“Hatchet, I…” Elsie said, starting to say something, anything, to convince him that he was wrong. She wasn’t the one who needed help and protection. He was. But before she could get the rest of the words out, muffled cursing reached her and then the line went dead. He was gone.
“Hatchet? Hatchet?” She said his name a few more times, praying that maybe, somehow, she’d be able to get through to him, but it was too late. There wasn’t anybody on the other end of the call. It was just her, talking into the air.
With a sharp curse of her own, she slammed her finger on the button to disconnect the call and just sat there, holding Hatchet’s phone against her chest, as her mind flew with rapid thoughts.
There was so much more that she wanted to say, that she needed to say, and now her only chance to talk to him was gone. She wished she had asked him how he was. She wished she had told him how sorry she was. All the regrets and doubts of the past two days had flooded her mind, and all she could do was stand there, frozen, just hanging onto the sound of his voice, a sound she hadn’t realized she could miss as much as she did.
Elsie wasn’t sure how long she stood there, still clutching the phone, repeating their all too brief conversation over and over in her head, until something finally jarred her out of it. The words that Hatchet had said: that Mad Dog would be coming after her, that he had already been in the cell once.
It was all too easy for Elsie to imagine just how simple it would be for that greasy bastard to get in there with a knife or a gun. And Hatchet wouldn’t be able to run, or get away, or even fight back. He’d just be locked away in a cage like an animal waiting for the slaughter. Well, there was no way she was going to just stand there and let it happen. Hell no!
Fury and terror and defiance crashed through her in a maelstrom that pushed her into action. She opened up Hatchet’s phone once more, quickly scrolling through the contacts with shaking fingers. Her whole body was shaking, not in fear for herself, but in fear for Hatchet. For what Mad Dog would do to him if he got his slimy claws on him. Elsie knew what she needed to do. She needed to help Hatchet. The only problem was that she had no idea where to even start.
She was under house arrest, and Hatchet was locked up in a prison cell. Mad Dog was on the loose. He could be anywhere. Elsie just prayed that Hatchet was right and that Jackrabbit really could help.
Elsie stopped scrolling when she got to the name she was looking for. She drew in a deep, steadying breath and then hit the button to dial the number. It rang three times before someone answered: a gruff, masculine voice that sounded groggy with sleep as if he’d just woken up. Elsie glanced at the clock. At nearly four in the afternoon? Her hopes took a nose dive. But it was too late now. Besides, she had to try everything she could to help Hatchet.
“What the fuck! This better be good, man. I’ve got two birds in my bed and I’m the worm if you know what I mean.”
Elsie had to grit her teeth and, for a second, she considered just hanging up and coming up with a new plan altogether. The only problem was that she didn’t even have a plan. She was just running on instincts. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed this man’s help.
“Hatchet? Hatchet, what the hell, man? Stop fucking around with your balls over there! What the fuck are you doing?” Jackrabbit said, his voice still gravelly but now with more than a hint of irritation. “If you’re balls deep in that McLaurel chick and dialed me on accident, I’m gonna be pissed. I’m glad you’re out of the slammer and all, but – shit, man! – like I told you, no pussy is worth getting locked up for. Hatchet? Hatchet, what the hell!” There was another slight pause and she heard a loud sigh, “Whatever, man! I’m hanging up. I’ve got things of my own to do.”
“Wait!” Elsie finally forced out the single word and she had to take a deep breath before she could continue. “Jackrabbit, wait. It’s… it’s not Hatchet. It’s Elsie.”
The complete silence from the other end of the line drew on so long that Elsie was afraid Jackrabbit had gone and hung up the phone.
After a long, tense moment, he spoke up again, this time sounding contrite as he went on. “Oh, shit, Elsie. Sorry, I didn’t realize…”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. It didn’t take a genius to figure that one out.
“Really, sweetheart. I thought it was Hatchet. Otherwise I wouldn’t have said…”
“I get it. It’s fine,” Elsie interrupted, a new growl entering her voice. “And don’t ever call me ‘sweetheart’ again, got it?”
“Hey, alright swee… I mean, Elsie. No problem, no problem. No need to bust my balls about it. Won’t happen again. Scout’s honor.”
“Uh-huh. As if you were ever a scout,” Elsie sneered. Or would know what honor was if it hit you in the face, she added to herself. “Listen, that’s not important. I talked to Hatchet.”
“So, he’s out then? Your daddy decided to drop the charges after all? I knew you could sweet-talk him around.”
“No, that’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Elsie took a deep breath, trying to keep a rein on her own patience. But Jackrabbit was making it damned difficult. “He just called me from the police station. He said that Mad Dog isn’t going to just give up and that we’re both in danger.”
“Well, I can tell you one thing,” Jackrabbit said after a long moment of loaded silence. “He’s right. Mad Dog is on the warpath.”
“The warpath? But Hatchet… he’s still locked up. He’s in danger there, Jackrabbit.”
“I know, swee… Elsie, but I’m at a loss at the moment as to what to do to help him. It’s not as if we can just waltz right into that police station and break him out… Hang on.” The way Jackrabbit’s voice changed on the tail-end of his sentence made worry rush through her, enough to forget all about his near miss.
“What are you talking about? Jackrabbit, what am I waiting for here?”
“Just… hold on one god-damned second and let me think this through.” He all but shushed her and she impatiently tapped her foot on the floor until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hold on for what? I’m basically under house arrest. There’s no way for me to get out of here and there’s no way for you to break him out of jail. I’ve known Sheriff Donohue since the fifth grade and he’s not going to listen to some dirty, leather-wearing asshole of a biker gang.”
“No, but he would listen to you,” Jackrabbit said slyly. “And I’m not dirty. I’ll have you know, I shower. Regularly!”
“I’m sure you do,” Elsie said, over-emphasizing her words enough to let him know that she meant no such thing.
“I’m not joking around, girlie,” Jackrabbit snarled. “Hatchet is in real trouble here. He’s not kidding about Mad Dog. Old bastard will do everything he can to get Hatchet and you both. Believe me, Hatchet is your best chance for getting out of this alive.”
“A… alive? Would Mad Dog really try and kill me? And Hatchet?”
“Try and succeed, I have no doubt about that.”
She could practically feel Jackrabbit’s nervous energy reach her from across the phone call and she found herself pacing around her room once more. “So, what do we do about it?”
“There you go! Now you’re asking the right questions,” Rabbit said, before continuing on and speaking so quickly that Elsie struggled to keep up with him. “Mad Dog has gone totally off the deep end. Most of the Roadburners aren’t backing him on this. Most of them disagree with what he did, kicking Hatchet out of the club, and now… now he’s taking things too far. But he’s still got enough of his thugs to make plenty of trouble.”
“Hatchet told me to call you and ask for help. So, what do you want me to do? He told me to stay here and stay safe, but I’m not about to let Mad Dog get anywhere near him.”
There was a slight pause from the other line, before Jackrabbit finally spoke again. “You really care about him, don’t you? I mean, I knew he’d gone and gotten himself wrapped around your little finger, but… Anyways, that’s not important right now. We don’t have much time. Mad Dog is already on the move.”
“What?! Why didn’t you say so?”
“I just did!”
“Ugh, you are the worst,” Elsie growled, stomping her foot for good measure.
“You’re no walk in the park either, sweet… damn it! ...Elsie. But we gotta get to Hatchet, quick.”
Elsie nodded her head, forcing her frustration away. “Okay, what do I do? I can’t get out here. I’m just as trapped as Hatchet is.”
“Just sit tight,” Jackrabbit shot off quickly. “I think I might have a plan.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” Elsie snorted. “You think you might have a plan. Well, that’s real reassuring, let me tell you.” She didn’t realize until she’d finished speaking that it was pointless. She’d been talking to dead air. Jackrabbit had already hung up.
The next two hours crawled by. Elsie was sure that she’d worn permanent tracks in the rug on the floor of her bedroom from her endless pacing. When she heard a familiar ringtone fill the air she glanced down at the cell phone still clutched in her hands, but it wasn’t Hatchet’s phone. It was her own.
Elsie bit her lower lip, glancing at the caller ID, and then winced guiltily. It was Rachael calling. Again. She’d tried to call her twice now and both times Elsie had let it go to voicemail, too unsure of what to tell her friend. In all the years that they had known each other, Elsie had never once been able to pull off lying to Rachael. It was like she had some sort of third sense; she could sniff out a lie from a mile away.
Elsie sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Rachael the truth. Oh, no, Rae, everything is totally fine. There’s just some psychopath coming after me and Hatchet. Yeah, well, he just wants to kill us for getting in his way and foiling his evil plan to sell me to the highest bidder, but no big deal, really. We’re going to rescue Hatchet and break him out of prison. Easy peasy. Well, me and Jackrabbit, of course. He thinks he might have a plan. It’s practically foolproof!
Elsie snorted out a soft, slightly desperate laugh at the stream of thoughts rushing through her mind, and shook her head at how ridiculous it sounded, even to herself. It doesn’t matter though, does it? that quiet voice of old Elsie inside her whispered. You’re still going to go through with it. You’re still going to go after him.
Her brows furrowed, and she took a sharp breath. Of course I am! I love him. As soon as the thought registered, the force of it had her stumbling back a full step. She loved him? Where had that come from? How could she possibly love him? She barely even knew him. She had just met him. But nonetheless she knew it was true. Everything they had gone through together, everything she had seen, everything she had felt, told her that was exactly what she needed to know about him. That he was a good man with a good heart.
Sure, maybe he was a little rough around the edges. But who didn’t have their own secrets, their own ghosts?
I love him. I love Hatchet. The thought tickled through her again. And this time, when she laughed, it was a tinkling sound of pure joy. She was still getting over the shock of her discovery when a sudden, loud ruckus reached her ears.
Curious, Elsie walked over to the window to see where it was coming from and, after a second, she was able to spy the source of the sound. She threw open the window, poking her head out and around to look out across the field.
She could see a large figure that could only be Lorenzo trying to corral a bunch of cattle that was running loose, frantic over something. Immediately, concern rushed through her. Concern for the animals, and Lorenzo. If something had spooked them, anything could happen, and even the gentlest of animals could cause serious damage when it weighed over a ton.
A moment later she saw another figure, shorter this time but just as wide, rushing over towards the chaotic scene. It was her father, his hands waving wildly in the air, and she could make out the anger in his raised voice, if not the words themselves, as he hollered at Lorenzo.
And then she heard it.
“Pss!”
Elsie glanced down at the hissing noise and nearly jumped back as she caught sight of Jackrabbit standing below her window, grinning up at her like a fool.
“I figured that should keep them distracted for a while. Not sure how long though, so you better get your ass in gear.”
“You… you did that?” Elsie asked, nodding towards the barn and the panicked, scattering animals. There were cows running in every direction, while Lorenzo and her father went rushing after them.
“Sure did. You said you needed a distraction.” He shrugged, his words overly casual, but with that damned grin growing even wider. She swore he was actually enjoying himself. The idiot. “Now, you need to hurry it up. We might not have as much time as I thought.”
“What exactly is your plan, Jackrabbit?” Elsie hissed back in a whisper. She knew it was silly. There was no way her father would ever be able to hear them over the raucous noise coming from the cattle. But, even still, she kept her voice down as he asked.
“The plan, well…” Jackrabbit trailed off, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck before shrugging again. “It’s simple, really. I break you out. You break Hatchet out.”
“Right,” Elsie said slowly, drawing out the word as she crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s your big plan?”
“Come on, Elsie. Go on and get out of here, girl. Go save your man. If he stays in that prison cell, he’s a dead man. Mad Dog knows right where he is.” Jackrabbit grew serious after a moment. “Hatchet needs you, Elsie. Be brave for him.”
“How the hell am I supposed to break him out of prison?” Elsie threw her hands up as she asked, unsure and doubtful. At the same time, she knew that Jackrabbit was just telling the truth. Hatchet needed her. And she wasn’t about to let him down.
“Do whatever you have to. Lie that pretty little ass off if you have to. You love him. No use denying it, Elsie. The two of you are about as subtle as an elephant. You love him. Now, go save him.” That damned lop-sided grin of his was back in full force and Elsie rolled her eyes in irritation.
But she didn’t argue. Instead, she just answered him with a quick nod before pulling her head back inside her room and looking around to see if there was anything she would need.
Unfortunately, the answer was no. Her father had taken the revolver from her desk. The only thing she’d have to make this thing work were her wits. She’d have to be brave and bluff her way through. Trying to ignore the roiling, churning feeling of nausea that was growing bigger and bigger in her stomach, Elsie turned to leave. At the last minute she stopped, jogged back to the window and hissed to get Jackrabbit’s attention.
“You better get out of here,” Elsie said sharply, throwing a nod towards the barn where everything was still in chaos. There was no telling how long it would last. “If my daddy finds you here and finds out that you were the one who caused that mess, well… let’s just say you really don’t want to be on his bad side. Just get out of here, quick!”
“You do the same, girly!” Jackrabbit said, looking up at her one more time, and Elsie was struck by the sincerity in his eyes. The jester-like mask he normally wore disappeared for a second. “You save him, alright? Hatchet’s one hell of a man. Hell, he’s the best person that I know in the whole damn world. You keep him safe.”
“I will. I promise,” Elsie said, just as solemnly, before they both slipped away in different directions, Jackrabbit to who knew where. One moment he was there and the next he was gone, disappearing into the tree line along the back of the farmhouse.
Elsie tiptoed downstairs, her mind racing with how she was going to sneak away. There was really only one choice and, holding her breath, her fingers shaking with nerves, she pushed open the door to her father’s office, grabbed the keys to his truck, and crept outside to the front.
She didn’t breathe again until she had snuck across the front porch and the driveway and was sitting in the driver’s seat of the big truck. Sending up a short but heartfelt prayer, she slammed the keys in the ignition, started the truck, and was tearing off down the long, gravel driveway.
She would keep her promise to Jackrabbit. She would save Hatchet.
She had to.