Standoff

A gunshot sounded from inside. Iniri threw the car door open and ran towards the entrance to the police station.

Freedom came barreling out. Iniri sidestepped in time to avoid a collision.

“What the hell is going on?” she said.

“Run,” Freedom replied. A heavyset man of about fifty charged out of the station. He aimed his massive handgun at Freedom.

“Enough!” Iniri’s yell resonated outwards alongside a burst of pure psionic force. Freedom staggered to a standstill, while the middle-aged sheriff staggered at the attack.

“That’s better,” she said. “Now what seems to be you boy’s problem?”

*****

The movement of the vehicle around her roused Annabelle Montalvo to consciousness. She didn’t remember the big guy or his goons drugging her, but it was obvious they must have. The last thing she remembered was two of them coming up to her from behind and grabbing her. The next thing she knew, she was here.

She opened her eyes but it didn’t really help. She sat on the floor in the back of a Uhaul. Only one flickering light allowed her any vision of her stark, empty surrounding. Her two guards both raised their weapons as she looked at them. She didn’t know what they were worried about, as her hands were tightly bound behind her back.

Where were they taking her? They weren’t police, so it couldn’t be to jail. But if they had anything to do with Richie’s death, why would they keep her alive? Wouldn’t it be easier to just kill her too? It didn’t make any sense.

Great thinking, Annabelle. Now you’re wishing they’d kill you. Count what few blessings you have. She remembered her mother, her real mother, telling her that many times.

One of the guards stood up and walked towards her. His colleague held his rifle pointed at Annabelle’s chest. “No sudden movements,” he said.

The closer man pulled a piece of cloth out of his back pocket. “We’re almost at the center, so its time to blindfold you.”

“Why not just drug me again, asshole?”

“We will if we need to, you smart mouth little bitch. But it’s way easier to make you walk rather than carry your fat little Latina ass. Now are you going to cooperate or does my buddy need to pull out the dope? But before you answer, let me warn you. You’re going to want to be as clear-headed as possible where you’re going.” Both men chuckled.

Annabelle slumped against the wall. “I’ll take the blindfold.”

The guard smiled, showing off two rows of bad teeth. “You’re already learning, girl.”

He tied the blindfold tightly over her eyes. As his hands came away, they dropped and ran across her chest. She tried to pull away from him but had no where to go.

“Shame you’re leaving so soon,” the guard said. “It would’ve been nice to break your spic ass in before we hand you over to the beast.”

The guard walked back to the other side of the truck. Annabelle tried her best to suppress the horror and misery welling up inside her, but she couldn’t anymore. With a sob, she crumpled down to the floor.

She barely could even hear the guards laughing at her misery.

*****

“I’ll say it again. What the hell is going on here?”

Freedom scratched the back of his hand as Iniri glared at him, than Tilby, than him again. “Well,” he said. “It’s kind of a long story.”

Tilby grunted. “No story about it, Patton. You’re a wanted man and I’ll see you in jail or dead.”

“Freedom?” Iniri made his name in to a question.

“Marshall Tilby and I have a bit of a history.”

“It’s sheriff now,” Tilby said. “You saw to that, Patton. And I’d say it is far more than a little history. I chased you across eight goddamn states.”

Iniri’s glare turned back towards Freedom. “Look,” he said. “I know it sounds bad, but it was all just a big misunderstanding. The government though I did some stuff that I really didn’t do.”

“Didn’t really do?” Tilby shook his head. “I personally caught you in five different acts of breaking and entering alone! Not to mention, aiding and abetting, eleven more counts of breaking and entering, forty-seven counts of aggravated assault, multiple counts of resisting arrest, and the vehicular manslaughter charge.”

“Oh, come on! He ran out in front of me!”

Iniri stomped towards Freedom and shoved him back to the ground. “I don’t believe I fell for it again, Freedom. You are freaking psycho, do you know that? What exactly did you think we were going to do, anyway? Shoot some more people to find this Annabelle Montalvo?”

“Iniri, wait—”

“Hold on,” Tilby said. “You’re here for the Montalvo girl?”

Freedom nodded. “Yeah. I have reason to believe she’s been framed, and her life is in danger.”

Tilby shook his head. “Don’t tell me it’s your goddamn voices again.”

Iniri looked between Freedom and Tilby. “Voices? What voices?”

Freedom cursed to himself. Could this get any worse? He turned to Tilby. “I heard the boy,” he said. “The Montalvo girl’s innocent. He said it was his own father.”

The mayor?” Tilby said. “Why the hell would the mayor of the city murder his own son?”

“I’m not sure, but half this podunk town watched it.”

“Are you completely off your rocker, Patton?”

“You are both nuts,” Iniri said. “What the hell are you even talking about?”

Tilby smirked. “Patton didn’t tell you, huh? Well, your lover boy here talks to dead people.”

Iniri shook her head. “Both of you are crazy. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Look,” Freedom said. “This is just the reason I didn’t want to tell you any of this. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Hell, it’s what makes me do the things I do.”

Iniri screamed out in frustration. Tilby clutched his head as the empathic backlash flowed out with it.

“What the hell?” Tilby said.

“Empath,” Freedom said.

Tilby nodded. “That explains a few things.” He bend down and retrieved his dropped pistol.

“Now, Freedom, give me one good reason why I shouldn’t haul you in right now?”

“You’ve got to trust me here, Tilby. You know my hunches always prove true.”

“The last time I trusted you got me fired from the US Marshals. It took me a year just to find a job in this backwater little county.”

“Well, Tilby, it’s a sad thing that you feel that way about us.” Freedom and Tilby both turned towards the police station. The city’s lone police officer held a shotgun on both of them.”

“I don’t think the fine citizens of Tudor and Madison county would like to hear that, sheriff. But I guess you can ask them yourself.”

“Freedom—”

Patton turned at Iniri’s voice. She looked off down the street. He followed her vision to see a group of about twenty men, all in faceless masks, marching towards them. When he turned to look down the other street, he saw a dozen more. All held various firearms.

The police chief laughed. “You should have never come here, any of you.” He took his own mask from his pants pocket and pulled it over his face. “Now you’re going to have to die.”