Mute

Taking cover

        “Oh, good morning Jace. You must be feeling better.” Her father came ambling around the corner from the stairs.

        “Yes sir. A little better anyway.” He looked up from the skillet, glancing over at Sam. “Almost human.”

        “Honey Bear?” Her father asked as he sat down at the table. “You seem flustered, are you all right?” She nodded with a smile she wasn’t sure how she was able to summon. If her father only knew what he just missed.

        Jace brought the food to the table and was almost seated when his phone rang from the counter. He immediately changed course and retrieved it. He glanced sharply at her father how too stood up and came over. Jace punched the speaker phone option and sat it down on the counter.

        “Jace, Dean here.”

        “What’s going on?”

        “Are you with Knight?” The two men glanced at each other again, jace also glanced back at Sam before returning his gaze to the phone.

        “Yeah. Dean,” He paused, he knew but he wasn’t sure he was right. “What is going on?”

        “What about his daughter, Sam?” Jace’s eyes went wide at her name. He didn’t have to look to hear her draw in a shaky breath.

        “Dean, I didn’t tell you her name.” Jace growled.

        “No, but we are getting confidential info left and right hard and heavy. Sand knows you are still alive, he is looking for you. Someone local may have sold your location to him. I have people on the way right now. Can you hold up safely until the cavalry gets there?”

        “Damn right we can.” King demanded.

        “I thought as much. Once a combat man, always a combat man.” Dean sighed heavily. “I asked about the girl because we received a surveillance type photo of her, looks like at the grocery store. Deacon is hunting her down, he knows she is involved and is going to use her to find you.”

        “The hell he will!” Jace grabbed his phone and turned so he could visibly see her. For some reason he had to know she was fine, even though she was right behind him. “What is the evacuation e.t.a?”

        “Our guys a few hours by chopper. I called the county and they should be there in minutes.”

        “s**t!” Jace motioned for her to come to him, “Jason. You have a basement?”

        “No.” He thought for a second. “Just a root cellar near the barn. Why?”

        “Dean, call the state troopers. I think the sheriff was involved with the drug ring. Get as many guns and ammo as you can, we can hold up in that cellar. Sam, come on.” He grabbed her hand and was pulling her towards the back door as he talked to his boss. “Dean those choppers better have warp speed.”

        “I am on it!”

        Sam pointed across the back yard to their right of the barn, in the shade of the barn half dug into the ground was a root cellar. They were nearly half way across the yard towards it when cop cars slid in the driveway and shots rang out. He instinctively forced her to hide her head low as they ran towards the barn.

        Shots were bouncing into the ground around their feet and flying past their heads, “Sam run! Take cover in the barn. Just go!” He shoved her deeper into the barn, pulling the hand gun from his waist band as he took cover behind the open barn door. Shots still bounced all around the barn door. “For God’s sake stay down.”

        He eased around the edge of the door frame, shooting back at the county cops. Gunfire instantly intensifying at him, he fell back against the wall for cover. He glanced around, he could just barely see where she had slid in the loose hay on the barn floor, she was back far enough to be out of firing distance. The mare was antsy but it was Jack that was standing stock still and shaking like a leaf.

        “Baby, are you with Jack?” He saw a thumbs up appear for a brief second over the stall wall. “Good girl, you stay down. You are safer back there.”

        “We have the place surrounded son. You aren’t going anywhere if not through us first. Come out, we won’t shoot. You need to come have a meeting with the boss.”

        “NO. That rat bastard has already tried to kill me. No dice.” Jace yelled back.

        “Where is the girl then?” The sheriff paused, “if I can’t bring you in with me I have orders it has to be her.”

        “Jace don’t you do it!” He heard Jason yell out.

        “Thought never crossed my mind Jason. Sheriff you can go to hell along with Sand. My boss knows about you! He’s on his way.”

        “Your boss? Like who? Who are you?”

        “Special agent Jace Colter, Federal Bureau of Investigations.”

        “Makes no difference. You will all be dead but the girl before they can get to this God forsaken hell hole.” The sheriff called, “light them up!”

        He jumped behind some hay bales not far from the door when shots started penetrating the wooden wall and door. “Sam! Stay down!” Several minutes later the shooting stopped, he held his breath. Silence was never good. He strained to hear, suddenly the slam of a wooden door and the horses squealing whipped him around from the door. Both horses ran past him in a flurry.

        “Sam?”

        His heart stopped, and his gun flew up, a member of Sand’s gang had a fist balled up into Sam’s hair, and a gun pressed to her throat angled up towards her brain. His insides crawled in hatred at the sight of the man pressed into her backside.

        “Put it down Fed!” He screamed, he was twitching he had to be high as hell, his eyes wild. Sam clung to the fist in her hair with both hands, tears falling like rain down her cheeks.

        “Don’t hurt her.” f**k! Now what? Think Jace, think.

        “Put the gun down Fed! I got the power here.” He pushed the gun harder into her throat, forcing her jaw up at a hard angle, could she have cried out he was sure she would have.

        “Don’t hurt her.” He could see the deputies coming up on his left out of his peripheral vison. He held his hands up, the gun dangling from his fingers. “It will be all right Sam.”

        The deputies jerked the gun away and knocked him down to his knees before throwing him face down in the barn dirt. He growled as the pain raced through his back when they bent his arm farther than necessary, his bullet wounds still not fully healed. The feet crowded around his vision parted as another two sets walked up.

        He took a kick to the temple, splitting his eyebrow open, blood trickling down to the dirt. He was fighting to get even one hand free but he had too many on him. Somewhere above him someone is laughing at his struggle, then a loud ear piercing whistle and shuffling feet with a man grunting.