Doubling Down – Chapter Seven – Emersli1

Reading Time:
10 Minutes

It took almost three hours of hiking to locate the carcass.

The sun had nearly set, but the moon was rising, so at least there was that.  As the men off-loaded their gear and Jake knelt down to begin the evaluation Evan took notice of the silence.

Now the thing is … nature is never silent.  Birds chirp.  Insects buzz.  Leaves rustle.  There are only two circumstances in which nature is silent.  Number One:  after a natural disaster like a tornado.  And Number Two:  when there’s a predator around.

Granted, there was fire to the north, but they were in front of it.  With fire, noise moves ahead of it.  Silence only follows behind.

So…

As promised, Evan kept his head on a swivel.  But it didn’t make any difference.  

As Jake prodded the deer’s belly, something under the animal detonated.  A bright flash of light took all four men to the ground.  The accompanying noise was completely disorienting.

Buck felt something punch his shoulder as he dropped.  He hadn’t yet found his bearings when something slammed into the side of his head.  

As he lost consciousness he thought of his family.

Then he thought no more for a while.

Buck came back to consciousness in a rush.  And in a pile.

His arms were duct taped behind him and his knees were tied together as well.  He felt a body pressed up against his back and assumed it was either Marshall or Mateo.

Because he could see Jake.

Jake’s wrists had been tied together and some sort of rope or line threaded through them.  That line had then been passed over a tree branch up above and then used to leverage his body up so that it was almost dangling.  Buck couldn’t see the end of the line, but it must be tied to something sturdy.

Jake’s head was hanging, but it was starting to move slightly, as though the man was trying to wake up.

A small fire burning to one side of the deer sent up all sorts of red flags in Buck’s mind.  Siskiyou County had a burn ban in place because of the high winds and fire danger.  This situation was primed to cycle even further out of control.

Suddenly, out of the darkness behind Jake came a form that Evan’s still somewhat jangled senses couldn’t immediately process.  As it knelt by the fire and picked up a water bottle, Buck realized it was a woman.

A woman wearing some sort of headdress made of deer antlers and a brown, fake-buckskin mini-dress with several beaded necklaces and bracelets.  She unscrewed the cap and poured the water over Jake’s head, causing him to come all the way to, shaking his head like a dog.  He looked blearily at the woman, and then exclaimed in surprise, “Brittany?”

She smiled.  “Hello Jake.”

From behind Buck, a quiet voice murmured, “Oh shit.”  There was the sound of someone shifting and then Mateo’s voice again.  “When I said that bitch was crazy …”

Evan snorted quietly.  “Yeah, no kidding.”  Taking an unobtrusive breath, he muttered “Marsh behind you?”

“Yeah.  I can feel his breath on my neck.  Hey Evan?  The crazy bitch taped my hands in front of me.  And she didn’t tape my legs at all.  Ableist.”  Mateo wiggled his fingers and then ran his foot up Buck’s leg.  “She took the gun in your waist holster, but I think the one in your ankle holster’s still there.  If I can get it …”

Hope surged.  “Move slow and quiet.”

Buck refocused on the tableau in front of him as Mateo cautiously squirmed around behind him.

Jake still looked disoriented as he hung by his wrists.  “Brittany, what are you doing?  Don’t have time to play.  Didn’t we break up?”

The woman smiled brightly at him.  “Oh, we did.  I can’t overlook your trying to have me arrested.  That’s just not on.  But we’re not playing Jake.  This is very serious.  I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.  And now Mother Moon is angry.  Everything is burning and her creatures are dying, and it’s all your fault.”

Jake looked as confused as Evan felt.  “Huh?  How are the fires my fault?  I haven’t lit any fires.  Unlike you.  Don’t you know there’s a burn ban on?”

Brittany laughed delightedly.  “Oh, don’t worry about that.  Once we’re finished all the fires will go out.  And you’re not going to have anything to worry about anyway.”

Evan felt Mateo wiggling back up and hoped he had a gun in his hand.

Brittany frowned fearsomely.  “It’s all your fault.  All those poor deer I had to shoot, trying to draw you out.  And then you decided to bring friends to the party.  I didn’t say you could bring your friends.  I’m not an exhibitionist.”  She sounded absolutely offended.

Slowly Mateo turned so that his bound arms were level with Buck’s shoulder.  His hands rested on Buck’s upper arm, and in them was Buck’s back up piece.

“You got this Mateo.  Just breathe and remember… slow, steady pressure on the trigger.”  Evan knew that at this distance, he was going to lose an eardrum.  It was going to hurt … and that was ok.  “Wait for her to get out from in front of Jake.  Then aim for center mass.”

The woman suddenly reached into her top and pulled out a Bowie knife.  “If you’d done it when I told you to, we could have had fun first.  But now Mother Moon is angry, so no fun for you.  Now, this might hurt, but just know that it’s healing the earth and all her creatures.”

Brittany started to move around her captive.  “Now, I don’t want to waste any of your blood by getting it on my dress, so give me just a minute to get behind you…”

“Now Mateo!”  Evan whispered, risking drawing the woman’s notice rather than see his teammate murdered in front of him.

Mateo remembered everything Deputy Collins had told him.  Everything Evan had coached him on when they went to practice.  He took a deep breath, let it out, and squeezed the trigger.

When your doorbell rang after nine o’clock at night, it was never good news.

Eddie had just finished getting the sheets out of the hall closet to make up a bed for Bobby on the couch when the sound of his doorbell rang through the house.  When he looked through the peephole and saw who was standing on his porch his heart dropped into his stomach.

He opened the door, saying a quick prayer that it wasn’t the worst news.

“He’s missing.”  Tony didn’t waste any time.  

Thank you God, not the worst news.  Eddie moved out of the way and gestured DiNozzo into the living room.

“Bobby, I’d like you to meet Tony DiNozzo, Assistant Director with NCIS.  And Christopher’s newest uncle.  Tony, this is Captain Robert Nash, LAFD.  Evan’s and my former captain. And Christopher’s newest Grampa.”  Eddie performed the introductions quickly, wanting to get back to the news Tony had brought.  “Define ‘missing’.”

Tony shook hands with Bobby, giving him a narrow look as he did.  “I take it cranial extraction has been satisfactorily performed?”

“Provisionally.  We’ll see if it holds.  Tony …”  Eddie’s hands and voice were shaking.  He couldn’t tell his son that he’d lost another parent.  He just couldn’t.

“His team went out a little after four.  They’ve missed two check-ins and they’re coming up on missing a third.  Linley was proactive and put the missing/endangered alert on the system after the second missed contact.  I have an alert on Evan for reasons you already know, so I was notified as soon as the alert hit.”  Tony ran his hand through his hair.  “I called Linley immediately and found out everything he knew, which isn’t much.  They’ve sent a team after them, but it’s a long hike to where they were being sent, and there’s fire to the north.”

Eddie felt his knees give way, just as a strong arm caught him and guided him down onto the coffee table.  “So all they really know is …”

“Nothing.”  Bobby cut in forcefully.  “They know nothing.  And until they come to take you to his body, he’s still alive.”  He grabbed Eddie’s chin and forced the man to look at him.  “Do you understand me, Edmundo?”

Eddie nodded frantically.  “Yes.  Right.  We don’t know anything yet.  We just …”

“We wait.  And we pray.”  Bobby pulled his rosary from his pocket.  Eddie didn’t even know where his rosary was anymore.  Probably buried at the back of his sock drawer.

Tony reached into his pocket and drew out a well-worn string of beads.  “This was my nonna’s rosary.  She wouldn’t mind your borrowing it for this.  Now, I can’t stay.  I’m on my way to catch a priority ride north.  Once I’m on the ground I’ll learn what I can and I’ll call you.”

“No, wait!  Take me too!”  Eddie was begging, but he didn’t care.  “Bobby can look after Chris.  Chris would want me to go, I know he would.”

Tony’s face softened into a grin  at the thought of the stubborn little guy.  “I’m sure he would, but Eddie … I’m going by helicopter.”

Oh.

Eddie hadn’t been in a helicopter since he’d been shot down.  He felt like his insides turned to Jell-o and his head started to swim.

Two impossible choices lay before him.  Waiting here at home for someone else to send him word.  Or getting back on a helicopter and trusting that it wasn’t going to land with a crash.

“Daddy!  Daddy!”

“I’m coming Chris.”  Eddie was on his feet and moving down the short  hallway.  “What’s up, Buddy?  Bathroom?”  Chris had occasionally called for help in the night with the bathroom, so it wasn’t really a surprise.

“No, I heard Uncle Tony’s voice, and I thought it must be morning … but then I opened my eyes and it was still night.”  Chris wasn’t fully awake, but knew his uncle wouldn’t come over at a time when he was already in bed.

Eddie swallowed hard.  When his son was born, he’d promised Christopher that he’d never lie to him.  He’d promised Chris many things that day that he hadn’t delivered on, but so far he hadn’t broken this one.  “Yeah.  He came to let me know Evan’s team missed a check-in.  He’s flying north to keep an eye on the situation and,”

“And you’re going with him.”  Chris stated it firmly, folding his arms across his chest.  “Right?”

“Well, we were talking about that” Eddie began, only for Chris to interrupt.

“Grampa Bobby would take care of me.  Or maybe Luis could come over … school hasn’t started up again yet.”  Chris was giving him as fierce a glare as he could manage from his prone position on the bed.

“Chris is right.  Just tell me where you’ve got his medical instructions.  And is Carla still coming during the day, or should I call and let the chief know I’ve got a family emergency?”  Bobby was determined to change that ‘provisionally’ to an ‘absolutely’.  “I know Evan’s a capable adult and he’s doing his best to come home.  But until then I think Chris and I would both feel better knowing you were close to the situation.”

“It’s not that simple, guys.  Captain Nash, think about what you’re asking Eddie to do.”  Tony wasn’t going to let Eddie get steamrollered into something his PTSD wouldn’t allow.  “It’s ok Eddie.  Whatever you want to do is fine.  And Evan would support you in whatever you choose.”

Chris looked confused.  “I don’t understand.  Why wouldn’t Daddy go?”

Tony looked at the little boy fondly.  “Chris, you know how your dad got hurt in the Army?  When he came home to you for good?  Well he was in a helicopter when that happened.  So his brain might not want him to get back in a helicopter.”

Bobby looked remorseful.  “Sorry Eddie.  I guess we all just forget that you didn’t just serve your time and come home.  They don’t give out Silver Star’s for that, after all.”

“He has a Purple Heart too.  I’ve seen it.  That means he got hurt.”  Now Chris was looking at Eddie with a combination of pride and concern.

“That’s right.  So if he doesn’t want to fly in a ‘copter with me, we’d all understand.”

Chris and Bobby nodded, but Eddie shook his head.  “No.  No, I’m coming with you.  Just let me grab my go bag.”  Eddie ducked into the laundry room and grabbed the duffle he’d packed earlier to be ready for work tomorrow.

Running back to his son’s room he leaned over and gave him a gentle hug and kiss good-bye.  “Be good for Carla and Bobby, and whoever else, OK?”

“I will Daddy.  Bring Papa home to me, if you can.”  Chris held on an extra minute, then let his father go.  “Look after them both Uncle Tony.  They get into trouble when you don’t keep an eye on them.”  The little boy winked with his whole face.

“Truer words…” Bobby muttered under his breath as he gave Eddie a hug of his own.  “I’ll call Athena and Captain Martin.  We’ve got things covered on this end.  You just worry about Evan.”

Eddie looked at Tony, waiting patiently by the open front door.  

“I will.  Believe me, I will.”