They both sat silently for a moment, continuing to think as Carl drug his hand across his face, dejection pouring off of him. Looking back up at her, he said, “Don’t you get it? I’m screwed.”
“Not if we get away,” she answered back in frustration. “What is wrong with you? Why are you giving up without a fight?”
“I’m a dead man,” his voice broke as he pressed his fingers to his lips in an effort to still the shaking. “Either they kill me or I go to prison for assisting in drug trafficking. Either way, I’m dead.”
A loud voice from below interrupted their thoughts. “Just two more loads and we’re done.”
Annie squatted next to him, thinking back to all of the fun they had had in the clinic with Suzanne and Leon. The animals he cared for. Walking Suzanne safely to her car. Taking her hands, she cupped his face. “You’re a good person, Carl.”
At this his eyes sought hers, the questions evident in their depths, so she continued. “You’re a good person who got duped into a bad situation. The police will take that into consideration, I’m sure of it. Especially if we get away and you can provide evidence against them. You don’t give up. Don’t give up on me and don’t give up on yourself.”
She continued to hold his face before wrapping her arms around him, instinctively knowing that he had been holding this all in for a long time. She heard him sniffle, then clear his throat as he leaned back away from her.
“The woods around here are thick. That’s one of the reason’s I heard them say they picked this place. If we can get out of the barn undetected and make it to the woods, we might be able to hide there.”
Pulling back away from him she smiled. “It’s almost completely dark and they are still occupied. Let’s try now.”
Silently crawling to the far side of the barn loft, they felt for rotten boards that could be removed easily. They found that most of the side slats were fairly loose, but pondered the noise that would be made when they tried to move them.
Carl quickly said, “When they finish loading a vans they start it up and that makes a lot of noise in the barn until the van pulls away. Sit like this and be ready to kick when I say so.” He positioned himself so that he was laying on his back, propped up on his arms with his legs bent and feet against the old wood. Annie quickly mimicked his position.
In less than a moment they heard the sound of the next van’s engine starting and Carl whispered, “Now.” With the barn’s interior reverberating with the sound of the van’s engine as the van was pulling out, they both kicked several boards away from the wall of the loft’s wall. The boards cracked and gave way, splintering into pieces. Scrambling up, they quickly pulled the pieces away, leaving a gap large enough for them to slip through.
Looking at each other, Annie couldn’t help but grin while Carl shook his head.
“We’re not clear yet,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, well, we’re not tied to a barn post waiting to be killed right now either,” she whispered back, peeking through the hole in the wall.
The drop-off from the barn was about twelve feet down to the ground. “Let me go first and then I can try to break your fall,” Carl said. Annie nodded and moved back from the hole. She watched as he disappeared through the broken slats and then quickly crawled back over to peer down. Sighing in relief, she saw that he was on his hands and knees but was quickly standing and turning back to her. Listening carefully to see if they had been detected, she quietly scooted to the edge of the hole, letting her legs dangle out of the barn loft. Glancing quickly down, she saw him raise his arms up toward her, nodding in her direction.
She slid out while twisting her body so that she was now completely dangling out of the loft, just holding on with her hands.
“Come on. I’ve got you,” she heard Carl whisper. Letting go she dropped into his arms and they both fell backwards onto the ground. Free! We did it!
* * *
The men from Tony’s security team had joined forces with the local sheriff’s office that had been greatly understaffed for this type of maneuver, as well as with the DEA agents. Not one for normally sharing, the DEA wanted this case wrapped up so tightly they were willing to get all the help they could as long as they retained jurisdiction.
The task force was spread out in the woods completely surrounding the compound. There were DEA agents several miles away capturing each van as they came down the road, quickly taking down the drivers and members and confiscating each van-load of drugs and equipment. Moving them swiftly away from the road, they set up to grab the next one that would be coming.