Jimmy and Ginger stared at each other. Jimmy broke eye contact and searched for a weapon. He was out of luck unless he wanted to hurl flowerpot projectiles.
“I’m not going to let you ruin this for me by saving that tall farm boy,” Jimmy heard Chase say. “Grab her and let’s get out of here.”
Panic flashed through Jimmy. He pointed at Ginger. “Go get help.” And then he shot through the door, rounded the corner and slammed into a solid mound of flesh. Patrick used Jimmy’s surprise against him and flipped him to the ground in the narrow hallway. Faster than Jimmy could react, he was being pummeled by heavy fists, first in the face, and then on the body, as if the big kid were wielding a sledge hammer.
A break came in the beating as Patrick tumbled over Jimmy into the living room with Ginger riding on the big kid’s back, pulling out fistfuls of his red hair. Without much effort, Patrick reached behind his head, grabbed hold of Ginger’s arms and hurled her into the wall. She hit the floor, flipped over and bounced up instantly, ready to get right back into the middle of the fight again.
Anger and a protective instinct channeled through Jimmy with a furious roar. He charged in low, heaved the big kid up and plowed him to the floor like he was trying to bury him under the crawlspace. Jimmy plunged a knee into Patrick’s stomach, satisfied by the boy’s anguished cry, and started swinging wildly. A couple of his punches bashed into Patrick’s chest with the similar feel of punching a tree trunk.
“Run! Go get help!” Jimmy yelled at Ginger.
She stumbled for the door while Jimmy kept laying blows. The big kid twisted underneath him and tried to buck him off, but Jimmy was not letting him up. He knew his life depended on keeping Patrick down.
Something hard slammed Jimmy in the side of the head and knocked him into the wall. His eyes blurred as he caved to the floor.
“Thanks for the help,” Patrick said.
“The pleasure’s all mine.”
The voice-female-sounded familiar. Jimmy struggled, focusing his blurry vision to look around and raise himself up.
“Now let’s have a little fun,” Patrick said.
Jimmy cried out once when Patrick began kicking him. Then he tried to cover up as his ribs gave way. He lay trapped in a heap against the wall and the big redheaded kid laughed like a maniacal serial killer while kicking him over and over.
“That’s enough,” Chase said.
Jimmy suffered through each breath he took. He never knew that this kind of pain was possible. Every inch of his body, inside and out, felt busted.
Chase bent down to face him. “We’re leaving now and we’re taking the girl. If you come after us, I will kill Michael and David. Or should I call them, Hunter and Scout.”
Terror flowed uncontained throughout Jimmy’s wracked body. He coughed and felt something wet on his chin. He brushed his long sleeve across his mouth and saw the dark blood staining his shirt.
“That is what happens when you send babes into the woods where the big bad wolves dwell. I’ve seen what affect their presumed deaths have on you and Vanessa. If you don’t follow us, I’ll release them when I’m ready.”
Chase’s feverish eyes glimmered from whatever light they stole from the darkness. His hot breath washed over Jimmy’s face as he whispered, “She will not save you.” He backed away and regarded Jimmy for a second. “I met your parents once. You look just like your dad.”
“What?” Jimmy said. “Wait, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry about it. That was over six years ago.” Chase crept away, the night shadows caressing him until he vanished in their embrace.
Jimmy shifted, and winced over the effort. “How’d you know she was here?”
“I made a new friend.”
Molly stepped into Jimmy’s line of sight, tapping the shovel from the fireplace against her leg. “Hunter will be so pleased to see me again. I’ll let him know how you’re doing.” She smiled and dropped the shovel on him.
Jimmy scowled at her. While his left eye continued to grow puffier every second, the vision in his right eye cleared some. He glanced among the small crowd and caught Catherine staring at him, her small form glowing. Jimmy’s miracle was being torn away and he was too broken to do anything for her except bleed. Without a trace of worry on her face, Catherine waved goodbye. Patrick pushed her towards the front door and the group silently filed out.
Molly turned to follow.
“What should I tell your brother?” Jimmy asked.
Her back straightened at the threshold. “What do I care?”
Jimmy tried sitting up but it was all he could do to keep breathing. Ginger burst past Molly and fell at his side. Her eyes were filled with shining tears that she kept from falling.
“I’m sorry, Jimmy. A girl tackled me outside and held me down. I couldn’t get away from her. I’m so sorry.”
Molly laughed like she’d just gotten the joke and it wasn’t very funny. “So this is who you’re in love with? Figures. You two deserve each other. You’re both pathetic.” Then she stalked out and slammed the front door.
Ginger bolted up with murderous fury. Jimmy grasped her ankle, refusing to let her go. “Don’t,” he said.
She knelt once more and held his hand to her cheek. Now her tears fell freely, sweeping over his skin. “What should I do?”
“Wait.” Jimmy closed his eyes. Out front he heard car doors screech open and bang shut. An engine turned over and then tires crunched across the gravel road.
He squeezed Ginger’s hand. “Wake Mark, find Samuel and get Luis here quick, I think I’m going to need him.”
Ginger hovered over him a second more before lightly kissing his forehead. Then she left. Jimmy kept trying to do the only thing he could. Breathe. Between his raspy gasps and whistles, he prayed for Hunter and Scout’s safe return.
Scout caught a whiff of the ascending smoke column illuminated in the early breaking dawn as he and Hunter approached Independents. Dread rode above him in the mobilizing clouds and when they stopped at their house, it plummeted down on him like another curse from heaven.
“What the hell happened to our house?”
Stifled laughter sounded from the rear of his motorbike. He twisted backward and scowled at Jolanda. Her bonds and the gag suppressed her from pretty much everything, so she employed her only option-waggling eyebrows.
Scout propped his Suzuki on its kickstand and lurched over to the smoldering desolation. He stumbled at the edge, woozy from the sight and the scent. His second-story bedroom and all his stuff were reduced to a pile of charred rubble strewn along the ground. The brick fireplace stood alone, towering, sturdy and totally unsupported. Metal pipes leftover from the plumbing zigzagged in the sky.
“What happened to all my stuff? How does a house just burn to the ground?” He turned on Hunter and narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t leave a candle burning, did you?”
Hunter raised his hands. “No way, we left in the middle of the day, remember? Maybe a spark from the fireplace shot out and landed on the sofa cushions.”
“Maybe!” Scout’s voice cracked from the jump in octave. “Maybe!” He clenched his fists. His skin tightened over his body. “What about all my stuff! I’ve been collecting for years. I planned on using that stuff someday and now it’s all gone, all of it. I don’t even have a baseball glove anymore. And you think a spark maybe set fire to a couch cushion!”
Hunter plucked the non-simmering end of a two-by-four off the concrete path that used to lead home. He hurled the survivor into the black destruction that they used to call home.
“It’s just a theory.”
They stopped speaking with little more to say to each other. Scout searched the mess with his eyes, hoping to find something salvageable of his belongings. After a while he realized the inspection was pretty much pointless. All the sorrow of loss he felt six years ago returned and dragged him down again. He concealed his tears with a quick swipe before Hunter saw them.
The sound of running feet approached them from behind. Samuel scooted to a stop, took a second to catch his breath and then smiled. “You guys are all right. How’d you escape?”
“How’d you know we were captured?” Hunter asked.
“They took Catherine about an hour ago. Said they had captured you, and that they’d kill you if we followed.”