“Never mind your clothes,” Mr. Smith said. “You have a job to do. You’re going to flush Tanner out of hiding and steer him toward Phelps.”
The shorter safari twin spoke up after raising his hand in the air.
“Do we have to kill anyone, Mr. Smith?”
“Phelps will see to that. It’s what I’m paying the man to do.”
“Good, because I never killed anyone.”
Phelps climbed into the rear of one of the jeeps the men had arrived in and laid his rifle across his lap. He pointed as he spoke to the safari twins.
“Let’s get going; head that way.”
“That’s the wrong direction,” Jones said, then he blanched under the stare Phelps leveled at him.
“I know which way Tanner was headed, but he left his car in the other direction. With luck we’ll find him there, otherwise I’ll just disable the vehicle.”
“Oh, good thinking,” Jones said.
“Let’s go!” Phelps said, and his tall safari driver climbed behind the wheel, as the shorter man took the passenger seat.
“I don’t like him,” Jones said, but only after Phelps was out of earshot.
“As long as he kills the assassin he’s fine by me,” Smith said. “I want anyone else thinking of accepting a contract on my life to know that I will fight back.”
“What about Cynthia? Will she be similarly… punished?”
“I won’t have her killed if that’s what you’re asking. Despite the fact that she wanted me dead I still love her. However, there will be changes in our relationship.”
“You’re staying married to a woman who put a contract out on you?”
“Cynthia is a child yet, despite being eighteen. I’ll divorce her, but I won’t let her go. When I tell her that I had Herb Barker killed she’ll fall into line.”
“You’re right. She’ll do anything you say.”
Smith smiled. “Some good will come from this after all.”
Tanner breathed heavily from the exertion of running hard in extreme heat. He was half-hidden behind the trunk of a Joshua tree while he used the set of compact binoculars to look at his jeep. He needed to determine if anyone were lying in wait for him.
There was no one around the vehicle, but when movement caught his eye, he saw that another jeep was headed toward the area where he had parked.
He was too far away for his gun to do him any good, while he knew that there was at least one rifle in the fight. He glimpsed that rifle through the binoculars as a tall man with sandy-colored hair stepped out of the rear of the jeep.
Phelps found the rifle Tanner had left in the jeep and handed it off to the short safari twin.
“Damn it,” Tanner said, not only because of the loss of his rifle, but because he knew what was coming next. He was proven correct moments later when Phelps fired three rounds into his vehicle’s radiator. Oddly, the two men with Phelps let out a cheer. They were dressed in what appeared to be safari outfits.
“Idiots,” Tanner muttered. With his jeep lost to him, he turned and began running back the way he’d come. The desert sun was dehydrating him, and he had to get to water. He had dropped over a dozen bottles along the old road as he drove in, with the nearest bottle being only a few miles away.
As he ran, Tanner formulated a plan for survival. Once survival was assured, then it would be time for revenge.
59
Feed Me!
BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO, JULY 1998
At 3:59 a.m., Romeo smiled as he saw that he had covered nearly seventy-two miles in sixteen hours. Before coming to the desert and training with Spenser, that would have been impossible. However, over twenty-eight more miles remained, while Romeo knew he had little left in his tank.
He’d been tired before, and utterly exhausted in recent weeks, but he had never felt the bone-deep weariness that seemed like it was a part of him. And his back, his damn back was screaming at him with every step he took.
A much minor pain was the spot on his wrist where he wore his watch. The band had been chafing his skin, and so he took off the watch, sat it in his backpack, and used a tube of cocoa butter on the affected area.
As he had been looking through the backpack for the balm, he came across Spenser’s letter. Romeo held it for several seconds, then shoved it into his back pocket to read later, when the sun came up.
A sound reached his ears that told him something was moving nearby. After scanning the darkness with his light and seeing no one, he assumed that what he was hearing were the movements of some night creature. Whatever it was, it wasn’t that close, so he put it out of his mind. He was near the abandoned silver mine, and it only made sense that some animal would call it home.
After downing water, Romeo decided to lie flat on his stomach in an attempt to stretch out the kink in his back. It helped a little, while it felt wonderful to be off his booted feet.
Romeo felt his eyes closing on their own and popped them open. If he fell asleep it could be disastrous.
Just minutes later, Romeo was being congratulated by Spenser for finishing the race in record time. Of course, it was all a dream. Romeo had fallen asleep.
Not having the sun beating down on him was a relief to Cody, but the temperature was still hovering around ninety degrees.
At four a.m., Cody was at the seventy-three-mile mark. He had slowed considerably overnight, partly due to the darkness, but largely due to fatigue. He had lost track of how many gallons of water he’d consumed along the trek, while all thoughts of food repulsed him. One thought was in his mind, and that was to win.
As Cody leaned his head back to take a drink a streak of agony ran through his right calf. The sudden pain was so sharp that it caused Cody to drop the water bottle he’d been holding. The bottle rolled off into the inky blackness that the ground had become, as it lost its precious water.
Cody turned his head in that direction and the lamp strapped to his forehead illuminated moist sand. He cursed the luck, sat on the ground, and massaged his calf. He was leaning with his back against what remained of an old shack someone had built during the seventies for some unknown purpose. After opening a new bottle of water, he downed it while swallowing a pair of salt tablets and a multi-vitamin that contained potassium.
It was the first time he had been off his feet in over sixteen hours and it felt like bliss. His eyes closed. Cody jerked awake seconds later and checked his watch. Relief swept over him when he saw that only minutes had passed since he’d stopped moving. He was not someone given easily to emotion, but his pulse raced with the knowledge that he had come close to sleeping through the end of the test.
As he dragged himself up to begin moving again, he wondered if Romeo was as exhausted as he was.
Not so far away, Romeo awoke to the sensation of movement. It felt like he was being dragged along the ground, however, he felt no hands upon him. After rolling over onto his back and using the headlamp to illuminate the night, he still saw nothing, but there was sound coming from up ahead, and it was getting louder.
That’s when Romeo realized that he wasn’t moving, rather, the very ground beneath him was on the move.
“What the hell?”
Then he saw it. There was a sinkhole. The tremor he and the others had felt days earlier caused a shift in the abandoned silver mine, which later opened up a cavity in the earth. That space was slowly filling itself with the sand that surrounded it, which included anything attached to that sand, such as Romeo.
He was picking up speed as the ground inclined toward the hole. Turning over again, Romeo scrambled against the sliding surface beneath him, as he frantically fought being sucked into the hole. His backpack sped past him as he was moving upwards, and he made the mistake of trying to grab it.
The backpack slipped away while Romeo lost momentum. He began sliding backwards again and was soon closer to the hole than he’d been.
He dug in his hands and boots to struggle against the moving ground beneath him, to once more ascend t
oward solid ground.
It took him over four minutes of struggle to find firm ground, and he lay on his back panting from the exertion. Romeo moaned at the realization of the valuable energy he had just expended, then cursed aloud when he remembered that his watch had been inside the backpack. Now he had no way of knowing the exact time.
The watch was not only a timepiece, but it was also a compass that helped to keep him running in the right direction while it was dark. Fortunately, daybreak was less than two hours away. Romeo felt that he could navigate well enough until then without going far off course.
Checking his ankle, Romeo was relieved to find that his pedometer was still strapped there. He might be uncertain of the time going forward, but he would be able to track his progress.
He rose with a groan from the ache in his back and was on the move again, while wanting nothing more than to lie down.
With twenty-eight miles to go. Romeo let out a sigh, then he cursed the damn sinkhole that nearly swallowed him.
60
Freedom
DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, AUGUST 2012
Andrea came up with a plan of escape. She only hoped that Rudy was dumb enough to fall for it.
She was certain that he found her attractive. She’d seen the way he looked at her and knew what that meant.
The one wearing the cowboy hat and boots was different. Although he and Rudy both seemed to be about eighteen or nineteen, the boy named Cord had a hardness to him. He had stared at her too, stared at her and gazed right through her. She was an assignment to Cord, not a person. Andrea was scared of him.
She stood and hiked up her skirt a little higher, then considered loosening two more buttons on her blouse. She did so, while thinking it wouldn’t matter since her breasts were so small. And yet, when she looked in the bathroom mirror, she saw that more flesh had been exposed and that there was the hint of a cleavage visible. Small though they be, she still had boobs.
Andrea readied herself mentally, then tapped at the door to get attention. If Cord appeared at the door, the plan would be off, but if Rudy showed, Andrea would do what she had to do to get free.
Rudy’s voice came from the other side of the door.
“What do you want?”
“It’s lonely in here. Can’t you just talk with me for a while?”
There was the sound of a metal bolt being slid aside, then Rudy opened the door. His eyes went straight to her chest and Andrea smiled at him.
“You’ve got nice eyes, and green is my favorite color.”
Rudy moved into the room and ran a hand through Andrea’s hair.
“You got a boyfriend?”
“I did, but he moved away.”
“So, you’re not a virgin?”
“No, are you?”
Rudy laughed.
“Not since I was thirteen.” He leaned forward to kiss Andrea and she let him. As their lips were meeting, Andrea moved her right hand toward the gun on Rudy’s left hip. He wore the gun with the butt of it facing out, so that he could grab it with his right hand.
Andrea’s fingers only managed to brush the gun’s surface as Rudy was yanked backwards by Cord.
“What the hell are you doing?” Cord said.
Rudy broke free of the grip Cord had on his collar and gave his brother a shove.
“Don’t put your hands on me, man.”
Cord pointed at Andrea, and she saw that his face was growing red with anger.
“She’s an assignment, little brother, not a date. Leave her the fuck alone.”
“I didn’t force her to do anything. She likes me.”
Cord pressed his lips together and made a derisive sound.
“You’re an idiot, do you know that? The bitch was probably trying to escape.”
“I’m an idiot? All right, genius, let’s say she got away. Where would she go? There’s nothing out here.”
“That’s not the point.”
Rudy shoved Cord away from him.
“Go back to the front and mind your own business. I’m going to spend some time with this girl.”
Rudy stepped into the tiny bathroom again while leering at Andrea. She was certain her plan had backfired horribly and that she was about to be raped. But, as Rudy was closing the door, it was ripped open, and Cord punched Rudy in the side.
The two boys threw punches back and forth as Andrea squeezed into a corner to avoid getting hit, but when Rudy managed to knock Cord off his feet, Andrea saw an opportunity. She grabbed the gun from Rudy’s holster while shoving him forward.
Rudy tripped over Cord’s outstretched legs and fell beside him.
“Grab your gun and I’ll shoot!” Andrea screamed at Cord, who had been reaching for his weapon. Cord began to move his hand away, but then he smiled when he saw that the safety on Andrea’s gun was engaged. Cord went for his gun and Andrea fired at him. The single shot entered the wall beside Cord’s head and he fumbled the gun he’d only managed to free from its holster.
“What the hell. The safety is on.”
“It’s broken,” Rudy said. “I’ve been meaning to get that fixed.”
Cord gave Rudy such a hateful look that it made Andrea shiver. When she spoke, there was a tremor in her voice, but she reminded herself that she now held all the cards.
She jumped over Rudy’s legs, then gestured with the gun toward the bathroom.
“Get up! Now it’s your turn to be locked in there. And don’t even think about grabbing up that gun.”
Cord let out a string of curses and stood. Still on the floor, Rudy stretched out his hand toward Cord, for help in rising. Cord slapped his hand away and told him to go fuck himself. When Rudy was on his feet, he looked over at Andrea.
“You’re a dick tease.”
“And you’re a dick,” Andrea said. “Now, get inside that bathroom and stand back as far as you can.”
When the two teens did as she said, Andrea slammed the door shut with her foot and jammed home the bolt on the door. The door shook from the impact of Cord’s shoulder against it. Andrea realized that had she been slower in locking the door that Cord would have smashed it into her face. She picked up the other gun as Cord continued his assault on the door.
It wasn’t until she climbed behind the wheel of the mammoth vehicle that Andrea realized she had screwed up. She couldn’t drive it with Cord ready to burst out of the bathroom, or sooner or later he’d attack her.
The answer came when she saw the two dirt bikes parked outside. They were under a tarp that had been rigged between trees to keep them out of the sun. They both looked ready to go. After yanking free the keys to the motor home Andrea went outside.
Her old boyfriend had ridden a dirt bike and she knew how they worked, although she had never ridden one herself. Before getting on one bike, she disabled the other by shooting two holes in the dirt bike’s gas tank.
Cord was still beating on the bathroom door. The noise distracted Andrea and made her look in that direction often.
After straddling the bike that still worked, Andrea wasted time looking for a key to turn. Then, her memory reminded her that the bike started differently. After holding in the brake and clutch levers, Andrea kick-started the bike. Nothing happened, but after remembering to place it in neutral, the bike came alive.
Cord burst from the motor home and sprinted toward her with Rudy close behind him. Andrea let out a shriek of fright. She still had the guns, but they were tucked behind her in the waistband of her skirt. For a split-second she considered freeing a gun and shooting at Cord; instead, she got the bike moving. Cord leapt at her the same moment the bike shot forward and wound up falling face-first into the sand.
Andrea glanced back over her shoulder and saw Cord lying on the ground. The sight made her laugh, but her laughter turned to a yelp of fright when she nearly lost control of the bike. Returning her attention back to what she was doing, Andrea realized she didn’t know where she was headed.
People. I have to find people to help
me.
The thought was a good one, and she was headed in the direction of a very capable man, Tanner.
Outside the motor home, Rudy was laughing as he pointed at Andrea’s figure in the distance.
“What are you laughing about?” Cord said. “She’s getting away.”
“No, she’s not. There’s nothing but fumes in that tank.”
“I told you to fill it up after we got back yesterday.”
Rudy shrugged. “I didn’t feel like it.”
Cord shook his head in disgust, then gave a little laugh.
“For once your laziness might come in handy. How far do you think she’ll get?”
“I doubt she’ll make it three miles.”
Cord headed for the motor home. “Let’s fill up our canteens so that we can get after her, and I swear I’m going to enjoy killing that bitch.”
“Smith wants her dead?”
“Oh yeah, and that father of hers is already dead.”
“So why are we holding her here?”
“That was to make her old man do what Smith wanted. As soon as Smith calls and gives the word I’ll kill her. I won’t wait for Phelps.”
“You can kill her, but I want to nail her first.”
“She’ll scratch your eyes out of your head.”
“Not if we tie her up.”
“No, not if we tie her up,” Cord agreed.
Rudy’s prediction came true and Andrea made it only two and a half miles before the dirt bike sputtered and died. When she realized that the thing was out of gas, she thought of the small puddle she had made by shooting the other bike’s gas tank.
“Damn it! I picked the wrong bike.”
After gauging the sun’s position in the sky and looking at her watch, she began walking west. They had driven her to the area on a highway and she remembered that at the time they were headed toward the escalating sun.
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