Before he could, he heard a loud grunt and felt another bone-splitting blow bury into his upper back. The pain almost sheared him in two. He tried to reach for it. He tried to power his brain through the pain-What had happened? What was there to do?-with whatever clarity he still possessed.
He had to warn the doc. He was in trouble too.
That was all.
But he couldn’t move. A warm, coppery taste was on his tongue and he saw blood trickle down the driveway past his face into a growing pool. Damn. He tried to force himself up, like an animal fighting for one last breath- one last rush-but then another cracking jolt cleaved through him, his spine splitting in two.
“Ahh…, ” he groaned deeply. He reared back around and saw, almost with a glint of amusement, what appeared to be the wooden handle of an ax.
Chickens, he thought, and lay his head back down. Damn.
“Don’t…” He heard a woman’s voice. It was more of a plea than a command. His mind was fuzzy. “Please, don’t. We told you to stay out, you dumb bastard. If you had…”
There was another, spine-splitting blow. No longer pain, just numbness and cold. All the air sucked out of his body from his back.
He felt sad to have let the doc down. Not to have finished what he vowed to complete.
He knew it was time to let go, but as he did, something else came into his drifting mind.
He struggled forward, like a snake cut in half continuing to slide on his belly. His fingers gripped the pavement, now like sand. Each small measure forward consuming most of what was left of his strength.
And he crawled, down the driveway, every inch labored and life-emptying, like a strong current fighting against him, keeping him away.
No, not this time, it wouldn’t…
He looked up to the shining, sunlit sight. He could almost touch it. Just a few more feet.
Please…
Sherwood opened his eyes. The driveway was gone, and instead of asphalt, soft leaves and moss brushed against his face. Green and cool now. The soothing tide of the river felt good against him.
Just stay with me, son. I’ll be there.
Through the haze he saw the blue craft up ahead. He kept forcing himself, pushing against the current, against the dissipation of everything inside him. To get there. “Please, please, please, son, please…”
He reached out, desperation in his voice.
He made it. He felt the smooth, slick exterior of the fiberglass hull. The bright white stripe. His heart in panic, he turned it over and looked inside.
There he was. Kyle, all huddled up inside. Smiling at him. In his helmet. In the River Tours T-shirt they had bought him at the check-in station. The greatest joy he had ever felt coursing through him. Welcoming him.
“It’s okay, Dad,” Kyle said, reaching to hug him. “I’m okay. I’m here.”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
I hung up and waited, sitting on the bed, my right leg bobbing crazily. I didn’t know what to do.
I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t afraid. The guy was stalking me. Mocking me, in the same way Houvnanian had. He was saying good-bye. My reasons for relocation here are coming to an end. What reasons? With Susan Pollack unaccounted for, it could only mean that whatever they had planned for Charlie and Gabby was going to happen soon.
I grabbed my phone again and punched in my brother’s number. I let it ring six or seven times- C’mon, Charlie, Gabby, pick up! -but no one answered. Finally the message recording came on. Gabby. “Please leave a number… We will get back to you.” Shit.
I didn’t know if they even checked these things.
“Listen, Charlie…,” I blurted after the beep. “It’s Jay. I need to talk to you about what’s going on! It’s vitally important you call me back. Please…”
I hung up, not feeling good at all. Thirty seconds went by, and it felt to me like ten minutes. I must’ve glanced at my watch three times. They wanted me out. They wanted to face this alone. Something could already have happened! It was driving me crazy. I didn’t know what to do.
Only that, in that moment, I knew I couldn’t wait for Sherwood another second. I had to do something. Why wouldn’t they answer? It was possible, even likely, that while I sat there, something was going down right then.
I threw on my jeans and a shirt and grabbed my car keys off the desk. I opened the door and headed out, phone in hand. I figured I’d let Sherwood know what I was doing on the way.
I never saw a thing, only felt the impact of a two-handed swing from the side, as if a baseball bat had slammed into the side of my head.
I fell against the wall.
“Jeez, doc, where you headed so fast? You and I still have some things to talk about, no?”
The next blow struck me solidly in the face, the butt end of a large gun. I staggered backward through the half-closed door, attempting to catch my balance.
“You eastern folk…” The voice was like a faraway echo in my brain. “Always in such a big rush to go everywhere…”
The third shot almost knocked me down.
I was pushed back into my room, my head completely dazed, my legs rubber.
“Sorry, doc.”
He hit me in the stomach, sending me to a knee, and when I looked up, it was as if every bit of air had left my lungs and I heaved in desperation to draw a breath.
Dev was in the doorway. He let the door close tight behind him with a loud and very foreboding click.
This was bad.
Through my haze, Dev was grinning at me. “Maybe I’ll just take you up on that invitation a little earlier than you planned. That fine with you, doc?”
I could make out the gun in his hands, heavy and oversize, sending a tremor of fear shooting through me. My car keys were on the floor and he bent down and picked them up, catching them once in his palm. “I don’t know, I feel like we still have a few things to hash out. No reason to rush out now.”
I put a hand to my face. Warm blood streamed down the side. My brain was numb and clouded, but not so clouded that I didn’t realize I was in real trouble here. I flashed to Zorn and Greenway. And that woman from Michigan, her body all cut up. A chill shot through me. “What are you doing, Dev?”
“C’mon, Jay.” He laughed. “I may not have the fancy degree and all, but don’t play me for a complete fool.” He went over to the bed and picked up the copy of Greenway’s book I’d left there, opened to the photo of him on the tractor. “Man, I was a handsome bugger back then. A little lost, perhaps, but, hey, we all were. They called me Mal…” He tossed the book back on the bed and shook his head at me sympathetically. “Jeez, I couldn’t have laid it out for you any prettier, could I, Jay?”
I pushed up onto my feet and tried to run at him-all I could think to do-but he caught me on the side of the head with the gun butt, a blast ringing out this time and something thudding into the wall above the bed, creating a quarter-size hole.
I crumpled onto the floor, my head exploding.
“Damn, doc.” He chuckled, wide-eyed. “This thing really works. You know, it’s been a while.”
I flashed to Sherwood. He was on his way. “You don’t need to do this, Dev. I just called the police. They’ll be here any second.”
“The police…” He didn’t exactly seem worried. “If by ‘police’ you mean your ol’ buddy Sherwood… Hmmph, I’m afraid I have to inform you, doc… He’s just a shade under the weather at the moment.”
Sherwood. He was my only hope.
That’s when my fear really began to escalate. I knew now there was no one coming to the rescue. I was going to have to fight for my life.
