by Billy Kring
“Do you know that woman with the athlete’s body?”
Ike said, “Suretta Salas. I’ve seen her around, but we haven’t talked. She’s a killer, at least that’s what I’ve heard.”
“She was just here.”
“I’m sure she’s involved in the kidnappings. Suretta is smart, too, they say. I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard about her for a year or so.”
“She was talking to Paco, the boatman and some other women I saw in Mexico.”
“Makes sense, then.”
“We’ll keep our eyes out for her and her friends.”
Hunter said, “If I thought we could catch her and make her talk about Anita and Kelly, I’d hogtie her and see what she had to say.”
“That’s a big if.”
“I just feel like time’s running out.”
“I know. Now, don’t peek, because I’m going to dress here in the truck.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Chapter 12
Suretta made sure she was away from the woman called Hunter. That one looked ready to shoot. Parking on Chadbourne, she called on her phone. “We had trouble.”
“What happened?”
“We lost two men.”
“Are they dead, or still alive?”
“One is dead. We can’t find the other.” She heard noises over the phone: things being thrown against a wall, cursing, banging on a desk, and Suretta said, “They will pay. Are your men still coming to help?”
“Two more men, from Morelos, Roberto and Adan. They are excellent. They will call you when they arrive in San Angelo on the afternoon flight.”
“Thank you, jefe.”
“Suretta, get this done. The clock is ticking, and I will lose more than money. If this doesn’t happen, I will lose everything.”
He clicked off before she could acknowledge his statement.
She drove to the airport and met them as they picked up their bags. The three of them talked in her vehicle as they drove from the airport.
Roberto said, “The jefe says not to kill the two troublemakers in town, but take them to the ranch so you can bury them and nobody ever finds them. One is La Patrulla, the Border Patrol.”
“Sandra is tailing them. When you’re ready, I’ll have the van brought nearby so we can load them in it.”
“Bueno.”
Suretta hung up and Called Sandra to find the location of their prey.
As Hunter drove, both she and Ike looked for any tails, and for any others that showed too much interest in them. “When you don’t know your enemies, it’s a lot harder.” Ike said.
Hunter’s eyes checked the side streets as she said, “But we have to draw them out or we’ll never find those kids.”
“Use ourselves as bait.”
“Yep. Think of us as tethered goats in front of a hunting blind, waiting for a tiger to come.”
“Only we don’t have a big game hunter to cover us.”
“There is that little thing.”
Ike checked the street on his side, saw nothing out of the ordinary. “We’re close to losing them, aren’t we? Anita and Kelly and the others?”
Hunter felt the weight on her heart, “Yeah, but we can’t give up.”
A van passed them and pulled in front as they continued down the street. Hunter said, “They sure were in a hurry to get in front.”
“One of my pet peeves.” Ike said.
The van slowed for a Stop sign, and Hunter watched in her rearview mirror as a black Escalade closed behind them, already slowing for the stop.
Hunter felt her neck hairs prickle. It might be nothing, but she never liked being between two vehicles, even when it was innocent.
Traffic was light, almost nonexistent on this back street. The van stopped at the next light, and Hunter did as well, leaving room between the two cars in case she had to make a run.
The black Escalade came to a rolling stop close to Hunter’s rear bumper. Hunter watched it in the rearview, taking her eyes momentarily off the van in front.
The van suddenly backed up, squealing the rear tires as it sped toward the front of Hunter’s vehicle. At the same time, the Escalade did the same to the rear, cutting off any chance to maneuver for Hunter and Ike.
The men and women sprang out of both the van and the Escalade, armed with AK-47 rifles. Half of them moved to the driver’s side while the other half covered the passenger side of Hunter’s truck, holding their weapons up and ready to fire.
Hunter thought about it as she touched the butt of her weapon, but Ike said, “Uh-uh. All we have are pistols. They’ll cut this truck cab to pieces with those. We’re pinned in here.”
Suretta stepped into view and Hunter saw her. Suretta motioned for Hunter to roll down her window. She did, and thought about shooting the big woman when she did it, but decided not to.
Suretta said, “Get out, slowly, hands high. Now.”
Ike exited the passenger side and Hunter the driver’s side, and both had their pistols taken in a matter of seconds.
“In the van,” Suretta said. They did as they were ordered. The female driver, Sandra, ushered them inside and closed the sliding panel door. She slipped into the driver’s chair and they were soon moving. The man in the front passenger’s chair kept his AK below the front window so no other traffic could see the weapon, but he kept it low and pointed at Ike and Hunter. Hunter watched him, noticing the barrel never shook. He was calm, so Hunter knew he’d done this type of thing before. That didn’t bode well for her or Ike.
Sandra looked in the rearview mirror to catch Hunter’s eyes and said, “Are you the female Agent who killed Pasqual Osorio?”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“That’s not what people say in Ojinaga.”
“They weren’t there.”
“So, who did?”
“He died of cancer.”
“No, he had cancer, but he died of something else. Don’t play funny with me, Kincaid. He was my cousin on my mother’s side.”
“Ah.”
“So, who killed him?”
“A Japanese guy’s gang, a branch of Aum Shinrikyo. They’d taken over his home and ran him out of there.”
“Japanese?”
“Talk to your uncle, he’ll tell you. But I didn’t kill Pasqual, know that first.”
“My uncle’s dead.”
“When I talked to him over the phone, he never mentioned you.”
Sandra’s ears turned pink. “You are a bitch, you know that?”
“It all depends on the people I’m with.”
“It won’t matter in a while,” Sandra said.
Sandra continued to drive, but didn’t talk after that.
Ike leaned toward Hunter and said in a low voice, “We can’t be passive. We get a chance, we take it.”
“If we don’t get one, we make one. There’s no instant replay on this.”
“Yes.”
She watched the man with the rifle, but he didn’t waver, and didn’t relax his attention. Hunter hoped he might doze off, but that wasn’t happening, either.
Sandra reached the ranch gate in forty minutes. The man exited, still carrying his weapon, and opened the gate for her to go through. He closed it afterward and hopped in the passenger seat to resume his position, with the rifle pointed in the back, the barrel pointing between Ike and Hunter, and easy to bring on target to either one.
Driving to the barn added no surprises. The only difference that Hunter witnessed was the repaired plane resting on the crude strip near the barn, looking ready to go.
More people than usual milled about, and one truck loaded with tools left as they parked. Sandra and the other man exited the vehicle and joined Suretta, with the women using hand gestures as they talked.
Suretta left and went into the barn, then returned in a short time, obviously mad about something. She walked to the van and opened the sliding door, motioning for Ike and Hunter to get out. The man with the rifle kept the barrel on them.
<
br /> Suretta said, “Go to the barn, Nadine will put you in.”
Ike said, “What if we don’t want to go?”
Suretta said, “Then we’ll kill you quick. Your choice.”
“Since you put it that way.” Ike glanced at Hunter, and they walked toward the barn together. The man with the rifle stayed twenty feet from them, making sure he could cut them down if they charged. Both Ike and Hunter realized it, too.
Nadine waited until they were close, then opened the barn door, “Step right in,” she said.
Hunter entered first, then Ike. Hunter heard a child’s voice squealing in delight, “Miss Hunter! Miss Hunter!” It was Anita.
The child ran to her and Hunter scooped Anita up in her arms. Consuela and Kelly climbed down from the loft earlier, where they hid behind the grain sacks and walked to them. They looked expectant, like waiting for Hunter and Ike to take them away from this place.
The other girls came forward, walking in a shy way, but coming near, too.
Chapter 13
Hunter and Ike wasted no time looking at the interior of the barn, searching for a way to escape. Kelly said, “The loft hasn’t been looked at very close. We were up there, but didn’t check it good.”
Hunter said, “Where’s the ladder?”
Kelly pointed, “Over there. It’s sort of rickety.”
They went to it and Ike said, “You aren’t kidding.”
Hunter looked at Kelly, “You climbed up it?”
“Yes, when I was trying to get away from Carl.”
“I guess I’ll try it.” Hunter tested each step, and made it to the loft.
Ike said, “I’ll wait down here a minute. I’m still kind of dizzy.”
Hunter nodded, then went to the back wall, looking for some way out of the barn. Piles of dust covered things were everywhere, put up here decades ago, she figured.
A scraping sound coming from the east corner caught her attention, and she remembered the pecan tree there. The branches brushed against the exterior walls, making a sweeping noise. Hunter walked to the wall and checked for any loose boards, any rotten ones.
And there it was. Wood rot showed at the edge of the boards in the corner. It seemed evident that rain runoff from the tree had worked the rot into the lumber over the years. Hunter put her hand to it and pulled the gray wooden plank from the wall. It came loose from the eaves to the loft floor. The missing wood left an opening she could almost fit through.
“How’s it coming?” Ike asked.
“All of you, come on up.”
“They’re prepping the motors on the plane, we don’t have much time.”
“Then hurry up here!” She heard the kids coming up first, scrambling like squirrels on the frail ladder.
The loft creaked from the extra weight, but it held. Ike came up last, saying, “A rung pulled off in my hand. I’m glad I had hold of another one at the same time.”
Hunter waved him to the slender opening. “We need to get one more board out of here.”
Ike moved beside her and jiggled the remaining boards, but they seemed solid. The two adults worked on the boards as Kelly looked around at the dusty items on the floor.
Kelly almost missed the dust-covered iron bar lying in the shadow of a wooden box. Using her foot, she moved it away from the box, rolling it to an area where she could grasp it.
It was long, pointed at one end and with a chisel-like shape to the other. She thought it was called a rock bar, but she wasn’t sure. Picking it up was a chore, but Kelly hefted it off the ground and carried it toward the two adults.
“Will this help?”
Hunter smiled at her, “I bet it will. Good eyes, Kelly.”
Kelly felt warm inside at being praised. When Ike took the bar from her, she asked, “How much does it weigh?”
“They’re about seventeen pounds for one this size. It’s a good bar, not even used that much. The ends are still sharp.” He hefted it and said, “Let’s see if we can use this and not make any noise.”
Ike placed the chisel end against the spot where the eave and the one-by-ten plank joined. He wiggled the bar, easing the tip of the blade into the crack, using more and more force. When it went in a half-inch, Ike pried with the bar.
The nail gave with a sound like a pistol shot. The girls jumped and Hunter looked behind them at the barn door, but no one entered.
Hunter asked, “Kelly, can you get through this and into the tree, see how many more nails are holding it? We don’t want to make too much noise.”
Kelly nodded and slipped through the opening and into the tree.
Carl rested against the outside of the barn and heard a sharp sound, startling him. He thought it came from the back of the barn, not inside, so he decided to check it out. He pulled his pistol and eased down the wall to the rear to the pecan tree.
Kelly froze when she spotted him coming. Ike noticed she stopped moving, and mouthed, “What?”
Kelly pointed and shrunk back against the slim trunk of the tree, trying not be noticed.
Carl felt sure something fishy was going on. He checked the ground, then the walls, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Kelly’s throat constricted when he glanced up and saw her.
“Well, what have we here.” He said. “I think I’ll get you down from there and taste some of your jelly roll, right outside under the bright blue sky.”
Ike looked through the opening in the loft wall, watching Carl approach. He held the bar like a heavy harpoon, measuring the distance to the man. When Carl put his pistol away and moved to climb the tree, Ike said, “Hey?”
Carl looked up and his eyes widened as Ike hurled the bar.
The point caught Carl in the hollow of his throat and shot through his body with the momentum of seventeen pounds of steel thrown by a strong man. The tip exited just behind his hip bone and continued down to stick in the ground. Carl writhed in agony for several seconds before hanging limp, suspended half-standing by the steel.
Hunter kicked the still attached board and sent it flying, then she ushered the children out of the opening as the front of the barn opened and Nadine stepped inside, looking for the source of the noise.
Nadine said, “Carl, you in here?”
Ike went next to last, holding Anita as he worked his way down the tree. Hunter was the last one out the opening and she climbed down like an acrobat, dropping the final six feet to the ground. She took Carl’s .45 Sig Sauer pistol and two extra magazines as the children stared open-mouthed at the body. Ike herded them away, but Consuela walked to the dead man and said, “I’m glad you’re dead.”
Ike was surprised. He said, “Why?”
“Because of what he did to Kelly.”
Ike felt a flush of heat in his face, “Did he molest her?”
Consuela said, “Kelly went with him because he said he would rape me if she didn’t. Then he raped her, we all heard it, and he planned to do it again but now he can’t, so I’m glad.”
Hunter turned to Kelly, “I’m sorry, honey.”
Kelly said, “Can we just leave?”
“Yes.”
They stayed in the brush paralleling the roads, and made it fifty yards before people stormed around the building from both sides, all of them armed.
Hunter motioned for the children to squat down, and she watched Suretta and the one named Nadine send people out in a search. Hunter used hand signals to point the way that had the most cover, and they slipped away from the barn.
Suretta stomped and fumed when they found Carl’s body and saw the opening in the loft wall. The people Suretta had, two men and four women, were sent in the search pattern. Only Paco and Nadine remained close, and the pilot remained with the plane.
He also started the plane’s engines. They’d barely made it out of the barn in time. Too close, Hunter thought.
Ike motioned for Hunter to come to the front of the group, and he seemed urgent about it.
She moved in a low crouch through the short brush, using
the sage and cedar and cactus for cover between her and the people hunting them. When she reached Ike, he seemed excited.
“What is it?” Hunter said.
“Peek over the hill and tell me what you see.”
She did. A Lincoln Continental made its careful way down the rough ranch road, coming their way. She looked at Ike, “Who?”
“That’s Ramona. I recognize her car.”
“What the heck is she doing here? How did she find us?”
“She tracked my phone, like people track their kid’s phones.”
“Did you know she was coming?”
“My, we have a plethora of questions, don’t we?”
Hunter grinned, “I’ve always been curious. Now, what’s the deal?”
“I think she wanted to help, not stand by and watch. It’s her only daughter, that’s what she’s worried about and that’s why she’s here hunting for us.”
Hunter looked at the Lincoln, “Can we all fit in there?”
“I think so, enough to get us to safety.”
“You lead, I’ll cover our back.”
Ike nodded. He stayed low in the brush and angled to intercept the big car before it came too close to the barn and Suretta spotted it.
Hunter made her way to the kids, where Kelly and Consuela fussed over Anita to keep her calm. She said, “We’ve got some help right ahead. It’ll be tight, but we can do it, then we can get out of here and you can go home, okay?”
They all nodded, eager to leave.
Ike caught Ramona’s attention and she stopped the car. He held out his hands in a wait there motion, then returned to Hunter and the children. He led them through the brush and cactus, angling off the low hill, coming down at an angle to a shallow ravine that opened in front of the Lincoln as it crept along the rough road across the pasture. He carried Anita after she stumbled and said she was tired.
When the children came running from the cedars toward her, Ramona couldn’t believe it, and Ike held Anita in the crook of his arm as they walked out from the brush. Ramona broke into tears and pushed open her door, running to them as Ike handed Anita to her mother, who smothered the child with kisses.