Chapter 12 #2
“Idiot shot Spike,” the taller man, with the red hair, said, nudging the unconscious man’s leg with his boot. “Then, what, fainted? Idiot.”
“Then where’s his gun?” the shorter man asked, bright blond hair catching the light as he shook his head. He crouched by the unconscious man. “He’s been hit on the head.”
“What?” the taller man also crouched down.
Hallie tensed. They were both distracted, their attention on the man on the ground.
She could take one or both of them out before they knew she was there.
Her fingers tightened on the shotgun in her hand, and the image of what was left of Stocky’s head filled her mind, nausea rising.
She couldn’t do it. The men hadn’t threatened her.
Not yet. And she hadn’t meant for anyone to die.
She changed her grip on the shotgun so she could use it as a club, and came to her knees, ready to move.
Just as she was preparing to fling herself forward and try and take out the two men, heavy footsteps marched past her. She held her breath, freezing in place.
Another two men moved out of the forest, their attention on the group in front of them, rather than on their surroundings, which was just as well, otherwise Hallie was sure she would have been spotted.
“What’s going on?” one of the newcomers asked, as though he fully expected and was entitled to an answer.
He had dull brown skin and a patchy beard, with a slender silver scar running down one side of his face, just missing his eye.
The other man with him was of similar build and appearance - enough that Hallie thought they could be related - but without the scar.
“Spike’s dead,” the blond man who’d been crouched by the body answered.
Spike seemed like a nick-name of some kind.
It was probably kinder than the mental name of Stocky that Hallie had given to him in their brief encounter.
The blond man, who Hallie decided to nickname Blondie, got to his feet. “He’s dead, Vinny.”
“Looks like Shorty here shot him,” the other man, who Hallie mentally named Red, added, getting to his feet as well. Shorty. Hallie almost snorted. Of course a group of armed men would call the tallest one Shorty.
The scarred man, who must be Vinny, scowled at both of them, transferring his glare to the body and the unconscious man. “Where’s Shorty’s gun?”
“Haven’t found it yet,” Red answered promptly.
“Found our unwanted visitor yet?” Vinny asked.
“No, not yet,” Red answered, apparently not noticing the sarcastic bite to Vinny’s voice.
“I can see that, you fool,” Vinny said. He was angry.
Even at the short distance and with his back to her, Hallie could tell that.
But he had damped down his anger, and, in Hallie’s experience, anyone who could control their emotions like that was very dangerous.
A chill ran over her skin. He was the one in charge.
Of this group, at least, and the one to look out for.
“Get back to searching. And don’t come back until we’ve found him. ”
“Sir,” Blondie said, and took a step away from the body. He paused as Red didn’t move.
Red was frowning, lips moving silently, as if he was having some kind of internal debate with himself.
Hallie found herself wondering just what he was thinking about, almost in spite of herself.
She should be more concerned about how she was going to get out of her current situation, but the expression of earnest thought on Red’s face held her still.
“What?” Vinny demanded, still impatient, still angry, and still in control of himself. “Wasn’t I clear enough?”
“I was just wondering, boss, if he really is a Conclave Investigator, like he said, do we, I mean, should we really be trying to nab him? Isn’t that going to stir up trouble?”
“There’s already trouble. And thinking is not your job. The governor will want to see him, whether he’s telling the truth of not, so that’s what we’re going to arrange. Got it? Now, move it.”
Red still didn’t look convinced, but he did move away, along with Blondie, leaving Vinny and his perhaps-brother standing near the body.
Hallie held her breath, mind working. So, these were the governor’s men.
From the way they talked, Vinny was in charge of this group.
And there had been some interaction with Girard before the shooting had started.
Enough that Girard had told them he was a Conclave Investigator. And they’d still shot at him.
“He’s not wrong,” the perhaps-brother said, in a quiet voice, designed to carry only to Vinny. “Conclave means a lot of trouble.”
“I know. But Jonah will still want to see him. You know that,” Vinny said.
He surprised Hallie with a reasonable, calm tone, and she felt another trail of apprehension cross her skin.
A man with a violent past - as witnessed by the scar on his face - but who was also capable of rational thought.
That was a very dangerous combination indeed.
And he’d given her another name to file away.
Jonah. From the way Vinny was talking, Jonah was someone in charge.
Perhaps the governor himself? It made sense.
“I do know,” the unnamed man said. There was something in his voice that caught Hallie’s attention.
Vinny might be in charge of this particular group, but that whatever-it-was in the perhaps-brother’s voice suggested to Hallie that he might be just as close to Jonah as Vinny was. Which made them both dangerous.
She focused on staying as still as she could and trying to breathe silently as the two men headed off into the forest, in a different direction to Blondie and Red.
Leaving Hallie with an unexpected opportunity and a tricky problem.
There was now nothing and no one between her and the vehicles on the road.
The motorbike was still sputtering, still sending out noxious exhaust fumes.
The two ATVs were pointing more or less in the direction of New Hope, or so Hallie thought.
If she was quick enough, she could probably get across the distance and onto one of the vehicles and make her way to the main settlement.
And then what? She asked herself. As far as she knew, there was no radio or outside communication equipment in New Hope.
There was, from what Rhodda had said, a group of armed men working for the so-called principal of the settlement.
And Hallie had no idea how he might feel about having a strange woman turn up in what he thought of as his town with a wild tale of armed men, a crashed ATV and a missing Conclave Investigator.
In low city, if Hallie had turned up at a police station, or other place of authority, with a tale about one of the hochlen in trouble, the local cops would have responded.
Hochlen were in charge, after all. But this was Paradise and she couldn’t be sure that anyone would care, let alone respond.
And there was Rhodda. Hallie couldn’t - wouldn’t - just leave the other woman, perhaps to be caught by Vinny and his ugly group. Rhodda had seemed genuinely terrified of Jonah. No, Hallie couldn’t leave her.
Which meant she needed to find some way to dispose of the remaining four men, find Girard, and collect Rhodda.
A smile pulled her mouth. She didn’t actually need to find Girard.
If he was awake and able to move, he would find her.
But she did need to deal with the four remaining thugs.
She looked down at the shotgun she was holding and the smile turned savage.
She’d wanted something she could use as a club.
It had proved effective once already, and she still had the element of surprise.
The thugs all believed that Girard had been the one to take Shorty’s gun.
They weren’t looking for a former skip-tracer from low city far, far out of her jurisdiction. And that gave Hallie a huge advantage.
Holding the shotgun ready to use as a blunt weapon, Hallie took a look around.
Which pair to go after first? Vinny and his perhaps-brother or Red and Blondie?
Vinny was definitely the most dangerous, from what she could tell.
He was already on alert, looking for danger, and was going to be the hardest to tackle.
Red and Blondie were likely easier targets.
And if she took them out of play, quickly and quietly, she wouldn’t have to worry about them turning up when she went after Vinny.
Easing into a crouch, she slid out of the shrub she’d taken refuge in and made her way through the dense undergrowth, careful to keep her head and back lower than the hip-high plants, following the trail Red and Blondie had left behind them.
Their already foul tempers were about to be made even worse.