Red Mountain

by Dennis Yates

  “He’s clean,” Ski Mask yelled to a man standing beneath a tree with a rifle trained on him. The man looked green in the full moon.

  “Give him the pics then,” Green Man said, lighting a cigarette.

  Ski Mask tossed Robert a cell phone and walked away. Robert picked it up and looked at the glowing display screen. A digital slide show was in progress…

  Oh no…

  Robert’s heart slammed against his ribs, bringing him to his knees. He stared at the images in disbelief. Pictures of his family slaughtered. Blood everywhere.

  Tremors ran up his spine and caused him to shake. He held his breath and tightened his fists. He stood up and sprinted toward the two men watching him.

  “You killed them!”

  Green Man dropped his smoke and crushed it with his boot. “Stay back Crain, because I will not hesitate to shoot.”

  “Go ahead asshole,” Robert cursed. He continued to rush toward them, and when he got too close the man struck him in the stomach with his rifle butt.

  Robert stumbled back and sucked for air. Hot wires spread from the point of impact in his gut.

  “Don’t be a dumb shit,” Green Man said, “It wasn’t us who did it, but the son of a bitch you’ve got a date with tonight.”

  “Which means you best screw your head back on and go find him,” added Ski Mask. “A mad dog like that needs to be put down.”

  They’re lying, Robert thought.

  He bent down and took up the phone again in his hand.

  What he saw was less real this time… Something about their expressions told him they were still alive. Having been face to face with the dead before, he knew all too well what the Reaper stole from the living...

  The pictures were just more of Walker’s sick humor. But his message was clear: If you don’t play with us, we can do this to your family. And probably a hell of a lot worse…

  “This is a trick,” Robert said, “You’re just doing this so I’ll want to kill this man. It’s the same thing you did to Nolan.”

  “Hey, this one’s smart,” said Ski Mask to his partner. “I told you fat boy wouldn’t keep his mouth shut. He must have told him we said we were cops.”

  “I don’t give a damn what this one thinks,” Green Man said, lighting another cigarette. “So long as someone dies in the tunnel tonight, our work here will be done. I guess it all depends on who wants their family the most… You want to see your pretty wife again Mr. Crain?”

  Seething, Robert backed away, wishing he’d been able to come earlier so he could have hidden a weapon. He stared at the two men. More than anything he wished he could see their bodies squirt obscene amounts of blood, watch as they hopelessly struggled to stop the flow...

  Ski Mask tapped his watch. “You ought to get going, Crain. Your buddy has already been in there for nearly two minutes.”

  Robert turned and ran down the railroad tracks toward the black mouth in the side of the hill. He had to assume his family was still alive.

  “Meet us back on this side, Crain,” a voice shouted behind him, “If you survive that is.”

  The men cackled with laughter.

  CHAPTER 24

  Less then three strides inside the tunnel, Robert tripped on the rail and skinned his knees on gravel. He pulled himself up and slowly walked forward, his ears straining to pick out any sounds other than his own.

  Moving through the dark with outstretched hands, he inhaled the earthy smell of the cave, reminding him of when he spent time in the garden with Peggy and Connor. No one had taught him how to grow things before. Not from a bag of seeds. His favorite ones were the giant sunflowers. Their backyard had a forest of them in the summer.

  He could see no better than a blind man, and yet the light depravation caused his brain to grow impatient and it began to project shrouds of brown and deep red to float around the cave.

  This is stupid, he thought. Instead of listening he was trying to use his eyes. Rather than being more cautious, he was throwing one foot out after another in some kind of reckless march toward death’s arms…

  Then he heard the distinct crunch of gravel and froze in mid-step.

  Someone was coming toward him. Was he a killer, or just another unfortunate player in Walker’s game? Even if he hadn’t done anything to Robert’s family, it was dangerous to presume he wouldn’t do what was needed to save his own.

  The sound of the man’s footfalls became rhythmic, and for a moment Robert concentrated on what clues they might reveal.

  The man was taller than him, that much he could tell. And perhaps a good deal more muscular. He was favoring one leg over the other, but not enough to cause his foot to drag.

  Instead of staying in the middle of the tracks, Robert moved over and crouched next to the wall and waited for the man to get closer. He reached down and felt for an anvil shaped rock he could fit comfortably in his hand. After sampling a variety of useless ones, he finally found one that would have to do. If he could swing down quickly enough without losing his grip, he just might be able to deliver a fatal blow.

  As soon as he was close enough for Robert to hear him breathe, the man stopped. Robert tossed a few small stones out near the man. To his dismay, the man didn’t walk forward to investigate the sound. It was a stupid idea anyway, and Robert wished he’d remained quiet.

  “We need to talk,” a voice said.

  “Talk all you want, but I’m the one who is walking out of here alive tonight.”

  “Is that right? What makes you so sure?”

  The invisible man’s cockiness took Robert by surprise. Yet he could detect a tremble in the stranger’s voice, a rapid pulse caught in the back of the throat. Robert felt forced to up the ante with the truth.

  “Because I’ve had to kill before, that’s why. And I bet you haven’t.”

  Water dripped and echoed through the tunnel as they stood in the dark, waiting for the next bodiless voice to say something.

  “Tell me why we’re doing this,” the man finally said, his tone turning milder. “You strike me as someone who can be reasonable when he wants to be.”

  Robert thought about how important it was to be able to see someone’s face to know if they were lying to you. He felt the heft of the cool rock in his hand, imagined its pointed end sinking into the man’s skull. It would be hard to know when the job was finished…

  “They showed me pictures of what they say you did to them,” Robert said, “But to tell you the truth, I don’t believe it.”

  “What pictures are you talking about?”

  “Of my family… all cut up.”

  The man gasped. When he spoke again the tremor in his voice worsened.

  “I swear I haven’t hurt anyone. I’m only trying to get my family back too. You’ve got to believe me. For three nights now they’ve been gone. Walker says I won’t get them back until I kill you.”

  “And is that what you planned to do? Kill me?”

  “Hell no! I’m not falling for his bullshit. He’s just messing with our heads, hoping we’ll get desperate. I was praying I could convince you we shouldn’t do this.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Steven Westlake… Yours?”

  “Crain… Robert Crain. I think I’ve heard of you. Doesn’t your family own a golf course up near Wrath Butte?”

  “Yes...”

  Both men exhaled loudly. They were jittery and afraid. What was the chance they would know each other? Did it mean anything? Maybe there was still an opportunity to diffuse the tension before someone got hurt. Or maybe it was too late. The pitch black of the tunnel played hell on their nerves…

  “I remember hearing a story about a great uncle of mine,” Robert said. “That he’d lost property in Wrath Butte while playing poker.”

  “He must have been talking about the old Jared Horn homestead. But other than that miserable place, the rest of his parcels have always stayed in my family.”

  Jared Horn? Robert seemed to recall hearing the name m
entioned before, but it was so far in the past. And although he couldn’t see Westlake’s face, he was struck with the feeling they’d once met before. He’d had the same feeling when he’d first encountered Nolan.

  Was there a connection?

  Robert dove into his memory and took a look around, stirring up dust. He felt a prickle of recollection cause goose bumps to rise down his neck and arms. He’d found what he was looking for.

  “You said Jared Horn, right?”

  “Yes. He’s my great grandfather.”

  “He’s also my great grandfather.”

  “No shit?”

  “I once saw his headstone when I was a kid. There was a big family reunion in Wrath Butte. Anyway, I remember getting really bored. It was hot and I got in trouble for taking off my shirt and running off with some other boys to play out in the desert. We were catching lizards.”

  “I think I was one of those kids. Didn’t we put lizards on their backs and rub their stomachs until they fell asleep, then see how many we could line up side by side before they woke up and ran away?”

  “You and the other boys were fast at it too. I could never get more than two at a time to stay down.”

  “I seem to remember when your dad came and found you. He was really mad.”

  “Yep, sounds like my pop.”

  “So do you still believe I’m going to try and kill you? We are great cousins after all…”

  “I think we’re good,” Robert said. He dropped the rock from his hand and it struck the ground with a thud. It might have been a bad idea, but his gut told him he could trust the man. A moment afterward Steven let go of the weapon he’d been carrying. The loud impact caused Robert to flinch.

  “Jesus Westlake, what the hell was that?”

  “Part of a rail, I guess. I was lucky to stumble on it.”

  They stood silent in the darkness, each listening to how the other breathed. The sharing was so basic, and yet it spoke volumes.

  “They’re going to want a body,” Robert said after some time had passed. And he was right too. Any minute Walker’s boys might grow impatient and decide to come and see what was going on.

  “I know.” Steven said. “I’ve been thinking about it.”

  “Then what are we going to do?”

  CHAPTER 25

  Peggy wiped away the blood the best she could. She plunged the towel back into the sink again and rinsed it out. Connor took the towel from her hand and dabbed her scalp and ears.

  “Gee mom, this stuff is really sticky.”

  “That’s because there’s a lot of syrup in it.”

  Connor stopped and looked at her. “Like the kind we put on pancakes?”

  “Not this kind. This is called Karo syrup. It’s the main ingredient in fake blood.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you almost finished?” she asked.

  “I think so. But I don’t know what you’re going to do about your hair. I can still see spots you missed after you rinsed in the sink.”

  “It’s okay, honey. It’s not like we’re going out for dinner tonight.”

  Connor set the towel down and frowned. “Why did that bad man want us to pretend we were dead?”

  “I’m not sure Connor. But I think he wanted to take those pictures of us so he could scare Daddy.”

  “Why does he want to scare Daddy?”

  “I wish I knew, baby.”

  Connor wiped some fresh tears from his eyes.

  “Do you think Dad is going to think they’re real? Do you think he’s going to be sad?

  Peggy sat quiet for a while. She could only imagine what kinds of emotions her husband must be going through. They were putting him through absolute hell.

  She’d never felt so degraded in her entire life. Having Marsh make them pose for the kind of pictures he wanted revealed what a diseased mind the man had. It was beyond anything she could have imagined. But she told herself to hold it in and not to cry. She couldn’t let Connor see she was being turned inside out, even as Walker laughed maniacally behind the camera.

  “Daddy won’t believe them,” she said while combing back Connor’s hair with her hand. “Because he knows we’re still alive.”

  “How?”

  “He can still feel us still next to his heart. Just like we know he’s out there looking for us.”

  Peggy had figured out what they’d done to the occupants of the trailer the night before. As she and Connor were led to the tent for the photo shoot, she’d noticed the hoses and gas tanks outside of the trailers.

  They’d tried to kill them in their sleep. But it didn’t quite work. Someone had woken up and smelled the gas and tried to get out.

  From listening to Marsh and the others talk, it sounded like the same thing was going to happen again tonight, and she had to get prepared. She’d come up with some ideas of how to escape. Impossible perhaps, but the best she could do under the circumstances.

  The four guards had left in the van several hours ago. If they were gone as long as they were the night before, then just maybe there was a sliver of hope.

  Peggy bent over with the screwdriver and continued to pry away the paneling from the trailer door while Connor kept watch through a slit in the window.

  CHAPTER 26

  As soon as Robert walked out of the tunnel, four men stepped onto the tracks and surrounded him, some with weapons drawn. He assumed the two he didn’t recognize had been with Steven. In the moonlight he could tell the group had been listening to Steven’s dying cries coming from back under the hill. Aside from the one who wore a ski mask, he saw in their faces a kind of grim amusement, like the men he’d seen watching a dogfight in a Tijuana warehouse.

  “I bet them you wouldn’t make it,” Green Man said. “Now I wish I hadn’t.”

  “Shitty luck I guess,” Robert said.

  “What did you use to kill him?” asked one of the men he didn’t know.

  Robert shrugged. “I got him in the face with a rock, then after that I broke his neck across the track… So when do I get to see my family?”

  “Slow down, big boy,” said Ski Mask. “We’re going to need to make sure Westlake is not alive. About how far in did you leave him?”

  “He’s less than halfway in from this side. You can’t miss him.”

  “Let’s go then,” Green Man said. “We need to wrap this thing up and get the hell out of here.” Followed by one of the men who’d been with Steven earlier, Green Man took off down the tracks. Before they entered the mouth of the cave they turned on flashlights. Moths darted in front of them, scattering pinhead shadows on the tunnel walls.

  “Can I have some water?” Robert asked.

  Ski Mask ordered Robert to sit on the ground. The man next to him tried to hand Robert a bottle of water but Ski Mask knocked it from his hand. The bottle few over the tracks and rolled under a wall of blackberry vines.

  “What are you doing Gomez?” Ski Mask yelled.

  “He only wanted some water.”

  “He doesn’t get shit unless I say so.”

  “Well you don’t have to be a prick about it.”

  A train wailed in the distance, too far away for them to be able to hear it pass over the tracks. Its eerie voice softened to a whisper as the train moved behind a faraway hill. As soon as the train wound around a bend in the track, the horn returned more throaty and louder than before.

  “Do you suppose it’s headed our way?” Gomez asked.

  Ski Mask grimaced through his mouth hole. “How should I know? I’m not the one who checked this place out.” He jabbed a finger toward the tunnel. “It was those two who’ve been here before.”

  They watched the silhouettes of the men moving deeper inside. Their flashlight beams continued to grow smaller, until they appeared to merge into a single clot of white light. The train howled once again, and this time it was much closer. It was possible the two in the cave may not have heard it.

  “I think we better warn them,” Gomez said.

  �
��Don’t worry. They’ll be turning back soon.”

  While they focused on the ball of light inside the cave, neither man noticed the dark figure moving down the side of the hill. Robert held his breath, hoping Steven would be able to pick up his pace once he reached the bottom and make his way across the ridge of tall grass before the men in the cave got suspicious.

  I should have been the one to go over, he thought. Although his leg had swollen considerably since he’d fallen on the tracks, he wasn’t totally convinced Steven was in better shape. But Steven had insisted on going, and wouldn’t hear otherwise.

  Robert rolled onto his side and clutched his stomach. The two men stared down at him.

  “What’s you’re problem, Crain?” asked Ski Mask.

  “Think I might have ruptured something during the fight,” Robert said, wincing in agony, “My gut’s killing me.”

  “Can I give him water, now?” Gomez asked.

  Ski Mask shook his head. “What’s wrong with you? You don’t give water to someone who thinks they might have busted….”

  Steven was fast. He brought the iron bar down on top of Ski Mask’s head in a high clean arc. The pressure of the blow caused one of the man’s eyes to burst from an eye slit and roll stickily down his black polyester-blend mask. As he collapsed to the ground, he managed to squeeze off a single shot from his rifle, spitting mud in all directions.

  Robert and Gomez rolled down the middle of the tracks, each one trying to grip the other by the throat. Gomez pulled a knife from his boot and raked Robert across the thigh. Robert growled and knocked the knife from Gomez’s hand as it swung at Robert’s chest. Having disarmed him, Robert forced Gomez over onto his stomach and drove his knee into his lower back. Gomez let out a piercing scream. Robert gripped him by the hair and drove his face into the track, instantly shattering teeth and jaw against the steel rail.

  Gomez went limp. Blood dribbled from the corners of his mouth and pooled on the gravel next to the track.