KIDNAPPED

CHAPTER 7

CONTACT

As I drove the four of us toward the unknown I made plans to take most of the risks myself. Ricky was quiet on the way to the old iron bridges. His deputies were as giddy as schoolgirls on promnight. They were excited about getting in on some real action.

I could tell from Ricky's face that his mind had swept him back to his years in the service. He was in another time and place doing whatever it was he did for his country. He was in deep thought as we neared our destination. I stopped the truck about a mile from the bridge stirring him from his memories. He turned to his men and gave them their orders. They were to hide in the bed of the truck and wait until we knew who and how many people may be involved in sentry duty.

Ricky had become a different man on the ride from town. There was a predator looking at me when he spoke," If I give you an order and you disobey, you could get me or my men hurt or killed. Tell me that you'll follow orders or we go home right now."

"I'll follow, just let me go in and see what's waiting for us. I'll come back and we'll make a plan or I'll wave you in. Trust me I have a knack for this kind of work.", I understated my abilities hoping not to explain anymore than I had to. I intended to simply walk up and shit-smack any sentry I met.

"Just be quick and damn certain. This is a civilian operation and I don't want any innocent people hurt."

I drove the remaining distance to the bridges and parked on the shoulder just short of the first of three old iron bridges. Ricky and his deputies lay in the truck bed armed and ready. I grabbed a fishing rod and walked midway onto the first iron expanse.

My senses were on full alert as I scanned the area for anything that would give away the alerted sentry that I could feel watching me.

The sound of water rushing under me was masking the other night sounds. It was unlikely that I would hear anything unless it was nearby. I had to rely on the night vision of the predator I had become.

There had been no indication from my inspection of the first bridge that my target was nearby. It was when I approached the second that I caught the scent of smoke. It was reefer. The sentry was there and had been smoking a joint when we arrived. The odor was faint but my heightened senses led me toward my target.

I moved onto the second bridge that spanned the main body of the river beneath me. The man was underneath the bridge at the point where it met solid ground. I walked over this point to the middle of the bridge and propped my rod on the guardrail letting him assume my intentions were nonthreatening.

To add to the charade I answered the call of nature and took a piss from twenty feet above the running water of the river letting my piss mix with the noisy current below. The man knew I had my hands full and chose this moment to make his presence known.

"Hey! You can't do that in public.", He shouted, trying to startle me. If I hadn't known he was there I probly would have pissed myself.

"Damn it! Where did you come from?", I responded sounding surprised. "I damn near jumped off this bridge."

"This is my bridge and you have to pay me to cross it, or piss off of it." He said it in a serious voice and I suppose most people would have been intimidated but, I was reminded of a troll.

It was almost funny as he came from underneath the bridge and stepped into plain sight. I thought of three billy goats and how their troll had faired. This man wouldn't be so lucky.

I hugged the edge of the bridge and tried to appear to be afraid.

"I'm just looking for a place to fish. I heard they were biting and thought I'd try my luck.", I said as the man approached me showing no fear.

"Your luck is going to bad tonight. If you want to fish on my bridge you have to pay."

The sentry was at least six feet tall and weighed in at least two hundred pounds. What was worse he was stoned and had a glazed look in his eyes. He must have laced his reefer with angel dust or something just as bad to boost his high. He topped his bad habits off with a bad attitude. He stopped just an arms length from me braced for a fight.

"How much do you want? I can pay a little if it will avoid trouble." I sounded meek. He didn't suspect what he was walking into and my response only encouraged him.

"Everything you have Motherfucker!" He was bold now and seemed to be acting alone. I strained to hear, or see, or smell, anyone else in the area, and couldn't. He was either alone or so close to it that it didn't matter.

He swung a ham-like fist at my head only to find I had moved. He almost fell with the unexpected lack of resistance to his blow. I backed up allowing him time to call for help if he would. If I went down to easy there wouldn't be anyway of knowing for certain that he was alone.

I pulled a punch and bloodied his nose to bring him back to reality. His head snapped back as blood erupted and formed into a steady flow, but his mind didn't register the pain. Instead, he smiled and wiped his bloody nose on his sleeve. He was defiantly hopped up on something.

I wanted to hurt him, and make him call for help if he was going to. I didn't wait for the drug crazed attack to be launched. I slammed him in the nose again, this time breaking it with an audible crack. He was staggered but remained on his feet.

He screamed," Motherfucker! I'm going to kill you for that!", and lunged for my throat with both hands.

I side-stepped his clumsy attack and took his left arm with me in an Akito move that flipped him onto his back. I braced his hyperextended arm on my knee and placed a cowboy boot solidly onto his throat. My control of him was complete. It did not do anything to slow his unseen partner.

I had been preoccupied with the big man at my feet long enough for an equally large man to emerge from under the bridge. He had quietly waited until he knew his friend needed help.

I had been distracted for only a moment, but it was long enough for a fast moving, large man to come around the edge of the bridge and step into plain sight. He had a shotgun in his hands and didn't seem to like the way I was treating his friend.

" Let him up! Step back, and let him up, NOW!", My new assailant leveled the shotgun at me and pumped a round into the chamber to punctuate his statement.

I released the madman at my feet and stepped away. He was foaming at the mouth as he gained his feet and sent a fist into my jaw. I fell away from him onto my back to give his pride time to heal and hoped his partner would stop him before I had to. He did.

"Matt! Stop it! We have to check with Gary before we do anything rash. He'll want to know what this guy is up to. We can finish this later." The mad dog backed up struggling to regain his drug crazed composer. He looked like a rabid Rotwieller on an invisible chain.

The sane man with the shotgun neared me as he took out a radio and spoke into it. " Lloyd, this is Royce at the bridge. We have a man here causing trouble. Over" It was moments later when Lloyd answered.

"Is he alone? Over."

"He seems to be. Over." More time elapses.

"Gary says make certain. If he is, kill him and get rid of his vehicle. Over."

I didn't like Gary already. The trolls were beginning to be a pain in the ass as well. Troll 2 sent Maddog-Troll 1 to inspect the truck and check to see if I had any friends. Troll 2 and I stood on the bridge waiting, staring at each other as Maddog loped into the darkness.

Maddog came back after several moments wearing an evil grin," He's alone."

Troll 2 spoke into the radio again," Lloyd this is Royce. He is alone. Over."

"He's seen you guys. He's heard about us. He knows something's up. Clean up the mess when your done. Take his vehicle to the other side of the county and the two of you come back to your post. Over"

"We'll be out of touch for awhile. Over"

"That's fine. Check in when you get back. Over and out."

"Will do. Over and Out.", Royce Troll signed off and pointed towards the side of the bridge with the shotgun indicating I should move that way. I stood my ground.

Royce Troll was raising the shotgun to his shoulder when his head exploded. The bullet was downrange before the sound of the gunshot reached the remaining two of us with ears. Maddog stared dumbfounded at the bloody stump on his friend's neck for a full second before his own head turned into a bloody mist. I was the only one on the bridge to hear that shot.

Ricky stepped out of the shadows of the treeline ejecting the spent cartridge from his rifle. "You looked like you needed some help. I thought you had a knack for this kind of thing.", he said questioning my abilities.

" I knew you were watching when Maddog returned."

" Who's Maddog?"

" Your second shot. He was hopped up on PCP or some same type shit, and foamed at the mouth when he was pissed. The world is now a better place, thanks to two well placed rounds."

The deputies interrupted the discussion as they emerged from the deeply wooded area further downstream. They were making enough noise to wake the two trolls at my feet," Sheriff! We heard shots! What's going on? Are you ok? We can't see a damn thing out in these woods."

"Everything's fine. Calm down and wait for us. We'll come to you.", Ricky sounded more like their father than their boss. He spoke to me as we each grabbed a body and dragged it from the roadway," Did I hear right? Do we have all the time in the world to get to that cabin."

" You heard right, and nobody's expecting company."

"Then let's get down river and meet Gary.", Ricky sounded like he didn't like the unseen murderer any better than I did.

I took Troll's radio and dropped the rest of him into the road ditch then said," Don't you think we should read these guys their rights?"

Ricky smiled as he dropped Maddog beside Troll," I think they understand that they have the right to remain silent. Let's go find their friends and see if they have a scared little boy with them."

We both moved silently to the waiting deputies. I couldn't pass up the lull in action. I had to ask," Ricky, what exactly did you do in the service.?"

He went stone-faced again and blankly stated," They don't have a name for what I did. Nobody puts those kinds of things in manuals. You don't really want to know anyway. It would just keep you up at night."

That was enough for me. We found the boat the trolls were using and loaded our gear. When we were on the water I noticed the Deputies had grown quiet. The reality of dead bodies had sank in. This game was deadly serious and we were closing in on the heart of the matter. It was going to get even more serious.