Read Online Erik Handy by Hell of the Dead - Free Book Online Page A

Jean Paul wherever he may be.
    The man didn't waste a breath. He darted to the left, down a small lane between two huts, straight toward the village clearing where the police tried to contain the captured villagers.
    Nolan took off after him. He wasn't going to let him get away again.
    Marie. Jean Paul. The grocer and his family. In his mind, they urged and cheered Nolan on. They gave him their blessings. Their voices and words, the noise of their souls, rang in his ears.
    Nolan knew he wouldn't catch the man. His fear granted him greater speed. Nolan stopped and raised his rifle again. The man's back was retreating, but still exposed.
    The grocer laying in front of his home and store, stomach oozing out his life. Nolan couldn't shake that image, didn't want to. He had to kill this cowardly murderer. Even if the man never killed anyone, grocer or otherwise, he still had to be punished. God's will? Nolan didn't know. He was going on gut instinct and anger right now.
    "Father!"
    From behind. Raymond.
    Nolan lowered his gun as Raymond ran up beside him.
    "This way, Father," Raymond said.
    Nolan watched his target get lost in the shuffle of the skirmish. The fugitive never looked back.
    "Father," Raymond urged. "That baby."
    Nolan nodded. "That baby." Jean Paul. There was nothing special about the child. Just part of the promise Nolan made to himself and he wasn't going to let this damned place make him break it.
    I was going to kill him, Nolan thought as he and Raymond ran to another hut. I was going to shoot him in the back. God, what's happening to me?

Chapter 31
    Inside the hut Jean Paul was being kept, Rosalo bundled the baby up in a blanket. His sacrifice would not be denied.
    A man at the window watched the army activity. "Hurry!" he told Rosalo. "They're coming this way!"
    Confident, Rosalo replied, "I'm ready."
    Rosalo meant to flee into the jungle and wait the police out. They didn't know the jungle like he did so he would have plenty of running room. Killing Jean Paul was the final part of the plan, but that did not require any serious planning. He would wing it.
    Two soldiers burst into the hut.
    Rosalo's man ran interference, allowing Rosalo to make a break for it through the rear. However, Raymond and Nolan were there, guns drawn.
    The rifle in Nolan's hands shook, but he held tight.
    Rosalo was a frightened animal. His eyes darted, desperately trying to find an exit.
    "There's nowhere to run," Raymond assured him.
    Rosalo pulled a knife from his waistband sheath and warded everyone away. He then placed the blade flat against the baby in his arms.
    Nolan was about to jump in, a knee-jerk reaction for sure, but Raymond held him back with one arm.
    "Don't," Raymond said. Then, to Rosalo, "Give us the baby."
    Rosalo grinned. Nolan swore he saw two rows of shark teeth in that mouth of his.
    "He will die here," Rosalo declared.
    BANG!
    Raymond shot Rosalo in his knife arm. Rosalo dropped both the knife and baby, but Nolan was there for the child. The two soldiers subdued Rosalo and his accomplice and dragged them both outside.
    "How is he?" Raymond asked Nolan.
    "He's --" Nolan fingered part of the blanket off of Jean Paul's little face. The baby looked up at the priest and almost smiled. "He's okay."
     

Chapter 32
    Soldiers encircled the villagers. Though there was tension in the air, no one acted out of order.
    Rosalo stood among his followers, holding his shot arm. Blood dripped between his fingers. He kept looking around for a way out, but the circle of soldiers was too tight.
    The villagers seemed tranquil. The soldiers were antsy. They wanted a fight.
    Jacoby was chatting with one soldier when Raymond and Nolan, with Jean Paul, exited the hut. He saw that Nolan had the baby. Jacoby scoffed. All of this for a damn baby. He smiled when he realized that Nolan failed in finding the child's mother.
    Hell, the priest probably forgot about her! Jacoby wanted to laugh. The priest, so self-righteous, was infallible. Just