Page 106 of Turn the Tide
Chapter 6
Marco had his gun drawn before he hit the porch steps. Freddie Marshall had his arm around Donny’s neck, a gun pointed at the twelve-year-old’s head. “Stay back or I shoot him,” Freddie called.
Marco ignored him, his own gun trained on Freddie. “Put the gun down, Freddie, for my sake and yours. You don’t want to do this.”
“Hell yes I want to do this. Butt out, fish cop.”
Marco eased down the porch steps, gun steady, as he inched in their direction. “This will go a lot easier on you if you turn yourself in, Freddie.”
“I’m not going back to jail. Me and my boy got a few things to take care of, and then we’re out of here.”
Based on the evil glint in Freddie’s expression, Marco figured the “few things” meant Patty. He wouldn’t give Freddie the satisfaction of reacting, so he kept his voice calm. “Leave the boy and go, Freddie.”
Freddie ignored him and tightened his grip on Donny, who clawed at his arm and thrashed around. “Quit fighting me, boy.” He tried to wrestle Donny onto the ATV in front of him, but Donny was having none of it. He kicked and shoved and tried to wriggle free until Freddie held him in a vise grip. “Quit squirming and climb on here right this minute. We need to go.”
In one motion, Freddie shoved the boy onto the ATV and then climbed on behind him. Donny’s eyes were wide and terrified, and he swallowed hard, casting a pleading look in Marco’s direction. “I need to stay here. Mama T isn’t feeling well. She needs me.”
Freddie spat in the mud. “Let the old woman die. I’m your father. I need you.”
Freddie fired up the ATV, and Marco cursed himself for not grabbing the spare key hidden in the console earlier. How had Freddie known where to look for it? “If you need to go, Freddie, I won’t try to stop you. But leave the boy here.”
Freddie laughed and revved the engine. “I’m done answering to coppers. Donny’s with me.” He aimed a last hard look at Marco. “Follow me and the boy dies.”
He gunned the engine and Marco leaped after them, but he couldn’t get a clean shot. Not with Donny in front of Freddie. He wouldn’t risk a bullet going through Freddie and hitting the boy.
Marco ran after them and fired at the tires, but by then they were too far away.
He lowered his gun and ran back into the cottage. He couldn’t lose the boy.
***
“Is my Donny okay?” Mama T cried. “Why were you shooting?”
Marco quickly swiped his muddy boots on the mat, then hurried across the room and crouched down by Mama T’s chair, taking her gnarled hand in his. “You need to know—”
She gripped his hand. “Spit it out, boy. Is Donny all right?”
Marco didn’t mince words. “For the moment. But Freddie has him. They took our ATV.”
Mama T’s grip belied her age. “How can he have Donny? He’s in jail for what he did to my Patty.”
“He escaped this morning. He somehow got in with the work crew.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Mama T rubbed her chest, and Sarah immediately reached into her medical bag to pull out a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff.
“Take a deep breath, Mama T. Deep breath,” Sarah said, crouching by her other side, rubbing her hands.
Mama T ignored her and gripped Marco’s hand, just as another crack of thunder shook the cottage. “Go find my grandbaby. The drugs done made Freddie crazy. He’ll hurt my baby.”
At that moment, Marco’s phone and Sarah’s both squawked a severe weather warning, indicating tornados were possible in their area. The rain pounded harder, until Marco had to yell to be heard above the noise.
“I’ll find him, I promise. I don’t think he plans to hurt Donny. He’s…” He stopped, unsure of his next words.
Mama T paled. “He’s after Patty. He’ll use that baby as leverage.”
Marco nodded, heart breaking for the pain reflected in the older woman’s face. “That’s my guess, yes.”
“Please. Go get him. Bring him home.”
