Betrayal
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Edward Mounds jumped out of the helicopter, as soon as it landed, to the ground.
He couldn't believe that those three idiots; Howard, Brown, and Stilts got
arrested. Then sold him out! Him! Sniveling little bastards. He'd have to
take care of them after he cleaned up this mess.
He quickly strode toward the cabin, knowing that the four men that he had with
him would automatically follow him. He saw the door standing open, and
cautiously walked into the cabin. Seeing his informant Agent Milter tied up and
unconscious, and another agent lying in a pool of blood obviously dead, he shook
his head and clenched his fists.
"Blake and Halter, go see if you can find anyone here," Mounds ordered.
A few minutes later, the two men returned. "Nobody's here, Boss," said Michael
Halter.
"Setchin, get the biggest glass you can find and fill it full of ice cold
water." Tobias Setchin nodded and went to carry out the order.
When Mounds received the two-quart jug of ice water, he knelt down beside
Milter's still form. He splashed half of the jug's contents into Agent Milter's
face. Seeing that it had startled the man semi-awake, he gave a small smirk.
"That's right, Agent Milter, wakey-wakey," Mounds said in a patronizing voice as
he splashed the rest of the water into the agent's face.
Agent Milter sharply sucked in his breath, his eyes snapping completely open.
When he saw who was beside him, his eyes widened. "Mister M-Mounds," he said.
"That's riiiiight," Mounds drawled. Pulling out a knife that he always carried,
Mounds swiftly cut the ropes off Agent Milter. "Now, why don't you get up off
your sorry ass and explain to me just what the hell happened," Mounds
demanded.
Milter shakily got up, his body having fallen slightly asleep. "Well, Sir,
Standish and Tanner got away. Agent Harrison tried to stop me and I killed him.
Either Agent Standish or Tanner hit me with something and that's all I remember.
I'm sor--."
Mounds raised a hand, shutting Milter up. "Save your apologies. So, what you're
telling me is that you have no idea where they went. And, this is going to take
longer that I thought, right?"
Agent Milter said, "Give me another chance. I'll fix it. I'll find them, I
swear!"
Mounds held his hand out and Leroy Hevering handed him a nine millimeter. When
Mounds looked back at Milter, he saw that the agent's eyes were as wide as
saucers. "You might find them. But, you see, the thing about me is that I just
don't give... second chances." With that said, Mounds pulled the trigger,
shooting Agent Milter right about the left eye. Milter dropped to the ground,
instantly dead.
Handing the gun back to Hevering, he said, "Let's find Standish and Tanner and
get home."
A MILE FROM THE CABIN
When the helicopter landed Chris was the first out; followed by Nathan, JD,
Buck, and Josiah. They quickly ran the mile, slowing down when the cabin was in
sight. Seeing five men walk out of the cabin, they instantly knew who it was.
Edward Mounds had arrived before they had. They were all five silently praying
that Ezra and Vin were all right. They knew that Mounds and his men had to have
heard their helicopter.
"You might as well come out! I know someone is out there!" they heard Mounds
scream.
"What do we do, Chris?" JD whispered.
Chris sighed, "Give them what they want. Our way." Raising his badge, so it
could be seen, Chris yelled out, "ATF! Put down your weapons and surrender!"
Bullets were the only answer that they received. Staying behind a column of
bushes, they started firing their Glocks. "We're gonna have to get closer," said
Buck.
Chris nodded, and said, "Be careful, Men."
As one, they stood up and started running toward a bunch of trees, all the while
firing.
"It would really help to have Vin's sharpshooting skills right now," grunted
Buck.
Chris didn't reply. Getting one of Mounds' men in his sights, he fired. Jeremy
Blake fell backwards, blood spraying from his head. Chris couldn't help the
small thrill of satisfaction that he felt.
WITH EZRA AND VIN
"Ez, ya okay?" panted Vin as he and Ezra kept running deeper into the woods.
They could faintly hear the gunshots.
"Fine. Just... wondering what is going on... back there," Ezra answered.
"Are we any closer to these weapons you were talkin' about?"
As they had run, Ezra had informed Vin that there was a cache of weapons hidden
in the woods. Ezra had buried them, just in case something happened. Something
like what they had just experienced.
"Yes. Right over... there," said a pointing Ezra.
Vin saw that Ezra was pointing to the right, toward a clump of little shrubs.
Dropping to their knees when they reached the spot, they started hurriedly
digging with their hands. Ezra didn't even seem to mind the dirt. 'Has survival
on his mind,' Vin mused.
Finally, after what seemed like forever but was actually only a few minutes,
they found the weapons. They were in a heavy-duty, thick, black garbage bag.
Opening the bag, Vin saw a rifle, knives, Glocks, Berettas, and bullets.
They each hurriedly grabbed weapons, making sure they were all loaded, and extra
bullets. They each grabbed a knife and stood up. "Do you want to go back or keep
going through the woods?" Vin asked.
After a slight pause, Ezra said, "I think we should go back. We have to stop
Mounds before he kills us or leaves. If he leaves, we may never catch him."
Vin nodded, agreeing with Ezra. Looking Ezra in the eyes, he started talking.
"In case we don't make it, I want to make sure and tell you one last time that I
love you."
Ezra smiled, his eyes softening. "I have feelings for you, Vin. They could
easily turn to love. If we make it out of this, we'll talk." With that said,
Ezra leaned forward, his lips touching Vin's in a soft kiss.
They both had smiles on their faces when they pulled away from each other. Vin
asked, "Ready?"
Ezra nodded and they turned back the way they had come, and started running back
toward the cabin.