Society Rules (50 page)

“I . . . I’m scared!” Jake managed, trembling all over now.

“Good!” Cassandra spat. “You should be!”

“I’m afraid of . . . what’s going to happen . . .
to
you!”
His voice was shaking as well. Cassandra glared at the small boy, and then burst into a high-pitched shriek of laughter.

“Don’t you worry about me, sonny boy,” she snorted. “You have plenty to worry about for yourself and your sister, there. You can worry about your mommy and her friend, too. You all are going to have a whole new life, if you can call it that, very soon!”

She watched with her lip curled as Cassidy wrapped her thin little arms around her brother to calm his fear.

“You!” she spoke harshly, gesturing to Cassidy. “Get over there by that angel statue!” She point to a monument standing about ten feet away. Both children stood, and she stopped them with a screech.

“Just her.” She pointed at Cassidy. “You stay where you are, boy!”

Cassidy dragged her feet as she covered the short distance to the moss covered sculpture. She sat down at the cold base, and looked back miserably at her sibling. Jake began to cry, quietly.

“Dry it up, kid.” Cassandra was unmoved by this display, merely becoming more annoyed. The little boy looked up at her; his face streaked with his tears, and spoke softly.

“Why are you doing this to us?” He shivered out the words pitifully.

“Because you all are unnatural freaks from some other world, or something. I don’t know what you are, really, and I don’t care. I just know that I am to hunt you and anyone like you, and bring you in to my bosses. I’ll probably get a raise and a promotion!”

“So this . . . is for money?” Jake asked, in what sounded like disbelief.

“Money, glory, maybe a little of both. It’s all good.” She shrugged, then tossed her hair back and looked at her watch. Shawn Baker had five more minutes before she called him again, and ripped holes through his eardrums.

She decided to ignore the thing dancing around just out of her view, its shadow playing games with her imagination. She would not let some dumb animal creep her out.

As she looked up through the trees, she could not keep back the small gasp that escaped her lips at the sight of the giant orange ball of flames that seemed close enough to lick the trees and ignite them.

Was this normal, she wondered.

She knew there was such a thing as a harvest moon, but was there a harvest sun, or some equivalent?

She had never noticed it looking like this before. Then again, she wasn’t exactly the outdoorsy type either, and not one to notice things like beautiful
or
unusual sunrises and sunsets, for sure.

The sound of a large vehicle slowing down on the main road diverted her attention from the natural phenomenon above her head.

*     *     *

As Shawn parked the truck in the small alcove of trees and high grass, he looked at Will and felt all but certain that he wasn’t going to make it.

Will’s eyes were half-closed, with one of them looking horribly wrong, slightly rolled back into his head. His color was dreadful, and his breathing rasping . . . irregular.

Somehow though, he still had managed to keep himself semi-upright in the seat, and Shawn was sure that Will’s finger was still curled around the trigger of the pistol that he was also positive was in Will’s pocket.

He had to shake his head in admiration. For an old guy, he was tough as nails; that was indisputable.

And he could still whip
ass
!

I
can
personally
vouch
for
that
, he thought, as he gingerly touched the puffy and sore area to the left side of his face, and then moved his hands down to his ribs that were also feeling the pain of this morning’s abuse.

Yeah. That was going to leave a mark.

As he looked again at the slowly slumping form of his partner, Shawn felt another surge of conscience. He owed the man, and he had decided that he was going to get his kids back safely for him.

He also felt that it was entirely possible that Will would not live to see this feat accomplished, but it was the least he could do, since apparently he was going to be required by Will himself, to let the man die.

He knew that he could not call an ambulance or anything right now, given the current situation.

It really did suck.

“Will, buddy, listen to me.”

Determination wrapped its horned claws tightly around Shawn Baker’s throat, lifting him . . . shaking him now . . . urging the man to make things right.

“It’s gonna be okay, understand? I am going to get your kids. I’ll take them back to your mom’s house, I guess. Then, if you want, your wife can pick them up from there, okay, partner?”

Will’s eyes were working hard to focus, until he finally found Baker’s, and he nodded. Speaking was nearly out of the question, but he tried.

“What would Machiavelli say?” he rasped.

Shawn was silent for a moment, and then he smiled valiantly. “Let’s not tell him then, alright?

“You . . . you’ll be okay, Will. After I deal with Lockhart, I’ll get EMS out here.” Shawn tried to sound matter of fact, but what he felt was dread.

“Hell, man. I’m probably going to have to let Cassandra have some of the good stuff, to get her to let go of all this! I am going to have to sacrifice myself to her. How will I go on?” he tried to joke, and Will’s mouth twitched almost into a smile as he shook his head and made a grimace appropriate to the idea of anyone actually having to have sex with Lockhart.

Then he sighed.

“Tell Indie I’m sorry,” he croaked. “That I love her and the kids. You’re right, I’m an idiot . . . but they didn’t deserve this.”

How weak he sounded to himself. How could this be? He really
wasn’t
going to survive. He knew it now. Of all the ways he thought he’d go. All the times he’d come so close . . . surviving just so he could die of a heart attack.

Well . . .
shit!

Shawn suddenly reached out, ignoring Will’s startled move back against the truck door, and put his hand on his partner’s shoulder. He gingerly tugged his own beloved gun out of Will’s waistband and spoke urgently.

“Will, I understand if you don’t fully trust me right now, but you can, okay? I don’t think you have a choice anyway, do you? I am gonna put this right. Just stay here and don’t move, you got it?”

Will closed his eyes in response.

Shawn quietly pulled himself out of the truck, and screwed a custom-made silencer to the end of his weapon. He smoothly shot out the left front and back tires without so much as missing a step as he moved toward the graveyard, tucking the gun briskly back into his holster.

*     *     *

Cassandra leaped up, having seen that the sound had come from a large, four-wheel drive Ford pickup truck, with someone behind the wheel who looked exactly like Shawn Baker.

Finally!
She all but shouted to herself.

She’d watched the driver pull over to her side of the road and move the truck forward until it became concealed from passers-by, for the most part. After an agonizing few moments, he had slowly exited the truck, and shut the door softly. Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief.

It
was
Baker.

She noted the absence of his always-present tailored jacket, and his dirty and disheveled appearance. He looked like he’d been in a fight, and she’d be willing to bet that she knew who the other contestant had been.

Well,
he
must
have
kicked
Will’s
ass,
she thought with pride.
Otherwise
he
wouldn’t
be
here
.

Not that she was surprised. She had the utmost confidence in her hero, and wouldn’t have given odds of any kind to Will. He was too much like somebody’s dad, or something.

Not a fighter, she was sure.

With a stern look of warning to the forcibly separated children, she waved her hand in the air, and called out Shawn’s name. He looked at her with an expression that conveyed nothing short of pure horror at the hiding place that Cassandra had chosen.

“Are you
kidding
me, woman?” Shawn shouted back to her. “I’m not coming in there!”

“Oh get over it, you big baby!” Cassandra grinned. She knew it. He was a superstitious namby-pamby,
although
a
very
hot
one,
she added to herself.

Grunting in disapproval, Shawn began to awkwardly step his way through the graveyard toward the woman and her captives, making quite sure that he stepped on no unmarked graves.

He was trying to hold his breath as well, although this, he obviously could not keep up for any length of time.

He stopped halfway and pleaded to his co-conspirator;

“Please . . . come on Cassandra, don’t make me come all the way in there! It’s . . .
dark!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the Boogeyman,” she laughed, in much better spirits now that she was not alone with these creepy kids.

With a pained and martyred expression, Shawn sighed, and moved forward. God damn her . . . he was going to make her pay for this when it was all over, if it was the last thing he did.

He
REALLY
hated graveyards.

Shawn finally made it to the small party, and looked at the miserable faces of the children. He felt instantly ill at the misfortune that he had brought upon them. As he cleared his throat to speak, Cassandra called out to him.

“Hey, Shawn, look at this one!” She pointed down to a small and very old looking grave marker. Shawn had to squint and crouch down to see the writing on it, which was very faint. As it dawned on him what the letters he was reading spelled out, he recoiled angrily, falling on the seat of his pants in the damp earth.

He looked around, and was horrified to see that he was now sitting directly on a grave that had only the small headstone that lay flat, level with the ground.

With a shriek that would have done any thirteen-year-old girl proud, Shawn was back on his feet.

“
Fuck,
Lockhart, you’re a real sick-o, you know that?” He was trembling with outrage and disgust, now also pissed off that she had made him blurt out the grand-daddy of all curse words in front of the kids.

Cassandra bent double with laughter at Shawn’s antics. His reaction had been better than she could have dreamed.

“Oh, my God!” She gasped for breath. “That was the funniest damn thing I’ve ever seen!”

“Yeah, well I’m glad you’re so easily entertained!” Baker retorted, angrily.

He then pulled himself up to his full height, closed his eyes and drew upon every ounce of training and experience that he could, in order to regain control of his traumatized mind. This was no time to allow himself to freak out over his own personal little phobias. He remembered his new mission, and put it into action, swallowing down the burning acid rising in his throat in anticipation of the words that he was about to speak.

“Ok, sweet thing, you’ve had your little joke.” He forced out his most charming smile at Lockhart. “Now, we need to get the hell out of here, if you don’t mind.” Cassandra was instantly agreeable. Baker’s small endearment hadn’t escaped her notice, and she was only too happy to comply with his wishes.

“Where to now, Sugar?” Baker kept the smile in place with a Herculean effort, and wished the blond at the bottom of the ocean.

She
really
didn’t need to return the favor with the pet names.

“Well,” he began, trying to sound very much in charge. “We need to get back to town. There is going to be a slight change in plans. I’ve thought of a better way to get Will’s wife and her guy to come to us.” Cassandra’s face changed imperceptivity.

“Go on.” Her voice was now all business, no trace of the flintiness of only moments ago. Baker pulled in a deep breath.

“I want to take the kids to Will. He said he knows of a way to get Indie to come to him, and, no doubt, the guy will come with her. He wouldn’t allow her to show up at Will’s place alone, right?” Cassandra regarded Baker thoughtfully, with her arms crossed.

“What’s going on, Baker? Why the change of plans? I thought Will didn’t want his wife captured.”

“Yeah, well, he’s had a change of heart. He’s decided that he’s not really into staying married to a different species after all.”