Lean on Me (5 page)

“
And stay there?” Hermes
asked.

“
Stay there until Mommy or
I, or Auntie Alex, come and get you. You remember Auntie
Alex?”

The boys gave a solemn nod.

“
Go on,” Troy
said.

Troy waited for a moment to make sure the
boys were in the middle of the patch. He took off toward the house.
He was almost there when his phone rang. He stuck his wireless
headset in his ear and continued running.

“
Do you have the boys?”
Dahlia asked.

“
They are in the berry
patch,” Troy asked.

“
He’s here,” Dahlia
whispered into the phone.

“
Hector?”

“
Who else?” Dahlia
whispered. “He just shot up the boys’ beds. I peeked out. He looks
completely crazy. He has guns – big ones and small ones – and those
explosives you see on TV and…”

“
I’m almost there,” Troy
shifted into his top speed.

“
No,” Dahlia said. “Promise
me you’ll take care of our boys.”

“
I’m coming to get you,”
Troy said.

“
No,” Dahlia said. “He’s
right outside my hiding place. If you love me at all, promise me
you’ll take care of our boys. Please. Promise me Troy
Olivas.”

“
I will take care of the
boys with my life,” Troy said. “You know that.”

“
As long as he thinks he’s
killed them,” Dahlia said. “He won’t look for them.”

“
Dahlia!” Troy
said.

“
You and the boys are the
only thing that’s ever mattered to me,” Dahlia said.

“
Don’t do this! I’m almost
there. I can…” He cursed himself. Dahlia wouldn’t allow him to keep
a weapon in the house. To appease her, he always left his guns and
rifles with Alex.

“
I used up all of our time.
I’m so sorry,” Dahlia said. “I love you, Troy.”

Troy heard Hector break through the wooden
barrier covering her hiding place.

“
Hector no!” Dahlia
screamed. She dropped the phone. “Don’t do this! You don’t have to
do this!”

As he ran the last hundred yards, his ear
blistered with the sounds of his brother dragging the love of his
life by the hair. He heard the thud of where she kicked Hector like
they had practiced. Hector grunted and released her. She landed
what sounded like a hard punch, an elbow and at least one kick
before his brother overpowered her again. From the sound of it, she
was giving him a real beating.

But Hector kept coming.

Troy skidded to a halt at the edge of the
forest. Through the sliding glass door, he saw Hector throw Dahlia
into the living room. She kicked him in the groin once, then again.
Hector jumped onto her. With his knees holding down her arms,
Hector pummeled with his fist the only woman Troy had ever loved.
She kneed him hard in the back and writhed under him. Her actions
only enraged Hector more. Troy was about to cross the grass
backyard when Hector flipped her onto her stomach.

With blood cascading across her beautiful
face, Dahlia looked across the yard to see him standing at the edge
of the forest. Their eyes caught and she shook her head. She
mouthed “I love you.” Hector shot her through the back of the head
with a shotgun. Transfixed, Troy watched blood and brain matter
blow across the living room and splatter onto the sliding glass
door.

“
Go now,” the apparition of
Jesse Abreu appeared in front of him. In the almost three years
since Jesse died, he had never said even one word to Troy. Troy
blinked with surprise. “He thinks he’s seen you.”

Troy was rooted to the spot. Jesse created a
ball of hot energy and threw it at him. Troy jerked from the shock,
spun in place, and took off into the forest.

“
I’ll convince him you’re
in the house,” Jesse yelled after him. “Call Alex!”

Running full speed down the path, Troy tried
to speed dial Alex. His phone was still connected to Dahlia’s. He
heard Hector barrel through the house. He clicked for another line
and dialed Alex.

“
How’s the almost married
man?” Alex asked.

“
I need pick up,” Troy
said.

“
How many?” Alex matched
the intensity of his voice.

“
Three,” Troy said.
“Dahlia’s dead.”

“
The Jakker’s in the air
returning the chopper,” Alex said. “Police?”

“
I’ll call them when…” Troy
started.

The house exploded behind him. The heat and
fireball blew through the forest. The force of the explosion blew
Troy forward. He landed in a full plank position. Ahead of him, he
heard the boys scream in terror. The trees around him caught
fire.

“
I’ll meet you at the drop
off,” Troy said.

“
Fifteen minutes,” Alex
said. “Call the police. Out.”

Troy dialed 9-1-1 and had a brief
conversation with the woman on the other end. He saw a woman
murdered. The house blew up. He gave the address and clicked off
the phone.

“
Hermes!” Troy yelled.
“Hector James!”

Ignoring his bare feet, legs and arms, he
threw himself into the blackberry thicket. The thorns tore at his
exposed flesh. He reached the center in moments to find the boys
huddled together on the ground. They screamed when he touched their
backs. He pulled Hector James into his arms and Hermes threw
himself at him. With the boys clinging to him, Troy opened the trap
door that held his supplies.

A Green Beret, Troy knew medical issues came
before anything else. He checked the boys. They were not visibly
injured. He poured rubbing alcohol over his bleeding feet, wrapped
them in gauze, and jammed them into a spare pair of socks and
boots. He set the boys down for a moment to pull on a pair of
camouflage pants and a jacket. He grabbed a gallon of water and two
fleece blankets. He doused the blankets in the water. He wrapped
the wet blankets around the boys and picked them up. He threw on a
camouflage wide brimmed hat to cover his head from the fire.

Troy’s senses focused on whether someone had
followed him. The little boys shivered with fear in his arms. Troy
waited until he heard the helicopter approaching before he ventured
out of the blackberry thicket. The evergreen trees were burning at
their tops. Under the canopy of burning trees, Troy ran as fast as
his terrified bundles would allow. He found Jesse on the trail.

“
I convinced Hector to go
back into the house,” Jesse said, as he moved along with them. “He
was in the house looking for you when I set off the explosives he
was wearing. That’s not quite what he had planned.”

They reached the clearing just as the Pave
Hawk helicopter landed. Trece and White Boy jumped out of the
helicopter. Trece pried Hector James from around Troy’s neck. White
Boy grabbed Hermes. Matthew caught Troy before he collapsed. Caught
in a draft from the helicopter blades, Troy’s hat flew off his head
and into a burning tree. Matthew and Joseph pulled Troy into the
helicopter and Zack took off over the house.

Their little hideaway had been blown apart.
Troy thought he saw a piece of the red silk robe Dahlia had called
her Freedom robe hanging on the backyard swing set like a flag.
Fire trucks flew down the dirt road with their sirens wailing and a
set of Sheriff cars trailed behind the trucks. Troy watched the
scene until Matthew pulled him back into a seat. Feeling movement
near him, he looked up to see Alex sit down. She put her arms
around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. MJ stood in
front of him.

“
Injuries?” MJ
asked.

“
Feet,” Troy said.
“Scratches on my arms and legs. But the boys…”

“
Colin’s got them,” MJ
said.

Troy followed his extended finger to see
Colin Hargreaves charming the boys. Their faces and hands still
stained purple from the berries, they smiled brightly at Colin’s
antics. MJ kneeled and took off Troy’s boots. He cut off the socks
and gauze. Standing, MJ used a flashlight to peer into Troy’s eyes.
Having done this most of his adult life, Troy leaned back to let
the medic do his work.

“
Status,” Alex
said.

“
His feet have puncture
wounds and tears; legs and arms too. He’ll need surgery,” MJ said.
“He’s in shock and filthy. But otherwise healthy. Can I medicate
him?”

“
Something to take the edge
off but not unconscious,” Alex said. “Colin, status?”

Colin gave the boys a blue raspberry Dumb
Dumb Pop each and took a step toward Alex.

“
They are a little scraped
up,” Colin said. “Without a scan, I can’t tell if they sustained
neurological damage. They’ve had a terrible shock. But
Alex…”

Colin leaned down to speak in Alex’s
ear.

“
They are very small,”
Colin said. “These boys haven’t had proper nutrition… maybe most of
their lives.”

“
That’s correct,” Alex
nodded.

“
I’m going to let them
sleep for a while,” Colin said. “We can get them cleaned up at the
house and take a better look. Troy?”

Troy looked up.

“
Can you come with me?”
Colin asked.

The team shifted around the helicopter so
that Troy could sit with the boys. With a boy on each leg, Troy
nestled them against him. He pressed his face into their hair. They
still smelled like baby shampoo, sunshine, and love.

“
Mr. Colin is going to give
you something that will make you sleep,” Troy said. “Don’t be
afraid. I will be with you the whole time.”

“
And Mommy?” Hermes
asked.

“
Mommy had to go some place
without us,” Troy said. “She wanted us to be together, to love each
other while she’s gone.”

With round terrified eyes, the boys nodded.
Colin injected them with a sedative. Troy rocked them until they
were asleep. MJ went back to work on Troy’s feet. He had just
finished when the helicopter began the descent into Washington
DC.

“
We have to check in with
the MPs, Troy,” Alex said. “They’re going to want to take your
statement and possibly hold you until the police notify them
otherwise. That’s standard procedure in a case like this. I’ve
spoken with Captain Gordon and we have our orders.”

“
Right,” Troy
said.

“
We’ll be with you and the
boys the entire time,” Alex said.

“
Thanks,” Troy nodded but
his eyes reflected the nothingness of shock.

MJ gave him a couple of pills. He took a
Klean Kanteen of water from Alex. He was swallowing the pills when
MJ held up a hypodermic needle. He held out his left arm and was
out. The helicopter landed on the tarmac.

FFF

Saturday morning

October 24 – 8:15 a.m. EDT

Bolling Air Force Base, Washington DC

“
Put ‘em on,” Joseph said,
the moment Troy passed out.

The team put on their dark Ray-Ban Wayfarer
glasses.

“
Trece did your team take
the case?” Alex asked.

“
Yes sir,” Trece said. “A
few of our men are on-scene right now. The locals aren’t happy but
there’s not much they can do about it.”

“
Good,” Alex
said.

“
We were ordered to stay
with the children,” Trece said. “Would you prefer that we go to the
scene?”

“
I prefer you stay with the
boys,” Alex said.

“
Yes sir,” Trece and White
Boy said.

“
Who’s with Olivas?” Alex
grabbed her digital fatigue version of her Fey jacket.

“
I am,” MJ said.

“
I am,” Matthew
said.

“
Good,” Alex said. “Zack
told the tower he’s coming in with the Fey Team. There should be a
crowd waiting for us.”

“
We have a crowd,” Joseph
said.

Alex looked out to see a growing crowd of
service people. Six Military Police, an MP Captain, and the base
Colonel stood in front of the Fey Team fans.

“
Lieutenant Colonel?
Captain Mac Clenaghan?”

Joseph nodded and Vince opened the
helicopter door. Alex, Joseph and Matthew jumped out of the
helicopter. They met the MPs and base command. Out of the corner of
her eye, she saw Steve Pershing, White Boy and Trece’s boss, moving
across the tarmac toward them.

The MP Captain stepped forward to salute
Alex and Joseph. They returned his salute.

“
We need Captain Olivas,”
he said.

“
Captain Olivas is
unconscious,” Alex said.

“
And why is that?” the MP
Captain asked. “Your orders were for Captain Olivas to maintain
consciousness.”

“
His medic determined it a
medical necessity,” Joseph said.

“
I’d like to speak with the
medic,” the MP Captain said.

Alex turned and made a gesture. MJ hopped
out of the helicopter and stood at attention.

“
Captain Olivas is needed
for questioning,” the MP Captain said. “You were ordered to provide
him for questioning.”

“
That’s very interesting,”
MJ said.

“
Watch your tone,
Sergeant,” the MP Captain said. “Your orders were to have Captain
Olivas ready for questioning.”

“
Sir, I have no higher
priority than the health of my team,” MJ said. “I’m the Fey Team
medic and Captain Olivas is a member of the Fey Team. It is my duty
to insure his health and well-being before any other directive,
sir. I’ve taken the necessary actions his health
requires.”