“So you admit that you are getting a bit soft in your old age?”
“You’re the one that brought it up first, and I’m not the one massaging my aching back right now.” Leo retorted.
“Waah! Here’s a dollar, go call someone who cares.”
“I’ll take your dollar and do that very thing, just point me to a phone.”
“How do you do it man? No matter what is said you always have to have the last word?” Doug lamented.
“I guess I’m just that good.”
“You’re that arrogant, all right.”
“No, you’re wrong. You have my self-confidence misconstrued with arrogance. A simple error, but I’ll forgive you, over time.”
“Man Leo, I’m not going to stand here and bullshit with you all day. I have to go take a piss.”
“Go ahead, I’m not stopping you, just remember to wash your hands when you are done.” The familiar pattern of their old banter gave Leo a few moments of ease. They could go on for hours like this, and often did. For a few seconds they forgot their predicament.
Doug gave his friend a look of disgust and walked over to the nearby aspen trees to water a young sapling. Afterwards, he walked to the spring and began rinsing his face and hands with icy water.
“Hey, bro, you might want to finish up quickly. I think I hear a car coming from the Bonanza side.”
“Sure, I bet I already have a target on my back too.” he chortled.
“Quit playing with yourself and listen. I’m serious, Doug!”
He quit splashing the water and listened intently. “Shit, you’re right, I hear a vehicle too.” He jogged back to the stone cabin and helped Leo kick dirt on the fire. For a moment it began to smoke, and then it was totally smothered with loose gravel and sand. Leo placed his two rifles out on the sleeping bag that he had used to wrap himself in during the coldest part of the night. Both guns were fully loaded and operational. Doug reached in the tent, extracted a second sleeping bag, and he threw it on the ground within the confines of the stone walls. He would use it to kneel on if he needed to shoot. He grabbed his loaded .30-06 and an extra box of shells. Leo reached into the tent and grabbed the small duffel bag that held the extra rounds of ammunition for his guns and the shotgun should it come down to close quarter fighting.
“I can sense it. It’s them. Can you feel it?”
Doug nodded in agreement as he removed the lens caps off his rifle’s scope, then carefully wadded up the sleeping bag to provide maximum padding under his knees as he prepared himself for a shoot-out.
A greenish min-van became visible about a half mile down the road as it rounded the corner where “Chinatown” started below the Custer town site. Leo left his .30-30 on safety but brought the gun up to look at the van through the powerful scope.
“Is it them?”
“I can’t tell for sure yet, but I certainly have a feeling that it is.” They watched the van approach cautiously. When the van rolled by the gift shop and the museum, Leo could make out the driver. “It’s them!” The van’s two front windows were rolled all the way down. He could see that there were four men, perhaps even five. Only the front two men were illuminated enough by the rising sun to be able to identify them. “The man in the passenger seat was one of the guys I fought on the west coast.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes! I’m eager to get it over with.”
“What’s the plan? Do we just start wasting them?”
“No! Remember, one of them may be Florin. Don’t shoot him. If they stop I’ll try to reason with Bob. If they make evasive movements, shoot them in the leg first, okay? I don’t want to have to kill anyone unless it is our last resort.”
“Got it,” Doug half whispered.
The van crept further down the street, its passengers scouring the neighborhood for signs of Leo and Doug. Leo watched them through the scope. They were eyeing every old building. The van eventually came to a stop just past the gift shop. The side and passenger doors opened, and two men got out, and immediately unzipped and unbuttoned their jackets. They acted as if they weren’t entirely sure what to do. The van began moving at a snail’s pace again, on up the road in the direction of the Pfeiffer house and the old mill.
“The man walking over towards the museum is Florin. Remember not to shoot him.”
“Okay.”
They were whispering now, and trying not to move much or even breathe loudly. The second man had walked back behind the gift shop when Leo lost sight of him.
“Keep an eye on the gift shop, should that second dude reappear. I’ll watch the van. I’m not worried about Florin.”
“Right.”
The van was going about five miles an hour as it passed the Pfeiffer house. The brakes jerked the van to a complete stop when the driver noticed Doug’s truck. Leo and Doug could hear the men talking, and then the van was thrown into reverse, and shot back to the gift shop. Bob backed the van up on the far side of the gift shop, so that it could not be seen from the Pfeiffer cabin. Leo got a glimpse of Florin behind the museum, hiking up the mountain at a good pace. Once he reached the pine trees he would be out of sight. Florin was already nearly level with the stone cabin and on the same side of the mountain. Perhaps he was trying to break away from the group.
Doug whispered, “Look.”
Leo glanced back at the gift shop. Four men were assembled nearby. They had their handguns drawn. He looked closely at them through the scope. None had rifles. “We were right, they only have handguns.”
Doug gave him the thumbs up sign.
Bob motioned for the tall man that was riding in the passenger seat and another man to go towards the museum. Bob and the remaining man walked behind the gift shop, approaching the Pfeiffer house from across the road. The tall man headed up the hill in the same direction that Florin had gone, while the other man stayed on a trail at the base of the hill, taking him through some foliage in the direction of the Pfeiffer house. Leo was more concerned with the tall man getting a vantage spot above them than with the man standing on the trail at the base of the hill. That guy would be in clear view as soon as he passed through an area of trees and undergrowth. He wouldn’t be able to sneak up on them from there.
Bob and another man stayed close to the creek and surfaced behind the old stable building, directly opposite the Pfeiffer house. They would have excellent cover if a firefight erupted, as that side of the road was scattered with several huge metal mining displays that had come off the various mills and mines in and around Custer. Due to their immense weight they were permanently left outside even after the museum and gift shop closed for the season. Leo and Doug moved over to the left front corner of the stone cabin. They feared that they could become an easy target should the tall man spot them. They had to stay in the best cover possible from the left side and bottom of the mountain.
Leo silently cursed himself for not anticipating anyone climbing the mountain up above them. Perhaps they were foolish parking the truck on the same side they were on. If they had parked the vehicle on the other side of the road, perhaps Bob and his men would not have climbed the hill at all. Leo laid the .30-30 down and picked up the .22 with its banana clip. He pulled the other clip out and laid it next to him on the sleeping bag. The three closest men were now within about a hundred yards. The .22 would be just as accurate and easier to fire. Leo cocked the lightweight rifle. He took in a deep breath, held it for a couple of seconds, and slowly released it, focusing intently on all details and controlling his surge of adrenaline. He was committed and ready for action.
The man following the trail at the bottom of the hill popped out of the foliage below them, but fortunately he chose the path leading to the Pfeiffer cabin. Leo got a glimpse of Florin crossing over an open patch, way above the cabin and still a long distance away. Moments after Florin crossed the barren stretch; the tall man entered it and headed in the same direction as Florin, which in essence wasn’t really in Leo and Doug’s direction at all. For the
moment, they would not have to worry about Florin or the tall man.
The man below them silently walked behind the cabin and looked into the cab of Doug’s truck. He looked over at Bob and his cohort hunkered down by the old stable building and signaled to them that the truck was clear. Bob’s minion crossed the street in a streak and the two men went to the front door of the cabin. Doug and Leo could not see what they were doing.
Bob hollered, “We know you’re in there Leo. You are surrounded. Come out with your hands in the air and nothing will happen to you.”
Leo watched him through the scope as he yelled at the empty Pfeiffer house. Leo saw him pull back on the top of his shinny 9mm pistol as he cocked it. Sure, nothing would happen! Leo and Doug were prepared. Doug rolled onto his belly, over part of one of the sleeping bags, and pointed his .30-06 at Bob through the open doorframe of the old cabin. Leo had a pretty good view of the Pfeiffer building and Bob’s location from a good-sized space in the rocks of the wall in front of him. It wasn’t really large enough to poke his rifle through and fire efficiently, but it was sufficient to view the terrain at the bottom of the hill and determine when not to stick your head up over the wall to fire down at the enemy.
Leo decided it was time to respond. “Bob. Give it up! Gather your men and leave before you all get killed today.”
Total silence enveloped the mountain. Even the birds were silent. The air crackled in anticipation. The only sound remotely audible was either the distant creek or water dripping down the mountain near the spring. Leo could see that Bob was straining to detect where the sound had come from. Leo could see him glancing at the two men out of sight on the porch of the Pfeiffer building. One man peeked around the right side of the building but quickly withdrew his head.
“We broke the password! The game is over. Pack up and tuck your tail and run, because by tomorrow the contents will be in all the major papers and the authorities will be looking for you.”
“What are you talking about?” He called back.
“The flash drive! We broke the password. I gave a copy of it to David last night and he’s already in Boise. With some luck it might be in today’s paper.”
“You’re bluffing, Leo; it won’t work. It’s too late for negotiations.”
“Listen, Bob, before you make one more hand sign to the two men on the porch, be aware that I will blow their heads off if they make one more move. That goes for you, too.”
“Where are you?”
“Shut up and listen, you fool. You’re lucky I don’t just kill you where you kneel. I know you killed my office manager and burned down my business. You even blew up my mother’s business in Africa. I’m really not sure why I am giving you a chance at all.”
Doug whispered urgently, “It’s working, he’s getting real nervous, and he’s starting to squirm. I have him in the scope; just tell me when to pull the trigger.”
Leo whispered to Doug, “If he makes a false move, shoot him,” then addressed Bob again. “I’ll give you sixty seconds to lay down your arms and to order your men to do the same. This will be your last chance to live.”
Doug whispered again, “He’s really squirming man. He still doesn’t know where we are.”
“We broke the password. Give it up! You know as well as I do that you’ll be the fall guy. Forty-five seconds left!”
“Damn it Leo, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You have no proof or you wouldn’t be here. You’re bluffing and we both know that.”
“You’re soon to be dead wrong. Keep it up and you and your men will all be dead wrong. I bet I know what your problem is. Your guys probably weren’t ever able to break the password, and therefore you don’t even know what’s on that flash drive, right? Thirty seconds, Bob!”
“Leo, this is your last chance, come out with your hands up.”
“You’re not calling the shots here, Bob, I am. I know all about Mr. Nagasaki’s presumed suicide. I know about the strong-arming and murders in the western states. I know about Lasertron Amusements and the Movie Time Franchise. How about the death of the Reno Casino owner? Did you know that he was a Korean investor who happened to be an acquaintance of Tim’s? How about Governor Roberts and Mayor Dickerson? Twenty seconds!”
“How do you know this?”
“I already told you, we broke the password on the flash drive. Did you know that the Vice President personally called Tim to warn him of the organization’s plans to assassinate him? You have ten seconds left to live, Bob.”
“Leo, he’s going to jump any second, it’s not working. He’s not going to surrender.” Doug took his rifle off safety and rested his index finger lightly on the trigger. “He’s telling the men on the porch to do something.”
“Get ready, buddy; he just realized that if I’m telling the truth, he has nothing further to live for anyway. I fear we are going to have to fight.” Leo raised his voice once more in Bob’s direction. “Don’t be a fool, you can still escape. If you stay for this confrontation, you and your men will die! Time’s up!” Leo picked up the .22 rifle and took it off safety.
Two shots were fired in rapid succession on the same mountain as the stone cabin. The shots were a distance away and posed no threat; however, they gave Bob the break he had been waiting for. He jumped up, dashing for the back of the stable building. Doug saw the movement and pulled the trigger on his rifle. The shot barely missed him. A chunk of wood shattered next to him as he ran for cover. The sound of the .30-06 shot boomed through the canyon and echoed in the distance. At the same time Leo heard glass breaking at the front of the Pfeiffer cabin. Someone was entering the house. A man rushed from the front porch towards Doug’s truck.
Doug was working the bolt action on his .30-06, but hollered, “This side!”
Leo jumped up and aimed at the speeding man, who had already crossed half the distance. He did not use the scope, merely pointed the gun at the man and began firing rapidly. By the time he had pulled the trigger for the seventh time, the man had collapsed to the ground. Leo knew that he had hit him multiple times, but had no way of knowing how serious the man’s wounds were. He was still alive and quickly crawled under Doug’s big truck. He had lost his pistol when he hit the ground and it was clearly in sight. Suddenly, pieces of rock began flying in the air as bullets were ricocheted off the front stone wall.
Doug hollered for Leo to get down. Again Doug’s big .30-06 roared. The man who had entered the cabin had fired up at the stone walls. Doug had seen the flashes of gunfire coming out of the rear window of the shaded back portion of the cabin, and he planted the crosshairs on the man’s chest. The moment he pulled the trigger he saw one last flash from the man’s gun, and then his target was flung backwards with a tremendous force as the .30-06 slug hit him square in the chest.
More gunfire could be heard above the stone cabin. It sounded closer than before. What was going on up there? Who were they shooting at? Were Florin and the other man involved in some kind of scrimmage? Had they met a bear? Were they firing at each other? The man under the truck was in agony. They could hear his groans. He was out of sight, but probably would be of no further concern. Bob ran from behind the stable building to seek shelter behind a huge iron crusher, and Leo opened up on him with the .22 rifle. He emptied the first clip, but Bob was clever and fast, and he had run in crisscross patterns using every piece of mining equipment as shelter. Leo could hear the twanging sounds of the bullets hitting metal objects. He had seen a spot of red appear on Bob’s left upper thigh. Bob’s left hand reached out and covered the wound as he flung himself behind the crusher. It was quiet again. Doug bolted another shell into his rifle.
Leo grabbed the other banana clip and replaced the emptied clip with the new one. He re-cocked his rifle and laid it beside him. “I have a bad feeling about those shots being fired up above us. I think Florin is in trouble.”
“We have one guy left down here to take care of and then we can go check on Florin,” Doug replied.
“Can you s
till see Bob?”
Doug looked through the doorway with his rifle’s scope. “I can’t see him, but I think you hit him. He’s not going anywhere.”
Just then, a volley of shots erupted from behind the crusher. Doug dropped his rifle and rolled back away from the entrance, behind the stone walls for shelter. Bob had finally located them. He had seen the reflection of light off the rifle’s scope. He had fired from gaps in the crusher and nearly took Doug’s head off. Pieces of rock had dislodged themselves and one had shattered the weapon’s scope. Another piece of dirt and rock had hit Doug in the forehead. At first he thought he had been hit by a bullet, and that the confines of the stone cabin would become his final resting spot. A couple of bullets were high and tore holes in the top of the canvas tent.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, but shit, that was close! I think he hit the rifle.” Doug reached out and grabbed his rifle by the butt and pulled it to him. It had not been a direct hit, but the scope was now definitely useless. Without sights and a scope the rifle was pretty much out of commission. Leo looked through his peephole and saw movement on the far upper side of the crusher. Bob was not giving up. Though wounded, he was still trying to circle around them. He fired a few shots in the direction of the stone cabin as he darted over to a metal trolley bucket.
Leo tossed the .30-30 and a box of shells over to Doug and said, “Here, use this one. Bob just ran over behind that big trolley bucket to the left of the crusher.” He had barely gotten his last word out when bullets struck the top of the tent. One hit the aluminum tent pole on Leo’s side and the tent toppled over as if it were a popped balloon. Leo grabbed the .22 and crawled on the ground towards the back of the stone cabin. “Doug. Get back. It’s coming from above us!”
Both men reached the back of the cabin at about the same time. Neither was hit, but both looked like they had been rolling in the dirt.
Doug was breathing hard. “Now what? Got any great ideas?”
Leo was visibly disturbed. “Ah buddy, we’ve been in better situations. There’s a guy above us and I know Bob’s circling around the side. We can’t watch him anymore and we sure as hell can’t peek over the back to see where the other guy is.”
B.B.U.S.A. (Buying Back the United States of America) Page 26