by Ed Robinson
“Officer down,” I said. “I repeat, officer down.”
“Jesus, Breeze,” a voice came back. “What happened?”
“Shook shot him from a distance,” I said. “We never saw him.”
“On that radio is a red button under a plastic cover,” he said. “Hold that down for a few seconds, and we can find you.”
I followed his instructions, all the while keeping my eyes on the hills and ledges above me.
“We’ve got your position,” he said. “A team is on the way.”
“I’m going to move to better safety,” I said. “There’s no rush. Hollaway is dead. I’ll radio when I see your men coming.”
I wanted solid rock between me and Shook’s rifle rounds. I did a fast low-crawl to a boulder formation about twenty yards down the hill. No shots rang out. I had excellent protection from any position uphill, but I could mount no offense from my bunker. All I could do was wait. I hadn’t been mentally prepared for this. Hollaway was dead, and Shook was still on the loose. The Chief’s men and the state police would be hell-bent on canvassing the mountain until Shook was apprehended or killed. I didn’t blame them, but they’d be just as easy targets as Hollaway had been.
Two
It seemed to take forever for the cavalry to arrive. Three state troopers with a collapsible stretcher made their way to the body. I used the radio to let them know I was coming out of hiding. I didn’t envy the task ahead of them. All I wanted to do was get down off the mountain and go home. They asked me to stay with them so that I could take my turn carrying the stretcher. The four of us slowly made our way to the command post at the White Rock Baptist Church. Concern showed on the face of the Chief and his men. An ambulance was waiting to take the body away.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” said the Chief. “What the hell happened?”
“Like I told you,” I said. “We never saw Shook. He must have been holed up in a good shooting position, camouflaged. I never heard him or smelled him or sensed his presence. He was a long way off. I saw Hollaway go down a millisecond before I heard the shot.”
“So we’ve got a regular damned sniper on the loose,” he said. “This is above my pay grade.”
“Who can you call for help?”
“We’ve got SWAT down in Charlotte,” he said. “But they’re more of an urban operation.”
The troopers were talking amongst themselves. One of them addressed the Chief.
“Let us talk to the boss,” he said. “We’ve got enough hunters and woodsmen on the force to put a team together.”
“This mountain is outside town limits anyway,” said the Chief. “I won’t complain if your commander wants to take over.”
“What about the County Sheriff?” the trooper asked.
“Our tracker here would prefer you left the Sheriff out of the loop,” he said.
“He wouldn’t appreciate my help on the mission,” I agreed. “Bad blood between us.”
“Your help got an officer killed today,” the trooper said. “Maybe you should go on home and sit this one out.”
“If you go marching up there like Hollaway did, you’ll be next,” I said. “Shook evaded a hound dog, left no trace, and hit his target from a great distance. He’s going to be a formidable adversary, even for you guys.”
“But you think you can find him?” he asked.
“I can find him without getting myself killed,” I said. “But what do I do then? That’s the question.”
“We’ll have to figure out a way for you to communicate his location to us,” he said. “We can get a chopper over him, send the team in.”
“See if you can get your hands on a topographical map,” I said. “Geological survey of the mountain. Something that we can use to identify landmarks.”
“You’ll need a cell phone,” he said. “You can text us silently.”
“Cell doesn’t work up there,” I said. “I have a SAT phone though. You’ll need one as well.”
“Let’s all regroup in the morning,” he said. “We still need our commander’s approval.”
“I need a ride home,” I said. “I’ll get you my SAT number.”
The state trooper took me back to my cabin. I gave him the phone number once we got inside. Brody didn’t show any surprise at the patrolman’s presence. She’d learned to take things in stride.
“Can I get you some coffee?” she asked.
“No, thank you, ma’am,” he said. “Lots to do tonight. I better get going.”
Brody gave me a curious look and asked for details. There was no way to dance around the death of officer Hollaway.
“My partner is dead,” I told her. “Shot from a hell of a long distance. Nothing I could do.”
“And a cop drops you off and heads on home?” she asked. “Why isn’t that mountain crawling with cops right now?”
“They’d all get shot too,” I said. “We need a better plan.”
“You mean winging it didn’t work this time?”
“I let the Chief influence me,” I said. “His officer should have never been up there.”
“What now?”
“I’m still working it out,” I said. “But I think I’m going it alone. I need to charge up the SAT phone, so I can communicate with the state boys.”
“Good God, Breeze,” she said. “You don’t need to do this.”
“Those cops are going to get themselves killed,” I said. “They don’t have the skills that I have.”
“You feel the need to prove those skills,” she said. “Demonstrate your mountain manhood.”
“One guy is dead already,” I said. “That happened on my watch. I failed today. I won’t let it happen again.”
“His death isn’t your fault,” she said.
“Not once we were up there,” I said. “But I never should have let him come along in the first place.”
“The Chief had plenty to say about that,” she said. “Blame it on him.”
“He couldn’t have known that Shook was going to kill,” I said. “There was no indication that he’d go that far.”
“Now we know different,” she said. “He’ll kill you if he gets the chance.”
“He probably could have killed me today,” I said. “But he chose to shoot a cop instead.”
“You’re going back after him anyway?”
“I couldn’t properly do my thing with him along,” I said. “He was noisy and unaware. I need to go full mountain Zen and move like smoke. I’ll find him, call in his position and let the state boys do their job.”
“Your hunting clothes are in the garage,” she said. “I’ll put them outside for the night. Your dinner is in the microwave.”
I ate well but skipped the shower. I didn’t want to smell like soap and shampoo in the woods the next day. My old hunting gear hadn’t been washed in months. It was probably covered in cobwebs and slightly moldy, perfect for stealth. I found my old friend Pop Sutton’s deerskin shoes and threw them out in the driveway. I’d earned my chops taking down his killer. I’d honed my skills tracking and surveilling him in his own woods. The Banner Elk Police Department respected what I’d done enough to ask for help on this new mission. It had begun disastrously. I needed to make things right.
I didn’t sleep well that night. My mind was trying to formulate a plan while at the same time rehashing what had happened on the mountain with Cody Banner. Banner had killed my friend, Pop. The authorities had little interest in solving the case. I solved it for them, but in the end, it caused a showdown between the killer and me. Brody got caught up in the middle of our contest. When the time came to pull the trigger, I had no existential angst about killing the man. He was a murderer and a rapist who felt he was above the law. I wasn’t the law, but I did bring justice.
This new problem on my mountain was different. I knew nothing of the man’s motives, but he’d killed a cop. I’d been on the wrong side of law enforcement more often than not over the past decade, but I still respected what a p
olice officer stood for. The guy was trying to do his job, and it cost him his life. The state police would make a token effort to take him alive, but at the first sign of resistance, he’d be as dead as Hollaway. I’d signed up to lead them to him. It wasn’t the same as pulling the trigger, but it was surely signing his death warrant.
Sleep wouldn’t come, so I gave up. I tiptoed around the cabin with a cup of coffee, trying not to wake Brody. My pack and weapon were ready to go. The SAT phone was fully charged. I left a note for Brody before stepping outside to change into my gamey hunting clothes. It was still dark, and the temperature was just above freezing. The leaves had changed colors and started to fall. We’d see our first frost any day. The apple trees were barren, and our deer friends came to visit less frequently. Above the trees, I could see stars in a clear sky. The moon was half-full, providing plenty of light.
I knew my side of the mountain well. I had the vague notion that I could get higher up than Shook without being detected before sunrise. I had a good chance of seeing him if he moved in the daylight. If not, I’d keep slithering through the woods until I heard or smelled him. There were thousands of acres and good hiding spots for him, but I felt that my superior abilities would win the day. All I had to do was flush him out. After that, a chopper and a team of state troopers could do the rest. What happened to him afterward was not my responsibility.
Even though I was certain Shook would be bedded down in the dark, I still exercised caution on my route up the mountain. My deer-skin shoes were silent. I kept my breathing under control. I listened to the night sounds and sniffed the air for the scent of man. Nothing gave me pause. I made it in record time to the plateau where Pop had grown his dope. It was a good place to rest and watch the sunrise. I drank some water and ate a granola bar, deciding what to do next. This wasn’t the highest point on the mountain, but gaining more altitude meant some serious rock climbing, which wasn’t on my list of talents. Could Shook scramble up sheer rock faces? I doubted it.
I was less familiar with the western slope. Shook had left the road over there, but he could be anywhere by now. I decided to get as high as I could safely go and simply observe. Just above the plateau was a rock ledge. Pop had lived in a small cave-like opening in the rock face there. He’d covered the opening with rocks and evergreen branches to conceal it. Just getting to it was difficult enough. Finding his hideout was damned near impossible. As far as I knew, I was the only living soul that knew of its existence. Just past the opening was where he cooked his meals. It was a wide enough spot to sit on comfortably. I crawled up to it and sat down to look over the landscape.
I didn’t see any obvious colors or odd shapes that would indicate a man on the mountain. After an hour of seeing nothing, I used the scope on my rifle to carefully scan the mountainside for signs of the man I was after. I swept my gaze slowly and studied what I saw closely. There was no movement anywhere. Either he wasn’t moving, or he simply wasn’t there. I couldn’t scan the entire mountain from my vantage point, but I continued to search, listen and smell for the rest of the day. I was certain he wasn’t in the zone I was surveilling. It wasn’t much, but I’d eliminated a large chunk of real estate on the first day.
Instead of going all the way back down to the cabin, I decided to spend the night in Pop’s old homestead. After his death, when I’d first discovered his hideout, I’d left it very close to how I’d found it. I gave some books and papers to his sister, but the rest of it was untouched. He had an old sleeping bag and some blankets that would be enough to keep me from freezing. There was an oil lamp to provide some light and additional heat.
I got as comfortable as the conditions would allow. Being there brought back the few memories I had of my friend Pop Sutton. He’d shunned society on a greater level than I ever had, and for that I admired him. He made his way in the wilderness until Banner intervened. He was innocent and pure as the mountain snow, other than his pot farm. He didn’t deserve what life brought down on him. Lying in his bedroll made me feel closer to the man, even though he was gone.
I turned on my phone and sent a text to the command post.
I’ve been high up the mountain all day, no sign of Shook. I’ll make my way down to you in the morning.
I turned it back off without waiting for a response. I tried to get a feeling for where Shook was hiding, but I didn’t have enough information. I’d watched the southern and eastern slopes all day with no luck. I couldn’t see everything, of course, but if he’d made a move in my field of view, I would have spotted him. I couldn’t see the northern side from my location, but that led back to the road. The western side was not part of my normal hunting grounds, so I was less familiar with it. That’s where he had to be.
I put the search out of my mind and tried to drift off to sleep. It was cold in the cave, and the floor was hard rock. I drifted in and out of a semi-conscious state. I must have had at least a small period of real sleep because Pop came to me in a dream. He appeared at the entrance to the cave and motioned me outside. I followed. We walked along the ledge towards the western slope. He pointed down the mountain, in the direction of Banner Elk.
“Another cave like this one,” he said. “Not as big. Halfway down, hidden in a rock formation.”
“How will I find it?” I asked.
“You don’t find it,” he said. “You find him. Use your God-given senses.”
Then he was gone. I wasn’t out on the ledge. I was still in the sleeping bag, shivering in the cold night air. Back at the cabin, I had a big, warm bed with a pretty woman sleeping all alone. I felt like a dumbass, freezing on a bed of rocks instead of being home with her. At least I had an idea where to look the next day. Maybe I could wrap this up quickly and forget it ever happened.
I never got back to sleep after Pop’s visit. It was still dark, but I left the cave and climbed back down to the plateau. I walked over to look where Pop had pointed. It was an endless landscape of rock and trees. Most of the leaves were gone, allowing me a good look at the terrain. I wanted to ease my way down and locate the fugitive right then and there, but I was cold and hungry. The troopers would be pissed that I didn’t check in with them before coming up here. I needed to go down to the command post and exchange information. Maybe there had been further developments. They might have some new insights that might be helpful. I’d get some hot coffee and something to eat before beginning a new search.
Before starting down the mountain, I took a few minutes to focus my senses. I slowed my breathing, and my heart rate followed. I looked down at the valley below and opened myself to its sights, sounds, and smells. There were some deer on the move nearby. I couldn’t see them, but I heard their almost imperceptible steps as they picked their way through the thick brush. Squirrels skittered about gathering the last of the nuts before winter. Leaves fluttered to the ground like a light snowfall. I was ready. I disappeared into the thicker wood line and walked like smoke towards the White Rock Baptist Church.
The sun came up just before I made it to the road. One lone SUV was parked in front of the church. Two troopers were asleep in the front seats. I tapped on the glass, scaring the shit out of them, some cops they were. They didn’t even have coffee and doughnuts.
“The commander is none too happy with you, Breeze,” said the driver. “You were supposed to meet here yesterday morning.”
“So he just gave up?” I asked. “You won’t find the guy sleeping down here in your car.”
“Trust me,” he said. “We’d rather be anywhere else.”
“What’s for breakfast?” I asked.
“I’ll call the other guys and have them bring us something,” he said. “You want to get in and get warm?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” I said.
It was cozy warm inside, but I couldn’t help but think I’d be more comfortable back at the cabin. Another SUV arrived with coffee and breakfast sandwiches — the first trooper I’d originally spoken to handed me a hot cup. His name was Rominger.
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br /> “You stayed up there all night in this weather?” he asked.
“Not winter yet,” I said. “But yea, it was a little chilly.”
“That’s hardcore,” he said. “Any idea where he is?”
“I’ve got a hunch,” I said. “I’ve ruled out a good chunk of territory.”
“How do you track a hunch?” he asked.
“I slip quietly into the area in question without being detected,” I began. “Then I look and listen, even smell.”
“Smell?”
“Yup,” I said. “Say he oiled his weapon or is using a new tent. Those aren’t smells of the woods. I’d pick up on that.”
“No shit,” he said.
“I might hear him packing up his gear or taking a shit,” I said. “It’s virtually impossible to make zero sound. If I can get close, I’ll locate him.”
“When will you be ready to go back up?”
“I’d like to get home first,” I said. “Talk to my gal.”
“You want to use my cell?”
“She doesn’t have a phone to call,” I said. “Besides, I’d like to get some warmer clothes.”
“I’ll drive you,” he said. “We’ve got nothing else to do until you get on this guy’s trail.”
“Just give me a couple of hours,” I said. “I’ll have Brody bring me back.”
He dropped me off and returned to his post. Brody was stoking the fireplace. She was still in her robe. I was grateful for the fire, but as soon as I sat down, I got sleepy.
“You must have frozen your balls off up there,” she said. “You want some breakfast?”
“Could have been worse,” I said. “I slept in Pop’s cave.”
“Did you see anything?”
“Not a glimpse,” I said. “I’ve got an idea where to look next though.”
“You going back today?”
“After I get a quick nap,” I said. “I had a breakfast sandwich. Maybe fix some peanut butter and jelly for this afternoon.”
“I’ll take care of it,” she said. “When do you want me to wake you?”
“Two hours,” I said.