"They're probably blocking the main highway," Maddie said.
Then instances of flickering light and the thundering sound of shotguns were heard. "Keep low!" he yelled, with both hands firm on the wheel and sliding down in his seat.
"Sam!" Maddie cried out.
The thick military windshield glass shattered.
"Dad," Jake screamed.
"Get down," Sam yelled.
Sam noticed ahead, there was a stretch of clearing free of debris. "Hang on," he yelled, shifting into a higher gear.
When the thugs noticed Sam wasn't going to stop, they wailed, "Alto!" the dove to the roadside. Sam closed his eyes and moved up in his seat. With his fists gripped around the steering, the steel grill cleaved through the cars and onto the highway. Explosions of fire rose from mutilated metal, as Chavez's men gathered their composure and resumed firing. Sam veered around a bend, then glanced out his window and saw the glow of fire. He turned to focus on the road, when another fiery explosion rose in the nights sky.
"Is everyone, okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Maddie answered.
"Yeah, Dad, that was great," Jake said.
"Why don't you pull over now so we can take care of you?" Maddie suggested. "Then I'll drive the rest of the way."
Sam felt under his leg and shoulder. The glow of the dim dashboard illuminated the red sticky substance on his hand. Feeling squeamish, he pulled over to the side of the road.
Chavez had been surveying the littered bodies on the warehouse floor, when the explosions were heard from the end of the road. When his men stepped in, dripping wet, he knew his cargo had gotten away. Failure had wiped its feet on his doormat, and there was only way to handle it. "Give these useless bastards a nightcap."
"But not all of them are dead," Andrea said.
"Then make sure they are," he yelled.
Andrea motioned to the men who had strolled in from out of the rain. "Them?"
"No, I need them."
"And the cargo?"
"Let me worry about that."
"If they get away, I'm not going back to prison," she said.
"You want your freedom? You better make sure they don't get away."
Chavez stormed toward his office while making a call. "Make your calls and give them heads up, there's a group who might be coming your way."
Andrea found Chavez pacing his office. She hadn't ever seen him this nervous before. "What do you want?" he barked.
"If I get rid of them, you'll let me go?"
Chavez had no intention of letting her go, but said, "Yes, you're free to leave, but you must get rid of them first. You better hope my connections don't take care of them first."
Moments later, Sam fell asleep leaning against Emily and the little girl, while Maddie drove. Whereabouts unknown, it was better than the horror they had just experienced at the warehouse. Unable to sleep, Jake remained awake keeping his mother alert by assisting her dodge the labyrinth of fallen brush in the highway. "Watch out, Mom," Jake would say. "There's another branch."
Soon, Maddie and Jake caught their first glimpse of structures along the roadside. Blighted concrete bungalows lined the roadside with plywood scattered from crumbled fruit stands and lean-tos. Debris blew across the road like tumbleweeds in a desert.
"Mom, look." Jake pointed to a half lit neon sign blowing from a broken chain. It read, -PEN 24 H-UR- . "It looks like a mini-mart," Jake said.
"Yeah, an abandoned mini-mart," Maddie replied. "We'll keep going."
A short distance later, Jake pointed to another building. There were eighteen-wheel diesel trucks parked in front, with lights inside revealing several patrons eating. "What about that place?" Jake asked.
"Looks like a truck stop, more promising than the last place," she said. Then pulled in and parked near the entrance. "Wait here. I'll be right back."
All heads turned when Maddie stepped into the diner. It wasn't her soaked appearance that attracted their attention, it was the blood on her hands and clothes, and the fact that she was a woman driving a military truck during a storm in the middle of the night. The only waitress, dressed she worked in a 1950s diner, was talking to several truckers at a table. She approached Maddie with an annoyed attitude like she was being taken away from a serious conversation with her trucker customers. "Te puedo ayudar?"
"Please, I need help," Maddie pleaded. "Can I use your phone?"
"No hablo Inglés."
Maddie glanced past her at the truckers. "Please, does anyone speak English? We need a hospital or police station. Please."
Without expression, the staring truckers turned toward their plates and resumed their conversations. "Does anyone in here speak English?"
Again, she was ignored.
"Please, can you tell me where a police station is?" she asked the waitress.
"No hablo Inglés.
"Police, policia," Maddie said. She wasn't certain if that was the right word, but she had seen it in movies.
"Ah, si. No muy lejos," she said, pointing in the direction Maddie had been driving.
Without acknowledgment, Maddie fled into the rain back to the truck.
"Did you find anything out?" Jake asked.
"I don't know, no one speaks English around here. I think we're going in the right direction, though."
Inside the diner, the waitress reached in her pocket and took out her cell phone. "La familia estará allí pronto," she whispered. Then through the windows of the diner, she watched as the truck spit mud from the rear tires as it sped from the parking lot.
###
Maddie fought to maintain control as she weaved over lanes of the two-lane highway. Structures appearing to be small markets, gas stations, and homes lined along the darkened road gave an eerie appearance of abandonment. They had traveled for less than ten-minutes when Jake noticed a building with a light on behind a barred window. "Mom, I see a light."
"I see it."
Keeping her foot on the gas, Maddie fish-tailed into a small muddy parking area beside a police car that looked like it belonged on Adam 12. Sam awoke from the sudden jar. "Where are we?" he asked. "Is anything wrong?"
"We found a police station," Maddie replied. "How are you doing?"
"I don't know, I'm feeling pretty numb."
"Just hang on, we'll be at the hospital soon."
Maddie dashed through the rain to the front door of the police station. It didn't look much larger than the room she had been held captive in at the warehouse. After trying the door knob, she pounded on the door and yelled, "Anyone in there? We need help. Hello?"
Standing in the bright light as the door swung opened, was a disheveled slim middle-aged mustached man whose uniform looked as though it hadn't been ironed in a week. Pinned to his shirt pocket was a badge that read, Lt. Alvarez.
"Do you speak English?" she asked.
"Of course señorita. I learned as a child."
Being stripped from his rank of Captain was a huge step down for Manuel Alvarez. Mexico City had always been his home, and he was on the verge of becoming Deputy Commissioner. This would've been advantageous to his backers who were local crime bosses, and would've assured him a lifelong position of status and wealth. It wasn't until days before the election when his own police officers raided his home and arrested him.
In exchange of staying out of prison, Alvarez testified against the crime bosses. He was demoted to Lieutenant and sent to Limones, kind of a Witness Protection Program.
His tired eyes and groggy voice spoke volumes of a disturbed night. "Come in," he said, with a yawn. "What can I help you with?"
The chilly and damp one room police station reeked of stale alcohol. Behind the only barred jail cell, lie an unshaven man spread out on a metal cot, too small for his size. Several feet from the cell was a paperless desk with a half empty bottle of whisky. Behind the desk on the wall, a police cap and keys hung from nails.
"Thank, God you're here," Maddie said, stepping inside. "We need
your help. We... my family, was... were kidnapped by two people on our boat. We were in Florida... they brought us here... they were going to sell us... they tried to kill us... dead people everywhere... we need a hospital," she rambled, in fragmented sentences.
"Okay, calm down," Alvarez said, motioning her to take a seat.
Maddie remained standing near the door. "No, there's no time for that. We need to get to a hospital, my husband's been shot and my daughter is drugged. There's other people with us. There's dead people, too. Please, we gotta go, now. Please help us," she pleaded.
Unaffected by her urgency, Alvarez sauntered behind his desk and removed his cap and keys. "Okay. I'll take you in my car," he said, as he situated his cap on his head.
"We'll follow you," Maddie said, then opened the door. "Please, hurry."
"It'll be faster if we take my car," he insisted, then turned toward the snoring prisoner. "Don't go anywhere, Miguel. I'll be back soon."
Maddie continued her rant." We gotta hurry... my family is injured... we were kidnapped... they want to kill us."
"All right, settle down. You can explain everything on the way." As he slammed the door behind him, the cell door creaked open.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lt. Alvarez had placed Maddie's rifle in the trunk of the police car, while everyone huddled in the backseat. Sam propped in front with his belt pulled tight around his leg, replacing the use of a tourniquet. He pressed a torn shirt against the wound on his shoulder. "Looks like someone got the best of you," Lt. Alvarez said. Sam remained silent, slipping into a deep sleep.
The police car turned out of the driveway and headed through the narrow muddy neighborhood behind the station. "Where are we going?" Maddie asked.
"Don't worry, it'll be faster this way. There's too much debris along the highway," he said, weaving around a board with protruding nails in the road.
Maddie brushed Emily's hair from her face, "Hang in there sweetheart, we'll be at the hospital soon." Then she hummed a song hoping to soothe everyone.
Minutes later and after several more turns, the car turned onto the highway. Maddie glared at Lt. Alvarez through the rear-view mirror, "I don't understand why we just couldn't follow you. Can't you go any faster?" Maddie asked, with an impatient tone.
Lt. Alvarez lit a cigar. "Sit back and relax. I'm going as fast as I can in this weather," then let a cigar.
"Do you have to smoke that thing in here?" she asked. Her question was answered with a billow of smoke.
They drove through the wind and bantering rain for several miles until Jake whispered, "Mom, there's that place we past earlier."
Maddie noticed the half lit neon sign swaying from a broken chain. "Where are we?" she asked.
"Don't worry, it's a shortcut."
Ramona opened her eyes and scanned the road. "This isn't the way," she whispered to Maddie. "We're heading back toward the warehouse."
Maddie sat up against the metal mesh cage that divided the front and back seat. "Where are you taking us? This isn't the way to the hospital."
Lt. Alvarez remained focused on the road. "Turn this car around." Maddie demanded, rattling the cage.
Finally, Alvarez glanced through the mirror at Maddie. "Sit back," he said with a stern tone. "We're almost there."
"He's taking us back," Ramona mumbled, with a frightened tone. "He must work for Chavez."
"Stop the car, let us out!" Maddie was outraged.
"Relax lady."
"Let us out." Jake chimed, smacking the cage behind Lt. Alvarez's head.
"If you don't sit back and let me drive, I'm gonna pullover and take care of you myself."
"Sam, wake up. Do something!" Maddie screamed.
After several attempts to open the back door, Jake yelled, "Dad!"
Lt. Alvarez spoke in a calm tone. "Don't think he's gonna be much help. Looks like he's losing a lot of blood."
Jake squeezed his fingers through the metal cage and tugged strands of hair on Sam's head. "Dad, wake up."
"I'm not going to warn you again," Lt. Alvarez yelled.
Sam shifted and moaned.
"Dad!" Jake screamed out.
Maddie joined in, "Sam! Wake up! Sam!"
His family's cries for help sounded like faint desperate echoes. He knew they were in trouble again, but lacked the energy to move. They continued yelling and screaming, "Sam. Dad."
Mustering his last ounce of spirit, Sam reached for the steering wheel and stretched his leg in pain over the console to step on the brake pedal.
"What are you doing?" Lt. Alvarez shouted, struggling to control the car. "We're gonna get in an accident." Then his elbow flew into Sam's face.
Blood poured from Sam's nose. Still numb to the pain, Sam doubled his fist and landed several blows to Lt. Alvarez. The car swerved the width of the road. Sam unsnapped Alvarez's holstered pistol and withdrew the gun. Lt. Alvarez grabbed the barrel, when a lengthy diesel horn sounded from ahead. Headlights from the approaching truck blinded Lt. Alvarez. "Let go, we're all gonna get killed."
Sam glanced up at the sixteen wheel diesel's flashing lights bearing down on them. He cranked the wheel away to avoid hitting the truck head-on. While wrestling for control of the gun, they sped inches alongside the large truck, clipping its rear panel. The car spun out of control, hydroplaning over the wet asphalt. Moments later, it came to a rest alongside an embankment where it stalled.
The gun flailed near the ceiling of the car ripping the mirror from the window, while Sam and Lt. Alvarez refused to release grips. Maddie and Jake's screams of advice went unheard. A gunshot rang out, shattering the passenger window near Sam's head. Then another shot pierced the windshield.
"Get him, Dad!" Jake shouted. Maddie pushed his down, trying to restrain him from being hit by a stray bullet.
Maddie reared her feet into the side window, but it was too thick. Sam and Lt. Alvarez were chest to chest as another shot deafened them. A calm filled the car, as Sam's head lie slumped on Lt. Alvarez's shoulder. "Sam?" Maddie questioned. "Sam!"
Soon, Lt. Alvarez's head rolled into the driver's door. Fear came over Maddie. She grabbed Jake and Emily in her arms.
A moment later, Sam lifted his head. "It's over."
"Thank, God," Maddie said.
Moments later, Maddie completed the u-turn then hesitated before slamming her foot on the pedal. One last stare through the rear-view mirror, the silhouette of Lt. Alvarez's body lay in the glow of the tail lights. She felt no guilt. No pity. No blame. Only disgust at how easy his death was.
The early morning darkness brought a steady stream of rain. She fought her heavy eyelids to stay awake, as she drove in a trancelike state, not knowing when or where they'd find help from someone they could trust. "When will we be there?" Jake asked.
His voice startled her, but it was pleasant to hear. Rather than dash his hopes, she replied, "Soon, just try and get some sleep."
He couldn't sleep. He knew his mother was tired and needed to her stay awake. Before he could say another word, he spotted a light glowing from ahead. "Mom," he said. Then he pointed.
"I see it."
It was another diner. Maddie drifted the police car near the front glass doors. She replayed the events that led them to Lt. Alvarez last time, then grabbed the gun on the floor. She didn't trust anyone. "Wait here," she told Jake. "I'll be right back."
Jake looked puzzled. "Are you gonna kill someone else?"
"I hope not." She hoped he didn't think she was a killer.
"Can I sit in the driver's seat?" he asked, excited to be in a police car.
She opened a rear door to let him out. Once he was seated behind the wheel, she marched to the diner.
Jake gripped the steering wheel and pretended he was in a high speed pursuit. Inspecting the dashboard, he noticed something lying on the floor. "Cool," he said to himself, then put it in his pocket.
She could see the diner was empty. There was only a waitress leaning over the counter chewing gum and
thumbing through a magazine. 'Probably waiting for me,' Maddie thought.
She stormed in with the pointed gun and demanded directions. The waitress glanced and saw a frantic woman with blood on her clothes. "No habla Inglés," she said with a fearful expression, then opened the cash register and handed Maddie a few pesos.
Maddie stood dumbfounded, but took the money. The waitress probably thought Maddie just wanted to rob the diner. She gestured for a phone. The waitress reached in her pocket and handed it to her. Maddie dropped it on the floor, and smashed it. She looked around the diner and found a land phone. Maddie ripped it from the wall, tearing the cord from its plastic connector. The waitress stared at Maddie's strange behavior, then watched as Maddie flew from the doors to the police car.
Jake was still pretending to drive when she appeared at the window and opened the door. "Do we know where we're going now?" he asked.
"We're gonna just keep driving."
Part Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
The room was blinding white with sterile odor of medicines and antiseptics lingering in the air. Children occupied hospital beds as Jake wore his hospital gown at the little girl's bedside. Her battered face was cleaned and shined like an angel through her scratches and bruises. The rhythmic beat of the monitor evidenced she was still alive. He peered up at the nurse inspecting a chart at the foot of her bed, "Will she be okay?" he asked.
"She's been through a lot. A few more days and she'll be fine," the nurse answered, replacing the clipboard on the hook on the end of her bed.
"What's her name?" he asked.
"She's a Jane Doe at the moment," she answered before walking out the room.
Jake whispered to the girl, "I hope you find your family, Jane," then glanced around the room. He bent down and gave the little girl a kiss on the forehead then rushed from the room, embarrassed.