Chapter 21
Jennifer pretended to shop, picking up a bag of jerky and a Coke, wondering what was taking Pike so long. Either Chief was
in there, or he wasn’t. The bar couldn’t be that crowded.
The man in the chair split his time between keeping his eyes on her and fiddling with his phone, but didn’t make any other
moves. The old lady looked like she wanted to close the shop down, tapping her hands nervously on the counter.
Jennifer went down a final aisle, pretending to look at a variety of homemade trinkets, when she heard a thud next door, then
a scream. She dropped the jerky and Coke and swiftly went to the blanket covering the door. The man in the chair was just
as quick, leaping up and blocking her way.
He smiled and said, “Better for you to stay out here, miss.”
She said, “I’m a federal agent. Get out of my way.”
The words meant nothing to the man. He held out his arms, barring the door and said, “Don’t worry. They ain’t going to hurt
him too much. Just teach him to quit asking questions on our land. You go in there and you’ll be in the mix too.”
Quick as a whip, she pulled her Staccato, put the barrel on his forehead and said, “I want in the mix. Get out of my way.”
He stumbled backwards, moving so fast he fell over. She whipped the blanket aside and ran into the room, seeing Pike on the
ground, three men standing over him delivering a beating, one of them a giant.
She took a two-handed grip on the Staccato and fired above their heads, then raced forward. They blast caused all of them to leap back in shock. She reached them, saw one raising a pistol and said, “Freeze! Don’t move! We’re federal agents!”
The man dropped the pistol, another one dropped a bat, and the two of them raised their hands. The giant did not.
She said, “Pike, you okay?”
He stood up, and she could see the beast stirring. She recognized the rage, but didn’t know if it was from the beating he
had taken, or the fact that he’d somehow allowed them to do so.
The giant said, “You have no jurisdiction here.”
Pike picked up a bat off the floor, walked over to the man who’d taken his pistol, and swung it one-handed, smacking him on
the side of the head, knocking him to the ground.
He then leaned over, picked up his pistol, and put it in his holster. The giant advanced on him and Jennifer shouted, “Stop
moving! Get your hands in the air!”
He said, “Fuck you and your badge.”
Pike turned to face him and the giant raised his fists. Jennifer lowered her aim, focused on his upper thigh, and broke the
trigger. The bullet slapped him hard, taking his legs out from under him like he’d been jerked off his feet by a rope. He
screamed, hitting the floor and writhing in pain, his hands clamped to his thigh.
Pike looked at her in shock and said, “Jesus, Jenn! I can take him one-on-one. I’m holding a bat, for Christ’s sake!”
She said, “Sorry. Can we get the hell out of here now?”
“Yeah, but you just shot Chief.”
She thought, What the hell. Can this get any worse?
Pike said, “Keep your gun on those other two. I’ll get him up.”
She did so, and Pike hoisted the giant to his feet, draping one of his arms over his shoulder and saying, “Walk, mother fucker.”
Pike drug him towards the door, Jennifer moving backwards behind him, her pistol trained on the men in the room. When Pike
reached the blanket, he said, “Jennifer, clear the grocery.”
Jennifer whipped around him, entered the grocery, and found it empty. She said, “Clear,” and Pike came through.
They made it back to their car, the giant man groaning something, and Pike said, “Shut the fuck up. We’re going somewhere
quiet and I’m going to ask you some questions about a van.”
He flung the larger man against the hood of their car, and the giant spit out, “I’m not Chief.”
Pike stopped what he was doing and said, “What?”
Grimacing, he said, “I’m not Chief. He’s the one in the chair.”
Jennifer said, “What did he say?”
Pike raised his pistol and brought it down hard against the giant’s temple, knocking him out. He let the body slide onto the
hot concrete.
“He said we have to go clear the damn bar again. Follow me.”
Before she knew it, he was inside the grocery. She raced to catch up, finding him stopped just outside the doorway, waiting,
his eyes and pistol on the blanket. She ran up behind him, squeezed his shoulder, and he entered, both of them splitting left
and right to dominate the space.
The bartender had his hands in the air, standing still. Jennifer cleared her side, turned around and saw Pike ordering the
remaining men to get on the ground.
They started to do so and Pike pointed his pistol at a stocky guy with a cleft palate, saying, “Not you, Chief.”
The man’s face registered shock, and Jennifer exhaled, knowing they’d found him.
Man, this was a lot of work.