“Four-wheeler.”
Reese needed stealth to stalk his prey. But the four-wheeler would be helpful to get out later if he didn’t find the killer’s truck. What do I do with Tiny? He’s worthless now. What do I do with Sweat’s body? Shit. I got too much going on.
“OK, get yourself together. I’m goin’ after the killer. Where’s your phone? Your radiophone that Johnny Lee bought you. Where is it?” Reese demanded, exasperated.
“I think…it’s at home.” Tiny was finally coming around, and he began to realize that Reese didn’t know that he had killed Sweat. He knew he had done the right thing. He had a sister who had been raped, and had seen the trauma she endured. He revered women. Hearing Sweat joke about abusing women made him sick, but he had to keep Reese from knowing the truth about Sweat’s death.
It made sense to Reese that Tiny’s phone was at his house. Some drunken idiot had probably answered his call. But why didn’t Tiny have the phone with him? Reese let the question slide for now.
“Who was doin’ all that screamin’?”
“It was a girl, maybe seventeen or eighteen,” Tiny weakly replied.
“Really?” Reese said and thought, Could it have been the killer’s girlfriend? Wife? His daughter? What about the toys, the smallsleeping bag. Nothin’s makin’ any sense. Reese’s head was beginning to ache. He wanted to avenge Johnny Lee’s death and, to a lesser degree, Sweat’s.
“What was going on?” he calmly asked, hoping Tiny would open up and talk.
“Sweat was tryin’ to…you know…have his way.”
“That’s our boy. Sweat went out doin’ what he loved, huh? Was there a little kid?” Reese asked coldly, thinking about the books and toys.
“I didn’t see one.” The less Reese knew right now, the better.
“OK, Tiny…that’s OK. Which way did they go?”
Tiny, with his head still down, simply pointed.
Reese could do this by himself. In fact, it might be better if he did. Tiny couldn’t move silently through the woods, and based on his current mental state, he wasn’t going to be much help.
“I’m goin’ after ‘em. There’s no way you can pick up Sweat’s body and get him in the back of your truck by yourself. Go get your four-wheeler and wait for me right here. Keep your eyes open. OK?” Reese said, bending down to look in Tiny’s eyes.
“Hey, Tiny? Look at me,” Reese said and added when Tiny raised his eyes to him, “If I’m not back by daylight, get the hell outta here…and meet me at the trailer. Got it?” Reese snapped authoritatively.
Tiny nodded. Reese slung his rifle over his shoulder and took off in the direction Tiny had pointed.
Jake sprinted through the woods to catch the panicked girl. Getting close wasn’t easy. He was trying to be as quiet as possible. He didn’t want to shout and knew that the moment he touched her she would freak out. She was struggling to keep her balance and fell twice before Jake got to her. She was getting up from her last fall when Jake grabbed her arm. Elizabeth screamed and starting slapping at him, trying to get away.
“Calm down, calm down, please! I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m here to help you,” he said in a hushed whisper. “I heard you screaming, and I came to help,” he said looking her straight in the eyes, while holding a hand over her mouth. He saw only raw fear.
“Don’t scream. Don’t scream. I’m here to help you. I’m gonna let go. OK? Don’t scream.”
Elizabeth nodded and immediately started trying to cover her breasts with her arms. She began sobbing.
Jake laid down his gun and took off his hunting vest. He then took off his button-down shirt and gave it to her. She turned around and quickly pulled it on. Jake slipped his vest back on and noticed her hands were shaking too much to button the shirt.
“Here, let me help,” he said. He gently pushed her hands away so he could button the shirt. Afterward, her arms immediately folded around herself. She was shaking uncontrollably.
“I’m Jake Crosby. I’m here turkey huntin’, and those same guys raided my camp. I have my daughter hidden over there. We need to go get her, and then we’ll get outta here. OK? You’re safe now. I promise nothing will happen to you. Follow me and be as quiet as you can.” Jake paused, trying to read her expression. “Do you understand? Good. Come on.”
Jake picked up his gun and started walking toward Katy. The girl followed silently right behind him. Once they were in sight of the shooting house, Jake was relieved to see a small light moving around inside.
“Katy…Katy, it’s me,” Jake said in a hushed voice as he approached the shooting house. Katy’s small face popped into the window, her eyes smiling in obvious relief. “Unlock the door, Katy.”
“Dad, I heard a gunshot!”
“I know, I know; it’s OK,” Jake reassured her.
The door opened and Katy hugged him immediately, before she even noticed Elizabeth.
“This is my daughter, Katy. She’s nine, but she acts fifteen,” Jake said, trying to put everyone at ease. Elizabeth was still shaking and crying. “Say hello, Katy.”
“Hey. Are you OK?” Katy said barely above a whisper. Katy was eyeing her worriedly, instantly compassionate. Katy was a mother hen to any person or creature in distress, and she loved to hang around “big girls.” Jake didn’t think Elizabeth had been raped but knew she had been beaten badly. She was covered in blood, and Jake had seen the source of most of it.
“I’m Elizabeth Beasley…thank you so much for…” was all she could say.
“Those guys that were chasing you tried to kill us. It’s all crazy. I’ll get us outta here, I promise. Let’s put some distance between us and them. You’re limping. Are you OK? Are you hurt anywhere else? Wipe your face on your sleeve…it’s clean.”
“My ankle’s sprained,” she whispered, “but I can keep up.”
“OK…I’ll take it easy. Come on, Katy…get on my back,” he ordered.
Jake wondered what Elizabeth was doing out here. He’d ask questions later. Jake carried Katy and Elizabeth followed along right behind as they headed back to the field they had been going to before the ordeal with Elizabeth. Occasionally Jake heard Elizabeth grunt in pain, and he could feel Katy watching her. They had walked about four hundred yards when Jake needed a break. Carrying Katy in the woods was killing him. He set her on a stump and plopped down beside her. Elizabeth eased down on a log across from them. Katy smiled at her.
Jake finally caught his breath after a minute and asked, “Elizabeth, what in the world are you doin’ out here?”
“I was with my boyfriend, Tanner, on a date. They blocked the road and started beating him and I took off runnin’.” She was wringing her hands.
“Where did all this happen?”
“Tanner was unlocking a big yellow gate, and then they started trying to attack me, and I just ran and left him. I’m so worried about him.”
“Wow, you’ve covered four or five miles. You did the right thing to run,” Jake replied.
“They chased me the whole way,” she explained.
“Those guys are trouble. I’m sorry all that happened to you. I got the whole thing started when they showed up at our camp. I had to shoot one of ‘em. It was really ugly.”
“And you shot the guy who was attacking me!” she blurted out and saw Katy’s eyes grow wide with shock.
“No, I was about to…but there was a big fat guy who walked up and shot him the second before I pulled the trigger. It was really strange.”
Elizabeth began to realize what had happened. But why? It was all too much. She started crying again.
Jake dug in his vest and pulled out a cotton camo face mask and gave it to her. “Here, wipe your face with this.”
Katy was trying to understand. Jake stood and stretched. His back was aching. He stepped up on a stump to listen for anything out of the ordinary. Jake punched his watch. It softly glowed 3:02 a.m. He checked his phone again. No service.