Page 28 of True Valor
Nothing.
They’d come here for nothing.
Nic lay downstairs, fighting for his life.The man that had saved her.The man she owed her life to.The manshe…
Oh, God.All this.For nothing.
With a sigh, she trudged back down thestairs.There was still work to be done.
The regulator had to be hooked up outside andthe pilots lit, before Julie could make soup.
The cabin was set up with a propane stove,hooked by a hose that ran through a small hole in the wall to ahundred-pound tank that sat out on the back porch.There were, infact, three tanks out back.To Patrick Galloway, running out ofpropane was not acceptable.Memories of her father assaulted her asshe did so.
Once that was done, water would need to bepumped from a hand pump in the kitchen to fill the containersstored in the small pantry.She would also have to fill thethirty-gallon trash can, which was on wheels, that provided waterfor flushing.
When it was time to eat, Nic was easier towake.She helped him sit up, propped by pillows, and fed him thesoup she’d made.He tried to feed himself, but she pulled the bowlaway after the second spill.
“You aren’t very coordinated with your lefthand, are you?”
“Uh-uh,” he grunted, his mouth full.
It wasn’t long before his meager strengthfaded again, and he turned away from the proffered spoon.Juliecoaxed him to drink half a glass of water before allowing him tolie back down and sleep.At least his shivering had stopped.
Julie ate the rest of the soup, then rinsedthe dishes.Her work done, she resigned herself to curl up in thebig chair in front of the wood stove and let the tears come.Sheheld in the sobs until her throat ached, not wanting to disturbNic.
Her family’s presence filled this place.They’d all had so many good times here.And now they were all gone.Julie allowed the memories of that night to come.
On December twenty-third, Julie had drivenhome from Redding.Home to the house she’d grown up in.Jenniferhad flown in from San Francisco earlier in the week.They greetedher with hugs and kisses and Christmas cookies which totally ruinedher appetite for dinner.
Jenn was terribly excited about thepossibility of doing a cover for one of the top-three fashionmagazines.That wasn’t surprising.Jenn had always been beautiful,always the one with perfect hair and makeup.
Julie, on the other hand, had been content tobe something of a tomboy, only recently going to a fancy salon fora good haircut and that just because Jenn had sent her a giftcertificate.She’d insisted that the stylist not do anything thatwould take her more than five minutes to fix, and they’d settled ona blunt cut that fell just below the top of her shoulders anddidn’t need more than a quick blow-dry.Jenn raved about it though,and that was enough.But, before the conversation ended, Jenn had,once again, elicited a promise from Julie that she could do amakeover.Mascara alone was simply not acceptable.
After dinner, Mom had fixed hot chocolate andDad had taken her aside to tell her he had a project for her thatshe’d love.When Julie pressed him about the details, he patted herhand and assured her that there was time tomorrow for all that.
Tradition ruled the evening.Each of thegirls was allowed to open one present.No surprise it had turnedout to be Christmas pajamas.It was shortly after ten when they allwent to bed.
Julie didn’t look at the clock when she wokeup with a start.Had she heard something?She tossed aside thecovers, pulled on her fuzzy slippers and went out into the hallway.Jenn’s door was open.She glanced in as she passed.What she sawstopped her, but really didn’t sink in.
A noise from her parents’ room kept her fromrushing to Jenn’s side.She continued down the hall, coming to astop at the doorway.A man stood at the foot of the bed, his backto her.Her sleepy mind struggled to make sense of what she saw.Hewas dressed in black and beyond him lay the bodies of her mom anddad, still in bed.Before she could react, he turned and looked ather, his eyes the only thing not covered by the knit ski mask hewore.His eyes registered surprise, then became hard, cold as hestepped toward her, gun in hand.
The vision ended there.Julie hugged herknees, trying desperately to catch her breath, the pain in herchest nearly overwhelming.A small sob escaped and she lowered herhead to her knees.
Chapter Nine
Nic pulled himself from sleep knowing he hadto do something.What, he wasn’t sure.His whole torso throbbed.Ona scale of one to ten, something he asked patients often, his painlevel was a fifty-two.He couldn’t see Julie but he could hear heranguish.The chair faced away from the bed.His mouth wouldn’twork.
Finally.“Julie.”It came out in awhisper.
Julie flew out of the big chair anxiously,her face blotchy from crying.
“C’mere.”It took unusual effort, but he heldout his good arm to wave her over.Pain surged through him at themovement.
She came to the bedside.“What do youneed?”
Again, he motioned to her.“C’mere.”
Tears filled her brown eyes as she satcarefully beside him.He reached for her hand and pulled her downto him.Guiding her head to his good shoulder, he wrapped his leftarm around her.Silent sobs racked her body and he could feel hertears on his chest.Nic tried to get his mouth to work, to tell herit was going to be okay.All he had the energy to do was to holdher close as she cried.Eventually, he summoned the strength tospeak.
