Mind's Eye - Part 11

The last light of sunset ebbed over the woods. Earth's star was nothing more than a glow on the western horizon. Neil listened as the forest began to quiet. Birds were chanting their final songs of the day as the night creatures began to stir.

He stopped and slipped out of his backpack, setting it on the ground. He unzipped the top flap and withdrew a snub nose .32, handing it to Jarod. "Here, take this," he said.

"Six shot snub nose?" Jarod asked with a little confusion. "Not exactly the standard equipment for the Ranger service."

"It's not. That's a Captain Case personal backup issue. I got it cheap at a surplus supplier place in Georgetown. I don't want either of us getting caught short-handed." Neil looked up into the darkening sky. "The moonrise should be bright enough for us to see without lights tonight."

Jarod looked up, as well, seeing the first stars appearing far away from the waning light of the sunset. What was it Sydney had once told him about the first stars of night? It was a poem, he remembered. He made a note to find it once his work with Neil Case was done and everyone was safe. "It's going to get cold tonight," he said.

"Yeah, skies are crystal clear. We're in for a snap." Neil hauled his pack off the ground and ran his arms through the straps. He took the radio off the strap of the backpack and keyed it. "Unit One to base, we're beginning our route." Mildred announced a response. He turned to Jarod. "Come on, Greer. Let's get a move on."

Jarod had plotted a patrol route for them based on the way he would attempt to enter the park if he were Stoltz. The assassin would avoid main roads if possible, making use of the hiking paths cut through the woods for tourists. The state police had given them a general path of movement for Stoltz, giving regular updates on sightings. A few hours had gone by since anyone had seen the man. If he had gotten hold of a vehicle, there was no telling how far he had gotten.

The temperature was turning brisk as the moon began to rise high into the night sky. Jarod's breath steamed in the cool air. Case seemed unaffected by the chill, almost reveling in the change. "You like this weather?"

"Oh yeah," Case said with a smile. "Reminds me of when I was a little boy. It's one of the few memories I have of my father and brother. We'd always come here when it started to turn cold. The park would be empty, and we'd have practically the whole place to ourselves."

"That must have been quite a time for you."

"It was. Some days, I'd give anything to have it back. Just me, my brother and my dad." Neil swallowed hard. "Life is never in our control, I guess."

"Especially when you're a child and someone takes it away from you."

Case stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Jarod. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Jarod saw the tense look on Neil's face. If Stoltz was going according to plan, now was the time to let Neil in on the secret. "It means I know what that's like, to feel helpless and afraid."

Case's hand rolled into a fist, like he was preparing to strike. "You don't know a damned thing, Greer," he growled.

Jarod was undaunted. "I know the Centre stole my life, just like it stole yours."

There was a moment that seemed infinite as Case registered what Jarod had said. Once the process was complete, his hand went for the Taurus in his holster. He raised it in steady hands and pointed it at Jarod, finger on the trigger. He tried in vain to control his breathing, which was labored and stressed. "I'm going to ask you one more time – who the hell are you?"

Trying to remain as neutral as possible, Jarod forced his body to relax. "My first name is Jarod. I don't know what my last name is. The Centre took me when I was very young. I finally escaped a little over two years ago. Since then, I've been trying to undo the damage I did there."

"Screw that!" Case shouted. "I was there. I never saw you."

"And I never saw you. Raines made sure of that by keeping his projects separated."

"I don't believe you!"

Jarod took a small step toward Neil. He was rewarded with a warning to keep his distance. "Neil – or should I call you 'Nelson' and maybe call Deb Warren 'Jeanie Danziger'?"

Case struggled to maintain his control. His finger flexed on the trigger of the Taurus. "Where did you hear those names?" he demanded.

"The DSAs that recorded your time there. I know what Raines did to the children in Black Arrow." Jarod could see he was making little progress in convincing Neil of his sincerity. "Look, if I was here to kill you, I would have done it already. I'm here to help you, Neil. You know Stoltz is on his way here to finish what he started. We can end it your terms, like you want. I'll help you do that. You can take back some of what the Centre and Raines took from you all those years ago."

The gun lowered just a bit, but Case kept it leveled and ready to fire at Jarod. "No matter what I do, I'll never get back what was taken. My family is gone."

"What about your brother? He'd want you to go on, to find your life again."

"David is six feet under in some classified graveyard where the Centre puts all its dirty laundry. He's dead, and nothing will change that."

"I know you miss him very much, Neil. I know he cared for the children who had been taken. I saw how he was with Jeanie."

Neil's face lost its hard features. "He made us promise to never give in to them." The gun lowered another fraction. "He knew what Raines was doing, and he died for that. I'll never forget what that bastard did to my brother in the lab."

Neil lowered the gun entirely and slumped back on a fallen tree. The Taurus hung limply in his hand and came to rest at his side. He composed himself after a moment and holstered the weapon. Without a word, he took off his backpack tossed it to the ground.

"Neil," Jarod said, approaching with caution, "you know Stoltz is running on a program, and you're next."

The pale moonlight gave Neil an ashen look. His voice was nearly a whisper. "I know."

"You could run, but he's only going to keep at it until he finds you. The Centre taught him how to evade capture."

"Yeah, but they didn't teach him how to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time."

Jarod was perplexed. "What do you mean?"

Neil picked at the moss on the tree. "Peter was not as adept at moving things as David was. My brother could do the most amazing things with his mind. He was everything Raines was looking for in a test subject, except my dad had taught him how to be strong and to fight for what he believed in. Maybe that's what got him killed."

"Raines killed him, Neil," Jarod countered. "He would have killed all of you if you hadn't gotten out of there."

"Yeah, well," Neil sighed, "fat lot of good that turned out to be unless someone gets their hands on Stoltz and locks him down for good." His eyes closed in the silence of the woods.

Jarod heard the sound just a fraction of a second before Neil was hurled off the log backward by a bullet. Neil gave a muffled grunt as the shot hit him. He toppled onto the damp forest floor like a rag doll. Jarod was immediately on the move toward him after an initial crouching reaction.

Stoltz had found them.

The tree provided protection against the next three attempts. The absence of sound made the scene surreal to Jarod. There was no report from a weapon to gauge the level of danger or even at what range Stoltz was attacking.

Neil's body shivered in shock as Jarod checked the wound. The entry was clean, but the bullet had not exited. It lay buried in Neil's upper chest, near the shoulder. The moon provided some light, but Jarod did not dare turn on a flashlight to examine Case.

He pressed on the wound to stem the flow of blood, all the while trying to get a fix on Stoltz as he maneuvered for a better position from which to launch another attack. There were faint snaps of twigs in the distance that let Jarod estimate Stoltz was still over fifty yards away from their protective position behind the tree.

"Stay with me, Neil," Jarod encouraged in a whisper.

Neil's breathing had been reduced to small gasps of pain. "You have to get out of here." He chuckled weakly. "No sense in two of us dying." His eyes closed in exhaustion.

Jarod looked around him in desperation. Neil was going into shock. The roots of a nearby tree rose up into its trunk. It would do. He took hold of Neil's ankles and dragged him close to the trunk. Neil cried out in pain at the movement, but it was necessary if he was going to survive. He propped the ranger's legs up on the roots as a treatment for shock. "We're both getting out of here," he promised Neil.

"We need help," Neil mumbled.

Jarod searched for the radio, remembering belatedly that it was on the strap of Neil's backpack. That seemed promising until he remembered the pack was on the other side of the tree, out in the open where anyone going for it would be an assured target. Also in the pack was a first aid kit that would have at least some rudimentary supplies to stem Neil's rate of blood loss. The risk was worth the reward if he could just get to it.

He looked down at Case, whose eyes squinted in pain. "Neil, I'm going for your pack."

Neil shook his head feebly. "He'll mow you down the minute he sees you. You have to get him on the run. He can't move things without concentrating." Case's hand slipped to his holster. "Take my gun. Start shooting at him. It'll buy you some time." He coughed, and gurgling sound rumbled in his chest.

Jarod refused the offer. "I have the backup you gave me. Keep yours in case I can't hold him off out there and he manages to make it back this way."

He rose up quickly for a glimpse into the woods to find the hunter. There was no choice but to face Peter Stoltz and hope his skills had not improved over the years.