Free Fall, CH 17 (Patreon)

The red Forrester is still there, four cars back, when I check the mirror again. I first noticed it three exits past Tempe, and has kept pace with us since. This is not a coincidence.

“Dad?” Emil asks, his voice low to avoid waking Alex. He points to the passing Glendale exit. “Aren’t we getting back to the Chevelle?”

“We’re being followed.” Two hours at most until full dark.

He sinks down in the seat, instead of looking up and behind us. His expression is a mix of fear and annoyance. “I didn’t think we left any of them alive to chase us.” He pulls the crowbar off the floor and onto his lap.

“These aren’t Juan Fernan’s men, or those of whoever will take over.”

“So, someone else whose criminal organization you disrupted?”

I look at him in the rearview mirror and smile. “Possibly.” I consider when they might have picked up our trail. “Or someone Alex had pissed off.” While the area points to that, how would they have known he’s in the Silverado?

“What are we going to do?”

“I am working on that.” I notice my fingers tapping the steering wheel and still them. When did I start doing that? Better yet. When did I start doing this without noticing? I do a check of the boxes, but all I get from them is the usual background noise that living causes.

I have two basic options.

Emil’s expectant expression reminds me I am not alone. “We can go into the city, or turn the table on them outside of it.” I look at him. Let him weigh in.

“In the city, we’d have to deal with other traffic,” he said hesitantly. “Then there are the cops and bystanders.”

The exit for the loop three-oh-three comes into sight as he thinks and I take it. It keeps the most options open.

“But where can we go out of the city to real with them?”

“And how many other cars are spread around, waiting to assist our tail?”

“There’s more of them?” Now Emil is worried.

“That is unknown, so it needs to be kept in mind. Always factor your plans for the worse condition you can think of. We don’t know who they are or how prepared they are. I noticed them just outside Tempe, which is where Alex lives, so they might have been waiting there expecting that was our destination. But it’s also the official Phoenix city limit, which would mean they only knew we were coming in from the Ten.”

“That’s a lot of possibilities. How can you plan for all of them?”

“You don’t. What is the worse possibility you can think of?”

“That they know everything about us,” he says after thinking it over, his voice trembling.

“Breathe, Emil. You need to be able to think. Put your fear in the box and close that. Then tell me what that means.”

He swallows and closes his eyes. “Knowing everything means they know where we’re going. So the route we’d take. You took a direct route coming to Phoenix.”

I look in the rearview and confirm the Forester is still there, then take the Wickenburg Highway exit. “Then we don’t take the direct route.”

“Won’t that tell them we realized they’re there?”

“If they’re smart, they are already working under that assumption.”

Emil snorts.

“Emil, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking your opponents are stupid. Until you know otherwise, assume they are at least as smart as you are.”

“If they are and have the manpower, they are going to have the route watched.”

“Taking an unexpected one forces them to move those people about, causes delays in their responses, but more importantly, adds uncertainty to their planning they have to start accounting for. This high will eventually take us to the reservation, but will I stay on it or take a more circuitous route? Where do they assign the people they have, how until they can have more in place, and will they be where we will be driving? People are predictable, Emil, so you need to make a conscious decision not to be.”

He nods as an unexpected downside of driving on this lesser used highway becomes apparent. The broken asphalt shakes the Silverado and Alex grunts, then groans. I will him to get back to sleep as I try to find a section of road without as many potholes. He is in no state to help, and I don’t want him to feel helpless.

“Where?” He blinks and looked around. The shadows are stretching as the sun drops. “Where are we?”

“Wickenburg is just ahead.”

“Okay.” He closes his eyes, then opens them. “Why are we headed there?”

The lighter traffic and dropping lights forces the Forrester to only have two vehicles between them and us.

Alex noticed my gaze and curses. He searches the side mirror. “How many cars?”

“One for now. It fell on our tail around Tempe.”

“They know where I live?” The anger in his voice makes me smile. Even in pain and on hardly any coffee, he won’t stand for his home being threatened.

“That is unknown. Once it’s full dark, I’ll deal with them.”

“Dad’s going to rip them apart,” Emil says confidently.

“Only if they don’t give me other options. The next priority, after ensuring you will survive, when you don’t have information, is acquiring that information. That means I need them alive.”

“And after?” Emil asks.

I consider my answer. “It will depend on what I find out, how hard them make it for me to gain the information and what that tells me about them. We can analyze that at the reservation, as well as finding out if your house is under surveillance, Alex. Not that you’re going back there right now.”

“What are you talking about?” He is rubbed his leg above the cast.

“You’ve been shot. It’ll take time for you to heal. You’re staying with me in the meantime.”

He looks at me. “I have a job, you know?” The Silverado shakes as I can’t avoid another pothole and he grinds his teeth.

“You can do it from any high-powered computer. Your employer will understand, once you provide all the correct hospital forms supporting that you can’t move at the moment.

He goes back to searching the side mirror. “If I even have a job. Kat told me to take a vacation in a tone that made it clear it could be permanent. The red or green car?”

“The red Forester.”

“I can’t make out who is in it, but in something like there, there could be as many as eight people.”

“I will handle them,” I say firmly. “You aren’t in a condition to fight.”

“I can still shoot,” he replies indignantly.

“No, you can’t. I had to clean the Silverado so we could cross the border.”

“We weren’t leading them to the Chevelle,” Emil adds.

I take the bottle of Naproxen and hands it to him. “Take two. It will dull the pain so that if it comes to a fight, you will not be incapacitated.”

He looks at it. “You don’t happen to have a coffee or two to wash this down with, do you?”

I smile. “I was hoping you’d sleep through all of this.”

The Forrester’s headlamps come on to combat the darkness, and I no longer have any chances of getting a glimpse of the people inside. I turn mine on too and accelerate to five miles above the limit. The Forrester lets me gain a quarter-mile before matching my speed.

“How can I help, Dad?”

“Yeah,” Alex adds. “What exactly is the plan? Get them to the reservation so we’ll have support?”

“We wouldn’t get any there. And this needs to be resolved before we reach it. After we were followed there, and your grandfather’s visit, Jacoby has no patience for disturbances.”

“Gramp went there?”

“Yes. And once this is dealt with, I need to show you how to properly scan your vehicles for trackers.” I check the rearview mirror. “As for the Forrester, there are small roads around the ninety-seven. They won’t have any streetlights, so I’ll stop on one, get out, and wait for them to investigate.”

“You, in the dark,” Alex muses, “against whoever is in that car.”

“Oh,” Emil pipes up, “can I record it? It’ll be a great horror movie.”

“No recording,” I warn.

“My crappy phone can’t record in the dark,” Alex says. “How about yours?”

“No.” Emil sounds dejected. I glance at him in the mirror, but only make out his silhouette.

“Do you understand why I can’t let you record it, Emil?” I ask; more to calm his box than because he has to learn.

“I know.” He sighs. “But do you have any idea how amazing watching you fight is? You’re like Statham and the Rock rolled into one.”

I look at Alex for Clarification.

“Two action stars known for their fighting.”

“Movies?” I try to work out if being compared to actors is a good thing.

Alex chuckles. “It’s a compliment. The fights might be choreographed, but they’re still impressive. While I’m convalescing, we can watch some of their movies.”

“One just came out,” Emil says, excitedly. “With both of them in it. Idris Elba’s also in it. The reviews say the fighting’s amazing.”

“When have you been reading about movies?” I ask, keeping track of the Forresters and the crossroads. “You were supposed to be studying.” I accelerate to ten above.

“I’m allowed breaks, right?”

I look at Alex for support and I’m surprised at how comfortable the gesture is.

“Don’t look at me,” he replies. “I agree with him. Even you take breaks. Well, when I’m there at least.”

“I don’t.”

I slam the accelerator down.

“Bullshit. You stop your work to spar with me.”

I pull the parking brake, do a quarter fishtail turn. “That isn’t a break.” I let go, accelerate, stabilize the Silverado and vanish on the crossroad.

“Oh, right.” I can hear the eye roll in his tone. “Because I am such a challenge, and the sex afterward is so much work.”

I turn off the lights as a dirt road appears at its limit. Still no lights behind me. “We will finish this discussion after I’ve dealt with our pursuers.”

A box lights up at Alex, taking Emil’s side, and the sense of betrayal catches me by surprise. I slow, looking for the dirt road, and lights appear at the turn behind us. I get on the road as the lights turn, then drive the two hundred yards of its length. “You two stay in the Silverado,” I order, turning the engine off and stepping out. I head to the junction through the trees.

When I hear their engine, there is no light. It passes by the road where the Silverado is, and I make out two people by the dashboard. I can’t tell if there is anyone in the back. They keep driving slowly and the sound of the engine vanishes in the distance.

It’s twenty minutes before I hear it again. There’s the sound of a door closing, then a distant light; halogen by how bright it is. They are checking all small roads. The person returned to the Forrester, and it moves again before stopping and they step out to check another road. When they reach this one, simply shining the light will show them the back of the Silverado.

The fourth stop is at this road and I’ve backed further into the trees. I cover my eyes as someone steps out of the Forrester and I can see the illumination through my palm. It turns off and the door closes. They turn onto the road and stop, blocking the exit. I head for it. I’m on the driver’s side, so as he opened the door and steps out.

“—had a breakdown?”

I kick the door. The femur snaps, the man screams. I’m over the hood, across to the passenger side as the man there hurries out and fumbles for his holster.

I’m on him, hand in his jacket as we crash to the ground. He’s slim, lightweight. I’m off him, his gun in my hand, and kick him in the head as he tries to stand. He drops and stays down. I walk around the car and pull the door off the man’s leg.

“Are you fucking insane?” the driver yells, holding his leg and almost covering up the steps of a third person moving closer behind me. “We were just coming to check if you were okay.”

“Try again,” I say, putting the Glock 19 to his head. “You drove up this road with your lights off.” I don’t react to the approaching person. If their goal was my death, they’d have shot already.

“You broke my legs,” the driver whimpers. That is not an act. Whatever the plan is, he did not expect to be injured.

The muzzle of a gun presses against the back of my head. “Drop it,” the man holding it says.

“No.”

“I will shoot you.”

“The moment I hear the hammer on your gun move, I shoot him. So this is a question of which one of us is most willing to commit murder.”

The man curses. “I told you this was a bad idea, Jerry. The job was to follow them, not engage.”

“How the fuck was I to know he’s a psychopath?” the driver, Jerry, snaps. “He spotted us. We had to stay on him.”

“I want your word that if I take my gun off your head,” the man says, “you’ll put yours down.”

“You have it, but in return, I want answers.” Men who ask for your words are men who will respect theirs. Unless they are me.

“Carl,” Jerry warns.

Carl sighs, and the gun is removed.

I lower the Glock and step to the side so I have the two of them in sight. Carl is the stockier of the three; muscle under a layer of fat. It’s been a while since he trained.

“Who are you?” I ask.

Carl’s movements are controlled as he put his gun away. I can’t tell the model in the little light to car’s dome light provides.

“C, D, & J Investigation.”

I nod to the other side of the car. “He’s D?”

“Donald,” Carl answers. “What did you do to him?”

“Kicked him unconscious. Why are you following me?”

“Not you,” Carl hesitates, “the pickup.” It isn’t a lie, but he’s unsure I’ll believe him. “We were hired six days ago and given the make and color. We were told that it would return from Mexico at the Nogales crossing at some point and that we were to find out where in Pheonix it went. Donal’s contact at the border informed him when it crossed, and we took position just outside the city and waited. We thought about hacking the city cameras and following it that way, but there are too many holes. Then you didn’t go into the city itself, and Jerry decided to follow you, anyway. Then you spotted us and… well, here we are.”

“Who hired you?”

“I don’t know. And if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

I have the name of their company. Alex can get in their computers and find the information he isn’t willing to tell me.

“What happens now?” Jerry asks.

“That depends on you. Are you dropping this case?” I don’t make the question a threat. As investigators, they are smart enough to work out the implications. The most expedient thing is for me to kill them. This far from anything, disposing of the bodies will be simple. Emil can drive the Forrester and Zephyr can turn it into another sculpture.

But there is an advantage to letting them go. They will have to contact their employer, and that is another lead for Alex to follow.

Carl and Jerry exchange a look. Jerry looks at his leg, Carl over the car.

“Yeah, we are,” Carl says. “This isn’t what we signed up for. I don’t know what it’s about, but clearly, this is about more than just finding you where you were going in Phoenix.” He’s honest about his intent. That will do for now. If they change their minds later, I will find out quickly enough.

“Move your car, or I will move it for you.”

I head to the Silverado.

Jerry whimpers, Carl curses. A door opens, three closes. The Forrester starts and drives off. When I back the Silverado to the road, they are parked on the side of it.

“What was that about?” Alex asks once we’re away.

“They are someone’s pawns.”

“Whoever took over for Fernan?”

“That seems the most likely possibility, considering the timing, but that also makes it unlikely. They were hired before Fernan was killed. Once at the reservation, I need you to get into their system. There will be information about their employers, and that will give us answers.”

“Me,” he asks, amused, “not that amazing hacker of yours?”

Boxes shake until I realize he’s joking, then another makes itself known. I sigh. “Fine, if you aren’t up to the job I’ll call—”

“Don’t even think about it.”

I smile.

“You know, I prefer you without a sense of humor.”

Emil snorts.

“That’s going to cost you,” Alex says. “Whatever town’s next, you’re getting me a coffee.”

“Okay,” I say, unexpectedly pleased at his reaction.

“Make that two,” he says.

I smile at him. “One.”

* * * * *

I stop the Silverado the moment the man become visible in the headlight’s beams.

“Does he ever sleep?” Alex asks.

“Is that Jacoby?” Emil asks sleepily, leaning between the seats.

I ease forward. In part to give Jacoby time to move out of the way, and in part because of the potholes. I don’t want to jar Alex’s leg anymore than needed.

“Is he going to stand there until you run him over?” Emil asks.

Jacoby doesn’t move.

He knows better than to stand in my way, but he isn’t what I’m paying attention to.

“Those can’t be good news,” Alex says of the two bodies at the man’s feet.

I stop the Silverado inches from driving over them. I lower the window as Jacoby approaches.

“Jacoby,” I greet him.

“Tristan,” he replies, tone clipped. “Bart, Emil.”

I don’t correct him. He’s not happy.

“You need to leave,” Jacoby states.

“But,” Emil begins, and stops at my raised hand.

“Is this about the two bodies?”

“In part. I only have one hard rule; you don’t bring your troubles back with you. These make the third time someone’s showed up here for you.”

“Who are there?” All I saw of them were large bodies in woodland hunting gear.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Take them with you, if you want to figure that out.”

“When did they get here?”

“No idea when they arrived. Carson found them positions in the woods by your house four hours ago.”

Now the true purpose for the investigators is clear. They’d have contacted someone once they had the Silverado in sight. But who could know about my house?

“Alright. I’ll deal with it.” I put the Silverado into gears.

“You aren’t listening, Tristan,” Jacoby says. “You aren’t welcome here anymore. Too many of your problems have shown up at my doorsteps. Go to your house, take what you need, and leave.”

“You can’t do that,” Alex protests.

“Boy, I can do whatever the fuck I want. This is my place, not yours, not here. I dictate who is an isn’t welcome. Tristan agreed to the rules when he settled here. For close to twenty years, everything was fine, then you showed up.”

“Don’t make this about him, Jack.” I’m too tired to make it a threat. All I wanted was to rest at home with Alex and Emil. Have a good night’s sleep. Look after Alex tomorrow. Now, I need to make plans. Work out a safe place to say.

A box glows a sickly red and I feel something new. Resentment.

This isn’t fair. How is any of this my fault? It’s not like I planned on having any of those people follow me here. And Franklin is not a problem, nor is Alex. This is only the second time trouble occurred here linked to me, not the third. Why don’t I just put Jacoby in the ground and run this place?

I clamp the box shut hard.

The world isn’t fair. It never was. It doesn’t need to be. The only thing that matters is what I do and what I agreed to. With the emotion under control, I notice the silence.

Alex looks worried. Jacoby has stepped away from the Silverado, hand on his colt.

“Are you okay?” Alex asks. “You looked ready to explode there.”

I loosen my hands on the steering wheel, trying to come up with a plan.

“You can stay at my place with you and Jacoby resolve there. My house is bigger than yours, so there won’t be a problem with the three of us living there for a while.

Alex doesn’t get it. There is no resolving this. Short of killing Jacoby and putting everyone on the reservation in their place afterward, I can no longer stay here. And beyond Jacoby, someone else knows I live here. This isn’t secure anymore.

I take my phone, flip it open and turn it on. 

Nearly twenty years here. The closest thing I’ve had to a home since… ever. I barely remember what living with my mother was like. I enter a number, then hesitate.

“Emil, do you have anything at the house you need to get?”

“No, Dad. Everything that matters to me is here.”

I nod and place the call.

The explosion closes this chapter of my life permanently. The light reaches this far and I read the shock on Jacoby’s face.

“Are you crazy? What if someone was there?” he demands.

“Then they never paid attention to the lessons I gave them.” I put my phone away. “Not that I expect you’ll ever have a read, Jacoby, but do not contact me. Tell the others that I will not answer. I will not come to their help.”

“You think anyone here will ever want your help?”

“No one ever wants my help,” I answer. “When someone starts looking for me, they are beyond wanting. Desperation is what drives people to look like for someone like me, and everyone here is at the edge of desperation.”

“You should know us better than that,” Jacoby replies

I put the car in reverse. “You should know yourselves better.”

As soon as I’m level ground, I make a one-eighty and drive away into my future with Alex and Emil with me. With the only things that matter to me anymore.