Chapter 12

Gavin raced back down the drive and re-joined James in the SUV. Given how long he had been in the house, James guessed that he had been more successful this time and didn't wait to ask his questions.

"Any luck?"

"Head for Monroe. How much gas do we have?" Gavin asked.

James glanced at the gauge.

"We could maybe do with a top-up. Depends on where we're going after Monroe," he replied. "Why Monroe?"

"I know where their holding Fiona."

"Shit! What are we going to do?" James asked.

"We're not going to do anything — I'm going to go in and rescue my sister."

"Aw, come on, Gavin," James complained.

"Look, we agreed you could come with me tonight if you stayed in the SUV. If anything, things have just gotten a lot more dangerous and I'm not letting you get too close to this."

"You don't have to worry about me, I can look after myself," argued James.

"I can't afford to be constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure you're safe. This will be much easier and safer if I go in alone — it's how I'm used to operating anyway. You stay in the car," Gavin ended the debate.

James remained unconvinced. He had taken part in many of the war games and exercises that his family and the other survivalist had run back home. He was sure he was just as good as Gavin in a tight spot and resolved to prove it once they found the place where Fiona was being held.

The remainder of the drive was made in virtual silence between them. Gavin was trying to grab whatever additional rest that he could before he had to become the vigilante again. He was also worrying about the fact that the police were hunting him. James was trying to think of a way to prove himself to his friend. James did ask one question to satisfy his curiosity about events earlier.

"How did you know that Sinclair would let you in? I mean, you circumvented the security at Macheda's house and I expected you to do more of your ninja stuff to get in to Sinclair's. I certainly wasn't expecting you to simply walk up to the front door and ask to be let in."

"Macheda was a potential threat. Sinclair was different. I didn't see any reason why he wouldn't agree to see me," Gavin replied. "I was banking on the fact that I had news about his son that he would want to hear. That turned out to be wrong, but he saw me anyway."

After that both boys lapsed into silence again. An hour and fifty minutes later, Gavin roused himself and started to give James directions.

"Take the next exit."

Getting closer and closer to the point at which he would be back in action again, Gavin's senses were all heightened. His memory of the directions was clear and before too long the SUV's headlights picked out the same gate that Markow had passed through.

"Too risky to simply drive through," Gavin commented almost to himself. "We need to find somewhere close by where you can park up and wait for me."

James didn't argue, he had decided to appear as if he was going along with Gavin, but to then follow him and play as full a part in the rescue as possible.

"Wait for two hours. If I'm not back by then, I probably won't be coming back and you need to get out of here. If that happens, head back to Utah, understood?" Gavin asked.

James simply nodded his agreement.

Gavin climbed down from the SUV and then turned to retrieve the gun he had taken from Macheda's body guard, Oscar. There was no need to use James' now and he was almost one hundred percent sure that this gun was going to be fired in anger in the not too distant future. Why give James a problem when he could simply use the other gun?

James actually gulped when he saw the icy calmness that seemed to have settled over his friend — he carried himself like he was ready for action. This was a side to Gavin that he hadn't seen before and for a moment he felt out of his depth and began to reconsider following along in the darkness. In that moment, all of the stories that Gavin had told him of his life as the vigilante flooded back and James no longer had any doubt that they were all true. For that fleeting second, he had looked into Gavin's eyes and knew they were the eyes of a controlled but dangerous man. A shiver raced the length of his spine and he tried to compose himself while he let Gavin get a head start.

Once several minutes had passed, James opened his own door and climbed down from the SUV. He walked round the vehicle and retrieved his own gun from the foot well on the passenger side. Now he was ready to try to show Gavin that he wasn't a kid who needed looking after. A flaw in his plan now became apparent however. There was no sign of Gavin in the darkness and James' only clue as to where he might have gone was the gate they had passed earlier. He decided to set off in that direction.

Finding the gate unlocked, James slipped through it and tried to follow the path that ran beyond. Moving stealthily through the woods, Gavin could hear his friend's movements and he cursed under his breath. He had two choices: try to find James in the darkness and force him to return to the SUV; or hope that the other boy could stay out of harm's way until his job was done. He opted for the latter and increased his own speed to forge ahead of his friend.

"Fool! He thinks this is all a game. Why couldn't he have just done what he was told?"

There was just sufficient moonlight gleaming off of the dirt-road to allow Gavin to make his way through the woods parallel to the track. Occasional noises behind him marked James' continued progress, but he tried to put his friend out of his mind and regain his focus on the challenge that he himself faced.

It was almost fifteen minutes later before he became aware of the clearing up ahead and saw the outline of a building. That called for even more caution. Getting closer, he saw that it was a substantial log cabin and Gavin slowed his movements further while he made a circuit of it to get the lie of the land. He pulled on his ski-mask, that action completing the feeling of being the vigilante again. The feeling was somehow comforting, like pulling on a favourite sweater that held good memories.

Completing his circuit, he crouched down to review what he had found. The cabin had wooden shutters covering the windows, but wear and tear had led to a little warping and where this had happened, some light spilled out from the inside.

"There's definitely somebody at home," Gavin mused.

Taking a risk, he ghosted up the steps to the front porch and studied the door. It was solid and he feared that any attempt to open it would make a terrible racket. A glance at his watch showed him that it was now almost 04:00 and he had to assume that those inside would either be asleep or at least tired. Now would be the perfect time for him to try to get in and take whoever was holding Fiona, but he hadn't identified any easy way to gain entry yet.

The sudden metallic clanging of metal on metal sounded abnormally loud in the still of the night and Gavin automatically leapt from the porch and rolled forward into the brush at the side of the cabin. The door burst open and light streamed out, framing the figure of a man in the doorway. The figure moved before Gavin could bring his gun to bear, and he tried to follow the movements as the man ran forward.

"FUCKIN' FREEZE OR YOU'RE DEAD!"

Gavin was amazed to realise that he recognised the voice behind the shouted warning. Having someone fire a gun at you had a way of creating perfect recollection and he had no doubt that he had just heard the voice of the cop who had fired at him in Palm Springs.

A torch-beam appeared at the head of the dirt-road and Gavin could just make out the prone figure of James lying on the ground. His friend was hauled to his feet by the cop and marched back towards the cabin.

"Is there anyone else out here?" the cop demanded as they walked.

Gavin calculated his chances of shooting the cop, but decided there was too much risk that he might hit James instead. He guessed that the cop would also have his own gun out and that created a further risk for his friend.

"Shit! This was exactly what I was afraid of. Why couldn't he just have stayed in the SUV?"

Moments later, the cop and James had disappeared inside the cabin and the door was closed again. Gavin risked a quick look to identify what had made the god awful racket that had alerted the cop to James' presence. Scuttling through the woods, he soon came across a crude tripwire stretched across the road that had numerous tin cans attached to it. The wire turned out to be fishing line and quite difficult to see in the dark — the cans were placed at the edges of the wire, concealed by bushes on both sides of the road. James had clearly missed it and tripped over the trap in the darkness. An easy mistake Gavin conceded graciously, but not one he would have made.

Mindful that there could be other alarms rigged up, Gavin moved slowly through the brush and approached the cabin from one side. He stood so that he was close to the shuttered window on this elevation and held his ear to the wooden slats. The voices inside were easy to hear.

"Who the fuck are you?" the cop demanded.

"I live close to here, I was on my way back from my girlfriend's house," James stammered.

Even to Gavin that sounded incredibly weak as an attempt at an excuse or explanation for James being so close to the cabin.

"Do you always meet your girlfriend with a gun in your hand?" barked the cop.

James couldn't think of a quick reply to that and instead remained silent.

"How did you know I was here? Who else knows? Who else is out there? Who are you working with?"

Markow's years of experience as a police officer kicked in and he started using tried and tested interrogation techniques — firing questions so quickly at James that he didn't have time to think up convincing lies. He asked the same questions in slightly different ways and picked holes in James' replies, seizing on every mistake he made.

"What's your connection to MacSween?"

"Who?" asked James weakly.

Gavin heard a sickening thud and the sound of James screaming. It seemed that the cop was running out of patience.

"Don't act dumb with me," snarled Markow. "Shit, the little pussy has fainted. Must have hit him too hard."

Gavin had heard enough. He couldn't stand idly by while his friend was beaten up. He was also worried about the easy way the cop had resorted to violence and what that might mean for Fiona. So far he hadn't heard her, so he was unsure of what condition she might be in. He welcomed the almost detached feeling he felt, that zone that he sank into when he became the vigilante. Without it he knew he would be letting his fury control what he did, but instead he was channelling it, using it now to fuel his focus and determination. Now he decided he had to go in the front door and take his chances, he felt good about his reaction time, his reflexes, and it was time to free his sister and his friend.

Before he could make his move, the door to the cabin burst open again unexpectedly. The cop dragged James' unconscious body roughly down the porch steps and then headed in Gavin's direction. Gavin knew that the human eye responded most to movement and he opted to simply freeze against the side of the cabin until the cop had passed, praying that he wouldn't be spotted. Only when the cop's back was toward him did he drop flat onto the ground and begin to 'crab' after what he now considered his prey. This man had gone too far and it was time for the vigilante to dispense some of his own brand of justice he had decided.

A groan from James indicated that he was coming round.

"Good, you're awake. You've got one last chance to tell me what I want to know before I kill you," the cop said menacingly.

Gavin was close enough to see the look of terror in James' eyes, but incredibly, his friend didn't break.

"Okay, say goodnight," the cop said.

Gavin was already up and moving forward in a blur. James' saw the movement and his eyes widened in surprise. His reaction alerted Markow, who started to turn his head only to feel the barrel of Oscar's gun crack across his temple. He dropped James and collapsed in a heap himself. Gavin flicked the cop's gun to James with his boot before springing for the cabin.

Somehow Fiona had managed to sleep through the entire episode between James and Markow. Gavin found her still trussed up on one of the bunks. The bruising around her eye had spread and darkened and Gavin mumbled a curse as he tried to rouse her.

"Fi! Fi! It's me, wake up!"

She was slow to come out of her exhausted slumber and it took her a few moments before comprehension dawned.