Rakkim slowly removed the automatic rifle from beside Jeeter, slid it under a heap of straw with the other three weapons. The sleeping sentry outside had been trickier to disarm, actually using his jackhammer shotgun as a pillow. Rakkim tickled him until he turned over, removed the weapon as the young man sighed, said a woman’s name. Jeeter was older than the other three, more muscular, a hardened vet, his face so blistered that one eye was swollen shut. Annabelle had caught him good with the hot grits.
Jeeter stirred as Rakkim watched him. That was Rakkim’s fault. Never let your gaze linger if you want to stay invisible. Jeeter might be lying in his own sweat and stink, but there was a good soldier under there somewhere. Gravenholtz knew what he was doing. Rakkim squatted beside the man, watching…waiting.
Jeeter opened his eyes.
Rakkim blew him a kiss. “Rise and shine.”
Jeeter reached for his weapon, found it gone, and rolled to his feet. Quick too.
Rakkim punched him in the throat. The two others in the barn woke to the sound of Jeeter gagging. Saw Rakkim standing there, hands in his pockets. “Morning, boys,” said Rakkim. “Come on over and let’s talk.”
They got carefully to their feet-Ferris, a chunky, bleary-eyed dullard, and Pruitt, lean and delicate somehow, both of them looking around for their weapons, embarrassed. The sentry stumbled inside, his hair wild, stopped when he saw Rakkim. Scraggly goatee on his chin. Tom Tipton. Billy Goat Gruff.
“Come on in, Tom.” Rakkim flashed the penlight video he had taken a few minutes ago. “Wish I could see Gravenholtz’s face when he sees this.”
They stared at the mini-movie on the wall, right about the axes and chain saws and dive gear-images of themselves snoring, scratching their privates, guns in the dirt, oblivious in dreamland.
“Please, sir…you don’t have to show this to Gravenholtz,” said Tom. “That’s not Christian.”
“Man wanted me to keep tabs on how you boys were doing,” said Rakkim. “Wouldn’t be Christian to keep the truth from him.”
“I didn’t do nothing,” said Ferris.
“One for all and all for one,” said Rakkim.
“What’s that mean?” said Ferris.
“Means we’re all responsible,” said Pruitt, working to hold himself steady. “One of us fucks up, we all fuck up.”
Jeeter made it to his knees, wheezing, trying to breathe.
Pruitt looked around, as though expecting to see other troops. “Sir, we…please tell Commander Gravenholtz that we never let down our guard before. Not once.”
“Once is kind of enough, don’t you think?” said Rakkim.
“This ain’t fair,” said Tom, small eyes blinking. “It’s ‘Tipton, do this, Tipton, do that, Tipton, you dumb fuck, wash out my socks,’” he said, voice cracking. “I do everything I’m told, and I still get tagged with guard duty five nights running, no relief. How am I supposed to stay awake? You tell me, how am I supposed to do that?”
Rakkim wagged a finger at Jeeter. “You run a sloppy outfit, top dog. I surely would hate to be you when I make my report.”
Tom tugged at his wispy goatee. “The women…those two women must have put something in our food…drugged us out.” He looked around for support. “Knockout drops or something.”
“I wouldn’t put anything past those two bitches,” mumbled Ferris.
Jeeter secured the strap of his overalls, looking hard at Rakkim. “I’m not worried. Gravenholtz knows me, knows I get the job done.”
“Please, mister,” said Tom.
“Too late, Tom,” said Rakkim. “Already sent it on. I put a three-hour transmission delay on it, give you boys a chance to head out for greener pastures.” He smiled at Tom. “Five straight nights of guard duty? You deserve a break. Besides, I hate thinking about what Gravenholtz will do to you if he finds you here. Gives me nightmares.”
“Ain’t nobody leaving,” said Jeeter.
Rakkim checked his watch. “It’s up to you.”
“Jeeter, hey, man,” said Tom, “you can stay, but me…” He bent down, started shoving clothes into a backpack.
“I said, stay put,” said Jeeter.
“Like this guy said, Jeeter, one for all…one for all and we’re all fucked,” said Ferris. “I seen Gravenholtz crush a man’s skull for stepping on his foot. What do you think he’s going to do to us?”
“He ain’t going to do nothing.” Jeeter glared at Rakkim with his one good eye. “This turd isn’t working for Gravenholtz. He probably don’t even know Gravenholtz. He’s running some game.”
Rakkim looked at his watch. Shrugged.
“What kind of a dumb game you think he’s running, Jeeter?” said Tom, the backpack overflowing. “He’s not asking nothing from us.”
Pruitt watched Rakkim.
Rakkim spread his arms wide. “It’s a free country. You want to stay here and find out who’s playing a game and who’s not, be my guest. Ta-ta.” He started toward the door.
“Where you think you’re going?” Jeeter grinned. “By my count, there’s four of us and one of you.” He scooped a hammer off a workbench. “So you hand over that vid and maybe I won’t nail your pecker to the wall.” He looked around. “Ferris, get your fat ass in gear. Pruitt, Tipton…move it.”
Ferris hesitated, walked slowly to a corner and picked up a crowbar.
“Maybe…maybe we should talk about this first,” said Tom.
“Tom’s got a point,” said Pruitt, still watching Rakkim. “This man here can count as well as you can. He sidles in here, takes our guns, wakes us up. He’s not armed…might as well be naked as a jaybird. He’s got to have something else going for him.”
“Let’s talk,” said Tom.
Jeeter hefted the hammer. “Soldier up, Tipton. Fucking Billy Goat Gruff, if you had been standing guard like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened.”
“Now, boys, don’t argue over me,” said Rakkim. “The Good Book says blessed are the peacemakers.”
Tom sighed, walked over, and pulled out a single-bladed ax from the stump used as a chopping block. He took a few practice swings, the ax swooshing the air. Dust motes danced in the morning light.
Jeeter nodded at Tom. “That’s better. Now spread out.” He moved forward, tossing the hammer from one hand to the other, his eyes on Rakkim.
Ferris sidled forward, awkward, gripping the crowbar.
Tom closed in. Swung the ax high over his head, drove it down full force into Jeeter’s back. Slammed him into the ground.
Rakkim was as surprised as Pruitt and Ferris. All four of them stood there, watching as Jeeter’s fingers clutched at the dirt floor of the barn, the ax still stuck in his back as he tore at the dirt like he was trying to hide in the earth. They stayed there watching until the fingers stopped.
Tom spit on Jeeter. Looked over at Pruitt. “No matter what happened, he was going to blame me. You know he was, Pru.”
“It’s true,” said Pruitt. “That’s just what he would have done.”
Ferris dropped the crowbar. Stepped away from it.
“I ain’t facing Gravenholtz…I ain’t doing that.” Tom shook his head. “I’ll head out to Florida first, see if Cuban pussy is as good as they say it is.”
Rakkim rolled Jeeter onto his side. Patted him down until he found the phone, and then stood up. “You have about ten minutes until your eight o’clock check-in, Pruitt. Make the call and then you can all leave. That’ll give you some time before Gravenholtz gets the video. Enough time to put some distance between you.”
Ferris and Tom were already packing up their gear, hurrying. It didn’t take them long.
Pruitt walked over to Rakkim. “I’m not a deserter.”
Rakkim nodded. “I can see that, but it’s not safe here anymore. You can stay, but I’m taking the women where Gravenholtz won’t find them.”
“Does Leanne want to go?”
“They know they can’t stay here.” Rakkim watched Ferris and the sentry trot out the back door. “She spoke well of you…if that matters.”
“Yes, sir, it matters.” Pruitt looked toward the house. “I should have never joined up. I thought it would be different. The Colonel’s a good man…but he doesn’t know the things that go on. Gravenholtz…” He shook his head. “I didn’t sign up for-”
“Make the call.” Rakkim handed him the phone.
Pruitt ran a thumb across the keypad. “Right…yes.” He tapped in the access code: 7-8-3-6-0-9-5-3. Waited. A diode on the phone flashed. “It’s me. Yeah. Tell Gravenholtz everything’s fine.” He listened. “I’m stuck on the fucking bayou, that’s what’s wrong with my voice. Yeah. Talk to you tonight.” He closed the phone, handed it back to Rakkim.
“Hurry up, Pru,” said Tom from the doorway. “Time to go.”
Pruitt looked at Rakkim. “You don’t really know Gravenholtz, do you?”
“No, but I can’t fucking wait to meet him.”
Pruitt nodded. “Good.”
“Pru!”
Rakkim watched them run down the path to the main road before starting back to the farmhouse. He could hear Leo and Leanne chattering away as he approached, going back and forth like there was nobody else in the world. Inside he found Leo in a chair, a towel clipped around his neck while Leanne snipped away at his hair with a pair of scissors. The Ident collar lay on the table.
Annabelle scooped scrambled eggs onto a platter.
“What do you think?” Leanne said to Rakkim.
The kid looked good.
“He wouldn’t tell me who cut his hair last, but they sure didn’t know what they were doing.” Leanne cut a few more spots. Moistened her fingers in her mouth and slicked down a few errant hairs. “I’ll have to do a touch-up in a few weeks, but that’s the best I can do for now.” She whisked off the towel. Her hand lingered on Leo’s neck.
“We have to go,” said Rakkim. “All of us.”
Annabelle glanced back toward the barn.
“They’re already gone,” said Rakkim. “We’ll drive you and Leanne wherever you want. Someplace Gravenholtz won’t know about. Someplace safe.”
“John expects us to be here,” said Annabelle.
“I’ll tell him where you are,” said Rakkim. He saw her hesitate. “Annabelle, when Gravenholtz doesn’t get his eight p.m. check-in, he’s going to know something’s wrong. You can’t stay here.”
“We’ll bring your father back safe,” Leo assured Leanne. “I promise.”
Leanne looked him up and down, taking her time. “I believe you.”
Leo swallowed, reached into his pocket, and set a tiny metallic object on the counter, another cannibalized creation from the toy tank he had taken apart at Mount Carmel. One of the soldiers from the toy tank hung from a paper-clip trapeze. As the sun hit the soldier’s helmet, he started doing lazy flips, then faster and faster.
“We have a lot to do before we leave,” said Annabelle.
“Don’t take any more than you can carry,” said Rakkim.
Annabelle slammed a pan on the counter. “You think this is the first time I’ve had to leave my home in a hurry?”
“No…I’m sure you know what you’re doing,” said Rakkim.
“That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say all morning,” said Annabelle. “Now let’s all sit down for breakfast. With my good china and crystal and cloth napkins. We’re going to eat like civilized people. Then…then I’m going to make my bed and lock the door behind me.”
Leanne carefully picked up the acrobatic soldier, who continued doing flips while decorative sparks flew from the base.
“At the end of the routine he salutes,” said Leo. “I wanted him to be able to do a handstand too, but I ran out of parts.”
Leanne chewed her lip. “Maybe I…maybe I could help you. I’m good with my hands.”