by Trevor Scott
He figured he had a few cracked ribs. It wasn’t the first time.
“Alright,” Max said, pulling his shirt down. “We need to get moving. We found a camp on the third lake.”
“Seriously?” Donny asked.
“We saw a camp fire there,” Kim interjected.
Within seconds, they were back in the canoes and heading toward the location Max guessed they would have to portage to the lake. In the canoe Kim’s ankle wasn’t much of a problem. Portages would be a task, though.
At the far end of the lake, down a narrow passage, Max stopped paddling to glance at his map. He was particularly interested in the terrain between the two lakes. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t noticed this before, but there was a strip of higher ground that ran between the lakes, like a spine on the back of a whale.
Max pointed to a location along the shore and said, “I think we should put in there.”
In the front of the canoe, Robin said, “It looks like someone has already been here more than once.”
Paddling slowly toward shore, Max kept them on a straight line toward what appeared to be a worn area against a bank beneath some cedars.
After nudging against the shore, Robin stepped out and pulled the canoe out of the water far enough for Max to climb forward and get out. Then Max and Robin pulled their canoe all the way ashore onto the mossy ground.
Max immediately knew that others had been here recently.
They helped Kim out of her canoe and had her sit against a cedar tree, while they steadied the canoe to allow Donny to climb out.
Once they were all ashore, Max stepped into the woods a short distance to verify his suspicions. Someone had made their own portage here.
Donny came up behind Max and said, “This is it. But remember, it’s not unprecedented for people to go off the beaten path. Some like to get away from the crowds. Especially this time of year.”
Max could sympathize with that sentiment. That was why he spent so much time alone at his mountain cabin in the summer months. He was avoiding the hot, dry summer days of Northern Nevada, while getting away from tourists.
Max turned to see Robin checking on Kim’s ankle. He went over to get the scoop. “Well? Will she live?”
“Nice job on the splint,” Robin said. “I have an Ace bandage I could use over the top of this to immobilize it further.”
“Good plan,” Max said. Then he went to his canoe with Robin. While she found the bandage, he dug around in his pack, retrieving a padded case. Inside was his second 9mm Glock, a carbon copy of the one on his hip. He glanced back at Kim and Donny before turning back to his sister. Then he handed his spare gun to her and said, “You’ve shot this gun many times. It’s the same model I bought you for Christmas last year. It’s fully loaded with two extra magazines.”
She looked concerned. “What will I do with this?”
He found the small day pack on her back and unzipped the main pouch. Then he shoved the gun inside and said, “Just in case.”
“What are you doing?” Robin asked.
“I’m just going to hike in and take a look.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“What’s going on?” Donny asked, coming closer.
Max gave his sister a stern glare, but he said to Donny and Kim, “I’m simply going to hike in and see what I can see.”
Kim tried to get up. “I’m going with you.”
Laughing as he came over and stooped down to Kim, Max said, “You can barely stand. Let Robin patch you up a little better and hopefully the rest will help your ankle.”
By now Robin was there with the bandage, which she broke open from the package. “Just stay put,” Robin said.
“At least I should go with him,” Donny reasoned.
“No offense,” Max said. “But this is what I do.” Or at least what he used to do, he thought.
“What do you want us to do?” Donny asked.
“I’m guessing this is their only way in or out. Hang tight here. Keep the radio on and wait for me to call. Before I come back here, I’ll let you know I’m coming.”
Kim handed Max the other radio. Then he went into his backpack and took out his personal SAT phone, which he handed to his sister.
“If I find out anything nefarious,” Max said to his sister, “I’ll call and let you know. Then you call in the cavalry with our current position.”
“Or at least the Forest Service,” Kim said with a smirk.
“More than likely, it’s just a couple of yahoos looking for some isolation,” Max said.
“He’s right,” Donny said. “It could be locals looking for big isolated trout.”
Max nodded agreement, even though he had a feeling of dread seeping into his bones. He found his GPS and set a waypoint at this location. Then he checked his compass again to make sure he knew the direction he needed to go. But he had a feeling he would be able to follow a well-worn path through the woods. With a plan of action in place, he slipped into the forest and followed what he expected—a trail that had been cut along a low ridge, like a levy.
16
Max quietly made his way through the forest, following a clear path made by someone more than once. When he got to a lower section with deep, black muck, he could now see distinct footprints sunken into the mire. He counted at least three different boot prints. And it was obvious that these men had gone in both directions. Then he finally saw something different. This was a smaller shoe. A tennis shoe of some type. Okay, it could have simply been three men, a woman, and two canoes.
He pushed on through the woods until he could see an opening ahead. Now he needed to be more cautious.
Stopping periodically, he would peer through his binoculars for a camp along the lakeshore. Nothing so far.
He was aware of his own clothing, which were dark green tactical pants and one of his old camo shirts covered by a lightweight black jacket with multiple pockets inside and out. Based on the lighting and the dense forest, he guessed nobody would be able to see him as long as he stayed in the woods a short distance.
Now he used larger trees for cover as he approached the lake. In a few seconds he was nearly to the edge of the water, with a view of most of the lake.
Then he saw it. The campfire. It was to the right, or north of the lake. Putting his binoculars to his eyes, he could finally see someone sitting by the fire. A man. But the distance was too great to make out anything more than that. He needed to get closer.
Since he didn’t have a canoe, he had only one choice. He would have to go through the forest to his right, along the northeast shore. From what he could tell, that area might get a little swampy, he thought. But he had no other choice.
Then he saw a second man wander over to the fire and place a large stick to be burned. This guy was much larger than the first man. Rotund even.
He kept telling himself that these people could simply be an innocuous group of fishermen, with at least one woman in their group.
Without more thought, he drifted deeper into the woods. He would keep at least one layer of trees between himself and the camp, so there would be no way for them to detect him coming.
As suspected, he soon came to an area lower than the portage from the other lake. Here he was forced to step lightly on high clumps of grass. When he occasionally missed, his foot would slip and he would go up to his knees in dark water. It took everything in his power to lift his leg out of the suction of mud to keep his shoe from coming off.
The going was rough, but he had experienced so much worse during the course of his military career. At least nobody was shooting at him, he reasoned.
Getting closer to the camp, Max could finally start to hear sounds ahead. At first, he wasn’t sure what he was hearing. To his left, the two men around the fire were in deep discussion about something. Then, straight ahead, he heard moans that didn’t seem normal. Well, he thought, there was a woman in camp, based on the footprints. So, this could be a simple afternoon delight scenario.
&
nbsp; Max vectored to the right, so now he would be directly behind the campsite, keeping the lake to his left. Without the opening of the lake to silhouette him, there was no way these campers would be able to see him.
But once he reached a location directly behind the tents, he still couldn’t see or hear everything going on in the camp. A parabolic microphone would have helped here, he thought.
Suddenly, a man came out of the largest tent and wandered toward the fire. This was a taller skinny guy. Then, in the tent to the right, he could hear what seemed like a man snoring. Wait. That’s four men, he thought. Plus the woman in the big tent. Something wasn’t adding up here.
The longer he sat, the more his ears seemed to become tuned into the conversations. But he couldn’t get any closer or they would see him.
Then it happened. His ears finally focused on the large tent, where he was sure he heard two female voices. The horror of the situation finally rushed through his mind and body, until reality slapped him across the face. Were these two women actually Pam Joki and the young girl from the youth camp? If true, he had just one choice. Report and then attack.
•
Robin was concerned. She sat on the spongy moss under the cedars with her brother’s SAT phone in her hands. Her mind reeled, though. To her right was Kim, who had seemed to fall asleep.
“Are you alright?” Donny asked, as he came over and took a seat next to her.
“I think so. I just feel so useless sitting here. I should have gone with him.”
“But you said yourself that he works better on his own,” Donny reminded her.
“That’s true.”
“I don’t really understand what he did in the Air Force,” Donny said.
Kim opened her eyes and said, “Same here.”
Robin shrugged. “The last ten years he was a special agent investigating crimes and working in counter espionage around the world. But his first ten years he was a combat controller.”
“What is that?” Kim asked.
“He would imbed with special forces from the Army, Navy and Marines,” Robin said. “When needed, he would call in air strikes from manned aircraft and drones. That’s about all I know.”
“And he was injured quite a few times,” Kim said. “I’ve seen some of the scars.”
Robin nodded. “He was awarded three Purple Hearts, along with a Silver Star and two Bronze Stars with Valor.”
She had already told Kim this, but Donny was hearing it for the first time and his eyes got big.
“I guess he doesn’t need our help,” Donny said. “We’d probably just get in his way.”
Suddenly, the radio in Donny’s hand squawked twice. He turned up the volume and waited.
Then Max’s voice came softly over the small speaker, “Four men and two women. I’m staying here until dark to get a better look.”
Donny touched the call button twice to confirm he’d heard correctly.
Then nothing.
Kim’s disposition suddenly changed from pain to potential joy. “Do you think it’s my sister and the missing girl?”
“Maybe,” Robin said. “Let Max do his magic.”
For the first time in a few days, Robin finally felt there was hope. She reached into her jacket pocket and put the SAT phone in her hands. Everything in her said she should forward this information to the Forest Service, along with their current position and the location of the remote camp. But nothing was certain at this time. She needed to wait for Max to make that call.
“Now what?” Kim asked.
“We hold tight here until we hear from Max,” Robin said.
17
His mosquito repellant wasn’t working, but Max sat still and let the pests suck his blood as darkness enveloped the remote lake. He quietly put away his binoculars and replaced those with his Night Vision Goggles, strapping them over his head and clicking them on, turning his environment into a green hue.
As he sat in the forest watching the camp over the past few hours, it took everything in his power to not attack these people. He was almost certain that these were the two women he sought. But what if he was wrong? What if this was simply a strange group of men and women who liked to play rough?
The campfire had died down and was nearly out. The two men who had sat poking the embers were now settled into their tents. Only one man seemed to be awake, and he was in the tent with the women. The time to move in and discover the truth was now.
Max considered pulling his gun from his right hip, but decided against it for now. He needed to use stealth, he thought.
He slowly rose up and let the blood flow to his limbs for a moment. Although he had shifted his position periodically, his left leg had fallen asleep and he needed the feeling to come back before he could make his move.
Finally, he stepped lightly though the forest, avoiding sticks or anything else that might give away his position.
When he finally got within a few feet of the largest tent, Max stopped and listened. Sobbing came from inside, followed by a reassuring tone from another female voice.
Then, as Max was about to open the tent, he heard shuffling inside. The zipper now started to open, and Max took a step to one side of the tent.
Suddenly a flashlight came on and pointed out toward the lake. Max lunged forward and knocked the light from the man’s hand. Then with ease and precision, he thrusted himself around the man and put the much taller man into a sleeper hold. Since the guy was at least six inches taller, Max snapped a kick to the back of the guy’s legs, taking him down to his knees. Then, when the guy struggled more, Max wrapped his legs around the guy and tightened his grip, bringing the other man to the ground. In less than a minute, the man collapsed into a deep sleep.
Max found the man’s flashlight and turned it off. Then he took the man’s wallet and shoved it into his pocket. He went through the tent flap and caught his first glimpse of the inside. To his horror, he found what he hoped he wouldn’t.
In the green hue, Max saw two women huddled together.
“Don’t scream,” Max whispered. “I’m here to help.”
“Who are you?” the blonde woman asked.
“A friend. What are your names?”
“I’m Pam Joki,” the blonde said. “And she’s Judy Walker.”
Max moved closer and clicked on the man’s flashlight, showing himself to the women. Then he said, “I’m Max. Your sister Kim hired me to find you.”
Pam broke down and then stifled her own tears for fear of waking the others in camp. “What now?” she asked. She lifted a cable to show that they were both restrained.
Max pulled out his multi-tool from his pocket and opened his wire cutters. It took him a couple of times to cut through each of the thick wire cables, but soon both young women were free and they put on what clothes they had in the tent.
Then he led the young ladies out of the tent. The young girl gasped when she saw the man passed out in the grass. “Is he dead?” she asked, a bit too loud.
“Shh,” Max said. “He’s just sleeping. Come on.”
He led them toward the lake. If they could take one of the canoes, he could guide them across to the makeshift portage.
As they got to the canoes, a bright light came on suddenly from one of the smaller tents. Then a man yelled for them to stop or he’d shoot.
Max stopped next to the aluminum canoes and put the women behind him. They would have to turn over a canoe, slide it into the lake, and all get in, without getting shot. Even if they did so, they would still be sitting ducks out on the lake. By then all of the men would be up and shooting at them.
A second light suddenly came on and both were now directed at the three of them.
Max didn’t have a choice now. They needed to change it up and go back into the woods.
The first shot came just as Max pulled his Glock from his side holster. He aimed at the largest light and shot twice.
The young girl screamed and hugged Pam.
Max had to make a
split-second decision. He aimed at the canoes and shot a number of bullets into the bottom of each canoe. Then he grabbed Pam’s hand and pulled her toward the forest. Pam had Judy’s hand.
More shots flew in their direction as Max weaved his way through the thick forest. He tried to find the clearest path so the girls wouldn’t trip.
The men yelled at each other back in the camp. One of the men took up the chase, his light sweeping through the forest looking for them.
By now, Max had made it back to the way he had come from the portage, through the swampy area.
A few more shots echoed through the forest, but then they suddenly stopped.
But Max kept the young women moving forward, keeping them right on his tail.
•
Robin had been sleeping, tucked tight in her sleeping bag to keep out the mosquitoes. They had decided not to set up tents, but to simply lay down a plastic tarp to use as a ground cloth.
She sat up straight when she heard the first shot fired.
Kim lurched up next to her and Donny did the same on the other side of the tarp.
“What the hell was that?” Donny asked.
Then more shots broke the silence of night.
“My brother,” Robin said, getting out of her sleeping bag. She put on her head lamp and clicked on the LED lights. “Let’s go. He’ll be coming soon.”
“What if they shot him?” Kim asked.
“Just get moving,” Robin demanded. She rolled up her sleeping bag and tied it off.
Kim and Donny followed her lead. Then they quickly folded the tarp and they began to put everything into the canoes.
Donny said, “We can’t leave here at night. It’s too dangerous.”
Robin pointed her light at Donny and said, “It’ll be more dangerous to stay.”
“Shouldn’t we call him on the radio?” Kim asked.
She had a point, Robin thought. Max was supposed to call before coming into camp anyway.
“Contact him,” Robin said, and then she pulled out the SAT phone and held it in her hands.
Donny found the radio and turned it up, keying the push to talk button a couple of times. Nothing.