Reckless (Wrecked) (34 page)

Sarah put the knife down on the counter as she passed by the last part of it and stopped in front of the screen door.

The man was standing there in khaki pants and a polo shirt.  His hair was neatly cut, combed, and gelled - he could have been on the cover of a magazine featuring expensive, well-made clothing for the entire family.  His smile was dental-ad bright, but didn’t quite reach his eyes.  For some stupid reason, it caused Sarah to not want to open the door.

“Hello,” she said, not smiling.

“Oh, hey there,” he responded, blinding her with another fake smile.  “Didn’t see you there.  Do you mind if I come in?”  He took a tentative step forward, fully expecting an affirmative answer.

Sarah battled with herself.  She didn’t want to be rude, but his creepy smile was getting to her.  And where was James?  She tried to look around him but didn’t see the dog anywhere.  He’d been barking like crazy earlier and then he’d just stopped. 
Maybe he’s with Jonathan and Kevin.  Maybe they’re just outside
.  She realized the guy was waiting for an answer, so she cleared her throat, trying to earn herself more time to answer. 
Be rude and protect myself or be polite and risk it?

Almost eighteen years of discipline and manners hammered into her by her parents finally won out.  She reached over and unlatched the screen.  “Come on in.  My name’s Gretchen, by the way.”  Sarah forced herself not to grimace over her choice of name.  It had come flying out of her mouth before she could think too hard about it.

Maybe she was just imagining it, but she could have sworn the guy had frowned when she said it.  Fear and paranoia had her automatically backing away from him as he entered, moving closer towards the knife she’d left on the counter.

“So, where are the rest of them?” he asked, looking around the room.  He shut the door behind him, locking it.

The clicking sound made Sarah sick to her stomach - it had never seemed so menacing before, so permanent.  She frowned, trying to calm her racing heart.  “Rest of them what?”

He smiled, but there was no humor or happiness to it.  “Rest of
whom
, not what.  You know who I’m talking about.”

Adrenaline shot into Sarah’s bloodstream.  The suspicious smile and too-perfect looks had quickly taken on a sinister quality.  “I have no idea who you’re talking about, but I think it’s time you leave.  I don’t mean to be rude, but I came out here for privacy, and I was told we … I … wouldn’t be disturbed.” 
Dammit!  And I was doing so well!

His smile disappeared completely.  “Cut the shit, Sarah.  You came out here to hide, but guess what?  You lose because I found you.”  He took a step towards her.

She moved back to the counter quickly and picked up the knife, whipping it out to point it at him.  “Come any closer to me and I’ll slice you wide open, you sonofabitch!”

He held up his hands in surrender, lowering one of them to his lower back.  When his hand came back out, Sarah blanched.

“Put the knife down, Sarah.  I don’t want to have to shoot you before it’s time.  Do you understand?”

Sarah nodded numbly, setting the knife down on the counter without making a sound.  Her mind was going a million miles an hour, trying to figure out what had happened, what was going to happen, and what she could do to stop it.  But nothing was coming to her.  All she could picture was a frightening, black void of pain and fear.  It threatened to overwhelm her, bringing the all-consuming nausea with it.

“I’m going to throw up,” she said, her voice trembling.

“No, you’re not.  Go sit down at the table,” he ordered, gesturing with his gun.

Sarah shook her head, and then turned to run for the sink.  She grabbed the edge of it and heaved several times, sure she was going to be shot in the back, but just as certain she didn’t want to die in a pool of her own vomit.

When she was done, she turned on the water and rinsed out her mouth, spitting it back into the sink.  Candi was for sure going to want to disinfect that whole area now. 
Assuming Candi is still alive and that we’re not all dead.
  The thought was more than sobering.  Sarah swallowed the bile that wanted to come up to join the rest of it and stood up straight.  Facing her captor, she lifted her chin.  “Who are you?  Why are you here?”

“Who I am is not important.  And I think you know why I’m here.  Go sit.”

Sarah considered arguing, but since he had the gun pointed at her and there was nothing to distract him with, she decided her best bet was to just go along with whatever he wanted.  At least for now.

She tried to take the seat nearest the wall, but he stopped her.

“No.  That one, not that one.”

“But …”

“Just take the fucking seat and don’t argue.  I really have no problem putting a bullet in you right now.”

Sarah sat down with her back to the room.  It was freaking her out to have him behind her, not able to see anything he was doing.  She heard movement and then him talking, but not to her.

“Yeah, it’s me.  I’ve got one of them.  I think it’s Sarah.”  There was a pause and then, “Hey, you … you’re Sarah, right?”

“No, I told you … I’m Gretchen, asshole.”  She decided to shelve her commitment to not swear anymore.  These were desperate times.

The guy went back to what Sarah assumed was a phone call.  “Yeah, it’s Sarah.  The bitch is mouthy.”  He was silent for a few seconds before continuing.  “No, I haven’t done anything yet.  We might need her to call the others or something, so I’ll wait until they’re all here.”  Another hesitation came, and then, “Good.  I’ll wait here.  What do you want me to do when we have all of them?”

Sarah listened as hard as she possibly could for the answer to the bad man’s question, but she couldn’t catch what the person on the other end of the line was saying.  The voice was too tiny to make out any words.  She was hoping not to hear two syllables:
Kill them
.  There were definitely more than two coming out of the phone, but they could have been anything. 
Like, kill them and bury the bodies.
  Her hands shook as she put them out in front of her on the table, pretending to examine her fingernails while her mind went into overdrive, trying to come up with a plan of escape.

***

Xena was sitting at Jonathan’s feet as he stood on tiptoes, trying to get the line for one of his noisemakers hooked higher up in the tree.  A couple of them had gotten too loose during the night, losing the tension they needed to be effective.

The dog growled, and Jonathan froze.  She never did that for no reason - that was James’ penchant.  It was only when Xena felt threatened that they heard her make those scary sounds.  She’d done it at Kevin when he’d been stupid enough to kind of bait her, but that was it.

Jonathan turned around, but saw no one.  “Kevin?” he called out.  “Is that you?”

Xena growled again, the deep timbre sending shivers up Jonathan’s spine.

“Kevin, if that’s you, you should announce yourself.  I won’t be able to stop Xena if she comes after you.”

A voice came out from behind some trees - one Jonathan didn’t recognize.  “Call your dog off, or I’ll shoot her.”

Jonathan dropped down into a crouch, putting an arm over Xena’s shoulders.  He had no idea who this person was, but he probably had a weapon and sounded confident enough about using it.  “Xena, no.  Calm down, girl.  Calm down.”  Jonathan took several deep breaths, using the oxygen to fill his lungs and brain, getting his body ready to mobilize if necessary.

A man wearing jeans and a black t-shirt came out into the open.

I know that man!
Jonathan schooled his features to remain bland.  He didn’t know if it was critical that this man not realize he’d been recognized, but Jonathan decided it was better to have as many cards up his sleeve as possible.  He studied the man’s face and demeanor. 
He’d been standing in the emergency room at the hospital, when we were there to check on Barry
.  Jonathan’s head spun with the ramifications.  They’d been followed, first there and now here. 
What does it mean? 
Jonathan was short all the variables and insights he needed to figure out exactly what was going on. 
Pay attention to everything he says and does.  There are clues to be gathered
.

“Come on,” said the stranger.  “We’re going back to the house.”  He didn’t have any weapons out or showing; he just gestured with his hand.

Jonathan quickly decided his best bet was to just do what the man said, at least until he had a better idea about what kind of defenses he might have or what the man’s plan was.  He made a move as if to walk that way, but Xena’s growl stopped him.

“I told you to shut the damn dog up.”

“I did, sir.  I mean, I tried to.  But she seems to have a mind of her own.”  Jonathan was afraid to move now, but more because the dog was acting like she wasn’t going to let him go without a fight.  He wasn’t even sure whose side she was on right now or if she was maybe suffering from a form of confusion.  Obviously, she saw the guy as a threat, but beyond that, Jonathan had no idea what was going through her canine gray matter.

“Tell her to shut the hell up and go!”  The man was obviously getting angry, fully expecting Jonathan to just jump and follow his orders without question or hesitation.

Jonathan looked down, trying to make his voice sound confident and very alpha male.  “Xena!  No!  Down!  I’m going to the cabin.  Heel.”  He moved one step forward, and she growled again, this time a snort coming out on her inhale.  She definitely meant it - Jonathan was not permitted to go anywhere as far as she was concerned.

The guy reached behind him and pulled a knife out of somewhere.  “Last chance.  Go or she dies first, then you.”

He doesn’t have a gun or he would have used it already!  He can’t hurt me if I keep the proper distance between us!
  Jonathan calculated his odds of success against the odds of getting stabbed if he stuck around, and made the only rational decision.  He spun around and took off running.  He sprinted as if his life depended on it.  And it did.  He was sure of it.  There was no chance in the world that this person was here to just visit or threaten.  His job was to exterminate, and Jonathan was his target.  So were his sister, friend, and the mother of his child.  But in order to save them, he had to save himself first.

Xena kept pace with him, no longer growling.  The two of them leaped over branches and divets in the ground, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the man, running in the opposite direction of the cabin.  Jonathan knew if he didn’t turn soon, he was going to end up at the pond.  He put his head down and channeled all his available energy into his legs.  The thousands of miles he’d run in his life had prepared him for this one moment, and he wasn’t going to let it end with being caught.

Crashing sounds coming from behind them told Jonathan he was being pursued, but the lack of  any gunshots let him know his assumption had been correct. 
No gun!  I have a chance!

***

Kevin was staring up at one of the noisemakers hanging from one of their lines, waiting for Jonathan to finish fixing it.

He turned and looked out in the direction of the driveway.  He couldn’t see it from here, but his ears were tuned in for the sounds of the motorcycle approaching.  Candi should be back anytime, assuming all went well at the library and grocery store.

James was barking like a fool off in the distance, making him wish he was close enough to throw something at him.  That dog was a serious pest sometimes.  Good thing he was so smart with the fetching stuff.  Kevin’s goal when they got back to the real world was to have Sarah teach him how to fetch cans of soda from the fridge.  Now
that
was a useful skill for a dog to have.

The crunch of dry leaves behind him was the only clue he had that he was no longer alone in that section of the woods.  He turned around to greet Jonathan, wondering why he didn’t just yell that he was finished.  He caught a flash of yellow teeth and a bad mustache in his field of vision, but had no time to connect the idea of a stranger sneaking around out in the woods and the threat to his safety before a sharp pain blossomed across his temple and the lights went out.  He slid into a deep, unconscious sleep, his brain short circuiting the entire way down.

***

Sarah stood when the door to the cabin opened, ready to scream out a warning, but slowly sat down again when she realized it wasn’t one of her family there.  She remained twisted around so she could watch the two killers interact.

“What’s up?” asked her captor of the second man.

“Found one of them out in the woods.  Big guy.  Knocked his ass out.  He’ll be dead to the world for the rest of the day, at least.  No way could he get up from that.  Maybe I already killed him. 
Crack!
” He laughed, proud of himself.

“What about that fucking barking dog?”

“Same.  Down for the count.”  The second man walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, reaching in and taking out a bottle of water.

“You should’ve just killed it.”

Sarah gasped at their callousness, but the second man didn’t even acknowledge her presence.  And now he was just taking their stuff as if he owned it and talking about hurting her family.  She scowled at him.  He was
so
going down if she had anything to say about it.  She prayed he was wrong about Kevin.  He was way tougher than anyone realized; he’d proven that enough times on the rugby field.

“I was going to, but then I saw that other guy and didn’t have time to take care of it.  It’s just a friggin mutt anyway.  Worst it could do is bite your ankle.”

“Where’s Jimmy?” asked the gunman.

“I dunno.  I haven’t seen him.  He’s out there somewhere taking care of that other kid.  Where’s the fourth one?” asked the second guy.

“Not here.  Ask her where she is,” the gunman said, pointing in Sarah’s direction.

Sarah turned back around, refusing to acknowledge them now.  They’d get nothing from her.  She heard the sounds of his shoes crossing the room and then the chair next to her being pulled out.  Refusing to look over, she stared at her fingernails, acting as if her manicure was way more important.