Hunting Indians - Chapter 12

Chapter One: https://steemit.com/fiction/@andrewgenaille/hunting-indians-chapter-one

Chapter 11: https://steemit.com/fiction/@andrewgenaille/hunting-indians-chapter-11

1. Chapter 12

It was ten that night when Mark finally came through the front door. After the day they had Ryan and him decided to save the paperwork till tomorrow. Mark was covered in soot and his hair was matted from hours of sweating.
"You look like shit." Amanda said when she saw him come into the kitchen, "And you smell like sweat and burnt cedar."
"It's been a long day." Mark remarked as he went to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice.
"Yeah, it's all over the news." Amanda turned her nose away and stepped back. It really was a thick stench. "They're bringing in fire teams from Alberta...what is that?"
"That? The smell? That's dead Indian smell." Mark poured his drink. "That's the smell you get on you when you have to walk through burned bodies to see if you got the one you were looking for."
"Did you?"
"Oh, pffft. We don't know. Nothing left there but cooked meat." Mark looked down at his drink and poured it out in the sink. He put the glass down and turned to her. He attempted to be flippant about it to distance himself but in reality he couldn't. "I will say this, if we didn't get him, things are going to get worse. For both sides."
"Now may be the time to leave."
"No. Now?" Mark walked for the door. "I can't leave now. Everything's falling a part. I can't leave when that's happening."
"Oh come on Mark..."
He turned back. "What?"
"That's an excuse and you know it." She moved closer to him but the smell stopped her. "You're the one that can't sleep properly. You're the one on pills and now all you're doing is giving out excuses. What the fuck is wrong with you? You need to quit and you know it."
"I need a shower, that's what I need."
"Yeah fine, go shower."
Mark stared at her looking for something to say. Not finding it he left the room. Amanda waited a moment and slapped the counter.
Mark spent half an hour in the shower trying to get the stench of death off him. He put the shampoo in his hair, and when he rinsed it out he watched as black water hit the tub floor to circle the drain. It did this the second time as well but the third time the water came out the blue colour of the shampoo. After drying off he brushed his teeth and put on aftershave for the scent and enjoyed the feeling of being clean even though his muscles still ached.
Once dressed, he walked into the living room to find Amanda in her chair aimlessly flicking through the channels.
"Did you want something to eat?"
"No." She didn't bother looking at him.
"I'm going to cook something."
"Do whatever you want."
"No, I'm saying, it doesn't take much for me to make enough for two, if you're hungry."
"I'm fine." She settled on a channel playing a commercial and tossed the remote aside. Mark watched her and decided not to push it. He headed into the kitchen.
Mark made himself a microwave dinner and ate it slowly. He wasn't particularly hungry but knew his body was going to need the energy. He also knew that he screwed up with Amanda but didn't know what he could do to repair it tonight. While at the same time how could she expect him to shirk his duties and responsibilities to his friends who were in danger now? Was she not aware that he had the opportunity to kill this Kevin? If he had just killed him in the forest it would've prevented all of this.
Today was quick, and looked like a victory, but there would be more fights in the next few days. He needed to be there for them. They were, after all, his fault.
Personal feelings aside. Real men didn’t run when the going gets tough.
Mark finished eating and returned to the living room to take a seat on the couch. They sat in awkward silence for the next ten minutes, which only broke when his phone rang.
"Hello?" Mark answered.
"Hey, it's Ryan. You've got to get dressed again."
"Ryan, it's eleven."
Amanda heard the name and turned the volume up on the television. Mark noted it and frowned.
"Yeah, but there's been a ministry computer used in an unauthorized location. They want us to track down its owner and see if she went out with it."
"Who's the owner?"
"Beth."
"She's pretty careful with her system. Why would she be taking it out anywhere? She didn't report it missing?"
"Don't know, all things considered..."
"We have to check on her." Mark leaned forward.
"Murphy and Tenant are going to where it linked up. We'll go to her place."
"Pick me up. I'll get changed." Mark hung up the phone and got to his feet. He wanted to say something to Amanda but she made a point of not looking at him. "I'll be back in a few hours."

Damien pulled the car to the end of the gravel road and put it in park. He looked out at the rows of trees and smiled to himself. He shut the engine off and went about helping Peter out of the car.
"Don't try anything stupid..." Damien warned him.
Peter arched an eyebrow at the threat. Damien was taking him out to kill him and he had already been tortured. What did that leave him to threaten with?
Damien moved him to the front of the car and pulled out his pistol.
"Right here?"
"Here's as good as anywhere else?"
"Here's out in the open. Here's where they find my body and people start asking questions." Peter said, hoping Damien had enough sense to listen and not just pull the trigger.
"Nobody comes out here."
"No?" Peter turned his head to look back at the other. "It's the end of the road in the middle of nowhere next to a logging town. If you were a sixteen year old horny teenager looking to knock up some cheerleader, isn't this where you'd take her? Look at the ground. I bet if you wander around a bit you're going find some tracks, maybe some used condoms."
Damien looked around at the ground but didn't see anything to suggest that Peter was right except for the headlights. The place was pitch black. "Okay, start walking."
"You're not going to grab a flashlight?" Peter kept pushing.
Damien waited as he controlled his annoyance. He made his way to the trunk but kept his pistol pointed at Peter, who couldn't see the other past the headlights. Damien popped the trunk and pulled out his standard issue flashlight police used with halogen head. He turned it on and moved back to Peter.
"Okay, now start walking."
Peter put one foot in front of the other on his way to the tree line and crossed that boundary with Damien several feet behind him with the light. Twenty feet in, Peter staggered on a root, lost his balance and hit the ground.
"Hey, get up." Damien ordered.
"How?" Peter lost his breath from the impact. He rolled onto his side and moved his hands cuffed behind his back.
Damien scanned the trees for help. He put his flashlight under his arm as he grabbed Peter with the free hand. Damien lifted Peter to his feet and shoved him to walk again then followed.
Peter waited until Damien moved the light and fell over again. "Hey...son of a bitch."
"Stop that!" Damien demanded.
"I can't see in the dark and you keep moving the light..." Peter slid to a tree and tried to use it to get to his feet.
Damien looked back to see of they were far enough to do what he needed to do but he could still see the lights of the car. He made a choice and pulled out his cuff keys, he shoved Peter over onto the ground and unlocked him. Damien put the keys in his pocket and backed away as Peter climbed to his feet.
Peter tried to move his fingers but couldn't feel them. What he saw around the bandage had a purple tinge to it. He wondered if there was dead tissue but decided he'd have to find out later, if there was time.
"Move or I'll just shoot you here." Damien adjusted the light as Peter started walking again.
While walking, Peter tried to figure out where they were. He had a general idea based on what route on the highway they took but had never been on these back roads before. What he needed was a view of the mountains but he couldn't see anything past the arc of the flashlight, not even the stars as there seemed to be a thick cloud cover.
This would make things just as easy for him as it would more difficult.
The feeling began to return to his fingers, that feeling of burning heat and thousands of knives tearing into the nerve endings. His breath caught as the pain became slightly overwhelming but he tried to focus on what he had to do now. Pain or not he had very little time left.
Damien looked back to see where the light for the car was and saw that it was completely gone now. "Here's good."
Damien turned forward to see that Peter was gone, his mouth dropped open and he started moving the light around. Damien started walking around trees.
"Come out!" Damien fired twice into the air. "You know you can't see shit here. You can't go anywhere in the dark."
Damien moved a few more feet and turned slowly. He stopped at any little shadow and watched it until he was sure that it was only a branch or bush.
Peter smashed into Damien from the back at a run. The two of them hit the tree at an angle spinning them in the air. They hit the ground with Damien landing backwards on top of Peter. They both grunted from the impact.
Damien twisted to face his attacker but Peter scrambled after his gun hand. He grabbed it so Damien tried to hit him with the flashlight. The angle was wrong. Damien dropped the flashlight and grabbed Peter's throat from below and squeezed. The gun fired three times as the rounds whizzed into the forest.
Peter had hoped that he would have more control of his hands but they still wouldn't properly respond to him, not even with the adrenaline. He couldn't get the gun from Damien. He let go with one hand and brought his elbow down twice onto the Agent’s face. Peter used his free hand to push Damian's hand off his own neck and wound up further to bring his elbow down a third time. This time there was a crack sound as Damien growled. The impact broke his front tooth and sliced his upper lip.
In response, Damien grabbed Peter's hair from the side and pulled, causing Peter to arc over as they both continued to hold the gun out. Peter couldn't let go, if he did Damien just had to bring it in and shoot him.
Damien brought the gun closer so it was now pointed skyward. Peter reached behind himself and felt around to find the flashlight. He got a grip and found the button. Pressing it, he sent both of them into complete darkness.
Peter waited a second, let go of the gun and rolled with Damien's hairgrip causing the other to let go. Damian was now able to aim the weapon.
Damien rolled after Peter but his own momentum took him onto his side. He fired into the ground just in front of himself. The flash let him see Peter scrambling for the trees so he aimed into the darkness and fired again.
Damien climbed up to one knee and took a steadier aim. He fired off the rest of the magazine and stopped.
Peter was gone.
He was gone and he had the flashlight. Damien looked around not knowing which way was back to the car.
He yelled out his frustration.

Beth was curled up on the couch sleeping when the buzzer startled her awake. She raised her head with a sudden intake of air and looked the room over. The second buzzer penetrated as she realized what it was and sat up.
She went to the wall and hit the respond button, "Hello?" Her voice was tired and gruff so she tried to clear it.
"Beth?"
"Yes."
"It's Mark and Ryan. Are you alright?" Mark asked. She could hear the genuine concern in his voice. Aside from what he did for a living, Mark might be able to fool people that he wasn't a monster. She suspected he wasn't able to convince himself though at least from his psych evaluation. He knew he was evil.
"It's midnight guys. It's kind of late to be handing in files, isn't it?" She said, her question didn't make sense but she was tired and slightly hung over.
"Actually, we're here on official business. Can you buzz us up please?"
Official business? She wondered and her stomach dropped when she realized what it had to be about. "Yeah...yeah."
She hit the unlock button and backed away from the device. It had to be about the laptop. They bugged her laptop, they must've. When and how though?
She put that question aside as she only had two minutes at most to come up with some excuse why she didn't have it.
Two minutes went by too fast when you're scared of what's coming. There was a knock at the door and she opened it to see Ryan and Mark. Mark noted that she looked like she slept in her suit from the office. He could also smell booze.
"Late night?" Ryan looked her over.
She looked down at herself. "No, too tired to change. What's this about?"
"Internal security asked us to check on you." Ryan said.
"I'm fine."
"Can we come in?" Ryan asked. Beth tried to play it cool as she moved aside. The two men entered and she closed the door. "Beth, there's been a computer breach. Do you have your laptop handy?"
"A computer breach?" Beth asked, "Shouldn't internal security be looking into that. Why are they sending Indian Agents out?"
"We've had a few leaks. They're all kind of busy." Mark explained.
Beth nodded.
"Your computer?" Ryan asked again.
"At the office. I don't bring it home anymore." She lied, hoping that worked. Maybe they'll think the person who took it, took it from here.
"Really?" Ryan said. "That's dangerous."
"Why?"
"You have a reputation as a workaholic. You might lose that if people knew you weren't bringing your work home with you." Ryan scanned the room.
"Well, yeah...but that's how you end up in an early grave." Beth chuckled, trying to relieve the tension that she knew was only in her own head. "So what happened with my computer?"
"Somebody used it up the road," Mark stated, "Murphy's checking it out."
"Yeah, but how did they get it? The buildings locked up tight." Beth said. She knew the security cameras would show she left through the lobby check-point with a computer bag. There's a slim chance she could say that was just her purse if the image was good quality. She would have to cross that bridge when she got to it. Right now she just needed to survive this encounter.
"Who knows? We'll ask who ever has it." Ryan walked around a bit slowly. He put his hand on the kitchen counter.
"Yeah...this is bad," She scratched her tangled hair; "This is really bad."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Mark said as Ryan moved across the living room. "Computers being used somewhere else, you're here. Doesn't look like you're giving out secrets."
"I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about those secrets. Who knows where they could be sending them." Beth said.
"Security shut the wifi down. It's safe."
"Maybe." Ryan stated as he squatted down and stood up. He turned around holding the pistol Kevin left behind. "Maybe not. Are you sure you didn't bring the computer home?"
"What's that?" Beth asked, recognizing it.
"My side arm." Ryan said, "The side arm I reported taken from me by the wayward Indian."
The room went quiet. Too quiet for Beth as she realized she couldn't talk her way out of this. She could see that Ryan's friendly face changed instantly. Mark straightened up.
"I don't know..." Is all Beth could muster, answering a question nobody asked.
"Put on your shoes. I think you're coming with us." Ryan put the pistol into his pocket.
"This is a mistake."
"Beth, just cooperate so everything's easier..." Mark said.
"No but, I'm saying there's got to be an explanation that we're all missing..." She said but stopped when Ryan pulled out his plastic wrist wrap.
"Two ways to do this," Ryan said..
Beth nodded. She went to the hall and put on her shoes, as Ryan stood close by. She was at a loss as to what to do and hated herself for getting caught up in it all.
Mark watched and then searched the apartment with his eyes, absorbing something he really did not expect when they came over here.

Tenant was a tall man with a jarhead haircut in his early thirties and judging by how tall he was, six foot two, it appeared he had been built out over the years with steroids. Although he wore a tailored black suit, it didn't hide the gruff face he had from years of working out in the sun. When he spoke, it was a deep baritone voice.
"Sir, I'm agent Tenant. We're here on Government of Canada business as part of an investigation. Could you please come to the front door?" Tenant said into the intercom as he held his badge up to the camera.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Henry said from the security desk. He hit the buzzer that let Murphy open the door and met the two of them from around the desk. "What kind of business?"
"Department of Indian Control," Murphy said and handed Henry a security certificate with the name John Doe on it. "We have reason to believe that one of your apartments has unauthorized government property. We're here to confiscate it and arrest any and all individuals involved."
"And this lets you do that? Is this a warrant?" Henry said. He works in a building with well off businessmen that dabble in crime or law. He has seen warrants before and this looked nothing like one.
"It's a security certificate from the Prime Minister’s office. It let's us do pretty much whatever the hell we want." Tenant stated.
Henry looked at the large man and nodded. "Which apartment?"
"714."
"Okay, that would be Austin and Jenny. Why would they...he works for the government, doesn't he?"
"Just take us up."
Henry moved to the elevator with the two agents and hit the call button. The three of them stepped in and took the device up.
On the seventh floor the three of them moved to apartment 714 where Henry reached up to knock but Tenant grabbed his wrist to stop him. Henry noticed that the two men had drawn their Berettas.
"Are we...are we expecting trouble?" Henry asked.
"Always." Murphy said, "Use your key."
Henry pulled out his all-access key and unlocked the door. When it clicked Murphy took him by the shoulder and moved him over to the wall. "Stay here, it's just an arrest but we don't know them."
Henry nodded.
Tenant moved into the apartment followed by Murphy, the two of them stepped forward cautiously in the dimly lit apartment. They flicked on their small flashlights. The short hallway opened up into the living room and Murphy motioned to the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
Tenant spotted the laptop on the counter island, still open and on but was in sleep mode. Murphy searched around it before the two of them headed for the bedrooms.
Henry glanced into the apartment and watched but didn't see anything of interest. He turned back into the hallway as Kevin came at him from his hiding spot on the stairwell but before he could yell, Kevin had him in a chokehold and squeezed.
After a moment Henry's eyes closed and his body went limp. Kevin held on for a few more seconds before he lowered the body to the ground.
Kevin pulled his knife from his back pocket and moved into the apartment. The knife wasn't anything more than a cooking blade for chopping vegetables. He wore only socks as he moved to keep from making noise on the wood floor.
Kevin stopped at the corner in the living room to look around at the two men who were preparing to clear the first bedroom.
Kevin moved across the kitchen to the next hall and waited at the corner, the two men eased open the master bedroom door and Tenant entered first, aiming. Kevin walked quickly and wrapped his left hand around Murphy's mouth as he plunged the knife into the other’s throat and twisted. Kevin pulled him back into the hallway out of the view.
Kevin put the body onto the ground and grabbed Murphy's pistol as he moved to the bedroom doorway.
Tenant turned back to the door "There's nobody here..." He stopped when he saw Kevin's outline aiming a gun back at him. "Son of a..."
Kevin fired twice and the two rounds to the chest staggered Tenant back but didn't drop him. Tenant looked down then up at Kevin, pissed off he started to aim his own weapon.
Kevin fired again. The round hit the Agent in the forehead and snapped his head back. The giant dropped to his knees and then backwards.
Kevin waited for more movement and then twisted around as Carlton came down the hallway. Kevin relaxed somewhat when he saw the robot.
"I've heard gun fire. Shall I notify the police?" Carlton asked.
"No." Kevin said back as he grabbed the ammo from the bodies. He then patted Carlton on the head as he passed.
Kevin stopped by the printer to grab some papers and his shoes as he headed for the door. He took the time to drag Henry inside and grabbed Austin's hat before heading to the elevators.

Austin and Jenny just made it to the border. The two of them showed up at the crossing to find that they were the only vehicle in line. They pulled up to the first booth and rolled down the driver's window to see the American Border Guard. Austin handed over their passports.
"Kind of late, isn't it?" The Guard asked.
"Late night at work, then we had to pack."
"And what is it that you do?"
"I work for the Canadian Revenue service. It's tax season so we're processing like crazy." Austin's voice slightly shook. It was a story he worked out with Jenny on the drive over. "But I'm done, time to relax, right?"
The border guard nodded and moved inside his booth. Austin looked to Jenny who weakly smiled back at him. She touched his arm so he could see that he was wringing the wheel. He looked back out as the guard reappeared.
"Sir, I'm going ask that you pull your vehicle over into the secondary search area, into bay three please." The guard ordered.
"Uh, is there a problem?" Jenny asked.
"Please pull into bay three." The guard said with more authority.
"Okay." Austin put the car into drive. He considered running for it but realized that was just stupid. He moved the car along as the guard walked next to them, motioning where to go as Austin pulled the car into one of the parking spots.
"Please step out of the vehicle." The guard stood by the car door, "Both of you."
Austin and Jenny shared a look and both climbed out of the car. Austin noticed that the area was covered in cameras and two other border guards had come out of the building. "This is just a double check?"
"Sir, I'm going to have the two of you step into the building please." The guard motioned to them and they followed the order.
Austin took Jenny's hand and they walked into the building as the guard followed. The other uniforms moved in and began their search of the vehicle. The couple was moved to a waiting area as the main door locked. It could only be opened by a guard’s tag.
The guard stepped over to the counter where he talked to another man in a different uniform with ten years of age on the first man. Austin controlled his fear but could feel his heart rate in the hand Jenny held. She gave him a squeeze.
"It's going to be okay." He said softly to her.
Two more guards showed up but kept their distance. The first nodded and moved to stand in front of Austin. He held up the passport to double check it in the light against Austin. He did the same to Jenny before he put them in a pouch.
"I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to be honest with me." The guard stated.
"Yeah, no, yeah, sure." Austin nodded.
"Why are you entering the United States?"
"We're...my girlfriend and I, we're just going on vacation. Couple of nights." Austin said. One of the guards shifted his stance causing Austin to look over.
"Is there any particular reason you decided tonight was a good night to take that vacation?"
"Work schedules." Jenny said, "Schedules."
"Okay, here's the thing. I don't like to be lied to. It makes things difficult around here and I've given you the opportunity to be honest."
"What's going on?" Austin asked.
"Are you aware that there's a warrant out for your arrest under the Canadian Secrecies act?" The guard looked from one to the other.
Austin's heart rate shot through the roof and his mouth dried out as his breathing picked up. Jenny's grip tightened. "No, wait, no, that's a mistake. That has to be, it's a mistake."
"Sir, I'm going to ask that the both of you turn around."
"Wait, we didn't do anything..."
The guard turned Austin around as the female guard turned Jenny around. "Is there anything in your pockets that is a weapon or sharp that I may get hurt on?"
"No..."
Jenny was asked the same question as they were both cuffed and patted down. "You are not under arrest, you are being detained for the time being, after which you will be escorted back to Canadian soil and turned over to the proper Canadian authorities. Do you understand?"
"We didn't do anything..." Jenny whispered.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes." Austin said as he watched Jenny. She started to cry.
"All we did was help him. He was dying and we helped him, that's all..." She said as the two of them were moved to the far end of the building.
The guards took Austin and Jenny through two security doors into a hall of cells, the first two of which were open. In front of the small cells their cuffs were removed.
"Austin..." Jenny tried to talk as she watched her boyfriend get put into his cell. She was moved into hers.
"Arrangements are being made for your transfers. We ask that you be patient." Her guard said to her before the door was closed. There was a loud clank as the lock went into place.
Jenny laid her head on the door and began to cry.
Twenty minutes passed and Jenny moved to the bench where she waited. There was a click at the door and she looked up as it opened. A new guard, larger than the others, stood there holding a pair of handcuffs.
"Ma'am, please stand up."
Jenny's lip quivered as she stood up.
"I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to think very carefully, then answer them honestly. Do you understand?" He waited.
Jenny nodded. Fear wouldn't let her talk.
"Why are you entering the United States tonight?"
Jenny took a breath, "We're just on vacation..."
"Ma'am, do not lie to me. I don't have the patience for it. Why are you entering the United States tonight?"
Jenny looked to see her female guard was in the hall watching, her hands were on her belt.
"Something happened, and we were running." Jenny's eyes began tearing up again. "We were helping a man. They shot him."
"Understood. Was it your intent to seek asylum from political prosecution in the United States?" He asked.
"What?" Jenny looked up.
"If you answer yes, I won't need these." He held up the cuffs.
"Yes! Yes." Jenny blurted out fast.
"Understood." The guard turned to the female guard. "Please prepare her for transport. I'll take her and her boyfriend from here."
"Can do, Bob."

Chapter 13 can be found at: https://steemit.com/fiction/@andrewgenaille/hunting-indians-chapter-13