This should be my next book, but the name is going to change. It’s tough to come up with good excerpts that don’t give too much of the story away or spoil surprises that might be in the book.
Owen and Taki bookended Deke and Jimmy as they walked back to one of the black armored Excursions that the company owned. Dutch and three other guards climbed into an identical truck ahead of them. The two vehicles pulled out of the cemetery and turned toward the cabin. From where they were, it would be about an hour’s drive.
Deke put his arm around his son’s shoulder and pulled him closer. At five years old, he understood what death meant, but the finality was only now sinking in. As he realized that his mother would never hug him again, that he wouldn’t be able to show her his latest drawing, tears started to fall from his eyes in earnest. Even with the few words he’d been able to utter to his father, or that Taki had told his father he’d uttered to her, the older man knew exactly what he was feeling.
“Jimmy, you know I talk to Mommy every night. I know that she isn’t there… but I still talk to her. You can, too,” Deke said.
“Can she hear you?”
“I think she can, son. I think she’s in heaven watching over us. I know that more than anything she would want to watch you grow up… and if she can’t do it here, heaven for her would mean watching you from there.”
“Ok. I’ll try that. I have her picture in my room… I’ll tell her picture. It won’t be the same, but you’re probably right… she probably can listen to us. I just wish she could talk back,” Jimmy said.
“Me, too, buddy. Me, too.”
The Excursion made the turn onto Ridgeback Road. As much as everyone hated it, there was no way to drive to the cabin without driving past the spot Helena had died. They would have gone somewhere else, but father and son both felt closer to her at the cabin. It was the place she loved to be more than any other.
The front Excursion exploded in a fireball in front of them, lifting off the ground and landing on its side. Owen slammed on the brakes. He smacked the shifter into reverse as the big diesel engine revved. The rear tires spun as the axle hopped, looking for traction. There was a Suburban behind them, and as they backed toward them, it turned to block the road.
“Hold on, I have to ram it. They’re blocking us in,” Owen said. His voice carried force, but he didn’t yell the words.
Taki pulled her handgun from her shoulder holster as she looked through the windows around the big SUV, looking for other threats.
Their Excursion bashed into the back half of the Suburban, spinning it in the road and pushing it up on its side as bullets ricocheted off their truck. Owen spun the wheel to the left, causing them to spin around. He slammed the SUV into drive and stomped on the gas. The rear glass spiderwebbed from larger caliber rounds hitting it.
A box truck slid to a stop barely in front of them, pushing them off the side of the road. Owen did his best to point the truck straight downhill to keep it from rolling. They bashed through scrub and bounced over rocks as they sped down the steep incline.
Just before they hit the lower section of road, the Excursion hit a large rock on the passenger side, forcing the truck up on its driver’s side as it hit the road.
“Nine-one-one, what’s the nature of your emergency?” played over the truck’s speakers as Owen made the call.
“We’re on Ridgeback Road, between the third and fourth switchback. We’re being shot at,” he yelled, grimacing. Blood was trickling down the side of his head, and there was a splatter of it on the inside of the window next to him where his head had stuck.
“We have to get out of here,” Deke said.
“This thing is a tank. We should stay put,” Owen replied.
“Like Dutch’s truck? We’re getting out,” Deke repeated.
“Mr. Swanson is right. We need to get out and get away before they show up,” Taki said.
She popped her seatbelt and fell on top of Owen with a grunt. Deke undid his seatbelt and then Jimmy’s, as he held the boy in place. Jimmy looked around, in shock, not understanding what was happening around him.
Deke maneuvered past the back seat into the back of the SUV, with Jimmy following. Taki crawled back to where they were and opened a compartment in the back. There was a pair of rifles clamped in the hidden stash. She pulled a release and the back door unlatched so she could open it. She handed Deke her pistol and stepped out the back, rifle in hand.
Owen came up behind them. He grabbed the other rifle and squeezed around them to get out of the truck. He wanted to be sure the area was secure before he let Jimmy and Deke out into the open.
A round pinged off the tailgate from the road a hundred feet above.
“Break for the downhill side on my mark. That should be closer to the police when they come, and any pursuit coming from up the road will have trouble getting past here,” Owen said. “When I say go, you three take it. Ok?”
“What about you?” Deke asked.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Owen stepped around the back of the truck and put his sights on the black Mercedes that had just come around the switchback a hundred yards away. He unloaded a thirty-round magazine as Taki led Jimmy and Deke over the edge of the road. He grabbed another magazine and snapped it into the rifle. He stepped around the truck and emptied that one at the car as well. Steam poured from the unprotected radiator.
Swapping mags again, and grabbing a spare, he readied himself to make his sprint toward the far side of the road. Using the truck as cover he started his run. He built up his momentum and exploded out from behind the truck, jumping off the side of the road as rounds slammed into the ground behind him and into the trees above him.
He landed and tried to tuck and roll, but failed miserably, landing on one leg and then smacking into a tree. The rifle flew out of his hands, bouncing away down the hill as he dropped to the ground at the base of the tree, unable to move.
I hope you enjoyed this. The previous part was posted Monday. If you liked this, check out my Amazon Author page. I have eight books currently posted, and this one should be there before the end of the year! You can also check out my short stories on Vocal.