by Ethan Cross
Liana surprised him again by reaching out and encircling her small arms around his waist. She laid her head upon his chest and squeezed him tightly. At first, he had no idea how to react. His arms hung in the air like a strange marionette whose master was either drunk or distracted. But then, he wrapped his own arms around her and returned the embrace. After a few seconds, they parted, and he asked, “What was that for?”
“It was a hug. Something we humans do from time to time when we’re showing positive emotion toward one another.”
“Funny you say that because it was my relationship with Itzel that taught me I would never be one of you. I would never be normal. No matter how hard I tried. No matter how bad I wanted to pretend I was. There’s no escaping yourself. No matter where you go; there you are.”
She asked, “How do you define what’s normal?”
He smiled. “You would’ve liked Itzel. She was a lot like you. Both free spirits. And ‘normal’ depends on your perspective. As do a great many other elements of reality. But I think we can both safely agree that no one would ever consider me to be normal.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being extraordinary.”
“And there’s also nothing ‘wrong’ with being ordinary.” Then, with a little wink, as he zipped up his backpack full of grenades, he added, “Maybe it’s better that Itzel wasn’t long in this world. She was certainly extraordinary, but she was also even crazier than me.”
68
25 years earlier…
Xavier remembered feeling that it was unnaturally hot in the area surrounding the temple. The canopy above shaded them from the sun, but warm winds must have found a path through the canyon below and bombarded the spot with heat.
One of the only happy memories he had from his childhood was one summer when Momma and Uncle Red had taken him and Reyna to the beach at Lea Lake near Roswell, New Mexico. The lake was part of the bottomless Lake State Park, which took its name from nine deep cenotes formed from collapsed limestone caves. The day they had chosen to visit Lea Lake happened to be the same day that a local festival was taking place. He remembered the carnival games, cotton candy, and jugglers. But what he remembered the most, and what had fascinated him at the time, was the artist who had created an intricate sandcastle out on Lea Lake’s shore. He had been fascinated by the details, the small windows, the amazing way that the sand packed together.
As he had stared up at the temple on that day, Xavier was reminded of the sandcastle. He had seen many ruins of the Old Ones. The cities looked like a giant had carved them into the sand. But this place was different. The structures here were larger and seemed to be made more for some type of congregation or meeting. He could tell that this was a revered and public space.
A part of Xavier hated to desecrate the memory of the ancient people, but a will to survive and greed far overpowered any sense of sentimentality he had for the long-lost people of the high places.
Rubbing his hands together and giving a wink to Reyna, he said, “Let’s get started. This tomb ain’t gonna raid itself.”
As they went to work, the others seemed quiet and apprehensive. Even Xavier had to admit that there was some kind of oppressive feeling just from being in the place, like the weight of the ages had increased the gravity within the temple. It was as if the air had changed. It was hot, but it was also somehow dead. The inner temple, which was farther back in the rock inside a natural cavern, was basically five rooms set up like the spokes of a wheel. In the center, there was a large open space. The walls were covered from the floor all the way around the domed ceiling of the round center room with strange symbols and pictographs. They were reminiscent of others he had seen at Anasazi archaeological sites, but they were also somehow different. These were darker. More frightening and violent. The center room was empty of everything but symbols, but the offshoots contained a treasure trove of artifacts.
Eugene, swallowing hard, his massive Adam’s apple moving up and down like the arm of an oil derrick, said, “I don’t like this place. There’s something wrong about it.”
Reyna quickly added, “Let’s just forget this. If we tell some of the dirt diggers about this place, we might even get a reward. It’s going to be getting dark soon. We should get back.”
But Xavier wasn’t about to be deterred from reaping his rewards by old ghosts, real or imagined. He softly said, “Nobody leaves here until the job is done.” Then he directed each of them to an area where they could wrap up and pack away various artifacts. He had already researched the most valuable pieces to grab.
Before any of the pillaging began, however, Xavier removed a disposable camera that he had purchased from a local drugstore. He at least wanted to document his discovery. He told the others to get to work and then went from room to room snapping pictures until the small camera was filled up. Then he had set to work himself on loading his pack down with artifacts from the past that would provide a future for him and his sister.
They had been working for some time and were nearly ready to go, having gathered everything in the center room, when Xavier first heard the cracking sound. He locked eyes with Eugene, who was standing a few feet away, and knew they were thinking the same thing. Then the floor fell out from beneath them.
69
Sound traveled strangely in the desert, and so Canyon suggested that they continue the conversation at Toad’s home. Canyon wouldn’t have entertained the idea of leaving a hostage situation where the hostage was his own son under other circumstances, but considering that Toad’s house was parked less than twenty feet away, along the side of the road, he agreed to have a drink with his old friend in order to calm his nerves.
Now, sitting on the small couch inside Todd Todacheeney’s motorhome, John Canyon sipped his whiskey and laid out his story. Toad had come to work for him after Canyon had returned from the Persian Gulf, during the time when he organized the various gang factions in northern New Mexico into a cohesive unit under his control. But he had known Xavier Yazzie for much longer than that. And when he had come back and saw that a brutal display of strength would allow them to take power, he had called up the most brutal person he knew: Xavier Yazzie.
Not sure of where to begin, Canyon took a sip of the dark liquid and ran a hand over his now graying hair as he leaned back and said the first thing that came to mind. “Did I ever tell you how I met Reyna?”
Toad shook his head, leaning forward in his barcalounger and gripping his glass with both hands.
“Xavier was actually the one who introduced us. He caught me looking at her and made the comment that if I would like a date with her, he could arrange it. I told him that she could speak for herself and I could get my own dates. He shrugged it off, but I got to thinking about it later, and I guess my attraction to Reyna won out over my aversion to her brother. I had him set me up with her. A year later, we were married. I never really thought much about all that at the time, until I heard about the way they had grown up. Reyna didn’t talk about it much, but I’d heard it from others. Then I started to wonder, on that night when he offered to set me up with his sister, was he meaning that he could set me up on a date like a friend, or was he saying that he would give me a free night with her if I wanted?”
Toad didn’t comment. The thick man merely nodded and sipped from his glass.
Canyon continued, “After we were married, I always made sure that I had a place in my operation for my brother-in-law. And he was an expert at certain kinds of work. When I ordered Yazzie to eliminate out rival gang leaders, he would usually take them out into the desert to dispose of the bodies. I don’t know what he did to them out there, but what was left of them looked like they had been eaten by animals. The few that were discovered were found naked and staked to the ground with their limps splayed out in an X.”
At the description of the way the bodies were found, Toad’s brow furrowed, and he said, “That sounds just like something I saw on—”
“Right, all the belagana prostitutes who
have been getting snatched and murdered around the border towns. The work of a serial killer who has been operating for years, killing in every major town from Cortez all the way down to Flagstaff. They’ve only recently starting connecting the cases with the use of some new database. ”
“And you think Yazzie is the one doing all that?”
“I don’t know what to think. Not completely. But a few months ago, I found that there was money missing at the casino from a lockbox that only a few people have access to. One of those people is my wife.”
“And Yazzie?” Toad asked.
“No, Reyna seemed to be the only real possibility. I confronted her about it. I thought she was using again. She swore to me that she wasn’t. And she got so angry at the accusation that she moved out of the ranch and has been staying in the penthouse ever since.”
“But you think that she stole the money?”
“I think that Yazzie made her steal it for some reason. I’ve suspected for a while that there’s been another man in her life, but every time that I think I’m going to catch her with a lover, she’s with her brother.”
Toad’s eyes went so wide now that they were almost comical, and although Todacheeney hadn’t earned his nickname because of his physical features, Canyon couldn’t help but think that he now had the look of an amphibian. Toad said, “You think that… Your wife, Reyna… And her brother, Xavier… Are what? Stirring the Kool-Aid, so to speak?”
“If I knew anything for sure, I’d have already done something about it Toad. I only have a lot of suspicions and questions. But I know that Yazzie is up to something, and I don’t trust him because I know what he is. He’s a monster. He has no loyalty because he has no love for anything but himself. He is an expert manipulator, and he always plays the long game. He’s a dangerous man, and I think I failed to notice just how dangerous until now.”
Toad leaned back in his chair and stared off into space. He said, “That’s unbelievable. I can’t imagine that Reyna would allow that to go on for all these years. She always seemed like such a strong woman.”
“You never know what kind of battles are being fought inside someone else’s head. This could’ve been something that’s happened since they were kids. I always got a weird vibe when they were together, like they were a little too close for brother and sister. But how do you tell your wife that she and her brother love each other too much?”
“Why are you telling me this now?” Toad asked.
Canyon answered the question with another. “Did you know that Yazzie is also the Director of Security at the casino?
Toad shook his head. “No, I thought that Begay girl was in charge.”
“Ramona Begay is the Chief Security Officer, but Yazzie made me put him as an executive director. He explained that it would help in the long run if any of our illegal dealings were uncovered, and would help in the short term for him to do his job as a cop. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but a man in his position could have been skimming a lot of money over the years, and he also would’ve had the access to have taken the missing agent right out of her room without anyone ever knowing.”
“But why would he want to kill an agent and bring the heat down on us?”
“I don’t know that either. I’ve known since we built the casino that he had some ulterior motive going. The south tower was constructed under his direct supervision, but he didn’t really care about any of the rest of the hotel or casino. I thought that perhaps he was going to try and start up a brothel out of there, like he did when we were kids. Then I thought maybe he was selling drugs.”
“So what was he doing?”
“I’m not sure.”
Toad took a deep breath and sighed. He said, “No offense, boss, but it doesn’t sound like you know a whole hell of a lot. If you would have come to me sooner, maybe I could have—”
“I’m telling you this, because I don’t want any more surprises from my manipulative psychopath of a brother-in-law. I want you to get back to the ranch and keep an eye on him. Stick to him like glue throughout the rest of this ordeal. That clear enough.”
Toad nodded as he dropped his empty glass onto a counter of the claustrophobic motorhome and shot to his feet. “You don’t have to worry about a thing, boss. I’m on it.”
Canyon smiled as he stood and headed for the door, but he wasn’t able to reach it before it flew open and Ramirez poked his head in to say, “Sir, you need to see this.”
As they headed outside, he expected some surprise coming from the trading post, but Ramirez gestured in the opposite direction where a single red streak divided the pre-dawn sky. A flare. A message of some sort, and it either had to be the boys from the cartel announcing their arrival, or it was Frank’s partner. Turning to Todacheeney, Canyon asked, “How long has it been since we’ve heard from Yazzie at the ranch?”
“Too long,” was Toad’s reply, “I’ll try to raise them.”
To Ramirez, Canyon said, “Radio our friends from south of the border. Find out if they sent up that flare. If not, have them go check it out on their way in.”
“How do I reach them?” Ramirez asked.
“Find Ahiga. He has the frequency.”
Before Ramirez could walk away, Canyon grabbed him by the shoulder and whispered, “I’m only asking you to do this because you were standing the closest. You fail me again, and no amount of glue and duct tape will be able to put you back together. Do you understand me, boy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Then make sure your bootstraps are tied up tight and let the rest of the boys know as well. War isn’t coming. It’s here.”
70
After discharging the flare gun into the air three times, for good measure, Marcus climbed back into Yazzie’s Ford Explorer and dropped the keys on the console beside the police captain. Picking them up and restarting the vehicle, Yazzie asked, “You couldn’t think of a better way to talk to your brother and tell him you’re coming? Canyon and all of his men will have seen that too.”
“It won’t matter whether they know we’re coming or not. Whether there’s twenty of them or a hundred. My brother and I are like the biblical plagues. We’re cursed. And now so are all of you.”
He sat back against the leather seat and laid the MP5 across his lap.
Yazzie asked, “What now?”
“We wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“We wait quietly.”
Looking to where the sunrise was just beginning to show over the distant red rock mountains, Marcus was briefly in awe of the colors, of the beauty, of all the swirling molecules combining into a tapestry elegantly stroked by the Creator’s brush. He wished he had spent more time doing things like this with Maggie, just experiencing life and seeing the world in all of its wonder. Thinking of Maggie brought back the emptiness, but there was another part of him, the stronger part, that was too stubborn to accept defeat. He knew that he would never give up hope until he had seen her body. Even if there was a one-in-a-million chance of her still being out there somewhere alive, he would never stop searching. He would never give up hope, he would never stop…
And suddenly, he realized how blind he had been. The way he was feeling now, the sense of urgent panic and crushing loss, was the way Maggie had felt her whole life. How horrible it must have been for her, wondering if her brother was out there living a life of pain. Maggie was even more stubborn than he was, which meant that, just like he would never stop searching for her, she would have never stopped fighting to locate her brother and the people who took him. He should’ve recognized the depth of her desire before now. He should’ve supported her sooner. Unfortunately, he had always been too wrapped up with his own problems, his own struggles and demons.
He was almost glad for the distraction when Yazzie said, “We have company.”
Looking over his shoulder, Marcus saw that the captain was right. There was a set of headlights headed their direction, and they appeared to be attached to a rath
er large vehicle—a semi-truck, dump truck, farm implement, or the like.
Marcus said, “Start it up and whip around to face them. Put the engine block between us and—”
“I know how to set up cover, kid,” Yazzie said as he twisted the wheel and pressed the accelerator, filling the desert air with dust and gravel.
71
Ackerman stared down the scope of the .50 caliber rifle and wondered how fast he could blow apart the brain cases of each man he sighted in on. He watched Canyon and the squat man who seemed to be his second enter an old Ford motorhome that they had parked along the back of their perimeter. He supposed that some forward-thinking member of their group realized that during an extended siege, they may need restroom facilities.
The implication of that to Ackerman was that Canyon had never really taken his threats seriously. He had given an ultimatum and a deadline. He wasn’t used to being ignored, and there was something about the affront that made his hackles rise and the wolf inside want to rip out of his flesh and take control.
How easy it would be to adjust his aim from one target to the next. Squeeze. Splatter. Readjust. He could certainly have some fun imagining which series of timings would provide the best outcome in terms of how many of Canyon’s men he could kill before they were able to reach cover. Canyon was smart enough to realize the kind of devastation that he could rain down on them from this position. Maybe all of his men were blissfully unaware. But Canyon knew.
It seemed that without the fear of death, people just didn’t want to listen.
Over his shoulder, Thomas White whispered, “Just do it. Pull the trigger. Those men would kill you in a second if they had the opportunity. And they’re all probably going to get the chance here shortly. Why not even things up a bit? At least put a little fear into them.”