Chapter 17

Harve was warned that Michael and Jesse were on the way, but he also knew that the time was coming when the crazy men at the fort would get their due. He patrolled the woods around the house, vigilant for anything out of the ordinary. When two ATVs came down the narrow lane that led from town to their house, Harve was ready to pick off the riders.

"No, Harve, those are my friends," Sam exclaimed softly as he pushed down the barrel of the gun Harve aimed at them. Then he strode into the clearing where Michael and Jesse parked the vehicles. "Mike! Jesse! Man, I didn't think I'd ever see you guys again!" He gave each of them a bear hug, which they gladly reciprocated.

"Yeah, we were thinking...well, we didn't know what to think when we didn't hear from you," Jesse said. "Man, you look like a hillbilly in those clothes." Sam ignored Jesse's statement about his fashion.

"When you didn't call, I knew something was up." Michael looked at Sam with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I didn't want to lose you, too."

"Ah, I took care of myself...with a little help from Vivien." He grinned, but then his expression changed. "Which reminds me, Mike. Why didn't you tell me who she was when I told you her name? Why didn't you tell me she was CIA?"

Michael stared at him, a shocked look on his face. "Vivien Chase is CIA?"

"Aw come on, Mikey! Don't mess with me, man! She told me she's CIA, and she's got a ton of leads on her computer. She said she was supposed to help me find Fi."

As the look on Michael's face changed to one of dread, Sam suddenly realized that he'd been duped again. "Mike, please tell me...is she CIA or not?"

"Sam, if she's CIA, I don't know her."

Sam closed his eyes, fighting back the mixture of mortification and rage. Through his lips, he ground out, "If she's not with the agency, then who is she?"

"I'm someone who believes in your mission to get rid of Anson, and people like him. I work for someone who wishes to remain anonymous." Vivien came out of the cabin on crutches that Sam had fashioned for her that afternoon to help pass the time. "Sam, if you feel like you can't believe a word that comes out of my lips, please believe this one thing. I never meant to hurt you. Everything else I said was true. I just needed to keep my employer a secret."

Sam's fists balled at his sides. He'd never wanted to hit a woman so much in his life. It scared him, but his fear mixed with his anger until he wasn't sure he could control himself any longer. "Viv, just...just shut up, and get back in the cabin. We'll handle this ourselves."

"What, just the three of you? I don't think so."

"No, we've got backup coming," Michael replied with a thin smile. "You better listen to Sam before he wrings your neck, Vivien."

Jesse agreed. "Yeah, I've never seen him so mad before. No telling what he'll do."

Sam could tell by the way Jesse looked at him that everything he was saying, he believed. He had to calm down, think about the mission. He took a breath and let it out as Vivien turned away and retreated to the cabin without another word or a look back. He wouldn't look at her. He was too angry with her, and himself for falling for her and her tricks: to gaze at her now would make him lose it completely.

"Okay, she's gone. What do you make of her, man?"

"I don't know, Jesse. I...I really don't wanna talk about it. Let's just figure out how we're going to handle this situation."

"How we're going to handle it is this," Michael began. "We're going to ride in there and let them take us."

"What?"

"As soon as they have us, our support team will come in with choppers and guns blazing."

"But what if Anson isn't there?"

"Oh, he'll show. He and I had a little chat before we came here. He knows when I'm coming, and he thinks that I'm turning you guys over to him and taking up his cause."

"You convinced him that you're turning to the dark side? That's brilliant, Mike!"

"Best Trojan horse scenario I've ever seen." Jesse smiled.

Michael stared at Sam. "And we're taking Vivien with us."

Sam shook his head. "No, Mike. What's the point?"

"If she's really with Anson, as I suspect she is, we'll find out soon enough. If she isn't, she may be working for someone who set us all up for a purpose. If she gets caught in the crossfire..."

"I get where you're going with this, Mike. Not sure I like it..."

"Sam, you've got to get over this hump and put on your game face. Forget about what she said or didn't say. She's a liar, and she's good at it. Why should that surprise you?"

"Yeah, you're right, Mike." He took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this. You guys armed?"

"Of course," Jesse answered as he handed Sam his sidearm.

Sam caressed the cool metal and smiled. "Jess, you shouldn't have."

"I knew you couldn't go into this without your favorite gun."

"I love you, man."

As they silently made their preparations, Harve came over to observe, inching ever closer to their arsenal. "Hey, you fellas need some help?"

Sam replied, "No, Harve. This is gonna be too dangerous."

"But...but these guys...they've been terrorizin' all my neighbors fer far too long. We all wanna help stop 'em." He smiled. "Hey, I got an idea. If yer gonna pretend to turn yerselves in, why don't I and a few of my buddies haul ya in ourselves? Make it look like we're finally givin' in to 'em."

"That would really put their guard down, if they thought the locals were turning to their side," Jesse said with a thoughtful tone. "I like it."

"Yeah, let's not just catch them with their pants down, let's catch them with their pants down to the floor, eh Mike?" Sam laughed.

"Harve, can you get your people together in about twenty minutes?"

"Sure can!" He ran off down the path at full speed.

"Okay, so we'll have Harve and his people escort us into the compound. When Anson appears..."

"Which he'll probably do in the command post, at the end of the fort..." Sam drew a quick sketch of the layout. "Right there."

"Excellent. There's no place for them to run when our support swoops in from here," Michael pointed to the fort entrance, "And the air."

"You know these guys are pretty dumb. Did they ever think they'd need a second entrance to this fort?"

"You know, Jesse, I never saw one," Sam replied. "And Viv and I had plenty of time to take a good look at the place as they led us to the command center." He bit his bottom lip. "The one thing that worries me about this plan, Mike, is that there are women and children in there. We could have some high casualties if they get in the way."

"Yeah. I guess that's a risk we're going to have to take. Anson didn't give the same consideration to all the people he killed trying to get to me."

Sam frowned and stared at him with a concerned look on his face. "Don't ever be like him, Mike. There's gotta be something we can do."

"Maybe they aren't so innocent in all this, Sam. You want us to take that chance," Jesse asked.

"That's possible." Sam let out a breath. No matter which way they went, it was ultimately their lives on the line, and if Anson walked... "Okay, let's get back to the plan."

Michael finished giving Sam the details. By the time he finished, Michael looked up and found ten men dressed in jeans, overalls, and lots of flannel standing around with a varied assortment of shotguns and rifles. "Harve's got a lot of friends," he said, impressed.