Found

I pulled into the drive a little after one in the morning. My old beat-up jeep had seen better days, but her engine was as quiet as ever. I might need to get that checked. All the lights in the cabin were off. She didn't wait up for me. Don't know if that's good or bad. I opened the door as quiet as I could. Trying not to wake her. My wife was probably asleep on the couch. I told her I would be home hours ago. Just one more fire to put out at work and I would be home. One fire turned into 15. I really don't deserve her. I am a middle-aged man, nothing special to speak of. I work at a warehouse about ten minutes down the road. I try to make as little noise as possible walking up the gravel driveway. We met about 15 years ago. I knew I loved her before I even met her. Huh, sounds like a song I once heard. She picked me up when I was at my worst and took care of me. Still does. I reach the door. As I pull my keys out of my pocket, I notice the door is open just a bit. Maybe an inch. That's not right. Panic crawls up my spine. I freeze, listening. I try to hear anything from inside. I slowly push the door open. The hinges are in good shape. Keep them well lubed. Living with three dogs, the slightest squeak sets them off. Wait, I just realized. I don't hear my dogs. They start barking as soon as I drive on the gravel. By now they should be at the door ready to jump on me in a greeting gesture. The thought makes me stop. If the dogs are not barking, something bad happened.
Before I step into the dark room a calming thought enters my mind, maybe she left me. The thought makes me fearful in another way. But if she left, she is alive and right now my mind is imagining finding her body on the living room floor next to the dogs. The inside is dark. I don't see the lights from the power supply going to the tv or anything else. All the little red lights are off. Maybe the power went out and she is outback checking the fuse box or the generator. But the dogs. The dogs would still be barking. Especially in the dark. Steves an old dog. Can barely see. In the dark he is as good as blind. Wouldn't recognize anyone until he got a good smell of 'em. I turn the light on my flashlight on. I had been holding off in case someone was still in the house. The small beam cuts a thin line through the dark. My hand is moving too fast. Panic starts to settle in. I call out to my wife. My voice breaks, "Stac." I clear my throat. "Stacy, are you hear."
As I reach the kitchen my leg bangs into a dining room chair. It's in the middle of the kitchen. What the fuck? There's a picture taped to the top of the chair. On the seat is a NERF gun with an ammo belt. I pull the picture off the chair. It's a man, sitting on what looks like an office chair. It takes a minute for my adrenaline to drop before I realize I recognize the picture. It's from Die Hard. A dead man with writing on his sweater. 'Now I have a machine gun, HO HO HO.'
I stand, stunned staring at the picture as the track lighting comes on. The track lighting is designed to give a romantic glow. Just enough light to allow you to move around without banging your legs on the damn chairs and table. I spin. I still see nothing. I look at the picture again and turn it over in my hand. On the back. 'First one to die is on top.' I hear a pop as a NERF bullet passes by my head. Laughter. Her laughter. I grab the NERF gun and run towards the laughter.
More shots. I fire. "You missed old man." The cabin is not a big one. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an office, the living room and the kitchen. But she's good at hiding. I thought I heard her in the bedroom. I check the computer room. As I enter the spare room I see Gerard, named after the lead singer to some band my wife likes. Our border collie. Her tail is wagging her whole body. I kneel to pet him. "Gerry. Who's a good boy." He licks my face and jumps on me. "Where is she boy?"
His tail stops and he gives me a look. Head cocked to the side. "It's not cheating. You're just helping me out." He runs out the door. I follow. He runs out of the house. I stop. Would she leave. Would she take it outside. Hell yes, she would. I kneel by the door and slowly poke my head out. I see her. She fires. Missing me by inches. "You can't aim for shit woman."
"Maybe I'm just not ready to kill you yet, old man." She runs towards the barn. I smile. I run after her. Firing every once in a while, knowing the foam balls will never reach her. She zigs and heads back to the house. This time the back yard. Shit, I slid as I try to change directions mid run. Fall to the ground. She turns and jogs backwards as she laughs at me. As she turns, I bolt. I lose her behind the house. I press my back to the stone wall. I saw Gerry playing with the other dogs near the barn. How did she get them to stay quiet. They always liked her better. "There's nowhere else to run. Just give up an make it easier on yourself." Knowing my girl is no quitter I reload using the ammo belt she left for me. "Come and make me." Teasing with her voice. She was always good at that. Before I can look around the wall I see a glow. An orange dancing light made brighter by the dark. I turn the corner to see my Stacy holding her NERF gun in her right hand and makeshift torch in the other. I approach. Raising my toy gun in the air. Before I get too close, she throws the torch. Our large fire pit comes to life. She had been chopping wood all day. She would have had too, to get a fire as big as it eventually got. She had a bed of newspaper and old dried grass under the chopped logs. Damn, she looked beautiful in the glow of the fire. As I got closer, I lowered my toy gun. I walked around the fire. I was about ten feet in front of her when she brought up her NERF gun and fired. Hitting me square in the chest. I grabbed the imaginary wound. "What the fuck, Babe?" She was smiling ear to ear. "Guess you're on top." I dropped my toy gun and ran the short distance to her. She dropped hers and let out a squeal as my arms wrapped around her. Lifting her into the air spinning her. My lips caught hers as I lowered her to her feet. She wrapped her arms around my neck. She nibbled my lip. She pulled out of my embrace and pulled her shirt off. The firelight dancing off her naked breast. Before I could touch them, she unbuttoned my shirt. Making it last longer than it needed to. She kissed me and pulled me down to the blanket I hadn't seen before.
We made love under the stars next to the fire. We laid on the blanket holding each other when we were done. Starring up at the stars. Her voice was soft. "I missed you."
"No you didn't. got me right in the chest." She playfully bit my chest. I laughed. "I missed you." I kissed her forehead. Her head felt great on my bare chest. Her naked body pressed against mine. No place I would rather be.
We decided to sit by the fire and have some tea. We were both too hyped to go to sleep. We did get dressed though. The dogs laying at our feet. All three. Gerry, our Husky Loki, and Widow, Our black terrier chihuahua mix. I will never understand how she kept them quiet. As I take a drink of my tea I hear Gerry growl. Low. Intimidating. The other two look in the direction Gerry is looking. But they are silent. I sit up and look over the fire. I see what I think is a shadow moving. After a few moments I realize it's someone walking. I stand up. "What's wrong, Baby?" She sits up in her chair and scans our yard. We live a good distance from town or any main road for that matter. No one should be here without an invitation and directions.
Loki's hair on the back of his neck raises. "Easy boy." My voice was calmer than I expected. "Looks like someone walking over."
"From where?" Stacy stands.
The figure gets closer. Looks like a young man in his early twenties. Wearing a tight T-shirt, jeans and pair of black boots. No laces. He stops just on the side of the fire. As soon as he sees Loki rise. All three dogs are now at attention. Stacy stands slightly behind me. Still able to see. The stranger speaks in a calm and collected voice, for some reason it feels like something he has said a lot. Something he rehearses in front of a mirror. Don't know why it struck me like that.
"Sorry to intrude on your night. My car broke down up the road. I saw the light from your fire." He points in the direction he came. "I can't get a cell signal anywhere."
"No service out here." He looks me in the eyes when I start to talk. "How did you get out here. The road's private. Signs everywhere. See em even in the dark."
"Can I use your phone to call a tow truck?"
"Don't got one. Like I said. They don't work out here." Seems I said something interesting. His lips curled in a smile. He stopped himself but it was too late. We saw it. Widow spun around and started barking before we heard the stick break. Gerry followed her lead. Loki never took his off the stranger that walked up to our fire. Stacy spun. "Three coming from behind the house." Her hand was on my back. Still facing away from me. The stranger in front tried to take a step forward. Loki barked. Full teeth. He froze. "Nice dog, I guess they keep you safe out her from Coyotes and foxes."
"And Vermin." He didn't like that. His face twisted. The smile was gone. "You better back him off old man. Wouldn't want anything to happen to him." The stranger pulled a handgun from behind him. Probably had it in the waist band of his pants. Dumbass.
"Loki, platz." Loki sat. His hair still raised and his eyes still on the stranger in front. Widow and Gerry stood between my wife and the three that came from behind. "You came all the way out here. What do you want?"
"A voice, female. Came from behind me. "You and your bitch." I began to turn. Stacy squeezed love-handle where she held onto me. "Easy, don't let them bait you."
I would later come to know the woman who spoke as Poison. A young woman deep in the Punk culture. She had her head shaved on one side and the hair she had left was dyed a bleeding green aquamarine mix. She had a spaghetti strap shirt too big for her and a leather jacket covering it. The faut leather of her miniskirt was peeling and her knee-high boots were not made for this type of terrain. Her feet had to hurt. A strung-out kid was on her right. He wore a polo shirt and basketball shorts. Tennis shoes with duct tape to hold them together. The fourth person was a tall woman. She had sensible hiking shoes, cargo pants, green, and a tank top that looked red in the fire glow, but I would later find out is white. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and looked black.
Her voice sounded like gravel being rolled in a bucket. "We were sent here by a friend of yours."
"What does that mean."
"You don't speak English lady? Someone you know told us where to find you."
This time I spoke. "And why did you want to find us?"
The stranger in front, I came to call him Ducky, someone trying to be cool but never quite reaching the expectation they set for themselves, stepped forward and spoke in that rehearsed, calming voice. I could hear the slight fear as he looked at Loki. Still pointing his gun. "You two sit down and tell your fucking dogs to shut up or I am going to shoot them."
Stacy voice reassures me. "Ruhig." And just like that silence. They would have never quieted for me. She has a bond with them I don't have. That's how she kept them quiet when I got home. "Hey, I'm talking to you." Poison was screaming. "Sit the fuck down." She had a shotgun pointed at my wife. She breached the shotgun and aimed at our smaller dogs. Stacy screamed, fast and loud. "der Heuschober, schnell." All three dogs run off in the same direction. Poison fires a shot after them, but she is sloppy and can't get the heavy rifle up fast enough. She spins the weapon back at Stacy.
"Where did you send them?"
"Nowhere, I just told them to run."
"What fucking language was that?" Preppy joined the conversation. I couln't give him any other name with him wearing that shirt. He was still looking direction the dogs ran. Confused and amazed all at the same time.
"It's German dumb shit." He spun around in an almost chiild like tantrum, "Dammit Kelly, don't call me dumb shit."
Kelly was the hiker. Ducky was right in front of me now. Gun to my head. Hammer drawn back. Geeze, this dumb shit had the hammeer back while it was in his waist band. He deserves what ever he gets. "We told you to sit down."
Stacy and i sat. Every one except preppy was in front of us now. My guess, he was still looking for the dogs. Dumb shit.
Kelly seemed to be the leader. They used Ducky as bait, i'm guessing because he looked the most like someone who would break down and be lost. "We are going to kill you no matter what. It would be faster for you if you told us what we want to know."
We sat looking at her. Poison kicked the back of my chair. "Tell us." The force of her scream broke her voice. Spit came out in a gush. "We don't know what you want. You never told us."
Ducky and Preppy laugh. She jacks another round in the chamber of the shotgun and silence.
"We know you have money on this property. We know there are people out there that there are people out there that want to get their hands on it so bad they hired us to come and take it from you." Kelly lowered herself almost sitting on her ankles to talk to us.
"You were miss-informed." She strikes Stacy across the face. Preppy holds my shoulders as i try to raise out of my seat. "Wanna die now old man?" He laughs. I think i miss named him. He should have been Ed, The Hyena from Lion king. Poison pulls the shotgun up and lays the barrel on Stacy's left shoulder. The one furthest from me. Stacy stares at me. Her green eyes why. I mouth the word, NO. Ducky is standing to my right. Back to use. He really is a dumbass. ,,Who sent you?"
Kelly punches me across the face. The girl has a hellava swing, I'll give her that. I spit blood onto the ground. Stacy whinces. I shake my head back and forth quick. "Who sent us doesn't matter. What matters is how much damage are you going to make us do before you tell us where you hid your money?"
,,Well." I spit again, barley missing her shoes. ,,It does matter because they fucking lied to you. We ain't got no money."
Ed, formerly Preppy, hits me on the back of the head. The world spins as i hit the dirt. I hear Stacy get hit by Poison as she tried to help me. I look and see poison has the shotgun around Stacy's neck, pinning her down. I look up at Kelly and Smile. ,,Alright, fuck it. Go ahead."
"Thanks for giving us permission old man." As he says these words Ducky raises his gun to my head. ,,Wasn't talkin' to you Jackass." His eyes widen and his jaw drops. In one quick motion, Stacy pulls the hunting knife that was beside her chair up and plunges it hilt deep under Poisons Chin. The tip coming out the top of her head. The life leaves her eyes in confusion. It takes a moment to register she is dead. Her arms fall and Stacy grabs the shotgun and spins around while standing and takes aim at Ed. Ed is unable to register what has happend and raises his gun. Stacy pulls the trigger. Almost point blank, throwing Ed back. His chest explodes in blood and meat. The hole goes through. ,,Fuck, what kinda shells are yall using in this damn thing. No wonder she couldn't hold it straight. Fuckers heavy."
As Stacy takes care of Poison and Ed, i spin around coming to my feet while grabing the gun from Ducky's hand and pistol whipping him in the side of the head. He drops. I take aim. ,,Baby, Kelly ran off."
,,Which way?"
,,The barn."
,,Dumb bitch." I return my attention to a crying Ducky. ,,Who sent you?"
,,Some guy came into the bar down town and found us."
,,All four of you were drinking together?" Stacy raised a good question. The three ramones sure, but Kelly didn't seem like the type to associate with their type.
,,No." He whimpered. ,,He brought Kelly with him."
,,What did he look like?"
,,What?" I fired next to his head. ,,He was and older guy, white hair, black suit. He had a scan over his left eye."
,,Why the hell is Stevens sending amateurs after us?" Another good question from Stacy.
,,How do you know we are amateurs?"
,,Pros don't put guns down their waist band with the hammer cocked to blow off their ass or balls."
,,Baby, she's almost to the barn."
,,Okay." I fire twice into Ducky's chest. And we head to the barn. ,,Go ahead. They deserve some fun too."
She raises her voice and screams, "FASS".
As Kelly nears the barn Loki runs out and jumps at her. Going for her throat. Widow joins in and begins biting her ankles as she hits the dirt. I laugh. ,,What's so funny?"
,,Ankle bitters." We both laugh on our walk. Gerry is attacking her mid section. Chewing through the soft tissue in her belly. Her eyes search for hope. Her breathing labored. Blood spurting from her mouth.
,,Halt." Stacy says the word with so much force I almost stop where i am. She giggles.
I kneel down. The dogs sitting on the opposite side of Kelly waiting patiently. Stacy stand over me. Watching. Watching the night for more intruders.
,,Why did he send you?"
She gurgles blood. Spits it up.
,,What are you too him, do you owe him money?"
She spits more blood. She is dying. Finally she is able to get out one word. ,,Daughter."
She's gone.
,,Fuck, he sent his daughter after us?"
,,Looks like it. And we killed her."
,,You thought he was pissed before."
,,Nothings going to stop him now. Now that he knows where we are."
We spent the rest of the morning burying the bodies. The dogs are kept out of our cemetery. I guess now it's no longer a cemetery and more of a collection of failures. Oh well, the shit you think of when you are digging a hole.