Brain Storm, Cat Gilbert [read books for money TXT] 📗
- Author: Cat Gilbert
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Book online «Brain Storm, Cat Gilbert [read books for money TXT] 📗». Author Cat Gilbert
I STEPPED OUT to be greeted by a sky full of stars and a nearly full moon. At high altitude, the sky seemed almost close enough to touch and without the smog from the distant cities, gave off enough light not to need a flashlight to search the clearing around the house.
Whatever Brown had that made him buzz, Mac didn’t have. I had been happy about that but now would have given anything to hear it. It would have made it much easier to find him now that I’d figured out how to hear the minute changes in the buzz.
I might not be able to hear him, but I knew Mac could hear me. I’d gotten through to him in the bank. He said it was like I was talking to him. If he was alive and awake, I could get through to him now. I sat down on the porch and tried to clear my thoughts.
Mac, if you can hear me, make some noise. I waited, listening, hoping to hear him call out and got nothing. I tried again and got the same result. Either he couldn’t answer, or I couldn’t hear him, which was a distinct possibility given the ringing that was still going on in my head from the shotgun blast.
I couldn’t just sit there waiting for something that wasn’t happening. I got up and made a slow, careful trek around the house, still calling out in my head for him, praying he would respond. I moved my search 10 feet further out with each rotation of the house until I’d covered a path 30 feet wide and I’d still not found him. I had really hoped that I’d find him before I reached the tree line. Now the hunting was going to be a lot tougher, and I still wasn’t up to speed. My head hurt, and I suspected that I’d caught some of the shotgun pellets.
I went back into the house to check on the others and found Jonas sitting at the table with Mama D, an ice pack on his head. Trinity had made coffee and was pouring a cup when I came through. She looked up, and I shook my head that I hadn’t found him yet as I passed through the kitchen to get the flashlight.
When I came back, she held out a cup of coffee, and I took it, stowing the gun in my jacket pocket to free up a hand. I hated putting the gun away, but I was fairly sure if anyone was out there, I would have run into them by now. I was desperate to find Mac, but I needed both the kick from the caffeine and the warmth it provided, so I was taking it with me. Jonas just watched me as I strode by, too groggy to come with me, and obviously hating the fact. With one hand full of coffee and the other holding the flashlight, I kicked the door open and headed back out into the night.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER I was still looking. My frustration had mounted with each passing moment, and I found myself eventually yelling out loud for him, as well as in my head. I had searched the out buildings and been through the trees along the driveway. It had been a long, slow search and still I hadn’t found him.
I flopped down on a big rock and yelled at him mentally for ignoring me. Exhaustion and shock had been grinding on me, and I was about at the end of my rope when I finally heard him. It took me another 10 minutes to actually locate him, even with his help. If he hadn’t woken up, I would have never found him. As it was, I wasn’t sure I could help him, now that I finally knew where he was.
He was alive. I was thankful for that. But Brown had used the power that he had kept hidden from us and thrown Mac off the side of the mountain. I crawled on my belly to the edge and shined the light down to find him lying 20 feet below me on the ledge that had broken his fall. It had broken him too. Mac was trapped on the mountain and couldn’t move his legs. He was paralyzed. I took off my coat and dropped it to him along with the flashlight and started back to the cabin at a run.
“I found him,” I announced, throwing open the door to the kitchen and startling everyone. I saw the gun in Jonas’ hand, but barely even gave it a thought. He could barely even focus after that knock on the head, much less aim a gun. “He’s alive, but we’ve got a problem.”
“What? You mean bigger than the problems we already have?” Trinity asked, pouring me another cup of coffee.
I wrapped my hands around the cup, grateful for the warmth. It was colder outside than I realized and I had no idea how Mac had survived so far with his injuries. The thought had me hopping back up and gathering supplies.
I grabbed a Thermos and started filling it with coffee for Mac as I explained the situation. As I moved around the kitchen gathering food and supplies, they listened quietly. I was nearly finished when Trinity left the room. I heard her running up the stairs and within minutes, she was back.
“What should we do?” she asked, piling me down with the blankets she had ripped from the beds. “We can’t call the police. Not with this mess. How do we get help?”
Well, now there was the million dollar question, and I didn’t have an answer. I just left them sitting there, dragging blankets behind me as I headed to the tool shed in search of a rope.
I was heading back to the cabin thirty minutes later. I had lowered the blankets, coffee, and some food down to Mac with the rope I had found in the shed. The rope itself was in bad shape, and I had doubts it would even hold the weight of the supplies I had lowered down, much less anything heavier, but it had surprised me and done the job.
From above, it was impossible to see what other injuries he had incurred. He seemed to think that his back was the main problem, but I was worried that with a fall that bad, we were looking at possible internal injuries not to mention other broken bones and injuries that he wasn’t feeling yet. We needed to get him out of there, but Trinity was right. We couldn’t call in the police. There was only one place we could turn to for help. It was crazy, but it was the only thing I could think of.
“How’s he doing?” Jonas asked as I came back in the door.
I looked over at him. He still looked pretty bad, but his eyes were clear, and he could make complete sentences, so I figured he’d survive.
“He’s alive. For now. But I’ve got to get him off the mountain.” I braced myself for the next part because I already knew they weren’t going to like it. I didn’t like it either, but there just wasn’t any other way. “You all need to pack your things and get out of here. Trinity, you go pack your and Mama D’s stuff up, and I’ll take care of getting Jonas packed. You need to be on the road. Now.”
“What about your stuff?” Trinity asked, moving to clear the table.
“Leave that,” I told her, stilling her hands. “Go pack. My stuff stays here. I stay here.”
“What do you mean you’re staying here?” she said, freezing in place. “We need to get Mac and get out of here. Together.”
“We can’t get Mac. There’s no way I can get him off the mountain. No way any of us can. We need help. People who can go down there and get him. There’s no point in you being here, being involved. You need to leave. The sooner you’re gone, the sooner I can get to him.”
She wasn’t happy but seemed to understand. She set the dishes back down on the table and headed upstairs to start packing.
“What are you going to do after we leave?” Jonas asked as soon as she was out of earshot. The anger in his voice was palpable. It wasn’t helping things although I knew he was angry at the situation and not at me.
“As soon as you’re gone, I’m going to set this place on fire. Once it’s burning good, I’m going to call the Agency and tell them to come and get us.”
Jonas closed his eyes, and I could see his jaw grinding, but when he finally looked at me and nodded, I could tell he didn’t see any other way out. He may not have liked it, but it was the only way to get help.
I left the room and ran upstairs to pack. It took me all of 5 minutes to throw his things into a bag and head
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