Don't Hang Up - Part 2
“No, you’re coming with me. Leave your big gun with Seth. We’re hikers or hunters. Coen, Albert, Seth, stay under cover unless it looks like we need help. Come on, David. Let’s go.”
With that the two men ran forward, staying low until the very edge of the woods was reached, then they slowed. There were a couple of men standing in the road looking around and arguing. Were they the ones who had made the call, or were they after the callers? Sometimes it was hard to tell.
The men looked up as David and John strolled up. They seemed to be sizing them up. “Well, let them,” John thought, “we’re doing the same.”
John nodded. “Afternoon.”
“Afternoon.”
“You men got car trouble?”
“Naw, just waiting for the kids to get done playing.”
“Oh, you got kids? Abandoned towns aren’t the best place for kids to roam freely. They might get hurt.”
“What do you know about this place?”
John shrugged and tried not to let the recognition show as one of the men turned. “Not much. It was abandoned twenty, thirty years ago, wasn’t it, Dave?”
David nodded. “Something like that. You men from around here?”
The men were beginning to shift restlessly, and one shook his head.
“Nice place this mountain. But you never know who you will run into. Many an outlaw has been shot, and kidnappers, drug runners, and such have been captured in some strange fashion. Good thing you fellows aren’t any of those things.”
Beside him, John felt David tense and glanced over to see one of the men reaching for a gun. Before he had a chance to pull it, John and David both had guns in their hands.
“Get down on the ground!” David barked.
“Now!” John ordered.
Two men did as they were told, but one tried to make a break for it. The next moment he fell to the ground clutching his leg and crying in pain. John wasn’t sure if the shot had been David’s or one of the men in the woods.
“Cuff ‘em,” John ordered quickly. “And gag that one.” He pointed to the injured man. Seth and Albert appeared from the woods as David began cuffing the men. But Coen remained hidden. John was thankful at least one of the men were still watching. He’d recognized the injured man and knew he had a brother who would most likely be fairly close, and if he heard the shots–
“Get them out of here!”
David and Seth half carried the injured man into the woods while Albert herded the other two prisoners in the same direction. John crossed the road to the empty post office. With one hand on the grip of his gun, he backed up and waited.
All was silent. No sound came from the woods. Nothing moved.
Then pounding feet came closer, and a gruff voice called, “Jerik! Where in thunder are you guys? And where’d you find them kids?”
John gave a slight nod. He’d been right.
“Jerik? Quit playin’ games! We’ve got to get those kids and get out of here, ‘cause if someone finds ‘em, we’ll all end up in the slammer.” The man, rather heavy and perspiring even though it was a cool day, appeared around the bend in the road. His breathing was labored.
John waited. Waited until he’d come closer, and then suddenly he stepped from the shadows with one of his guns drawn in his hand. “Hands in the air, Damion. We already have Jerik and the others.”
“What the–”
“Hands in the air!” John barked.
Damion raised his hands but glared at John. “You don’t have no one. If’n you did, where are they?”
David stepped from the woods. “Be quiet. You talk too much.”
“I talk too much? Ow!” Damion squirmed as John snapped handcuffs around one wrist and then jerked his arms down and behind his back with one swift motion. “Ya got to loosen ‘em. Man, this better not be a prank. If this is Jerik’s idea of a joke, I’ll push him off a cliff!”
“Be quiet, Damion,” John said, “and maybe you’ll live to see the inside of a jail cell.”
Instantly the man began to whimper.
“Take him away, Dave. I have business to attend to.” John gave his prisoner a little shove to his friend and turned. He knew all about Jerik and Damion and their enterprises. This time they were going to face the music.
Confident that the rest of his team could handle the prisoners, John broke into a jog. He knew the layout of the little town. It had been used many times in training missions. He knew just where the phone booth was.
In half a minute he was leaning against it and pulling out his red hat. After pulling it on, he sauntered across the street saying, “Don’t hang up. Don’t hang up.”
There was a little scrambling noise under the porch. Then a piece of lattice that once had roses growing on it moved, and a little dark head popped out.
“Mr. Red Hat!”
The small child stood up. Her dark hair was long and tangled, her bare arms were scratched, and she shivered.
“Yes, Miss Judah.”
Two other heads appeared, and two other little girls, one with brown locks and the other with red, moved up beside Judah. They were shorter and looked younger.
“Is this all of you?” John asked.
The three heads nodded.
“Good. We caught the men who had you.”
Judah’s eyes went wide. “You did? You caught them and found us?”
“It appears that way. God helped us do both today.”
Judah moved over and slipped her small hand into John’s larger one. “That’s because we were praying and God never hangs up!”
John smiled. “That’s right. He never does. Now, how about we get you girls some place safe and warm and give you a good dinner.”
“That would be nice. Are you going to knock off the bad men?” Judah asked the question so casually that John nearly choked.
“No. We’re going to hand them over to the police.”
“Good. It’s not nice to knock people off. They might get hurt.”
John didn’t trust himself to speak but pulled off his jacket and put it around the smallest girl. When she lifted her arms, he picked her up, took Judah’s hand again, and started back down the road. As he passed the old telephone booth, he thought of Judah’s words. “God never hangs up.” It was a comforting thought.