“C’mon, man. I still gotta deal with Hodges. He’s going to keep coming for me.” His eyes pleaded.
“How’s that my problem?” Jason asked, unmoved.
“At least let us keep two of them.”
Jason looked at him and shook his head.
“One of them belongs to Dranko and he was shot to pieces. At least let me keep that one.”
Jason’s face softened, “Alright, I can do that.”
“Thank you,” he said grudgingly.
Everyone else had heard the conversation and, under gunpoint, the arms were exchanged. Jason let them keep the semi-automatic weapons from Hodges’ men. Apparently, they weren’t worth his time.
After he had the weapons in his possession, Jason approached him again.
“I hope you know this isn’t personal. It’s business. I do hope you get Hodges.”
“Thank you. Our odds would get better with one more M16…” he smiled warmly at him, hoping for sympathy.
Jason offered a sympathetic smile, but shook his head nonetheless, “Give us a five minute head start and then you can go back to the cars.”
Cooper nodded. Jason and his men retreated, keeping their weapons fixed on them until they were out of sight.
He directed his attention back to his people and sidled up next to Miles.
“Can you join me on this next thing?”
Miles nodded, “Assumed it.”
Cooper clasped his hand, “Thank you. Can you find one more of your men to join us? And, can you send some men back to your place to keep an eye on Jake and Julianne?”
Miles nodded and moved out to discuss things over with his people.
Cooper only needed to exchange looks with Calvin and Angela to see that they were in.
“What do you want to do with these guys?” Calvin asked, referring to the prisoners.
“We’ll lock them inside the cabin. Someone will come and find them before too long, but it will give us the time we need and they won’t be able to warn Hodges.”
Calvin nodded.
Cooper ran over to where he had left Dranko. He shuddered at seeing his friend wrapped in a bevy of bloodstained bandages. Doug was still with him.
“How is he?”
“He’s a tough son-of-a-bitch. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s still breathing. That is a good sign.”
Dranko’s eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow, raspy. Cooper had never seen him prostrated before. He looked smaller.
“How do we move him out of here without killing him?”
“Get me a few men. I will rig up a travois. That’s the best we can do.”
Cooper shouted, “Miles, we need three men over here. On the double!”
He turned back to Doug, “Make it happen. Get him back to Miles’ place. I need to get going. Gotta deal with Hodges once and for all.”
Doug nodded. Other men rushed up as Cooper darted back to the cabin.
Jake and Julianne had been brought out of the cabin and the prisoners were put inside. Two men were at work, securing the doors from the outside.
Miles, Angela, Calvin, and another man were gathered off to one side. They were readying their weapons and gear.
Cooper went to Jake’s side, dropping once more to his knee, “Son. There’s one more thing I need to do. To make us safe, once and for all.”
Jake looked back at him, resigned. His voice was cold, “You’ve never lied to me before.”
Cooper looked back at him, shocked, “What do you mean?”
“We won’t ever be safe again.” His voice was toneless, empty of feeling. His son’s eyes looked vacant.
Cooper’s heart dropped into his stomach. “I’ve got to try!” His desperate plea was as much to convince himself as his son.
Jake’s voice was faraway, morose. His eyes fell to the ground. “Yeah, I know you do.” They were the words of a person devoid of hope. Cooper’s mind railed against the notion that his son had become that person. He struggled for something to say. He desperately wanted to inspire his son. To make him see it would be safe again someday. But, he could not even convince himself. And, he would not lie to his son. Finally, he gave up.
“I’ve got to go,” he said as he stood up. He gave his son a futile pat on the head and stumbled away.
“You ready?” Calvin asked him has he approached.
Calvin’s words made something click, “Oh, man. Where’s Lily?” He looked about, expecting to see her standing nearby.
Calvin’s eyes clouded and he slowly shook his head from side to side, “Miles found her.”
Cooper pushed past him, and made a beeline to the pickup truck.
His hand came to his mouth as he rounded it, near where her body lay in the dirt, hastily covered by a rain poncho. It only covered the top of the body and her skinny legs were exposed and cast at awkward angles.
He dropped to his knees beside her. His mind was insisting there had been some mistake as he jerked back the poncho from her head.
Her head had been pulped by a direct hit from the machinegun. His lips curled back in disgust. He pulled the mess to his chest and wailed. His mind protested. Lily was the most alive person I’d ever known. She can’t be dead! He rocked back and forth, struggling to grasp what had happened. The poncho fell away from her torso and he saw another gaping wound in her belly where another machinegun round had found a home. Grief consumed him.
“Why’d you come out here, Lily? Why’d you do that?”
“She would have wanted to die doing something worthwhile,” Miles’ words from behind shocked him. His words were even, emotionless. Cooper gently set her body back to the ground and covered it once more.
“I’m so sorry…” He began, but Miles waved him off.
“Later. We have work to do. You ready?” Miles’ voice was steady and he met Cooper’s eyes.
Cooper’s mind was far away. He didn’t answer, paused for a moment and then simply started walking back to where the vehicles were awaiting them. His gait was like that of a drunken man, uneven and unsteady. The quartet fell in step behind him.
Lily’s death shocked him. Grief laid its consuming claim to him and he struggled to push it all away.
Jake’s words deeply troubled him. So much of his son’s childhood had been sluiced away in large swaths. He was unsure if any was left now. He shuddered to think of what being kidnapped and held hostage had done to him. He raged to think he had one more thing to do, rather than just being able to be with Jake and care for him right then. He knew he had to turn his sadness to anger and focus it on finishing the job with Hodges. His mind continued wandering as he walked. The others could tell he was deep in thought and left him alone.
A surprise was waiting for them when they arrived back at the vehicles. On the hood of Dranko’s Jeep were an M16 and a bandoleer of magazines for it. When it came into view, Cooper smiled to himself. He saw a white piece of paper flapping in the wind, pinned beneath the hood and the rifle. He picked it up.
Scrawled in black Sharpie: Use this to protect your boy. It was signed, “Another dad.”
Cooper picked up the rifle and bandoleer and held them aloft.
“You see this Dranko? Even now, even among gangsters, there is some goodness left in this world!” Cooper was beaming and laughing. Then, when he realized his friend wasn’t in the group, his face fell. He was so used to him being there. Always there. He shook his head in disbelief and embarrassment. Calvin came by and put his hand on his shoulder.
“It is alright. I miss him, too.”
Cooper nodded and slowly his puzzled look turned back to normal. Calvin took the rifle and the bandoleer from him. He let them go, in a daze. He shook his head in exaggerated fashion to clear it and focus back to the task at hand. The others clustered around him. He turned towards Miles.