Ninety Degrees Out

“Here they come.”

Randy’s whisper was barely audible.

Two men came into their backyard area with a device slung between them.Both of them in black, but the shorter one wove between the raised garden beds and went right to the base of the fireplace chimney.

“Jimbo, give me the damn detonator.I’ll set it for ten minutes.Didn’t you say you wanted to go help Jax and Milo at the other place.Rico really wants that one leveled.”

“Tough luck, Ernie.You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Sara Markham and two other occupants.”

Ernie unleashed like a coiled snake, striking Jimbo in the groin.

“Hit the dirt Ernie!”

Randy stepped forward with his sniper rifle trained on Ernie, and Jimbo rolled to the side sweeping his foot hard into Ernie’s ankle.They wrestled on the gravel pathway, hitting the raised garden beds.

“You take Ernie’s right arm I’ll take the other one,” Randy shouted to Aaron.

The two men grabbed his elbows yanking them ruthlessly backward until they heard his shoulders popping.

Ernie’s screams brought Sarah out the back door with her pistol drawn.

“You guys okay?”The pistol trembled but she continued to point it at the man Randy had on the patio deck.

“A-Okay!” Aaron’s smug tone said it all.

“Good news.Thank God.Have you heard from the others?”

Sarah asked.

“Just now.”Randy tapped his ear.“They have two restrained at the ranch.Guess what Ernie?”He didn’t give the moaning man a chance to say anything.“They have Rico and Grange at the ranch.Just Chay left to check in.”

“Fuck!” Ernie’s disgusted curse had Aaron rolling him over onto his back.

“What do you care?”

“God damn Milo is going to get the girl.I bet he’s the only one who get’s it done.Pete is with him.”Ernie’s grin was pure evil.

“Hate to break it to you, Ernie, you’re under arrest.” Jimbo rolled to his feet wincing as he pulled a set of zip ties out of his back pocket.“Do either of you guys have a way to get that helicopter down here?”

“What the fuck—” Ernie sputtered.

“Yep, us Mounties get our man.In this case men.The trouble you caused in St. Rupert was the last straw.”Jimbo looped his zip ties around Ernie’s wrists and threaded a third one between them.“Don’t fight these too hard.Don’t want you to cut yourself.There’s an artery right there.”

“Get me a God damn doctor.You busted up my shoulders.”

“We’ll see if I can get that chopper down here.Might be picking up your buddies down at the ranch.Sounded like it might be over that way,” Aaron said.

“I’ll get some ice for those shoulders,” Sarah said.“Even if he’s a damn idiot, it’ll help.”She whirled around and the door slammed behind her.

“You’re lucky we don’t tell her not to bother,” Randy said.“Do we want to go down and give Chay a hand?”

Silence reined for a few minutes and as Sarah came out with a makeshift ice pack, they heard a series of rifle shots.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Chay and Alicia crouched at the corner of his house where two blue spruce draped the boughs almost to the ground.From there they watched as two men carried a massive device in a sling swaying between them.

“What?That’s probably big enough to level city hall in Anchorage,” Chay hissed.

“Over kill.From what you said, Rico really want this place for himself but with Jazz, the alarms, and good locks, it was off limits.”Alicia whispered.

The wind rustling through the boughs surrounding them made the men’s words muffled as they spoke.

“Over here Milo, if you set it there, it will take down the fireplace and the rest of the structure will follow,” Pete said.

They slogged between the garden patches and dropped their device at the base of the chimney.

Chay wondered when Pete would take his man down, hoping he wouldn’t have to do anything.Alicia tugged at his shirt, and he dipped his head to hear what she was saying.

“Do you smell gasoline?”

As she spoke, three rifle shots echoed through the breezy night air as a spotlight lit the street.The helicopter hovering about panned its spotlight over the house.

“Shit, Arimina must be up.That’s her.I know that rifle’s sound anywhere.”

Chay grabbed her hand when she started to wiggle out from under the tree.

“Give it one second, while Pete get’s Milo under control.”

Alicia’s head turned to where Chay was pointing.

Milo threw two punches at Pete, but the bigger man, stepped sideways as he shouted.

“You’re under arrest.Attempted murder and number of other charges.St. Rupert wants you back to face charges.”

“No fucking way,” Milo reached for his waistband, and Pete hit with a round house kick to his knee.The crack of Milo’s kneecap breaking, was almost lost as another rifle shot cracked through the air.

“Let’s go see what’s up with Arimina.Milo’s not going anywhere.”Chay said, “In the back door.I left Jazz guarding it.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Arimina watched the girl as she started to pour liquid out of the dark container she was carrying.Right away she could smell gas.What was she doing?Gas goes in cars and not on the lawn in front of a house.

She was coming toward her window, and she could tell there wasn’t much left in the plastic jug.Now she could see it was red.The girl had long braids and she was wearing shorts.She dropped the container and started walking back to where she first poured liquid on the lawn.She had to be Angel.The bad one.The one Daddy said was the Devil’s Angel when he was talking to Mommy last night.

When Angel reached into her pocket and flicked a lighter on, Arimina took aim.

And when Angel leaned down to light the gasoline trail that led right to her window, she squeezed off three shots in a row. All she wanted was for the girl to stop.Angel dropped the lighter and it went out.When she got down on her knees to feel around in the wet grass, Arimina knew she was going to try to burn the house down.

“Mommy, I don’t want to hurt her.But I can’t let her hurt us either.”

Arimina shouted out her window.

“Bad girl!Stop!I’ll shoot you!”

Angel responded by lifting up the lighter and flicking it on again.

Arimina squinted down the barrel and sighted her rifle on Angel’s shoulder.

Squeeze.I can hit her shoulder.It’s bigger than the juice bottles I practices on.

Angel moved as she eased the trigger back. Her head jerked, and she collapsed backward, the lighter flying out of her hand.

Arimina dropped her rifle.

I didn’t mean to kill her.She moved.She was going to light a fire.

She yanked the door of her room open and sprinted down the hallway to the stairs, hitting her mother square in the chest as she came up them.They both started falling down the stairs, but Chay caught them.

“Out front, Daddy.You have to come.I hurt her.Bad, I think.I had to,” Arimina didn’t even know she was crying as Chay scooped her up, hugging her and carrying her out the front door.

“It’s okay, sweetie.You did the right thing.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his shoulder.She didn’t want to see.

“Take her, Alicia.I’ll deal with Angel.”

Arimina heard the helicopter coming down.She felt her mothers arms come around her as Chay passed her across.She raised her head to watch the big yellow Chinook land on the road.Men were jumping out before it even settled all the way down.

She sniffled and closed her eyes.They were safe.The soldiers were there.