Chapter 9
It was two months after she disappeared into the desert that Carlos discovered the cave. Of all the creeps with Jake’s outfit, Carlos was the most skilled, and the most dangerous. But, like her, he all but missed the cave until he walked right upon it by accident. He had been following a deer when he stumbled upon the cave unexpectedly. When he saw all the signs of occupation, his mind went into overdrive. He stepped cautiously into the outer chamber and found it clean, neat and organized. The floor was polished to a shine by her constant footwork and workouts. It smelled of sage and leather, and the sweat of a woman. At first he stood in disbelief, even though his senses related an accurate story as to what he had found.
He went outside and looked around for several minutes. The wind was still, not even a breeze. He could hear birds chirping at a great distance. He knew the place had been vacated only for the time being. Curiosity pulled him back inside. He saw the web belt hanging on the wall with the pistol still in it. The clothing neatly stacked and folded, the different types of herbs neatly lined up and organized, the tin bowls from her backpack were stacked neatly near the herbs. This person was disciplined and exacting. That it was a woman he had no doubt. But it was impossible for this to be the same woman that had destroyed the compound?
He knew that girl, and also her character. He had seen others just like her; she had no fortitude, resilience, nor inner strength; she couldn’t survive in this land for more than a day or two at the most. His continued search for that girl, the one that Jake had insisted on them finding, was just a game, a way of stalling before having to tell the big bosses they had fucked up big time.
No matter; he liked the desert, and being out in the open. And Jake had brought up another girl for them, and they had been taking turns with her. Jake had also kept the food and the liquor coming in. There was no reason or need to go any nearer to town than they were. He could hunt, and he could search for the girl. It was always his opinion that the girl had fallen off a cliff, been killed—possibly eaten by a wild animal. But sooner or later they would find her rotting corpse, or dry bones some where in the desert. Each day they searched further out while looking for her body or fresh footprints, but they had found no sign of her existence.
This person, whoever she was, wasn’t the one they had been searching for, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t have a bit of fun with her. Maybe keep her here as his own bit of fresh meat instead of sharing the puta back at the camp.
Then he turned and saw her standing in the tunnel that led from the outer chamber to the inner one. His senses had completely betrayed him. He hadn’t heard her approach, nor had he smelled her, or even suspected that she was standing there. More unnerving yet, was the calm way she stood watching him. She was wet, so there must be some kind of water source in another part of the cave. She was naked and totally unarmed, but she didn’t seem a bit concerned or frighten by him, nor did she seem surprised that he was there. He looked her up and down and felt a bit of a chill run up his spine. This woman was damn good looking, but she also looked like a wild animal, all muscle and sinew. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her, only muscle. When she moved it was all smoothness with the grace and ease of an animal. She never took her eyes off of him as she asked calmly. “A bit off the beaten path aren’t you?”
Carlos shrugged, “I tracked a deer... saw the opening to the cave.”
She nodded, “I figured one of you would find it sooner or later. You have been thrashing around in the desert like a pack of dogs after a rabbit.”
He studied her for a long time then said, “It’s a little difficult to believe you’re that skinny whore we killed … or tried to kill. You’ve changed a bit!”
“That happens when you aren’t constantly pumping drugs into your body.”
He started to lift his rifle and she shook her head. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”
“You know I have to kill you?”
“You can try. I might even give you a fair chance, but if you try to use the rifle I’ll give you no chance at all.”
He smiled and said, “I don’t need the rifle.”
She nodded and said, “It’s better this way ... the way it’s supposed to be.”
He shook his head. “Either way you’ll die, but this will be more fun. I outweigh you, and I out skill you.”
She nodded, “You think!”
“I know!”
“We shall see.” She stepped into the main chamber and moved to his left, keeping him slightly off balance. She studied his movement and his breathing and understood there was doubt in his mind. He feared her and was excited by her at the same time. He never took his eyes off of her, not for a moment. There was no feinting or testing, each simply watched the other, learning what they needed to know from the way they moved.
Finally she stopped and faced him. Even before the first blow was thrown he knew he could not win, understood that the rifle would have been of no use either, even before he could have raised it she would have been across the chamber and on him. The rifle would have only been an encumbrance in such a close arena. He had one chance and only one, and that was to strike hard and fast.
He waited for his opening and when he believed he had it, he moved.
He was fast, he was good, and he was deadly. His timing perfect, his movement on target. But she was quicker, deadlier and more in tune with his thoughts. Reading his slightest move, understanding what he was going to do even before he did. And she countered. The blow to his chest was like being hit with a sledge hammer, and it sent him stumbling backwards.
He regained his balance and knew he was dead. The membrane around his heart was destroyed, and he would be dead in a few hours, still he was alive now and he would continue to fight. Now he was angry, and his fear was gone, he was acting on instinct when he attacked the second time. She blocked him, and then countered, felt his arm break, his ribs crushed, he fell to the floor in a sitting position, looking up at her, he inhaled raggedly and then said, “I would never have believed this, not in a thousand years.”
He paused for a breath then spoke again, “You’re going to kill them all, aren’t you?”
She nodded, “I was waiting for the time to come; and now it’s here.”
He nodded then said, “Rat, he’s like the wind, and moves without sound. Mel can see your tracks when others cannot. Jake is evil clean through, do not underestimate him. Sal is the one you have to worry about the most. He is a good shot and can hit you from a thousand yards away with his rifle. The rest are just assholes. Get rid of Rat, Jake, Mel and Sal, and the rest will either run or die of fright.”
She said, “Thanks, what about you?”
He looked around the cavern then said, “This is a good place to die, leave me here, it’s better than a grave yard or an urn in someone’s parlor.”
She nodded, “I am leaving anyway. I’ll make sure that your body is well placed and the animals won’t drag your bones over the desert.”
He closed his eyes and his head fell forward onto his chest, he took a couple of breaths and then went still.
She gathered her cloths and dressed, and then she picked up her gear and his rifle. For the better part of the morning she stacked large and small stone over the entrance to the cave, leaving his body on the stone bench inside. When the cave was sealed, she set out across the desert towards the river.
Chapter 10
Everyone except Mel and Jake believed the woman was dead. Mel knew for a fact she wasn’t dead. He also knew she had transformed into something different than the skinny whore Jake had tried to kill. Time and again he had found signs of her movement, but they were so slight and vague that even if he had bothered pointing them out to the others they wouldn’t have understood what he was showing them; they were incapable of seeing, or understanding the invisible traces of each clue. And aside from those facts, Mel knew exactly where she was…
For one whole day the woman had followed them around without anyone knowing she
was there, she had even gone into the camp and looked around a bit. And due to her intervention, the girl they had been keeping there was now gone. Everyone was out looking for her; and instead of one girl to track down, Mel now had two.
This recent one was just a kid, not much older than Mel’s own daughter. Mel had never touched the girl, and never would. If he found her, he planned on getting her to hell away from there. He wasn’t sure how he’d do it, but he would find a way.
He knew his group’s latest young victim was with the other woman now. Somehow she’d slipped into camp and had managed to escape with the girl. He knew instinctively that the elusive female would take care of the girl. He also knew she was close by; he could sense her presence. Mel set out down river, and then tracked north where he had found the only available signs, which were few.
For the longest time he had simply sat on a rock outcropping, and waited. She was good, very good, better than him. But years of tracking and understanding the wilds had honed his senses, and he felt her approach. When she was no more than a couple hundred feet away, he said, “I suppose you have the girl with you?” In a quiet but strong voice she said, “I have her.”
“She needs medical attention.”
The woman nodded, and then said. “More help than I can give her. She is stable but I can’t keep a constant watch over her or be a nurse maid and still do what I have to do.”
“I was wondering when you were going to get around to this.” Mel said matter-of-factly. “If it hadn’t been for the girl, I would have been out of here long ago. I couldn’t leave her here to be killed, and they would have killed her ... sooner or later.”
“What is she to you?”
“Nothing, just a girl they picked up in town. They plucked her right off the street, can’t be more than fifteen or sixteen years old.”
“I don’t remember you being present when they brought me here.”
“I didn’t go to their parties, but I knew what they were doing, and didn’t do anything to stop them until now. If I get caught … so be it. I’m tired of this. Maybe I’ll spend the rest of my life behind bars, or not. Either way, I am out of it.”
“What will you do with the girl?”
“Take her to town and get her some medical attention.”
“You’ll be arrested when you take her in, you know?”
“Maybe.”
“How did you get mixed up with these creeps in the first place?”
“You don’t want to hear my story, mostly because it’s so familiar you’ve likely heard it a dozen times already. Different men, different times and places, same story. Boring.”
“Try me!” She said, sounding as if she really meant it.
“Ok. Wife left me while I was stationed in Iraq. Took my daughter and my life. She needed a man who could stay home and help with rearing a family, someone who made more money than I did and a hell of a lot smarter. She found all of that in a man even younger than me. One who is ambitious, smart and hardworking. He’s also climbing up that proverbial political ladder to meet up with an even greater career. He’s good to my ex and my daughter.
I didn’t have anything left to fight for, so I left the marines with only ten years to my credit and hit skid row. I stayed drunk for a year before I sobered up enough to even remember that I had a family. Then when I did, they had forgotten they ever had me in their lives. I ran across this bunch of scumbags about six months ago, and once in a while I came out here to drink beer with them. Then they began to grab young whores off the street and bring them out here, and until now I declined their invitations. I saw them grab the young girl that you have now, and I decided to come out with them for her sake. I though I could help her. When I learned about all the other girls they had murdered, and then learned why they intended to find and kill you, too. I allowed them to believe I was helping them. They never knew that I had discovered your quarters several weeks ago. I’ve been biding my time, looking for an opportunity to do pretty much what you did to their original camp. But I wanted to add them to the spoil this time. I never gave it a lot of thought as to whether or not I could get away with it. I didn’t care. I just wanted them off my earth. They’re worse than the enemies I killed in Iraq because they’re doing their murdering here on my home ground. I thought about just calling in the Feds and letting them handle it. But from what I’ve seen of these cases, they get strung out for decades, and millions of dollars go down the drain in dealing with them. After enough time, nobody remembers why they were being prosecuted in the first place. Inevitably, some highfalutin’ lawyer wanting to make a name for himself finds a loop-hole and these creeps are back on the prowl with a new bunch of young whores to play with. Now, don’t you wish you hadn’t asked?”
She looked long and hard at the man called Mel, then she said, “The girl is down by the river, just around the bend. Stay with her; don’t move her until you hear the first shot. By then they will be much too busy to worry about where either of you are. But, again, don’t move until you hear the shot.”
He nodded then said,” Sal is a good shot. Don’t miss!”
“I don’t plan to!”
He looked around quickly and said, “Don’t give them even the slightest chance, they’re ruthless.” She didn’t answer, but he knew she had heard him.
He turned to look at her but she had already disappeared. He had not heard her leave. To himself he said, “She’s good, very good. But she gave me a warning, and then she failed to shoot when she first spotted me and that was not so smart.”
Rat saw Jodie standing on a low hill looking out across the desert. She had been quiet, and she was good, but he knew how to track and to be silent in the process. He estimated the direction she was headed and set a path to intercept her. Jake had stabbed her before he had a chance to get a taste of her. Now was his chance to do something about it. He wouldn’t kill her, but when he was through with her she’d wish she were dead. Then he would hand her over to Jake instead of the other way around. He liked that, idea. He would let Jake have her instead of Jake letting him have what was left over.
He moved silently down a draw and to the river, knowing that she was just ahead. He moved along the river bank and then, like a ghost, slipped silently down its side on the soft sand. He paused and looked around frowning. He looked at the ground for signs of her passing, but saw nothing. “She’s got to be here! Where the hell is she?” He turned slowly checking out the ground, the brush, the trees, but saw no signs of her. Then as he made a full three sixty, there she was. Standing right in front of him.
No, this wasn’t that skinny assed acid head Jake had killed. This woman was like something out of a dream, sleek, silent, and deadly. Her face was calm, her eyes were like looking into the smoldering pits of hell. She smelled of sage and leather and desert. He thought she had moved slightly but he was getting confused. Something was wrong, because he couldn’t feel his legs; something warm was running from his neck and down his shirt. Then he realized it was his own blood. The woman was holding a long thin knife no more than a half an inch wide and tapered to a sharp point. There was blood on the knife and he knew whose it was.
He wanted to yell out and warn them that she was here, but blood was running down his throat and he was choking. She had stuck the knife just under his Adams apple, through his neck, severing his spinal cord. His legs gave away and he fell to the ground, still looking up at her. She was beautiful; she was a wild thing from hell.
From a rapidly fading haze, he watched as she stepped over him and then moved easily up the side of the river. She made no sound, disturbed not so much as a pebble. If only he cold have …
Jake looked over at Sal and asked, “See anything?”
Sal never took his eye from the scope as he slowly scanned the area. “Nothing. If she’s out there she’s well hidden.”
“If you see her, shoot her! Don’t mess around, just put one in her head.”
Sal nodded slightly then paused, and swung the rifle back a
bit. Then he said “I think I have he ..”
The last of his sentence was cut short when the rifle scope exploded. The bullet entered his right eye and exiting the back of his head.
Jake scrambled down below the line of fire then pulled his radio from his belt and started shouting orders into it. “She’s here! Every one, get over here, now! She’s one click west of the camp on the north side of the river. Team one, go in along the north bank of the river and cut her off, Team two, go north of that position and we can trap her in the middle. I’m tired of this BS. Let’s get her now and finish this once and for all. Now move!”
A Root from Infertile Ground Page 5