The Impossible Future: Complete set by Frank Kennedy (e novels to read online TXT) 📗

of thing happened every couple of years for as long as he could remember, but this time he swore he heard a couple of gunshots beforehand.

When he finished breakfast twenty minutes later, Gooch slipped on his wets, prepared his bait and tackle, tucked a large piece of chaw in the corner of his mouth, and shook his head as the predictable sirens approached Fortnight Road. He started downhill toward Lake Vernon and immediately dropped his pail of worms.

A man emerging from the shore and approaching the trailer was easily a foot taller and had muscles as imposing as the pro wrestlers Gooch loved back when he had a television. The man’s bulk did not concern Gooch as much as the thick, reddish-brown stain on the side of the man’s gut and blood trickling down the face and onto the neck. But even those unexpected characteristics did not grab his attention like the AK-47 the man tucked against the left side of his body, the rifle aimed at Gooch’s heart.

The stranger looked past Gooch to a gray 1973 Ford pickup.

“Keys,” Walt Huggins said.

Gooch backed up. “Don’t want no trouble, fella. Looks like you need a doctor.” He turned to his dog, who snarled. “Sit your ass down, Hobson.”

“The keys will suffice. Hand them over.”

“Look here, there’s cops right up the road. Reckon they can get you to a doctor quicker than old Sally here. Or maybe I reckon you don’t want the cops. Look here, the keys is in the ignition. Just take her and go. I won’t say boo. You was never here.”

Walt opened the truck’s door and glanced at the ignition then at Gooch. Walt pulled the trigger twice. Two dark holes opened in Gooch’s chest, and the hermit dropped, dead before he hit ground. Walt jumped into the truck. With his right hand, he tossed the GPS hand-held onto the passenger seat then started the engine. With his left hand, he reined in the rifle and slammed the door.

At that moment, the unique clatter of a helicopter engine exploded close by, and Walt saw the outline of the chopper through the trees as it raced by along the shoreline.

As if on cue, his cell phone rang. He accepted the call, stunned by the name on screen.

“You will fail again, Agatha,” he answered. “The future will be secured. Surrender now, and no one has to die except for James.”

“And all the millions who will come after,” Agatha said. “Walter. Dear Walter. You and I should have never reached such a tragic impasse. Five of us have perished today. We were all such wonderful friends. Once.”

Walt put the truck in reverse. “Your definition of ‘friend’ is liberal at best. We are Chancellors. You seem to have forgotten that little detail.”

“On the contrary, Walter. That detail is what provides me with purpose. As Chancellors, we have always sought absolute control over all facets of society in order to promote stability and a clearly defined hierarchy. But this time we went too far. Perhaps we earned our fate. The future stops today. The others have decided to follow that mantra, no matter the consequences. I only wish you could have seen the wisdom of our path.”

Walter had had enough. “I know how all this will end, Agatha. I have sufficient help on the way. You’ll never get to him. Two words, my dear old friend: Shock Units.”

Walt ended the call and looked one more time at his latest victim, whose contorted body stared up at the dog licking his face.

Miles away, in the red Camaro, Christian asked, “What are Shock Units? I’m thinking that sounds bad.”

“He’s bluffing,” Arthur said. “How could he have pulled that off?”

“Concentrate on the road,” Agatha said. “We have work to do.”

Agatha tensed as she wondered how horribly she underestimated Walt Huggins.

 

36

W HEN HE KNEW Ben was not a mirage, Jamie’s heart jumped for the first time since his nightmare began. Ben collapsed to the sand, an M16 sliding off his shoulder and onto the beach. By the time Jamie and Michael reached him, Ben struggled to catch his breath, speaking incoherent words between coughs. Jamie examined Ben, felt around the bullet wound above the collarbone, and saw splotches of bloodstains in the torn clothes intermixed with sand as well as countless bruises and scrapes.

“How?” He asked. “How did you find us? Nobody knew …”

Ben wrapped a filthy hand around Jamie’s neck, brought the boy closer and smiled even as he coughed.

“I came back for you this time,” he stammered. “Won’t let you down anymore. Promise.”

Jamie’s heart softened for an instant. He wanted to believe.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Ben. We thought …”

“Yeah, right. The big bang.” Ben seemed giddy.

“I don’t understand. How did you know where to find me?”

Ben explained about the GPS before grabbing his chest and wincing.

“Not smart for a drunk to run two miles with a bullet hole and banged-up legs, especially when he hasn’t worked out in years.”

Ben’s voice trailed off.

“Cooper? What the hell you doing here?”

The anger in Jamie’s blood percolated at once. He didn’t give Michael a chance to speak.

“They tracked down Coop and near about killed him, too. Queen Bee and her people.”

Ben coughed. “Good thing they can’t shoot straight. Cooper, glad to see you’re in one piece.” He told the boys to help him stand. “Listen, J. We’ve got to finish what we started at the lake house. You ran away before I could tell you the whole story.”

“There’s nothing more to say, Ben. I’ve accepted it. I know what’s going to happen. The only thing that matters now is getting Coop to safety.”

“You don’t have all the pieces. I’m the only one who can make this right. Problem is, we don’t have much time. Maybe minutes. I just