As the skids touch the ground Jed jumps out of the chopper, keeping his headphones on as he helps Alex out. “Back off and wait until I call on the hand-held. On the hour, plus or minus two minutes. Give us two hours and then get out!” he orders into the intercom and looks for Billy’s nod of acknowledgment. He rips the headphones off and tosses them onto the seat. Jed likes people who don’t need long explanations.
Billy gives them a thumbs-up and powers the chopper into the air through a swirling cloud of red dust. Jed grabs Alex and drags her none too gently into the scrub. They run a hundred metres to clear the landing area before dropping into a shallow channel and slumping breathlessly against the bank.
“What’s the plan now?” Alex asks between her slow, deep breaths.
Jed is fit but it has been a long time since he has run any distance, especially over this kind of country. “You’re not breathing as hard as me!” he gasps as he sizes her up.
“One of the benefits of a good workout,” she replies with an expression that still gives nothing away.
Jed lets his breath settle a little more before outlining his thoughts. “Decker will probably go for the high ground. He knows we’re coming for him. He also wants you badly. So badly, it may affect his judgement. My guess is he will try to spot us from up there before stalking us. He’ll be expecting us to check out the vehicle first. It’s a game of second guessing each other.”
He finds himself explaining his thinking out loud. Making up for last time? “That outcrop is the only high country around, so that’s where we’re going. We can scan the land from up there and stake it out. Last option is to go to their vehicle and try to track them. If we do that, we’d have to spiral our way toward it to make sure they’re not staking it out and that’s time consuming. First we try to get them to come to us. You ready?”
“And when we find them, what do you propose?” Alex asks pointedly.
Jed thinks before answering. Visions of wasting the bastards flash briefly in his mind. Instead he says, “At worst, we’ll disable the vehicle to improve the odds for a man hunt. At best I’m going to hand him over and let the law take its course.” His statement has less resolve than he expected.
Alex studies him and chooses her words carefully. “That will be an interesting case. He’ll fight it all the way. We didn’t actually see him shoot Joe and apart from the morning when he shot up your sleeping bag, it’s actually you who have been shooting at him. You haven’t seen his face when we’ve been out here. You can only do what you’re comfortable with,” she concludes in a tone that gives no hint of judgement.
Jed ponders her reply. It has a lot of truth in it. Not only has he shot at Decker, he’s hit the bastard. Bloody pity he didn’t drop him on the spot! He’s also cut his own wound with the knife and turned it into a bigger one. A good lawyer could have a field day with all this! Jed wonders briefly whether he could have avoided getting into this mess. The time for regret is long past. Only action will bring the matter to a close. “You ready?” he asks in a tone that he hopes conveys confidence. “I want you to scan the ground to either side and behind us. I’ll scan to each side and in front. Clear?” He has seen enough to have full confidence in her. He would be stupid not to use her gutsy courage to advantage.
Alex simply nods in return. They rise into a crouch, making their way through the scrub, scanning in all directions and moving cautiously but at a good speed. It doesn’t take long to reach the base of the jump-up cloaked in a scatter of scrub and greying, dead trunks of long-fallen trees. They scramble up the collection of fractured red boulders. The slope is steep and under twenty metres high but even that gives a good view from the summit.
As they reach the top, Jed puts his hand on Alex’s shoulder, feeling the strength in her finely-toned muscles. The sensation sends a tingling sensation through his fingers. He resists the distraction and focuses on the immediate task at hand. “Stay low! The skyline behind will light us up like a flashing beacon!”
He is pleased she makes no response, except to flatten herself even more onto the slab of smooth rock, crawling forward until they have a good view of the terrain below. In the distance they can see a vague, dancing reflection through the vegetation indicating the position of the vehicle parked under the trees.
“Will he come, do you think?” Alex asks in a hushed tone.
Jed considers it carefully. “Don’t really know, but I’m betting yes. He’s a good bushman and can get them both out of here if he decides to run. He’ll prefer to patch up the car to stay mobile. He hates you with a vengeance and out here he can fulfil his fantasies with the least amount of trouble. His hate may cloud his judgement. He knows we could have run but we’re here instead. He thinks he’s better than anyone and will jump at the opportunity to prove it,” he says reflectively.
Alex raises an eyebrow. “And you intend to bring him back?”
“I have to bring him back. Otherwise, he’ll come for me or people close to me some time in the future, just making a game of it. Anything else would be wrong!” he says, trying to sound convincing. Doubt still niggles at him. He would prefer to drop them both on sight.
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” Alex concedes as they settle down to wait.
Decker can’t believe his luck. Just as he was getting used to the fact the bitch had died too easy, the stupid fuck is back! Asking for more, along with that bloody fuck’n headmaster of hers! The bastard turns out not to be so useless after all and has given him a run for his money. He likes that! He relishes the challenge! His mind ticks over at speed, focussing on the new challenge and the opportunity it presents. Fixing the Nissan will be a breeze. Once this is over there’ll be lots of memories to savour over a beer, especially if they end up with the bitch’s place. Whatever used to be in the box will be an added little bonus to set them up for a long time.
He reaches into the backseat for a pair of binoculars and pats Jess on the back. “Things are looking up boy! The stupid fuckers didn’t run for the cops. They’ve come back for more. The pricks think they can put it over us, but they’ll learn. Will they ever learn!”
“You sure pa? Maybe we should fix the Patrol and keep goin’!”
Decker is shocked at the doubt in Jesse’s tone. He wants to clip him around the ear. Instead he restrains himself. He puts his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “This isn’t the time to hesitate boy. We have a second chance. They deserve what’s coming to them. They had a chance to get out but chose to come back. It’s always been like this Jess. That bitch always wanted to do things the hard way. She could’ve had a good life if she’d learnt to keep her fuck’n mouth shut and do as she’s fuck’n told! But no! She was always the smart arse, thinking she knew best! Now it’s payback! They’re just askin’ for it!”
The conviction in his father’s voice reassures Jesse. His dad is right. The bloody woman had always been picking on him, always on his back over something. And she lied and sent his father to jail. That can never be forgiven. And the memories of the foster family he’d been forced to live with still rankle. Maybe someday he’ll get to pay them back as well. He feels the strength in his father’s fingers as they grip his shoulder. His young manhood tingles as the excitement of the hunt and anticipation of its rewards rekindles his enthusiasm.
Decker feels a wave of joy flood through him as he sees the fire once again in his son’s eyes. Being a father is a real challenge. Sometimes patience and understanding beat the tough love approach. The bitch never appreciated the boy’s potential or recognised his own. He almost feels sorry for her.
Decker shoves his emotional reactions to one side and lets his military background take over. “We’re right to head for the high ground Jess. The pricks will stuff around in the scrub for a while but they won’t be able to resist coming for the truck. We’ll spot and stalk ’em, just like pigs coming in to water! We’ll get ourselves one each and then have some fun!”
Moving toward the jump-up, Decker isn’t rash. He heads off at an angle to avoid a direct approach. “What’m I doin’ Jess?” Priding himself on taking every opportunity to teach his son important skills.
Jesse hesitates before responding. “We’re goin’ to come in behind the target, moving fast but careful to make up time. If they got there first, they’ll be lookin’ for us ahead but we’ll come in behind.”
“No flies on you son. Good thinking. I’m proud of you!”
Jesse feels his chest swell with the validation from his father. He keeps up the scan to left, right and behind as they cover ground at a fast but alert pace. This business has been a whole lot more complicated than expected but he has to admit it is exciting. He slings the rifle onto his other shoulder and continues the scan, left, right and behind, enjoying the thrill.
Just like the SAS! Those fuck’n ragheads wouldn’t stand a chance against dad! Stupid fuckers encouraged him to leave the army. Didn’t realise what they had in front of them. Their loss!
Decker veers left to close the distance to the target. Jesse feels the excitement building as he imagines putting his cross hairs on their prey. There is no drug that can deliver the high that comes from hunting people. The surge of exhilaration through his young body is almost overpowering.
Jed and Alex flatten against the hard surface of the rock. Jed turns his head from left to right, watching and waiting for the slightest sign of movement among the grass, scrub and trees.
“Aren’t you afraid?” Alex asks.
Jed has never doubted his competence in many areas but has always avoided bravado. He knows some people judge him as a cowboy and a maverick and it has never worried him. If they don’t bother to get to know him, he doesn’t bother to value their opinion. He senses the question is genuine and considers his answer. “Yes, I’m shit scared. No blame on you Alex. I wasn’t expecting this, but it’s happened. Decker won’t give up, so it’s better to face him out here than wait for him back home. Too many people I value would be in the firing line. The bastard has to be brought down, him against me. Us,” he corrects rapidly.
He can’t see, but Alex responds with a slow nod.
“The system can deal with the bastard and put him away,” he finishes.
There is no corresponding nod to his final comment. Alex rolls over slightly as she has done a few times before to stretch as best she can. Her eye catches movement in the trees. “Check your seven o’clock!” she whispers.
Jed has been concentrating on his scan and is beginning to doubt his judgement. This time he picks up both the message and the tone. He twists his head to the left and scans behind him, catching a brief, furtive movement among the vegetation. “That’s them! Well done! Slide over the edge and keep low!”
Alex doesn’t argue, rolling over the edge of the rock onto the boulders below, keeping her body low. They scramble down over the rocks until they get down into the fringing scrub along the base of the jump-up. They stand side by side behind the thick, green leaves of a stubby tree that provides concealment. She turns to face him in the security of its bushy foliage.
“The ride gave me plenty of time to think. I’ve realised the pattern of my life has been set for a long time. I’ve been trapped in a vicious recurring circle of dependency on men, expecting to be accepted and seeking fulfilment. Instead there have only been attempts to control me through abuse.”
Jed realises Alex is sharing something of great importance. His decision to place her in the firing line, gambling on Decker’s desire for slow revenge, might be coming home to roost. Big time! He is aware Decker and son are getting closer by the second. What a time to get philosophical! He wants to regain control and direct Alex’s attention back to the situation at hand.
She beats him to it. “Now I know the only way to break free of that circle is to be content to be alone, to escape the need to belong to someone and learn to stand by myself. Only then will I find what I have been searching for—true freedom!”
Jed controls his rising impatience. “You haven’t done too bad so far!”
She eyes him with a contemplative expression that hides a multitude of thoughts. “Thanks for everything you’ve done!” She steps in close to him, her eyes holding his, her hand caressing the back of his neck. “And I’m sorry!”
“Sorry for what?” asks Jed, his heart hammering with the expectation of her kiss.
“This!” Alex replies. With no warning she slams a punch into his solar plexus, smashing the air out of his lungs in an explosive gasp.
Jed doubles over as a groan escapes his lips. The pain shoots through his body in a lightning bolt spasm he cannot fight. He slumps to the ground, collapsing onto his knees, letting the Colt slide from his hand. He clasps his chest, waves of pain exploding through his body as he gasps for breath. He is aware of Alex picking up the Colt, brushing the dust off it with a sleeve and checking the barrel is clear. He hears her work the action to check the load.
He is still hunched up in pain and the struggle to breathe. “I owe you that for not telling me about the plan last time we met Decker. It’s time I faced my demon,” he hears Alex say. “It’s something I have to do alone and I don’t want you there.”
Jed is locked in a spasm of pain. Struggling to fill his lungs with air, he watches her bend into a crouch to stalk around the tree, using the boulders for cover. Even in the grip of spasms of pain he admires the accuracy and power of her punch. The bloody woman really has learned to take care of herself. He curses and rolls back onto his knees, groaning in quiet agony.
Alex moves cautiously around the base of the jump-up, using boulders and vegetation as cover until she can catch a brief glimpse of movement in front of her. She uses the trunk of a tree as cover and peers cautiously around it, exposing only one eye to keep track of Decker’s approach. She watches him leading the way, moving fast but carefully with Jesse behind scanning to either side. Decker holds a rifle in his hand with another gun slung over his shoulder. He looks alert but relaxed. Jesse follows with a rifle over his shoulder, keeping his hands free to catch any branches that his father pushes to the side. They approach her cover at a slight angle. The tension inside her claws its way to a final climax. She feels fear but is not afraid.
Slipping back behind the trunk, Alex listens to the cautious sounds of their approach, watching them move through the protecting fronds of vegetation, judging her moment. Her breathing settles into a calm, regular rhythm that surprises her. Her senses are on full alert. She observes the finest details of the trees around her and the rocks littering the ground. Even the smallest grains of gravel stand out in sharp focus. Her nostrils explore every scent wafting around her from the blossoms and oils in the leaves. She is more alive than she has ever been in her life. She knows that danger and the imminent threat of death heighten the senses. Now she is experiencing it to the fullest. No drug or meditation could transport her to this state, only the decision to face her demon.
She takes one step sideways away from the trunk, keeping it just to her left with her left foot and shoulder pointing slightly toward Decker. Her right hand hangs down to hide the Colt alongside her leg.
“Hello Nigel!” Her tone is clipped and husky, camouflaging the struggle between uncertainty and determination that picks this moment to rear its head.
Decker has been studying the top of the jump-up and her voice catches him by surprise. He stops instantly and snaps his eyes toward the sound of the voice. Jesse stops behind his father, caught in his own envelope of surprise. Decker sees a shape standing in the shade of a tree, a shape with the sensually-curved hips of a woman—Alex. The one and only bitch from hell! She has come to him, arrogant as always. His surprise is replaced by elation and then caution. He scans left and right, looking for the headmaster, but she is alone. Maybe the ponce is behind cover. Decker scans again, seeing nothing to cause him alarm.
“There’s no one else Nigel. Just us!” Determination holds uncertainty in a head lock.
“Fuck’n bitch! You should be dead!” Decker blusters, still scanning. This isn’t right. It’s not what he expected. He should be stalking them or lying expectantly in wait, aiming the shot that will disable her and buy him time to gloat. Instead she is standing in front of him. Not scared. Not frightened. Not helpless. Looking determined, even relaxed. Subconsciously, he shifts his hold on the rifle, ready to swing it up. His senses are on full alert. He expects to see the ponce back her up or a rifle pointing at him from behind a rock. There is nothing!
Decker squashes his uneasiness under the titillating anticipation that floods his body. “You owe me, you bitch! You set me up and lied! I’m gonna make you pay, like that bastard you got to lie for you, but slower. Real slow!” Years of anger is boiling inside him as well as a growing hard on. The way she stands there just asking for it fans the flames of his anger into a raging inferno of passion.
Alex isn’t surprised to hear Decker killed her witness. A high price to pay for the one thousand dollars she paid him for the lie. She guessed from hints in the past that Decker had also killed Jesse’s mother. She remembers the splatter of Joe’s blood and brains as his head exploded in front of her. She replays the punching impact of the bullet that slammed into her side, intended to disable her so Decker could inflict a slow, lingering death.
If Decker possessed the power of objective self-reflection, he may have questioned the intensity of his hate, a hate driven by the insatiable desire to have Alex as his own. She will never, could never, be his. He will never have control of her, never have her respect or even be considered worthy in the slightest. Decker only knows that if he can’t have her, no one will! He will destroy her and savour the memory! She should be cowering in fear. Instead the bitch just stands there, looking at him with the same stupid, power-gloating look that teachers gave him, making him feel like a dunce all through school.
“This time it’s ending Nigel. I intend to be left alone. It’s over!” Jed hears Alex say. Her apparent calmness and confidence surprises him.
Jed finally struggles upright as he listens to the voices not far away. He moves cautiously forward until he can see Alex obliquely to his left, facing Decker with Jesse at the base of the jump-up. He fills his lungs with regular, deep breathes to bring his body under control. He moves slowly but carefully, alert to any change in the situation. He is tempted to pull out the revolver still nestled at his back. He settles for tucking his shirt behind the butt so he can get to the gun easily. Decker’s rifle is by his side. Jesse still has his over his shoulder and Alex has the Colt out of sight. The last thing needed is for him to be waving another gun around. The tension in the air can be cut with a machete.
“Fuck you bitch!” Decker spits just as Jed limps out from the scrub. Decker sees the bloody ponce headmaster is unarmed.
Stupid prick! What’s he gonna do? Talk to me like all those other fuck’n headmasters? Blame me again when it was the bitch’s fault? Always knowing best! Always arguing and thinking she’s right! Always picking on Jess! Never keeping her bloody mouth shut! If she’d played her cards right she could have had a good life with a man like me. She blew it! Big time! The ponce probably has a hard on for her! There is no way he is go’n to use it on her. Alex is right. It’s goin’ to be finished and I am goin’ to finish it! Oh, how they’ll both pay, big time, slowly and painfully!
He yearns to hear their screams and sobs of pain! Confronted by their arrogance, the flames of his anger finally explode like the back draft of a furnace. He brings the Winchester up in a smooth arc aiming directly at Alex, slowed fractionally by the wound in his hip. He pulls the hammer back to full cock with his thumb, snaps it into his shoulder and fires.
Alex sees the tension in his arm that begins the movement. She steps to the left behind the tree while swinging the Colt up into a two-handed hold, left hand acting as a rest against the trunk. Jed’s coaching rings in her ears.
Hurry up, but take your time!
She sees the muzzle flash from Decker’s rifle, hears the muzzle blast and senses the one hundred and seventy grain bullet slicing the air where she had been standing. She touches the trigger once and the Colt kicks up under recoil. Her sharpened senses see the slide kick back and catch the glint of the empty cartridge being ejected to the right as the slide slams forward. As the sights settle she unconsciously touches the trigger again, the recoil of the big pistol tamed by the forefinger of her left hand pulling the trigger guard down as it rests against the tree.
Decker drops the rifle and takes a step back as the Winchester drops from his hand and the shotgun slides off his shoulder. The explosion of hatred on his face is replaced by surprise as his knees slowly buckle. “Bloody bitch!” he spits out with venom as his boot catches on a rock and he falls backward onto the ground in an untidy heap.
Jed watches stunned. Part of him admires Alex as he sees his coaching put to use exactly as intended. Another part is horrified at the rapid turn of events that have spiralled out of control. Alex steps out from behind the tree. Jesse runs up to throw himself onto his father, sliding his arm under his head to catch the last vestiges of life fading from his father’s eyes while Decker’s lips try to frame a final abusive slur at the target of his hate.
“No!” Jesse screams. “No, no, no! You killed him bitch! You fuck’n killed him!” he screams again, ignoring the fact his father had made the first move.
It’s always someone else’s fault,
Jed rationalises, in the part of his brain that isn’t horrified at the turn of events. He steps forward, not sure whether to put his arms around Alex, check Decker or disarm Jesse.
Alex senses his presence and half turns, keeping the Colt in a two-handed hold between Jed and Jesse, ready to swing onto either of them.
Bloody woman listened to everything I said,
Jed notices in surprise. She is ready to engage to either side in a fraction of a second. She shows no signs of shock, remorse or weakness and gives a good impression of a smoking stick of dynamite. She is indifferent to Decker lying sprawled on the ground, fading life still giving nervous twitches to his legs almost in time to Jesse’s sobs. Her eyes bore into Jed.
“It’s over Alex,” he says soothingly, trying to unwind the tension building inside her like a coiled Taipan ready to strike.
“Is it?” she asks. Fear and tension are transforming into a realisation of what she has done but she has no regrets. “I’m not going to prison over that bastard!” she spits decisively.
“It was self-defence Alex. I can vouch for that!” Jed reasons as Jesse sobs over the body of his father. He can see she is in a combat high with adrenalin and pent-up emotion coursing through her body. The journey down to normality is mined with unpredictable dangers.
“You bloody killed him!” Jesse shouts as he lifts his head from Decker’s bloody chest. “You lied and sent him to prison for sump’n he fuck’n didn’t do! You had it in for him and you killed him! I’m goin’ to make youse fuck’n pay!” He spits his anger with ugly vehemence as tears roll down his face to mix with the spittle dripping from his lips.
Shut up you little prick,
Jed pleads silently,
you’re only fanning the flames toward a drum of bloody petrol!
Even worse, he can visualise Jesse becoming a monster worse than his father. The ongoing threat always there, lurking forever in the background of their lives.
Alex is listening to everything Jesse pours out, her focus unwavering. She will be visualising the same ongoing threat, Jed realises, the constant stress of living with it, hanging ever present in the background, never knowing when or if it will finally come back to bite or who around her will suffer.
“You would back me up?” she spits almost derisively at Jed. “You betrayed me and put me in that bastard’s sights without telling me! With no witnesses it’ll be my word only!”
Betrayal!
Jed’s best intentions cause a reaction he could never have imagined.
Betrayal!
He eyes the muzzle of the Colt warily, finally getting it as he looks down the barrel of a .45 calibre handgun.
Surely she wouldn’t! Not after all they have been through!
He can see that after years of repression, the brutality she experienced has finally triggered a reaction.
“I think I saved your life!” he dares to venture. The knife-edge tension gives him a daring he wouldn’t normally display, especially when facing a Colt. He is aware of Jesse’s hand moving down alongside his father’s body. Jed sees the movement of the muscles in Jesse’s arm as his thumb takes up some pressure. Alex is focussed on Jed and can’t see Jesse as he moves warily beside her. Jed’s brain processes at lightning speed. Decker’s shotgun must be on the ground. One round of buckshot left at short range will be devastating. He is also aware of Alex turning slightly toward him in her anger and Jesse looking at her with eyes filled by a fiery, venomous hate, like boiling pools of lava.
“Don’t do it Jesse!” Jed yells. His words are lost as Alex vents her disappointment on him.
“You could have told me! You could have given me a choice! I would have known what I was walking into! I thought I could trust you!”
A kaleidoscope of thoughts crashes through Jed’s mind! She is obviously telling him something important. Maybe if he wasn’t in crisis mode he’d have time to fucking figure it out! Seeing Jesse lift the shotgun and swing it up to his shoulder, Jed goes into an instinctive crouch, his hand whipping around to his back to slide the revolver out. He thumbs the hammer back and settles it smoothly into his hand. The front sight comes up to rest on Jesse’s chest as it nestles into the back sight.
Alex sees the movement and in her heightened sense reacts from a deep survival instinct. Jed is going to shoot her! She swings the Colt up toward Jed and pulls the trigger. Jed’s revolver blasts a two hundred and sixty grain projectile that slams Jesse sideways into the dust. The shotgun blasts its load of buckshot into the ground next to Alex, spraying a cloud of dust and gravel into the air between them. Jed swings his aim onto Alex as she works the action to eject the dud round that misfired and aims again at Jed.
Jed admires the speed of her recovery.
The damn woman is bloody good,
he thinks, but instead says, “I think I just saved your bloody pretty arse for the third time!”
“I didn’t realise we were keeping score.” Her tone is sour, holding the Colt in a combat grip with a steady aim at Jed.
He doesn’t lose his focus on Alex, but notices the barrel of the Colt drop ever so slightly.
That’s progress at least,
he decides warily. His balls begin to tingle when he realises where the barrel is pointing. He is aware of Jesse sprawled in the dust and watches for any movement, but doesn’t doubt the accuracy of his aim. “Now we’re in the same boat Alex. One each, heading who knows where and the only witnesses are you and me.”
The seconds tick by. Jed feels the strain in his arms starting to build from holding the revolver on target. He sees a slight movement as her thumb flicks the safety on as she ponders his comment. More progress but the tingle is still there. “I’m sorry I betrayed your trust. I know now that’s more important to you than anything. Sometimes things happen and there’s no opportunity to talk things through properly. I let you down.” That’s a confession he never expected to make. In the past he’d never apologise if he thought he’d done nothing wrong. Perhaps he has really learnt a few things recently.