It gave Perry an uneasy chill to hear it officially stated like that—and to think of the hundreds of panic-stricken conventioneers who would soon be milling about. “We’ll take my truck. It’s got all my gear in it.”
“No thanks,” said Rowan. “I don’t feature driving around with a logo emblazoned on the side, advertising that we’re cops looking for a fugitive. We’ll take my truck.”
It was probably just in the men’s nature to argue, for Perry now said, “Right. As though your truck looks any less cop-like.”
Sasha agreed. “Rowan, your truck does resemble something from a CSI crime show. Why don’t we take my rental car? After all, it’s mine, and he probably knows what I’m driving. I should drive, too.”
Rowan at last caved, but he made sure to have Fubar sniff around the car’s undercarriage first. Perry put the dog back into his cabin. They wouldn’t need him, and there was no sense in risking additional lives.
Chapter Sixteen
Rowan was surprised that Sasha drove down the state highway like a bat out of hell. He would’ve pegged her for a careful, sedate driver.
Perry had no backup, of course—he didn’t want to harass his nominal backup, Gabriel Verona, who had a wedding to prepare for—and the nearest cop station was in Blanding an hour away.
Rowan had deigned to tell the former mercenary Nathan Horowitz about the IED and the culprit in Horse Collar Canyon. He knew Nathan would follow at a discreet distance, not alert anyone to his plans, and be invaluable backup if they needed it.
“I wonder if he’s really partying with a group,” said Perry from the back seat. Sasha’s rental car had bucket seats so he had obsequiously taken the back.
“I didn’t get that impression,” said Sasha, “from our conversation. Since he made a big show earlier out of telling me he planned on partying, asking me if I’d be around later this afternoon, I doubt he’s with anyone. You men are experienced in this. What do you think his plans are for me?”
“Nothing good,” Rowan said instantly. He could kick himself for allowing Sasha to accompany them, but Perry was right. They really had no choice. He didn’t want to discuss The Dickhead’s plan for rape as they would never allow that to even remotely happen. Rowan had blown it once with The Dickhead and wouldn’t do so again. “How far away are we from that Horse turnoff?”
“Twenty minutes,” said Perry. “Sasha, you could call him again, keep him occupied, get a better location for him. You know, pretend you’re zooming over there with medical supplies.”
Rowan agreed, “Yes, put him on speaker and we won’t make a peep.” But his hand shot out to grab Sasha’s as she stretched to hit the redial button. “Wait. What’s that? Is that the bomb squad?”
Perry unrolled his window and craned his neck to look at the underside of the approaching chopper. “That’s them, all right.”
“Fuck,” fumed Rowan. “Like that won’t alert The Dickhead that we’re onto him.”
“It’s all right,” Perry assured him. “I really don’t think he’ll be able to see that chopper from Horse Collar Canyon.”
“If indeed that’s where he is,” Sasha said. “I should call him back. I need to get a better location anyway. If he mentions the chopper, I can just say someone needed to be medevaced out and has nothing to do with him.”
Rowan said, “He might suspect you called the chopper on him and run. It does say ‘sheriff’ in giant letters across the bottom.”
“We have no choice,” said Perry. “We need to get a better location for him.”
So Rowan was forced to listen in helplessly while Sasha rang the murderous Dickhead. Being quiet when he was supremely pissed off had always been the most difficult part of Rowan’s job, and he now had to stuff his rage with a steamroller, hearing El Zeub’s voice for the first time.
“All right, hang tight, Sam,” Sasha said in a fake cheerful tone. As she repeated the directions back to “Sam,” Perry gave her thumbs-up signs to show that he knew where The Dickhead was talking about. “Last mesa with a piñon pine sticking out, got it.”
Rowan gestured at her to keep talking, to convince The Dickhead that she was alone, and innocent of his intentions. Perry had explained that this was one of the dead zones where cells didn’t work, so the electronic divining rod would be useless in pinpointing his location.
“Ooh, yeah.” El Zeub panted. Rowan and Sasha shared a look of fearful disgust. “I can’t wait till you get here. I mean, for my leg. My leg’s hurting something fierce.”
“All right, Sam,” Sasha said soothingly. She had used that tone on Rowan many a time, and he realized it was her professional tone. “Hang tight. We’ll be there in probably fifteen minutes.” She was counting how many times Perry flashed his five fingers.
All three of them gasped now, barely perceptibly. She had said “we”!
Sasha’s eyes went big and round, and “Sam” on the other line paused. She made a quick save by distracting him. “Now, you’re sure no broken bone has pierced the skin?”
“No, no bone is sticking through,” gasped El Zeub. “The bone just looks bent underneath the skin and already it’s bruising around the area.”
Rowan made the sign of driving a truck, and Sasha picked up on it. “Okay, I’ve got a sedative I can inject you with. Are you in your vehicle? What sort of vehicle do you have?”
Again, El Zeub seemed to be thrown for a loop. He paused, then said, “No, I’m not near my vehicle. This happened up the road aways. After you take the turnoff, go about a mile until you see that mesa with the pine.”
“All right,” Sasha said calmly. “Hang in there, Sam. I’m about ten minutes away. Don’t give up. I’ll be there soon.”
Rowan made sure the “end” button had worked. More than one time someone had started talking when the phone wasn’t really hung up, creating all sorts of embarrassing confusion. “Okay. He’ll be pretending to be injured at first, but will probably run when he sees us. Whether he runs before or after he realizes we’re armed is the question.”
“And whether or not he’s armed,” said Perry.
Rowan said, “I’ve never known him to be armed, but there’s always a first time. If he’s expecting to abduct and rape Sasha, he’ll probably be armed. Perry, I don’t want you breaking out your Taser this time. Bring the big gun.”
“Sorry about that,” said Perry. “I’ve got my Smith and Wesson loaded.”
Referring to yesterday’s incident must have made Sasha reflect, for now she said, “Rowan, I…I would like to take back everything I said last night. I was wrong. That’s not what I want at all. I feel like an incredible asshole having said the things I said that weren’t even an accurate representation of how I truly feel.”
Rowan, who normally didn’t like discussing feelings, truly didn’t know what to say. It occurred to him she could be talking about anything, though. “Which ‘things’ are you talking about?”
“You know. I hate to even discuss it again, but it has to be said, Rowan.” She kept looking sideways at him, taking her eyes off the road. Rowan pointed at the road to remind her to drive. “I said it wasn’t right for us to continue to see each other because in a week from now we won’t know each other. But that’s not how I want it to be, and I didn’t even give you an option. Would you…like an option? I mean, we can figure something out, can’t we?”
Rowan was flooded with relief that she was giving him another chance. But he must have still held resentment that she had even dumped him in the first place, for he wanted her to grovel. It couldn’t just be this simple, or she’d run around doing it all the time. “What made you change your mind?”
Sasha sputtered, as though it was all so self-evident he needn’t have asked. “Well, I’m in love with you, for one, Rowan! And people can’t help who they love, now, can they? Should I walk away from the man I love just because the intensity of my feelings is frightening me half to death?”
“I told you,” Perry muttered.
Rowan wa
nted Sasha to keep talking, to continue groveling. It was nice to hear these things. “So what changed? Why aren’t your intense feelings frightening you anymore?”
“They are, of course! I just decided to keep plowing straight ahead, Rowan, if you’ll have me. None of the best things in life are easily obtained without the maximum expense of emotions. People value things more if it has cost them a great deal to obtain them. It has cost me a great deal of terrifying soul-searching to realize that I don’t want to live without you, Rowan. I want that house with the chickens, too.”
Rowan’s heart surged to hear all of this, and he supposed it was time to succumb. He might make her grovel later, but for now, it filled him with joy to hear that she loved him. That she wanted the chickens, too, seemed to be saying she wanted a real life with him. “I would like to see where it goes, too, Sasha. But are you sure you’re not just being overwhelmed with passion? Are you confusing lust with love? Your emotions might be clouded by too many overwhelming orgasms.”
Sasha flashed him an ungrateful look. “Rowan! I’m mature enough not to confuse love with a craving for a long, fat cock, if that’s what you mean! I can sort out my different hormones from my subjective, conscious experience!”
“All right.” Rowan nearly chuckled. She had begged enough. He believed in her sincerity, and he trusted her word. “I fear I’m in love with you as well. What shall we do when this Dickhead business is over?”
Were Sasha’s eyes misty with tears? “What about Perry? I love him, too, and I don’t want to leave him either. He’s part of who we are together.”
“I’m sitting right here,” Perry reminded them.
“We could all live here.” Rowan only halfway joked. “Perry’s the only one who needs to be here for his work, and he can’t be a conservation officer in Charleston or DC.”
“All right, it’s a deal,” Sasha said brightly.
She’s only joking, Rowan kept telling himself, because he was afraid to believe it was true. It sounded just too good. The Triple Play had its own little airstrip, with Sol Greenspan and Nathan Horowitz both licensed pilots. From Salt Lake, Rowan could get to any city Hawkeye wished to send him to—the few assignments he would accept anymore. He’d saved enough in his decades of protecting the wealthy and chasing down the criminally insane. He could have Sasha and his chickens anywhere he wanted.
“I’m glad you’re not making me move,” said Perry. “This is the best cabin I’ve lived in, by far. And I’m glad you lovebirds have worked out your differences. It’s obvious you were meant to be together. There’s the Horse Collar Canyon sign.”
As Sasha was making the turn, her cell rang again. Rowan and Perry looked blankly at each other. Rowan couldn’t imagine anything else El Zeub might want, so he nodded at Sasha to answer it.
“Hi, Sam. I’m almost there.”
“Sasha.” He wasn’t even calling her “Dr. McQueen” anymore. “Is anyone with you?”
Sasha looked fearfully at Rowan. It was pointless to lie that she was alone. The two men could have tried to duck beneath the sightline of the windows, but eventually Sasha would have to get out of the car and approach El Zeub, exposing herself to danger. Rowan nodded at Sasha.
“I’ve got a…a friend with me. He knows a lot of first aid, and I didn’t want to drive in the desert alone. Is that all right?”
“Not really, Sasha. That’s not all right at all.”
“Why not, Sam? If you need to be carried into my back seat, two people can do it better than one.” It was smart of her to keep pretending she believed his leg was broken. In any event, The Dickhead would eventually see and recognize Rowan and the jig would be up, so Rowan now drew his Glock. In the rearview mirror he saw Perry do the same with his weapon. “Now, I don’t want you trying to walk. Don’t move. I’m almost there.”
“Why’d you bring a friend, Sasha? Am I not enough for you?”
Sasha frowned in confusion. Rowan had seen this happen before. Creepy guys developed what they called erotomania, a fixation on the victim where they imagined the victim was in love with them. This was almost always based on crazy, hot air circulating in their own minds, but these sorts of targets were hard to get a handle on. Evidently El Zeub had gone from crazed bomber to crazed stalker. “I don’t understand. Enough for what? I’m coming to fix your leg.”
Rowan drew a horizon with his palm flat to the ground to indicate calm. He whispered as quietly as he could. “Act like you like him.”
“Sasha, you and I both know it’s more than my leg. The leg is just an excuse to get close to me.”
Sasha got the picture. “Why, yes, Sam, of course that part is true, too. Once I get your leg fixed, we can do all sorts of things together. I really look forward to that. But right now we should concentrate on your leg. All right, I see the piñon pine. Now what?”
“Pull over on the left shoulder before the pine. Then I want just you to get out and find me. Keep talking to me on your cell. If whoever asshole is with you gets out, I’m going to be very upset. You don’t want to upset me.”
“That’s the last thing I would want.”
“And take me off speakerphone. I don’t want that asshole listening to our private conversations.”
Rowan satisfied himself with the image of taking El Zeub out within the next few minutes. Patience was not his virtue, and he had been known to prematurely pop off targets who had merely insulted him or pissed him off. One guy had actually taunted, “You can’t catch me!” Rowan had just rolled his eyes and shot the guy.
“All right, I’m parking. Where are you?”
“I’ll come out when I see you.”
Click. The connection was dead. Rowan put a hand on Sasha’s leg. “Don’t you dare move, my love.”
“But he said he won’t come out unless I do first.”
“He’s playing a warped children’s game. There’s no way I’m letting you out of this car just to become a hostage.”
“I agree,” said Perry. “With you as hostage we have no leverage at all. That’s unacceptable collateral damage.”
“Then what will we do?”
Rowan turned to Perry. “I’m a better shot than you.”
“How do you know that?”
“I can see in the dark, one reason I followed this career path. You…” Rowan had to smile. “I can see the rim of your contact lenses around your corneas all the way from here. I propose you go out first and make nice, like you want to get him in the car to fix his stupid leg. I’ll hide behind that boulder and pick him off. Holster your weapon.”
“Sounds good.”
Rowan was pleased with the speed with which Perry executed the commands. Holding his hands up in surrender, Perry walked blindly toward a sandstone bluff that rose just thirty feet away. “Sam! Where are you? I’m a medic, I’ve got first aid training. I can help you back to Sasha’s car.”
Kissing Sasha quickly on the face, Rowan whispered, “I love you,” before slipping out the passenger door and running, hunched over, behind the boulder. He could have used the rental car as a cover, but didn’t want to risk The Dickhead shooting back at Sasha.
“Who the fuck are you?” an unseen El Zeub yelled.
“I’m Perry, a friend of Sasha’s. Sasha’s afraid of you because you won’t come out of hiding. She doesn’t like dealing with people she can’t see.”
“And I don’t like dealing with anyone other than Sasha! She has no reason to be afraid of me! I love her!”
Bring out the crazy. Where was the truck with no plates Perry and Sasha had seen zooming past when they were interrogating the skin-walker?
“Well,” Perry yelled back, “Sasha loves you, too, but she’s just a little bit afraid of you. She knows you’re a dashing, adventuresome kind of guy who brings danger and excitement to a relationship.”
“That’s for fucking sure!” El Zeub shrieked. “That’s why we’re perfect for each other! She’s a doctor and has excitement every day!”
Cut me some sla
ck. This one was a doozy. Judging from the sound of his voice, Rowan estimated El Zeub to be behind the crest of the bluff, maybe hunched down just ten feet below the ridgeline. He pictured a pretty pink horse trying to dig his fingers into the sandstone, the hoof gloves making it difficult.
“That’s true, Sam. Sasha does have excitement every day. I’m coming up the hill to help you down now. If we wait too long gangrene will set in.”
With his hands still in the air, Perry started for the bluff.
“Don’t come any closer!” shrieked El Zeub.
“Why not?” yelled Perry. “I can’t help you if I don’t come closer.”
“I changed my mind! I’ll just fix my own broken leg! You can go home now!”
“Well, that’s just not going to happen,” said Perry, going forward again. “We’ve come all this way, and Sasha really wants to see you.”
“Don’t move anymore!”
Rowan was getting a bead on where the voice was coming from. But he hadn’t been accurate or prepared enough when El Zeub’s pink-wigged head popped over the ridge about fifteen feet to the left of where he had predicted. As they’d assumed, he gripped a .44 in two hands, and he squeezed off a shot at Perry.
Nearly simultaneously, Rowan squeezed off three shots at El Zeub. Only two hit the mark, neither of them kill shots, before the terrorist vanished behind the crest again. Rowan threw caution to the wind and dashed out from behind the cover of the boulder. A face-to-face gun battle was the only option left. El Zeub, as a crazed bomber, probably wasn’t terribly experienced with handguns. And Rowan had got him on the run. It was even more difficult for an inexperienced shooter to be accurate while running.
Rowan scrambled up the bluff. Perry had merely twisted his torso about when shot by The Dickhead, and Sasha wasn’t emerging from the car, so he hoped Perry was all right. But by the time Rowan gained the sandy crest, he only had time to get off one more useless round. El Zeub had parked the plateless truck in a little pocket around a corner where they had not seen it. Rowan pulled off a couple of shots through the rear window, blowing it out. He was up too high to even shoot the tires, and it was peeling out the direction they’d come in a spray of rocks.
The Grass Is Greener [McQueen Was My Valley 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 17