by Robert Boren
“We’ve found some remains that we can get to with little difficulty,” the K-9 officer said. “There are a few that are too deep. We can see them with our fiber-optic lens, but they’re down far enough that they might hamper your investigation. I’m assuming you want us to wait.”
“Yes, please,” Dooley said. “How bad will it get around here?”
“You mean the smell?”
Dooley nodded.
“You have a little bit of time. We’ll have to bring some bull dozers and a steam shovel in here to get at the last of the remains, I suspect.”
“Okay, who should we talk to when we’re done here?”
“The coroner’s office,” the man said. “I’ll get back to it. We’ll tread lightly, while getting out the remains we can reach.”
“Thank you,” Dooley said. The man walked away.
“Grim business,” Jamie said.
“It is. Let’s keep at it. We’ve still got a few hours of light. I want to be out of here before dark.”
“You and me both, brother,” Jamie said.
***
Katie woke first, seeing the light coming through around the edges of their motel room curtains. She got out of bed, Justin stirring as she did.
“Good morning,” she said to him.
“Do we have to get up already?”
“Pretty soon. I’m anxious about this.”
“You’re afraid they’re after us,” Justin said, sitting up, trying to shake off the sleep.
“Of course. Think it’s safe to poke around?”
“I have no idea,” Justin said. “We have to at least try, though. If they’re still alive, we might be able to rescue them.”
“Oh, God,” Katie said, tears coming. “I’m trying to avoid those thoughts.”
“I understand, but we’d better have that mindset, or it’ll be worse. Where to first, the insurance office or the sheriff’s office?”
“Insurance office,” Katie said. “I think that’ll be less risky.”
Justin nodded. “Okay, I’m getting dressed. You need a shower?”
“Nope,” she said, “but I’m hungry.”
“I don’t think we should go back to the Grizzly.”
“Why not?” Katie asked.
“That waitress might have told some people about us.”
“There’s a gas station we passed that had a convenience store. I’ll bet they have coffee and pastries.”
“We should top up the gas in the Jeep anyway,” Justin said.
They checked out of the motel and got into their Jeep, driving to the gas station. It was deserted.
“Want me to get us something while you gas up?” Katie asked.
“That’d be perfect,” Justin said. He watched her walk away before he got busy with the gas pump, his eyes darting around at the people nearby and the light traffic on the road. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it, and it was giving him the urge to take Katie away from there as quickly as he could. He loved his friend Steve, but the instinct to protect Katie was stronger. The gas pump finished, so he pulled the nozzle and moved to one of the parking spots in front of the store. Katie walked out with a box containing two cups of coffee and several pastries, plus a couple large bottles of water.
“Done already?” Katie asked as she opened the passenger side door. “Something wrong? I don’t like the look on your face.”
“I’m having bad feelings. Wish we could just leave the area right now.”
Katie nodded, pulling the door closed, then handing Justin a cup of coffee. “I know. If it wasn’t my brother, I’d agree, but I have to at least check.”
Justin nodded. “We’ll do what we have to do and hope for the best. Keep your gun handy.”
“Always,” she said. “Let’s eat here and then go to the insurance office.”
“All right,” Justin said, taking a sip of the coffee and a bite from a Danish. “Not bad for a gas station breakfast.”
“Passable. See anything suspicious out here?”
“No, not really. Maybe there’s nothing wrong at all, and the shoot-out at the sheriff’s office is completely un-related.”
“That sheriff might have made a lot of enemies during the war. Remember what Steve said about him? He kept bad elements out of town. He was probably rough on some of them. Maybe even killed some.”
“I can drive now,” Justin said, shoving the rest of the pastry into his mouth. He washed it down with a little more coffee and started the engine.
“Let me hold onto the coffee,” Katie said, grabbing for it. “This thing is a little bumpy.”
“I’ll be careful,” he said, backing out of the spot. He drove back onto the road and headed for the insurance office. There was parking in front, but Justin parked further out in the lot. “Take your pistol.”
“You don’t have to remind me of that,” Katie said, double-checking that it was still in her purse. “Let’s go.”
The couple left the car, walking across the parking lot and up the steps to a walkway that ran across the front of several businesses. Justin pushed the door of the insurance office open for Katie, following her in.
“Oh my God,” Colleen said from a desk in the back, getting up, her vivid red hair swaying as she rushed to them, hugging both. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Where’s Steve?” Justin asked quietly.
“You’ve heard, haven’t you?” Colleen whispered. “About the attack at the sheriff’s station?”
“Some waitress in the Grizzly told us,” Katie said. “He’s okay, isn’t he?”
“He’s part of a posse that followed the attackers into the hills,” she said. “I’m worried sick. He’s been gone since yesterday morning.”
“Who made the attack?” Justin asked. “Islamists?”
“From the surveillance video, I’d say no,” Colleen said.
“Colleen, why don’t you take a break,” the woman in the front of the office said. “It’s okay. We know what you’re going through.”
“Thanks, Chris,” Colleen said. “I won’t be long. I promise.”
“Where?” Katie asked.
“We have a break room in the back. Let’s go there.”
She led Justin and Katie back there, shutting the door behind them.
“You have a nice boss,” Katie said.
“Chris is a doll,” Colleen said, pulling her phone from her pocket. She moved her fingers around the screen, loading YouTube. “Here’s video of part of the shootout.” She started it playing and held it in front of Katie and Justin.
The video started with gunshots coming from the sheriff’s office, its windows broken out, people shouting from inside. Then three men ran out of the office, guns in their hands, turning to return fire at a large man wearing a sheriff’s uniform, hitting him in the torso.
“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here,” shouted a man in an Italian accent, who jumped behind the wheel of a Toyota FJ, the others getting into the back doors. The vehicle roared out of the parking lot.
“Well, that was no Islamist,” Katie said.
“He might be UN with that accent,” Justin said. “Steve’s following those guys?”
“An eyewitness saw them turning onto Acorn Drive, which runs into a very long dirt road, going quite a ways into the wilderness,” Colleen said. “They’ve got a posse of twelve men after them in Jeep Wranglers. Steve’s with them.”
“Can you get him on his cellphone?” Katie asked.
“Not since late yesterday, but cell coverage craps out a few miles after the road turns to dirt. He’s probably fine. There’s certainly enough folks with them, and they’re locals who are good with guns.”
“When’s the last time you tried?” Katie asked.
“Half an hour ago,” she said. “I’ll try him again now.” She hit Steve’s contact, putting the phone on speaker. They listened to it ring once and then go to voicemail. She ended the call.
“You don’t want to leave him a message?”
Katie asked.
“I’ve already left a few, don’t want to fill up his mailbox,” Colleen said.
“Don’t leave him anything on a cellphone about us being here,” Justin said.
Colleen eyed him. “You guys are in danger, aren’t you?”
“We don’t know for sure,” Katie said, “but there are some strange things going on. I’ll just leave it at that.”
“Now you guys are scaring me,” Colleen said. “We left the group really early. Do you think they might be targeting us here?”
Justin sat quietly for a moment, thinking. “No, I’m not saying that. If anything, they’re watching the people at our base, and Katie and I might have been followed. You’re right, you guys got away before Robbie hooked up with Ivan’s team. There’s nothing on paper tying Steve and I.”
“There is something on paper tying me to Steve,” Katie said. “Let’s not forget about that.”
“True, but we don’t know of any other team members who’ve had their families targeted.”
“Yet,” Colleen said. Her phone rang, startling all of them. “Shit. Oh, it’s Steve!”
Katie and Justin shot each other a glance as Colleen answered the phone.
“Honey?” Colleen asked.
“Yeah. Are you okay?”
“I am, and your sister and Justin are here. What’s that noise in the background?”
“I climbed a tree to get cell service,” he said. “Blowing a little up here. We got attacked.”
“I’m putting it on speaker,” Katie said. She did that. “You aren’t injured, are you?”
“No, just a few scrapes from running around and climbing this tree.”
“Are there still bad guys after you?” Justin asked.
“We killed them all,” Steve said. “There’s only four of us left, though.”
“Eight of you got killed?” Colleen asked.
“Yeah. Could you get word to the sheriff’s station, honey? I’ve got GPS coordinates.” He read them off, Justin punching them into his phone.
“This is what I’ve got,” Justin said, reading the GPS coordinates back to him.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Steve said. “So nice to hear your voice. Katie’s with you?”
“I am,” Katie said. “We’ve got a Jeep. We’ll come out there.”
“Why can’t you just drive back?” Colleen asked.
“The bad guys shot two of our tires,” he said. “Hit the engines in the other two Jeeps. Tell the sheriff’s department before any of you try to come out here.”
“I’ll call them as soon as you’re off the line,” Colleen said. “Are you safe?”
“We brought plenty of supplies, and we’ve got good sleeping bags. Kept us pretty warm last night. I’m almost out of ammo. We’re all worried that somebody else might show up.”
“We’ve got a blue Jeep,” Katie said, “So tell your buddies. We don’t want to get shot at.”
“I’ll do that, but talk to the sheriff’s station before you come out here. They might not want you coming. There may be more of these creeps around.”
“Better save your phone battery,” Katie said.
“That’s not a problem, the Jeep’s engine still runs, and we’ve got plenty of gas. It’ll keep our electronics charged, no problem.”
“Okay, talk to you soon,” Justin said.
“You want the sheriff’s office to call you, right?” Colleen asked.
“Yeah, I’ll stay up in this tree for another half-hour or so. Getting a little windy, though. Tell them to hurry.”
“I’ll do that,” Colleen said. The call ended, and she called the sheriff’s station, putting the phone back on speaker as it rang.
“Well at least he’s alive,” Katie said, her brow furrowed. “What if there’s more out there?”
“We’ve got the M4s. We should go out there now.”
“M4s?” Colleen asked.
“Machine guns, and we’ve got plenty of ammo too,” Katie said. “We’ve got all kinds of stories to tell you.”
“Sheriff’s office,” a voice said on Colleen’s phone. “Sorry, nobody was by the desk. We’re a little short-handed.”
“Skip, it’s Colleen. Call Steve’s cellphone. He’s up in a tree waiting for your call.”
“Thank God,” Skip said. “We were getting ready to search for them. Feared the worst.”
“You mind if we go up there?” Justin asked. “I’m with Steve’s sister, and we’ve got a Jeep Wrangler.”
“No, let us go up there first,” Skip said. “We have reason to believe there are more people coming. Do you know what happened out there?”
“Only four survived,” Colleen said. “Call Steve now. I don’t want him hanging out in that tree too long. He said the wind was coming up.”
“Shit. Okay, I’ll call him now. Thanks, Colleen. Don’t worry, we’ll get your man back to you.”
“Thanks,” she said, the call ending. “He’s a good guy.”
“What do we do now?” Katie asked.
“Wait, I guess,” Justin said. “Colleen, do you know how long it takes to drive back to where he is?”
“I don’t know exactly where he is, but I know the area they were going, off the end of Acorn Road. If we don’t hear anything in two to three hours, I’ll start to worry. It’s bad terrain, but it’s just not that far.”
“If we don’t hear back by then, we’re going in,” Justin said. Katie nodded in agreement.
{ 3 }
Bomb Trigger
C lem, Elmer, and Willard were sitting in the saloon, nobody saying much of anything, all of them worried.
“They should be back pretty soon,” Elmer said.
“If they ain’t, I’m going after them,” Willard said. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Clem nodded, not saying anything, just as Anna burst through the swinging doors with Garrett, Sid, Ed, and Yvonne right on their heels.
“I could use a drink,” Garrett said.
“We were just about to come look for you guys,” Willard said.
“Not to worry, we were fine,” Sid said. “I’ll take a snort myself.”
Ed sat down, looking tired.
“You want a drink, Ed?” Willard asked.
“Hell, I just want to go to bed and sleep for a week.”
Anna and Garrett shot each other a worried glance.
“You okay?” Garrett asked.
“I’ll be fine. It’s just that everything seems so hopeless.”
Anna walked to him and put her arms around his shoulders. “I know, this is a low point for our people. I thought we were through all of those.”
“It reminds me of going to look at Sam’s RV park,” Sid said. “That was not a good day, even though it led to our partnership.”
Garrett nodded. “Wonder if Sam will ever re-open it?”
“I just hope Sam survives what he’s up against now,” Sid said. “I miss that man so much.”
“Me too,” Garrett said.
Ed’s cellphone rang. “Hey, this is the forensics team. I’ll put it on speaker. Gather around.”
“Is this Ed?” Dooley asked.
“Yes, and you’re on speaker. The others that were at the reservation are on, plus a few people from Dodge City.”
“All people you trust, right?” Dooley asked.
Ed’s brow furrowed. “With my life. What happened?”
“We have reason to believe that the booby trap was set as recently as a week ago.”
“Say again?” Garrett asked.
“Maybe I’d better back up a tad,” Dooley said. “We found out where some of the components were purchased. The purchase was made only three weeks ago.”
“Does that mean there are still Islamists or UN Peacekeepers around?” Anna asked.
“Well, it does give me pause,” Garrett said.
Ed nodded. “Yes, we assumed it was set up shortly after we fled the reservation.”
“The batteries they used in the main tri
gger switch don’t last long,” Dooley said. “Two weeks at best, with the load they had keeping everything running. That’s why we skipped ahead and had somebody get on the purchasing angle. Luckily there aren’t many outlets that sell this kind of hardware.”
“What does this mean?” Anna asked. “We’re being targeted too?”
Garrett looked Anna in the eye and shook his head no.
“It’s possible somebody has been watching you guys, and switched it on when they knew you’d be coming out soon,” Dooley said. “They must have been pretty sure about your imminent arrival, too.”
“Why?” Willard asked.
“Because once they plug in the batteries, they can’t take them out. That’s part of the bomb fail-safe. You take out the batteries, the bomb triggers immediately.”
“So what’s next?” Ed asked.
“I’ve already notified the Dulzura PD, told them they can’t assume the people who set these bombs are dead. They weren’t thrilled.”
“I can imagine,” Clem said.
“That’s all I had,” Dooley said. “Thought you’d want to know right away.”
“Thanks so much for calling,” Ed said. “Be careful out there.”
“We’re gonna knock off in about an hour,” Dooley said. “This isn’t a good place to be poking around after dark.”
“You’re right about that,” Anna said.
“Talk to you soon.” The call ended.
“Son of a bitch,” Garrett said. “We need to send a message to the drop box. I think we’re still in this. I’ll notify the cavalry to keep up with the patrols, too.”
“Didn’t know you stopped them,” Elmer said.
“I reduced the number of riders and the frequency,” Garrett said. “That was a little premature.”
“I’ll help you with the drop box,” Ed said. “We just sent the message about Tyler.” He paused for a moment, trying to hold it together. “Sorry. Anyway, it’s fresh in my mind. We can do it from the intel room in the mine.”
“Let’s go,” Garrett said.
***
Langston was starting to nod off at his post, shaking himself awake. He shot a sheepish grin at Creighton, who smirked at him.
“Caught me,” Langston said. “That DNA workup ought to be done by now.” He pulled his cellphone out and hit a contact, then had a hushed conversation as Creighton watched. He ended the call.