Within the Dead Space

by Hutchens, Gary

  The other two had thought it but didn’t want to admit it.

  There was silence for a couple of minutes as all three men thought about the consequences.

  “Well, we know what Allen thinks. What about you, James?”

  There was silence a few seconds longer. “I want the gold for sure. I’m in.”

  “I want the gold, too. I’m in,” said Kyle. “Now let’s work out a few of the details and tell me if you guys disagree with anything I say. We split whatever we find equally.”

  They both shook their heads.

  “We will have to be very cautious where we sell the gold and try not to spend too much the first couple of years. And lastly, we have to take Chaco out into the middle of nowhere to get rid of the body. I’ve seen too many movies where they find the body and then trace it back to the killers.”

  “I know the perfect place to dump the body,” Allen suggested. “Its several miles from Quartzsite in an old abandoned mine. It wouldn’t take any effort at all to collapse the mine on top of him and besides that I have camped there before and have never seen anyone nearby.”

  Kyle and James agreed. “How far is the mine from here anyway?”

  “About forty miles.”

  “How about we take Chaco out to the mine tomorrow morning and get the information from him there. We don’t want anybody to trace us back to this motel. Tonight we’ll go into Yuma. They have a great bar. Oh yeah, one other thing, we’ll leave Chaco at the mine and not kill him until we have found the gold.”

  They all agreed.

  Chapter 64

  Early the next morning they left for the mine. Allen hadn’t been there in a couple of years but he didn’t have any trouble finding it. The road looked like it hadn’t been used in a long time. This region looked like one of the most isolated areas on the planet.

  “Great place, huh” said Allen.

  They dragged Chaco out of the car.

  “Chaco, I’m going to ask you just once more where the gold is. Tell me the truth and I won’t let Allen touch you.”

  Chaco looked at the three men through only one eye. The other eye had swollen over from the beating he had gotten yesterday. “I told you the truth.”

  Allen’s face began to get beat red and his eyes looked like they had glazed over. He walked over to a dead tree and broke a large branch from it. He proceeded to break off the few small branches that still remained.

  Chaco watched Allen walking back toward them with the heavy wooden club in his hand.

  “Last chance Chaco before I turn him loose. You can tell us now or tell us after he beats you half to death. It’s up to you.”

  The words, “I told you the truth,” had hardly left his mouth when Kyle stepped out of Allen’s way. There was little doubt in Chaco’s mind that Allen was crazy.

  A slight glimmer of a smile was on Allen’s lips as he raised the club and slammed it into Chaco’s hip. Allen had agreed not to hit Chaco in the head.

  Ahhhhhhh, an exasperated cry fell from Chaco’s lips. They are going to kill me for the gold, he realized. “Stop, stop, don’t let him hit me again and I’ll tell you.”

  The club came down again and this time hit Chaco in the shoulder. James and Kyle jumped on top of Allen and wrestled him to the ground. After a moment they all got up and turned toward Chaco.

  Chaco had somehow deflected the blow or it would have broken his shoulder. “I didn’t tell you the truth. There is still a lot of gold in the cave. I’ll tell you where it is if you let me go.”

  “If you’re lying again, Allen is going to kill you, but not before he beats you good. Do you understand what I’m saying?” All three men were now on the same page.

  “Yes,” said Chaco in a weak voice.

  “Tell us then,” said Allen in that crazed psycho voice of his.

  “You’ll need a piece of paper to write this down.”

  “Okay, I’m ready now.”

  “Go to San Diego and find Point Landan. From there,” and Chaco began giving them a long list of directions to the gold. “When you get to the old shack you are almost there. Go to the right corner of the shack where the door is and walk thirty yards along an over grown trail. You will reach a small hill. The entrance to the cave is behind a very thick bush in front of you.”

  “Do you think he is telling us the truth?” asked James.

  “I doubt it,” said Allen. “Let me kill him right now.”

  “Look at him,” said Kyle. “Does he look like someone who is going to lie to us again? He’s half dead already.”

  What they were seeing was a lot of dried up blood across Chaco’s face and on his clothes. He looked much worse than the actual damage.

  “Tell you what Allen, you stay here with Chaco and if what he said isn’t true, I’ll call and you can take care of business for us.”

  “Wait a minute. I’m going with you no matter what. Let’s take the kid with us.”

  “We can’t take him. He’s a mess and if someone sees him we are in big trouble.”

  “Why don’t one of you guys stay behind and I’ll call you?” said Allen.

  They all agreed that no one was going to stay behind. Their attention turned back to Chaco.

  “You know that if you have lied again, Allen will kill you. Do you want to change your story?”

  “It’s true, I don’t want the gold.”

  They tied Chaco even more securely and dragged him to the back of the cave. They tied him to a rafter that supported the ceiling and then gagged him.

  Allen kicked him once more and said, “I’ll be back.”

  They spun the wheels as they floored the car in their hurry to get to San Diego.

  Chaco sat there in the dark cave unable to move even a few inches. His plan had been to get away while the men were gone. He had loosened the ropes around his hands earlier but now they had retied him even more securely than before. They were going to kill him. All he could do was work the knots on the rope…and hope.

  Unbeknownst to Chaco an old sea biscuit of a man had watched everything from a hillside a quarter of a mile away. He watched them enter the cave and leave the boy behind. He usually didn’t like to get involved. He had been a miner for twenty years looking for that big streak of gold. He had found a few nuggets over the years but never anything of consequence. He had been over to San Diego a month ago looking for the Inca gold but had given up after repeatedly being chased off of private property. He now lived in Yuma in a small one bedroom home and spent several days a week searching for gold. This was the first time that he had been in this area and felt fortunate to have found this old cave.

  He sat on top of the hill until he was sure the three men had left and then started down the hill.

  Chapter 65

  A few days earlier in Afghanistan General Mortenson was back with several other officers accompanying him. They also brought recording equipment. Franco stood at attention while the others that could rose to their feet.

  “We have checked your story concerning the earthquake and the Pakistani that planted the dynamite. Your story is a bunch of garbage. The energy released is greater than a hundred thousand tons of dynamite. Your Pakistani must have been planting dynamite for a thousand years just for that one moment when you needed him. I want the truth now or all of you are marching out of the hospital door and into a jail cell. Captain you said this was all your idea so I will give you one last chance to come clean. Pick your words carefully Captain or they will be your last as a free man.”

  “Sir, again I am responsible for everything that happened here and I take full responsibility,” Franco stated.

  “I must interrupt General Mortenson, Franco is not the only one responsible here. I helped plan and execute the mission and I would do it again, Sir. A good friend and fellow soldier was being held prisoner by the enemy and the army couldn’t or wouldn’t save him. I am proud of what I did,” Jerry politely informed the general.

  The other men spoke up and said, “We all d
id this together.”

  “We’ll see how boisterous you men are when you are facing a dishonorable discharge and prison time. Again, I want the whole truth.”

  Franco thought hard for a moment and decided that he had to tell the truth. If it was just him he wouldn’t have told about Chaco, but all of his friends were going to go down with him.

  “General Mortenson, sir, you won’t believe what I am about to tell you, but it is the truth.”

  Franco told the entire story about meeting Chaco and how he helped them rescue Eduardo. He told him about dead space and the weapon Chaco used to disrupt the valley where they were rescuing Eduardo. He told the general everything except the part where Chaco gave the money to his mom. Franco didn’t believe Chaco would hold it against him for telling the truth to save his friends and besides Chaco had gotten away.

  General Mortenson was aware of Chaco the Inca and his exploits in both Boston and New York.

  “Where’s Chaco now?” asked the general.

  “I helped him get off base and he is on his way to Karachi as we speak.” Franco explained exactly what he had done.

  “Men, this story is really hard to believe and yet everything about this Chaco kid has turned out to have some truth in it. I’ll check this through. I don’t think you could have made up such a harebrained story and I’ll give you this…..I think you have told me the truth.” He left the room.

  A few days later the general was back and he was fuming mad. “You told me that you helped Chaco get off the base in Kabul. It appears he smuggled onto a flight going to San Diego. What have you to say about that Captain?”

  All of the men were shocked and looked toward Franco for an explanation.

  “General, I swear that I helped Chaco get off the base. Everything that I told you was absolutely true, so help me god. If he got on that flight he did it on his own. I just don’t see how he could have done that or why he would do that when he had an escape route through Karachi. I watched Chaco leave the base. We must find Sahib who works in the kitchen. He can tell us about Chaco.”

  Sahib hadn’t been back to work since the day Chaco left the base. There was no way to verify Franco’s story.

  That afternoon all hell broke loose when Chaco was seen in San Diego and the gold was found.

  Base Commanders in both Kabul and San Diego ordered that all the security film on both bases be re-analyzed frame by frame. The next day they had a photo of a small man in Pakistani clothes at the warehouse at Miramar in San Diego where the aircraft from Kabul had unloaded. When the photo was enhanced their jaws dropped. It was Chaco.

  Homeland Security was notified.

  All military bases in the U.S. were on the alert for Chaco. The military wanted him immediately. They wanted to know about dead space and the weapon Chaco used in Pakistan.

  Chapter 66

  “Anybody in there?” hollered the old miner from the front of the cave. There was no answer.

  He lit his lantern and entered. Cautiously, he moved forward carrying his miner’s pick in his right hand. He found Chaco about a hundred feet into the cave. They had him hogtied to a support beam and gagged to beat all.

  “Somebody don’t like you too much,” he smiled as he held the lantern near Chaco’s face. “You kind of look familiar. Let’s get that old gag out of your mouth and we can have a talk.”

  The moment the gag came out of Chaco’s mouth the relief was enormous.

  “Why, you’re only a kid. I never seen anyone tied up so smartly. What did you do to them anyway?”

  “Can you untie me, please?”

  “You sure have a nice manner about you kid, but I think I’ll wait a minute before I let you free. I was a prison guard for way too many years and one thing I learned is to never untie anyone you don’t know. Are you well known? Because I think I have seen you before.”

  “I don’t know what is going on. I hitched a ride with those guys and before I knew it they tied me up, threw me in the trunk and then dropped me here and took off. They’re crazy. I am glad that you came along.”

  “What’s your name anyway?” The old-timer held the lantern close to Chaco’s face again and then rubbed his chin.

  “My name is Carlos.”

  “Carlos you say.” Hmmmm, “I need to think for a minute,” and he walked away.

  Chaco couldn’t believe the old man hadn’t released him.

  A few minutes later he came back with a smile on his face. He held the lamp to Chaco’s face once again.

  “My oh my. I’ve been searching for gold going on twenty years and now I’ve hit the mother lode. Well, I’ll be damned,” and he jumped up and danced a jig like one of those leprechauns from Ireland. He couldn’t have been happier.

  At that moment Chaco knew that his jig was up as well.

  “Okay boy, let’s talk. I want gold and lots of it. You take me to it and I’ll let you go free. Those idiots must be out looking for the gold as we speak. I can’t believe they would leave you behind. Remember now, I was a guard at Yuma for twenty years and I know how to get prisoners to talk and I can tell in an instant if you’re lying.” The old man continued, “Also, if you don’t come clean I just might leave you here and when they come back they are going to be hopping mad. I reckon they will probably kill you. That must have been why they left you here. They thought they would get the gold and then come back here to kill you. Let’s get on with it. Where’s the gold?”

  “Are you Irish?” asked Chaco.

  “I’m as Irish as Irish can be and my pot of gold has come home to roost.” He danced a jig again and then said, “Quit screwing around kid. Where’s the gold?”

  Chaco eyed his newfound foe through the glare of the lantern light. The old man looked as tough as nails and you could almost feel a mean streak in him. This guy was smart, not like Allen who was a dumb thug and nothing more.

  “I think you’re right. They are going to kill me. I’ll take you to the gold if you give me half.”

  “Now you’re talking partner. How much do you figure there is?” Jessie knew he wasn’t going to share a dime of it with Chaco. When someone lays down a claim he owns it. I found the kid and the riches are mine.

  “Millions.”

  “And where is it?”

  “You must have seen the papers, it’s in San Diego.”

  “Just checking on you, kid. I’ve got a car a couple miles from here.”

  Jesse sat the lantern near Chaco and untied him from the beam. He untied his legs and then pulled Chaco to his feet with his hands still tied behind his back.

  “I want you to notice something on my waist.” He held the light close to his waist revealing an eighteen inch long night stick. “I call her Sheila and I don’t go anywhere without her, so remember, don’t mess with me.”

  Chaco led the way out of the cave into the bright daylight. He could hardly open his eyes.

  “The car is over that ridge. See the trail over there, just follow it.”

  Chaco had walked up the trail a hundred yards when he fell down.

  “Can you untie me?”

  “It ain’t going to happen kid. Just keep walking.”

  After he fell the next time Chaco pleaded with Jessie to at least tie his hands in front.

  Jessie looked at Chaco lying in the dust with his arms scratched pretty good and decided he would tie his hands in front. He tied Chaco to a tree before he released his hands from behind him. He then retied his hands in front.

  They walked for about a quarter mile before Chaco fell again near an old dead tree. This time when he stood up he had a half inch thick tree limb in his hands and jumped away from Jessie.

  “I was wondering when you would test me.” Jessie pulled his night stick from his belt and gave a couple of crisscross swings to loosen up. “Tell you what kid, you drop the stick and we will forget all about this and go on our way.”

  Chaco quickly examined the stick in his hand realizing it was useless because it would snap in an instant. He dropped th
e stick without saying a word.

  Jessie lowered his nightstick and approached Chaco. “Go ahead now, we don’t have all day.”

  Chaco was just turning toward the trail and at that second Jessie jammed the end of the nightstick into his stomach knocking the air out of him. He fell to his knees.

  “Sorry kid, but when Sheila comes out to play she don’t go home until she’s had some action.” Jessie started laughing.

  Chaco gasped for air and after a few seconds his lungs began filling with air again.

  “Get up kid. Let’s go.”

  Chaco remained on his knees still recovering.

  “Get up kid or Sheila is going to come out and play again.”

  Chaco didn’t move.

  “You asked for it,” and Jessie started removing the nightstick from his belt.

  In that instant Chaco swung his legs out at Jessie catching him off guard. Jessie fell to the ground with his nightstick falling away from him. Chaco was up in a flash and grabbed the nightstick.

  Slowly Jessie climbed to his feet. “You think you’re pretty smart do ya? I’m going to tear you apart before we go get that gold.” He came at Chaco swinging.

  Chaco backed away from the first onslaught. The second time Jessie threw his big roundhouse swing Chaco stepped in close and with a swift swing of the nightstick caught Jessie just above the wrist shattering his forearm.

  Owwwwww, screamed Jessie, as he fell to his knees.

  Chaco lowered the stick and said, “Sorry about that old man but when Sheila comes out to play she has to get some action,” and he started laughing.

  Jessie climbed to his feet. “I’m going to kill you right now,” and he ran at Chaco like a crazed rhino.

  Chaco waited and at the last second jammed the nightstick into Jessie’s stomach. The old man fell down doubled up in pain and gasping for air. Chaco took a pocketknife off Jessie’s belt and cut the ropes.

  “Get up old man. Now!” screamed Chaco. “I’ve had it with you and the rest of this bunch. You’ll be lucky if you live through the night.”

  Jessie was slow getting up, so Chaco tapped his broken arm with Sheila, eliciting a scream of pain.