New Chapter:

The three Wolf Bend police vehicles rolled up to Stolen Pines Trail, where there was a tinted out black SUV parked. When they came to a stop, Agents Harkins, Lee, and the two junior task force agents stepped out of the unmarked Suburban. All four men wore black FBI bullet proof vests. 

“If you’re here to stop us, you’d better just get back in that vehicle and leave.” I’m in no mood for bullshit, nor did I have time. 

“Stop you? Katie told us what’s going on and we're here to back your play.” Kenny Lee nodded at Greg and opened the rear hatch to the Suburban. The four feds grabbed shotguns from the rear compartment and loaded them. 

“We’ve had our differences, Chief, but we wouldn’t let you take on three armed men by yourselves.” Harkins patted his shoulder. 

A Washington Trooper Tahoe rolled in and Sergeant Barry Winston exited with a couple of the Task Force Ash officers. Next came five Bivens County Sheriff’s Department Tahoes. Watson had brought his whole force. 

“Pretty much the entire Task Force is here, Greg.” Sergeant Winston held a fully loaded M-4. “Let’s go get your wife back.”

The sheriff jumped out and approached Greg. “Give my boys and I twenty minutes. We’ll set up a perimeter about a hundred yards out, so as not to spook ‘em. The three of them have probably stayed together and I bet they’re armed by now, so once we're in position you guys go straight up the road and hit them hard. The cabins are about a hundred yards in.”

“Guess we have a plan now, Boss.” Jesse handed Greg an M-4 he had just pulled out of the gun locker they had stored them in located in the rear of his Blazer. He and Katie also had one. Twenty minutes later the four FBI agents and a dozen police officers quickly made their way down the dirt road towards the cabins. 

They came upon a very sandy patch in the road, where Barry Winston pointed out a single set of fresh tire tracks. “Somebody’s here.”

When the group reached the cabins, twilight had fallen. The sun was gone, but they still had remnants of light in the sky. The lawmen could see that there were four cabins stretched out along the right side of the road and three to the left. 

Of greater interest was the black Ford pickup parked by the cabin on the far left. It had no license plate on it. Greg knew they were in the right place, but the pickup truck erased all of the fearful doubts that had been creeping into his head. If this had been a dead end, they would have been out of ideas. 

In the center of the road was a large fire pit with ash nearly to the rim. Garbage, beer bottles, and even random condoms lay strewn about the area. Greg sent four cops to clear cabin #1 on the left, while while Harkins took his three agents towards cabin #2 on the right. 

Greg led the rest of the group up the drive towards #3 and #4 when he noticed something. There was a deer camera on an old light pole directly to their front. He held his hand up to halt the group, but it was too late. All hell broke loose. 

Shots rang out from Cabin #2, dropping one of the FBI agents with a bullet to the thigh. Harkin’s men scrambled for cover, while the lead FBI Agent stood in the hail of bullets and grabbed the downed man, pulling him to cover behind some tree stumps. 

At the same time, Shots rang out from Cabin #7 ripping up tufts of dirt all around the cops. They sprinted for cover behind the Ford truck while several yelled “Ambush!”

When they reached the truck, a short muscular black man rose up out of the bed and began unloading a shotgun at the cops as fast as he could rack it. Winston had been ahead of the others and went down. Jesse was faster than his companions and came up with his M-4, unloading it on their attacker. 

Greg saw the man’s face explode as his officer’s semi-automatic rifle found its mark and brought the criminal down. Cappy fell forward, his torso hanging over the closed tailgate of the pick-up, with his shotgun falling onto the dirt road. He was clearly dead. 

Next came an incredible barrage of fire as Harkin’s men, along with the four cops who had cleared cabin #1, turned cabin #2 into Swiss cheese.
 

The cop beside Greg raised his rifle to fire at the last gunman in cabin #7. Greg shoved the man’s muzzle towards the ground. “No! That’s the Benslow cabin. Jenny is probably in there. Besides, the shooting has stopped.”

Greg ordered two of the cops to get Barry to one of the ambulances that Watson had thoughtfully staged nearby. Next, he ordered the rest of the cops to cover the boarded up side windows on the cabin while he and Jesse cautiously approached the front door. There was no movement coming from inside. 

The Chief’s stomach was clenched in fear. Greg’s mind couldn’t stop thinking about what he might find inside. Please don’t be dead. Please God. My kids need their mother. Hell, I need her. 

Jesse kicked open the door and Greg rushed in, clearing right while Jesse took left. The front room was a mess, with beer and booze bottles pretty much everywhere. There were two cots and a couch in the room. An opening led to a back room. Greg and Jesse slowly approached the doorway, both fearful of what the beams of their flashlights might fall upon. 

Then they hear a moan. That’s Jenny! Greg rushed forward. His wife lay on an old bed, wearing just her bra and panties. Her wrists were tied to a metal rail headboard. There was an open window in the room facing the hillside behind the cabin.

Greg ran to his wife, untying her wrists, but she was completely out of it. “B-b-bear. M-m-my b-b-bear.” 

“Look.” Jesse’s light was shining on a wooden table beside the bed that had a needle and spoon sitting on it. “Looks like they shot her full of heroin.”

Jesse grabbed a blanket and wrapped his sister in it. Then he went over to the window and shined his light on the sill, where there were traces of blood. “Looks like Lenny went out the - - -”

BAM! A shot sent Jesse to the floor, fired through the window. Jesse rolled around in pain, revealing that he had blood on both his front and back. Greg knew it was a rifle because the wound was a thru-and-thru, meaning it went in the front of Jesse’s shoulder and came out the back. His vest was no protection against a high-powered rifle.

Greg came up on one knee and emptied a full magazine out the back window, aiming at the general spot he had seen a muzzle flash. Several shots followed from the sides of the cabins, where his fellow officers also peppered the hillside in the last rays of dying light. Muzzle flashes could be seen higher up as well. Most likely it was Watson’s perimeter officers engaging Lenny.

Officer Kelsey came crawling through the door opening, and Greg and her stuffed some old clothing into and over Jesse’s wounds, to try and stop the bleeding. Bullets could be heard zinging over their heads.

“Harkin’s boys took out Enua in the other cabin. Now Lenny has everyone pinned down, at least for the last few minutes of sunlight. Unless he has a night vision scope. Then we’re all screwed.” The woman had a calm presence under fire. 

“That’s the second time the son-of-a-bitch shot me. You got to get him, Greg. Jesse started to mumble. “Anybody have some M&M’s?” 

“Alright, Katie. He’s losing a lot of blood. I need you to get him and Jenny to safety. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes, the ambulances are just up the road. They brought them in closer to take out our two wounded guys. Where are you going?” The young woman raised her eyebrows. 

“I’m going to finish this, one way or another.” Greg crawled to the window. 

Katie knew better than to argue with Chief Greg Harsen. She helped Jenny off the bed, who merely mumbled, “I loves m&m&m&m&ms.”

“Greg, I wasn’t joking around about that cave. It’s behind the cabin at the top of the hill. I’ve been up there once. It’s bad shit. Everyone steers clear of it. Bad magic up there. Boogie man.” Jesse was rambling.

“Get him out of here, Katie. He’s losing it.” Then it was time. The light was gone. Greg shut off his flashlight and slipped over the windowsill, dropping to the ground.