Chapter Twenty-Two

  Robin’s eyes blink hard a few times, and she groans as she lifts her head and the sunlight pouring in a window causes a stabbing pain in her head. She shifts on her legs and releases another quiet groan from the stab wound in her thigh. She tests the strength of the rope tied around her wrists. It’s firm – it won’t stretch and there’s no wiggle room.

  She looks around herself and sees her failed invasion team tied to wooden support beams like her. All of them are looking at her with looks of complete defeat, as if they’ve given up. The family sitting across from her looks scared, but hopeful.

  Robin jerks on the wooden four by four she’s tied to, to see if it’s planted firmly, and it doesn’t give at all on the floor, but she feels some give towards the top. She looks up and notices the cross beam is broken with a sharp looking metal bracket exposed.

  Clenching her jaw to keep from screaming in pain from her stab wound, Robin gets up on her feet. She takes a deep breath, grips the beam in both hands, and wraps her ankles around its base. Her arms and thighs are shaking from fatigue, dehydration, lack of food, and the loss of blood, but she pushes through the weakness and pain. She climbs the wooden beam, and when she reaches the top, she keeps one leg hooked and then swings the other up to the cross beam. With a burst of strength, she forces her body up to wrap both legs around the cross beam and pulls herself up to lay across it. She extends her arms, nearly pulling them out of the sockets, and uses the bracket to saw through the rope on her wrists. She releases a small quiet exhale of pain as the wound in her thigh screams at her for using her muscles so much.

  The sound of men moving towards them forces her to push up and down harder to cut through the rope. Just as she sees a man turning a corner, the rope snaps. She quickly climbs down and stands with her arms behind her back, holding the rope to appear like she’s still tied up.

  “Oh, good, you’re awake just in time to meet my latest captive.”

  Andre walks in wearing a smug grin and an M-16 rifle slung over his shoulders, hanging loose against his chest. Another man walks in and pulls and pushes a woman forward. He kicks her in the back, sending her to her knees next to Andre.

  “Grace.”

  Grace looks up with regret and worry on her face but doesn’t look scared. Andre laughs and grabs her by her hair, straightening her up to a standing position, and points the barrel of his gun to the underside of her chin. Her hands are tied behind her back, and she suddenly looks scared.

  “Andre, you’ve made some really stupid mistakes in deciding to betray your town and your country, but this is by far the stupidest move you’ve made yet. Take your filthy hands off of my wife, or I’m going to rip your throat out.”

  He laughs hard as he lets his rifle hang from its sling, and punches Grace hard in the gut. While he’s bent over and has his hands off of his weapon, Robin takes her opportunity and lunges forward. Robin grabs his rifle, aims between his and Grace’s sides, and shoots the other man behind them who kicked Grace to the ground .

  Grace recovers from the punch quickly and kicks Andre hard in the side of the knee, making him scream, and buckle to his knees. Robin slams the rifle into the bridge of his nose, breaking it, and causing blood to pour from both nostrils.

  Andre groans and whimpers in pain, and as he reaches up to cradle his face in his hands, Robin kicks him between the legs. She unhooks the rifle from the its sling around his shoulders and takes aim for his forehead.

  “Wait. Don’t shoot. I can lead you inside. I can get you the information you need.”

  “You really think I’m dumb enough to trust a piece of shit like you? And don’t flatter yourself. You guard the hostages. That’s the lowest ranking position in a band of degenerates. You don’t have clearance to the information I need. Besides, I warned you to take your hands off of my wife. No one touches my wife and lives.”

  Robin starts to pull the trigger back, and Andre pinches his eyes closed with a stuttering whimper, begging her not to shoot him.

  “Ok, I won’t shoot you.”

  He opens his eyes with a hopeful smile, but Robin quickly reached down, grabbing her favorite fixed blade knife from his belt that he had taken from her when Robin and her small team were captured. Before he can react, she thrusts it into his throat, twists the blade, and kicks him in the shoulder, pushing him off of her knife.

  He chokes for a few moments, as blood fills his mouth and throat before he dies. Robin wipes his blood off on his pants, and then quickly cuts Grace’s hands free. Once she’s free, she grabs the sides of Robin’s face and pulls her into a kiss.

  “Oh, shit!”

  They break their lips apart to look at the newcomer, but Grace doesn’t release Robin’s face. Robin aims the rifle and takes down the new terrorist before looking back at her wife and engaging her in another kiss. After a few moments, Grace pulls back with a smile and gently rubs a finger over Robin’s busted eyebrow.

  “I felt like we were on our honeymoon again when you lunged forward like that. Ready to destroy this terrorist hive like the drug cartel ring we took down in Havana?”

  “You know just how to get me hot.”

  Grace smiles and kisses Robin’s lips for a few moments. While Grace grabs one of the rifles from the dead terrorists, and some extra loaded magazines from their belts, Robin cuts the other hostages loose. Robin gives a rifle to Eric, and then bends down to take her pistol back from Andre.

  “Jones, you have to get them out of here. Take this.”

  Robin grabs her surveillance camera that Andre set down in a chair when he came in with Grace. She quickly shows him how to use the two most important modes and how to zoom.

  “Go out the back. If they haven’t moved or gained more buddies, there are two men just outside of the door. Go directly into the woods. Go northwest for about a mile. You should hit a dirt road that you can follow back to Gray Back Park. Try not to go too far west before you hit the road. The army is in a serious gun battle trying to get here.”

  Eric nods in understanding of Grace’s instructions, and says, “Ok, thanks. See you later. Kick some ass.”

  Robin and Grace give him a small smile, and he leads the group out. Grace takes Robin’s tank top off, leaving her in a sports bra, and then takes Robin’s knife from her. She makes a small cut in the neck hem, and then tears the tank top open.

  “Sit down.”

  Robin sits on the edge of the chair, and Grace wraps the fabric around her thigh, tying it tightly around her wound .

  “Were you shot?”

  “Stabbed. It was a short blade.”

  “Good. Can you keep weight on it?”

  “Going to have to, babe. Let’s do this.”

  Grace gives her another kiss on the lips, and they grab their weapons. Grace picks up Robin’s discarded backpack from the corner and inspects its contents.

  “Damn, they took everything except the medical supplies.”

  Grace slings the bag over her shoulders, and Robin walks back over to Andre’s body. She pats his pockets, and pulls her cellphone out of back pocket, and another cellphone from his front pocket.

  “This might be helpful later.”

  Robin tosses the other phone in the backpack, and then checks the other two terrorists. She finds cellphones on both of them that she tosses in the bag as well.

  “Ok, let’s drive them into the hands of the army. I saw a crate of bombs just inside the door of the barn when they brought me in.”

  Keeping to the shadows, and moving slowly, they work their way through the saw mill, with Grace in the lead. They have to hide behind machines, crates, and a truck a few times as men move around collecting supplies to abandon the mill and get out of town.

  The bombs are made in cans of air freshener, so they’re small, and can easily be thrown. Each bomb has a small digital screen with four buttons on the underside of the canister. They carefully load several bombs in the backpack, and then work their way to the back of the barn.

  The two men who had been standing guard at the backdoor are dead, and there’s no sign of Eric and the others. Robin and Grace check both sides of the barn, and seeing it’s clear, they group back together next to the backdoor.

  “How do you think these things work?”

  “Before Andre caught me, they were loading a truck to drive into the barricade at the fork leading to Snake Pass so they could escape. I heard a guy say the impact will cause them to detonate. If these work the same, just throwing them should do the trick.”

  “Well, I guess only one way to find out. Do you want to do the honors?”

  Grace takes the offered canister bomb from Robin with a small grin, and they work their way to the east side of the yard that leads to their escape route. Grace cocks her arm back, and whips the bomb through the air, hitting the side of a car. It instantly blows up in a huge plume of fire with debris flying everywhere. The explosion is loud and sends a fast heat wave in all directions.

  “I guess that works. Give me another one.”

  The entire yard is full of men panicking and running around trying to get in vehicles to get away. Grace slings another bomb forward, and it lands between two vehicles, disabling them and killing several men.

  The sounds of confusion and fear are almost as loud as the explosions. The men are calling out, “We’re under attack”, “Run for the woods”, and “We’re all going to die”. Robin runs to the other side of the barn and throws a bomb towards the front of the barn, cutting off men trying to escape into the woods on that side.

  Several men run out the back door of the barn, so Grace and Robin press their backs to the sides of the barn to get out of sight. Just as a gap forms in the tide of escaping men, they take aim and shoot all eight of them.

  “Go back! Go back! We’re surrounded! ”

  Grace motions to Robin to take cover, and Grace tosses a canister to hit the wall by the doorway, causing a huge explosion that rocks the barn. It catches on fire and the men scream in their panic to get out.

  Forcing herself to move through the pain in her thigh, Robin runs to Grace’s side, and they move towards the front of the barn. There’s about a dozen men running towards the main road, which will lead them right into the hands of the army. About a dozen more are trying to pack into vehicles to get away. Robin and Grace take aim with their guns and shoot out the tires on all of the vehicles. The tire rims can’t drive on the rough uneven dirt and rock lot, so they abandon the vehicles. They try running towards the escape route, but Grace throws a bomb in front of them, and Robin shoots up the ground around them. The men veer off course to avoid the explosion and gunfire and start running for the main road.

  “We have to get away from this barn. The fire is going to reach the front of the barn soon and this thing is going to blow.”

  Grace nods and pulls the last bomb out of the backpack. They sprint forward and hide behind a truck to see if anyone is still here. There are several men trying to run for the wood on the other side of the lot, so Robin and Grace take aim, and shoot up the ground to their right, sending them fleeing left. They continue to funnel their escape towards the main road till they’re on the right path.

  They load a fresh magazine in the rifles, and with them up and ready to aim, they start to sweep the yard for anyone hanging back. They don’t see anyone, and the sounds of men yelling and gunfire is becoming distant as they plunge deeper into the woods. Grace sets the last remaining bomb down on the ground next to the truck that had been loaded to blow up the Snake Pass barricade, grabs her pistol that Andre had kicked out of her hand, and then they take off at a fast-paced walk for the road leading out.

  Robin slips her hand in Grace’s and props the rifle up on her shoulder with her elbow bent up in the air. Grace gives her a loving smile and squeezes her hand.

  When they’re about twenty yards up the main road, the barn explodes, and is quickly followed by the bomb loaded truck. A wave of heat and rushing air slams into the back of them, but they continue forward, not bothering to look back.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When they finally reach the end of the road, Robin limps over to sit down on a tree stump, and Grace kneels down next to her, holding her shoulders.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Weak and in pain. My leg just can’t do anymore.”

  “Are you injured?”

  An army medic kneels down next to Grace, and she gently places her hand on Robin’s thigh.

  “What happened?”

  “Stab wound with about a three-inch blade.”

  “Ok, give me a moment.”

  The woman runs off but returns within a few short minutes with a large medical bag. She lays a soft pad down on the ground, and with Grace’s help, they have Robin lay down.

  “I’m going to have to field stitch you. The hospital is overwhelmed and we don’t want to risk infection.”

  “Ok, go for it.”

  Using a pair of scissors, the woman cuts her pant leg off from a few inches above the wound. She puts gloves on, and then uses some wads of gauze and a bottle of sterile water to gently flush the wound.

  “You got lucky with the placement on this wound. A bit more to the inside of the thigh and your femoral artery might have been hit. Ok, I’m going to inject some local anesthetic to help with the pain. Because of the depth, I’m going to need to do some internal dissolving stitches. I’m also going to inject some antibiotic in the wound to help prevent an infection. I’ll write you a prescription for an oral to take after today.”

  “Ok, doc.”

  The woman smiles at Robin and gets to work with the injections. While she works, Grace sits next to Robin’s head, and traces her fingers over her wife’s forehead and cheeks in a soothing way. Robin smiles up at her and puckers her lips, so Grace smiles and bends down to kiss her lips.

  “How did all of this happen?”

  “This was Andre’s attempt at an interrogation after we were caught.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. While we were waiting for the first team to arrive at the other mill and capture everyone inside, two guys on dirt bikes came up the road and called for backup. A truck load of guys showed up in no time and it turned into a big gun battle.”

  “You arrived just in time, babe. I had literally just got my ropes cut as you guys walked in. So, how many survived?”

  Robin and Grace look to the medic to answer, and she looks up at them in a daze.

  “Oh, are you asking me?”

  “Yes.”

  “When we started hearing explosions, guys came running up the road and surrendering. We arrested twenty-three and we have troops combing the woods to see if there’s any left.”

  “Did we sustain any casualties on the good side?” The medic smiles and shakes her head. “No deaths. We took some hits, but nothing life threatening. ”

  “Have you seen the police officers I went in with? They escaped into the woods with a family of four that was being held hostage in there.”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Hang on. Springer!”

  A man breaks away from a cluster of army personnel and jogs over to stand next to them.

  “Have you seen any cops and hostages around here?”

  “No. Where were they coming from?”

  Grace stands up and gives him the directions she had given Eric and estimates the coordinates they initially entered the woods.

  “Ok, I’ll get a group and we’ll go looking for them.”

  “Thank you.”

  The army medic gently lifts Robin’s leg and starts wrapping her thigh in gauze. After she secures the gauze, she helps Robin sit up, and starts cleaning her busted eye and lip, and the knife cuts on her arm.

  “Ok, you’re all set. Here’s the prescription for the antibiotic. Do you need a pain medication?”

  “No, I should be ok with some ibuprofen or aspirin. Thank you for your help. Hey, the guy we had in the cruiser before the raid – did he make it?”

  “No, he committed suicide before we arrived. He strangled himself with a seatbelt.”

  “Damn it.”

  “Before I pack up, are you injured at all?” Grace nods and pulls her jacket off and lifts her tee shirt sleeve, turning towards the medic. “A large piece of tree splintered off and stabbed me.”

  The medic changes out gloves for a fresh pair, and using a small bright flash light, as she had done for Robin’s stab wound, she inspects the wound for debris .

  “It doesn’t look too deep. I’m just going to clean it and put a strip-suture over it.”

  After she finishes, and she starts cleaning up her supplies, Robin asks, “Among the men you arrested, did you capture a Jacob Henley?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll get the first sergeant for you to talk to. Here’s some water.”

  She hands Robin and Grace a bottle of water, and they quickly open them and gulp the water, releasing gasping sighs of relief. The medic smiles and offers them another bottle, which they accept with nods of gratitude.

  “Help me up, babe.”

  Grace offers Robin support to stand and then they sit down together on a fallen tree.

  “I’m looking super stylish right now with one full pant leg, cut off shorts on the other leg, and tactical boots. Oh, and no shirt.” Grace releases a small laugh and looks her up and down. “Actually, I think you look pretty damn hot. Do you want my jacket?”

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  Grace helps her put it on, just as four men walk over with one standing just to the front of them. He extends a hand to Robin, so she stands up and shakes his hand.

  “Agent Sharp and Agent Sharp, I’m First Sergeant Cleveland. My crew is still combing the woods, but we have apprehended forty-two men in total. None of them will identify themselves. Would you like to take a look and see if you know any of them?”

  “Yes.”

  Robin and Grace follow them through the parking lot of Gray Back Park, where the terrorists are being guarded by twelve armed men and women in full army combat gear. The men are sitting on the ground in rows of five with their hands secured behind their backs.