Page 33 of Gator's Gambit
“Ah, there you are, Kane. I was beginning to think I was going to miss the opportunity to say goodbye. I’m on my way out, but my men would love to stay and keep you company. Please do give my best to Indie?” Armatrout yells to be heard over thewhop-whop-whopof the rotor blades.
“Yeah, sorry Armatrout, I can’t let you do that.”
The man throws his head back and laughs, as if Knight’s just told him the best joke of the day, and not like we’ve got a major stand-off taking place. His men are spread out over the area carved out to serve as a helipad, Armatrout a little behind them.
“I’d like to see you stop me.” He turns and says something to the man beside him. “I’d love to stay and chat, but Mr. Notolo and I have a meeting, which you’re complicating. So we’ll take our leave of you here.”
To look at him, you’d swear Knight doesn’t have a care in the world. His face and posture appear relaxed, and as he murmurs over the comms you can barely see his lips move – you’d have to look really hard to see it. But if you know him well enough, know what to look for, you’ll see the coiled energy that holds his muscles tense and ready for action in a heartbeat.
“On my signal, you find anything to hide behind and open fire.”
Pickings are slim, but we’ll make do. We have no other choice since it’s clear we’re going to have to fight our way out of this situation. With a super quick glance, my brain is still processing my options as I turn my eyes back to Knight. All eyes on him, we wait for the go-signal.
“Come quietly and you may make it out in one piece, Armatrout,” Knight calls out.
The suave gentleman disappears, and the raving lunatic comes out in the blink of an eye. Freaky to watch how the man goes from sane to crazy with a single breath. Even from wherewe’re standing you can see the light of madness shining brightly in his eyes.
He starts screaming, hands gesturing animatedly, spittle flying from his mouth. Notolo gives him a look of disgust as a glob of it lands on his suit jacket, but Armatrout is oblivious. A stream of abuse and all the ways he’s going to torture us in our last hours spews from him, and he pushes one of his henchmen out of the way to get to Knight.
Seeing his chance, he gives us the signal we’ve been waiting for, while raising his own weapon. In the chaos that ensues, I see Armatrout go down. Actually hear his screech of pain above the cacophony of sound.
One of his henchmen, under cover of his colleagues, breaks rank to pull his boss behind the barricade of bodies and over to the helicopter. Fuck. We all know if the man makes it onto the chopper, he’s gone. There’s no way to take the bird out of play without killing ourselves in the process too.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dutch make his way around the perimeter, edging closer to it. He’s almost within striking distance when we hear the change in sound. The pilot’s getting ready to lift off and our window of opportunity shrinks significantly.
With renewed vigor, our greeting party steps up their assault to give cover to their departing boss, and we have our hands full simply trying to stay alive. We redouble our efforts to subdue the enemy, but their ploy works as that window slams shut with the taking off of Armatrout’s helicopter. Waiting for it to clear the cliff, Lucky takes a shot, but with all the turbulence caused by blade wash, the bullet doesn’t find its target.
By the time we put an end to the fighting on this Godforsaken mountain top, Armatrout and Notolo are long gone, and our mission shot to hell.
16
FANCY
Thoughts of Godric are never far from my mind.
I haven’t heard a word from him in days and worry eats at me. He said I wouldn’t, so it’s not unexpected, but it feels so strange to find myself in this situation. As much as I’ve always loved him, I learned to live without him in my everyday life after I moved to San Francisco.
Now, things have shifted so much, and he’s back to being on my mind daily. Is he okay? Will they be gone much longer? Is his shoulder holding up? The litany runs constantly. Never in a million years could I have imagined we would end up here – that either of us would act on our feelings. Not that I even knew he had feelings. But the timing sucks.
With the constant shadow of Evan Alexander living over me, the fear of what he’ll do next, these recent developments add another level of complication. It’s not that I don’t want to be with him, I absolutely do, but trying to figure out the logistics of making this relationship work under the current circumstances, the constant worry for safety – my anxiety level is high.
Curled up with a book, Evie and Millie keeping me company, I’ve been trying to read, unsuccessfully, for the past hour. The tranquility of Mama’s back porch is soothing, despite the noisein my brain. As I sit, soaking in the quiet, my cellphone chimes an incoming message.
Tex: Good morning. All quiet?
I can’t help but smile at the brevity of his message.
The day after Godric’s departure, I got a call from a “private” number – the number hidden. I very nearly didn’t answer it, considering my situation. But as the call continued to ring, something pushed me to answer.
A man, with the kind of voice that makes you want to keep him talking just so you can listen, introduced himself as Tex – a friend of Godric’s, and that he was just checking in to make sure I was all right. A short conversation ensued, and by the end of it I felt more settled than I have in a long time.
Tex had a way of making me feel calm and safe, despite me not knowing him, but he certainly isn’t a man of many words. He uses them economically, yet effectively. Since that day, I get a message each morning checking in on me, making sure all is well.
Me: Good morning, Tex. Other than worrying about Godric, I’m good. All’s quiet this side.
I watch as the three little dots appear on my screen.
Tex: Good to hear all is quiet. You know how to reach me if that changes.
