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 toward 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.
10
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.
And was it ever a hot sun. Andrea had been given a bottle of water hours earlier, but the heat surrounding her made her sweat while dehydrating her. After walking along for ten minutes she was excited to see what looked like a road. Andrea rushed over to it, then realized that the old concrete surface hadn’t seen traffic in decades.
In any event, the cracked and sand-coated road was better than trudging through the deeper sand that surrounded it, so she stayed on it. When she saw the two bottles of water sitting in the shade of a bush, Andrea wondered if they were a mirage. They weren’t, and although warm, the water felt wonderful going down. After drinking one bottle, Andrea carried the other one away with her, and wondered if she had a guardian angel looking out for her.
11
Nor Any Drop To Drink
DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, AUGUST 2012
Tanner was drenched in sweat and aching for a drink when he found the empty water bottle Andrea had left behind.
Nearby were three sets of tracks. They were faint impressions in the sand that coated the surface of the old road, but discernable as shoe prints. Tanner wondered for a moment if the man with the gun and his two safari-clad companions had somehow made it in front of him, but then he dismissed the idea as he assumed he would have heard their jeep’s approach.
No, someone else had discovered his water. After studying the tracks, Tanner surmised that the smaller tracks were made by a child or a female wearing sneakers, while the other two sets of tracks belonged to men wearing boots. Although he’d been trained as a tracker many years earlier, he could still discern that the three weren’t walking together. The men were following the person who’d made the smaller tracks, and they were moving faster than their quarry.
Taking out his compact binoculars, Tanner unfolded them and gazed in all directions. He spotted the jeep following along in his tracks and knew he was running low on options. If they found him, they would kill him, while the sand made it a thing of ease to follow him.
Looking back at the other tracks, a plan formed in Tanner’s mind. He began following the tracks made by Andrea, just as Rudy and Cord had done minutes earlier.
Andrea drained the second bottle of water as she walked along and still felt like she needed a gallon more. The temperature was high and the sun so brutal that she knew she would be sunburned in no time. As she walked past a bush, a snake hissed, then skittered away. Andrea let out a scream of fright and stayed on alert for snakes.
Not far away from Andrea, Rudy and Cord stopped running and cocked their heads.
“Did you hear that? She must be close now,” Cord said.
“I wonder why she screamed like that,” Rudy said.
“Who knows, but it won’t be the last scream she makes today.”
As Tanner had done before him, Phelps was holding the first of the empty water bottles Andrea had left behind, and there was a confused expression on his face. They had tracked Tanner for miles. Now, it looked like the hit man may have found help… but maybe not.
“Hand me that radio,” Phelps said, and the taller of the two safari twins gave it to him. Moments later and he was talking to Mr. Smith.
“Those boys you hired to watch over Barker’s daughter. Can you contact them?”
“I can, but why do you ask?”
“Someone else is out here and Tanner might have met up with them. I’m wondering if it’s those boys.”
“They’re in the area, but they’d have no reason to leave their RV. Standby, I’ll have Mr. Jones contact them.”
Rudy flinched when the two-way radio indicated they had a call, because the only one who would be calling was Mr. Smith. It wasn’t Mr. Smith, but rather Mr. Jones. That was just as bad.
Cord answered, listened, then glared at Rudy.
“Yes, we’re out here because the girl yanked Rudy’s gun off his belt when he went to play grab-ass with her. Tell Mr. Smith I’ll do my best to fix Rudy’s screw up.”
Rudy mouthed the words, “You son of a bitch,” at Cord, as Jones replied. When the call ended, Cord was all smiles.
“What did Jones say? I couldn’t make it out.”
“He said if the girl gets away that it would be on you. If I had to guess, that means either she dies, or you do.”
“We’ll get her back.”
“You’d better hope so, and Jones had some news of his own. That hit man who Barker was out here to meet is on the loose and in our area. We’re to call in if we spot him.”
“Is the guy armed?”
“They assume so.”
“Great.”
“Let’s catch up with this bitch and get our guns back. After that, maybe we can track down the hit man. If we do that, Smith will forget that you let the girl
get away.”
“I still want to nail her.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cord said, as he began jogging along in the wake of Andrea’s tracks.
When Phelps was told that the tracks belonged to Cord and Rudy, he relaxed, then he got an idea.
“You two. Out of the jeep.”
The safari twins blinked at him in surprise, but neither man moved.
“I said get over here.”
The men joined Phelps, then looked down at the jumble of tracks.
“One set of these tracks belongs to Tanner. I want you to follow them. Those boys Smith hired are in front of Tanner. With you two at his rear, he’ll head back into the brush, and that’s where I’ll be waiting for him.”
“We’re not killers,” the shorter man said.
“I get that, but all you have to do is herd him my way. You do have guns, don’t you?”
The men reached beneath their safari shirts and brought out weapons. They were both carrying snub-nosed revolvers.
“I guess they’ll do,” Phelps said. “When you see Tanner, fire in his direction. In fact, fire off two shots. That will tell me he’s headed my way.”
The men began walking along while following the tracks. Behind them, Phelps shook his head in wonder at their stupidity.
They wouldn’t herd a man like Tanner anywhere. If Tanner was as good as Herb Barker had claimed, he would kill both of them. However, they would keep the man preoccupied and rounds would be fired off, which would allow him to pinpoint their location.
Phelps got back in the jeep. After removing his cap, he wiped his brow, then sipped the last of the water from his canteen. He was waiting for the fireworks to begin. At the sound of the first shot he would drive to within rifle range and pick Tanner off.
The safari twins plodded along as they followed the tracks left by Andrea, Cord, and Rudy. There had been a fourth set of tracks mixed in, but they had ended near a small dune. The safari twins never noticed the discrepancy, nor the fact that they were being spied on.
Young Guns 3Beyond Limits Page 4