Being Chased (30 page)

“Got your six,” Oz added as he moved into a better position to cover them.

Chase and Gunner crept to the barn which sat about twenty yards behind the house, making sure to keep an eye on the house for any movement. There were two big doors, typical of any barn, in front that were slightly ajar. They slipped inside then turned on their flashlights, shining them over the floor and in every corner, but didn't see anything right off that looked like a door leading into a tunnel.

"What the fuck?
Where the hell would it be?" Chase whispered.

"I don't know. Keep looking."

Just then the wind blew one of the big doors to the barn open then slammed it shut scaring the hell out of both of them. They froze, looking at each other, both cursing under their breath.

****

"Try this!" Sherry had picked up a piece of metal that looked like a poker from a long-discarded fireplace tool set. She handed it to Julia through all the debris.

Julia
stuck the tool between the jamb and the door then pushed on it trying to persuade the door to move. And, what do you know? It actually did! "Yes!"

"It worked?"

"Kind of." Julia's voice was once again strained as she put all the muscle she had into opening the door. She pushed and pushed as the door made a little headway, moving about half an inch. And then the stupid poker bent under her weight. "Well, damn! Do you see anything else I can use?" She tried bending the thing back but it was no use.

Sherry
dug through the pile again trying to find anything that might work. She was on her hands and knees, reaching, seeking anything metal, heavy and thin.

Julia
leaned against the door, bent at the waist, hands on her knees, catching her breath. Who knew trying to open a door was such a workout? She wiped the sweat off her forehead then knelt and started helping Sherry look.

"No
way!" Sherry said as she pulled something from the heap. Julia sat back on her knees, looking curiously through all the clutter to see what had made Sherry become excited like that. Sherry was holding something up, pumping her arm which made Julia's face light up like the fourth of July.

****

The back door opened and Josh came in carrying bags of food.

"About damn time. Jesus, you have to catch the fucking chickens before they fried '
em up?" Brady leered at him.

"Whatever, dude."
Josh pushed his windblown hair out of his face. "Fucking wind."

"If you weren't built like such a girl, the shit wouldn't bother you, threatening to carry your sissy ass off like Dorothy," Liam said then dug inside a bag grabbing out a chicken breast, ripping into the thing looking like a barbarian. He smiled at
Josh, pieces of chicken in his teeth, making Josh want to blow chow again. An iron stomach the kid definitely didn't have.

Josh
prepared a plate for himself which the Boss took after she'd walked into the kitchen. He sighed then started on another one for himself.

"So, this
Larson girl. Her father came through. I checked with Ephraim and he said the money's being rerouted. Now, what to do with her."

"I
thought you were going to let her go?" Josh looked around at all three criminals almost in shock.

"We usually do let th
em go. Except for two. That third kid, what was his name? Trevor something? Sad story for that one," Brady stated as he kept devouring his chicken showing no emotion whatsoever.

"What happened to him?"
Josh had stopped eating, suddenly losing his appetite.

"Kid got antsy. Can't have that shit happening on one of these gigs. Ended up getting
hisself killed." Liam sneered at Josh before shoving a forkful of mashed potatoes in his big damned mouth.

"You killed him?"

"I 
said
 he got 
hisself
 killed. You deaf or something? It was his own fucking fault. He took off out of here thinking he could outrun us. Stupid little prick. Oh, and speaking of, you owe me five grand 'cause I took him down. Your first two shots didn't even hit him," Liam said, pointing his greasy finger at Brady.

"I got rid of the body. That was the deal. I knew you'd forget that fucking part, dumbass."

Josh's stomach sank. He 
had
 to help Julia. If they killed her, he'd never forgive himself. He hoped the call he'd put in earlier had been the answer.

Just
then they heard a bang from outside.

"What the hell was that?"
Brady asked, walking toward the backdoor to look out the window. He looked around, then focused on the barn that was a good sixty feet away, squinting his eyes. He saw one of the doors moving in the wind. And was that a light he'd seen coming from inside?

"Wind's blowing pretty hard," Liam replied. "Might've been something blowing against the house."

"Thank you, Mr. Meteorologist for that fine fucking update." Brady smirked.

"You're
welcome, Mr. I'll Forever Be a Dickhead."

"Hey, Dumb!
Dumber! Shut your mouths! You two are so annoying!" The Boss shook her head.

"So, you're really going to kill those girls?"
Josh asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course. They've seen me. What, am I supposed to believe them when they promise they won't tell
anyone if I let them go? Right." The Boss rolled her eyes.

"But their fathers are giving you the money. They've done everything right."

"Aren't you the little softie. There's no other ending to this chapter."

"But you've got so much money. You could go away and never be seen again. It's not like they know your names or anything."

"Oh, I'm sure they've probably placed me by now. I could tell the Cooke girl recognized me right away; she just couldn't remember from where. Ergo, she and her little buddy down there must die."

"You guys alright?" Hank said into his mic after the barn doors had done their thing.

"Yeah. Fucking wind. There wasn't any movement in the house because of it, was there?"
Chase answered back.

"Saw a face a
t the backdoor but that was it," Oz said.

Gunner
pulled one of the doors closed, wedging it since it hung a little crookedly on its hinges, securing it, then he and Chase resumed looking around inside the barn once they heard no one in the house was coming out to investigate. There was a decrepit, old Chevy sitting to one side with bird droppings all over it. Gunner shone his flashlight under it thinking maybe it covered a hidden door. No luck. In the meantime, Chase was searching the other side of the barn, digging through old car parts, tires, bumpers, doors, looking for the damned entry to a tunnel. He moved aside several screen doors that were stacked against the wall but to no avail.

"I think I found it!" Gu
nner whispered after a few minutes.

Chase
went over, looking down at where his brother was shining his flashlight on a small door in the floor. Gunner'd had to move what looked like an old washing machine from off it. "That's got to be it!" Chase said. It was a rusted, metal slab lying inconspicuously flush with the floor. A metal handle was soldered on one end, which Chase pulled up on, removing the entire door completely revealing a big hole dropping down into a tunnel. "I'm going in. Let Pop know we found it." He jumped down into the crude opening and looked up at Gunner. "Shut the door once I'm gone. If they come out or something, we don't want them checking it out."

Chase
crouched down, pointing his flashlight down the tunnel, and moved forward when he heard Gunner replacing the cover. He got a whole lot of claustrophobic right about then. The tunnel was only around five feet high and three feet wide making it a little difficult for his six-foot-plus frame to get through. Jesus. He took a deep breath pushing through his damned phobia and forged ahead.

****

"Bingo!" Julia cheered. With all the bad things that'd been going down, this one little ray of hope just set her off. She reached out for the crowbar that Sherry handed to her, kissing it with a big, "Mwah!" which made Sherry giggle.

"Who knew we'd be laughing in a situation like this?"
Sherry said.

"I know, right? At least we're optimists, I guess."
Julia giggled right back. "Okay, let's see if we can get this bitch open." She stuck one end of the crowbar in the crack between the door and the jamb and pushed on it. "It's moving a little but I'm not strong enough. I think you'll need to help."

"What if they come in?"
Sherry's face went ghost white.

"Look,
Sherry. We're dead either way. We've seen them. God only knows what they'll do to us before it's all said and done. Me? I'd rather die at least trying to get the hell out of here. You in?" She looked at Sherry raising her eyebrows, a small smile on her face.

"You're right. Okay, let me get back there to help."

****

After Gunner
covered the tunnel opening, he started to leave the barn when the wind ripped open the other door, slamming it hard against the side, scaring the holy hell out of him. He cursed under his breath pushing his back against the wall and watching the entrance, listening to see if anyone was coming outside to investigate. When no one appeared, he slowly made his way to the door, looking around the frame to see if there was movement in the house. When he didn't see anything, he let out his breath, cursing the wind.

"
Someone's coming out!" Oz whispered into his mic.

"Get ready; hold your positions. We have movement. Someone's heading toward the
barn, boys. Be drawn and ready," Hank said.

Gun
ner backed away from the door, pulling his SIG from his back waistband, holding himself flush against the barn wall, quietly cocking the gun, ready for what was to come.

"Stupid fu
cking door. Stupid fucking wind," someone muttered as they made their way to the barn. Whoever had come out was just as pissed at those things as Gunner was.

Hank
whispered into his mic telling them to take it easy and told Oz and Quaid to position themselves on the north and south sides of the barn in case they needed to go in. Both stood ready, guns drawn. They watched as the big man grabbed the barn door, looking like he wanted to rip it off its hinges, which wouldn't have taken a whole lot, and slammed it shut, locking it from the outside, cursing the entire time. He turned and walked back to the house, not suspecting a thing.

"You okay?"
Hank called to Gunner.

Gun
ner let out a breath then spoke into his mic. "Yeah. Fine. We found the tunnel. Chase's gone in."

Chase
interpolated into their conversation. "What I want to know is did we fucking evolve from munchkins because this tunnel is damn small."

Hank
chuckled. "People were smaller then, son, but I'm sure the tunnel wasn't used for long, so they probably didn't feel the need to upgrade it."

Sweat dripped from
Chase's forehead as he made his way forward. "Fuckers should've thought about it," he grumbled. "Okay, I'm seeing some light ahead. Think I might be at the end."

****

"Well, they've seen all of us. No way can we let them live." Liam used a toothpick on his front teeth as he spoke.

Brady
came in the backdoor cursing. "Stupid fucking wind. What the hell kind of place is this?"

"It's just a spring storm, I guess,"
Josh offered, immediately knowing he needed to learn to keep his mouth shut after he'd blurted his weather forecast.

"Yeah? Is that what it is, lad?"
Brady pushed Josh in the chest with his palm making Josh back up a few steps. "We've got us a weatherman here, haven't we?" He pushed Josh again making him trip a little over the carpet as he backed into the living room. "I've had about enough of this little cunt as I'm going to take." Brady looked back at the Boss as if wanting permission to do away with Josh right then.

"Oh, leave him alone, you damned idiot. Men and their testosterone." She
huffed and shook her head. "I'll never understand you. I swear to God, it amazes me that you all don't walk around with your dicks in your hands comparing sizes." The Boss narrowed her eyes at Brady, waiting for him to leave Josh alone.

"
Hm, looks like you were saved by the 
belle 
this time, boy," Brady said, laughing at his pun as he held Josh's chin with his fingers, tightening them, digging into the kid's jaw. He patted Josh's face with his other hand, which a pat to Brady was pretty much a fucking hard smack to any normal person, then let Josh go.

Josh
ran his hand over his jaw, opening his mouth like he was trying to pop everything back into place. He was pissed. By God, when things went down, he hoped Brady was going to be the first to take a bullet.

****

"Okay, push!" Julia said as she and Sherry both pushed against the crowbar. The door made a splintering sound. "Stop! Ugh. The crowbar's just digging into it. It's not prying the door open. Damn it!"

"We need to go into the room for a bit. I'm scared they're going to come back down here."
Sherry looked anxiously at Julia. They'd been working at the door for twenty minutes or so and Sherry was frightened that someone would come check on them.

"You're right. I need some water, anyway."

They picked their way back through the mess and into the main part of the room. Julia took the little cup at the side of the sink and turned on the faucet, filling it. She drank five cupfuls before stopping. She hadn't realized she was getting dehydrated.

"If you want to lie down for a bit, I'll keep watch,"
Sherry told her. "You haven't gotten any sleep and you've been going at this for a while."

"I am pretty tired,"
Julia said with a yawn. "I'll just take a little nap. Wake me up if you hear anyone coming, okay?" She lay back on the tiny cot and was out almost before her head hit the grungy pillow.

Sherry
sat on the floor leaning back against the wall facing Julia, biting away at what was left of her fingernails, disgusted at herself for regressing back to her old, nasty habit. Hell, if she was going to die anyway, what did it matter?

****

"Things are getting serious now," Hank spoke into his mic. He'd heard the kidnappers talking about killing the girls. "We need to put the first phase into action."

Everyone knew he must've heard something being said inside the house.

"Fuck," Chase spit. He was stuck down in the tunnel and knew his dad was setting things into motion for a sneak attack. But his spirits rose when he finally reached a door. He listened for a minute. When he heard no sound on the other side, he tried opening it. Fucker wouldn't budge. He didn't know what was on the other side, but he bet it was at least a way into the house. He just hoped it wasn't right into the middle of the room where the kidnappers were. Actually, he wouldn't have minded that one bit because he'd have shot them all dead before they realized what had hit them. But they'd still have the advantage of hearing him coming in. He turned away from the door, whispering into his mic, "I'm at the door. I don't hear anything on the other side. What do I do?"

"Hang tight, son. We need to get in position if you're going to be breaking in.
Gun, watch my six. Oz, north side of the house. Quaid, you’ve got the south and anyone coming up the drive. Chase, wait for my count."

"Got it."
Chase was trying to figure out how the hell to break the door in when he was as hunched over as he was. He hoped ramming it with his shoulder would do the trick. Hell, if all else failed, he could always shoot his way in.

****

Josh had been waiting for an answer from his Uncle Felix for hours. He'd called him when he was back at his apartment but didn't know if the old bastard would come through. Felix was Josh's father's brother and he had a finger stuck in all kinds of crime bosses' pies throughout the City. When Josh had called him, he'd told Felix what was going on and that he needed help. At first Felix said he didn't want any part of it, that he knew the people involved and they were bad news. When Josh had informed his uncle that he knew computers and would probably be able to break into the accounts these people were having the money deposited into, Felix had started singing a different tune. He told Josh he'd get back with him as soon as he checked with a couple of his associates.

While Liam and
Brady sat watching TV, Josh was nervously waiting for an answer from Felix, his fingers all tap-tap-tappy on the end table, which garnered several dirty looks from the two thugs. When his phone buzzed he almost flipped out. He pulled it out of his pocket, checking the screen. Felix had texted him that he was in and that they were almost at the house. Josh let out a sigh of relief. He got up, walking out of the room, sticking his head into the office telling the Boss that he'd forgotten something out in his car. Going outside and away from the house, he called Felix to make plans. Everything was good to go. He hung up thinking that maybe he 
would
make it out of this alive, when out of nowhere a gun muzzle was held against his temple.

****

"Julia! Julia!" Sherry whispered, trying to wake Julia by shaking her.

"
Mmmm," Julia answered. Poor girl was out cold.

"
Julia, something's going on. I heard something from upstairs."

Sherry
was horrified. She'd heard arguing outside the upstairs door. The woman and one of the big guys were having it out over something to do with Josh. Sherry was afraid that Josh had come up with a plan to rescue them and had screwed up and now the others would kill him then she and Julia would be next. She'd continued shaking Julia until she'd finally roused her.

"What is it?"
Julia asked sitting up quickly. She rubbed her eyes then yelped when she forgot about the hurt one, accidentally touching it.

Sherry
cringed then told Julia, "I'm not sure, but it has something to do with Josh. It didn't sound good." She bit down on a phantom fingernail.

Julia
’s adrenaline fired up finally waking her fully. "What'd they say?"

"Something about he hadn't come back but his car was still there. What do you think happened?"

Just then the woman screamed a string of obscenities and they heard a slap.

Both girls looked at each other, scared that they'd be the next recipients of the woman's wrath.
"I don't know. Shit. But if they find him doing something to help us, he's dead. We've got to get out of here before they come for us next." Julia stood and stretched quickly, rolling her head around on her neck. "We've got to try the door again."

Sherry
looked panicked, afraid they'd be caught. "I'm so scared, Julia."

"I know. I am too. Come on."