AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He ducked his head so she couldn’t see his face. “I’m okay.”
“He’s gonna send us help.”
“Momma says God helps those who help themselves.”
Esperanza had heard that speech, too. She’d rather get her scripture from the preacher at the neighbor’s church. He had a kind face. He said God was a God of love, not hate. God was kind, not mean. “Momma doesn’t know nothing about God. If she did, she wouldn’t stay here with Uncle Ezra.”
Dom snorted again. “He ain’t our uncle.”
“I know.”
“Well, I know something, too. We gotta get out of here. Momma ran away fromPapionce. We can do it, too, even if I have to get a gun and shoot Ezra Dodge to keep him from coming after us.”
Dom’s voice got a little louder. She glanced toward the closed door. “Shhh! We’re just kids.” The horrible image of Uncle Ezra, his face bloody, falling and falling until he smashed into the ground danced in her head. She shuddered and grabbed her brother’s hand. “Promise me you won’t do nothing like that. Let’s run away.”
“They’d find us and drag us back, and he’d beat us some more. We gotta find a way to stop him.”
Esperanza rolled over. The ice pack fell away, but she ignored it “You can’t take on Uncle Ezra. He’s too big and too mean. I seen him kill a man once. Snuck up on him from behind and smashed his head in with a baseball bat.”
Dom didn’t answer for a long time, but she could hear his breathing, loud in her ear. “You’re lying. You never told no one.”
“I ain’t lying.” Esperanza sat up, relieved to finally tell someone what she’d seen. They’d only been in Kansas a little while. The tall man in a blue suit had come out to the pasture where Ezra had been fixing a fence. They’d talked. Then they’d gone in the house. She’d see them coming from the kitchen window.
They were in the living room. Then Ezra had gone into the hall closet. She’d heard him. Heard the thud, heard him dragging something. Seen him pulling the body out the back door. “Nothing to tell. He dragged the body out behind the barn and buried it. You was at school. I couldn’t go that week on account of that bruise on my face shaped like his hand. He didn’t know I saw, but I did. If he can kill a man like that, what kind a chance do you got? You’re just a kid. Besides, how would you get your hands on Uncle Ezra’s hunting guns—he keeps them all locked up. The key chain is on his belt all the time.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. You just watch.”
He slipped away, as silent as he’d come in. Esperanza grabbed the ice bag and held it against her cheek. It was cold outside but she felt as if a fever were eating her alive.God, if you don’t send someone soon, it’s gonna be too late for all of us.
Chapter Thirty-three
Daniel peered at the dark, dirt road ahead, willing Samuel to hurry. Instead, his brother slowed the pickup. The deep pit in the rutted road made mincemeat of the underside of the truck. Samuel would need an alignment and new struts. Daniel gritted his teeth. If they didn’t hurry, it would be too late for Benny. “Why are you slowing down? We need to hurry.”
“Because this road is a mess and—” The radio crackled drowning out the rest of Samuel’s response.
“There’s a Hummer parked in front of the house.” Ray reported. “The windows are tinted. I can’t tell if anybody’s in it. We’re holding back while I run the plates.”
A Hummer. Most likely, Eloy Barrera’s posse had found Morin’s house. Samuel pulled in behind Ray’s Bronco. They were protected by a long stand of trees that hugged the road before it spread out into the front yard of a ramshackle house still several hundred yards away. A couple of floodlights attached to the porch roof illuminated the Hummer. No sign of movement.
“You think Barrera?” Daniel hugged his arms to his chest and tried to keep his teeth from chattering.
“Or somebody he sent.”
“Somebody is going to be dead meat if we don’t get in there.” Daniel tugged his weapon from inside his coat jacket and opened his door. “Once Barrera knows Morin isn’t there, nobody will be left standing.”
Samuel gripped his arm. “The DEA and SWAT are right behind us. Give them a minute.”
“Can’t wait.”
Daniel slid from the truck and darted to Ray’s pickup. His brother-in-law crouched next to it. “We need to go in.”
“Wait for—”
A scream punctured the silence. A protracted scream.. It sounded like a petrified woman in pain.
“Go, go.” His weapon drawn, Ray scrambled in front of Daniel, heading toward the Hummer. He paused there, peeked around the edge. Samuel squeezed in next to him, Daniel landed on the other side.
“We gotta get in there now or that woman doesn’t stand a chance,” Ray whispered.
