“They do require us to keep up our certification, you know. Even if we are office-bound.” Lizzie took the gun and checked the chamber before grabbing a box of bullets, sliding the gun into the holster at her hip.
“She’s got you there, Guppy,” Theo commented as he strapped a vest across his muscled chest and began to outfit himself with a pistol as well.
“Just don’t get in the way.” That was all I could reply with as I also strapped myself into a bulletproof vest and we got into the SUV. Theo sat behind the wheel and put the GPS coordinates into his phone.
As we drove away I couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that we were driving headlong into the unknown, and nothing good ever came from the unknown.
––––––––
––––––––
Twenty minutes later, the GPS pin led us to an old log cabin that sat practically buried within the surrounding forest. It was nearing dusk and the sky had begun to darken by the time we pulled the SUV in front of the house. I was just checking my gun when a gasp came from the backseat.
“Is that...?” Lizzie’s shaking finger came between the seats and my eyes followed to where she was pointing. Coming from a hole in the roof...was a pillar of smoke.
Wordlessly, Theo and I jumped out of the SUV and hurried towards the cabin with our guns drawn.
The smell of something burning hung heavily in the air, and we were just about to step onto the bowed wooden steps when Lizzie flew by us and threw the door open. “Lizzie, dammit, what happened to staying in the car?”
But the beta ignored me as she stood frozen in place by whatever she saw inside of the cabin, and one glance inside told me why.
A pyre had been built in the center of the main room of the cabin, made out of old logs of firewood and pieces of broken furniture that had been stacked up high and a post had been secured in the center. But it was what was tied to the post that had made Lizzie freeze in terror.
Though the flames of the pyre weren’t especially big, they had begun to engulf the legs of the figure tied to the post. The figure being Emerson. She was unconscious, her head lolling to the side as the flames engulfed her legs up to the knee.
“Shit.” Theo cursed before jumping into action, “Guppy, go around the back of the pyre where the flames haven’t reached yet and see if you can undo the ropes. Lizzie,” He looked at the woman who was still frozen.
He gripped her shoulders and gave her a rough shake, “Lizzie! See if this place has any running water. Go, now!”
Lizzie, seeming to finally snap out of her stupor, turned and ran out of the house in search of a hose. I skirted around the smoldering pyre and clambered up the backside until I reached the post, stamping at some of the smaller flames with my booted foot.
The knots on the ropes were complex and layered and I very quickly gave up on untying them, instead pulling out my pocket knife and I began to saw at the thick ropes with the serrated edge of the blade.
Theo’s voice came from behind me, “Guppy you’re going to need to saw a hell of a lot faster than that. Her upper torso is starting to catch.” He said around a burst of violent coughing as he inhaled the black smoke.
I put as much pressure onto the knife as possible and finally the ropes gave way and Theo dragged the still burning agent around the post and down the pyre. I tore my vest off and began beating at her legs, trying to put out the flames.
A cold, wet, feeling splashed into the side of my body, and I realized we were being sprayed with water by Lizzie who was holding the end of an ancient hose. The flames, which had spread to the pole, now sputtered under the onslaught of the water and after another minute or two they were completely out.
Lizzie dropped the still spouting hose on the ground and hurried over to us, “Is she okay? Is she breathing? Oh god please tell me she’s alive.” She collapsed to her knees next to where Theo was cradling the still smoking body of Emerson.
Theo pressed his finger to the agent’s neck but there was no need to feel for her pulse because the woman coughed a great wracking cough and her eyes opened.
“Lizzie...?” She croaked, confused. “What are you doing here?”
“Rach, you sent us a text, remember?”
The woman shook her head, her face scrunching with pain, “No, I didn’t. I was leaving the field office last night and someone attacked me from behind.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, my blood froze inside of my body.
“Are you telling us that you...you didn’t need backup?” Theo stuttered, his face paling.
Emerson gasped in pain as the shock from her burns began to wear off, but she still gritted her teeth to answer. “No. I didn’t. I don’t even have my cell phone with me, I don’t know where it is.”
“Son of a bitch.” The words tore their way out of my throat, “It was a trick.”
“He’s going to the house.” Theo rasped, handing Emerson over to Lizzie who cradled her in her lap.
