediately, George. I can’t tell you where we’re going.”

  “You’re goin’ back to Carl?” I asked incredulously.

  “I have to. He’s my husband and I love him.”

  “But you just damn near killed him!”

  “No, he’ll be fine. He’s as tough as a pine knot. That little bop on the head was nothing to him.”

  “Why did you do it? Why did you risk your life to save us?”

  “It’s in the letter, George.”

  “No. I have to hear you say it,” I demanded.

  “Because you are family, George.”

  “Wh…what do you mean, family?”

  “That’s all I’m going to say. It will all be in the letter. Now go!”

  “You and Carl are the ones that put those bodies on Hugh William’s and Ray Turner’s property, ain’t you? You’re the one’s that killed them.”  I said, hating to hear the answer come from her lips and hating that I had to ask the question.

  “It’s in the letter. Everything. Now, I’ve got to go!”

  I opened the door to the van and got out.

  “Promise me one thing,” she said.

  “Just name it. I owe you my life, Madge.”

  “Promise you won’t tell anyone who kidnapped you for at least a few hours. Just enough time for me to get a head start.”

  I was gonna be letting two serial killers escape. But I did owe her my life, and that was a fact. I hesitated for just a few seconds and reluctantly said, “Okay. I’ll give you some time. I only hope Glenn or Snake haven’t opened their mouths yet. But Glenn promised and I don’t believe he’d break his promise. He owes you his life, too.”

  Madge drove away and yelled, “I love you,” out the open window of the van as she sped off. I watched the van until the tail lights were out of sight. Then I ran to the emergency room to check on Snake.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  The bullet had passed cleanly through Snake’s shoulder and the doctor said that other than losing the use of his arm for a few weeks and some pain, he was going to be fine. They wanted to keep him overnight and Momma insisted that she be the one who stayed with him. We told everybody that we had no idea who had kidnapped us, but they had treated us fairly well until we tried to escape. It was pretty obvious to everyone from the bullet wound in Snake’s shoulder that they had objected vehemently to our trying to leave.

  Sheriff White had come to the hospital and I was trying to avoid him as much as possible, while at the same time trying to judge his demeanor. He was clearly not himself and seemed nervous, pressing us over and over about the description of our kidnappers and if they’d said anything about the Bullards. At one point I found myself alone with him out in the corridor of the emergency room.

  “Your daddy thinks the Bullards had something to do with this, Junior. He may be right, you know. It would make sense seein’ as how you boys are the only witnesses against him. Did they ever mention the Bullard’s names or anything about them to any of you?”

  “No Sheriff. They didn’t say much of anything to us. They just locked us in a room and brought us some food from time to time.”

  He looked at me as if he was trying to read my face. To see if I was lying. I kept eye contact with him and used the best poker face I could manage. He seemed satisfied and somewhat relieved. After making sure Momma and Snake were going to be alright, Daddy said he was gonna take me to get something to eat and then take me home so I could rest. The sheriff spoke up, “George, I really need to question him some more. I’m afraid the folks that had him will be long gone if we don’t get some information about who they were and where they were holdin’ ‘em.”

  “He’s already told you all he knows, Andrew. He said they were wearin’ masks and kept them blindfolded all the way up ‘til the one that helped them escape brought them to the hospital. They have no idea who the people were or where they were bein’ held. Maybe after a good night’s sleep his head will be clearer and he can remember something helpful.”

  “I just don’t feel right, George,” the sheriff said, “letting him go when that bunch is still on the loose. What if they try again?”

  “Well, they’d have to get past me and my shotgun. And I was hopin’ you might put some deputies outside my house tonight.”

  “Well, sure I will, George. I had two follow Roscoe Burt home with his boy. They’re gonna stay there and watch the place all night. I’m also gonna get the city police here to keep two officers outside of Snake’s hospital door, it’s just that while this is still kinda fresh on his mind…..”

  “His mind is tired, Andrew. He’s not thinking clear right now. I know my son. Maybe he’ll be able to think better when he’s rested up.”

  “Alright, George. I’m not gonna try to force him into it. Just try your best to bring him in the morning as early as you can. Or, if you’d rather me come to your house, I will.”

  “How about I just call you in the morning as soon as Junior wakes up,” Daddy said. “We’ll decide then.”

*****

  After me and Daddy had eaten, we were driving to the house and I decided it was time to tell him the whole story.

  “How long has it been since we first got to the hospital?” I asked him.

  “Well, let’s see,” he said turning on the interior light of the truck and looking at his watch, “your momma and me got there about six-thirty, that was three hours ago. You had probably already been there thirty minutes. Why do you want to know?”

  “I had to give her some time,” I said, staring out the window into the darkness.

  “Give who time? What are you talkin’ about?”

  “The person who helped me escape. I promised her I would wait awhile before I told anybody.”

  “Why would you do a fool thing….”

  “Because she risked her life to save mine, Daddy. I owe her my life.”

  Daddy pulled the car over on the shoulder of the road and gave me his undivided attention. He didn’t seem angry, but rather confused.

  “Well. Who was it?”

  “Madge Harper,” I said, barely above a whisper.

  “Madge Harper! How in the hell did she find you?”

  “She didn’t find us. She was already there,” I answered.

  “What was
she
doing there?”

  “It was her and Carl who took us.”

   Daddy started rubbing his eyes, trying to comprehend what I had just told him.

  “I think they are the ones who put those bodies on Hugh William’s place, too. And the body I found on Old Man….uh, Mr. Turner’s property.”

  “Madge and Carl. The one’s who are always givin’ money to the church and helping people out who are down on their luck?”

  “The same ones,” I said.

  I went on to tell Daddy the whole story, leaving out the horror show we’d witnessed and especially the part about my little tryst with Madge. Then I told him what Madge had said about the sheriff being involved and how he was in some sort of illegal business dealings with Jake Bullard. He really thought I’d lost my mind then. But after two or three times of me telling him and never wavering and giving such a compelling account, I finally convinced him I was telling the truth.

  “Madge said we needed to call the state police and the FBI and that I should watch my back. We’re supposed to go see the sheriff in the morning. We had better try to get in touch with somebody tonight,” I said.