Bless the Broken Road Ch. 04

I apologize for taking so long with this. I'm just not as accomplished at writing as some on here, unfortunately. A huge shout out to my Editor, Mystique, for saving me from grammar and punctuation purgatory. Any errors are mine since I tinkered with it after editing.

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Jessie had no idea who was behind her. She hoped upon hope that it was Rob. She turned her head to look behind her but as soon as she did, Jack came out of hiding. The person behind her pressed something into her hand. She closed her hand around it, not knowing exactly what it was at first. As the person stood up, he whispered for her to take whatever it was.

It was ROB! Oh my god she felt so relieved! She no longer felt so alone and scared. Her Rob was there and she felt he would get them out of this.

Rob threw his gun down to her left and in front of her. It was close. Close enough that if she could get free, she could grab it easily. Rob started moving away from her. She didn't understand why. She wanted him as close to her as possible, but he kept moving until he was opposite of her with Jack in the middle. How could he do that she thought? Jack had a gun and he could easily turn and just shoot her. Why would Rob leave her like this? She didn't understand.

Jessie started trying to figure out what Rob had put in her hand. It felt weird, trying to figure out what it was by feel instead of seeing it, but after running my finger around it, she realized it was a knife. She was careful not to drop it while trying to cut the rope around her wrists. It was tricky at first, but after cutting through the first rope, it gave her more room to move her wrists, and each time she cut it became easier. Cutting the ropes around her chest was going to be difficult. She didn't want them falling free after they were cut, so she tried to figure out how to cut them without that happening. This was taking more time than she thought.

Jessie was listening to what was being said and at the same time, busy with trying to free herself. When she heard Jack mention her ex-husband, she looked right at him. What she heard she couldn't believe. She didn't want to believe. He just admitted that he murdered Greg! Then it hit her. Jack showing up at the house two days after Greg's funeral, offering to work for free until the harvest, getting her to fall in love with him. It was all a lie. He planned this all out. She was nothing but a pawn in his game. He wanted her farm and would do anything to get it. She felt stupid and she was angry. Very angry. He killed her husband! Her kids no longer had their father because of that asshole! She vowed she would get him back for that, no matter how long it took.

She looked at Rob and he glanced back at her for a quick second. She saw his eyes and his face. It was the look that Hoss had described to her. There was no soul there. His eyes were dark and empty. His face expressionless. He looked like he was dead. It terrified her. She had to get free and get that gun!

As Jessie struggled to cut the rope, she saw someone moving behind Rob. He didn't seem to notice. She tried frantically to warn him but with the gag, no words came out. She began struggling to cut the rope around her chest as quickly as she could. She could see the guy now, it was Tim. He had an aluminum bat in his hand. It appeared he was going to hit Rob with it, and it looked like Rob still no idea he was there. She couldn't let that happen!

With the last rope around her chest cut, the only thing left were her ankles tied to the legs of the chair. She had no time to cut those. Tim hit Rob as hard as he could in the head and Rob went down hard. That was the distraction she needed. She dove for the gun, the chair awkwardly following her. She hit the floor and the gun was in easy reach. She grabbed it and aimed at Jack. Jack's gun was pointed at Rob's head and he was walking toward him. She had to pull the trigger now!

Jessie shot Jack square in the back, but she thought he may have shot, also. She looked at Rob and he was falling face down on the floor, blood all over his head. Jessie shot Jack again in the back, just before he slumped to the floor. When he fell, she had a clear shot at Tim who was directly in line behind him. She shot him in the chest and he fell immediately.

She tried to get up, but the chair was still tied to her ankles making movement almost impossible. She had to get to Rob! She cut the ropes around her ankles and ran to him. There was blood everywhere. When she saw the wound on his head, she screamed. She rolled him over and saw that he was still alive, somehow. She screamed for someone to help her. She leaned down and put her hands on his face.

She yelled "Don't you dare leave me Rob! You better not die on me!" She screamed again for someone to help.

She was crying and looking at Rob when he tried to speak. His lips moved a little but nothing came out. Then she heard his voice, so quiet and weak.

"Jessie, I love you." He closed his eyes and went limp.

"NO! God No! Rob, please. Baby, I love you, too! Don't die on me!" She screamed and screamed. She couldn't drag him out of there herself!

She heard some yelling downstairs. Someone was running up the steps. It was Hoss!

Hoss and another man were up the steps in a flash. Jessie screamed for Hoss to help her. He ran over, saw Rob's head wound and immediately took off Rob's vest and shirt. He wrapped the shirt tightly around Rob's head.

The shots startled Jessie and made her jump. She looked over to see the man with Hoss had shot Jack and Tim again. "Preventative insurance." the guy said. Hoss threw Rob over his shoulder in a fireman's carry like he was a rag doll. He stood and told the other guy to get Jessie out of there safe. He was taking Rob to the Canton Hospital in Rob's car. He threw his truck keys to the guy and told him to meet him there. Hoss was down the stairs in a flash and gone. The guy surveyed the room quickly then turned to Jessie.

"My name is Brett, and I'm a friend of Hoss'. I'm going to get you out of here and we have to get to Hoss' truck across the ridge to the east. I don't know if there is anyone we missed, so we have to be careful getting there. We need to go now."

Jessie remained in place, not really able to comprehend what was going on.

"Jessie... hey, you okay?"

She shook her head 'no' a few times before the word followed.

Picking up Rob's vest, Brett said "Put this on. It will offer a little more protection than your shirt."

Brett picked up Rob's pistol, took Jessie's hand and said "Come on."

When they were downstairs and about to go outside, Jessie squeezed Brett's hand and pulled on it to get him to stop.

"What is it?" Brett asked.

"He said he'd replaced me."

"What? He who?"

"Jack. He said he replaced me."

"What does that mean?"

"I have a really bad feeling. Brett...check the house."

"Why?"

"I hope I'm wrong but if I'm not, Jack may be holding someone in the house."

"Shit! There aren't supposed to be any witnesses. GOD DAMMIT! Take LT's gun and come with me. Keep an eye out for anyone."

They moved up to the front porch. There were no noises from the house. Brett pulled Jessie up to the front door.

"After I get inside, come in and wait inside by the door but out of view of anyone outside."

Brett began moving through the first floor room by room but found no one. He started up the stairs. When he neared the top of the steps and his head was above floor level, he looked down the hall. There were five doors, two on the right and three on the left. The first door on the right was open. He moved slowly to the near side of the doorway and listened. No noise so he peered around the corner to see the left side of the room. All clear. Then he moved across the doorway with his back to the door jamb so he could see the right side of the room. What he saw stopped him cold.

A red-haired girl was lying stretched out on a bed, hands and feet cuffed to the metal bedframe. She was completely nude and her mouth was taped so she couldn't make a sound. She was startled by the guy coming into the room brandishing a gun. When she saw Brett, her eyes grew wide. She started to struggle against the cuffs causing a pretty good racket.

Brett put his finger to his lips and then put his hands out and moved them downward. Everyone knows those are the universal signals to quiet down, right? She apparently hadn't gotten that memo. As she struggled more, she made more racket. He moved more quickly toward her, which made her struggle even more.

When he got to the bed, he knelt down and put his hand on the side of her face. He leaned in and quietly said "I'm going to get you out of here. So don't scream." He peeled the tape off her mouth. He tried to be as gentle as he could, but the duct tape had some pretty wicked adhesive.

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Alex. Alexandra."

"I'm Brett."

He looked at the handcuffs. Each wrist and each ankle had a cuff attached to it with both ankles cuffed to the same spot on the foot frame. Both wrists were the same way and cuffed to the same location on the headboard frame. The bed frame was thin walled steel pipe, but still way too strong for him to try to break apart. He grabbed an edge of the sheet she was laying on and threw it over her the best he could to cover her naked body.

"Alex, do you know where the cuff key might be?"

"No I don't. I'm sorry."

He started to move toward a dresser by the door to look for a key when she suddenly panicked and pleaded "Please don't leave me!"

"Alex, I'm not leaving you. I'm looking for a key. I can't break that bed". He looked as best he could but couldn't find a key. Nobody was decent enough to leave a saws-all with a bimetal blade laying around so now he was going to have to MacGyver something. Or, he could go pocket diving on cadavers in the barn. If anyone around there had a key, is was probably Jack, but that would take some time. On the shallowest of whims, he reached into his pocket and grabbed Hoss' key ring, hoping to find something on there that he might be able to use to pick the cuffs. He had no idea how to pick cuffs, but people in the movies do it with a paperclip in ten seconds. How hard can it be? And then he saw it. In amongst the 15 or 20 keys, was a lone handcuff key.

Brett leaned his head back, looking toward the ceiling, laughed for a second and then said. "Hoss, my brother, I love you, man."

As he started to unlock her ankle, Alex said "Huh? Who's Hoss?"

"He's the pervert who just helped save you."

There was a pile of clothes on the floor near the bed. As Brett unlocked her cuffs, he told her to get dressed as quickly as she could. As she dressed, Brett told her that there was a woman downstairs at the bottom of the steps. She needed to go to her and wait and he would be right behind her in a few seconds.

"What about the other girl?"

FUCK ME! He thought. "There's another girl?"

"There was. I haven't seen her for a couple days, but she was here."

"Where could she be?"

"Maybe one of the other bedrooms?"

"Okay, go down and let Jessie know what is going on. I'll be down as quickly as I can."

They moved to the door and Brett checked the hallway. It was clear so he sent her to the left and he moved across the hall to begin checking the remaining rooms.

When he reached the last room, he found her. A blonde girl tied to a chair. Her head was down, her long hair hiding her face. She was naked except for a pair of panties. Her ankles were tied together and then tied to a front leg of the chair. It appeared her hands were tied behind her. She had rope under her breasts going outside of her arms and around her back.

When Brett moved into the room, gun up, she heard him and slowly raise her head up. Her mouth was taped, also. Hey eyes were drooped, like she was groggy or sleepy. Or maybe drugged. The room was clear, so he knelt in front of her, pulled his knife out and cut her ankles free.

"My name is Brett. I'm going to get you out of here. Don't scream. I'm going to take the tape off."

When he got it off, he moved behind her to cut her wrists free.

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Julie." She didn't move fast or speak fast. This one looked like she was going to be a challenge to get out of there. Brett guessed the rope around her was to keep her upright so she didn't fall from the chair.

"Do you have any clothes around here?"

"I don't know."

"I'll help you look real quick, but we need to leave right away."

They didn't find any clothes for her, so Brett grabbed a sheet off the bed in the room and threw it over her

"Okay Julie. Come with me."

They started toward the door and before they made it there, she was starting to slump toward the floor. Brett pulled her back to her feet. She was not going to be able to walk out of there. He picked her up and moved toward the stairs.

At the bottom of the steps, Jessie was waiting for Brett to come back down when she heard someone moving near the top of the steps. She saw a pair of legs slowly moving down the stairs but they weren't a guy's legs. She moved toward the steps and saw a girl cautiously making her way down.

"Oh my God! Come here." She reached for the girl, helping her down the last few steps. As she put her arms around the girl to hug her, the girl began to sob.

"What's your name, honey?" Jessie asked.

"Alexandra."

"How old are you Alexandra?

"18."

"Okay. As soon as Brett comes down, we are getting you out of here. He should be here any second."

"He's looking for the other girl."

"WHAT?"

"There was another girl. He's looking for her."

"My God! Are there any others?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay, stay here with me. You're going to be fine."

A few moments later, Brett came down the stairs carrying Julie.

"Oh Jesus. Is she okay?" Jessie asked.

"I don't know. She can't walk. Maybe they drugged her." Brett said.

"We need to get them out of here, now." said Jessie quickly.

"With all this shit, I'm going to check the basement. I'm not leaving anyone behind." He gently put Julie on the floor. With no fear of needing to be quiet now, Brett flicked on the light and quickly checked the basement. Thankfully, there were no surprises.

"Okay. Let's go. It's a ways to the truck." Brett said.

"Where is Hoss's truck?" Jessie asked.

"Over that ridge (pointing east) along that road somewhere."

"I don't think Alexandra can make it, and you can't carry that girl the entire way." Jessie said.

"Watch me." Brett said defiantly.

"If both can't make it, we are stuck. Can you bring the truck back here?"

"I don't want to leave you all here by yourselves. What if..."

"I have this." Jessie said holding up Rob's pistol.

Brett thought the situation over for a second. "Dammit. Take my pistol and these extra clips too. I don't know how many rounds are left in his. Don't hesitate to shoot anyone you see... unless it's me. I'll be right back." He winked, brought his rifle off his shoulder, and started out into the early dawn.

Jessie looked at the blonde that was now sitting on the floor.

"Can you tell me your name, sweetie?" Jessie asked her.

"Julie."

"How old are you?"

"19."

Jessie was relieved. It was a very slight consolation to know both girls were not any younger. Not that it made their ordeal any easier, but they were mature and there was the tiniest bit of hope that they could handle this better at their age than if they were younger.

After a bit, Jessie heard a vehicle coming up the drive and she ushered the girls away from the door against the wall. The truck stopped and Brett jumped out. Jessie helped Alex while Brett carried Julie and they put both girls into the rear seat of the truck. Then they headed toward the hospital in Canton.

"Brett, I'm really worried about Rob. Can you go faster?"

"80 seems to be top speed in this hunk of shit. Sorry."

Brett pulled up to the ER doors and slammed the truck into park. Jessie helped Alex while Brett carried Julie into the ER entrance. As they walked in, Hoss spotted them.

"WHAT THE FUCK..." is all Hoss could say.

Jessie made sure Brett had both girls and she ran over to Hoss.

"How is Rob?"

"Jess, he's alive and they are doing everything they can for him. Where did they come from?" Hoss said pointing to the girls.

"Jack had them captive in the house. It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

"Jesus. There weren't supposed to be any witnesses. What the fuck are we going to do now?"

"Can I see Rob?"

"He is still in the ER, as far as I know. No one can see him yet. He was alive when they brought him in. A state trooper stopped me while I was coming in. I almost didn't stop but it wouldn't help if both of us were shot. The trooper coordinated for an ambulance to meet us along the way and then escorted me to the ambulance. You know as much as I do now. Tell me what happened in the barn so I have an idea of what happened with LT."

Jessie told him about Tim clubbing Rob in the head with the baseball bat, then her shooting Jack, before he could shoot Rob. She guessed she wasn't fast enough.

"Jess, if Jack shot him from 5 feet away, I can't believe he would be that lousy of a shot not to hit him directly in the head. The wound looked like the shot grazed along his skull. I think you may have shot Jack before he pulled his trigger. You may very well have saved LT's life. I don't know what an aluminum bat to the head might do, though. I know he has a pretty thick head, but two head injuries... I don't know. We have to sit and wait."

Both Jessie and Hoss looked up to see where Brett was, but both he and the girls were gone.

"The hospital will call the police because of the girls. Then they'll find all the bodies. Brett and I are fucked. LT sure knows how to throw a party doesn't he?" Hoss said.

Jessie was leaning back into Hoss, her legs up on the couch cushion and his arm around her as she silently cried.

"But you three saved both those girls. And me. That has to count for something, doesn't it?"

"I hope."

"Ya know, Rob once told me that if I was ever taken from him, the whole world would know about it. They wouldn't be able to hide it like they did last time. I don't think it turned out like he planned, but he was right."

"Listen. LT would NOT be upset in the least how it turned out. You are safe... we saved two other girls. Jack is dead. LT would say it was an exceptional operation."

"But he might, die. How is that acceptable?"

"Jess, I know this is hard to wrap your head around. Unless you're in a position where you readily face the possibility of dying, it's hard to understand. People in those positions have to quickly come to terms with their mortality. In combat, nobody wants to die, but you learn to accept it as a real possibility. That's what you are there for. And while you'll do anything to keep your ass from getting killed, you won't think twice about running out into the open to retrieve a wounded partner. At that moment, what means more is your buddy surviving, because he would do the same for you.

"You would trade him places in an instant, if he were dying. It's not that you feel your life is worthless, it's that his matters more than yours. Policeman and fireman experience the same thing. In the military, you can't rate the success of an operation by how many friendlies died. We are all there to die if it's called for. The only way to look at it is, was the mission objective reached? If it was, the operation was a success.

"You're safe, and that is all that matters to LT, and us, too. The cost isn't an issue that is even considered. The end justifies the means." Just as Hoss stopped talking, two uniformed Canton cops walked into the ER.