Lost Shadows Page 7

  “Badger, alert all the guard post to be ready for an attack. Get Eddie down here with some of his men. Oh, and get Nordell’s friend Hollis. We might need a sniper.” Scar turned to Reese and Nate with an apologetic look because neither of them would be coming.

  Reese recognized the look. “It’s okay. I’ve had my fill of action.”

  “I’m pretty banged up from her driving anyway,” smirked Nate.

  “I thought you liked it rough,” said Reese with a twinkle in her eye.

  Nate scoffed. “Touché.”

  “Oookay,” said Scar, “I’m leaving on that one. Amber you joining us?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” she replied.

  “Then let’s go,” said Scar.

  Scar didn’t have any particular plan in mind and wouldn’t until he got a lay of the land. He needed to know where the Jijis were posted and if the cops were involved. More important was to get an update from Bassett and Nordell, which meant they needed to get in close enough for the radios. If their positions were secure, then they’d wait until it got dark before attempting any rescue. It was always the best option because they owned the night and that was always their main advantage over the enemy’s superior numbers.

  Chapter 19

  Talking with some of the locals about the area by the Proving Grounds, gave Scar an idea on where they could set up to get within radio range of Bassett. He sent Eddie and his men to the south to scope out the Jiji force, while he would lead a squad of ten to the west side. He kept another fifty men a couple of miles away with orders to stand ready and the rest of their men back in Jackson to leave at a moments notice.

  Scar didn’t necessarily want to engage the Jijis if he didn’t have too. Mostly because he still wanted to raid their supply lines. If there was a battle, then he might have to put it on hold. Getting supplies was his top priority because without them the town would soon starve.

  Taylor stopped the SUV when he came to Hoppe Road. Hollis had given them directions to a trail, which would take them through the fields to keep hidden while they got in radio range. The SUV rocked from side to side as Taylor drove through the tall grass and small bushes that had started to grow in the fields.

  Scar grabbed the radio and tried to raise Bassett. It took a few tries before he finally reached them.

  “What’s your status?”

  “We’ve been able to avoid any contact for the last hour.”

  “What about you Nordell?”

  “Same here,” responded Nordell over the radio. “We’re hanging out in a car that we jacked.”

  “Can everyone hang on till it gets dark?”

  “Roger that,” said Bassett.

  “Same here,” confirmed Nordell. “Once it gets dark, we’ll take the car and head towards Bassett’s position.”

  Scar turned to Taylor with a dubious look before replying to Nordell. “You sure?”

  “There’s tint on these windows. They’ll never recognize us.”

  Scar considered Nordell’s suggestion but told him to hold off until he scoped out Sylvan Road. If they could get across without being seen, then they could bring Bassett and Meeks out while Nordell and Burns just drove out. If anything, they could always create a diversion if needed.

  “Let’s recon Sylvan Road,” said Scar as he turned to face Amber who was sitting in the backseat. “You up for a hike?”

  She nodded, and they exited the SUV. Scar walked to the truck behind him that Hadley was driving and told him to hang back while they did a recon. Scar then took off through the trees with Taylor and Amber behind him. The trip to Sylvan road was a short one, and they were about to break out of the woods behind three houses when Scar noticed movement in one of the windows. He lifted his binoculars and saw men through the windows.

  “Got Jijis in that house.”

  “What the hell are they doing?” asked Taylor.

  “I think they’re looting the place.”

  Taylor shook his head.

  “They probably haven’t been down here before,” said Amber.

  “Probably not,” said Scar.

  They moved away to look for another entrance to the road but weren’t able to find one that wasn’t open ground. So they hustled back to the safety of the woods to wait for the thieves to leave. It took nearly an hour for what looked like ten of them to go through all three houses before heading down road. Each carried a sack full of booty, and all were laughing as they left.

  “Glad to see they’re enjoying themselves,” grunted Taylor.

  “C’mon,” said Scar as he got up and started across the back lawn. They crept to the side of the house and discovered the Jijis looked to be having a party on the road. They were at least a hundred armed men milling around the streets, but they seemed more interested in chatting with each other than standing guard.

  “Them boys aren’t paying too much attention,” whispered Taylor.

  Scar nodded.

  “Yeah but there sure are a lot of them,” said Amber.

  Scar nodded. If these guys were still here when it got dark, then they would not be able to cross the road. He’d have no choice but to create a diversion to draw these men away. While he didn’t want to engage them, push come to shove, he wouldn’t hesitate.

  Scar studied the map and figured the best place for a diversion was on the corner of Sylvan and Lehman Roads. It would draw the enemy down the road giving them access to the Proving Grounds. That would keep the Jijis busy while allowing Scar enough time to get his guys out of there.

  Chapter 20

  Washington D.C.

  Green put the phone back in its cradle after receiving a coded message informing him he had a call coming in tonight from Cole Winters. He was anxious to talk to him and get an update. He would wait to see if he mentioned his daughter Cara before deciding what to say to him about what she tried doing to him.

  More importantly, he needed to give him an update on what they were doing here in the district. It couldn’t be easy for Winters and his men not knowing if this “war” was ever going to end. They needed some reassurances things were happening in the Capital and that they were not fighting a lost cause.

  Grace knocked on the door and to say goodnight. Green hadn’t realized it was time to head home and prepare for his meeting tonight in Manassas. He was excited to tell everyone about his idea for some street art around the district. Dwelling on it during the afternoon, he had become even more convinced this would be a great way to show the people that not everyone was afraid of Perozzi or Reed. No doubt, it would become the talk of the town and piss them off.

  Green grabbed his jacket and headed down to the garage. He contained his glee when he smelled the fresh paint while passing through the area where the shootout had occurred. He hadn’t heard from Reed today, but the car Green had driven back was gone.

  Green pulled into his driveway later than usual because of a traffic jam. He walked inside just as the phone rang.

  He picked it up at the same time his mother was reaching for it. “Hello.”

  “Major?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “It’s Cole. How are you doing?”

  Sarah motioned him to put it on speaker so she could listen.

  “I’m good, Sir. How about you?”

  The question was the opening for their conversation. It started with the Shadow Patriots entering Jackson and ending with him burying his daughter back home. After hearing about her death, Green decided not to tell him everything she had done while in Washington. There was no sense in it, and it wasn’t necessary. Regardless of what she had done, he still lost his daughter. The conversation took nearly thirty minutes for each of them to give the other an update on what they had been doing.

  Green said goodbye and stared at his mother.

  “That poor man,” said Sarah.

  “I can’t imagine going through that.”

  “And then to come home and find out what was going on there,” said Sarah shaking her head in disg
ust.

  “It’s almost unbelievable.”

  Sarah directed her son to the kitchen for dinner. “Tell me what happened with Reed this morning?”

  “Like it never happened,” said Green.

  She gave him a confused look, so Green filled her in on how Reed had the garage cleaned up and painted.

  Sarah tilted her head to the side and nodded. “Or that it did happen but was a complete failure.”

  Green gave that some thought and nodded in agreement.

  “What do you suppose he’s going to do?”

  Green shook his head. “Can’t say for sure, but I’m sure he’s shoring up his options.”

  “What about Perozzi? What can we do to get him more riled up beside him not seeing Stormy again?”

  Green told his mom about his idea for some street art aimed at Perozzi around the district.

  A small smile grew bigger the more she considered the impact it could have. “He’d start blaming Reed for not getting it under control.”

  “Exactly.”

  “All we have to do is find an artist.”

  “Yeah, easier said than done.”

  “We should go,” said Sarah as she got up and cleared the dishes off the table.

  The drive was uneventful, and they arrived just as Sam was getting out of his car.

  “Sam cannot wait to meet Stormy,” said Green as he parked the car.

  “I’ll bet. If you wait too long, he’ll put the moves on her,” grinned Sarah.

  “Mom.”

  “I know you like her and I’m sure it’s mutual.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure.”

  “I’ll watch her and let you know.”

  “Now, you’re starting to sound like Sam. He made the same offer.”

  “Glad to see he’s got your back,” smiled Sarah.

  Green shook his head and stepped out of the car. They greeted Sam before heading inside where the rest of their group anxiously awaited for them.

  Sam’s eyes lit up when he saw Stormy getting up off the couch. “You must be Stormy,” he beamed as he approached her with an outstretched hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

  Stormy shook his hand. “Hello, and you’re Sam?”

  “I am. I was told how beautiful you are, but the description was sorely lacking.”

  “Well, thank you.”

  “And I also heard you’re a bit of a badass too.”

  A flush swept across her face. “I don’t know about that.”

  “No need to be modest,” said Sam. “What you did was awesome.”

  Green rolled his eyes and approached them to rescue Stormy from his friend’s flirtatious ways.

  Sam backed away while grinning at his friend knowing what he was doing. He then observed the way Stormy leaned in and kissed Green on the cheek. To him, this was evidence the girl had the hots for the naïve major.

  Chapter 21

  Winnipeg

  Winters sat alone in Standish’s office having just gotten off the phone with Major Green. He was pleasantly surprised to hear how much progress Green had made in taking down Perozzi and Reed. It was comforting to know he wasn’t alone in this fight and perhaps there was an end in sight.

  Winters couldn’t wait to tell the Shadow Patriots what was happening in Washington. The news would help morale knowing others were involved in the war and the participants were important people who could make a big difference. The people Green had enlisted was an impressive group. Some State Department people, a former Assistant Director of the FBI, even a former Senator. These people will have the right contacts to help put an end to Perozzi’s diabolical plan to take over the country.

  Winters leaned back in the chair thinking about Green’s fake assassination attempt on Lawrence Reed. That was a gutsy move and had surely put the fear of God into him. And sending those recordings to Perozzi and Reed was a stroke of genius. This had to have them freaking out, which would help force them into making mistakes.

  Winters had struggled to report about the death of his daughter but could hear it in Green’s voice that he knew who she was. He had no doubt his daughter was involved with something nefarious in Washington before coming to Michigan. He didn’t press him on it mostly because he didn’t want to know. It no longer mattered anyway. She had paid for her sins, and that was the end of it.

  Speaking of daughters, he needed to visit with Sadie, that is if he could pull her away from her new friend. Now that she had someone her own age, he didn’t think she’d be so easy to compete with. Which was perfectly fine with him, it couldn’t be easy, being around a bunch of grownups all the time.

  Winters left Standish’s office to find Sadie. After getting no answer at her door, he found her a few doors down in Debbie’s room with her daughter Kayley.

  “Come on in,” said Debbie who answered the door.

  “Cole!” said Sadie getting up from the floor to hug him.

  “Hey, whatcha guys doing?”

  “I’m making my Get Well cards for everyone.”

  Winters debated on whether or not he should pull her away. She was having fun with her new friend, but he hadn’t had the chance to tell her about Cara yet and didn’t want her to hear it from anyone else.

  “Is something wrong?” said Sadie.

  “No. I just needed to chat with ya.”

  “Why don’t you guys go for a walk,” suggested Debbie.

  Sadie grabbed Winters’ hand. “Okay.”

  Winters turned to Debbie and mouthed, “Thank you.”

  They walked into the hallway and headed outside to an area, which had a couple of picnic tables and benches.

  “I’m so happy I’ve got a new friend.”

  “I can see that.”

  “But I will still miss you when you leave again,” said Sadie as she sat down on the bench.

  “I’ll miss you too,” said Winters. He paused for a moment trying to get his thoughts together. He didn’t want her to walk away sad and would try and candy coat it as best he could. “How much do you know about what happened to the girls?”

  “Kayley told me that every day they had to be with a different boy. That if they wanted food, then they had to do it with them.”

  Winters looked at her unsure if she knew exactly what “it” was.

  Sadie tilted her head. “I know about sex. I know what Reese had to go through and remember, I was almost married off to Mordulfah.”

  Winters let out a sigh. “You know Sadie, sometimes I forget how old you really are. You’re still a little girl, but you’ve been forced to grow up.”

  “I’m almost twelve.”

  “Yeah, twelve going on thirty.”

  “But, I still like to sleep with a stuffed animal.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear that. Listen, I need to tell you the reason why I was able to help the girls. Why I was back home.”

  Winters took a deep breath in an attempt to conceal his emotions when he told her. That effort hadn’t worked so well earlier when he told Standish and Brocket. He choked on the words and could feel the same lump forming in his throat again.

  “Are you alright, Cole?” asked Sadie who took a hold of his hand.

  Winters bit his lip.

  She scooted closer to him.

  “Honey, I was back home to bury my daughter, Cara.” Winters blurted the words out as fast as he could and then fought back the tears.

  Sadie looked confused for a second. “Wait, you found her?”

  Winters nodded.

  “And she died?” asked Sadie as tears started running down her cheeks. “Cole, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay, really.”

  “But how? What happened?”

  Winters told her a sanitized version of events but left in the important parts, especially since it concerned Mordulfah, the man who tried to marry her.

  Sadie wiped her tears and looked up at Winters. “So, it was like she led you back home, so you could help all those poor girls.”

  Wi
nters patted her shoulders. “It’s exactly why I’m okay with it, really. And I don’t want you to be sad about it. Okay? Everything happens for a reason.”

  Sadie nodded. “I know. It’s kinda like why I have you in my life. You know, because my mom and dad are dead, so, like, now you’re my new daddy.”

  Winters’ heart began to melt as she spoke those words. Although he knew it to be true, hearing her say it meant so much more. He leaned in and squeezed her hard.

  “I couldn’t be prouder, being your daddy.”

  “And I love that you’re my daddy.”

  They embraced for a few more moments then Sadie backed away. “I’m glad you told me the truth.”

  “With everything you’ve been through, you deserve the truth.”

  “Will this ever end?”

  Winters nodded. “At some point, it will. It can’t go on forever.”

  “When it’s over, we can all go back to your hometown to live. I’ll have my new friends there. You can marry Reese, and she can be, like, my new mom.”

  “That sounds like a great plan,” praised Winters.

  Winters escorted Sadie back to her friend with a lightness in his step. The smile he wore didn’t wear off even as he laid down on his bed. She had once again helped to fill a void he didn’t think would be possible to fill a few days ago. It had been devastating to lose his daughter but life goes on, and he had other people counting on him. He needed to get back to his men and get back to work. The people in Jackson were counting on him, and he would deliver the desperately needed supplies.

  Chapter 22

  Chelsea Michigan

  Nightfall finally came, and Scar was ready to rescue Bassett and Meeks. He packed two extra pairs of night-vision goggles and plenty of spare magazines. Scar led the way as they hiked back to Sylvan Road. Like before, Taylor and Amber were accompanying him. He liked having Amber there because, being younger, she had better hearing than him or Taylor.