Liberty At Last (The Liberty Series) (7 page)

“You’re gonna need that gun — just don’t point it at me, okay?” he asked and smiled at me. I gaped back at him as his smile was replaced by an intent, calculating look. His game face.

“You need to do exactly what we tell you. Now stay down.” He leaned over the edge of the stairwell and started firing, then pulled back down, scanning the stairwell below us.

He looked up at Matthew and Catherine. Matthew’s hand was over her mouth, obscuring her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut, as if she were trying to block us all out.

“What’s this?” John asked, not recognizing her in the darkness and confusion.

“Interesting development,” Matthew said. “But she’s bleeding. We gotta get her out of here fast.”

Shots hit the door around us and I screamed, ducking down in terror.

“Can you run?” John asked me.

“I can try,” I said.

“I’ve got her,” Matthew said, lifting up Catherine in his iron grip. “And there’s no way Liberty can run.”

“I’m going out there,” John said to Matthew.

“John,
no
,” I said, but he ignored me and continued. “The last of their guys are set up over there,” he said, motioning towards part of the dark yard. “Sean and Corey are on the other side. I’ll find them and we’ll take out the rest of the guys on the ground. There’s not that many left.” My stomach roiled again. “I’ll come back for Liberty and the guys can cover us. Cover me now,” he said, and he was gone.

I shut my eyes tight as I listened to all the gunfire. Thank goodness it was dark so I couldn’t see.
Please
, I thought,
please god, let him be safe.
Matthew was shooting and holding Catherine at the same time. I stayed down, useless, repeating my silent prayer, for what felt like forever but was probably a few minutes.

“Get ready,” Matthew said, “he’s coming.”

John came at us at a full sprint.
“Go!” John yelled at Matthew. Matthew lifted Catherine up, still struggling, and moved as quickly as he could across the yard. There was still firing, and yelling, but they kept moving.

“I’m going to carry you over my shoulder,” John said, breathing hard. He picked me up and placed me there as gently as he could. “Okay?”

“Let’s go,” I said. “I have my gun — I’ll cover your back.”

“Just don’t
shoot
my back,” he said as he ran, straining beneath me. He kept firing and I watched as the dark landscape bounced up and down below me. I made sure to keep my gun’s safety on.

We made it to the wall and John put me down gently.
I just wanted everything to stop for a minute, so I could bury my face in his chest, so I could tell him about Catherine.
But bullets sprayed the wall right above me and I cowered down. Corey and Sean ran to our spot at full speed; they turned their backs to us and formed a protective shield, firing back.

“Matthew — get them through there,” John called warningly, and fired off another round.

“Go now!”
Sean yelled back at us.
“There’s not that many left, but they’re coming!”

I turned to Matthew. “Under there,” he grunted, struggling with Catherine. “Where part of the bush is torn out.” I got down on my hands and knees and saw a path through the brush; part of the concrete had been blown out. I got on my stomach and slid through.

It was empty on the other side, at least as far as I could see; no cars on the dirt road that ran parallel to the wall.

“Liberty! Pull her through!” Matthew hissed at me through the opening. I could barely make out the top of her head, but I could hear her struggling and hitting while he covered her mouth and tried to push her through.

“Cut the crap,” Matthew said to her. “I’m gonna count to three,” he said, and I could picture him saying the same thing to his little son. “One, two…” I heard her fight and flail. Maybe she wanted the darkness. Maybe it was easier that way.

“Three,” Matthew said, and I heard him hit her a couple of times, hard. Then there was no more struggling.

I was pretty sure
his
kid just went in time out.

We wrestled her limp form through the opening. Matthew came next and propped her up against the wall.

“Did you
have
to knock her out?” I asked him, stricken.

“
You
shot her,” he said, defensively. “Besides, it’s not a family reunion without a little drama.”

I sighed, totally overwhelmed by the circumstances. “What am I going to tell him?” I asked.

“The truth. He’ll only want the truth,” Matthew said. “Now, we gotta take care of that foot.” He ripped part of his teeshirt off and tied it around her foot tightly, so she would’t lose any more blood.

We saw headlights then, and Matthew pushed me next to Catherine, behind him, and crouched in front of us, his gun ready.

It was a massive white Hummer, gleaming in the darkness. Matthew put his gun down and stood up. “It’s Ethan,” he said. “Liberty, stick your head under there and tell them he’s back. We gotta go.”

I went back under the fence and found all three of them on their knees, firing round after round. “The car’s here,” I said. “John! Come now!” Corey got off some more shots and then followed me. Confident that they’d heard me, I jumped into the car, next to a still unconscious Catherine. Matthew was still outside the car, making sure the other men got out and checking for trouble.

“Liberty,” Ethan said, turning around and smiling. “Always a pleasure.”

“It’s good to see you, too,” I said, but I was barely able to focus on him. I gripped the edge of my seat, still listening to the firing. Finally, Corey and Sean jumped into the car, into the back. Matthew hopped into the front seat.

I held my breath while I waited. And waited.

After what seemed like an eternity John jumped into the car and slammed the door. “Go go
go
!”’ he yelled at Ethan. Ethan floored it and the tires squealed underneath us. Then there were booms coming from the compound. Big booms. I could see fire bursting up towards the sky over the wall.

“Nice touch,” Matthew said.

“It might buy us a few minutes,” John said. I didn’t even wait a second — didn’t wait for things to stop blowing up all around us —before I grabbed his hand and yanked him towards me. “John. I have to tell you something. It’s Catherine,” I said, motioning to the form next to me.

“What?” he said. In the darkness I could the uncomprehending look on his face.

“Your daughter,” I said. “This is your daughter. She’s passed out. Matthew punched her.”

“What?” John asked. He looked staggered.

“Liberty shot her,” Matthew said.

“What?”
John asked. He sounded near hysterics. “That’s
Catherine
?
Give her to me,” he said, and I moved quickly over so he could get to her.”

“She’s okay. I got her in the foot…Matthew bandaged her up,” I said, miserably.

“It’s okay, Liberty. It’s okay,” he said, and briefly squeezed my hand.

None of the us spoke as he hit the overhead light and took her face in his hands. He looked at her in wonder. He ran his hand across her cheek gently. Then he looked over at me, his eyes shining with tears. “It’s her,” he said, and an actual tear ran down his face. “It’s my daughter.”

Just then Matthew started talking to Ethan about directions and Sean and Corey started discussing the type of explosives that John had used.

John reached over and pulled me to him,
putting his cheek against mine. “You found her. I can’t believe it.” He pulled back, too quickly for my taste, and checked her foot. He untied the fabric and inspected the wound. “Matthew, the First Aid kit,” he said, and Matthew handed it back. John went to work on her, cleaning the wound with antiseptic and bandaging it tightly.

“That should get us to the border,” he said. He sat back and put his arm around me, pulling me to him. I finally got to put my face in his chest.

“Tell me everything you know about her,” he said. He kept his hand on her hair, stroking it gently, and I felt a blind, ridiculous jealousy boil up inside me.

It was just that he was looking at her so lovingly. And I knew the truth about her.

He must have seen the expression on my face because he looked stricken for a second.

“Liberty. I don’t think I’ve had the chance to say it yet: I love you.” He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. “I cannot describe how relieved I am that you’re alive. You know that, don’t you?” I nodded, pushing my petty jealousy to the side. I felt the warmth and strength of his chest and inhaled his delicious smell. I’d just needed to be near him again, to feel his strong touch. That he’d come for me and risked his life for me told me everything that I needed to know about us.
It was real. He loved me, too.
I promised myself in that moment that I would never leave him again, not willingly. We were stronger together than we ever could be apart.

“I shot her because she was aiming her gun at me. She wouldn’t come with us willingly,” I said, as we sped through the darkness. “I’m so sorry.”

“Please don’t say that. I’m the one who’s sorry. I left you down here too long. Her too,” he said, looking back at Catherine.

“I think they turned her,” I whispered to him, afraid to hear myself say it aloud. Afraid for him to hear the truth. “She told me she was kidnapped when she first came down here. Angel Morales rescued her from them.” I couldn’t bring myself to talk about the sex trafficking.

“She’s been with them ever since.” I didn’t want to say more right now. I couldn’t.

“I should go back and kill them all,” John said. He had a hard look on his face I didn’t like.

“Ethan, go back,” he said.

“No!” I yelled. I watched as Ethan kept looking in the rearview mirror, seeing if he meant it.

“Bad idea, John,” Matthew said. “You’re smarter than that. Don’t make a plan when you’re reacting.”

“I said,
turn the car around
,” John said, ignoring Matthew.

“Absolutely not!” I yelled.

Ethan looked at me in the rearview mirror. “Don’t you dare!” I spit at him. He had the courtesy to keep driving straight ahead.

“John — I’ve been there for weeks. You can’t go back there. It’s a fucking
cartel
,” I said. “It’s amazing that we even got out of there. If you go back, they’ll just shoot you, then come out and shoot the rest of us. Then all of this will have been for nothing.”

He looked at me, his jaw set in a hard line.

“Please. Let’s just get to the border,” I said.

He looked out at the window at the darkness.

“Someday,” he said, looking back at me.

“Someday,” I agreed.

Someday,
I thought, looking over at Catherine. She was still completely out, a sheen of sweat covering her upper lip. I didn’t let myself finish the thought
.
The way John sat between us, with one arm around me and one hand still stroking Catherine’s cheek, made me realize I needed to keep quiet.

At least he seemed more relaxed. I kept looking out the dark windows of the backseat, waiting for a crew of machine-gun wielding henchmen to come bombing toward us out of nowhere. But there was nothing. Not yet.

“Why aren’t they coming after us?” I asked.

“We left them a few more treats back there on the road,” John said. “They’re probably sending out decoys to see where they get blown up.”

I knew he didn’t mean real decoys. He meant real people, just non-essential real people. I felt a dull headache set in. “How are we going to get out of here?” I asked. Matamoros was close to the border, but my passport and everything else were long gone. And Catherine obviously had nothing, not even consciousness, and she was bleeding. There were also lots of guns in the car. The back of the Hummer was filled with them.

“We know someone in customs,” Matthew said.
Of course they did.
“We go back with him aways. Back to when we used to come down here a lot.”

“He has a thing for cocaine and prostitutes,” John said and smiled. “It’s always good to know someone who has a thing for cocaine and prostitutes.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Sure.” Actually, I was pretty glad I didn’t know anyone anymore who liked cocaine or prostitutes. John baffled me sometimes; he was still an enigma. For all his white teeth, healthy skin and custom suits, he sure seemed to have one foot squarely in the slimy underbelly of the world. He was just so banal about it, like he was comfortable with his split existence; it was like it didn’t get him dirty.

Suddenly light filled the car from behind. “We’ve got company,” Ethan said, checking his mirrors. I whipped around to look but all I could see were headlights.

Then the back windshield exploded in gunfire. John grabbed my head and shoved it down. “Corey, Sean, come back here,” John yelled. He shoved Catherine down on top of me and I wrinkled my nose in distaste as I tried to push her off me. I wasn’t ready to get that close to her.

“I’m coming, boss,” Matthew said, turning and climbing towards the back. Just then more shots came whizzing through and Matthew ducked back in his seat; I could hear the front windshield get hit. All four guys crouched on the seats above us and started shooting back, all at once.