Crap. People are starting to sneak around through the fields.
“This is private property!” he called out, sprinting down the stairs. “You’re trespassing!”
“Mr. Chance, stop!” Lois ordered.
Another voice, deeper and definitely male, yelled his name.
This is now completely out of control, he thought as he leapt through the cotton. At least the emerging crowd was coming from the east and the Jeep was parked beyond the western edge of the fields.
You can get to the Jeep. You can get to the Jeep.
He ran, heedless of trying to pass through undetected. Halfway through the fifth row he heard the sound of someone following behind and hissing through their teeth at the pain.
He turned to the little girl, pulling one of the hard bracts from a cotton boll off her shirt.
“Lily!” he heard a call from several rows back.
“No!” William held up his hand. “Kid, stop right now. You’re gonna hurt yourself. I can’t help you, OK? You’ve got to stop.”
He took off running down the row, still hearing little feet coming after him. He tore through a cluster of cotton to head down another dirt path, zigzagging back and forth.
After a wicked scrape on his arm, he stuck to a single row and headed for the road, emerging still too far from the Jeep. Knowing he’d be too exposed to just run out in the open, he stepped back into the row, only to find the girl and the woman emerging from the cotton.
“Get out of here,” William said, now seeing lights flashing in the fields as the people from the yard tried to follow, obviously trying to get video or photos on their phones. “Just please leave me alone.”
“Mr. Chance, this girl obviously knows you,” Lois said, trying to catch her breath. “I’m going to have to take you into custody—”
He practically sprung through another row, the dried bristles snagging so fiercely, he knew his T-shirt would be ripped. He again heard the girl behind him and Lois yelling at them both to stop.
Go five more rows. Four. Three. Two. He had to be close enough now to make a run for the Jeep.
When he busted down the row and broke from the field, the man in the expensive suit was still leaning on his Porsche.
“Hey William, seriously, give me a second—”
Ignoring him, William reached the Jeep. He was about to toss his backpack in when he saw the girl climb into his open passenger side, looking at him in desperation. Before he could speak, Lois gasped in exasperation, stumbling to catch up.
“Mr. Chance, get that girl out of your car—”
The hissing sound came just as the Jeep shuddered, then slowly began to sink on the back. A pop, a series of dings, and the front of the jeep too began to lower as well. Even in the dark, William knew his tires were rapidly deflating.
He scrambled to inspect when he saw Lois fall to her knees and then thud to the ground.
“Hey,” he said, sliding over to her. “Hey, lady. Are you OK?”
The answer was revealed in the headlights of the Porsche that shone on the blood gurgling from the wound in her neck. Her eyes were unblinking.
“My God,” he whispered. He knew he should apply pressure to her wound to stop the flow, but it was horribly clear that she wasn’t breathing.
He looked up to the deflated tire beside her. There were three bullet holes in the corner panel not far from where the girl had jumped in.
“No,” he said. “Kid! Are you alright—?”
She immediately climbed out, apparently unharmed, staring at the dead body of the agent.
“Mr. Chance.”
At the edge of the cotton, a man now stood, a pistol still pointed in their direction. From the rows came more people, all with weapons raised.
“Mr. Chance. I need you to remain calm. This is a dangerous situation and we need to get you out of here,” the man said.
“What the hell is going on?” the Porsche driver called out from where he was crouched by his car. “Seriously, what the—”
“Mr. Chance, for your own safety, you need to come with us. Now,” the man continued.
“Did you shoot that woman? She’s a federal agent!” William bellowed. “What the hell are you doing?”
The cotton behind them began to shiver and then sway. In an ever-increasing wind, lights from the center of the field flickered on, and the unmistakable sound of helicopter blades whirred in the near distance.
“Now, Mr. Chance,” the man said. “We are here to protect you.”
“You need to put that gun down,” William said.
Instead, the man took a step forward, brandishing his barrel towards him. “Let’s go. We need you to come with us now—”
His words ended in a choke.
With a surprised look on his face, he clutched his throat. As he began to violently shake, he dropped his pistol, collapsing to the ground. As if on cue, the others shapes began to gasp as well, reaching up for their throats, falling one by one.
“Holy shit,” the driver of the Porsche said, sliding around his car to climb in. “Holy shit!”
Two of the last men standing began to shoot as they fell. William raised his arm towards the girl to cover her, but shuddered to a halt when he saw her face.
Lily’s chin was raised, her eyes had narrowed in rage. Her hands were tight fists, her arms like trembling sticks, and she was staring hard at the two men remaining standing. Only when their bodies hit the ground did she flinch, her expression changing from fury to astonishment.
The winds from the approaching helicopter began to tear at their faces and clothes. William jerked back to the field, seeing once again the flashing lights approaching.
Those aren’t phones. Those are scopes on guns.
The Porsche’s engine roared through the night. Clearly with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake, the driver rolled down his window, “Get in! Get in, William!”
William’s hands rose to the back of his head, frantically looking from the series of unmoving bodies to the dead woman lying at his feet. For a moment, he thought he was caught up in another horrible nightmare.
Wake up! Wake up!
The approaching helicopter above the thrashing cotton was a slap of reality. With more lights approaching and his Jeep slumped to the dirt, he scrambled towards the car. He reached the door and threw it open, almost stepping in.
He then stopped, turned around and ran back.
“What the hell! Dude, I’m not waiting!”
William stumbled around the Jeep, seeing the girl in what appeared to be a state of shock. He snatched her up, carrying her in his arms just as more people emerged. He quickly glanced back, fearing they would start firing. Instead, they began to drag the unmoving bodies into the rows.
Wait, are they all wearing suits?
“Come on!” the man yelled through the Porsche’s window.
One of the men, who had seized Lois’ body and begun to pull her into the field, looked in their direction.
William ran for the backseat and slid in, the girl holding tight to his neck.
“Go!” he shouted.
“No way man, not with that kid—”
“Do you want to get shot too?”
The driver’s response was a collection of curses as he let his foot off the brake and slammed the pedal to the floor.
FOUR
“Lynn.”
Her first reaction was not to respond to Roxy’s voice but instead to reach over to the phone on the nightstand. Her friend’s tone beyond the door was the first signal flare, which became more alarming when Lynn realized she’d accidentally set her phone facedown, meaning there had been no flash on her screen to jar her from sleep. As she slipped on her glasses and saw the multiple, brightly colored alerts, her stomach dropped.