Dark Road | Book 8 | Restitution Read online

  RESTITUTION

  Dark Road, Book Eight

  Bruno Miller

  Will they ever see home again?

  Colorado seems farther away than ever for Ben and his crew. Especially when a road block lures them deeper into the Appalachian Mountains.

  Ambushed and captured, they fall prey to a gang of backwoods moonshiners turned post apocalyptic outlaws. After being led back to camp and locked up, the crew’s morale is at an all time low. Ben knows they must come together as a team if they are going to survive.

  As the moonshiners’ intentions for them and their dogs comes to light, Ben and the others realize they must devise a way to escape no matter the risk. The alternative is unthinkable.

  But sometimes even the best laid plans fall apart in the heat of battle, as Ben and the others soon find out while fighting for their freedom and their lives.

  Deception: Restitution, Book Eight

  Copyright © 2020 Bruno Miller

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

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  Table of Contents

  RESTITUTION

  About the Book

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Ben’s field of view was limited by the dank, hot shipping container they were being held in. There were a few containers next to theirs, but he couldn’t really see them very well. He was curious if they were alone or if others were being held captive as well. Listening carefully, he tried to pick up on any noises or voices from the other containers, but all he could hear was Emma sobbing quietly.

  Joel and Allie were doing their best to console her, but they were worried, too. They all were, and rightfully so. Ben did his best to reassure Emma and the others that they would figure out a way to escape and that everything would be all right, but he was beginning to doubt that would happen anytime soon.

  The thick chain and padlock that held the container door closed were just out of reach, and even if he could squeeze his arm out of the narrow slot cut into the door, the possibility of picking the lock was slim. Unfortunately, they would have to look for an opportunity to escape elsewhere.

  Ben began to feel his way around the inside of the container.

  “What are you looking for?” Joel asked.

  “I don’t know. Anything we can use to our advantage. Maybe a weak spot in the metal.” Ben continued to feel his way to the back of the container. Along the rear wall, it was dark, unlike at, where several holes were drilled around a slot in the door, presumably for passing food through to the prisoners. As his eyes started to adjust to the poorly lit space, he came to the conclusion that there was no way out of this thing, at least not one that he could think of right now.

  “What do you think they want with us?” Sandy asked.

  “I think it’s less about us and more about what we have.” Ben thought about the trucks and envisioned the old man and his crew of goons rummaging through the vehicles. Thinking about it made him mad, and he tried to focus on something else, but it was no use. The trucks would be gone through and their gear divided up and passed out. Or maybe the old guy would keep it all for himself. He seemed like the type of person who preferred to rule with a heavy hand. Based on how the old man’s lackeys fell into place when he barked, Ben figured the place ran more like a dictatorship than anything else.

  Just then, they heard Gunner somewhere off in the distance. By the sound of it, Gunner wasn’t happy, not that it came as any surprise, but Ben feared the worst when his barks were followed by a yelp and then more barking. Ben didn’t think it was possible to be any angrier than he already was, but Gunner’s cries stirred something deep inside him, something that was nothing short of pure hatred for the people who were doing this to them. Not that he needed any more reason to wish them harm, but it solidified his resolve to exact revenge somehow.

  Emma jumped when they heard Gunner and pushed her head down farther between her knees as she sat on the floor and cried. Sandy sat down next to her and put one arm over her shoulder and the other on Bradley, who joined them on the floor. Joel gave Ben a look filled with both fear and frustration, then turned to Allie. “We have to do something,” he said.

  “I’m afraid right now all we can do is wait.” Ben paced back and forth by the doors, fighting the urge to kick at them. It wouldn’t do any good. They were trapped. For now, that was the reality of the situation. And it was hard to stay levelheaded and observe their surroundings, but that was what they needed to do. Ben was sure an opportunity would present itself. Sooner or later, these wannabe tough guys would make a mistake, and if they were ready, they could take advantage of it. Losing his cool wouldn’t help anything, and it would only cause the kids to panic. Cooler heads would prevail. They always did.

  Ben stopped pacing and looked at Allie. Why was she smiling?

  Joel was staring at her now, too, with a confused look on his face. Ben was afraid the stress would get to one of them, but he hadn’t figured Allie would be the first to crack. She reached down into the top of her hiking boot and pulled out her Spyderco knife.

  “Before they made us get out of the Jeep, I hid it.” She proudly held the knife out for Ben. “I learned my lesson after the FEMA camp.”

  “Good job, Allie.” Ben was proud of her and equally impressed with her ingenuity. He took the knife and held it in his hand for a moment before tucking it into the waistband of his pants. If they were taken out of the container, he’d hide the knife in his boot as well. But for now, he wanted it readily available. The knife wouldn’t change their current situation immediately, but it was a weapon and more of an advantage than they had a few seconds ago. When the time came for action, it would give them a fighting chance, and if he played his cards right, it might make all the difference.

  “This will come in handy.” Ben patted the knife, which was now hidden securely under his clothing.

  For the first time since they’d been locked away, Emma took a break from crying and looked up at him. “What now?” she asked with a sniffle.

  “Now we wait, and I know it will be hard, but we need to get some rest and save our energy. Sooner or later, they’ll have to let us out of here, and when they do, we need to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. You have to trust me when I say that we’ll get out o
f this.” Ben knelt by Emma and wiped the tears from her cheek. She reached up, wrapped her arm around his neck, and squeezed hard.

  Bradley spoke up. “I believe you, Dad.”

  Ben turned his attention to his youngest and smiled before giving him a pat on his shoulder. “Good, because it’s true. Now’s the time when we need to be strong. All of us.” Ben kissed Emma’s forehead as she let go of him, and he stood up slowly. He made his way back over to the door and studied their surroundings through the slot in the container, trying to see if he could pick up on anything interesting going on outside.

  “Dad?” Emma asked, and Ben turned to face her. “Do you think Gunner and Sam will be all right?” She looked down, as if she didn’t really want to hear the answer, or maybe because she thought she already knew they wouldn’t be.

  “I think they’ll be fine for now. I have a feeling they’re going to concentrate on the vehicles for the time being.” This was Ben’s hope, anyway. Of course, he had no way of knowing if that was true, but he imagined the supplies in the Blazer and the Jeep would be the focus. With any luck, they would set the dogs aside and leave them in their cages. If their intention was to kill the dogs, they would have done it when they first ambushed them at the locked gate in the woods.

  Ben promised himself a long time ago that he would be honest with the kids, but now wasn’t the time to share what was really going through his mind. He was suspicious of the hillbillies’ motives behind caging the dogs, and his real concern was that they intended to eat them. He would never admit that to the kids, and he hated to even think it, but it was a legitimate concern.

  He was glad they’d packed the two coolers with venison and held out hope that the meat would buy them some time. They had a lot of other food in the vehicles as well, and as much as he hated the thought of the old man and his crew going through their stuff, it was better than the alternative. If it kept Gunner and Sam alive long enough for him to come up with a plan, it would be well worth the sacrifice. If something happened to either one of the dogs, the kids would be scarred for life, beyond what damage this place had done to them already.

  He had to come up with something, but right now, he didn’t have much to go on and had no idea how to break out of this container—or if that was even possible. He needed time to think and settle down. He was still wrung up from the initial encounter with these redneck cretins. Ben closed his eyes and took a breath.

  He needed to concentrate on their current situation, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how far along they would have been by now if they hadn’t been captured. If they were left in here until tomorrow, there wouldn’t be a chance to escape. They could be here for days, maybe longer.

  The image of Joel getting hit in the gut with the rifle butt wasn’t helping his blood pressure, either. It was all he could do to keep his cool, and now he was second-guessing his decision in that moment. What if that was their only chance to do something about their situation? No, there would be another opportunity—there had to be. Ben was so deep in thought that he was startled by Sandy’s touch.

  “Sorry.” She pulled her hand back from his shoulder. Ben turned to see all the kids sitting in a tight row against the metal wall of the container.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” she said.

  Ben shook his head and went back to watching the camp through the narrow slot.

  “It’s not your fault, you know. There was nothing you could have done.” She put her hand back on his shoulder.

  “I’m not so sure about that.” Ben’s gaze remained fixed outside the container. He doubted there was some way he could have prevented all this, but he felt guilty nonetheless.

  “We were outnumbered, and they had guns on us. If anything, we’re all to blame. We should have been paying attention to our surroundings. Maybe we would have spotted them before they got that close to us,” she reasoned.

  Ben sighed. “No. They were already there. I think they were watching us since the downed tree on the highway. They set this trap, and it isn’t the first time.”

  “Yeah, I saw the other vehicles. They’re from other people they’ve captured, aren’t they?” she asked.

  “That’s my guess. All out-of-state tags.” Ben strained to look toward the rear of the compound and the row of vehicles parked there, but he couldn’t put eyes on them from inside the container. He hated not being able to see what was going on out there. That was no doubt the purpose of putting the containers back here.

  Not knowing what was happening to the dogs and to their trucks was nerve-wracking, but after the first couple of hours, Ben grew numb to the knot in his stomach. Thankfully, the kids had fallen asleep leaning against each other and the side of the container. Sandy sat close by and drifted in and out of sleep herself. Ben didn’t blame them; between the rough night they’d had with the bears and the heat inside this oversized tin can, his eyelids were heavy as well.

  The only thing keeping him awake was the thought that he might miss an opportunity to escape if he dozed off, although nothing was happening right now and the camp seemed quiet. They hadn’t seen a soul since they were locked in here, and he wondered if there was even anyone else in the camp.

  Ben looked over at the kids and watched as they slept. He was glad they were temporarily unaware of their situation. Sandy noticed him looking and forced out a smile. Ben acknowledged her with a nod before turning back to face the slot in the door. He had to figure something out. And soon. He couldn’t let his kids down. This wasn’t how their story ended. It couldn’t be.

  Chapter Two

  Despite Ben’s efforts to stay awake, he drifted off a few times for short periods as the hours dragged on. There wasn’t anything to keep his interest piqued or his eyes open until later in the afternoon, when he finally heard some noise coming from the far end of the camp. Before long, the distant crunching of dry leaves turned to heavy footsteps, and a small single-file string of people came into view.

  Ben sat up and pushed his face close to the slot in the door but held back enough so he couldn’t be seen from outside. He glanced back at the others, but all except for Sandy were still sleeping. It was probably just as well. Ben held his finger up to his lips, and Sandy nodded that she understood. He turned back to the small opening and continued to watch.

  Altogether, the line comprised five people. Two of them Ben recognized as part of the gang that had captured them. The three in the middle were strangers, though, and unmistakably being held captive. There were two men and a woman. Ben didn’t think any of the three would make it the last twenty yards to their container holding cells.

  Sandy joined him at the door and crouched down close by so she could see out of the rusty slot in the door as well. They watched together in silence as the three prisoners were forced onward. Ben wondered how old they were but couldn’t even guess; too much dirt and mud covered their bodies. They staggered the last couple of yards. Then the two armed guards pushed the man and women into one of the containers and the remaining man into a separate container a little ways away. The guards locked the doors and walked away without saying anything until one of them stopped and turned back toward the row of containers.

  “What are you doing?” the other guard asked.

  “I just want to check on the newbies.” The guard who had originally stopped was headed straight for their container now. Ben backed up and helped Sandy to her feet while the two of them retreated to the shadows in the rear of the container.

  Ben stood in front of the kids. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like it was the least he could do. He was surprised to see the guard stick his face right up to the slot in the door. Not a smart thing to do on the guard’s part, but based on his observations so far, Ben didn’t exactly figure any of them for tactical geniuses. He imagined himself standing just inside the container door, within reach of the opening, and punching the man in the face. Or worse. He rubbed his thumb across the knife handle protruding from his waistband. It took all of his resolve to keep
from rushing the man as he searched the container.

  “Ah, there you are. Don’t worry. We ain’t forgot about you all.” He laughed through his disgusting yellow teeth, and it echoed off the steel walls of their prison before he pulled his face away from the opening. It was enough to partially wake the kids, though, and Ben instantly hated the man even more, if that was possible.

  Fortunately, the guard seemed satisfied with his dose of harassment, and both of them made their way back toward the center of the camp, leaving Ben and the others alone in their container. Once they were out of earshot, Ben called softly to their new neighbors.

  “Hello, can anyone hear me?” He waited for a few seconds and listened as he struggled to push his face far enough to the side of the door slot so he could see the other containers. “Hey, you in the other containers. Can anyone hear me?”

  “Quiet down or you’ll get us all in trouble.” This time, a gravelly voice from what sounded like the container farthest away answered.

  Ben lowered his voice. “What do you mean?”

  “Just shut up!” the same voice shot back.

  Ben sighed. He wasn’t getting anywhere. He wanted information about their captors—like how many there were, for starters—but this was going nowhere fast. Ben glanced at Sandy and shook his head.