Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Jake
Ennis is uncharacteristically quiet as we unload the truck bed.
“What’s eating you?”
“Nothing,” he says. “Shit’s starting to get real, that’s all.”
My brother looks around at what we’ve done.
“Huh?” I say. “It’s been real for a while.”
He shakes off whatever dark thought is shadowing his face and gives me a bright smile. “It’s nothing. Sorry. I just can’t wait until I never have to look at that stupid compound again.”
I study my brother for a moment. “I get it. But the buildings will still be there once we get everybody out who wants to get out. Some of them might decide to stay, you know how these things go.”
He shakes his head. “Hopefully, things can go back to the way they were before these creeps ever came to Darling Creek.”
“Who knows,” I say. “You sure that’s all that’s troubling you?”
Ennis talks fast. “Yeah, yeah. I have a lot on my mind, that’s all. Have a few things I have to take care of first, before we carry out this plan.”
“You mean, we have things to take care of. Not just you,” I remind him.
“Right.”
Leaning against the truck and taking a swig from my water bottle, I ask, “Does Wylie have a plan for how to get everyone out without all the elders and people in charge—aka the folks with weapons—figuring it out?”
“Yep. Yessireebob.”
Something feels off about Ennis.
“Has he let you in on it?”
He shrugs. “What we usually do. We create a diversion, then sneak out the women and children. Only on a much bigger scale and all in one day, while the elders are distracted.”
“Right,” I say, putting the tailgate back up with a hard slam. “But what exactly is the distraction?”
“Huh,” he says. “Not sure. Maybe we should have a meeting about that.”
It’s been three days since I heard from Blondie, and it’s got me thinking. Not just about our romantic situation but also about whether she should be in on the plan.
“You know,” I say. “We could use someone on the inside.”
Ennis blinks at me. “Like who?”
I have to be careful here. “Well,” I say. “I might have run into someone while I was finishing the escape tunnel.”
I expect my brother to give me the third degree.
Instead, he says, “Funny you should mention that. So did I.”
“Excuse me?” I exclaim. “When were you planning on telling me that?”
Ennis laughs. “Bro, I can say the same thing to you!”
Fair enough. “You go first,” I say.
Ennis goes on to describe his encounter with a woman, including her height, build, eye color, and then describes the vehicle she left in.
Blondie. He’s talking about my Blondie, I’m sure of it.
I must have some kind of look on my face because Ennis stops mid-sentence. “What is it?”
Pushing off the truck, I step toward my brother, grabbing the front of his shirt. “What did she say to you? Did she tell you her name?”
“No, she wouldn’t tell me her name! What’s gotten into you?”
“What did she say! What were her exact words?”
Ennis pushes me away. “I don’t remember exactly, bro, she sounded like any one of them cult ladies. She seemed like she wanted to put as much distance between me and her as possible.”
I study my brother’s face and I know he’s telling the truth. “Where’d she go?”
“I don’t know that either. Fuck, I don’t even know how these people are finding the fucking tunnel!”
Taking the cap off my head, I swipe at the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand. “I might have busted into her office when you left to go get the map that time. I talked to her.”
“You what? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well,” I say, shrugging. “I was trying to figure out how to tell you that I found out the women’s dormitory is no longer empty.”
Ennis lets out a string of curses. “How are those elder creeps not pointing their AK-13s at our asses right now? How?”
Here comes the part he’s really not going to believe. “She’s not one of them.”
He just squints at me.
“If I say any more, it’ll blow her cover, but she’s definitely a fed investigating the hell out of that church.”
“Bullshit.”
“I swear to God.”
Ennis looks like he’s had the wind knocked out of him. “We can’t have feds poking around.”
“Come on, Ennis. Let’s face it, the feds have to be interested in these people. Especially with their leader sitting in jail.”
He rubs his forehead. “This is bad.”
I’m confused. “I’m sorry, why is this bad?”
“Because…because I just don’t want them fucking up what we’re trying to do here.”
“All we’re doing is trying to help people, Ennis. How are the feds gonna fuck that up?”
He shakes his head and begins to pace. “Because these women and children are beginning to trust us. They’re going to spook everyone, and it won’t work.”
“It’s been working,” I say. “Now we just have a more secret way of getting people out.”
He seems uncharacteristically worked up about this. “We’re going to have to get this all done quicker than I planned.”
“You planned? What about me? What about Wylie? What about all the other people involved in this scenario? Look, I’m sorry if this throws you off, but I promise you, I know this woman, and she’s not going to fuck anything up. If anything, she needs our help. Wait and see.”
“I knew I should have questioned her,” he says. My brother doesn’t seem to hear me.
I shrug. “I’ll talk to her the next time I see her.”
Ennis is finally registering what I’m saying again. “What next time?”
There’s no way to say this without really freaking him out.
My hesitation gives me away.
“No way,” Ennis says. “You hooked up with her?”
“It’s not like that. We have a connection.”
“Oh my god. No wonder your judgment is clouded!”
“Bro. You don’t understand a thing about what’s going on between me and her.”
He smirks. “What’s her name?”
“Blondie,” I say.
“Good grief. We’re screwed.”
I go to my brother and put my hands on his shoulders. “Ennis. Listen. You’re spiraling. It’s going to be fine.”
“How do you know that?” Ennis asks. “Come on, Jake!”
“Because she’s…special.”
Ennis scrubs both hands over his face.
He pulls away from me and stalks down toward the entrance of the mine shaft.
“Ennis, wait.”
“Why would you do this?”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got work to do,” he mutters, setting aside the boards that cover the entrance to the mine shaft. “I’ve got to come up with an alternate plan.”
“You’re overreacting, Ennis. Just wait.”
I go down after him and force him to stop and listen. “Ennis, you know I don’t go into these things lightly. When was the last time I fell in love?”
Ennis blinks at me. “Never. I’ve never heard you use that word before.”
“Exactly.”
“How do you know you can trust her? How do you know she and whatever agency she’s with won’t make us fill in the tunnel, or come and inspect it, or…”
“You gotta stop worrying. It’s all going to be fine in the end,” I say. “And if not, I’ve got your back. I’m not going to let anyone undo the work we’ve done. I’m not letting anyone, not even someone I love, pull me off this mission. I got your back.”
Ennis waits a beat, and finally, his breathing calms down. “And I have yours,” he says.
“I know.”
“But,” he says, “we have to tell Wylie and everyone else. Okay?”
“It’s a deal.”
“And I’m gonna try one more time to call Curly. We need him.”