Every Good Plan Read online

  Adam hung back and held his position behind the car. When he heard the exit door open he cautiously charged towards it. He counted to five before he slowly opened the door—just enough to see where they were headed. Diaz shoved Lenny into the trunk of a silvery blue sedan car that was parked not far from Adam’s. When Diaz pulled away, Adam sprinted from the building and slipped in behind the wheel, his sights fixed firmly on the rear of Diaz’s car. This time he wouldn’t lose Lenny. His attention was fully directed to the task at hand.

  With his hands gripped firmly around the steering wheel, his knuckles white, he followed them.

  At one of the junctions, the traffic light turned red just after Diaz crossed, and before he could. He ignored it and instead flattened his foot on the accelerator, narrowly missing several oncoming vehicles. With mere seconds to spare he spotted Diaz rounding the corner. As he turned the corner behind them he realized Diaz was heading toward the freeway. Where’s he taking him? Once they hit the expressway, Diaz settled at a comfortable speed and Adam followed suit—maintaining his position at least three cars behind. Twenty minutes into the trip the gas warning light flickered on his dashboard. Adam’s stomach tensed up and he eased his foot off the gas pedal. He’d have at maximum forty miles left in his tank before he ran out. At that speed, most likely even less. So he did what he always did lately when he needed to stand firmer in faith. He declared God’s word out loud. Standing in faith that by God’s divine power he wouldn’t run out of gas.

  And as he confessed the Word out loud, Gabriel’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

  “Adam, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

  “Yes, yes, I can. Can you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear my friend. I thought we’d lost you. Where are you?”

  “I lost all communication with you. The signal died or something, but I’m okay. The Midget had a feast with Lenny, knocked him around pretty badly. But he’s holding up. Wu did some kind of deal with Diaz and Diaz took Lenny. I’m following them on the I-20 eastbound, about thirty-five miles outside the city. I’m low on gas though.”

  “Okay, stay on them. I’ll get a bird in the sky. And, Adam, this time please wait for backup.”

  “I’ll try, but I think he might be taking Lenny to wherever he’s been keeping Carrie hostage. Wait! He’s turning off. It looks like a—”

  The crackling noise in Adam’s earpiece returned.

  “Gabriel? Hello, can you hear me?”

  But Gabriel didn’t respond.

  The signal had dropped again. Perhaps he was too far out of range. Or perhaps it was because he was in the middle of nowhere.

  Adam turned his attention back to Diaz’s car ahead of him. As he took the turnoff onto a dirt road, he temporarily lost sight of their car in the dust clouds that kicked up behind it. The road stretched out between large open spaces on both sides. But as far as he could tell there were no roads that branched off.

  It would be dark soon and his lights would give away his position. He searched for the switch on his dashboard to turn the auto-detection off. In the brief second it took to find it he was caught by surprise when Diaz’s rear brake lights suddenly beamed through the cloud of dust in front of him.

  He slammed both feet on his brakes, nearly sliding off the road as his car’s wheel slid over the loose gravel. Caught in a giant cloud of dust the car jolted to a halt.

  When Adam finally breathed again, and the cloud settled, he noticed Diaz had parked his car about a hundred fifty yards ahead. Thankful he had disengaged the auto light switch in the nick of time he slowly rolled his car off onto the side of the informal road and turned the engine off. As he took in his surroundings he noticed it was a large construction site—or something resembling a quarry. In the dusk light, he just about managed to see Diaz force Lenny out of his car’s trunk. This time he had replaced the knife with a gun.

  Adam cringed. He despised weapons of any kind. He tried reaching Gabriel, but the transmission was still down.

  From a distance, still seated inside his car, he watched as Diaz shoved Lenny toward a mobile site office. There were no lights on inside. Both disappeared into the office. Less than a minute later, Diaz came out on his own. He lingered at the door after closing it, then made his way back to his car. The thought that Diaz would be heading back toward him suddenly dawned on Adam—he’d see him without any doubt.

  Adam turned his car’s ignition on but his car wouldn’t start. His heart skipped several beats as he tried it again. His car was dead. His eyes remained pinned on Diaz’s car where he was backing up to turn it around. Come on! Start! But still, his car didn’t start. He needed to get out of there and fast or Diaz would drive straight into him. With nowhere to hide and no safe means of getting away fast enough, Adam flung his door open and ran as fast as his legs would allow.

  In the distance behind him, he heard Diaz’s car engine roaring up the road. He looked back, only for a split second. But it was enough to have his foot hit an uneven patch of dirt. He slammed down flat on his stomach, his face planted firmly into the hard ground. For an instant, he lost his wind and gasped for air. While he struggled to get to his feet he heard the engine close behind him. Saw the vehicle’s lights beam alongside him. Realized Diaz had no intentions of stopping.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Lenny groaned when his tortured body hit the rough carpet where Diaz had shoved him onto the floor. It was pitch dark inside the office. So much so that he couldn’t see anything in front of his face. Or might it be because his eyes were swollen shut?

  Diaz had bound his wrists together with duct tape, wrapping it extra tight because of the cast on his arm. At least they weren’t behind his back this time. He wiped away at the beads of sweat that had trickled down his face, causing his vision to blur even more. But another wipe with the back of his hand did the trick and he could make out the faint outlines of a desk and one or two pieces of office furniture.

  In the poor light, he managed to see the single window in the wall opposite him. On the outside it had timber nailed across nearly the entire pane, allowing the last bit of the day’s light to filter through the narrow openings between the boards. The cold air it let in through the gaps had him brace himself for a cold night.

  He knew he had to do whatever it took to try and break out, but he just couldn’t seem to peel his exhausted body off the floor. Truth be told, he could have let himself fall asleep right there and never wake up, but he chose to force himself into a seated position. As he sat there wallowing in self pity, he thought he heard something move in the corner nearest to the window opposite him. With one half-open eye, he peered into the darkness. A portion of the desk obstructed his view, so he didn’t care to look any further—he was too tired to move. But as he dropped his head back against the wood-paneled wall behind him, he heard the shuffle again.

  At first, he thought it was a rat, but then realized it was too loud to be a rodent. Even one of the big ones. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to chance it. Chills ran down his spine and the thought of sharing a space with any kind of critter creeped him out. Deciding he’d rather lie down on top of the desk—just in case—he pushed his body up from the floor and got into an upright position, momentarily losing his balance as he did so. When he moved toward the desk that stood in the centre of the room the shuffle sounded again. This time the shuffling was much more intense. But even standing up he couldn’t see into the dark corner. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps this was some kind of holding cell for everyone who antagonized Diaz. A place he left his enemies to die. Why wouldn’t he? He was useless to Diaz. And no one would even miss him.

  Deciding he’d bravely face whatever it was so he could get some sleep, he moved around the desk towards the dark corner. A faint human whimper stopped him dead in his tracks. He could have sworn it sounded female. Could it be?

  “Carrie?” he asked in a timid voice.

  “Carrie, is that you?”

  “Leonard?” Carrie’
s weak voice answered.

  “Yes, it’s me, you’re alive!”

  In one large step, Lenny leaped toward the dark corner and dropped to his knees. She was frozen stiff where he found her curled up in the corner.

  “I’ve got you, sis, hold on. I’ve got you.”

  “Leonard, you came for me.”

  “Of course I did. I’m so sorry I got you into this mess. I am so sorry.”

  And for the minutes that followed they huddled together, quietly crying in each other’s arms for the first time in almost a decade; leaning against each other just like they had all those years ago when their father beat their mother senseless.

  Once they’d both grieved the time they’d been apart, reaffirmed their sibling bond, and silently exchanged forgiveness, it was Lenny who spoke first.

  “We need to get out of here. Who knows what he’ll do to us when he gets back.”

  “It’s useless. I’ve tried. I found some train tracks not far from here, but somehow he caught up with me. They nailed the window and door shut. There’s no way out.”

  “There’s always a way out, little sister.”

  Lenny got to his feet and walked over to the window. Shards of glass crunched beneath his feet. He dropped down to his knees and smoothed his hands across the floor, feeling for a piece large enough to reach the tape around his wrists. The edges of the glass were sharp and it didn’t take long before his hands were free.

  “Are you tied up too?”

  “Yes, but they used cable ties. My hands and my feet. It hurts, Lenny,” she sobbed now.

  “I know, I know. Just hold, on sis.”

  Taking the piece of glass with him he felt his way in the dark around her bound wrists. When he applied pressure he felt the sharp sting at the soft flesh between his thumb and index finger as the piece of broken window sliced through it. But he hardly cared. All he cared about was freeing Carrie. Once more he pushed down hard onto the piece of glass and the cable tie snapped apart. Carrie let out a soft moan when the plastic that had sliced into her flesh pulled away some of her skin.

  “Sorry,” Lenny empathized.

  The ties around her ankles took a little longer—and left the cuts in his hands a little deeper. But his mind had numbed his body to the pain.

  “Stay down for now until I find a way out of here. Just rest a bit,” he told her.

  But she was right. The timbers across the broken window were firmly in place and not even several hard knocks with his shoulder made any difference. He moved across to the door. That too had been secured with what sounded like a chain. But if there was one thing Lenny did well then it was to persevere. It was what had gotten him through his miserable life—never giving up when his back was against the wall. But no matter how hard he tried, or which corner of the office he searched in, there was no way out.

  And as he walked back toward his sister and knelt down beside her to see if she was okay, he briefly caught himself asking God to help them. He’d never prayed before and there was no way he knew if he even did it the right way, but, at that moment, he hoped the God Adam spoke of heard him.

  Exhausted from the torture his body had gone through, from all the years of running and hiding, he sat on the floor next to Carrie. She felt the blood on his hands and wiped it with the sleeve of her coat. And the thought crossed his mind, that even if they both died there, sitting on the floor next to each other, he’d leave this wretched world with the peace of knowing he had reconciled with his sister. If there was a God that heard him, if he was as dependable as Adam had said, and if he could find a way to help them, he would let him.

  The thought was somehow freeing and he sat there in silent reflection, allowing it to wash over him.

  When he leaned his head back against the wall, and opened his eyes again for the first time since he let it all go, he spotted it. At that precise moment, a cloud had shifted just enough to allow the tiniest beam of moonlight to break through a crevice between the timbers on the window, and it hit a section on the ceiling directly above the desk.

  There, concealed to blend with the wood veneer panels in the ceiling, was a small square hatch.

  It took all of three fleeting seconds for Lenny to jump up and onto the desk. Where he had managed to find the energy from he didn’t quite know, but with almost no effort at all, he smashed his casted fist through the wood panel. It splintered easily to reveal the small cavity beneath the steel roof. Again he punched at the roof with his broken arm. He flinched as bolts of pain shot up through his bones. But freedom was in sight and that was all he could think of now. It took several more thrusts, before the corrugated steel sheet peeled away and Lenny stared up into the dark blue night sky.

  And as he stared up at the heavens above, a little voice deep down in his soul told him God had heard his humble prayer.

  “You did it, Leonard, you did it,” Carrie said, her voice heavy with emotion.

  “Time to get out of here.” He smiled down to where she stood by his feet.

  Once she had safely made it up and through the hole, he followed. With part of the flat roof damaged they needed to tread with caution. But when they got to the edge and saw how high they were off the ground, they nearly lost all hope again.

  As Lenny stared out into the darkness across the open terrain, one eye still swollen tight, he saw the headlights of a car swerving and speeding across the landscape. For a few moments, he considered that it might be a group of guys having fun during a reckless binge. But when Carrie confirmed the color of the car appeared to be silver, he suspected that it was Diaz.

  There was no time to spare. They needed to get down and run as fast as they could. While keeping a watchful eye on Diaz’s location, Lenny positioned one of the roof panels down the side of the office. The ramp wasn’t very stable but it was all they had to work with.

  It did.

  As soon as their feet hit the ground they ran in the direction of the train tracks, hoping, praying Diaz wouldn’t see them.

  But when they were in close proximity to where Diaz was performing a donut maneuver like a crazed teenager, they heard the unmistakable cries of Adam’s voice.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Adam ducked as Diaz swerved his car toward him once again. Dust clouds obscured his vision and settled in his eyes. He tried to run, but Diaz blocked him off, narrowly missing his legs. The harder Adam pushed to escape, the more fun Diaz had in torturing him. Even over the loud roar of his vehicle’s engine, Adam could hear Diaz’s crazed laugh billowing from his car’s windows.

  “What do you want?” Adam shouted at him, his voice raspy from the dust.

  But Diaz wasn’t going to answer. No matter how many times Adam shouted at him, begged him to let him go. Diaz had every intention of extending the sick cat and mouse game for as long as he deemed fit. Again he rammed his car forward. Then braked. Then thrust ahead toward Adam’s legs. Braked again. Each time soliciting the precise response he’d hoped to get from Adam.

  Diaz pushed forward once more. This time Adam held his position and didn’t move. The unexpected defiance took Diaz by surprise and he came to a grinding halt inches away from Adam’s legs. As Adam slammed both his hands flat onto the hood, he stared into his opponent’s eyes.

  Waiting for Adam to react, a sadistic laugh escaped from Diaz’s lips and he revved his car to scare him off. But Adam stood firm. Instead, he told Diaz that he had a choice. That he could choose not to be this man whose heart was filled with hatred. That he knew the secret to making it all go away.

  But Diaz ignored him.

  With the car’s nose aimed directly at Adam, its headlights illuminating the area around him, Adam stared his enemy full in his face. Like a matador staring out his bull, he stood his ground. Diaz revved his engine again. As if he was preparing to charge and lay the final sentence on his victim.

  In the distance, a loud thundering sound distracted Adam and his head automatically turned to find the source. Diaz had done the same. The loud metall
ic noise rumbled towards them. It came from the mobile site office. And suddenly Diaz found himself torn between his two evil plans. He had left Lenny and Carrie inside the trailer with every intention of having them both die a slow and nasty death. And he had hoped to play his sick game with Adam until he finally had the urge to run him over.

  Through the windshield, Adam now saw Diaz’s eyes, darting back and forth between him and the noise at the office. The weight of having to make a choice was evident. When Diaz once again looked away, Adam took his chance and ran past the side of the car and off into the darkness. The difficult angle was enough to sway Diaz from chasing after Adam and instead he turned his car back towards the site office. As Adam turned around to look at Diaz, the car’s headlights shone directly onto the trailer. Stationed next to the trailer Adam watched as Lenny and Carrie banged against a corrugated metal sheet. Their plan to distract Diaz from chasing after him—saving his life—had worked. Like a zookeeper who baited a predator away from his prey, they kept banging on the tin roof panel.

  Diaz charged towards them, his heart filled with anger. His eyes stern and burdened with hatred.

  “Get out of the way, Carrie!” Lenny warned.

  The lights sped towards them.

  The engine roared louder.

  Diaz pushed the car faster.

  With seconds to spare, Lenny shoved Carrie out of its path and lunged off to the other side. He hit the ground hard as the car sped past between them. Clouds of dust exploded into the space behind the car as Diaz ground to a halt.

  “Carrie!”

  “I’m fine!”

  “Let’s go!”

  They scrambled to their feet and ran. As far as they could before Diaz could turn the car around and come for them again.

  And he did. Quicker than they’d hoped he would.

  But they didn’t stop.

  They heard the car’s wheels spinning on the loose dirt.