Fighting For My Soul

A Paradox

Art, Liz, and Raylan were all sitting in Art's office after they got back. They were the only ones there given it was after hours. Art poured them all a glass of whiskey and they all just hung out chatting.

"I find it crazy that Raylan just happens to find a bag from a missing person from 30 years ago, that was presumed dead until a few hours ago," Liz commented.

"I've learned to not put anything past Arlo," Raylan sipped his whiskey.

"Well let's look into this case and see if we can't crack it wide open then get credit for closing it," Art laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liz and Raylan stood on the front porch of the window of Drew Thompson.

"You sure this is going to be a good lead?" Liz asked.

"Well why not start with next of kin for a supposed 30 yr dead man," Raylan shrugged.

A woman opened the door to greet the two marshals.

"Don't tell me why you're here," she said, "The reason might be different than you think and I don't want you to confuse me reading."

"Were with..." Liz started.

"Didn't I just tell you not to tell me," the woman cut her off.

Liz looked over at Raylan very confused as to what was going on.

"Please," the woman waved to them, "come in."

Raylan stepped first and Liz followed not sure what to expect anymore. Liz scanned the room why Raylan talked to the woman. There was something else about the whole situation that was strange. It was another string in the complicated web that made up Harlan County.

"The man were looking for lead us here," Raylan said.

"If you're looking for Bradley then you should ask that little whore that works in his office," the woman's tone got short, "Shouldn't be hard to find her number. Just go in any men's room and it should be scrawled on the wall."

"Remind me to watch who I sleep with," Liz chuckled.

"Bradley's your husband?" Raylan sat down next to her, "we ain't looking for him."

The woman looked between the two marshals confused. Liz rolled her eyes having a feeling they were going to run into some old routine.

"Were looking for your other husband," Liz broke the news to her.

She looked at Liz with a stern gaze raising her head. Then turned her gaze down shaking her head.

"Drew's dead," she stated.

"You may be more qualified to know that," Raylan said, "all we know is that his body didnt hit that street in Corbin."

"I see so much death around you, both of you" the woman said to Raylan then turned to Liz, "and you, you've got a shadow following you. You've experienced a great deal of darkness."

Liz took a deep breath and got up. The sentence had hit a bit of a nerve. She walked around the room trying to tune out the woman's voice. She had turned her attention back to Raylan.

"And you feel a heartache," she said, "You've got someone (word later)

She walked over and looked out the window to see a car across the street that looked out of place.

"Raylan we got company," she said.

"You know that man?" Raylan asked as someone got out of the car.

"I've never seen him before," she said.

"Get her somewhere safe and I'll take care of this," Raylan ordered.

"You got a room with no windows?" asked Liz.

"The half bath," the woman explained.

The two women went down the hall and to the bathroom. Liz stood outside why the wife went inside. Liz kept herself leaned up against the wall so she could hear what was going on at the front of the house. She heard the two men's voices floating into the house. Liz heard something from inside the bathroom and opened the door to see the woman gone and a window open.

"God Damn it!" Liz shouted then ran around out the back door.

She exited just in time to see a man holding her over his shoulder. Liz raised her gun at him.

"US Marshal!" Liz yelled hoping it was loud enough for Raylan to hear.

He stopped and turned around glaring at her. He set the woman down and Liz got ready. She started calculating the distance between him and her wondering if she could get enough rounds off before he closed the gap.

"Put your hands in the air and get on your knees," she ordered.

"How about you mind your own business," the man said.

"I can arrest you for kidnapping, step away from the woman, hands in the air, and get on your knees." Liz's voice was stern.

"You think you having a gun pointed at me intimidates me?" he asked, "I know you can't fire unless I give you a reason."

"I know more than you ever know, dude. Last warning." Liz was prepared to fire her gun.

His eyes narrowed and Liz could tell he must have been calculating his option.

Liz slowly started to step his way, hoping to get him off guard. Her mindset was deadly and accurate in apprehending him or putting a bullet through his head. He picked an option and charged Liz. She tried to get a round off but he was on her faster then she had thought and he pushed her gun into the air. The round went off and she knew it would catch Raylan's attention. He hit her in the cheek which set her off balance. She got her feet back, swung around, and clocked him back. The next thing she thought about was the location of her gun. The gun wasn't in her hand, the hair on her arms stood straight up as she knew her pistol was in his hands.

"Oh how the tables have turned," he grinned at her.

Liz turned around and watched him pull the trigger, firing off a bullet. She fell to the ground, dazed and not moving. The next thing she knew, Raylan was on his knees next to her.

"Liz!" his voice sounded far away.

Liz knew it was Raylan, she tried to open her eyes. Then she remembered the woman who was knocked out. Finally opening her eyes and feeling her head, finding blood.

"Shit..." Liz cursed under her breath.

"What happened?" Raylan asked, helping her sit up.

"The woman ended up leaving through the half bath window she lied to us about, I went out the back and found her unconscious over a man's shoulder. I tried to apprehend him, but he managed to steal my gun and hit me. Where's she at?" Liz felt a huge headache brew from her wound.

'Still passed out on the grass," Raylan answered, "our FBI friend has the attacker."

"Good, how bad am I hit?" Liz asked.

"Just grazed ya," he said, "might need stitches but otherwise you're good."

"Good..." Liz closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Let's get our friends back to the office and then get your head looked at," Raylan stood up and held his hand out to pull her up.

Liz took his hand and was helped up. She kept thinking she could have done better, but she was lucky to walk out of there.