Page 36 of Rough Start

“I’m going to grab the others, we’re right behind you.” Kye didn’t wait to hear the end of the sentence as he was already speeding off.

* * *

“You’re not making any sense,” Eliana complained as her dad fumbled through his words. He was babbling as he hurried throughout the house, throwing his belongings around. Some of them made it into the back of the moving truck that he’d pulled onto the lawn, but most of them were littering the grass and the staircase. Eliana was standing in the doorway, still in her gown, praying that Kye would arrive to rescue her.

“They set me up!” Henry said for the five hundredth time.

“Dad, stop!” she yelled, and he paused on the bottom step. “Explain.”

“I felt so bad,” he began with large tears rolling down his face. “I ruined your books. I wanted to buy you more. I was going to do one more run, but the train doesn’t travel this weekend, so I thought I could drive and I’d be fine…” Eliana was listening, but she sighed audibly in relief when she saw Kye pulling into the driveway. He was racing toward her as her dad continued to explain. “I’d driven the road once before, and I knew I could do it as long as I didn’t stop. Last time I stopped I got caught. I lost the merchandise and had to shoot my way out…”

“What?” Eliana and Kye asked at the same time. Henry was sweating profusely, and his hands were shaking. Eliana couldn’t tell if he was drunk or craving one. “The last time I lost a truck, they were going to kill me, but I paid them off. Some punk took the truck when I stopped at the checkpoint.”

“Kye…” Eliana said, grabbing his arm.

“When?” Kye asked, his jaw clenched. Henry was quiet as his mind raced, trying to remember the date.

“After Christmas, before the New Year…” Kye shrugged Eliana’s hand off his arm and launched himself at Henry.

“Kye!” she screamed as she watched helplessly as the two men brawled in the foyer. “Dad, stop, please!” she pleaded.

“You shot me! You almost killed me!” Kye hollered, and his fist collided with Henry’s jaw with a sickening crunch. Henry, though not as fit, still carried his own weight and threw the smaller man off. Kye crashed into the window next to the front door, and glass shattered everywhere.

“That was you?” Henry asked as he struggled to pick himself up. “I will kill you!” he threatened, but before he could reach Kye, Eliana stepped between them, both of her hands on her dad’s chest to keep him at bay.

“If you kill him, you’re going through me first,” Eliana declared with more ferocity than she ever thought herself capable of. She felt Kye stand behind her as Henry’s wild eyes glared down at his only child.

“He’s a Demon, they’re the ones who set me up,” Henry protested. “They caught me with the truck. They think I was the one stealing everything.”

“Weren’t you?” she asked accusatorily.

“No, I was just transporting. I never touched a thing! I got paid to move it across the border, that’s it! I’d send lumber down on the train, and they’d send the truck back with whatever stuff they wanted. I didn’t even unload the shit!”

“It’s worse than that, Eli,” Kye said, drawing her eyes back to his. “The Demons are facing a split. I’m on the wrong end of a guy who’s out for blood, and they know you’re my girl. The Demons want to kill your dad for stealing, and Wayne and his men want to kill your dad so they don’t get pinned for crimes. They’re gunning for me for blowing the operation and you for being with me. You have to get out of town. Fast.”

“I told you!” Henry chimed in.

“I’m not leaving you,” Eliana argued as she turned to fully face Kye. He placed a hand on her face.

“Don’t touch her,” Henry yelled and shoved Kye’s shoulder. In turn, Kye swung at him again, and the two started exchanging blows once again before everyone froze when the roar of motorcycles could be heard in the distance.

“We don’t have time for this!” Kye shouted. “Eli, get that moving truck out of here. If the house is empty, maybe they’ll move on. Your dad and I will be right behind you,” Kye said, and Henry tossed her the keys to the truck. The impending arrival of either Demon or Defector put the fear of God into all three of them, and without another word of protest, they were all off.

Eliana led the way toward the edge of town in the moving truck packed with mostly her belongings. Henry followed close behind, and Kye took the rear on his motorcycle.

The front tires of the box truck made a grinding sound as they slammed into the horizontal speed bump that marked the end of Pine Hill. She had just wiped the tears from her face when several popping noises broke through the air.

Two red motorcycles rode in front of them from behind the line of trees. Even from her distance, Eliana could see the red spark of muzzle fire from their guns. She watched helplessly as the front tires of her father’s truck were shot out, and he swerved several times before crashing into the ditch on the left side of the road. Eliana slammed the brakes before she rear-ended him, and she couldn’t help her scream of fear as more gunfire echoed and the windshield was cracked to her right as a bullet ricocheted.

“Eli!” Kye hollered and jumped off his bike. He raced to her side of the truck and threw the door open. “Come on!” he said, pulling her out, and they ran to the silver truck that was in the ditch. Using the sidearm Grier gave him, Kye shot at the two bikers who were spraying them with gunfire. He fired off three rounds; two hit their mark, and bodies dropped to the ground.

Behind them they could hear more bikes rumbling, the headlights were drawing near, and soon more gunfire would ensue. Knowing the two dead riders were Wayne’s men, they’d likely called in reinforcements to gun down Henry’s truck before he could skip town.

“Daddy!” Eliana wept as her father spilled from the driver’s seat. His forehead was bleeding, but he was otherwise unharmed. Kye and Eliana both took an arm and propped him up against the side of the vehicle.

“They know it’s you, Henry,” Kye said firmly, and the older man nodded his understanding. The bikes were crossing the bridge now. “They’re not going to stop until they catch you.”

“Leave me,” Henry suggested. “Take my daughter and go…”