Chapter 11
Cooper had been thinking about Ashley Stevens ever since he arrived at the old shack. His mind kept going back to how pretty she was and also about the big hugs she gave him the last time he saw her over a year and a half ago. A lot had happened in his life since that time and his dad and Dalton had both been killed.
He was starting to run low on dog food so he decided he would go into Ridgecrest and pick up some supplies. While there, he thought he would swing by Ashley's house and see if she was still living there. He went out to the pump and got enough water to clean himself up. He brushed his hair and teeth and put charcoal on his scuffed up black boots. He put on a clean shirt and Levi's where he would look half way presentable.
He left the dogs at the shack and went into town. He went straight to the house where he'd dropped Ashley off the last time he saw her. He parked the pick-up out front and slowly made his way to the door. He was apprehensive, because he wasn't sure what kind of reception he might get when she saw him. He knocked a couple of times before Ashley's mom opened up the door. When she did he said, "Hi, I'm Cooper and I was looking for Ashley. Is she here?" Ashley's mom immediately knew who Cooper was because Ashley had told her all about Cooper and how he was the one that found her and set her free. She didn't tell her mom that he was also the one that cut the throat of Charley Staples. She smiled and told Cooper to come on in and she quickly turned and went to Ashley's room to get her.
When Ashley found out that Cooper was there she came running into the living room. When she saw him she jumped up on him and threw her legs around his waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek. She looked totally different to Cooper. She wasn't the skinny, frail and stringy haired girl he had seen the last time they were together. Her body was filled out and her hair was brushed out real nice. She had make-up on and he thought she looked beautiful. He was embarrassed at first. He was a little bashful and shy and didn't know how to react to her being so overly friendly to him.
Ashley took him by the hand with both her hands and led him over to the couch and sat down next to him. Seeing that she was okay alone with him, Ashley's mom left the two of them there and went into the other room. Ashley smiled at him, "I've tried several times to find you, but didn't have any luck. I even drove out to Red Mountain twice in the past year looking for you." Cooper was surprised that she had made all that effort to try and find him. "Wow! I didn't know you had done something like that. I'm sorry, we don't know any of the people in Red Mountain and they don't know us." Ashley replied, "It's okay Cooper, I'm just so glad you're here now. I've wanted to talk to you and share so much with you." Cooper was smiling, "Yeah, me too. I wanted to thank you for telling the cops that you killed Charley and kept me out of it." She grabbed his hand, "It was the least I could do after you were so nice to me, setting me free and bringing me back home." She asked Cooper if he was going to be in town for a few hours and if they could hang out for a while. He shrugged his shoulder, "Sure, why not, I can do that; I don't have anything else to do. I just came into town to get some dog food and a few groceries. While I was here, I just wanted to check on you."
Ashley went into the kitchen and told her mom that they were going to the little park down the street and hang out and talk for a while. Her mom told her okay, but to be careful. She had become a little over protective of Ashley since she had her back with the family.
Ashley was holding Cooper's hand real tight as they went out to the pick-up and got in. She slid over next to him as they left. Cooper was totally surprised by the way she had been so compassionate and caring toward him. He never expected her to be that friendly. She was treating him like he was her long lost boyfriend that she hadn't seen for a long time. He never had anyone treat him like that before in his life. It was a total new experience for him and he liked the way she made him feel.
When they got to the park they went and sat at one of the tables with bench seats. She slid up close to him and gently kissed him on the cheek. Her lips were warm and soft and it sent shivers up his spine when she kissed him. He then reached over and gave her a big kiss on the lips. It was awkward at first, because he'd never kissed a girl before. She giggled like she was embarrassed, when he did that. He said, "What! Did I do it wrong?" She laughed, "No silly, it was perfect. I'm just a little shy, that's all."
He then moved away from Ashley as he looked her in the eyes, "Hey Ashley there are some things you don't know about me before you get too friendly with me. We need to talk so I can tell you what's been going on with me since I saw you last. He figured he might as well get things out in the open in case she wanted to tell him not to ever come by and see her again. "Once I tell you these things you may not like me at all." She was smiling, as she leaned back a little, "Okay, Cooper, I'm all ears; you can tell me anything you want to tell me."
He didn't really know where to start so he slowly started telling her that he had a couple of large dogs that he and Dalton had trained and now they were with him. He told her that the dogs would kill anything he wanted them to kill, including people. "You know, you already met Samson. He was with me when I first saw you at the shack." He thought that would be enough to scare her away, but she smiled and just sat and listened. He then told her how he, Dalton and his dad would go out at night and break into houses in the three little towns around Red Mountain and steal things. Once they had enough stuff they would then take it to Los Angeles and sell it.
He said some of the old timers from around that area were calling them "Night Crawlers." He told her that his dad got careless one night and was shot and killed by a guy in Red Mountain. "I killed the guy that did it, along with his wife." She still wasn't deterred by what he was saying as she seemed to be fascinated with everything he was telling her.
He then told her about his twin brother Dalton and how they had a secret dialog all their own and even knew what the other one was thinking some of the time. He told her about the vigilante group that was formed in Red Mountain and how they came after him and Dalton and killed Dalton in the process. He told her that he didn't have any other place to go so he'd been hiding out at the old shack where Charley had held her prisoner and he'd been there a few weeks since Dalton was killed.
She then gasped, "That old place? I can't believe you're there. I hate that place." Cooper said, "I know you do Ashley, but I couldn't think of any other place to go hide out for a while. I've gotten rid of everything that belonged to Charley and cleaned the place up. I have to also tell you that when I find out who the guys are that were in the vigilante group I'm going after them and I'm going to kill every last one of them. I just have to find out their names and where they live."
It took Cooper by complete surprise when Ashley said, "I'll help you find out who they are if you want me too." He jerked his head back, "I really don't want you to get involved with anything like that. I don't want you to get in any trouble just because of me." She spoke softly, "You don't understand Cooper, what that old man Charley did to me screwed my head up really good. I've been going to the psychiatrist for help ever since you brought me home. The therapist told me I have what they call rape trauma syndrome. When it first happened I was angry, degraded, frightened and confused. Since I've been back home I've withdrawn from my family because I was ashamed and embarrassed of what he did to me. That old man destroyed my self esteem and my dignity. He took away all my self-worth and I've had a hard time thinking that someone would ever want me or love me. I have had a hard time going back to school because I can't concentrate on the school work. The state paid for my mom to hire a tutor for me and I get home schooled, instead of going to a regular school. I can't and don't want to be around any of those kids from school. Now I have an anger problem and I just want to hurt people that do bad things to other people. I can't help myself; it's just the way I feel inside. I'm not like some of those girls that
have been abducted that can just forget about what happened to them and go on with their lives. Me, helping you, might be a good way for me to get rid of some of my pent up anger and frustration. I haven't been able to date any guys or have a normal life since I got back home.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about you ever since I first met you and you set me free." She leaned in and kissed him again. Cooper loved the attention as they talked and occasionally kissed for a few more hours, before he said he had to get going. Cooper told her he needed to get back to his dogs. He had left them in the shack and knew they needed to be let out to go to the bathroom.
While he was driving her back to her house he told her that if she really wanted to help him find the names of the vigilante guys then he'd pick her up on Monday morning before noon. They would then go to Red Mountain and see if they could find out what he desperately wanted to know. Before she got out of the pick-up she gave Cooper a big kiss and a hug and told him she would see him on Monday. "I'm so glad you came back to check on me, Cooper." He smiled at her, "Yeah, me too Ashley."
After he dropped her off, Cooper thought about the way Ashley had reacted to everything he told her about himself and what he was going to do to the vigilante guys and she wasn't even fazed by it. He felt like she understood his anger and could relate and sympathize with him. He knew she had a lot of built up anger inside of her for what Charley had done to her. He felt like she probably would've helped him hunt the guys down and kill a couple of them herself if he would let her. He knew he didn't want her to do something like that because he wanted to do it himself.
Cooper went to the market and got what he needed and then headed back to the shack. When he got back to the dogs they were very happy to see him. After they relieved themselves they came back in and Cooper dished them up some much needed dog food. He sat on the couch and his mind was in deep in thought as the dogs gobbled down their food.
He thought about his day with Ashley, but his mind kept going back to the guys that had killed Dalton. As he was sitting there he fanaticized about what he was going to do to each one of them when he found out who they were. He formulated a plan in his mind of how he was going to kill each and every one of them. He decided he wanted to take his time and not get in a big hurry in doing it. The last time he made a hasty decision it got Dalton killed. He didn't care if it took him a year or more to kill all of them; he just wanted to torture them with the dogs before they died.
The following Monday, he left the dogs in the shack and headed to Ashley's house. When he got there she gave him the same warm welcome she had a few days earlier. As they drove to Red Mountain he found that she was easy for him to talk to and he liked that about her. They had a weird, but strong, connection to each other.
Just before he got to Red Mountain he told her he had to change vehicles with Charley's old truck. He told Ashley the last time he was driving his dad's truck the vigilantes were shooting at it as he headed out of Red Mountain. He told her he couldn't very easily drive it into town. When he got to the spot where he'd hidden the truck, he pulled off the road and went down into the secluded ravine. Everything looked like it was still the same and nothing had been touched.
When they got in Charley's truck the battery was dead and the truck wouldn't start since it had been a while since it was driven. He had to use his jumper cables to get it started and air up the tires with a hand pump. As they headed into Randsburg Cooper said, "I was thinking that maybe I could take you to "The Joint" in Randsburg and you could order yourself some lunch. While you're eating, you could ask the waitress who the vigilante guys that took the law into their own hands, might be.
She smiled at Cooper, "Not a problem, I'll play it real cool and if the waitress knows them, I'll find out who they are." Cooper smiled back at her, "I know you will Ashley. I know you can get the information I need." He was playing on her ego just a little, but he was real good at doing that and manipulating people.
When they got to Randsburg Cooper dropped Ashley off near the bar and drove down the street a few blocks and parked in a non-conspicuous place while he waited. When she went into the Joint she was smiling and bubbly. She instantly hit it off with the people working there. She told them that she was just visiting from out of town and heard it was as good place to get a burger and fries.
The waitress was an older woman about her mom's age so they instantly felt comfortable with each other. She ordered the special, which was a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke. While she was waiting for it to come, she started talking to the waitress about how dead the little towns were. They talked for a while before she said, "My friend, that lives in Red Mountain, was telling me about a bunch of guys that went after a couple of brothers and they shot and killed one of them, not too long ago. That sounds pretty exciting."
The waitress said, "Yeah the boys supposedly killed a guy and his wife in Red Mountain so the neighbors got a group of men together and went after them. I heard they shot one of them and then he ran into his house they had set on fire and burned himself up. The other one got away." Ashley said, "Man that takes a lot of nerve for those guys to go after a couple of mean killers like that." She had done a real nice job of setting the waitress up, "Does anyone know who the vigilante guys were?" The waitress paused to think, "I heard two of them were Jim Larson and his son Kerry, but I don't know about the others. I think Jim and Kerry are the ones that were going around town bragging about shooting the boy before he threw himself into the fire." "That sounds so gruesome. What a terrible way to die." The waitress wrinkled up her face, "It does, doesn't it?" They talked a while longer about every day things and then Ashley finished her food and thanked the waitress, as she paid for it and left.
She then walked down the street to where Cooper was anxiously waiting to hear what she had to say. He was overly nervous from anticipation. When she jumped in the truck, she had a big smile on her face, "I got the names of two of them. That's all the waitress knew. I'm sorry, Cooper, she didn't know the other three men." He said, "That's alright Ashley, that's really all I need. I'll get the names of the rest of them once I meet up with one of those two guys face to face."
She told him their names and said they were a father and son duo. She told him they were the ones going around town bragging about shooting Dalton before he threw himself in the fire. When she said that, the rage swelled up in Cooper once again and he felt the blood rush to his face. He had to fight to control his anger. "Those pieces of crap had to shoot an unarmed person in the back because they're nothing but a bunch of cowards. They won't be bragging about it for long!" He then headed back to the ravine and traded trucks and then headed back to Ridgecrest.
On the way back he thanked Ashley a few times and told her he would keep in touch with her over the next few months and let her know how things were going. He gave her a big kiss, dropped her off at her house and then went back to the shack.
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