Status: rough draft bare with me on errors and if you get a chance binge justified

Peace From the Past

Chapter Eight

Despite the irony Lilly and Raylan agreed their childhood home was the logical place to hold up while they formed a plan.It was on a hill with clear visibility and privately owned by two marshals where better?
Lilly stood on the top door step listening as the helicopter made yet another sweep. Tim was standing on guard with a sniper rifle while the yard and interior of the house was littered with marshals and troopers all on edge as to what was coming next. Art glanced at Trooper LaPlante and asked "Wouldn't happen to have a rocket launcher would ya?" LaPlante shook his head and said" sadly no"
Lilly turned when Dunlop walked out the door with a phone held out towards Art "Lexington air ops Chief" Art nodded and looked back at Tim "Tim that thing get any closer shoot it" He nodded not taking his eyes off the chopper as Art grabbed the phone and said "Mullen here where the hell are you?" Lilly walked in behind Art to find Rachel and Raylan in the dining room with Shelby er Drew whatever he wanted to be called. "How long was the bag in the wall for?" Rachel asked and Raylan shrugged " We moved here when I was fifteen Lilly was seven or eight"
Drew told how Arlo had said he'd burned the bag and Raylan asked if he could smell the irony. The conversation was interrupted by Art calling Raylan and Lilly over to the cut out between rooms to tell them that Lexington air ops were fueling which would take about fifteen minutes then flight time would be another thirty. "Art we cant stay here for another hour" Raylan argued casuing Art to look at Lilly for assistant before saying "Raylan fifteen and thirty is forty five" "Close enough to an hour you want this to turn into the battle of bloody porch?" Raylan responded causing Rachel to glance up as she asked "What?" Lilly explained "The wild bunch" before turning back to Art as LaPlante came walking in the back to tell them he had more units responding and once they arrived a convoy could hop on the interstate and shut down off and on ramps to run eighty to Lexington. "We could make it in about two hours" He said and Lilly shook her head and met Raylan's eyes both of them knowing they didn't have that long.
Lilly walked over to the table where they had a map laid out trying to decide what strategy to use to get Drew out of Harlan and an idea occured to her as she traced a route with her finger then said outloud "Or we could get their eyes away from Drew and buy the chopper some time" Raylan glanced down at the map and nodded before saying "What you thinking Lil?"
She nodded towards LaPlante "We go with his idea of a convoy but instead of Drew being in it we make it for show. Someone waits behind with Drew till air ops get here" "We got two marshal vehicles ,a patrol car and a tow truck at our expense" Rachel spoke looking over the route Lilly had indicated. "Why that route?" She asked. Lilly and Raylan both answered "It's the route Boyd would take"
Art looked around then said "Ok I like the idea but question is who's doing what?" "I'm staying with Drew" Raylan quickly said causing Lilly to shake her head "If they got someone looking which they will and don't see that damn hat they're gonna know it's a decoy"
Raylan nodded knowing Lilly had a point so he glanced around before spotting Dunlop "come here"
Dunlop approached Raylan as he took his hat off and said "Try this on" Lilly knew what Raylan's idea was and Dunlop was the closest match to height and build. "What ya think sis? put him in a car at a distance" "We just need it to work long enough" Lilly said with a shrug.
"Now since that's settled who's staying with Raylan?" Art asked. "I will" Lilly offered but this time it was Raylan who shook his head "no you go with Art and Tim on the decoy convoy" She cut her eyes up at him "Raylan" he knew what she was about to say so he cut her off "I ain't keeping you from shit now there's a damn good chance the convoy is gonna be ambushed and sweetheart you're what Art and the AUSA likes to refer to as a shooter same as me. They need people along that won't hesitate to pull the trigger and besides if Boyd has anyone looking and they spot you along with Nelson undercover it'll be twice as believeable"
Lilly sighed in defeat because for once she couldn't argue Raylan's reasoning "Then who's backing you if Art and Tim is on the dummy run with me?" "I will" Rachel spoke up and Lilly nodded hated the idea of leaving her brother and best friend holding a pound of dynamite with a lit fuse but knowing they were out of options. "We need an alternate location if something happens to drive you two from here" Art said making Lilly glance at Raylan "Everett's High?" He nodded so she told Art the address so he could alert Lexington air ops while she walked outside to update Tim and the trooper that would be driving the tow truck.
Before she walked outside to join Tim and Art in the suv Lilly pulled Raylan then Rachel into a hug. "Watch each other's back you hear me?" She said making them both smile. "We'll be fine Lilly" Rachel assured her but Raylan knowing his sister the way he did winked at Lilly and said "buy you a drink when we get back to Lexington?" "I'll hold ya to it big brother" she said with a smirk before walking out.
Tim was sitting in the driver's seat and when she hopped in the backseat behind Art he glanced in the mirror "We good?" She nodded so he bumped the horn for everyone to go.
Trooper LaPlante lead the pack followed by one of his officers driving the tow truck then it was Tim, Art and Lilly in the suv while Dunlop bought up the rear playing dressup as Raylan.
Everything was going well until they passed an abadoned car on the side of the road which wasn't an unusal sight but when they spotted the second one mere yards away Lilly knew something was wrong and was about to vocalize just that when Tim hit the brakes slamming on the horn to signal everyone to stop.
"It's not right" he said glancing at her in the mirror knowing she had the same feeling he did. "What's not right?" Art asked so Tim explained "One abadoned car no big deal but two that close together is weird" Art shrugged "It's Kentucky" Lilly noticed a truck just a couple yards ahead of LaPlante and pointed "how about a third?"
Art looked between the two of them before asking Tim "You thiking IED?" "Well I'm not thiking confetti canons" Tim smarted off glancing around at their surroundings. "Are you sure about this?" Art asked as Lilly leaned up to get a better view of the situation and Tim shrugged answering "For all I know I'm just having a full blown ptsd episode" "You get those often" Art asked seeming shocked making Lilly wonder if he truly hadn't known before that moment. "Only when I'm handling firearms in public" Tim said nonchalantly. Art looked back at Lilly questioningly and she shrugged in response.
"What are we doing guys?" Dunlop asked across the radio. Instead of answering Lilly passed it up to Tim knowing in a situation like this he was the most capable of decision making to keep them all alive. He hit the button and said "pull up behind us and stay off the god damn radio" before calmly handing the radio back to Lilly.
"Call Raylan" Lilly said but Art already had his phone to his ear "Raylan Tim's feeling a set up, Lil too so peel off and head to the alt" when he hung up Lilly leaned across the seat to ask Tim "What do we do?" "Go back?" Art offered and Tim shook his head "What if the car behind us has explosives?" Art looked back at the car questioning "you think it does?" "I think so" Tim replied with a nod. "How did Boyd pull this off?" Art questioned. Lilly cut her eyes at Tim who explained "He now has an Iraq and Afgan war vet on his crew. Colton Rhodes. ex mp drummed out for drugs" he reached for his phone making Art question why Tim had Colt's number Lilly answered "You could say their paths have crossed"
Lilly couldn't hear Colt answer but when Tim said "Hello Bobby" Art mouthed for him to put the phone on speaker so he did and turned where everyone could hear the conversation clearly "Am I right in saying you were in the sandbox before Afghanistan?" Tim asked and after a moment Colt answered "Yes I am a double winner is that why you're calling to ask me that?"
Tim caught Lilly's eyes in the mirror as he continued "Why ya busy?" Colt sighed before saying "Well yea I am in the middle of something" "Alright I'll make it quick you see I'm writing this book set in Iraq I've hit a chapter with a convoy escourting a criminal Lieutenant Dan our main guy gets a bad feeling" before Tim could finish Colt interrupted "Forest Gump?" "Huh?" Tim asked momentarily thrown off while Lilly mouthed along with Colt's answer of "Lieutenant Dan was in Forest Gump"
"Shit you're right I'll change it Lieutenant Colt" Tim retorted making Lilly roll her eyes when Colt said who he'd like to play him in the movie and that he was honored.
"You should be. He's a big guy,real badass or at least he was. When we meet him he's losing his grip see he lost someone and started using dope he confiscated" Tim told Colt who quickly fumed "but then he kicks it and anyone who think's he diminished any is in for a big surprise"
Tim ran his tongue along his teeth something Lilly had seen him do in more than one interragation when the fugitive only had to be given enough rope to hang themselves before continuing "yea we think he's kicked but we all know he's the type that's one broken shoelace away from saying the hell with it and going back to using" "Why don't you have him go in a bar, pick a fight with some rangers, maybe send a couple to the hospital?" Colt offered to which Tim retorted "It's not a fantasy anyways back to the story main guy gets a bad feeling thinking there's IEDs triggered remotely by a cell and not sure what to do. ever come across a situation like that?"
Colt said that while he hadn't never experianced it personally he'd heard of a convoy that came across something similiar and long story short they'd ended up most of them dying and being eaten by their companions and the last remaining man killing himself. "And you know what the sad part is?" Colt stammered out. "Oh there's a sad part?" Tim quipped "They never found out if there was actually explosives so they died from being pussies" Colt warned then hung up the phone.
"Well good news I'm not flashing back but now they're gonna try to make us move" Tim commented looking between Lilly and Art who asked "So what do we do?" "We move" Tim replied throwing the suv into reverse and pulling on the opposite side of the tow truck while LaPlante and Dunlop followed his lead effectively circling the wagons so they had an area between the vehicles that was shielded on all sides.
Lilly passed Tim the sniper rifle that had rode on the seat next to her before sliding out between Art and LaPlante. Tim took sight on the back of the tow truck trying to pinpoint where he'd choose to put a sniper nest while the remaining marshals and troopers surveyed the surrounding area trying to get a feel as to what may happen next.
"We gotta get to Raylan" Lilly muttered to herself more than anyone straining her eyes to try to get a sight of Colt feeling a sense of dread wash over her at the idea of Tonin's men figuring out this was a decoy and the entirety of his forces landing on Raylan and Rachel alone. Tim scoffed and said "No shit Lilly. I'm working on it" knowing she was worried about her brother and he himself worrying what could happen to Raylan and Rachel if they were forced to meet the brute
Tim having decided upon a course of action shot two holes in the gas tank of the car they suspected had the explosives in it but Lilly's attention was on Art who was talking to Raylan. He'd been forced to leave Rachel and Drew at the school while he went after Bob who'd been caught by one of Tonin's thugs. "Did he talk?" Art asked Raylan but before she could try to hear an answer she spotted the helicopter that had been following them circle back towards Arlo's. "Tell him to get the hell out of there. He's about to have company" she warned bumping Art's arm who looked at the chopper and reiterated Lilly's warning before hanging up.
When Lilly turned back towards him Tim was digging in the side of the tow truck for what she wasn't sure until he pulled out a canister of gas and a glass bottle "Lil see if there's a rag in the front" he said so she checked and found a stained rag in the glove compartment and handed it out towards him "Molotov cocktail? ain't seen one of those since that Guns N Roses concert nineteen eighty nine" Art joked as Tim nodded and offered "Blow it from a safe distance then go play calvary" "you happen to have a lighter?" he asked turning his attention to Lilly who shook her head before checking the patrol car,suv, marshal car and even the tow truck to find all the car lighters missing and after asking the men turned out none of them smoked.
"Are you fucking serious?" Tim snorted shaking his head when she told him before going back into the side of the tow truck after the jump box."Four god damn cars and not one god damn cigarette lighter that's not being used to charge a god damn cellphone and none of you smoke" he grumbled as Lilly watched the fact that he was using jumper cables to light a fucking molotov cocktail. "None of you smoke? This is Kentucky not Sausalito what's wrong with you people?" Art said and Lilly wasn't sure if he was joking or not.
"Well damn you come in handy to keep around" Lilly commented when the rag caught up. Tim shot her a smirk before motioning to Art "I thought you were gonna throw it" "God damn" Lilly bit off moving between the men to pick up the bottle and hurl it towards the car.
The fuel that had poured out the bullet holes caught fire first making Art wonder if "maybe we were wrong" before him and Lilly started to stand up before Tim pulled Art back down with a hand on his arm and pushed Lilly between himself and the tow truck to shield her from the blast.
"Holy shit" Art exclaimed looking at the flames. Lilly on the other hand was momentarily stunned at seeing her first and hopefully last IED. She met Tim's eyes and both of them hollered in unison "WE GOTTA GO"
Tim helped her to her feet with a hand firmly on her right arm and the other bracing her waist "You good?" he asked and she nodded "Let's go"
As soon as the wheels stopped rolling on the suv Lilly grabbed a shotgun and was between the troopers and Art and Tim going through the doors of the school. When they got to the foot of the stairs she breathed a sigh if relief when Raylan's voice saying "All clear" carried down from the upper floor.
Him and Bob walked down to meet them and Lilly let out a low whistle when she got a view of Bob's face. "What the hell happened?" She asked Raylan who patted Bob gently before answering "Bob's a badass that's what happened" "Yes he is" she agreed which bought a smile to the beat up man's face that quickly turned into a grimace.
"Wait where the hell is Rachel and Drew? Why did Tonin's men leave?" Art asked and once more Raylan patted Bob's shoulder "Was his idea" Bob flinched when he tried to meet Art's eyes clearly in pain before confessing "more ways out of Harlan than air or driving" Lilly thought for a second before exclaiming "the coal train"
Rachel had hopped the coal train with Drew back to Lexington. The last place anyone would look so that mixed with the fact that apparently when the sirens could be heared Boyd had made it clear he wasn't being involved in getting in a shootout with the marshals today and told Tonin's boys "if you fellas were smart you'd clear out too. killing these two aint worth the backlash that's gonna come" Tonin's boys had decided to live another day. "and Boyd made it clear that he knew should he be the one to shoot me you'd deliver the bullet to his head personally" Raylan said smiling at Lilly who shrugged and commented "well Boyd knows me well doesn't he?"
She turned her attention to Bob examining his face or more so the various cuts and bruises he wore from refusing to talk and noticed he was also holding his side like she had a few years back when she'd ended up receiving a few broken ribs "Bob you gotta get checked out" Raylan nodded "Shit I gotta get back to Lexington" she knew he was right hell he needed to get back and so did Art so she volunteered by saying "Immediate threat is over. KSP is still in town I think I can handle Harlan on my own long enough to get Bob checked out" Art shook his head arguing "Hell no I'm not leaving any of my people alone now either Bob can come along for the ride to Lexington and stay there overnight or Tim can do the hospital run with you. Either way you two pick besides Lilly you don't ever have your car here you originally came to Harlan with Tim"
Dammit she was stuck because as bad as she didn't want to keep Tim from being able to head on back to Lexington Bob lived in Harlan and was clearly in pain so the sooner she could get him checked out the better considering so many had underestimated the man. He'd held up to a mob enforcer and hadn't broke that deserved to be looked after for a few hours. "If that's ok with Tim if not Raylan can ride with you Art and I'll take his car and run Dunlop down to stay with me" she spoke after a moment cutting her eyes at Tim to gauge a response he kept his eyes on Art responding "I'll go with Lilly to get him checked out and make sure he get's squared away then we'll head back to Lexington"
When they made it outside Raylan pulled Lilly closer to him and whispered "anyone you don't recognize comes within ten feet shoot first,ask questions later" She smiled and said "Will do"
Raylan content with her answer but not wanting to leave his little sister in any danger looked back at Tim "watch her back" he knew he didn't have to tell Tim that but still it made him feel slightly better when Tim told him "I always do"
Lilly walked next to Bob out to Tim's suv then helped him to get into the backseat considering he wasn't very steady on his feet not that she could blame him. She shut the door after he nodded that he was good and stopped one of the troopers that was packing up to head out and asked if he could get Bob's car towed from Arlo's house to his. "Yes ma'am I'll get it there" he answered so she thanked him before going to find TIm wanting to get this over with as fast as possible and get the hell out of Harlan for a few hours at least.
She found him standing between Art's suv and Raylan's car talking to both of them. "We'll go get Drew squared away and tomorrow they'll start his deal then it'll be done with and in the books" Raylan bragged when he saw her. She smiled and questioned "So then big brother gets to write his own ticket after bagging Drew god damn Thompson that it?" He chuckled "Don't worry Lil if that happens I'm gonna look out for you and get you assigned wherever you want" "Hey now who the hell said you could take Lilly?" Art interrupted their joking with a wink at Lilly who shook her head "you two can fight over who gets custody of me later while it's nice to know ya'll care but Tim I'm afraid Bob is on the verge of passing out now that the adrenaline is gone he's feeling every lick so we need to get a move on" "Yes ma'am" Tim responded.
Raylan looked between the two before repeating "don't drag your feet. get Bob seen after then get on the damn road. Lilly call me when you get home" She smiled at his worry and responded "I will Ray don't worry we'll be fine"
Tim stood silent next to her as Raylan and Art's cars disappeared down the winding road before saying "well let's go get Bob to the hospital" she nodded and followed him to the suv without saying a word.
The entire time they had Bob at the urgent care neither Tim or Lilly said a word with the exception of telling the nurses what had happened to Bob and reassuring them that a formal report had already been made. The final diagnosis was that he had two broken ribs, a mild concussion and recieved eight stitches in his face but all in all he'd faired quite well considering.
They braced him between them back out to the suv the pain meds he'd been given were already kicking in. Tim eased him into the backseat while Lilly muttered "for such a little guy he's a heavy little shit" making Tim crack a smile responding "well the demerol didn't help matters" "Let's get him home. I'd like to at least lay across my bed before dawn" Lilly quipped glancing at the sun that was almost gone from the sky.
The ride to Bob's was quick but then again he only lived six miles from the urgent care. His gremlin was already in the driveway. "let's hope they left the keys" Lilly commented opening her door to check.
She leaned into the small car and flipped down the visor smiling when the keys fell into her outstretched hand. She showed them to Tim while she walked up onto the porch to unlock the door then held it open for him since he was basically carrying Bob up the steps at this point. "Bed or couch?" He asked "just get him to the couch" she said walking in behind the two men as Bob mumbled something about Nancy Drew.
Tim dumped the shorter man on the couch then stood back while Lilly found a small blanket folded on a nearby chair and spread it across Bob's sleeping form after pulling his shoes off and sitting them behind the couch. "Night Bob" She said with a shake of her head before turning the small lamp in the room on so he would have light should he wake up tonight.
He watched as she hung up Bob's keys on the hook by the door then jotted down a note on the small pad near the landline with her cell number and a run down of what the doctor had said and after care intructions. When they walked out she checked the door twice before walking down the steps behind him. "ready to go home?" he asked with a smile. "Definitely" she replied falling in step beside him back to the suv.
Tim glanced at Lilly as he drove the all too familiar route between Harlan and Lexington. She was watching the scenery as if it wasn't something she knew every inch of except for new constuction here and there. Despite everything that had happened in the last twelve hours Boyd's words were still fresh in his ears about how Lilly was loyal to him and how he was supposedly looking at her. He couldn't be developing feelings for Lilly...could he? Yea they were friends and he enjoyed spending time with her but her brother was also one of the closest friends he had not to mention they were co workers. He was pretty sure Art would have an aneurysm on the spot besides even if Boyd was right and he was developing feelings for Lilly who was he to assume she felt the same way?
Hell she'd ignored his offer of getting a bite to eat and instead gotten him to drop her at the sheriff's office purposely leaving him with Cassie St Cyr. Nothing against Cassie she was pretty and all but she wasn't Tim's type. Women like Lilly were more attractive to him. Most of the time she was the one saving someone else and even when she needed saving she was far from helpless. She'd always put herself in the middle of a situation to help anyone she could. That time in New Orleans Chief Laundry had almost had a heart attack when she'd walked into the middle of a hostage situation. As for Raylan the closest relationship Lilly had that poor man would catch hell when it was apparent he was trying to shield her from fire but on the same hand she'd do anything to protect not just Raylan but Rachel,Art, Tim himself or any fellow leo or civilain for that matter.
Tim shook his head and turned his full attention back to the road mentally cursing himself for letting Crowder get in his head even if it was just "observations" as Boyd had put it.
Meanwhile Lilly hadn't notcied the way Tim was looking at her because she was too caught up in her own thoughts. She really hoped he hadn't noticed her reaction to Cassie flirting with him so blatantly after they saved her from Colt. Fuck it was a normal reaction to become enamored with someone who saved your life. Back in North Carolina a man she'd gotten out of a hostage situation had sent her roses every day for two weeks until Chief Nichols had stepped in. Yet the way Cassie had looked at Tim sincerly pissed her off even though she had no right to be.
Tim saw her as a friend. Someone who would have his back and someone who he'd have their back. She could not be seeing him as any more than a friend because that would end up with Raylan having to choose between his friend and sister, Rachel choosing between two friends and Art choosing between two deputy marshals. But god dammit since day one it was like the man was on a personal mission to show her good men still existed whether he meant to or not. Why couldn't he have been an asshole? well for one Raylan would've probally kicked his ass long before she got reassigned. Didn't matter as soon as he saw Cassie again without all this fugitive and mob mess going on she was fairly certain the two would hit it off even further and she could just bury whatever was trying to develop and hope it goes away.
The off ramp for Lexington caught them both by surprise. "Did you want to get your car from the courthouse or I can drop you off tonight and swing by in the morning?" Tim offered hoping she'd take the latter.
Lilly pondered for a moment not like anyone would mess with her car..besides Tim had to drive past her apartment to get to work but no. She needed to draw a line in the sand and not let some childish crush impact anything. "I think I need to get my car. never know what may come up that would make not having a ride in the middle of the night suck" She finally spoke and smiled at how much sense she'd actually made. Tim nodded and turned the road for the courthouse.
When he parked next to Lilly's car he was quiet for a moment still mentally cursing himself for not realizing anything before Boyd opened his big mouth. Dammit what the hell was he gonna do acting like a fucking teenager with a crush on his best friend's sister? She smiled at him as she opened her door "Goodnight Tim. I'll see you in the morning" She started to climb out and without thiking it further he stopped her "Lilly?" She leaned back in with a curious smile.
Despite his self concious scream at him to just tell her the thoughts running through his head he instead smiled and said "Don't forget to call Raylan or he may show up at your house" She laughed and said "Good point. I almost forgot" He nodded "Night Lil"
He sat while she shut the door then walked around to her car giving him a small wave before climbing in. He waited until the car roared to life to back out his parking spot and pulled out onto the road seeing her headlights behind him a few seconds later. It was official he was fucking falling for her.
Lilly called Raylan and told him how Bob had faired and he too was impressed by the man's resiliency. "Are you ok Lil?" he questioned and after a moment thinking over how scared she'd been at the thought of Tonin's men killing him and Rachel while she wasn't there to back up she answered "yea Ray I'm good. just tired. I'm about home so I'm gonna pass out for a few hours. I'll see you in the morning. Love you big brother" She could hear the smile in his voice when he said "Love you too little sister" as she hung up and pulled into her driveway.
She could see Tim's tail lights disappear around the corner and decided then and there whatever she may or may not be feeling for him needed to be buried before they got any further out of hand.