Page 145 of Of Flesh & Bone

"Airport.He'll land in Austin at 3:15 a.m.tomorrow."

"Fuck!Fuck!"He pulls his hair with both hands, leaving him looking like the mad man that he is.He's scared.

"Why now?If you've been following us so long, why did you wait until now to make your move?"

He scrubs his mouth with his hand and turns toward me, raising up the gun and firing.

BANG!

The impact of the bullet knocks me off my feet.It hits me high in the thigh andSHIT that hurts."Fuck!"The pain is like nothing I've ever felt before.It burns and my entire leg throbs with each beat of my heart.

"No!"

"Damn it.How about you lay out some ground rules instead of just fucking shooting people."Cotton is struggling to keep his composure.Rage is pulsing just below the surface.I can hear it in his voice....see it in his eyes.The quiet nerd facade is just that.A facade.

I look up and see Cal.His skin is grey and he's already getting weaker.He's slumped over in the chair, but he's still breathing.

Cotton is at my side in an instant.He speaks quietly to me as he helps me back up and over to a chair."We need a new plan, brother.This shit isn't getting us anywhere."I know he's right.They have Ace.One wrong move and it's over.

Cotton pulls up a chair between me and Cal and sits down in it.He's showing that we aren't a threat.Then, he speaks."Listen, we don't know where Eve is.We don't know how to help you find her.I can tell you though, your best shot at seeing her again, is keeping us alive.We're her family.She'll come for us."

The man jerks his head toward Cotton, seeming to mull over his words.He looks around jerkily and nods his head."Yeah.Yeah.She likes you boys.She'll come for ya'll."

"We need to keep these guys alive though.Cal is bleeding pretty bad.She's not going to be happy to see that.If she thinks you're going to hurt us either way, she won't risk it."

Again, Cotton gets through to him.He nods slowly, accepting Cotton's words as the truth."Do somethin' then.Slow the bleedin' or somethin'."He gestures to Cotton in a hurry-up motion.

Cotton leaps from his seat and goes into the kitchen, grabbing dish towels and kitchen scissors.He gets back to Cal and cuts the bloodied shirt off of him, exposing the gunshot high in his left shoulder and another low on the right side of his abdomen.He inspects the wounds and runs back into the kitchen, grabbing Saran Wrap from a drawer.Using the Saran Wrap and some of the dish towels he makes a pressure dressing over each of the wounds.Then, he comes to me and uses the same materials on my leg to make another pressure dressing.

Checking on Ace again, I see that she's calm and....hyper-alert.I can see the worry in her eyes for me and Cal but there's also a vigilance that surprises me.

"When the roommates get home in the mornin', they comin' here?"The man asks the question, directing it to me.

"Yeah.They're coming to help us find Eve."I try to keep my voice steady, but the pain is intense.

"There is no Eve!That's a name those dumb shits made up to make her feel like a little girl.She ain't no little girl!She's a slayer.I need her back before that fuckin roommate of hers gets here and ruins everythin'."

"Eli?Why do you care so much about Eli?"

The man cocks his head to the side, regarding me curiously.A small smirk graces his lips."You don't know what he is do ya boy?"He chuckles after he asks the question, and I just shake my head slightly.He chuckles again."Woo son.That man is somethin' different.We don't need him gettin' involved in this.We needed him far out of this state.That's why we waited.This here is family business and he ain't family.Slayer is mine.She's been mine since the day she was born.You see, I'm her daddy.She belongs to me.Not to you.Not to that killer over there playin' house like he's her fuckin brother or some shit.Slayer ain't got no brothers.It's just me and her."

He's, her father.Her father kept her locked up all those years.He tortured her and fed her lies.He made her...what?He wanted her to kill Ace.Were there others?

"You boys ever heard of the dark web?Ever heard of snuff films?"My stomach contents curdle at his words as the realization sets in.That night, when we caught up to him, it took us a while.We were on foot, and he was in an SUV.We were winded and could barely stand by the time we got there.It took every bit of speed and stamina we had to keep up with him.If he had gotten on the highway, it would've been over.We might never have found Ace.Eve might never have gotten out of that basement.

That day will always haunt me.When I think back on it, I'm right back there again.Desperate and furious.

We fall to our knees out back so we can catch our breaths.We have no idea how many people are in that house and we're no good to Ace in the shape we're in.We can barely breathe, let alone fight.

"You good?"My friends' faces are red, and their chests are heaving.

"Yeah."

"Good."

Once we catch our breaths, Cotton calls 911 and gives them the address.We waste no more time and burst through the door surprising a man sitting at the kitchen table.He jumps up and Cal is on him in an instant.Surveying the area, I'm looking for any sign of Ace.There's so much equipment in the living area.So many wires and monitors.I run down the hall and there's nothing.

"Cotton, tear it all down and look for hidden doors in the floor or behind the equipment."

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