by Tony Lavely
“We thought—”
“You were thinking Sue, maybe?” She could hear the twinkle in his voice.
Embarrassed, she agreed.
“Understandable. But each of us, except for Ian, who seems to need no other company than ours and Trillian’s, is attached and settled back there, waiting for the hurricanes to scour us clean off the rock.” The note of pleasure was very obvious. “So don’t worry about curling up to me and sleeping. While you certainly make me take notice, I’m spoken for. Okay?”
“Okay,” Beckie made herself say. But he was warm, and more comforting than she thought she’d need. There were still no noises from the other bag. Before more ideas came to distract her, she was dreaming of white sand beaches with little waves running up and falling back.
CHAPTER TEN
Wanna Swim?
THE MORNING SUN NEEDED TO first climb up over the hills between it and the campers, and then force its beams through the needles of the pine trees under which they slept. However, it could, and in the absence of cloud cover did, shine in Beckie’s face as she lay huddled in Kevin’s arms.
Shortly thereafter, breakfast tubes done, the four mounted. Kevin headed off by himself while Beckie led Melissa and Mike toward their first waypoint.
The trek south was eerily similar to that of the morning before, not least in its lack of interesting discoveries. Soon after the noontime break, they happened on a gravel track, and then a stream which flowed from a small canyon to the east, then crossed the path trickling to the west.
Beckie rode a short distance into the canyon, where she saw a pool had formed several more yards upstream, out of sight of the trail. The pool was the significant difference between this canyon and the seemingly dozens of them they’d looked up already. It lay in the shallow canyon, which rose a hundred feet or so to the south. To the north, the slope came about half that high, between it and the gravel track. The stream feeding the pool wended its way down from behind the rock to the south. Except for a few blades of grass near the pool—which her horse was cropping—there was no other vegetation until a scrub pine at the top of the southern wall, matched by a single one on the north side.
“Hey, Lissa,” she called, “wanna take a swim?” She swung down from her mount and was surprised to find the water warmer than she expected.
Melissa rode up, not understanding Beckie’s question at first; Mike trailed her. Beckie smiled up at them as Melissa nodded. “Yeah, I could use a bath.”
“Mike,” Beckie ordered, “head back down by the path, no peeking today. Lissa and I are gonna get rid of some of our sweat and dirt.”
Mike nodded, then grinned and rode out of view. “Holler when you’re ready to be seen again,” was his parting shot.
Entranced by the pool and the chance to get some of the dirt off, neither Beckie nor Melissa paid any attention to their surroundings.
“We jus’ need some soap,” Beckie said as she ducked her head to wet her hair.
Shaking the water from her hair, she heard a man’s voice. “We got soap.”
Mike rode south along the trail. Since he only had to wait, he used the sniffer more frequently, but it remained silent. His horse did an excellent job of avoiding uncertain terrain. When his stomach growled the third time, he grabbed an energy bar from his pack.
Stowing the wrapper, he noticed the time and realized he’d best head back to collect Lissa and Beckie. Oughta be done by now—if they aren’t, well… He grinned. They should be! He turned the horse back, moving at a slightly faster gait than he’d asked of it before.
The horse slowed as Mike’s attention drifted away, captured by a dust cloud off to the west, rapidly resolving itself to be another horse with rider. Mike recognized Kevin, driving his mount much harder than was Mike.
Why in heaven’s name is he riding so fast? He turned off the path, kicking the horse’s pace up as much as he believed he could handle.
“Mike, where are the girls? Why aren’t you with them?” Kevin’s concern didn’t allay Mike’s growing fear. He gave Kevin a quick recap of their progress and the girls’ request to be left while they washed up.
“Hmmm. Not good. I noticed a few minutes ago that the radio Beckie had wasn’t transmitting any more.” He considered the situation briefly. “I wonder why I don’t think she just dropped it in the water.”
“When I saw her, she was puttin’ her stuff back away from the water.”
Kevin just nodded. “Let’s ride up toward the canyon. But I’m thinking we should work around behind it, not come up from the road.” He reined up. “Let’s look at the map again.”
He spread the map against his horse’s flank. Mike held the other edge and he pointed to the likely location for the canyon, “except that there’s no pond on the map, jus’ that stream.”
“Looks as if there’s nothing else nearby, though, so let’s guess the pond is temporary, from the storm last night, maybe.” Kevin consulted the map once more. “Let’s break off to the east here…” He indicated the back of a ridge. “… and work our way to this bluff.” Now his finger marked a higher elevation, about four hundred feet above the pond, and off to the northeast a quarter mile or so.
The roundabout route took almost an hour to negotiate: there was absolutely nothing out of place as they looked over the peaceful scene.
“I’m goin’ back to get my glasses,” Kevin said as he started back down the shallow slope to the weathered pine where they’d tied the horses. “Stay down, behind that scrub, and watch.” He wasn’t back too soon for Mike’s nerves, but he carried his binoculars. “Thought I saw a couple things down there…” as he worked on focusing. “Yeah…” almost to himself. “Yeah, that’s it.” Mike noticed his attention shift, but without explanation. “Hmmm. That’s interesting. I wonder why…”
He swept the area once more, then returned the glasses to their case.
Finally. Maybe he’ll explain. Mike found himself torn by worry, the desire to move, to do something, to find Lissa and Beckie on the one hand, and the certainty that Kevin was far more experienced than he on the other. He was also sure that when the time came, Kevin would include him. Pretty sure.
Kevin had rolled onto his back, his sand-colored Stetson blocking any view of his dark hair from the canyon. “Near the pond, toward the road, there’s a few pieces of something shiny. Even with the glasses, I’m not sure, but I think it’s pieces of plastic. I’d bet my last ten bucks that it’s the radio I gave Beckie.
“You can see the hoof prints in the sand toward the road, but there’s a lot of rock further in, no tracking from here.”
“What else?”
“Well. Funny you should ask. The stream. Follow it back to the outcropping maybe, I don’ know, maybe a couple hundred feet or so up the slope?”
“Yeah. It looks like that’s where it’s from. A spring, you think?”
“Not sure, but I doubt it. At least, not a completely natural one. That’s not where the stream begins. You can maybe see even without the glasses; it comes from farther back, but it’s a lot smaller.”
“That seems funny.”
“Yeah.” Kevin rolled over, a big grin spreading across his face. “I think it’s time for Ian to think about our problem.” He worked his way back to the horses. Still watching, Mike could hear his voice just enough to know he was talking, unable to discern his words.
He put the phone away. “Jean-Luc overflew us a little while ago; the images are still being processed. Guess we still can’t afford all the high-speed processors; have to make do with the old secondhand stuff.” He watched the canyon, a morose look appearing almost on the first glance.
“I’m gonna go and look around,” Mike said.
“Rather you didn’t. Ian’s looking to see what they can find, and we’ll make a better decision with more info, you know.” But his next words convinced Mike: “And, they overflew ‘cause something flew this way last night and they were checking it out.”
“But, I might fi
nd…”
“You might find Beckie and Lissa by getting mousetrapped the way they likely did. The hoof prints only lead into the canyon, ‘cept right down near the road.”
“Where I rode in, and then out.”
“Yeah. Granted, there’s hardpan there and I suppose it’d be possible to ride out without leaving much evidence, but the horses wouldn’t choose that way; it’d be a deliberate choice by the rider. I’m sure the girls and horses are still in that canyon.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rancho Paradisio
“WE GOT SOAP,” THE MAN’S voice had said as she straightened; but by the time her eyes opened, her head was covered by something like a blanket. “Be quiet, now,” the voice continued, as if this was the most natural thing that could be happening. While she tried to regain her composure, the voice continued, directing others to pick up clothes, lead the horses, bring the other girl. Ok. Lissa’s still here, Probably she’s as okay as me—
“Let me see that!” There was a pause, followed by the voice saying more quietly, “I don’t think we need this.” She heard a funny crunching, shattering sound. Beckie guessed it had been the radio headset that she’d carefully placed on the pile of her clothes with her phone to keep it dry and clean, simply because neither of them had anything else; Mike had the sniffers.
“Now, we’re going to walk along. If you don’t want to be dragged, come easily. Someone’ll keep you from tripping.” She felt a hand, rougher than she expected, push on her butt. Guess the blanket only covers my head, she thought with a touch of despair.
“What do you—” Her question was cut short by an openhanded blow to her head.
“Quiet! A different language?”
The man repeated the admonition in Spanish, then French, and other languages Beckie wouldn’t have recognized even if her head hadn’t been ringing. Yet again, went through her mind. I don’t really think these are cattle rustlers—or horse thieves, so maybe we’ve done it again. And we’re sure dressed the part! She tugged on the blanket, stopping short when a small, frayed hole allowed her to see ahead.
The men walked them along the now hot—Damn hot!—rock floor of the canyon to a stopping place. While she stood there, the rock face of the wall opened like the door on a toaster oven. She could see it rising on heavy arms, revealing a room half the height of the wall. As the door opened, Beckie felt cooler air rush by her body. She shivered, telling herself it was only the chilling of her wet skin. She heard nothing but the drone of a fly in the warm air. With a little prodding, she entered the room hoping that Melissa was behind her. The chill in the enclosed space made Beckie shiver again. She bumped into something and stopped.
We’re inside something. A cave, maybe, wiggling her toes on a smooth surface.
“Okay, I’ll take ‘em,” another man’s voice called from the middle distance.
“Huh? How come?” from the more familiar voice.
“Boss thinks I don’ have enough to do; these two would help fill my days, I guess. Least till we figure out what they’re doing here.” The deep bass of the voice had been getting closer as he spoke, until a heavy arm draped itself across Beckie’s shoulders, gently pressing her forward again. The blanket shifted, blocking her view.
She made an attempt to resist; she felt his arm catch her against his side and lift her feet from the floor, sufficient to bring her along without breaking stride. He took a few steps, then put her down and again gently pushed her ahead. She ran into someone; this time if felt like it could be Melissa.
A door closed. “Okay,” the deep voice spoke softly, “Get the blankets off your heads.”
Beckie pulled the blanket off her head and wrapped herself up in it, looking around her to see first Melissa and then a large bald man in jeans and an ‘I Lost Las Vegas’ tee shirt.
They both started to speak but he cut them off. “You’ll want to be quiet. We’ll talk soon enough. I’m gonna let you keep the blankets ‘round you till we get to the rooms ‘cause I don’t want to be leading you by the hand. But,” he continued, a stern tone in the sound, “as you know, I can bring you.” An incongruous smile softened his face. Melissa nodded tentatively; Beckie followed suit, not yet seeing a viable alternative.
She trailed close behind Melissa as he led them—Guess he knows where we’re going—to a suite with plastic furnishings, paper dust covers in place over good furniture. Beckie wondered briefly about the 5/6 on the entry arch as they hurried by, but then forgot it.
“Stay here; I’ll know if you so much as breathe heavy,” he warned as they stood at the end of the hallway. “Bathroom and sitting room,” pointing first one way, then the other. “Doc’ll be along directly she finds the time, to check you out. I s’pect the Boss’ll be here shortly after.” He looked at them, a curious cast to his gaze. “She’s powerful interested in how you came to be swimming on her doorstep, so to speak, with such fine equipment.” He gave them another smile Beckie didn’t understand, then turned and left.
The space was air-conditioned to keep the humidity down and the temperature was kept at a comfortable level; much as Beckie wanted to attribute her shivering to the atmosphere, she was sure it was the mental environment, not the physical one, that was the cause.
Without a word, she hugged Melissa, sharing what strength they did have. Finally, Beckie broke their embrace. “If I gotta be here again, I’m so glad I’m not alone!” Melissa nodded without enthusiasm, but still a nod. “Let’s look around, huh?” Neither brought up the fact that, so far, Mike hadn’t been either seen or heard from. Standing in their skins and borrowed horse blankets, Beckie had no way to contact him, or anyone; she knew that was bad.
They spent a few minutes exploring the suite, ending up in the bedroom. Beckie was quiet; during the exploration of their rooms, she’d given mono-syllabic responses to Lissa’s few questions. Now, she sat at the foot of the big bed, wrinkling her nose at the sound of the paper sheets crushing and crinkling beneath her. Melissa opened and closed dresser drawers, but then sat next to her.
“You think they got Mike, too?”
Beckie grabbed Melissa to pull her even closer. “Quiet!” she whispered as forcefully as she could. “They’ve gotta be listenin’ someway.” She allowed Melissa to wriggle free, but then bent close and continued talking to her friend’s ear. “I hope they didn’t.” She sighed more heavily than she wanted. “Maybe he can find Kevin.” Now that she’d been almost certainly captured once again, she was doubting the wisdom of some of her actions. Specifically, letting Melissa and Mike be so close. “I’m so sorry,” she said, but her voice caught. She started again. “I am so sorry you’re involved with this, I shouldn’t—”
“Don’t be silly! We’re here ‘cause we want to be.” Lissa’s cheek was against hers, and her response was quick and firm, more so than Beckie expected. “Well, I gotta admit I’m not happy ‘bout this.” She pressed her hand against the paper sheets.
“Not anymore than me,” Beckie agreed. “But we don’ even know if these are the right…” She stopped to look around. “I so don’t want you guys hurt!”
“I don’t want that too. For sure! You, either.” She paused, gave Beckie a sharp look. “You don’t think these are the guys?”
“I don’t know. The bald guy—”
“I don’t remember seein’ anyone like him,” Melissa said. “You know, at the villa?”
“Me neither. But that’s not a surprise. He’d have different people here, wouldn’t he?”
“I s’pose. But—”
“But the real problem is that it’s been six, eight weeks, and all those girls are still missing.”
“But Wendy’s mess—”
A squeal of surprise.
“Wha?” Beckie spun with Melissa to see two girls hunkered down just outside an open door.
“Who…” Beckie’s mind snapped to the briefings. “Wendy? Wendy Grove?” she said to the strawberry blonde girl. “And—”
“Yeah. I’m Wendy. This’s Mega
n.” The two girls stood. “Did… did you get my… my m-message?” Wendy took Megan’s hand and moved a little closer. With a look at Melissa, Beckie showed more distress than she wanted to as the girls’ near complete lack of clothing became apparent.
However, she found herself excited by the anticipation in Wendy’s voice. This girl’s strong! We’re gonna be able to get them out! “Yeah, we did.”
The next five minutes were filled with whispered questions as well as introductions and greetings. Neither Beckie nor Melissa hid that they’d made their entrance under the Boss’s control. Their lack of clothes gave that away. The thought of Mike and Kevin outside brought a measure of good spirits to Wendy. Beckie said, “You guys gotta be quiet ‘bout that under pain of…” She couldn’t think of anything she could threaten them with.
The questions began to range further and further afield. Beckie held up her hand to interrupt Melissa. “We can talk about all that other stuff once we’re out of here. Right now, we want to find out what’s gonna help Kevin and Mr. Jamse, I think.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Wendy. “We’ve been gone too long now. Short Stack will be—”
“Short Stack?” She beat me to it.
“Yeah. Our… well, I guess he’s like our guard and all. Big guy.” She swiped her hand across her chest. “‘I Lost Las Vegas.’ Not too awful bad…”
“Compared, at least,” Megan said.
“Oh,” Beckie said. “Yeah, we saw him.”
“Well, he’ll be comin’ to get us for tonight, I’m sure. We gotta get back.”
“Yeah. Don’t do anything different, please.” Beckie stuck her head into the space behind the door, looked up the spiral stairs she saw. “You up there?”
“Yeah, ‘entertainment’ is one flight up; two to our room.”
“Oh, God,” Melissa said faintly as they disappeared up the steps.
Beckie had no time to reflect on the meeting with Wendy and Megan, and what it might portend. Almost as she watched the girls scamper up the stairs, the doctor arrived. Her examination required an uncomfortable but not oppressive length of time. She described each test before beginning; she ended by drawing several small vials of blood from them both. “Continue to wait here,” she admonished, and swept away.