Part 293: Mia's Stand

Frakes looked over the piece of paper, which was a photo copy of a mugshot belonging to Kate. The leader paced around, flipping the paper as he did. “Let me get this straight,” he said, looking to the soldiers standing around him, “This woman did a job for you?”

“That’s right,” Embry said, “She and a buddy of mine held up a bank. I helped pick the players and she was the one who chose the bank. Later after my friend was shot in the leg, she made off with the contents of one safety deposit box. I never saw her again. And I never thought I would either.”

“Then what she is doing here?” Frakes asked.

“Well, Mancuso claims that she was being escorted back to the states by a US Marshall from Australia.”

“Who is Mancuso?” asked another soldier.

“A San Francisco cop who made me leave the country.” Embry smiled, “He’s over there next to Ana-Lucia.”

“And who is Ana-Lucia?” asked Frakes.

“New York Cop who killed my cousin Jason.” Embry smiled again.

“So . . .there are THREE people on this beach that you know?” asked Eve.

“You betcha.”

“That doesn’t sound like coincidence to me.” Frakes groaned.

“No, not me either, chief.” The murderer grinned.

“Interrogate the male cop, see what he knows about Fender.”

Embry grinned with delight yet again, as he pulled out his shotgun and began to walk back toward the group, followed by Darren and two other soldiers. Mia followed them closely as they walked back up to Hal and his group. The detective slowly raised his eyes toward Embry, who stared down at him with a grin. “Time for us to have a chat, Hal.” He smiled.

“I got nothing to say to you.” His enemy replied.

“Oh, you got plenty to say to me. And Frakes wants to know what happened to Fender and his group.”

“Who?” Hal said innocently.

“Don’t play coy with me, Hal. We found rifles belonging to our men in your little camp here. You know what happened to him, don’t you?”

“Don’t know what you are talking about, Embry.” The cop repeated.

“Oh, yeah?” the murderer replied, “I think you do. You are just too scared to admit it. Fraid I might, hurt . .one of your friends here.”

Embry slowly walked over to Libby, gently placing the shotgun down on her shoulder. Hal stared up at him angrily, gritting his teeth. The soldier just cocked his head to the side, looking curiously at him. “What is it gonna take to get a rise outta you, Mancuso?” the soldier said, walking back over to him, “Oh, wait, I know!”

Hal’s left eye began to twitch. His nerves were shooting fire. Every fiber in his being wanted to grab the murderer and rib his eyeballs out. Embry held his shotgun over his left shoulder and smiled at Hal. “Hey, Hal.” He said, getting his attention.

The cop slowly turned to face him. Mia started to get alarmed; she knew from Brendon’s warning that Hal should not provoke the Skull Man which Embry happened to be. She needed to make sure that Hal and Embry’s feud didn’t escalate into the horror of seeing everybody gunned down on this beach. Embry finally leaned forward and asked his question to Hal. “How is your dead son?” he laughed.

Hal then rushed and punched Embry across the jaw. He tried to grab his shotgun but another soldier rushed over and slammed the stock end of his rifle into the back of Hal’s head. The cop grunted as the pain made him fall back into the sand. Embry walked over to the ocean and spit out a chunk of blood from his mouth. Two of the soldiers held him up. Embry then walked over and picked up the shotgun. Then he slowly placed the barrel on Hal’s chin. Libby wanted to screamed but Ana-Lucia held her back. “You’re gonna pay for that, Mancuso.” The murderer warned.

Mia had to make her move. If Embry killed Hal then they wouldn’t hesitate to kill the rest. The Lakota girl then stood up. “EMBRY!!” she screamed at him.

The soldier then paused, looking at her. Darren heard her out of his good ear and then looked back to his partner. “You know that girl too?” he asked.

“No,” he blinked, “She probably heard my name from Hal.”

The soldier then removed the shotgun from his enemy’s face and walked over to Mia. The Lakota girl stood her ground as he faced her. “You got something on your mind, little girl?” he asked.

“Yeah, I need you to tell Frakes something.” She smiled.

“Like what?”

“Tell him . . .that Fender died on his knees, screaming for his life.”

The soldiers stared at Mia, wondering why she would say such a thing; unless it might have been true. Embry twitched his cheek slightly, a little angry at the arrogance of the young woman. “He died screaming, eh?” he said.

“Yeah, I think the scream was . . well, the best I could describe it was sounding like a pig screaming just before it was about to become a ham steak.”

“Mia!” Rose gasped nearby.

Embry sneered at the young girl. He half respected her for having so much guts than he had seen in a long time and the other half annoyed him so much he wanted to kill her. But however, the girl had presented him with what he needed. Information about Fender’s disappearance or according to her, apparent death. Embry then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the other soldiers. “I got a better idea,” he said, “Why don’t you tell Frakes yourself?”

“Loved to.” She replied.

The others gazed at what she was doing and couldn’t have been more alarmed. Shannon thought for sure they were going to kill her. Mandy looked to Taylor who didn’t seem that alarmed. “What is Mia doing?” asked Mandy.

“I don’t know but I am sure she did it for a reason,” the blonde whispered, “That is how Mia thinks.”

Embry walked up to Frakes and Eve, with Mia in tow. The young Lakota girl didn’t budge, she left him pull her. When they arrived at the estranged leader, Embry finally let her go. “This young piece of tail has something to say to you, Frakes.” The murderer mentioned.

“Really?” Frakes blinked, “and what might that be?”

“Oh, I just wanted to make sure you knew how the others died.”

“How?”

“We killed them all.”

Frakes gritted his teeth in anger. “Impossible.” He whispered.

“Is it?” Mia raised an eyebrow, “Then where are your men?”

Frakes gritted his teeth yet again. The truth was he didn’t have an answer. She was baiting him, getting to prove her statement but he refused to believe it. There was no way! No way this bunch of civilians could wipe out Fender and his entire regiment. Then it donned on him; the scorched field. It would have a been a good tactic. It was something he could have thought of himself at some point in time. “There was a field that was burnt, by a large fire near our Outpost,” he whispered, “If that was you did? Lure them out there and set fire to the field?”

“You are quicker observer.” Mia commented.

“Who thought of that plan?”

“I did.,” she whispered.

“Don’t lie to me.” Frakes hissed.

“Why would I lie about something like that?”

“Perhaps to cover up somebody’s else’s abilities, like a soldier perhaps?” Frakes answered her question with another question.

“You seem to make a lot of snap judgments.” Mia pointed out.

“I know situations, I know how certain things need to happen. Like for instance, you don’t strike me as the person who could speak for these people.”

“Is that because I am a woman?”

“No, it’s because you are young,” Frakes took a step closer to her, “Where is your real leader?”

“He’s dead,” Mia quickly said, “Died fighting Fender’s group.”

“And who took the journal?”

“I don’t know who did that.”

“It was found among a man’s things.” Eve pointed out.

“I didn’t know that.” Mia replied.

“Play with me little girl and I promise you will regret it.” Frakes hissed.

“I don’t have any desire to play with you, Frakes. I wanted to make sure your wrath was directed toward me, cause I speak for these people.”

“My wrath is directed toward you but I don’t believe a word you are saying.” Frakes then pulled out a green shotgun shell, “Embry, punish the cop.”

The murderer laughed as he took the green shotgun shell. He then started to pump the breech of his shotgun, emptying all the red shells onto the sand. He then loaded the one green shell into his weapon and walked back toward the awaiting cop. The two soldiers who were guarding him stepped back. Hal didn’t move; he just looked at Embry. The murderer then cocked the shotgun and held it toward the cop. Hal responded by spitting in his direction. Embry then looked back toward Frakes and Mia. “Tell me what I want to know or he dies.” The leader said in Mia’s ear.

“TELL THEM NOTHING, MIA!!” Hal screamed.

“You kill him . . .and I will tell you nothing.”

“We’ll see it.” Frakes then nodded his head toward Embry, who then quickly pulled the trigger on his weapon.

The explosion from the barrel erupted toward Hal, sending him back about three feet. Libby screamed at the same time Dutch did for their fallen friend. Hal landed on the sand hard, then started to scream. Mia blinked at the pain he seemed to be exhibiting. The cop gritted his teeth again, while Embry laughed at him. Dutch then gasped as Hal slowly got up. His face trembled as he held back at the pain. The shotgun blast that riddled his chest; all the small marks were oozing a small white foam. Hal took a deep breath and then collapsed on his knees, trying not to scream. Libby closed her mouth with her hands; trying to stop her heart from pounding.

Frakes looked at Mia with a slight bit of respect. “You called my bluff.” He whispered, “Looks like you may have the guts to be the leader after all.”

“I’ve never seen many green shotgun shells.” Mia whispered, “What did you actually hit him with?”

“Rock Salts.” The leader said, “There is enough gun powder to ignite the shell but instead of buck shots, its rock salt. I suppose I don’t need to explain what happens when salt enters the blood stream?”

“At least now I know what a cruel monster you are.”

Frakes then leaned into her face; making her feel the breath on her left cheek. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” He grunted, “You tell me what I want to hear in a half of an hour or someone dies for real.”

One of the soldiers grabbed Mia and escorted her back to her group. He then shoved her, making her land near Mandy. The young blonde helped her friend gain her footing. She then thanked her and then crawled over to where Hal was laying Libby’s lap. Dutch tried to wipe off the woods as they started to cluster up. Mia gently touched Hal’s wrist. “Hal, I’m so sorry.” She whispered.

“Don’t be.” He grunted, “You did the right thing.”

“But he could have killed you.”

“It’s not Embry’s style to kill with just one blast. He’s going to want to make me suffer.” The cop grunted as Dutch cleaned his wounds, “It’s when the leader orders other people to kill one of us that we have to worry.”

“What were they asking you, Mia?” Claire whispered.

“I told him I was the leader. He doesn’t believe me.” The Lakota girl whispered.

“Then tell him where Jack and the others are.” Clay mentioned.

“What?” Mia gasped, “No way I am doing that!”

“You’re going to get us killed, you selfish little bitch.” The billionaire hissed.

Hal then reached around and grabbed Clay by the wrist, squeezing it. The tall man grunted as he reeled from the pain. “You don’t get it to do, Clay,” he grunted, “If we tell them where Jack and the others are, our one shot at getting off this Island is blown.”

“What shot?” he muttered, pulling his wrist away.

“Use your brain for once, Clay,” Ana-Lucia whispered, “You really think that hovercraft could have brought all those soldiers do this Island?”

The billionaire heard her words and thought about it. Indeed, that sort of vehicle looked like it was just for short range transport. He then looked to them. “A bigger boat?” he whispered.

“Jack and the others are securing that boat for us,” Mia whispered, “If we tell them where they are, they will kill us and go kill them to protect their boat.”

“Why weren’t we told about this?” Mandy muttered, a little angry.

“There are only twenty soldiers here,” the Lakota girl looked briefly over her shoulder, “Tony and the others didn’t know what kind of boat would be there. So if it can only hold twenty soldiers, something tells me it’s not going to hold all of us.”

“But it will still . . .give them a chance to get us a rescue.” Hal grunted, as Dutch continued to wipe out the wounds.

“We just have to hold on, until they get here.” Mia whispered.

“How do you know they are coming back for us?” Clay grunted.

“I just do.”