Holdin' On for a Hero (4 page)

“So what happened?” he asked aloud as he turned and headed back the direction he had come. “How did I get the knife and why was I covered in blood?”

A brisk breeze picked up, sending icicles tumbling from the frozen boughs of the evergreens around him and a voice seemed to speak in his mind.
We are One
.
We are the Warrior
.

Wyatt’s pace increased as his anxiety rose. “No!” he shouted as he ran. “I will not fight!” He had no idea why he chose those words. He knew only that the voice in his mind sent icy chills of some unknown fear racing through him.

His speed increased until he was running as hard as he could. He burst into the small clearing at the back of his house, panting with exertion. His father’s old truck sat parked in the yard.

Wyatt slowed and walked the rest of the way to the house. John Wolfe was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. Wyatt grabbed a towel from the counter and mopped his face as he walked past his father.

“Where’re you going?” John asked as he turned to watch Wyatt.

“To work out.” Wyatt’s words were clipped and harsh.

John said nothing but followed Wyatt to the other side of the small house. The back room had been equipped like a mini-gym. Wyatt was already lying on the bench, pressing the heavy, weighted bar up and down when John walked in.

Neither man spoke, and for the next hour Wyatt drove himself like a man possessed. He stripped off his sweatshirt, mopped his face with it and continued. Sweat poured down his chest and back, staining his pants. At last he paused and looked at his father.

“Something you want to talk about?” John asked in a quiet tone.

Wyatt shook his head and wiped his face again. “Ever feel like you’re losing your mind?”

John laughed. “Always. So, is that what’s wrong with you, son?”

“I don’t know, Dad.” Wyatt dried his chest and blew out his breath in frustration. “I wish I did. Sometimes I feel like there’s something foreign inside me, eating away, and if I don’t stop it there’s going to be nothing left of me. It makes me full of rage and I don’t know at what.”

“That’s nothing new, now is it? You’ve been carrying that rage since you were a boy. Maybe it’s time to let yourself remember so you can get rid of the poison you’ve been carrying so long.”

Wyatt shook his head. He had no desire to talk about his childhood.

“What brings you here this morning?” he asked as he headed for the kitchen.

“You hear about what happened at Ralph’s last night?” his father asked as he reclaimed his seat at the kitchen table.

Wyatt turned and looked at him. “No, what?”

“Seems like the Holling boy and some of his friends decided to redecorate after you left. Jimmy and Billy and a couple of others got in their way and things got ugly.”

Wyatt sat down across from his father. “Was anyone hurt?”

“Billy got seven stitches in his head. Few of the others got some pretty good lumps but Jimmy got the worst of it. He’s in the hospital. They beat him up pretty bad.”

Wyatt stood up and walked to the sink, looking out of the window. He had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach and his muscles tensed without warning.

“We’ve got to do something about this,” John spoke up after a few moments. “This can’t continue. Somebody has to do something.”

Wyatt turned to him. “I won’t get in a fight, Dad. I told you that. I’ve had my fill of fighting and killing. This has to be settled legally.”

John shrugged and looked down at the coffee cup on the table. “I got a call this morning—from Chance Davenport.”

Wyatt’s eyes widened and he felt his throat tighten. “Chance? What did she want?”

“She wanted to talk to you—or an address or phone number where she could reach you. She sounded upset.”

Sudden recollection of the phone call flooded Wyatt’s mind. “What’d you tell her?”

“That I didn’t have a number for her.”

Sitting down again, Wyatt nodded. “Thanks. If she calls again just tell her the same thing.”

John was silent for a moment then got up to refill his cup. “What is this thing between you and Chance?”

“There is no thing between us.”

“You mean you don’t want to admit there is.” John took a drink of his coffee. “Well, that’s fine, son. You don’t have to admit it to me. But at least admit it to yourself.” He put his cup in the sink. “I’m going to go and see Jimmy. You want to go?”

Wyatt shook his head. “I’ll stop by later.”

John nodded and put his hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “I know you don’t want to be a part of what’s happened, son, but I don’t think you can avoid it. You’ve been a part of it since you were a child and sooner or later you’re going to have to acknowledge that. I’ll see you.”

Wyatt watched his father leave. For a few minutes he stared at the door. He didn’t know what had made him call Chance. He had purposely not thought of her for a long time. At least he had tried not to. He pushed her face from his mind, got up and went into the bathroom, wishing that he could wash the trouble with the Hollings and Chance Davenport down the drain. But cleansing the mind was not nearly as easy as cleaning the body.

* * * * *

Chance had called in all her markers to locate Wyatt. She finally had a reason to be thankful that she had attended one of her father’s social functions because it was at one of them last year that she had met the assistant secretary of the Navy, Neil Brown. He had just gone through a divorce but had been single long enough that he was on the prowl and had tried his best to get a date with her. She had not been particularly interested in him romantically, but had gone to a few political dinners with him, giving him bragging rights about having an attractive younger woman on his arm.

It was Neil who had gotten her Wyatt’s home address and the information that he was on leave in North Carolina.

She placed a call on her cell phone to her office and started talking as soon as the call was answered. “Dianne? Hi, this is Chance. Listen, I need you to run down an address for me. I need a phone number, directions, and anything else you can get. Got a pen?… Okay, here it is… Wyatt U. Wolfe. The address is Route 1 Box 7, Bryson, North Carolina… Huh?… Yeah, I might be on to something. Call me as you have something… Yeah, I’m on my cell. Thanks!”

She hung up with a new sense of hope. With any luck, by this afternoon she would be on her way to find Wyatt.

* * * * *

Wyatt put the finishing touches on the picture he was working on and turned off the lamps over his drawing table. He went into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, looked inside then closed the door again.

His visit to see Jimmy at the hospital had left him feeling moody and depressed. His father was right, Jimmy was pretty messed up. His nose was broken, his right cheek lacerated to the tune of ten stitches and he had three broken ribs. One of the ribs had just missed puncturing his right lung. To top it off, his left wrist was crushed and the doctors didn’t think he would ever regain full use of his hand.

Jimmy had pleaded with Wyatt to go to a meeting that afternoon at the reservation. Some men who were tired of taking the harassment were getting together to talk about fighting back. Wyatt had refused. He told Jimmy the same thing he had told his father. Let the law take care of it.

Now he couldn’t seem to get it out of his mind. The Holling boy was getting bolder every day and many of the people were worried about what he would do next.

After learning the success of other tribes who had opened casinos, the Cherokee had decided to give it a go. If they were even half as successful it would mean jobs and security for a great many people. Not to mention the good that could be done for the community as a result of the increased revenues. But with three construction companies already having backed out and Holling and his gang tearing up the town as fast as they could, there was concern over what would happen.

Wyatt ran his hands back through his hair and closed his eyes. He could not get involved. He wasn’t sure the casino was such a good thing. He had listened to both sides, and understood that the revenues gambling generated could do a lot of good. But he also had seen firsthand how some of the people from the other tribes were handling their success. Many of them were now spending all the money they made in the casino, losing much more than they won. Not only that but alcoholism had taken a sharp rise.

He didn’t feel it was his place to tell anyone what to do. If everyone wanted to go ahead with the casino, he would not speak against it. But he also would not fight for it. At least not in the physical sense. Fighting was not the way. It only led to bloodshed and death and he had seen more than his share of that.

The house seemed to close in around him and he felt as if he was suffocating. He ran upstairs, stuffed some things into a backpack, grabbed his sleeping bag and threw on his coat and boots.

Wyatt returned downstairs, put a loaf of bread, some cheese and a couple of apples in his backpack and left the house. He needed to be outside, away from everyone and everything. He needed complete silence and isolation and the only place to find that was high in the mountains.

* * * * *

Wyatt lay back and stared up at the star-strewn sky, searching out the Seven Dancers. Tsalagi legend, as told by those who were forced along the Trail of Tears, tells how the Principle People originated in the star system known as the Pleiades. As he remembered the legends, Wyatt drifted off to sleep.

No sooner had sleep taken him, the dream began. Tossing and mumbling, he fought, but could not escape it. Once more he lived the events of the mission. Only this time he didn’t awaken when he was diving at the men who were raping the woman. Instead a momentary black void claimed him then he found himself with his team, awaiting transport away from the mission site.

Rapper took Digger and Pike with him
,
setting out two red strobe lights and three white ones
.
They returned to the other men and sat down
,
waiting for the chopper
.

Bones slid over beside Wyatt
.
“
You sure you didn
’
t see anything
,
Magnet
?”

Wyatt looked at him blankly
.
“
I told you
,
all I remember is getting to the building and seeing DJ and Fish with the woman
.
Then
…
I don
’
t know what happened
.
Everything went black and the next thing I know I
’
m awake and trying to stuff DJ
’
s intestines back in his body
.”

Bones looked over at the commander who was watching Wyatt closely
.
“
You
’
re absolutely sure there was only one man in the shed
?”
the commander asked
.

“
Yes
,”
Wyatt replied
.
“
When we entered he turned with a gun in his hand
.
The woman was naked
,
holding a dress over her body
.
I didn
’
t see anyone else
.”

“
But someone else could have been in the room
,”
the commander suggested
.
“
Someone who was hiding maybe
.”

Wyatt shook his head
.
“
I don
’
t know
,
I guess so
.
But I swear I didn
’
t see anyone
.”

The commander slapped him on the shoulder
.
“
It
’
s not your fault
.
Hell
,
we all know we could buy the farm every time we come out on one of these jaunts
.
When our time
’
s up
,
it
’
s up
.
That
’
s all there is to it
.”

Wyatt looked at the commander for a moment
.
“
How could one man have done that to them
?
There
’
s no way one person could
’
ve handled DJ and Fish at the same time
.”

The commander passed it off
.
“
We
’
ll worry about that later
.
Right now we
’
re getting the fuck outta Dodge
.
Digger
,
grab a light and guide the chopper in
.”