The Inca Con: A Rex Dalton Thriller

by JC Ryan

“Digger, out,” he repeated.

  Digger gave one last threatening growl and let the man go.

  “Turn over, and keep your hands where I can see them,” he instructed the guy.

  When he complied, Rex asked him, “Where’s Junior?”

  In sullen tones, the man said he didn’t know, that Junior had caught up with him and passed him. Maybe whoever was firing the rifle up ahead had killed him. Rex cuffed the man and continued down the trail to Luciana’s position.

  He found her in tears. At first, he thought she’d been hurt. He hurried to her and took her in his arms. “Where are you injured?”

  “I’m not injured, you idiot. I’m mad! Junior got away.”

  She pointed across to the trail where the third of the thugs was sitting holding one mangled hand in his uninjured hand, trying to staunch the flow of blood from the bullet Luciana had put through it.

  “I shot over his head, and he tried to pull his sidearm. So I shot him, but Junior came racing past, firing in my direction. I returned fire, but I missed him. All I have to show for my effort is that miserable bastard. I couldn’t shoot toward Junior, because one of the officers went after him and I was afraid I’d hit him.”

  “It’s okay,” he assured her. “So, we have three injured and captured. Junior’s ahead and armed with a weapon that works and moving fast, and one police officer ahead of me, chasing Junior. Is that about it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you still determined to capture him yourself?” he asked her.

  “I’ll never catch him, damn it. The officer is ahead of me.”

  “Then do you mind if I do?”

  “Go ahead,” she said, with a bitter twist to her lips.

  “Why don’t you see to rounding up everyone and follow?” he said.

  “Would you just go already? You’re not going to catch him, either.”

  Rex grinned, said, “Digger, come on, you’re with me,” and ran back to the trail.

  He knew he had little chance of catching Junior himself. But Digger could. As they ran to the trail, Rex called to Digger, “Get Junior, boy!”

  Digger knew who Junior was. They’d spent time on the trail together, and Rex knew it had been a trial for the dog. He hadn’t liked Junior from day one. He simply lengthened his stride and took off. Rex marveled at how quickly Digger extended the distance between them. Soon, the dog was out of sight.

  I still owe Digger a formal apology for not trusting his judgement of human character.

  Rex didn’t slow his pursuit. It would be full dark soon. Running full tilt down the mountain trail in the dark would be risky. He also didn’t want to leave Digger alone with Junior for too long after the capture. He still wanted Junior alive, but he wasn’t sure Digger did. However, Digger would not easily kill without Rex telling him to do so.

  Rex reckoned he was within a couple of miles of the village when he passed the exhausted policeman sitting on the ground next to the trail. He didn’t stop to ask what had happened – that could come later. Half a mile later, he caught up with Junior and Digger. Digger was sitting calmly a few feet from what was left of Junior. The man was alive, but not in good shape. He was bleeding from extensive bites on all extremities, and his face looked like he’d tried to run through a bramble thicket. Digger had taken his toll, and from the look of him, was well satisfied with his performance.

  “Well, shit, Digger. You didn’t leave me anything to do!”

  Digger turned toward him and relaxed his muzzle into the smile that made him so endearing and belied his lethal capabilities. He expected praise, and he got it.

  “Good boy! You did great! When we get home, you get a treat and the kong.”

  At the word treat, Digger pulled his smile in and cocked his ears. Then, without a backward glance, he trotted off down the trail toward the village.

  Huh. I guess he figured the rest is my worry.

  Junior wasn’t a heavy man. Nevertheless, it was a little work to get him situated on Rex’s shoulders for a fireman’s carry. Once he was there, though, Rex made it to the village without undue strain. Now and then, he wanted to slug his burden, though, when Junior moaned and groaned as if he were the one doing the carrying.

  Rex’s progress through the village streets toward the square attracted a following crowd. When he reached the square, he dumped Junior unceremoniously, like a bag of sand. The villagers who were following him sent up a cheer when they saw who it was in the light of the fire that was going in the center of the square.

  Pidro arose from the shadows surrounding the fire. “You have captured the evildoer, as you promised. We shall have a feast to celebrate.”

  “Hold that thought,” Rex answered. “I still have to go back and help Luciana and the police with the rest of Junior’s men. Where are the others? Did the policemen take them away already?”

  “No. They are holding them in the quarters we provided. Do you want me to call for them to be brought here?”

  “No, leave them where they are. This man needs the doctor to see to his wounds. Would you send for her?”

  Pidro looked dispassionately on Junior, who was still lying in the heap in which he’d been dumped. He shook his head and said, “In due time. First, we will question his involvement in our children’s illnesses.”

  “He’s your prisoner now. Suit yourself. I’ll be back soon with Luciana and the rest.”

  “We will be here, questioning this spawn of evil.”

  Twenty-Four

  BY THE TIME Rex met Luciana and the two policemen with their three captives on their way down the trail, there wasn’t much left to do. Luciana handed him Digger’s abandoned backpack, and he turned to walk beside her as they returned to the village. The prisoners were in varying degrees of pain, but they would survive. Luciana told him they’d dragged the two dead men that had been killed outright, and the first one Rex had left injured before they reached the site, off the trail and left them to the tender mercies of the local wildlife, having no way to bury them.

  “What happened to the first guy? I didn’t kill him.”

  “Bled to death, I guess. He was dead when we went looking for him. I really should start carrying a shovel whenever I am with you and we’re going after bad guys,” she remarked.

  We?

  Luciana’s statement forced Rex’s mind to a topic he hadn’t thought of for a long while—a steady relationship. Despite Luciana’s stunning beauty and dazzling personality, he immediately realized he was not ready to discuss future joint expeditions to catch bad guys, not yet, and maybe not for a long time.

  Unless there was a human villain responsible for the children’s illnesses, his work in the village was finished. Junior would be brought to justice, along with anyone associated with him. The Markses would get their money back and arrange for a permanent doctor with the rest of the money they’d scored from Junior. Luciana would be compensated by the authorities, and the village would do fine without any of the gringos whose presence had disrupted them for the past several weeks. As soon as he was sure that the doctor had discovered the source of the children’s radiation poisoning and knew they would be taken care of, he planned to hit the road again.

  If Luciana wanted to join him for the rest of his jaunt in Peru, that would be nice, as long as there were no strings attached.

  To cover his discomfort, which he was glad it was too dark to see, he answered mildly, “Maybe you should.”

  She moved closer to him, shoulder to shoulder, and said, “We deserve a celebration, don’t you think?”

  Pretending not to understand her meaning, he answered, “I think Pidro’s already planning one.”

  She nodded and fell silent.

  Rex immediately regretted his aloofness and rebuked himself in silence. Here you have one of the most beautiful women ever to be interested in you, and all you can think of is how to get away from her.

  He looked down at Digger for help and saw his buddy was already studying his face as if he knew exac
tly what Rex was thinking. But Digger offered no advice, although Rex could swear if he had something to say it would’ve been something along the lines of, “Dalton, you’re a total idiot.”

  But when all was said and done, the truth was, and Rex knew it, it was not wanderlust that kept him from a serious relationship, it was unfinished business. The unfinished business of revenge that he promised to visit on those who betrayed him and his friends. He had taken an oath, and until that promise was fulfilled, he wouldn't be able to settle down with anyone. Not even the dazzling Luciana.

  ***

  THE NEXT MORNING, all six policemen left the village with ten prisoners in their custody. The Shining Path member, the six who’d been peacefully captured while they were stoned from chewing coca and drinking too much chica de jora, and the three they brought in the previous night.

  The villagers flatly refused to let them take Junior until they had questioned, tried, and judged him.

  Rex had an uneasy feeling, as if he hadn’t done enough. His fists didn’t ache from any close fights, which was a first for him on one of these impromptu missions. At first, he couldn’t identify the feeling of something missing. When he did, he could only shake his head. This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. What was he doing, pining for a fistfight?

  He sat on a bench beside the village elders who’d told him the stories he craved and tried to keep his mind on his next destination. Digger lazed in the sun at his feet.

  He should have been at peace, but he wasn’t.

  The village was preparing for the celebration Pidro had ordered, and as Rex watched women scurrying back and forth with baskets of items they were trading, he decided there was one thing he could do to relieve his itchy feeling.

  He got up, called Digger to his side, and strode toward the doctor’s place.

  She came out the door before he reached it, so he greeted her. She said hello in a distracted manner and kept walking. Not to be foiled in his attempt to discover what was bothering him, he fell in beside her.

  “You seem to be in a hurry.”

  “Not especially. This is my normal pace,” she answered. “Did you want me for something?”

  “I was wondering if you have any more ideas where the kids might have been exposed to radiation.”

  She stopped and turned to look at him. “I believe I suggested that you investigate that.”

  “Fair enough, but I’ve been a little busy since then.”

  “So I understand. Getting drunk on chica de jora and playing at cops and robbers.”

  “Now wait just a minute. I don’t know what gave you the knot in your knickers, but I’m not the bad guy here. I found this situation when I arrived, and I’ve done nothing but try to help since then. Aside from the chica de jora incident, which only happened because I just didn’t know how strong it was, or that I was overindulging while trying to be polite.”

  Dr. Martinez started walking again. “All right. I’ll accept that. But I’m busy treating the children and the injured men you brought in. I haven’t had time to investigate, and someone needs to do it before more children fall ill.”

  “Granted,” he answered. “What I wanted was to learn the status of our knowledge about the source. Now I know we’re nowhere, I can help. But I need some information first. What are the likely sources? I mean, I don’t think there are any uranium dumps up here, are there?”

  “Correct. I know of no such installations.”

  “Then what would be your best guess?”

  She stopped again, this time to think. He watched her face as she apparently considered and rejected a few options.

  “Natural radon emissions would be first. Do you know of any caves nearby? Or abandoned mines?”

  “No, but I can ask around,” he said. “What else?”

  “Their homes aren’t tightly built enough to allow radon to build up, and if it were radon, then I would expect the adults to suffer the same fate as the children. It would have to be a naturally-enclosed space like a cave or mine shaft.”

  Rex had a sudden thought. “There is a mine somewhere near here. But it isn’t abandoned. Some of the men work there.”

  “What kind of mine? Uranium?” She looked doubtful.

  “Gold and other valuable metals is what the elders told me. I think uranium does occur near gold, though, doesn’t it?”

  Rex noticed that Digger was watching them like people watching a tennis match, his head wagging back and forth to look at whoever was speaking. While he waited for her answer, he leaned down to give the dog a scratch behind his ears.

  “I don’t know,” she said, finally. “If you could ask the men who work in the mines whether they bring home interesting crystals or pretty rocks for their children to play with, that might solve the mystery.”

  “I’ll see what I can find out. Anything else you can think of?”

  “Nothing likely.”

  Rex nodded and started to turn.

  “Wait,” she said. “Would the mine you mentioned have tailings?”

  It was Rex’s turn to think before answering. “Don’t most mines? Why?”

  “Because tailings dumps are highly dangerous if they contain traces of uranium. There have been cases of entire towns’ water supplies being tainted, and.…” She stopped talking because of the look on his face. “What?”

  “The spring water!” he blurted. “Before you came, the local Inka Mallku told the parents to give their children water from a sacred spring to drink and bathe them in it to cure the Leishmaniasis rash.”

  She grasped the implication immediately. “Where is this spring?”

  “They haven’t told me, but Pidro said it was a sacred spring, and the miners brought the water from it when they returned from work each day. I’ll go and find out. Maybe you can persuade the parents to stop those treatments until we can sort it out.”

  She nodded. “They’ve already been stopped, since I have the children in my hut, and I saw no reason to have anyone bring special water. But yes, I think you should find out about that spring.”

  “I’m on it. Thanks, doc. It’s much nicer to be working together than at each other’s throats, don’t you agree?”

  She smiled but didn’t answer. Rex figured he was on probation.

  Note to self. NO chica de jora tonight.

  Rex needed to go back to the square, and if Pidro wasn’t there supervising, he’d talk to the other old men. He bid her a good day and turned back.

  The activity in the square was familiar by now. Rex smiled to himself as Digger trotted ahead, straight for the old men lined up on the bench nearby. The dog was enjoying the extra attention he got up here.

  Pidro was loitering near a trestle table some of the teenage boys had erected, snatching a treat now and then when the women weren’t looking and preventing the boys from doing the same.

  Rex strolled up behind him and said, “Are you authorized to taste the goodies?”

  Pidro jumped half an inch off the ground and turned around to glare at Rex. “You startled me!”

  “Guilty conscience?” Rex smirked and reached for a piece of fruit, only to snatch his hand back when Pidro glared at him.

  “I am making sure the food is fit for consumption at the celebration,” Pidro announced with injured dignity. “Did you want something? Besides to steal the feast food, I mean?”

  Rex swallowed his laughter and straightened his face to a sober expression. “Yes, Pidro. I must ask you where the sacred spring is whose waters you have used to bathe your grandson?”

  “That is not for outsiders to know, Ray. I am sorry.”

  “Pidro, it’s possible those waters have been polluted, and that’s what is causing the children’s illness.”

  Pidro drew back in horror. “We have made our children sick?” The wail he sent up caught the attention of everyone around them, and soon they were surrounded by concerned villagers.

  Trying to calm the situation, Rex put his hand on Pidro’s shoulder. “No, not
you. You did nothing wrong. It may not even be the water hurting them. We just have to check.”

  The nearest villagers heard what he said, and a cacophony of mutterings and louder voices began in the crowd.

  “What water?” “How can water hurt?” “Who was hurt by water?” and so forth, all jumbled together. Panic was rising, and to make things worse, Digger had arrived, and it looked as if he had his hackles up prepared to protect Rex. He was growling at those who came too close and snapping at a few who tried to get Rex’s attention by touching him.

  “Everyone be quiet!” Rex snapped, raising his voice over the noise.

  Since Pidro’s distress had only grown with the pandemonium, Rex waited for the noise to abate, and then addressed the crowd.

  “People, there is nothing to worry about yet,” he said. “I just need to know where the sacred spring is. Its waters may be polluted, and that may be the reason the children are sick.” He left out the Leishmaniasis connection.

  An older teen stepped forward. “I will show you the spring.”

  Another round of protest went up, but the young man walked away from the crowd, and Rex followed. Some of them followed, shouting warnings at the young man, but he ignored them. When the followers fell away and went back to what they’d been doing before the disturbance, Rex drew even with his guide and asked why everyone had been angry.

  “They are not ready for our way of life to end,” he said. “It is foolish. You and others like you have made your way to our village. Already, we have changed. Those who do not wish to change will argue and want to keep outsiders away. My friends and I welcome change. We want modern life—what you have.”

  Rex walked along silently for a while. After a few minutes, he said, “Don’t be so quick to throw away the old ways. Sometimes the modern world is not nice. People like me want to come to villages like yours to get away from it.”

  However, he couldn’t disagree that if modern life was going to intrude on the village, it might bring diseases the old medicine couldn’t cure, desires that the old ways couldn’t fulfill, and envy of the outside. It might have been better to leave the village untouched. But it was too late for that already.