Chapter 13 #2
Hallie was distracted for a moment by a tiny flinch from Rhodda.
The woman was listening to the exchange with apparent intent interest, gaze travelling between the three men.
But at the suggestion of going to New Hope, she twitched and fear crossed her face.
So she didn’t want to go to Jonah, but she also didn’t want to go to the main settlement.
Hallie couldn’t work the other woman out at all.
“We’ve got nothing to do with them,” Vinny said, lip curling again, drawing Hallie’s attention back to the barbed conversation.
“That’s not my concern,” Girard said, with even more arrogance. “I’m here to find out what’s been going on here and report back.”
“And the Conclave only sent one man?” Vinny’s brother asked, rivalling his brother with his own expression of disdain.
“It’s not a priority for the Conclave,” Girard said.
Hallie had to admire him for telling a lie disguised in the truth.
“But they’re going to notice when I don’t report in, and then they will start paying attention.
” And that was both true and completely believable, from what Hallie knew of the Conclave.
They might regard Paradise as little more than a nuisance at best, but if one of their agents went missing, that would prompt them into action.
And if Vinny was even half as smart as she thought he was, he would know that. The governor would certainly know that.
Hallie watched Vinny’s expression change and wondered if he’d finally fully realised what he was dealing with.
Not someone he could just bully or push around.
A Conclave Investigator. Someone who would be missed.
Hallie’s stomach twisted as she wondered if they would just kill Girard and decide to deal with the consequences later.
She tensed, ready to move if it looked like either man was going to fire on Girard.
Beyond the shrub where Hallie was hiding, the ground was covered with short plants that looked like they had long, thin thorns on them.
As soon as she left her position she was going to be seen, and likely get her clothes caught in the thorns.
“You should listen to him,” Rhodda said, surprising Hallie. The older woman had her eyes on the ground, voice low, almost subservient.
Vinny turned a scowl in Rhodda’s direction, taking his attention away from Girard.
Hallie saw Girard shift his weight. Getting ready to move.
“No, I don’t think we will,” Vinny said slowly, turning back to Girard. He gestured with his gun. “Come on. This way.”
“No,” Girard said, voice hard and flat, and charged forward, straight at Vinny.
Having done something very similar recently herself, Hallie could hardly fault Girard for the direct approach, even as fear dried her mouth at the sight of Girard rushing towards a loaded weapon pointed in his direction.
And Vinny was ready for him, too, unlike Spike had been when Hallie tackled him.
To Hallie’s surprise, Vinny didn’t fire.
He changed the grip on his weapon and tried to use it as a club instead.
But Girard had anticipated that move, ducking under the gun and letting it bounce harmlessly off the body armour across his back while his shoulder thudded into Vinny’s midsection, forcing all the air out of the man’s lungs.
The pair of them tumbled into the undergrowth in a flail of arms and legs, an outraged, strangled cry from Vinny followed by a yell from his brother.
Hallie didn’t hesitate. The brother was moving, heading for Vinny and Girard.
He didn’t see Hallie coming until she collided with his side, sending him off-balance, thudding to the ground.
His gun went off. An accident. Hallie grabbed hold of his wrist with one hand, pushing against his elbow with the other, over-extending his arm.
He dropped the gun, yelling again, fury and surprise on his face as he stared at her.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Hallie told him, scrambling to her knees, still holding on to his wrist and elbow, dragging him with her so he flopped onto his stomach, face down in a thicket of the thorny plants.
He howled, pain and anger combined, and she pulled him further away from where Vinny and Girard were wrestling in the midst of more of the thorns.
She could see fine cuts across Girard’s face, but he was more than capable of dealing with Vinny.
Hallie took a firmer grip on the unnamed man’s wrist and reached back, puling the coil of rope off her belt.
She spared a tiny moment to wish she had her own flexi cuffs with her, but there was no use wishing for things like that.
The rope would have to do. She made a loop around his wrist, putting her knee in the small of his back as he tried to get up and wriggle away, then grabbed the other hand, pulling it back and tying his wrists together behind him, making sure the knots were tight and there wasn’t much give in the rope.
Satisfied that the rope would hold him, she got back to her feet and picked up the gun he’d dropped.
Girard was in the process of tying Vinny up as well. He glanced across to Hallie and nodded once in satisfaction. “Get Rhodda to the ATVs, will you? We’ll borrow one.” He tilted his head to indicate the direction.
“Alright,” Hallie said. She turned to Rhodda. “Ready to get out of here?”
“More than,” Rhodda answered, stepping cautiously away from her shelter. Her eyes darted from one prone, tied up man to the other. She seemed astonished. “I’ve never seen anyone get the better of Jonah’s men before,” she told Hallie, voice tinged with something that sounded like awe.
“Well, we had the advantage of surprise,” Hallie said. She waved for Rhodda to keep walking, and led the way through the dense forest. She glanced back after a few paces and found Rhodda lagging behind. “I know you’re probably tired and sore, but we don’t have long. Can you move faster?”
“I’ll try,” Rhodda said, and picked up her pace. “What do you mean? That we don’t have long?”
“The rope ties won’t hold Vinny and his sidekick forever,” Hallie said. “So we need to put as much distance between us as possible.”
“Right. Yes. That makes sense,” Rhodda said.
Hallie could see the trees thinning out ahead of her and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the two ATVs and the motorbike, its engine still idling, remained on the road, with no one else around.
“Do you know a quick way to disable the ATVs?” Hallie asked.
“What? Oh. Pull something out of the engine. That should do it,” Rhodda said. She stumbled as she walked up the small bank from the forest to the road surface and leant against the side of the nearest ATV, breathing hard.
Hallie took a quick look at each of the vehicles.
The thugs had left the keys in the ignition, which was something.
The one Rhodda was leaning against seemed to be in marginally better shape than the other one, and when she turned the key, its fuel gauge read almost full.
That would do. She turned to the other vehicle.
Pull something out of the engine, Hallie told herself.
It sounded simple enough, except Hallie had no real idea what she was looking at when she managed to pry open the primitive hood that covered the engine.
There were a few wires leading into what she thought might be a battery.
That would do. She pulled the wires, and managed to wrestle the battery, which was a lot heavier than it looked, out of the engine, dropping it into the cargo compartment of the ATV Rhodda was leaning against.
The ATV would hold all of them, Hallie knew, and turned her attention to the motorbike, with its sputtering engine.
She pulled the key out of the ignition and tossed it into the ATV’s cargo compartment as well, welcoming the quiet that followed the engine dying.
She knew even less about motorbikes than she did about cars, but she hoped that would at least slow Vinny and his men down.
“Why don’t you get in?” Hallie suggested to Rhodda, as she got into the driver’s seat and had a look at the controls. No sooner had Rhodda got into the passenger seat than Girard emerged out of the forest, moving at a steady jog. He vaulted up into the cargo section with no complaint.
“That way,” he said, pointing. It was the way Hallie had been planning to drive, but she was grateful for the confirmation. She started the ATV engine and winced at the noise it made, then turned it around and headed the way Girard had indicated.
“Wait, shouldn’t you get your packs?” Rhodda asked.
“No time,” Girard said.
“Well, at least get some supplies out of the boxes,” Rhodda said, twisting to look behind her. “There’s always a stash of protein bars and water in the governor’s vehicles.”
“I will, when we’re at a safe distance,” Girard promised.
Hallie risked a glance over her shoulder and saw that Girard was focusing on the road behind them, gun in his hand, as if waiting for Vinny or one of the others to appear.
As she turned back to the road ahead, she caught Rhodda’s expression and a chill ran over her.
Asking about the packs had been a perfectly reasonable question, but there was something in the other woman’s face that told Hallie it hadn’t been an idle query.
Now was not the time or place to interrogate the other woman, but Hallie made a mental note to have a very serious conversation with Rhodda very soon. There was something going on here that she didn’t understand, and every instinct she had told her that it was potentially dangerous.
For now, they needed to get away from Jonah’s armed men. She pressed down on the accelerator. New Hope wasn’t that far away.