The Trouble With Love (20 page)

There were five or six small buildings arranged in a circle, and a dirt road behind them that led to what had looked like a brush pile from higher up, but was in reality a lean-to like Sabrina had described.  This had to be the place
, Cole thought
.

"This is it, guys," He said loudly
with excitement in his voice "
Let's find some place to put down June."

June lifted them up higher and banked left away from the compound
right before
an explosion rocked them.  June cursed and took
rough evasive maneuvers to get them away from the compound and out of the line of fire or more explosions, then he looped around and came back
hovering over a field to face the compound, and see what had happened.

One of the trucks was hauling ass away from the compound
toward the field
, and a jeep with armed men was giving chase.  Cole swallowed down the
immense
fear that coiled inside of him
.  He hoped it wasn't, but he
was
so
afraid it was Sabrina in that truck. 
Why would anyone else blow their compound all to hell, and be running away?

The jeep was catching up to her, and the men in the jeep were firing at her.  She swerved and then corrected
and the truck
shot forward.  A minute later she took a hard left and the jeep did too trying to get up beside her.

"Damn, Bri
,
don't turn
...s
hit
,
keep them
behind you!"

Gabe
flew
out of his se
a
t
then
got next to Cole's ear and
s
houted
, "
Is that my sister?!?
"

Cole nodded and Gabe cursed then said, "Set this thing down
now
!"
  He went back to his seat and picked up his weapons and was turned toward the door waiting to land.  Cole knew he'd be out of that door like lightning, even before they landed probably.  Picking up his own weapons, he nodded to June who was looking at him intently.  "Get ahead of the truck then set down, then get the hell out of here so they don't shoot you."

"Take that radio and let me know what's going on,"
June nodded
at the portable radio on the seat beside Cole,
then took the bird higher and turned to chase the truck. 
Cole gritted his teeth when he saw the jeep getting really close to the door of the truck, and cursed hoping she saw them and turned away from the
jeep
soon.
  Cole narrowed his eyes and saw something fly out of the window of the truck right before an explosion blew
the jeep
to shit. 

The chopper rocked and June cursed and steadied it again, then banked and circled until they were facing the truck.  It was on two wheels, and Cole's heart stopped, along with his breathing as he watched it teeter, then tip over and skid to a stop on the dusty earth. 

"Set it down now!!" Cole yelled and unbuckled his seat belt then threw off his headset.  With the burning debris from jeep scattered around the truck, it took
June
a minute to find a safe place to land, but when he did they were all out with their
weapons
, running as fast as they could toward the truck.

Cole got there first and pushed up on
to
the truck then slid on his belly to the
driver's
side window, which was facing the sky.  Leaning down inside, he saw
Sabrina scrunched in a ball against the other window.  "Sabrina
!
" he wailed with tears in his voice, "
T
alk to me!"

She didn't answer, so he took off his weapons and handed them to Gabe who was right beside him, then slid his upper body into the window to reach for Sabrina.  "Sabrina, talk to me, darlin'
,
"
he said again then put the back of his hand to her neck and huffed out a relieved breath
when he felt a slow steady pulse
. 

He ran his fingers over her head and down her neck, then over her shoulders and down her arms.  He noticed a
bruised
bump rising on her forearm
, it could be broken, he thought
.  Cole could deal with a broken arm...what he was worried about is that she was unconscious.  He patted her cheek and she didn't respond.  Looking beside her arm, he noticed a box and then moved it a little then yelled, "What the fuck!"

Gabe was pushing him aside trying to get inside the cab himself.  He put his hand on Gabe's shoulder and said, "Chill, Gabe...I just found some grenades.  Let's get her out...I'll hand her to you."

Gabe
nodded then pulled back out of the window
. 
Cole
pulled back out of the window then spun around and put his legs inside and eased down.  Sliding h
is arms under
Sabrina's
butt
, he
lifted her lower body on top of his legs, then put
his
other under her shoulders and gently lifted her.  Rearranging his legs in the tight space, he managed to put his feet on the window
and reverse their positions, so he could hand her
up to Gabe
,
who was leaning inside.

"I'll radio June when I get out...just get her somewhere safe."

Gabe nodded then put an arm around her shoulders, and his other under her knees and dragged her out of the cab.  After they moved away, Cole grabbed the window frame and lifted himself up and out to sit on the truck with his legs dangling inside
.  He
put his head down in his hands and finally took a breath.
 
She was alive and they'd found her.  But Cole knew that just because
heart was beating, and she was breathing, that didn't mean Sabrina was okay.  They needed to get her to a hospital as soon as possible.  He grabbed the radio June had given him out of his back pocket and keyed it.  "June you there?  Can you come get us?"

"I'm watching the compound...you got trouble coming."

"How much trouble?" Cole asked him and shoved off of the truck sliding to the ground.

"Four trucks, probably fifteen men...lots of guns."

"Can you get us out before they get here?"
  God, Cole hoped so, because Sabrina was hurt, and he knew the four of them couldn't protect her and fight off fifteen armed men.

"I'll give it a try.  Stay back until I land in the field, then run like hell to the chopper."

"Got it--thanks, June, be careful," he told his old friend and shoved the radio back in his pocket
then ran
to
where he saw Gabe leaning over Sabrina
, and Luke and Elmer standing to the side talking
.

"We've got trouble, where are my weapons Gabe?"  Gabe got up and went over to the truck, then brought them back to him.  Cole noticed he'd picked up his
own too
.

"What's up?  Junebug having trouble with the bird?"
Gabe asked.

"No, he's going to try and pick us up before the four trucks hauling fifteen hoodlums get here.  Ya'll get ready, and pray he can."

"You try calling the feds?" Luke walked up to him and asked. "You let them know where we are?"

"Didn't have time
,
"
Cole lied.  The reason he didn't tell the feds was because he didn't want them to try and stop him from rescuing Sabrina.

"Shit," Luke said, "We better hope June can get us out then.  They're gonna be pissed you didn't keep them informed."

"I know...I'll deal with th
em
later.  Getting Sabrina out of here is
all
I care about."

Sabrina must've heard her name, because she moaned behind him.  He twisted around and saw her open her eyes and look around, "Cole?" she asked weakly.

He slid down on his knees beside her and kissed her forehead, and felt tears burn his eyes.  He took her cheeks in his hand then gently kissed her lips, "Where do you hurt, darlin'?"

"All over?" she said and chuckled then moaned.  "My arm...I think it's broken."  She closed her eyes and swallowed, then said, "And my head hurts." She lifted her hand and felt around her skull, evidently looking for bumps.

He moved her hands
then
made a circuit around her head himself,
and
asked. "Anything else?"

"Didn't get away from the jeep fast enough...dammit."

Cole heard the whoop of the helicopter blades and told her, "There's our ride, darlin'.  We have to be fast," then shifted his weapons around and lifted her into his arms.
  Cole saw a dust cloud coming toward them, and knew it wasn't the chopper.  He told Luke and Gabe, "Get in a good position to defend, and I'm going to run for the chopper with Sabrina, then ya'll follow and I'll put down some cover for you."

They nodded and walked toward the overturned truck.  Elmer asked, "What do you want me to do Sheriff?"  Cole had even forgotten his deputy was with him.  "Follow me and put down fire if you have to...just don't shoot Luke and Gabe."
 
He nodded
and
they
got ready for June to land. 

Sabrina wiggled in his arms and said, "I can run Cole...my legs aren't hurt."

"I'd feel safer carrying you darlin'.  Just hang on."

She nodded then settled down and hugged his neck tightly
with her good arm
, the other she had cradled to her chest
.
  June wound up landing a good ways away from their position, probably to make sure the helicopter didn't take fire.  Taking a deep breath, he told Elmer, "Run, El..." then took off into the clearing clutching Sabrina to his chest.  He heard gunfire start behind him, but didn't look back. 
Cole
was
only
focused on getting her to that helicopter. 

When they
ducked under the rotors and
reached the door,
Cole
opened it and put Sabrina inside then he and Elmer
moved away from the helicopter and
got down on their knees firing at the rapidly advancing trucks
.  He knew
they were
n't
going to hit anything this far away.  The were simply distracting the guys in the trucks, so Luke and Gabe could make it to the copter.
 

Cole raised his arm and
at
Luke and Gabe
, and they
move away from the overturned truck and into the patchy woods.
 
By the time he saw
them
running across the field toward the
helicopter
, the trucks had gotten too close for his comfort.  The bullets were starting to get too damned close too.  A few had strafed the ground around him and Elmer, causing them to lay down to
fire now instead of kneeling.

"Cole?" he heard June's voice come over the radio, but he couldn't stop to answer it.  He hoped June figured that out and just said what he needed to say. 
"I've got an M-4 with a grenade launcher in the cabinet in here.  I put it right by the door with a box of frags."

Cole raised his hand to let June know he heard him, then glanced over toward Luke and Gabe wh
o
were only about halfway across the field now.  At this rate, the trucks might reach them before Luke and Gabe did.

"Keep firing El--I'll be right back," Cole told him the pushed up and ran back to the chopper, then ducked under the blades. 

Sabrina and June were at the door and quickly handed him the gun and crate.  "I love you...be careful, please," she told him with her
lower
lip trembling.  He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss then ducked and ran back to his position by Elmer.