KING OF HEARTS - AN EXCERPT

KING OF HEARTS

By MASON TAYLOR-TAITE

AN EXCERPT

Later when it was dark out, house lights had been extinguished or at least dimmed. Five men drifted silently into the house, one at a time. All outfitted like Bill. All were armed and carrying night gear. None of them showed any emotion on their faces. Not even Bill.

“Listen up!” Bill spoke in a hushed tone, clearly in command. “Are we all set on communications?”

“All checked out, Colonel. We’re set.”

“So, everyone’s clear, right? We’ve already gone over this in minute detail. Take him alive…shoot only in self-defense. Mark, you arrest him…call in your deputies when we have him. Men, Ben didn’t just kill my parents. He killed Ruthie’s brother. He was a Navy SEAL, so he was our brother, too. We owe him a resolution to his murder.

“And remember, he may be my cousin, but I’m ashamed to say he’s a crazy S.O.B. and may not let us take him alive. Judging from the bloody knives in the truck, his weapon of choice is a blade. Up close and personal. He’s already got three kills to his credit that we know of. We don’t want anymore.”

After another hour of finalizing the plans for the evening, and a reminder for everyone to “watch their six,” the men left as silently as they had come in, one at a time from the front and back doors.

Bill called Sarge aside. “No matter how she sweet-talks you, do not let her out of this house. That’s an order, Sarge!” He spoke in a low, hard voice. “You’re the only one I trust to guard her as well as I could, and to not let her get around you. She’ll know what to do if anything happens to you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Keep all communications open.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ruth, come with me.” Leading her down the hall to his room, Bill closed the door. He picked up a bulletproof vest he’d laid out on the bed and turned to face her. “Hold out your arms for a minute.”

Ruth complied and just stood there, heart pounding, feeling numb and not very helpful. Bill started fitting the vest to Ruth’s body, reaching around to fasten the straps. “This is the newest protective vest available: bulletproof, stab and spike proof. Don’t take it off until this is all over.”

As Bill worked, he glanced down at Ruth. She was staring straight ahead, not really seeing anything, wearing a look of preoccupied worry, concern and something else he couldn’t quite name. Anger?

Pulling her close in a bear hug, Bill rested his chin on top of her head and spoke quietly, calmly. “Ruthie, this is all just precautionary. You’re going to be fine as long as you follow my instructions to the letter. You’ve got to be just as brave and courageous as you can be. We’re going to hunt him down and we’re going to bring him in. This is what we’ve trained for and executed, many times over the years. Our unit had the best success rate of any similar units, nearly a hundred percent. We’ve had missions aborted but we never failed an active mission. In other words, we have never not gotten our man. We know what we’re doing. You are seeing a side of me that very few people ever get to see outside of my unit. Believe me when I tell you, I have a soft spot in my heart for you. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. One of the finest teams trained by the United States Marine Corps has made it their business to protect you and bring you out on the other side of this, in one piece. “I need you to listen carefully. Are you listening?” Ruth nodded, her head against his chest.

“If, and I’m saying only if, something happens to Sarge, you need to get to the stable however you can. King is already in his stall. He’s saddled and waiting for you. Get on him, get out the back way. The inside pasture gates are already open. So are the stable doors and the back corral gate. Give him his head. He loves you and animals can sense danger to those they love. Get out to the pastures and ride into that far stand of timber over in pasture three. Red and Prince are already out there somewhere. Stay there and be alert. That’s where I’ll come for you when it’s safe.

“It’s almost over. You just have to stay strong and brave for me. Can you do that, Ruthie? Do you trust me?”

Ruth finally spoke, “Yes, Bill. I trust you.” “With your life, I mean. Do you trust me with your life?” “Yes. More than you know.”

“Woman, I love you. Ruth, I love you so much. This isn’t how I planned on telling you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Believe me. If we need to put him down, we will. But you will be kept safe.” Kissing the top of her head, Bill hugged Ruth tight again before saying, “It’s time for me to go.”

This time when Ruth looked up into Bill’s face, she hugged him tight, but all she could say was, “I’m not afraid for me, Bill. I’m afraid for you. Come back safe.” Then he was gone.

Sarge had finished darkening the rest of the house. He flicked on a small penlight for a moment to locate Ruth. “Ruth, we need to be on the floor, in the hallway. Do you need a light?”

“No. I can get there. Why are we in the hall, though?”

“Ben has been out there the last several nights watching the house. He doesn’t usually get here before 9:00. We’ll all be in position before he is. With everything dark, he’s either going to think you and Bill are out for the night, or he will suspect a trap. If we’re in the hall, he’s less likely to hear us and we are safer there if he starts shooting.”

“How do we know he’s been watching and not getting here before 9:00?” Ruth whispered.

“Don’t underestimate the colonel. He’s always been a couple of steps ahead of any subject we’ve been after. Besides, the rest of us have been out there, too, every night.”

She gasped. “You’ve all been out there? For how long?”

“Only about a week or so. Nine days, I guess. Ever since Ben disappeared from the Allen Ranch.”

Suddenly the radio came to life with Bill’s voice. “Comm check.”

The other four men and then Sarge all checked in. Ruth looked at Sarge in confusion. “But isn’t this dangerous? Won’t Ben hear their radios and figure out where they are?” “Nope. We’re the only ones listening through the radio. They’re all wearing headsets.”

Ruth sagged back against the wall in relief. Of course! They had headsets! At only a quarter after nine, Mark’s voice came over the radio, softly, urgently, “Colonel! Subject spotted: Field 2, in the ravine, half a klick south of the 2-3 gate, moving east. And he’s leading one of your horses.”

“Keep your eyes on him. The rest of us are on the way. Move in, men!”

“Colonel! He’s mounted up and on the run. Something spooked him. Looks like he’s heading towards the house!”

“Sergeant! Did you copy?”

“10-4 Colonel. We’re ready for him.

“Listen to me, Ruth,” Sarge spoke quickly, quietly, urgently. “He’s getting desperate now. He knows he’s being hunted. He may try to come in, thinking the house is empty. Whatever door he tries to come in, you go out the other one. Do you understand? I can take care of him a lot faster and easier if I know you aren’t in here to get hurt. Bill told you what to do, right?”

“Yes. I know what to do. Stay safe, Sarge.”

“You, too, Ruth. And if anything happens to me, you take care of that hardheaded colonel when this is all over, ok?”

Ruth gave a thumbs up and they returned to silence, waiting. As the men in the fields raced towards the house to intercept their subject, a figure on horseback, galloped up, not bothering to move quietly or in any way conceal his presence. He showed no concern for who might be watching for him.

He dismounted and raced to the front door, pounding on it, shouting, “Ruth! Ruth! I know you’re in there. Open up!”

As he continued shouting and pounding so hard the door shook, Sarge whispered in Ruth’s ear, “Remember: the men are on their way back. Keep him talking so we know where he is. I’ll get in position and when I start to open the door, you run! Don’t look back. Just run. Exactly as Bill told you.”

“Ben? Ben is that you?” Ruth called out in a trembling voice, feigning frail timidity. “What do you want?”

“I just want to talk to you. That’s all. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Hold on. My electricity went off this afternoon so I’m stumbling around in the dark. I’m coming.”

Sarge, standing quietly at the front door, turned silently toward Ruth. He pointed toward the back door and gave her a three-finger countdown by the light of his penlight. When he reached one and then zero he pointed to Ruth. His light went out, he pulled his firearm, and began unlocking the front door.

With a last look back, Ruth bolted from the back door as the front door opened. As she ran, she heard the two men shouting, cursing and knew Ben was in her house. Without hesitation, she fled down the hill into the stable and King’s open stall. She snatched the reins and grabbed the pommel. Before she was even in the stirrups, King was running from the stable. Leaning low over the chestnut’s neck, she rode as fast as King could carry her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure on horseback, silhouetted in the dark riding at an angle to intercept them. Fearing for King, she shouted as loud as she could, “Go, King! Go!” King stretched out and Ruth was suddenly flying faster than she’d ever ridden before. Hearing Bill’s voice in her head again, she headed for the number three pasture. Daring a look back over first one shoulder and then the other, she searched the dark for the figure she’d seen. But there was no one. Her common sense was telling her if it was Sarge or one of the other men in the unit, they would have called out. Bill would have whistled to try to stop King. The only person it could be was Ben, but there was still no other sign of him.

As King crossed through the open gate into the number three field, Ruth began to rein him in. She only realized her mistake when, just before reaching the timber, she heard the pounding of hooves coming up fast beside her. She screamed again at King, but before he could react the rider launched from the horse now on King’s left and tore Ruth from her saddle. She hit the ground hard, rolling, seeing an explosion of stars when her head hit solid ground.

Somewhere beyond the ringing in her ears, she heard Bill and the rest of the unit calling for her, yelling, shouting. At the same time, she was aware of King screaming in equine rage. She heard Ben cursing and shouting at King to “Whoa!” But King angrily began to rear up, determined not to let this man near Ruth. When Ben managed to grab the reins, he used them as a whip, trying to subdue the King of Hearts, trying to pull him away from in front of Ruth, which only made the devoted animal angrier.

Still on the ground, Ruth rolled to her back, fighting her blurred vision and a sickening sensation of spinning. She reached up, fumbling at her shoulder holster for her revolver. Relieved that it hadn’t gone flying when she did, she pulled out her weapon, feeling as if she was moving in slow motion. Hoping the men would hear the gun, she fired three times into the air. Ben dropped the reins and turned his attention to Ruth. His first and last mistake that night was turning his back on King.

The last thing Ruth saw before her world went dark was her King and Red, both screaming in rage, rearing up, front hooves flailing as they tried to knock Ben to the ground.

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