Rum Running IV

“This is the first time this has ever happened to me. I’ve always had peaceful runs but don’t worry, I’ll lose them. Yes, that’s a Tommy gun, don’t mess with it, it’s bad enough with things shooting at us from the outside, let alone the inside.”

“So little faith, besides, I told you to start with I wasn’t going to be holding any guns. Not my thing.”

Arthur looked back and could see their truck being followed by the car. The truck couldn’t move as fast, as encumbered with the trailer as it was. Up ahead were the lights of a farm house, he was going to have to make a decision.

“Can you hand me the gun and grab the wheel for me?” Arthur asked David grimly.

“Won’t that make me your getaway driver?” David asked uncertain for the first time since Arthur had known him.

“I hate to say this but it’s either that or get shot,” Arthur snapped. He wanted to protect his friend certainly, but not at the cost of their lives.

“I can’t drive,” David protested even as he climbed back into his seat holding the gun.

“Doesn’t matter, doesn’t take skill, just hold her steady,” Arthur snapped. It was too dark to see his friend’s face but he could hear the concern in David’s voice. Arthur took the Tommy and stuck his head out of the window. The car following them still hadn’t turned on their lights so it was only a brief shadow as it came through the pasture after them. That shadow was enough for Arthur to aim at though.

“That thing is louder then I expected,” commented David, now back to his normal self as Arthur fired the gun at their pursuers. David wasn’t doing a very good job of holding them steady, he was veering to the left, but that was fine by Arthur since it would mean they would miss the farm house. He wondered if David was doing it on purpose or if it was just chance.

“They aren’t stopping,” Arthur commented once he was out of ammunition. “I know I’m hitting them, but not enough to stop them.”

“Hard to sympathize with you about that when I know you’re trying to kill them,” David.

“I wouldn’t expect you to, this isn’t your thing,” Arthur told David. Behind him he could hear gunshots again; the car was firing on them. He reached to take the wheel back just as they lurched. It took Arthur a second to figure out what had happened, they had lost a tire. One of the bullets flying around them had to have hit one of the truck’s tires. He instantly hit the breaks, it would make them sitting ducks but it was better then loosing control of the truck.

“We’re going to die,” said David, still calm.

“There’s a real chance of that,” Arthur admitted, digging under the seats for more ammunition. He reloaded his guns and waited as the car crept up behind them, he guessed that they knew he wasn’t going to surrender without a fight. Especially since surrender probably meant death as well, that or being held hostage against his father, Arthur found himself wondering if he would be a valuable hostage or not. That counted a lot on his father’s feeling for him, something that he still wasn’t very sure about, even after all of these years working for him.

“Get back on the floor,” Arthur ordered David. “There’s going to be more shooting and people without guns should keep out of it.” Now that they were stopped Arthur could see David better. He could see David hesitate and then obey.

Guns opened up and for a second Arthur thought that the car that had been following them had opened fire prematurely to scare them. That didn’t make any sense though because it would damage the cargo and the cargo was what they were after. Instead he realized the shots were coming from a different direction. David had been blocking his view from the other window but now he realized they were not alone in the field, the shots were coming from cars driving down the road towards them at top speeds. Never in his life had Arthur been more relieved to see the police.

The car that had chased them into the field turned off, almost close enough that they brushed sides, and took off in the opposite direction. Arthur looked towards the farm house with its lights still on. Of course the owners of the house had probably heard them shooting even before they turned into the pasture, they must have a telephone.

“The cops, might as well get up,” Arthur told David.

“You’re not going to shoot them are you?” David asked.

“Couldn’t get away even if I did, not with this tire, I guess it’s time to give up,” Arthur realized what he was saying and looked regretful at his friend. “With the shooting and this cargo I don’t guess it’ll go easy on us. My father has some influence and I can get us a good lawyer but,” his voice trialed off. First there would be explaining to his father what David was doing in the truck, his father had some well placed bribes spread out but it would take some doing to get his father to decide David was worth wasting favors on.

They were now surrounded by the police, lights trained on them from every car. Arthur guessed that just about ever car the local police had was around them, and every officer in the department had their guns out and trained on them.

“Get out with your hands on your head,” a voice ordered through a megaphone. David looked over at him and shrugged, and then he opened his door and obeyed. Arthur followed after him and the police rushed forward. Already some of them were opening the back of the truck and pulling out cases of whiskey. An officer hurried off and Arthur imagined he was probably going to go get a revenue officer. None seemed present, Arthur wondered why. He would have thought that they would have brought one with the rest of the department.

“Just like in the radio shows,” David said, smiling at him as he allowed himself to be handcuffed. Arthur shook his head, nothing could faze David, but he couldn’t manage to smile back. For all of his promises to himself he had ruined David’s future. No matter what happened next, David would forever be a part of their world now.