Текст книги "Equal Access"

Автор книги: A. E. Branson

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Peace is a gift, but it does not come magically through our passivity. Only in our faithful response to God’s call do we receive God’s peace.

–Sandra Cronk

The house Shad sought out looked the way he expected, except there were no other houses nearby, which did surprise Shad a little. The light blue, frame structure was built up on pilings, which anybody who dared to live right next to a river as dynamic as the Osage would be wise to have. And as Shad approached the premises he noticed there was a white houseboat docked at a pier behind the house.

There were no vehicles parked in front, and a closed garage didn’t offer much suggestion if anybody was already here. Shad parked the car and shut off the engine. He picked up his cell phone and dialed the number to the Sheriff’s office. When the dispatcher picked up Shad gave his name and the address of his location, and then simply stated, “Send a patrol car out here if I don’t call back in five minutes. It’ll mean there’s been a disturbance.” Shad hung up.

His heart seemed to be pounding at its regular rate but with more effort than usual. The logical place to go would be the boat. Even if there was anybody at the house, talking might be useful only if the boat were empty. So Shad left the car and walked down beside the house and into the back yard.

His phone in the shorts pocket began to ring, and Shad quickly glanced at it to see the sheriff’s office was calling him back. Shad ignored the call and set his phone to silent.

A patio that sloped up to the house on one side led toward the large floating dock on the other side. At the end of the dock was moored the large, white, tiered boat. A ten-foot jon boat with a prop motor was tied to the other side of the dock. His heart still thumping, Shad stepped over to the patio and walked out on the dock.

The river was a little higher than it had been lately, the current swifter. Last night’s rain had been widespread, and it was possible the electric company had also released water from the dam upstream to keep everybody’s air conditioners running. These were not prime conditions for swimming. He stopped at the edge of the dock, looked back at the house, then hopped down onto the deck of the boat.

The vessel seemed well cared for although it did show signs of wear over the years. Shad stepped over to the entrance of the boat’s cabin and ducked his head inside. The interior had the ambience of twilight, and Shad scanned over the kitchen and dining area. There was nothing more than small cabinets around a tiny sink and a table set only with an empty, black bowl in its center.

Shad stepped inside and realized he was barely breathing because he was listening so intently. The murmur of the river was almost a distraction. The inside of the cabin was otherwise silent.

There was a small wooden door at the other end of the cabin which Shad figured led to the sleeping quarters. It took him only a few steps to reach it, but when Shad placed his hand on the knob to open it, he discovered it was locked. Shad placed an ear against the door, listened, but still didn’t hear anything.

Shad kept his voice clear and low. “Charissa?”

A muffled squeal erupted from the other side so immediately Shad almost jumped. He rattled the doorknob again, and then banged his shoulder against the door. The squealing continued unabated as Shad stepped back and kicked the door in.

Charissa was kneeling on a platform bed just inside the door. Duct tape was wrapped around her mouth and her hands were bound by thick cording behind her back. Her eyes widened as her squealing became louder.

“Charissa!” Shad strode to her and starting picking at a corner of the tape near her ear. The girl cringed as he tugged at it, but Shad realized what he was going to have to do. “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t give Charissa time to wonder what he meant. Shad ripped off the tape with a swift pull.

“Ow!” Charissa winced and pulled away from him.

Shad started digging out the buffalo-horn handle pocket knife he always carried from his shorts pocket. “Everything’s gonna be all right. I’m gonna get you outta here.”

Charissa stared at him as Shad opened the pocket knife. “He lied to me!” She practically wailed.

“I know.” Shad grasped Charissa’s wrists and began cutting at the cords while taking care not to cut the girl. “But you’re gonna be all right now. I just need you to stay calm so we can get out to the car.”

“He said we were gonna see the boat.” Charissa whimpered. “And when we got here, he said he had a game for us to play. I thought the tape was funny but I didn’t like it when he tied me up. But I couldn’t even tell him to stop! And then he left me here!”

The rope snapped apart and Shad began pulling it loose. “Is that all? Did Vic do or say anything else?”

“He told me to be quiet or he’d go back and hurt Mom.”

Thank God he’d gotten here in time. Shad tossed the rope aside and grabbed Charissa’s right wrist.

“Why did he do this?” Charissa gasped. “Why?”

“Later. Right now we need to go.” Shad nearly pulled the girl off the bed.

He stepped through the splintered doorway first, but movement out on the deck caught the corner of Shad’s eye as he glanced back to be sure Charissa passed through without bumping into the mangled door frame.

Shad turned and saw Vic step to the doorway of the cabin. He had a pistol pointed at them.

Charissa yelped as soon as she saw Vic. Shad immediately pushed the girl back behind him, his left hand darting from her wrist to Charissa’s left shoulder.

“Don’t do this!” Shad barked.

Vic stared at Shad with what had to be shocked disbelief. “What are you doing here, Delaney?”

“Stopping you. You’d better not shoot. The sheriff’s been notified and he’s on the way.” Now would not be a good time to get killed. Charissa was nowhere near safety. “You don’t want to add murder to your charges.”

Vic continued to stare at him. He seemed to take a few seconds to think about what Shad said before tentatively shaking his head.

“It’s all because of you, Delaney. You’re the root of all my problems. Thanks to you I’ve got the cops looking for me, because every time I turn around, there you are. And now you’ve found me out here where nobody else would look.” Vic’s tone got gruffer. “Now how the hell did you do that?”

Shad could feel Charissa’s hands clenching his shirt at the small of his back. From his grip on her shoulder, Shad knew she was trembling.

“It’s a long story.” Shad hoped a little conversation would gain him some time so he could figure out how to get off the boat with both of them alive. “But I’ve got a few questions of my own. How involved is Drake Anderson in all this? Is he the one who took on the hit job?”

“Drake’s not even in town,” Vic growled. “So he had nothing to do with that bitch wife of yours who showed up shooting everything in sight.”

The derogatory term sparked anger in Shad, but he wasn’t sure if that was the most useful emotion right now. “So you’re borrowing the houseboat until he gets back?”

“I was gonna shove off tonight and make our way down the rivers until I could ditch the boat outside the state.”

Shad hated to admit he was impressed. “Clever. While everybody’s on the lookout for your pickup, which I presume is parked in Drake’s garage, you escape by a method they won’t immediately think of.”

“And you won’t be able to tell anybody about it,” Vic snarled as he raised the pistol a little higher so it pointed at Shad’s upper chest. “Since you’re finally gonna be dead!”

Charissa jumped and Shad started. He tightened his grip on her shoulder.

“Killing me won’t help you one bit.” Shad still looked for any other exit besides trying to crash through the small windows. “I can even help you. If you’ll surrender, if you won’t shoot me, I’ll help keep the charges to a minimum and I’ll even recommend a good lawyer for your defense.”

“What do you take me for?” Vic snarled. “I don’t need your charity and you’ll say anything right now to save your skin!”

“You can’t argue that keeping me alive means you won’t have a murder charge. You can turn back right now. You can keep this from becoming worse.”

“Shut up!” Vic straightened to a true aiming stance and the pistol was pointed at Shad’s sternum. “Let Charissa go!”

“What?”

“Let her go! Send her over here!” Vic actually smiled. “You don’t want her to be in the line of fire, do you?”

“I’ve got a better idea.” Shad noticed again the bowl on the table and remembered his suspicion about Wally’s coffee that morning.

“I’ll bet you do!”

“You don’t wanna mess up your friend’s nice boat. Let me step outside.”

“Nice try,” Vic growled. “But your time is up!”

Shad released Charissa as he dove forward but he felt a tug on the back of his shirt. The table was only one step away, and in one motion Shad grabbed the bowl and hurled it at Vic.

In that same second he heard the crack of the pistol and Charissa’s scream. Shad’s lunge was already in progress, however, and he tackled Vic in the stomach. The two men tumbled to the deck outside.

If Shad had been shot, he didn’t know it yet. He scrambled to pin down Vic’s arms. But Vic’s right hand, still grasping the pistol, struck Shad in the left temple. The force of the blow knocked Shad back as pain flashed through his head. Vic lurched to his knees.

Shad lunged forward and tackled Vic again. Although Shad had the more athletic form, the bulk Vic had was a force to be reckoned with. Shad wrapped his right arm around Vic’s neck and with his left hand grasped the man’s right wrist, just below the pistol. For a few seconds they struggled over the gun. Then Vic boxed Shad in the right ear.

New pain coursed through his head, but Shad pressed that side of his face into Vic’s chest and focused on trying to force the man’s right hand lower and closer to them so Shad could grab the pistol.

Vic punched him in the ribs. Shad realized he’d forgotten how excruciating beatings could be.

Vic grabbed for the pistol himself. As Vic yanked it from his right hand, Shad reached up with his other arm and grasped Vic’s left wrist. For a few seconds the two men strained against each other.

Vic pummeled Shad in the face with the top of his head.

Most of the blow centered on the right side of his mouth, adding another dimension of misery to Shad’s experience. But it was the shift in weight that caused Shad to fall backwards as Vic fell on top of him. Even as he gasped for breath Shad kept a tight grip on Vic’s wrists.

Realizing only his left leg was pinned under Vic, Shad drove his right knee into Vic’s tailbone. The man grunted and recoiled enough for Shad to release his wrists. With a quick roll to one side, Shad tried to spring on top of the man. In the same instant he spied Charissa standing in the doorway to the cabin, grasping the side frame as though she needed it to hold her up.

“RUN!” Shad bellowed as he dove for Vic.

Charissa darted to his right, but that was all Shad saw. Vic lurched to his knees and slugged Shad in the ribs again. The blow knocked Shad back, and Vic scrambled to his feet.

But Vic didn’t have the pistol.

Still on his own knees and short of breath as spasms of pain pulsed through his head and body, Shad fully expected Vic to start laying into him. But the man dove to one side, snatched up the pistol that had fallen near the cabin, and darted in the same direction Charissa had gone.

Shad spun to see where that was as he clambered to his feet. He spied Charissa near the stern of the boat. She screamed again as Vic overtook her and grabbed the back of her shirt with his free hand.

Shad lunged forward. Vic roughly yanked the girl back and raised his pistol hand to strike her.

The rage inside Shad snapped free.

He sprang at Vic and drove his right elbow into the left side of the man’s face. The blow nearly toppled Vic over the side railing and the pistol clattered back to the floor. He released Charissa, who scrambled to the back corner and slid along the side railing.

Shad grabbed Vic by the shirt and slammed him against the side of the cabin. Just as he drew his arm back to deliver another blow to Vic’s face Shad heard Charissa scream.

He spun his head toward her just in time to see Charissa’s outstretched hand disappear behind the boat. The girl hadn’t noticed that the railing ended. Shad heard her hit the water just before Vic boxed him in the jaw.

Shad staggered back. He could hear Charissa sputtering and shrieking. Vic charged him, but Shad ducked to one side and sprang to the back of the boat. The current had already pulled Charissa a few yards downstream, and her struggles to stay afloat were drifting her toward the center of the river. She was sputtering much more than shrieking now.

Shad leaped feet first into the river. The water was just deep enough to be over his head this close to the bank. He kicked off the deck shoes and Shad buoyed back to the surface of the river to gasp a lungful of air and start swimming toward Charissa.

The simultaneous crack of the pistol and a high-pitched whine near his left ear reminded Shad that Vic was still out there.

He had his lungful of air. Shad submerged. He dove toward the bottom of the river and took a few strokes toward its center. There was less than two feet of visibility in the water, which would help conceal Shad from Vic but would also conceal Charissa from Shad. Shad normally didn’t like to open his eyes much in the Osage River, but he had to try to get some bearing where Charissa was. Partially blind, with only the gurgling roar of the moving water for him to hear, Shad swam in the direction he prayed Charissa would be.

He surfaced in order to gulp more air and get his bearings. Shad immediately spied Charissa, who was only a few yards downstream from him, but frantic splashing was the only noise she could make. Shad heard the simultaneous crack and whine again as Charissa sank into the river.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

He protects and defends the weak and helpless. He aids and comforts the unfortunate and oppressed. He upholds the rights of others while defending his own.

–One of the obligations from Eagle Scout Court of Honor

Shad dove again and swam directly toward where he believed Charissa had submerged. His breast stroke became a bit inefficient as Shad began groping in the water. He was more likely to find her by feel than by sight. Please, please, let his guess be right. Shad knew this river. He knew its currents and eddies and how they could change. He knew about buoyancy and drift. He should be in her vicinity by now but time was slipping away. Shad plunged even deeper into the water and groped again as his lungs began to burn.

The side of his right hand bumped something thin and soft yet firm. Shad immediately grasped what felt like an arm and pulled it toward him. Charissa’s face emerged from the darkness. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted.

Shad erupted to the surface of the river with Charissa in his grasp.

With his left arm crooked under her arms and his lungs hurting almost as much as his head, Shad began swimming with the best side stroke he could manage at the moment toward the nearer bank.

Already wearied from fighting with Vic, Shad found himself stretching his feet down when he was still a few yards away from shore in the hope he could touch bottom. His third attempt was successful, and Shad staggered out to the bank which was slightly overgrown with brush. Rocks and sticks dug into his feet. He set Charissa down in a grassier area and immediately checked for breathing.

As he feared, she wasn’t. Shad immediately gave Charissa fifteen chest compressions, then mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The pain that shot through his lip upon this act reminded Shad it was split.

By the time Shad gave Charissa ten more chest compressions, she suddenly gagged. He quickly rolled her to her left side, and Charissa coughed up water as she continued to gag and sputter.

“It’s all right. You made it,” Shad gasped as he thumped her on the back. “Cough it up. Take a breath. You’ll be okay.”

Charissa wheezed and hacked. Shad realized he heard the drone of an approaching motor, and he remembered the smaller boat tied at the dock.

Shad almost wished he were a swearing man. Why couldn’t Vic just make a run for it? But the man was coming, and Shad was going to have to deal with him. It didn’t help that the rage that motivated Shad earlier was now spent and ready to go back inside for a glass of milk and some cookies. And in the back of his mind Shad realized his phone was now toast.

“I’m coming back,” Shad said to Charissa, and he hoped those wouldn’t be his last words to her.

His lungs still desirous for a steady supply of fresh air, Shad waded back into the Osage and saw Vic sitting in the motorboat as he steered it along the center of the river. Apparently Vic hadn’t seen them emerge from it. But he saw them now and turned the boat toward the bank.

The idea that flashed through Shad’s mind was just as dangerous for him as it was for Vic, but he really didn’t have the time to consider any other options.

Shad muttered, “God, I’m Yours,” before he drew a deep breath and plunged into the water.

He had the rumble of the boat’s motor to help guide him this time, and as Shad swam far enough below the surface to prevent himself from being seen, sound was about all he had to go by. Vic didn’t seem to be slowing the boat down, and Shad knew he’d have to surface quickly if his plan to topple the boat would work. He would have to take care to not be chopped up by the propeller blades. At least he wouldn’t have to stay under water as long.

As Shad and the boat approached each other, Shad began swimming toward the surface. He felt more than saw the boat start passing over him. Shad kicked to the surface and broke through directly beside the boat. Even as Vic swung the pistol toward him, Shad grabbed the side of the vessel and pushed it down by raising himself.

The boat capsized and spilled Vic into the river while Shad was busy trying to avoid them both. He dove underwater, resurfaced again a couple of yards from the boat, and saw Vic sputtering and starting to swim toward the bank. It didn’t look like Vic still had the pistol.

Shad took a few strokes toward Vic and dove again. He plunged underneath the man and then with as hard a kick as Shad could muster, breached beside Vic with a momentum that would probably make whales burst into laughter and threw himself on top of the man.

Shad managed to gulp more air before they both went under. Still on Vic’s back, Shad tightly wrapped his arms around the other man, pinning Vic’s arms to his sides. Their combined weight kept pulling them down. Vic struggled, and Shad did get his legs buffeted by the man’s shoes, but the density of the water dulled the blows.

Shad believed there was nowhere on his body that didn’t hurt, especially his lungs. He and Vic touched bottom, and Shad couldn’t see a thing but there was no question Vic continued to franticly struggle. Shad was good at holding his breath for a long time when he had the chance to prepare for it, but his already straining lungs felt like they were trying to burst. Shad released a slow, partial exhale, and in the back of his mind took comfort in the fact that if he drowned soon, at least Charissa should be safe. Perhaps because his brain was starved for oxygen Shad also thought of the joke “Do you know how to save a drowning lawyer? No? Good!”

Vic suddenly stiffened, jerked, and then trembled.

That was enough for Shad. Crooking one arm under Vic’s, Shad kicked to reach the surface. Vic was much heavier than Charissa, and for a couple of seconds Shad considered leaving him at the bottom so Shad could breathe before he blacked out.

But they were only a few feet below the surface. Shad broke through, noisily gulped air, and coughed and sputtered as he dragged Vic toward the bank. By the time his feet were able to touch bottom, Shad was grateful to have the water to buoy him even as it pushed against him because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand on his own.

The rocks cut into his feet as Shad dragged Vic toward the brushy land. Shad didn’t even get Vic all the way out, but was able to lay the man’s head on a rock sticking out from the shallow water just before Shad collapsed to his hands and knees.

Gasping, coughing, blessing every breath that filled his lungs, Shad tried to take as little time as possible to pull himself back together. He looked over at Vic, and too weary to groan, Shad forced himself to stand and pull the man farther up on the bank. Once he had Vic laid out, Shad began chest compressions.

He was actually relieved that Vic started gagging and coughing after only a few compressions. Shad wasn’t as motivated to go through life-saving heroics this time, but he knew he wouldn’t want the man’s death on his conscience either. Shad rolled Vic to his side to cough up water, and quickly decided he’d better find a way to detain the fellow.

Still kneeling beside Vic, Shad glanced up and down the bank, not really expecting to find anything. He did see Charissa about forty yards upstream. She was still partially lying on her side and looking their direction.

Shad waved one arm. “It’s okay,” he croaked.

Since there were no convenient coils of rope lying around, Shad unbuckled his belt and pulled it free from the loops of his shorts. He immediately realized that a belt cut for a thirty-two inch waist wouldn’t be enough length to bind Vic’s hands securely, so Shad used it to shackle Vic’s feet together. Shad then ripped off his shirt, possibly popping off a button or two, and twisted it into a ropey form. As he tied Vic’s hands behind his back Shad realized he was going to owe Pap a new shirt.

When he finished restraining Vic, Shad rested his hands on the ground to keep himself propped up. His head throbbed, his sides ached, his legs were sore, his feet were cut up; Shad wanted to just collapse on the bank and pass out for a while.

“Mr. Delaney!”

Shad looked up. Charissa was stumbling toward him, tripping over some of the brush. Still on his hands and knees, Shad staggered more than crawled in her direction.

“Take it easy, Charissa. Don’t hurt yourself.” His voice was still hoarse and raspy.

Charissa was easily covering more ground than Shad. He had floundered only a couple of yards when she reached him. Shad managed to sit up to a kneeling position and Charissa threw her arms around his neck.

“It’s all right,” Shad croaked as he wrapped his arms around her and patted Charissa’s back. “It’s over.”

She was snuffling but not fully crying. Charissa clung to him as though her life still depended on it, and Shad only had enough strength to keep patting her while he watched for red and blue flashing lights to finally appear at the house upstream.

The deputy called in an ambulance, and while the EMT ministered to the cut above Shad’s left eye, Charissa informed him that he was rehired. Shad’s first thought was that Demetri’s counsel was going to have a field day with the fact Shad had nearly delivered Charissa to a sex offender.

He accompanied the girl to the hospital in order to keep Charissa company, not because of the EMT’s insistence Shad should get that cut stitched. It was just an inch long slash on the corner of his brow, so the only good stitches would do was prevent a scar. Shad decided the butterfly bandage would be good enough. One more scar was the least of his worries.

Tess, Eliot, and Monica arrived at the hospital to see Charissa. That was Shad’s cue to leave with the sheriff and answer a few questions – this time as a witness instead of a suspect.

So Shad was able to get some information. Wally, back in St. Louis, apparently figured he wasn’t going to go down alone and was readily naming names. The sheriff already had the hit man in custody. He worked in security at the mall, which Shad found rather scary. When Dulsie winged him along the jaw, the would-be murderer hightailed it to Vic to get patched up. That was when Vic learned the identity of Wally’s target.

It was late evening by the time Mam and Pap picked Shad up in Jefferson City after he dropped off the rental car. Still sore and bruised, he couldn’t be very exuberant about getting to see them again, but Shad was more grateful than he was able to show. It had been a long two weeks.

And he still had one more matter to take care of.