"Don't you have a tracker on her phone?Did you try that?"Cal's voice is full of hope that's quickly dashed when Ace raises the hand that's holding Eve's phone.Cal looks to the sky, running his hands through his hair.
"Let's go inside.We have something to tell you guys."Cal and Cotton both narrow their eyes as they look at me.Their looks are almost accusing as they consider what I might want to tell them.
I'm the first one through the door, calling out for Eve as soon as I'm through the foyer.No one calls back and I hadn't expected them to.I'm walking toward the living room when a man steps out of the hall and into the large open area between the foyer and the living room.I notice the gun immediately and I turn to tell Ace to run when my blood turns to ice.There's another man and he has Ace by the throat and a gun to her head.I turn back to the man standing outside the hall and I recognize him.He's older for sure, but I'll never forget that face.
He's the man who took Ace, my baby sister and threw her in that basement.This also means that he's the man who kept my Eve in that same basement.He's the man who carved her up and fed her lies her entire life.He's the man who isn't going to leave this house alive tonight.
"It's like I can see it all processin' in your mind, Adam.I see you puttin' it all together.Workin' it out.You remember me, don't ya?"His grin is feral as he speaks, and his Texan accent is thick.
I say nothing and just glare back at him.
"Well, that's alright.I expected as much.I mean I'm a pretty memorable fella.Can't say that I remember you from that night though.If I had seen ya, I would've killed ya before takin' your sister there.Ya'll sure caused me a whole heap of problems.You killed my hired hand.You destroyed all my equipment, and you let my slayer loose.You know Adam, I just really don't appreciate any of what ya did too much at all."
"We don't give a fuck what you like, old man.How about you put down the guns and let me show you a little southern hospitality."Cal's voice is low and scary as fuck.He was there with me.Cotton too.They still don't know the full extent of what this man did but they're both ready to kill him all the same.They still don't know that the girl in that basement was Eve.Does he have her now?Is she here?
The man starts laughing.He laughs so hard that he doubles over."Ah shoot.Are these the other two boys there with ya that night?All this time, I've been watching you and I didn't even realize.I can't believe I missed that.You fuckers got big didn’t ya."
He's been watching us.For how long?Why did he wait until now to strike?"What do you want?"I try my best to sound unaffected but for the first time in my life, I can't fake it.
"Well, my slayer of course.And that girl right there.The one that got away."
Cal lunges forward, eating up the distance between him and the man.The shot that rings out is deafening in the closed space.
BANG!
Again.
BANG!
Cal jerks back as each bullet hits its mark.He coughs, looking down at himself as blood pours from his body.I can't tell where he's hit.Both shots landed somewhere in the upper body.There's blood everywhere and it's flowing fast.
"Cal!"Cotton, Ace, and I all scream his name at the same time.Cotton and I rush to him, lowering him into a chair from the kitchen table.Ace struggles in the man's hold but stills when he presses the gun more firmly into her temple.
"C'mon, brother.Hang in there.Please stay with me."I've never begged before, but I'll get on my knees if it saves this man.
"Damn it, Cal.You better not die on me."Cotton's voice holds the tears that his eyes aren't shedding.
"Alright now boys.Let's not forget who's in charge here.The next time one of you shit stains get a wild hair up your ass, my compatriot over there is going to put one right through the skull of that pretty girl and none of us want that.I have plans for that lovely thing."
I still have questions.I don't know what he'll be willing to divulge, but I have to know.Before I can get a question out, he speaks first.His voice is more serious than anything we've heard from him so far.He's angry now and he puts emphasis on each word when he asks, "Where is my slayer?"
He doesn't know.He doesn't have her.Relief coats me like a heavy blanket."She's safe.Somewhere where you won't ever get to her."My voice betrays nothing of the lie.
The man explodes with unhindered rage, "She's mine!Give her to me!Give her to me or the girl is dead!"He gestures to the man who has Ace, and he angles the gun so that it's pressed straight on against Ace's temple.
"No!Wait, okay.Wait.We don't know where she is."
"Don't fuckin lie to me!You don't let her out of your sight.I want her back.Give her to me."
He doesn't believe me because he's been following us.He knows that I never let Eve stray far from my side."Something happened at the game.She has these episodes where she just isn't present for a while.She checks out.It happened at the game, and she ran off.We came here to find her."
The man's eyes narrow as they assess my face.He must believe me because his next words are, "Track her phone.I know you've been doing that."
I have no idea how he could know that.Did he bug our homes?"I can't.She left her phone with Ace."
He looks to Ace, who holds up the phone once again.I inspect Ace's face for any signs that she's losing it.None are there.She winks at me.She fucking winks.What the hell was that?
"Fuck!"He clearly didn't expect this turn of events."Where's the SEAL?"He asks the guy holding the gun on Ace.The SEAL?What the fuck is this guy talking about?
