Part 6 (2/2)
”Get back here!” LeBeck cried out after them. He ran toward them, whipping out his Colt .45 and firing blindly into the brush, but he was too late to get a good shot at the fleeing teenagers. He stopped at the edge of the clearing, swore, then gestured for a very large thug to come near.
”Tiny!” LeBeck beckoned. A hulking mountain of flesh, with hands bigger than LeBeck's head, came trotting toward his boss. He stopped obediently next to LeBeck, never saying a word, just waiting expectantly.
”Get 'em,” ordered LeBeck.
The man called Tiny just stood there, an uncomprehending look on his face. LeBeck made a slas.h.i.+ng gesture across his throat, then pointed into the woods. The big man flashed a stupid-looking grin, grunted, then stepped toward the woods.
LeBeck gripped Tiny's arm, tugging him back. He looked up into the thug's eyes and said, snarling, ”Accident. Understand?”
Tiny grunted and smiled again, patted LeBeck on the shoulder, then crashed into the woods.
Chapter Twelve.
Ian and Sally fled through the pitch-black forest, branches and brambles tearing at their clothes. Overhead, the wind whistled through the trees as the storm continued to build.
”Did you see the guy following us?” shouted Ian over the wind as he stumbled through the pathless woods.
”He's as big as a house!” said Sally, overtaking Ian and running headlong through the timber.
The foliage was thick and difficult to move through, especially when running at night with no light to guide the way. The teenagers frequently tripped on exposed tree roots that cropped up almost everywhere. After several spills on the rocky soil, the knees on their pants were shredded, their skin gashed and bleeding. Still they ran.
Lightning crackled overhead. Ian froze suddenly and gestured for Sally to do the same. They stood there, trying to quiet their ragged breathing, and listened. At first they heard only the wind, which lashed the treetops with increasing fury. An owl hooted from somewhere in the darkness. But then, behind them in the distance, they heard branches snapping and heavy footfalls as something lumbered through the forest. Something big.
”Think he'll find us?” Sally whispered.
”Not in the dark,” Ian tried to say with confidence, except he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. ”If we stay here we can double back and make it back home.”
They stood there, motionless, waiting and listening. The cras.h.i.+ng noise got closer. And closer. Then, suddenly, they saw a huge black form take shape not more than twenty yards from where they stood. The shape paused, then rushed toward them.
”Out of here!” Ian shouted. Without looking back, they took off like frightened jackrabbits, running for their lives.
Clarence strode quickly across the compound, fussing and fretting at LeBeck's men, who suddenly seemed to have made themselves quite at home. Behind him, at the cliff's edge, the unmanned lighthouse shone in the face of the approaching storm. Clarence fretted and muttered to himself. How do I deal with this? Why can't LeBeck just go away? I have a lighthouse to run, for G.o.d's sake. And Young still down with the flu. Where's that boy, anyway?
Clarence noticed a man near the oil house and quickly ran toward him. The thug was leaning up against the small, round building, about to light a cigarette. He struck a match, then looked up in surprise as Clarence, red in the face, waved his arms at him.
”Put that out, ya d.a.m.n fool!” Clarence shouted. ”You'll blow us all up!”
The thug turned and saw a red warning plaque nailed to the door that read, ”Danger: Kerosene Storage.” As he stood there, stupidly trying to comprehend the implications of the sign, his match burned down, making him drop it to the ground in pain.
Clarence turned his back and threw his hands up in exasperation. Then he spied LeBeck striding up the lawn toward Clarence's house. The lightkeeper took a deep breath, then hurried to intercept him. As his feet carried him swiftly across the lawn, lightning flashed overhead. Clarence paid no attention. A thunderous boom echoed off the cliffs, but Clarence's ears were deaf to the sound. He had only one thing on his mind.
”LeBeck!” Clarence shouted over the wind. ”What are all these men doing here?”
LeBeck stopped, rolled his eyes upward, then turned and watched as Clarence quickly closed the gap between them. He wondered if it wouldn't be easier after all to just shoot the lightkeeper and get it over with.
”You've heard of safety in numbers, Clarence? I'm going to be very safe tonight.” LeBeck's new bodyguard, with Tommy gun in hand, hustled up next to his boss and scowled at Clarence. LeBeck leaned forward and talked in a low tone, trying not to be overheard by the thug. ”We were mates once, Clarence. Can't you be civil to your old friend? At least in front of my boys?”
”You chose your own path, LeBeck,” said Clarence, spitting out the words. ”I make no bones about it. I don't like you, and I don't like what you do.”
LeBeck's eyes narrowed. ”Don't forget, you're my partner now. This lighthouse will be the best drop-off spot on all the Great Lakes.”
”No,” snapped Clarence. ”Just this once. Just once so you'll go and never come back. That's the end of it.”
”But once is all it takes, Clarence laddie,” LeBeck said, mocking the lightkeeper's Scottish accent. ”You're committed now. You're mine. Lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.”
”The h.e.l.l with that!”
With clenched fists, Clarence took a step forward. In a flash, the bodyguard lowered the muzzle of his machine gun, causing Clarence to freeze in his tracks.
”Of course,” said LeBeck calmly, never moving a muscle, ”if I were to leave you alone after tonight, I'd need something in return.”
Clarence narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then asked, ”Like what?”
LeBeck silently nodded toward the house.
Clarence stood there a moment, his mind not quite comprehending the gangster's gesture. Then he went red with rage. ”G.o.d d.a.m.n you, LeBeck.”
At that moment the front door of the house opened, and they heard a quiet voice calling out.
”h.e.l.lo, Jean.”
All heads turned to see Collene standing there, looking down from the front porch. Dressed in a flowing white dress, she was a radiant angel lit against the stormy background.
LeBeck took a step forward, staring open-mouthed at her. For the first time that evening, his calm seemed to melt away. He was dumbstruck, struggling for words. ”Collene,” he finally blurted out.
Smiling down on him, she said sweetly, ”It's been a long, long time.” The compound was awash in silence. Even the storm seemed to lull as the electricity flowed between LeBeck and Collene.
Clarence watched the exchange in silent horror. The fight went out of him then. It was as if someone had kicked him in the stomach, then sucked out his soul, leaving an empty sh.e.l.l behind. He tried stepping forward, hesitated, then stood there, frozen. Finally, he lowered his eyes and stammered, ”I... I best be get'n back to the light.”
”Yes, Clarence,” said LeBeck distantly, never taking his eyes off Collene. ”Do that. Make sure it burns bright.”
Clarence slunk off, melting away into the dark shadows. He looked over his shoulder once and cringed to see LeBeck moving up the front steps of the porch to take Collene's hands in his. Clarence turned away and fled, hot tears streaking his cheeks. ”You're losing her,” a voice boomed inside his head. He jammed his fists over his ears and stumbled away toward the safety of the lighthouse.
Chapter Thirteen.
Ian and Sally, after what seemed like hours fleeing through the dense forest, finally stumbled into a deserted clearing, a barren parcel of granite near the sh.o.r.eline. At first, Ian had no idea where they were. With the night sky filled with storm clouds and no light from the moon to illuminate the scene, all he could make out were black shapes hovering all around them. Just off to their right he could hear waves cras.h.i.+ng on the nearby sh.o.r.e.
Then, as lightning crackled across the black clouds roiling across the lake, Ian could see that the dark shapes were twisted metal beams pointing skyward, a macabre forest of steel sticking straight out of the granite.
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