Swelter

by D. Jackson Leigh

  Then August stood, shouldered the bedroll, and started down the side trail.

  Teal sucked in a breath and began a double-time, short-stepping jog she sometimes did for conditioning. She smiled at the abundance of footprints it left behind. “Figure that out, Mr. Badass,” she said to nobody. Rio seemed to think the odd jog was a game, running ahead and circling around behind her, tail held high like a happy plume. She yipped a couple of times but quieted when Teal held her finger to her mouth. Teal smiled. The extra dog prints would further confuse their trail. Before long, they came to the side trail August had mentioned and she walked normally until she rounded a few curves, then took off her shoes and backtracked in her socks at the base of the cliff that bordered one side of the trail. When Rio caught on to the idea, she had the dog walk in front so her socked feet would smudge out the dog prints, too.

  Back on the main trail, Teal was tying her shoes on when she heard a distant rumble and the echo of curses. Someone had

  found their tripwire. She made a mental note of how well sound traveled in the maze of canyons and hurriedly finished with her laces. She stood and motioned for Rio to follow. This time, she stretched her long legs in an effortless run, driven by the fear of who might be following and the need to have August by her side again.

  *

  Water was filling Pops’s ears as he tilted his head back to keep the pond’s rising level from filling his mouth and nose. He’d lived a long life, and this wasn’t how he expected it to end.

  Reyes’s men had ignored Cobra’s orders. They apparently amused themselves by coming up with creative ways to kill people so had bound their hands and tied large rocks to their feet. While one guy stripped to his underwear and dragged each of them into the deepest part of a large creek they’d come upon, the other two built a dam of brush and rocks downstream. They reasoned that Hawk was the most likely to find a way out of their deathtrap, so they tied the still-unconscious BJ to him to further confine him. The water had initially come only to their chests, but the level was rising fast.

  Tommy burst to the surface again, gasping for breath. He’d been trying to hold his breath long enough to pretzel his body and untie his feet with his hands behind his back. He looked over at Pops. “God damn it.” He panted a few times. “I’m trying, Pops. Just hang on.”

  Pops was the shortest and knew he couldn’t hold out much longer. He gritted his teeth against the pain as arthritis cramped his neck and back. “It’s not your fault, son. I’ve lived a long life. I’m okay with this.”

  “No. I can do it. I know I can.”

  Pops stared up at the star-filled night sky. Julio and Gus were waiting for him up there. “They say drowning is the most peaceful way to die. It’s almost like just going to sleep after that first big gulp to fill your lungs.”

  “Pops, no.” Tommy sucked in a big breath and disappeared under the water again.

  “Hawk.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Be sure he knows it wasn’t his fault.”

  “I will. Go in peace and look for us, my friend. We might be crossing right behind you.”

  Pops took one last look at the stars, closed his eyes, and dropped below the water. He pushed all the air out and sucked the cool, clear water into his lungs.

  *

  The trail twisted around to an east-west direction, and Teal could see the sun rising at the end of the narrow canyon. She sighed in relief at the sight of August sitting where the side trail reconnected with the main trail. Her shortcut must have been a lot shorter than she’d implied. Teal lengthened her strides, her smile growing as August stood and waved. Her eyes on her goal, she didn’t pay much attention to the odd buzzing noise. Suddenly, Rio slammed against her legs, and Teal tumbled to the right of the trail. “Rio, what the—”

  Rio had a large snake in her teeth, growling fiercely and shaking it for all she was worth.

  “Rio, drop it.” August’s command held a note of fear. “Come.”

  Blood spattered the trail, but the snake slithered off to the left, into a wide crevice. She hoped the blood belonged only to the snake, but Rio’s limp and bloody front leg confirmed her worst fear. “No.”

  August knelt next to Rio. “Damn, girl. This is bad. Really bad.”

  “August, no.” Not Rio. God, no. Not Rio. “I didn’t see it. I was looking at you. Oh, God.”

  “Most snake bites don’t kill,” August said, but her face was pale and her hands trembled as she opened the bedroll and began cutting it into wide strips. “It’s good that it’s on her leg and not on her throat. Swelling is the biggest danger, but she needs to get to a vet as soon as possible.”

  “How are we going to do that?”

  “You’re going back. I’m making a sling because you’ll have to carry Rio. The more she exerts herself, the faster the venom will circulate in her bloodstream. She’s actually pretty light for her size.” August worked fast, cutting and tying the sling around Rio’s slender body so that she could be carried like a backpack.

  “This is crazy.”

  August fitted the contraption around Rio and stood. She grabbed Teal by the shoulders. “I raised her from a puppy. This dog has stuck by me when my family and my partner didn’t. Please, Teal. I need you to do this.”

  “If I go back, I’ll run right into Reyes’s men.”

  “I’m pretty confident they’re on the main trail. I didn’t hear anyone following me on the shortcut. You’ll go back that way.”

  “Then what? We let the horses go.”

  “If they entered the same way, they either had horses or a Jeep. I’m sure they didn’t leave themselves stranded. I hope that growing up on a farm, you know how to hot-wire an ignition if they drove a vehicle.”

  “Sure I do, but don’t tell my probation officer.”

  August stared at her.

  “Just a joke to break the tension.”

  August shook her head and laughed despite their situation. “I—” She stopped and glanced away. “I owe you for this.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Lead them down this trail, climb up to the Caprock Canyon hiking trail, head for the nearest populated area, and get a ride to the ranger station to have the cops pick me up.” She lifted Rio so Teal could slip the makeshift straps over her shoulders.

  “Please be careful.” She kissed August.

  “You be careful.” She took Teal’s hand and placed her cell phone in it. “Keep checking for a signal and call for help. If you can’t raise BJ or any of the guys at the ranch, stay away from there. Head for the highway and call Brick to come pick you up. He’s at home today with his family, thank God, and not involved in all this.” She tugged the gun clipped to her belt free and attached it to Teal’s belt. “There’s a shot already chambered, but the safety is on. Remember what we practiced and don’t hesitate to use it. If I’m wrong and you do run into Reyes’s men, they won’t hesitate.”

  “But that leaves you with nothing.”

  “I know a million hiding places in these cliffs. That’s my weapon.” This time, August kissed her. “Go.”

  *

  Johnston pointed to the left, and Tank turned the big truck, finding the SUV tracks in his headlights. The vegetation was thinning, and the trees were a bit taller. He caught a flash of movement as the truck’s beams bounced when his left tires rolled over a large rock.

  “Look there. I see somebody.” Bunny released her seat belt and scooted to the edge of her seat.

  Tank gunned the engine, and Johnston’s butt bounced into the air as they zoomed over the remaining rough terrain. He’d barely stopped when Bunny was out of the truck and Johnston was jumping to the ground.

  Tommy, his hands still bound, was struggling to drag a huge rock from the creek. He was crying but didn’t stop his efforts as they ran to him. “Help me. God, you’ve got to help me.”

  Then Tank saw what was dragging behind the rock Tommy was pulling onto the shore. He ran to lift Pops’s limp figure from th
e water as Bunny cut the bindings that tied him to the rock and cradled him like a baby while she cut the rope from his hands.

  “You’ve got to help him. Do CPR or something.” Tommy knelt beside Pops and pushed weakly on his chest with his hands, even though they were still bound together. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Johnston pushed him out of the way. “I can do it.” He turned Pops’s head to the side and began pumping hard on the old man’s chest. “Miss Bunny, get down here and do this while I try to put some air into his lungs.” He showed her how to count and alternate with his efforts to push air into Pops’s water-filled lungs.

  Tommy protested. “He’s got a bad heart. You’re going to bust it if you bang on him that hard.”

  Tank put his hands under the younger man’s arms and lifted him to his feet. “It ain’t beating at all right now, Tommy. She has to thump on it that hard if she’s going to get it going again.”

  “A little help would be appreciated.” Hawk’s voice pierced the dark. Tank shone Johnston’s spotlight out over the creek to where Hawk was using his chin to hold BJ’s above the water.

  “Give me a knife,” Tommy said. “I’m already wet.”

  Tank took the knife from Bunny’s pocket and offered it and the mag light to Tommy.

  “You keep the light.” Tommy pointed downstream. “Go find where they plugged the stream and unblock it.”

  Tank hesitated when Pops suddenly coughed and vomited water onto the ground.

  “He’s slipping. Tommy. I can’t hold him much longer.” The uncharacteristic urgency in Hawk’s voice and the splashing as Tommy plowed back into the creek spurred Tank to move. He found the small dam, put the light down, and began throwing rocks and brush in all directions until water again poured unimpeded to the rest of the creek.

  When Tank returned to the group, Bunny had already laid the backseat of the truck’s crew cab flat, and Hawk and Tommy were gently lifting BJ up to lay him next to Pops. Tank shook his head. “I know I told you that feature was useless because we were both too tall to use it for a camp bed, but now I’m glad you insisted.”

  Bunny put her hands on her hips. “I told you it’s for our young’uns so they can play back there or nap when we drive all the way to Tucson to visit my mother.”

  “You think of everything.” He hugged her, relieved that her Tommy, who was hovering over Pops and BJ to make sure they didn’t get tossed around too much on the way back to the highway, was okay. He climbed into the driver’s seat. “Think you can raise some help on that CB? I doubt we have a cell signal out here.”

  She gave him a pointed look. “We would if you hadn’t signed us up with that jack-leg service where your aunt works.”

  He sighed. “I know, but I didn’t have a good excuse not to. Now I do. I’ll get us switched over as soon as everything settles down.”

  They both glanced back to make sure Johnston and Hawk were securely in the bed of the truck, and then she picked up the CB mike as he carefully backed up and turned to retrace their route.

  “Breaker, breaker. This is Cottontail. Anybody out there with a signal got their ears on?”

  “Go ahead, Cottontail. This is Glory Rider. You’re wall-to-wall and treetop tall.”

  “I’ve got a ten-thirty-three on highway two-five-six, a few miles west of two-seven. I need a flying meat wagon for two pronto and a couple of grown-up bears. We’re off-road in a green monster but will be heading west if we don’t see anybody when we hit two-five-six.”

  “Copy that. Relaying your ten-thirty-three.”

  *

  Jogging bumped Rio against her back and caused the dog to struggle to get free of the sling, so Teal settled for putting her head down and walking as fast as possible. She hadn’t gone far when she rounded a curve in the trail and stumbled over a Hispanic man sitting on a boulder with one leg stretched across the trail and the boot off his other so he could massage his foot. He whipped his handgun from his shoulder holster before she could regain her balance.

  “Well, well. What have I found?” He stood, keeping the gun aimed at her chest as he slipped his foot back into the boot.

  Teal cursed herself for not being more careful. Somehow, she needed to talk her way out of this. She’d spun bigger tales in Washington when her Congresswoman had been caught in a bad place, so she should be able to handle one dumb drug dealer. She schooled her expression and turned on the charm. “Hi. Are you lost? Because this isn’t a regular park trail, and you don’t look like you were out for a hike.” She pointed to his Western boots.

  “Cut the crap, lady. I know who you are. Cobra will be pleased. You might not be the target, but you’re the next best thing, according to our information. Hands in the air.”

  She raised her hands upward, her eyes on the gun pointed at her. But when he reached to take August’s gun that was on her belt, Rio snapped, nearly sinking her teeth in his hand. She barked an angry warning and struggled to get free of the sling so she could go after him.

  “Son of a puta. I’ll shoot that mutt.”

  Teal held out her hands. “No, please. She has a hurt foot. She probably thought you were going to grab it. Here, I’ll give you the gun…slowly, grip first.”

  He pointed his gun at her head but nodded his consent. She slowly pulled the weapon from its holster and handed it to him. He tucked it into his belt and gestured for her to turn around. “Now we’ll go find your girlfriend, too.”

  *

  August stopped at the sound of Rio’s barking. Damn. Teal must have run into trouble.

  She shrugged off the backpack and took her climbing gear from it, pulling on the harness that had a variety of climbing gear attached to it. She hung three slender ropes from it and stowed the backpack in a deep crevice, then trotted back to where they’d parted ways. Teal wasn’t in sight yet, so she free-climbed fast, stretching from nook to ledge without pause. The first ledge was about forty yards above the ground, and she moved silently along it until she spotted them. Only one man. Teal and Rio appeared unharmed, so he must be planning to use them to get her to give up. Careful not to loosen any rocks that could alert them she was above, she moved back to the main trail and looked in both directions. Nobody else was on the trail as far as she could see.

  She would follow along from her higher vantage and drop down behind to ambush him at some point. She crouched low as she watched them, surprised when they turned back to the right. Why’d they do that? Had Teal convinced him that she’d doubled back?

  She waited for them to pass, then climbed down to cross the side trail and up the other side to shadow them from above the main trail. Teal stumbled, falling to one knee, and Rio yelped when her swollen paw banged against Teal’s hip. August couldn’t hear the angry exchange between Teal and the man, but he paced impatiently while she got up slowly, then braced against a rock to sip from the small canteen she carried. Her knee was bloody.

  August crouched low and hurried along the narrow ledge that sometimes wound behind boulders and other times was barely a foot wide with a sheer drop on one side and rock face on the other. When she was a kid, they’d used the path to ambush their paint-ball opponents. She prayed those narrow portions were still strong and didn’t crumble under her weight. The ledge widened again, so she broke into a jog as she skirted a large boulder. She skidded to a stop in the nick of time, staring down at the wide crevice.

  Damn. There was no way she could jump this. She studied the other side. There appeared to be another ledge much lower that jutted into the gap, shading the sand below. Then she saw it—the big snake Rio had tangled with before. It was stretched out and unmoving. Maybe it had died from its wounds. The sandy bottom seemed to be moving like boiling water, and she realized the crevice with its shading ledge was a rattler nursery. She counted at least four large snakes but couldn’t guess at the number of small-to medium-sized rattlers crawling about. She’d read that several females would sometimes share a den and stay with their young for weeks.

&n
bsp; She mentally measured the distance and uncoiled two of the ropes, tying them together. She looped one end into a lasso and gave it a few test swings over her head. It’d been years since she’d roped calves, and even though she’d been pretty good at it, the limp climbing rope was a far cry from a good, stiff lariat. She also readied a rappelling rope if she was unsuccessful. Hopefully if she could distract the gunman by trying to lasso him, Teal would take the cue and knock him down so she could rappel down and jump into the fray.

  She squatted by the boulder as they approached, a baseball-sized rock in her right hand. Teal slowed and said something to the man. She backed away from the crevice. The gunman pushed her roughly, but she refused to walk past it first. Apparently she recognized it as the site of her previous snake encounter. The gunman cursed and snatched the straps of Rio’s sling from Teal’s shoulders so fast she was unable to catch Rio before she hit the ground with a yelp.

  “No more time to waste,” he yelled at her. “The dog this time. Next time it will be you.” He pointed the gun at Rio, but Teal threw herself in his line of fire. August heaved the rock at the cliff on the opposite side of the trail, and the gunman spun toward the loud thump, pointing his gun skyward toward the shards of red rock splinters showering the trail.

  One swing, two, and she let the rope fly. It sang through the air behind the man and dropped neatly over his upraised gun hand. She jerked the noose tight and yanked him backward off his feet. He dropped the gun in his struggle to loosen the noose with his other hand and pull free. But August shifted to the other side of the boulder and yanked again. He flew backward into the crevice and screamed when he realized he’d landed in a bed of snakes.

  August threw the rope down on top of him, then quickly went to her other one and rappelled down. Teal still knelt in the path, hugging Rio to her with one arm, while she covered her eyes with the other. August grabbed the Glock the gunman had dropped and turned toward the snake den.