“Mom and two others need help right away or they’ll die,” he said. “The others are okay. What do we do now?”
“Dave and I are going to go visit the asshole who ordered this. The guy we got their boss’ address from in the office will be dead before the cops get here.” I touched a bloody dressing on John’s shoulder. “You okay?”
He grimaced. “Just pissed at myself. Didn’t see the fifth guy in time. I’m afraid he got away in a stolen car.”
I shrugged. “Not much we can do about that. Long as you’re okay. Leave our names out of any of this for the time being, will you? Just tell the cops you guys killed all the attackers, and the one in the office fell down the stairs. We’ll be in touch when it’s over. That okay?”
John turned to the mass of people in the room. “You heard the man. Anyone got a problem with that?” There were a few murmurs, but everyone shook their heads. He faced us. “Some of us plan on sticking around until the workshop is officially over, another three days. If you’re done before then, we’d appreciate a face-to-face meeting with you about all that happened.”
I nodded. “I will. And if you’re sticking around here, y’might want to keep an eye out, especially after the cops leave. These are bad dudes, and must want me pretty bad to track me here.”
He gave a humorless smile. “We’ve got enough armament from the perps and what some of us brought along we can take care of ourselves. Plus I’ll pass on word to the deputies when they show up.”
Without another word, I headed for my room to wash some of the blood off and change clothes.
When the ambulances and police arrived, Dave and I slipped into my Escape and waited. Minutes later the first ambulance started down the hill, with us close behind. I’d entered Willie’s address into the GPS, which told us we had a trip of two hours.
Both of us were silent, sunk into our own thoughts. The simmering rage was still in my head, a black thing that kept trying to take over, like back in the office. It had been over a year since its last visit. Could I shove it back in its cave after this was over?
I brushed the thought aside. No time now. Maybe later.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The first hour of our trip flew by. Every time my mind started to relax, images of the violence I’d seen and dished out earlier in the evening would capture me. I was in the process of forcing my hands to relax their death grip on the steering wheel when Dave opened his eyes.
“You look tense. Want me to drive?”
I shrugged, trying to ease the tension between my shoulder blades. “No, I’ll be all right. My brain keeps going back over what just happened. Tightens me up.”
He sat up and stretched, emitting a groan. “Yeh, me, too. About the time I start to drift off, I see the guy I killed in the car.” He gave himself a shake, and glanced at me. “What’s your plan when we get to Willie’s place?”
My mind blanked. “Uh…”
“I’ve got some thoughts on what should go down,” he said, ignoring my hesitation. “Do a soft recon of the place, and try our best to not kill everyone this time. We need to gather information, and make sure who all of the bad guys are. I’ll bet Willie has a boss. Which means we’ve got a bigger chore than you might think.”
“You’re right.” I shook my head. “Somehow, I’ve got to remove myself from the radar of these goons. Might keep more innocent people from being hurt.”
“Yes. And identifying everyone who knows about you in their camp would help cut down on who we need to get rid of.”
I nodded grudgingly. “Probably the best approach. But still…”
He shrugged. “I still want to kill ‘em all, too. But that solution’ll probably mean we end up dead.”
I glanced at my watch. “Another half-hour and we can stop for gas. Take a little time to strategize, too. That sound good?”
Dave stretched again, and settled back. “Okay with me. And a little coffee might be called for.”
* * *
Midnight had come and gone by the time I turned onto Monroe Road, on the outskirts of Charlotte. Minutes later, a large sign on the right proclaimed we were passing the entrance to Tyson Meadow, our destination. According to the sign, each lot was at least two acres in size.
“Go two more blocks and turn right,” Dave said, intently eyeing the GPS on his cell phone. “We might be able to find a place to park there while we look around.”
Once stopped on a tree-lined street, we weaponed up with knives and pistols before beginning our prowl. Dave had purchased a dark blue hoody sweat shirt when we stopped to get some gas. I was already clad in dark clothes. Two ski masks from the kit I used when prepping for night prowling, part of my stock in trade for several years, covered our faces. “You take the lead,” I said. “You’ve got the GPS.”
Dave moved out, heading across the vacant lot to our front. Even though it was closing in on one a.m., lights were still on in several of the homes. This meant slow and silent movement was called for. Twenty minutes passed before we found ourselves at the back of our objective. After slipping over the fence, I hunkered down next to Dave at the corner of the attached garage. The place was two thousand square feet, smaller than those around it. Surprising, since I would’ve expected someone like Willie to flaunt his importance.
The sound of a door opening and voices inside the garage brought me to my feet and moving towards a window three feet
