Escaping the Past

Wes reached for his own weapon but it was too late. Jerry pulled the trigger and the bullet slammed into Wes’s midsection. He fell to the floor of the barn with a groan, a surprised look upon his face. His eyes closed and he was still.

Brody used the opportunity to flex his hands and legs, unwinding them from the loosened tape. Then he stood quickly and stepped behind Gary, grabbing the shorter man around the throat with his forearm. He touched the knife to the man’s neck.

“Step away from Lou or I’ll kill him.”

Jerry shrugged. He raised his gun and fired. The shot hit Gary in the forehead and Brody felt him slump down toward the floor. He knelt over him, feeling for a pulse. There was none. Brody looked up at Jerry. “There are FBI agents all over the place outside. You’ll never walk away from here,” he said candidly.

“My guys took out your FBI agents ten minutes ago,” Jerry said. “So, now it’s just the three of us.” He raised his gun again and fired. Brody felt the bullet rip through his shoulder as he fell onto his back. Lou ran to his side.

“Brody! Are you all right?” she screamed, afraid because of all the blood. She touched the wound and brought her hands back, covered in red. Her hands shook violently.

Jerry stood a few feet away, absently cleaning his fingernails with a pocketknife. “Isn’t this touching?” he asked sarcastically. He turned his back to them and raised his phone to his ear, sure he had won.

Lou leaned over Brody and they both heard a “Pssst.?

? They looked over and saw John crouched by the door. He pointed over his head to the light switch. In the darkness, Lou and Brody would have an advantage. Brody nodded at him.

Seconds later, the lights flickered off in the barn. Brody whispered to Lou, “Run!”

“What about you?” she whispered back.

“Run!” he said again, and shoved her toward the door, slowly rising, himself. “I’ll catch up,” he said, trying to reassure her. “Go!” He shoved her again.

Lou silently crept toward the door and out into the night. She clung to the shadows created by the barn until she rounded the corner of the paddock. This particular area did not house horses so Lou crept silently and slowly forward, hoping to make it to the trail behind the barn, where she could run down the path and to safety. Just before she found freedom, she heard a voice behind her.

“Turn around slowly, Mary Lou, and look at me.”

Lou turned and raised her hands in the air. “Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?” she asked.

“You’re so much like her, you know?” Jerry said quietly, walking toward her. “You could be her twin.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?” she asked.

He shrugged. “You take your pick.”

She nodded, biting her bottom lip. She watched him as he raised the gun again. She flinched as he pulled back the hammer. He straightened his arm and played with the trigger.

“You’re just too much of a liability,” he said. Then he felt it, a loud snort right beside his ear and he jumped, swinging around. He lifted his arms to cover his head as he caught sight of the horse rearing over his head, hooves flying in his face. He screamed as he took a blow to the temple and the shoulder. He dropped the gun as he fell to the ground.

Lou dove for it as she saw it fall and clutched it in her hand. She stepped back and pointed the gun but was unable to distinguish one form from another as hooves pounded the earth. The shrieks were the only thing that let her know he was still alive. Then the screams stopped and Jerry lay still on the ground. The once-wild mare stood above him, heaving in great gasps of air.

Brody and John heard the screams and walked close to Lou. Brody slowly took the gun in his own hand and pried her fingers from it. He passed it to John and said, “Hold this.”

John took the gun and aimed it at Jerry’s form, which lay on the ground. Brody walked slowly over and felt for a pulse.

“He’s still alive but he took one hell of a beating,” Brody stated, wincing as pain shot through his own shoulder.

Just then, the grounds came alive with the sound of police cars and ambulances. Wes walked closer toward them.

“How did you…?” Brody started.

Wes patted his chest and said absently, “Bullet-proof vest.”

Swarms of uniformed officers walked closer and a gurney was brought for Jerry.

Lou, barely able to stand on her feet, felt Brody’s arm slide around her waist, holding her up. She clasped her arms around his neck but he tensed beneath her hands.

“Oh, my God! You were shot!”