Jeremiah by Kris Michaels
Chapter 18
Jeremiah laughed at Father Murphy’s story; granted, it was one he’d heard before, but the Father’s embellishments, voice accents, and inventive non-curse curse words made the story hysterical. He hammered down another shingle as the men on Phil Granger’s roof laughed and worked. His phone vibrated in his back pocket. He dropped his hammer and took off his well-worn leather gloves, the ones he’d picked up after the splinter incident at Eden’s.
The sun was directly overhead, so he couldn’t see who the call was from. He swiped it and answered, “Hello?”
“Jeremiah, where are you?” Jamison’s voice jolted him out of the good humor he’d been in.
“Hollister, why?” He turned around and sat down on the shingles. The men around him stopped working. Obviously, the way he’d tensed up wasn’t lost on them.
“We have evidence indicating Cyrus was in Montana. A camping site. He took out a family.”
“Which means he’s coming here.”
“He left the computer opened to the email from you when the park rangers found the crime scene.” Jamison confirmed his worst fears.
“That team here yet?” He hadn’t pursued the meet and greet with the men because he’d been so damn busy working to clean up storm damage.
“They are. The boss is having them come into town tonight. Where do you want to talk to them?”
“My sister’s cafe will have enough room and privacy. What time?” He glanced in the direction of the cafe. Gen wouldn’t mind. She was only open for breakfast and lunch, and takeouts had to be picked up by noon.
“Seven your time. My boss will call in for the meeting. He’ll discuss Guardian’s plans.”
“How long do you think we have?” He glanced at the other men who’d stopped working and were making no pretense about listening to his conversation.
“He could be there now, or he could play cat and mouse with you. You know his MO the same way I do.”
“All right. Thanks for the call.”
“You be safe, you hear me? We’ll catch this bastard before he gets to you.”
He knew Jamison couldn’t guarantee that, but it was nice that the man tried to reassure him. “I’ll do my best. You take care, too.” He hung up before Jamison could say more. He didn’t want to say goodbye to his friend, and that was probably selfish on his part.
“What’s wrong?” Phil asked from about ten feet away where he was working his line of shingles.
“My past is catching up to me, and unfortunately, it is going to endanger everyone in this town.”
Phil dropped his hammer and sat down. “Well now, my friend, I think you need to explain that in a bit more detail.” The other men followed suit.
Jeremiah nodded but held up a finger. “I need to make this call first.”
Eden answered the phone. “Hi! Are you done early?”
“No.” His tone said it all. He didn’t need to say another word.
“He’s coming.”
“Yes. You know what to do.”
Eden drew a shaky breath but answered, “We’ll get through this. We have to.”
He nodded, although she couldn’t see him. He sighed, “I’ll be home soon. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Be careful.”
He disconnected the line and dropped the phone to the rooftop. Turning, he looked at the men. He started at the beginning and told them everything, not leaving a single detail out. He watched as they blanched, as their eyes widened, and then as they hardened when he told them that Cyrus was heading to Hollister and may already be close. “So, I need you to take your families and leave for a week or so. I’ll pay for hotels, travel costs, whatever you need, but you have to let everyone know and get them out of town by nightfall. Eden has my credit card information for anyone who needs help to evacuate.”
Phil nodded and stood at the same time he did. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get Eden and Gen out of here, and then I’m going to wait for him to show. I have a team from Guardian Security meeting me at Gen’s cafe tonight. We’ll talk tactics then. Gentlemen, I can’t apologize enough for bringing this to your doorstep.”
Carson Schmidt snorted. “Sounds like this killer is the one that needs to apologize, not you, but I get your drift. Phil, you start the phone tree and keep the information to the basics, or by the time the last person hears what is going on the story will be so exaggerated there will be vampires invading the town.”
Phil nodded as a bolt of lightning flashed in the distance. “Rough weather coming this way. Guys, let’s pull everything down and deal with the business at hand.”
* * *
Jeremiah pulled his hand through his hair for the five millionth time since he’d received that call from Jamison. He knew the telephone tree for the town had worked because businesses were closed and truck after truck loaded with families pulled out of town. There were only two who called to ask for financial assistance and he was happy to help the families out. The last tornado had hit both families hard. He had Eden call in advance and pay for rooms for them in Belle Fourche. He’d give her his debit card and have her make sure they had cash for food when she headed south—if he could get her to leave.
“I’m not going until I know what these Guardian people say.” Eden crossed her arms and stared at him, her jaw set and angled up at him in a defiant challenge.
Gen stuck her head out from the kitchen where she was busy making sure her supplies were stored properly for a prolonged closure. “What she said.”
“For God’s sake, he could be somewhere in this town right this minute!”
“And he could still be in Montana! You know no more than we do!” Eden snapped right back at him. “I’ll go but only when I know those Guardian people are competent and you’ve got a chance of surviving this.” Lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the small cafe with a brilliant flash.
Jeremiah started counting, a habit he’d formed when he was a child to tell how far away the lightning had struck. He reached fifteen before the thunder rumbled over the town. He glanced at his watch. The Guardian people would be there soon. “I don’t like it.” He shook his head.
“Tough,” Gen said as she came out to the front with bottles of water for each of them. “You’re wearing a gun. I have a shotgun behind the counter. If he shows up, he’s toast.”
Eden blinked and gaped at Gen. “You’d shoot someone?”
“In a heartbeat,” they both said at the same time. Eden’s eyes swung to him and then flashed to the door. He spun, his hand on his handgun.
Phil opened the door and was followed into the cafe by Zeke, Trent Macy, Carson Schmidt, Kerry Ross, the man who ran the meat processing plant, Dutch Patterson, the barber, Declan Howard, and several others.
“What are you doing here?” Jeremiah scanned the crowd of men. Each one of them wore a sidearm and carried a rifle.
“The families are out of town, they’re safe. In this part of the woods, we protect ourselves and we protect each other.” Trent Macy sat down at the counter. “What’s the plan?”
“I’d like to know, too.” Zeke leaned against one of the highback benches.
The door opened and everyone turned, weapons leveled and pointing at the man who entered and raised his hands. “I’m looking for Jeremiah Wheeler?”
Phil grunted. “Yeah, and who are you?”
Red dots flashed across the room, landing on chests before moving on. “Guardian Bravo Team Leader. You can call me Ace.”
Jeremiah stepped forward. “I’m Jeremiah. Guys, lower your weapons. These are the specialists that Guardian sent in.”
“I’ll lower my weapons when those red dots disappear, and I see who had me in their sights,” Kerry Ross growled in response.
The man at the door made several sharp hand signals. “They’ll be here in a minute.” The red dots disappeared, and Ace glanced at Jeremiah. “The plan was that you would be the only one left in the town.” A blinding strike of lightning flashed, brightening the evening sky into daylight for a few seconds. Four other men entered the cafe. The hardware they were carrying was impressive. One of the men gave Ace a rifle then dropped a hook and loop flap on his tac vest and handed Ace a handgun, too. The leader of Bravo Team slung the rifle over his shoulder and holstered his handgun.
“I know that was the plan, but these hardheaded people think they know better.”
Ace leveled a stare and scanned the entire room. “We appreciate your offer, gentleman, but we can’t do our job if we are worried about you or worried that this murdering son of a bitch will take you hostage. Believe me, we have a trap set for that asshole. If you’re here, you’re only hindering us.”
Nobody said a word for a long moment. Then Jeremiah heard a sound he’d never wanted to hear again. An unmistakable, ominous, long, rolling sound that grew louder.
Every resident of Hollister snapped their attention to the window. “Fuck, not again.” Phil was the first to push himself through the men and race outside. He turned around and yelled, “Take cover!”
“What the fuck?” Ace and his crew flattened against the wall as the men flew out of the cafe and headed toward their shelters. Zeke grabbed Phil’s arm and pulled him toward the garage. They’d use the oil-changing pit as a shelter. Several others went with him.
Kerry Ross was running across the street when a board flew through the air and knocked him down. The man didn’t move. Jeremiah bellowed, “Get to the root cellar! I’ll be right there.” Gen and Eden flew out through the kitchen. He grabbed Ace. “Follow the women!”
“Fuck that! Keys, go after the women.” One of the team peeled off and bolted through the kitchen.
Jeremiah raced out the door and the team followed. He glanced up and saw the tornado as it moved along the ground, winding debris around the center funnel. There were three funnel clouds. Two hadn’t touched the ground yet.
Dirt and rain lashed his face by the time he made it to Kerry. The man was out cold. He motioned for Ace to help him. He glanced down the street. Carson Schmidt was about a block away when the windows of his store exploded.
Ace motioned and his remaining men sprinted down the street. Jeremiah yelled, “They need to find cover!”
“They know!” Ace called back, and they headed back toward the cafe.
They never made it. Cyrus Macmillan stepped onto the walkway, half-dragging Eden with him.
The tornado’s percussive roar reverberated around them. Cyrus’ mouth moved, but Jeremiah couldn’t hear anything. They could barely stand against the wind. The overhang of the cafe lifted and flew into the air. Jeremiah screamed as Macmillan dragged Eden back into the alley. Ace grabbed his shirt and yelled, but he couldn’t hear a word. Ace started moving, and because he was helping to hold Kerry, Jeremiah moved, too. He glanced to his right then pushed Kerry into Ace, sending them both to the ground and diving after them. An exterior wall screamed past them, exploding into the side of Phil’s garage.
He and Ace crawled toward the cafe, dragging Kerry with them. More debris flew above them, smashing into the cafe. The windows exploded outward. Hundreds of shards nipped at his skin, but they kept going, pulling Kerry’s dead weight behind them. They crawled under the boardwalk. It wouldn’t protect them against the tornado if it took the building, but it would protect them from flying building parts. He put his mouth by Ace’s ear and yelled, “I have to go!”
Ace cupped his neck and pulled him back. “You’ll be killed! What good will you be to her then?”
Jeremiah jerked away and stared at the man. If he didn’t go now, Cyrus would kill her. What had happened to Gen, to the guard? No, Cyrus needed to be stopped. He shook his head, turned as best as he could in the limited amount of room, and scurried under the boards, pushing against the torturous wind. He pulled himself forward on his elbows, blindly heading toward the alley where Cyrus had disappeared.
