R. Ruggiero - Reckoning

There were two chairs in the middle of the room. Their occupants wore hoods, had gags jammed into their mouths, and were tied down. Jake and Julianne! Tears filled Cooper’s eyes as he raced to the smaller of the two figures. His rifle clattered to the ground. His pocketknife was in his hand when he got there.

He ripped the hood off of him and untied the gag in one fluid motion.

Jake’s eyes blinked. His face was dirty. Dried blood ran down from the left side of his mouth and his lip was gashed there. His eyes were puffy, from crying and lack of sleep, no doubt. At first, he shrunk backward when he saw a tall imposing figure standing over him. His eyes dilated to the light and then his eyes grew wide. His mouth moved, but no words came out. His eyes filled up and glistened, wet.

Cooper knelt to the ground and sawed at the bonds that held his arms behind him and then those against his feet. His wrists and ankles were chafed and bloody. Cooper scooped his son into his arms and lifted him from the chair. He felt like a feather in his arms. Jake pulled his head back, looking at his father’s face in disbelief, as if he was trying to convince himself that his father was truly holding him in his arms.

Cooper’s heart was torn in two when sound finally came from Jake. He wailed like a wounded animal. He sobbed deeply, his body wracking against Cooper’s hold. Relief gushed from him. The shock of rescue overwhelmed him. He held his son tightly against him, never wanting to let go. Someone else came in and tended to releasing Julianne. He saw it from the corner of his eye.

He knelt down and placed Jake’s feet on the ground. He cradled his face in his hands, “Are you alright? Are you really OK?”

Jake nodded slowly. His own eyes were still wide with disbelief.

“I thought…I was…going to…die,” he sobbed between each painstaking word.

Cooper pulled him into his arms once again, “I know, son. You are safe now.”

Jake’s body pulsed against his as the tears continued.

Cooper turned to Julianne. Her face was a bloody mess of caked blood, swollen eyes, and deep purple bruises. Her lips were swollen and cut in several places. Tears ran down her face. A puddle of urine lay under the chair.

“What happened?” He asked purely from shock.

“She fought for me,” Jake surprised him by answering for her.

Her eyes were clouded by fear, but she nodded slowly.

“What?” He asked, confused.

“When they came for me, she fought. She punched. She bit. They had to hit her in the head to get her to stop.” Jake’s words came staccato.

Julianne’s eyes simply pleaded, like an animal in pain.

He softened his look, “Thank you.” His heart stirred. “Thank you,” he said again, absentmindedly. Their eyes locked for a long moment. Something passed between them that hadn’t yet. It scared him and he looked back at Jake.

Jake continued, excited, “She was like an animal. Clawing, hitting, biting, screaming. She scared me!” He exclaimed.

He looked once more at Julianne, in wonder. “Why?”

Her words came muddled by the pain and swollenness around her lips and jaw, “I just did. Something came over me. Like if I could save Jake it would make up for…” Her voice trailed off as she descending into a fit of sobbing. Cooper knew the rest.

“I understand,” he said, reaching out to place his hand on hers.

She shook her head furiously, “You don’t. You don’t! I had to. I owed you. I owed the world! One bit of good is all I wanted!” She was frantic and yelling.

He rubbed her hand, “You did. Jake’s alive. Who knows what could have happened.”

This calmed her for a moment, but then her eyes flew wide open.

“We have to get Hodges!”

Cooper’s hand dropped from hers, “What?”

She cast a gaze at Jake and worry clouded her eyes. She leaned in to whisper in Cooper’s ear, so he wouldn’t hear her.

“He told me he wasn’t going to stop until he got you. Said he had help coming.”

Cooper took a step back, buying time to think.

“Where is he now?”

She shook her head, her eyes turning morose. “I don’t know.”

His face turned hard, “Keep Jake inside.”

He turned to Jake, “I need you to stay in here for a few minutes with Julianne. I’ll be right outside.”

Jake reached out and grabbed his father around the waist, “Don’t leave me!”

He dropped to one knee so he could look into his son’s panic-stricken eyes. Cooper wanted nothing more than to wrap Jake in the world’s longest hug until his tears, fear, and pain left him, but he knew Hodges stood in the way. “There’s something I need to do that I don’t want you to see. I’ll be just outside and I won’t be in any danger at all. They’ve surrendered and are all disarmed.”

Jake looked unconvinced, fear gripping him. Cooper stood up, plying his son’s fingers from their grip on him. He looked at Julianne, who stepped in and cradled Jake in her arms, holding him back. Cooper gave him one last reassuring look and then turned to go outside.

The prisoners had been lined up, their weapons stacked up alongside the cabin’s front wall. Angela and the snipers were clustered off to the left. Jason and the man from Huynh’s gang were waiting for him. Cooper raised a finger to him, asking for a minute. Jason nodded and pulled a cigarette out from his pocket, lighting it, and walking his men a few paces further into the distance.

Cooper turned to the prisoners, “Who’s in charge here?”

The men looked at the ground; no one would step forward.

Calvin caught his look and inclined his head to indicate the man with the gray beard and shemagh. Cooper stepped to where that man was and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him roughly from the line of prisoners.

“I’m guessing it’s you.”

The man looked up at him with fierce, defiant blue eyes.

“Whatcha want?”

“I want to know where Hodges is,” Cooper said, meeting his eyes full on.

“I don’t know,” the man nearly spat the words at Cooper.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“I don’t believe you.” Cooper ripped his pistol from its holster and held it next to the man’s temple.

“I’m going to ask one more time. Where is Hodges?”

The man glared back at him stone faced. “He’s my brother.” It sounded like an excuse.

Cooper shook his head, “I’m going to count to three. One!”

The man flinched, emotions warring.

“Two!”

“Just tell him. Dad!” A voice screeched from the end of the line of prisoners. The face of the man in front of him fell.

“Shut your mouth, you damned pansy!” The man admonished his son.

Cooper grinned, “Well isn’t this interesting? I need to know where Hodges is so that I can save my son once and for all.” He walked down the line to where a younger man, in his twenties, had yelled. “Now, you can decide whether to save your son right now.”

Cooper raised the pistol once again.

“Alright, I’ll tell you!” The gray-bearded man said in a crestfallen voice.

Cooper walked back towards him, “Tell me.”

“He’s at his place. I can tell you how to get there.” Cooper didn’t like the tone of his voice or the way his eyes shifted when he said the word ‘place’.

He looked intently at him, “Before you say another word, I should tell you. I’m going to bring your son with us. If you’re lying, a bullet into his brain is the price you’ll pay for dishonesty.”

The man angrily kicked the dirt, “Damn you! You son-of-a-bitch! Sure, you got me. He’s at Roscoe’s place. He’s got the Ham radio.”

Cooper sneered in disgust, “Where’s that?”