Missing in the Desert

by Dana Mentink

  The bearded man had shot into their vehicle, twice.

  It had not been an accident. He’d intended to kill.

  Who was the man who’d fired the shot?

  And why?

  Levi’s body went suddenly taut, and he jerked a look beyond her. Then he threw himself in front of the passenger window just as she heard the sound of another shot embedding itself in the metal.

  TWO

  Levi realized his error. He’d been so focused on the wreck he hadn’t considered that the shooter might not have given up. Feet crashed through the brush upslope. The gunman was looking for a better vantage point. He’d circle around, and there would be nothing in the way to impede him from killing them all. Easy shots, easy kills.

  “Stay low and tell the cops the shooter is still active,” he shouted to Hank. Hank scrunched down behind a tree and yanked his cell phone out with shaking hands.

  Levi could wait no longer. He sprinted to his truck and grabbed the rifle, Banjo at his heels. He stopped only long enough to steady the weapon before he let loose with a couple of rounds. He didn’t have much hope of hitting his target, but he prayed it would be enough to scare the guy off. It only took two rifle shots before he heard the revving of the motorcycle engine. The shooter was going to get away, but there were other priorities right now.

  He returned to the wreck and dropped on his knees next to the broken-out driver’s-side window fighting a feeling of helplessness. Everything in him wanted to wrestle Seth and Mara free from the ravaged SUV and tend to their wounds. He didn’t have a ton of knowledge about medical things, but he knew enough to worry about spinal-cord injuries. If he left them there... What if they were bleeding internally? Dying slowly from invisible wounds?

  He used his boot to push aside some of the broken glass and reached inside. Seth was completely unresponsive. He searched for a pulse in his wrist and found one, his fingers coming away sticky with blood. He let out a shuddering breath.

  “Mara.” There was no reply. “Can you hear me?”

  She was quiet, eyes closed, suspended there as if she was drifting. “Stay with me, okay?” he said loudly. “Talk to me.” She didn’t move. Panic crackled through his nerves. “I know you’re mad that Seth bought into the Rocking Horse. Why don’t you tell me off? You’ve been wanting to give me a piece of your mind. Now’s the time to let me have it.”

  Nothing. Goose bumps prickled his skin. He spoke louder.

  “You think it’s financial suicide, right?” His heart thundered as he both sought out the faint rise and fall of Seth’s chest and peered across the ruined front seat at Mara. Banjo raced around to her side of the car, whining and licking at her face.

  “That’s right, ’Jo,” he said. “Wake her up.”

  Hank crept close, breathing hard. “Shooter took off. How can I help?”

  “Stay with Seth and monitor his pulse and breathing.”

  Hank’s eyes widened. “What do I do if they stop?”

  “We go to plan B.”

  “What’s that?”

  Levi left that question unanswered as he crawled back up the sideways vehicle to check on Mara. The faint warble of a siren echoed down the canyon. To Levi, it was a sound sweeter than his sister’s guitar music.

  “Hey,” he said, easing Banjo away. He gently pulled aside the silky dark curtain of hair and stroked her cheek. “Wake up, Marbles.” The nickname had been given her by Corinne, her younger sister. It had always infuriated Mara, and even Seth only dared use it sparingly. He sought her hand, relieved beyond words when she returned his squeeze with a weak flutter of her fingers.

  Thank you, God.

  He could see where one of the bullets had embedded itself in the roof of the car. The second had not missed.

  “Hank,” he called. “Did you get a look at the shooter?”

  “Not a good one. Male.”

  “A man? You sure?”

  He shrugged. “Not positive.”

  The sirens echoed loudly now as an ambulance and Inyo County police vehicle made their way down the steep slope. A second ambulance trailed them. Levi’s cousin, Sheriff Jude Duke, arrived a minute after the ambulances, leaping out and running to the wreck.

  “What happened?” he demanded, mouth tight, standing aside as the volunteer firefighters and paramedics began their work. Another squad car arrived, and a second officer got out to assist.

  Levi shook his head. “Someone shot at them.”

  Jude did a double take. “What?”

  He told his cousin about the motorcycle noise. Hank added his own details to the story.

  Jude’s gaze was sharp. “Why would someone do that? No hunting around here. Mara and Seth weren’t trespassing on anyone’s property. They haven’t even lived in town for decades.”

  Levi stared at the wreck. “Question of the hour.” Who? Why?

  Jude pulled out his cell phone. “Is Mara conscious?”

  “Not enough to tell me anything.”

  “Why were Seth and Mara coming here?”

  Because of me, he thought miserably. No doubt Mara was representing the Castillo family in trying to get Seth to back out of the ranch partnership before the paperwork was finalized. He told Jude about the ranch, their arrangement to see the mare. “It was supposed to be just Seth, but he said Mara insisted on coming. Beckett and Laney invited us to the Hotsprings for dinner, but she said she had some kind of business in town.”

  Together, they helped clear the front windshield so the medics could free Seth. A wad of gauze collected the blood that flowed from his forehead as they immobilized his neck and spine and loaded him into the ambulance.

  Seth was completely limp. Levi ground his teeth together to keep from groaning. His best friend, a guy who would give you his shirt and the shoes to go with it... They’d gone through the last three years of high school together and basic training before they were dispatched into different army specialties, Levi a mechanic and Seth a medical corpsman. Seth was universally liked. He had the same magnetic, good-guy persona as Levi’s brother Austin that made people gravitate to him.

  No one wanted to hurt Seth, except maybe for the woman who’d cheated on him, Tanya, the one he’d meant to marry. But she wouldn’t have had anything to do with this...would she? What would she have to gain by hiring someone to shoot him?

  The second ambulance pulled closer, assisting as they took the same head and neck precautions with Mara. She opened her eyes once, terror written in their black depths. He edged close and stroked her forearm. “It’s going to be okay. They’re taking you and Seth to the hospital. I’ll be right behind you.”

  He was not sure his words were any comfort. His own stomach was leapfrogging at the sight of the wrecked car, saturated with blood. The what-ifs loomed large.

  It took Jude’s tap on his shoulder to make him realize he was being spoken to.

  “Are you okay to drive? They’ll triage at the clinic and most likely chopper them to Las Vegas.”

  Las Vegas, where the trauma center was equipped for their level of injuries.

  “Yes. I can drive. I’ll drop Banjo at the ranch first. Should I—” he swallowed a lump “—call their folks? They run a furniture store in Henderson.”

  “I remember them being a close family.”

  He nodded. “They’ll want to be there.”

  “Why don’t I contact them? You get on the road.” Jude paused. “I’ll call the Hotsprings, and fill Beckett in, too.”

  Levi hardly heard. He was jogging to his car with one desire overriding anything else. Get to the hospital. Get to Seth and Mara.

  * * *

  Mara did not know how much time had passed before she swam back to consciousness with a start. A nurse was peering into her eyes. “Welcome back, Ms. Castillo. I’m Deb, and you’re at Las Vegas Memorial. You’ve had an accident, but fortuna
tely your injuries are minor.”

  “Injuries?” Mara croaked. Fear nibbled at the edges of her mind, but she was still swimming through a mental fog.

  “You have a mild concussion and a sprained wrist, along with some lacerations to your shoulder and neck, which we sutured,” the nurse explained. “Nothing that won’t mend with time. You’re going to be A-OK.”

  She did not feel remotely okay. Her head was hammering, and her wrist was on fire. It was another long, fuzzy moment until the worry circling in her unconscious mind burst to flame. “Seth,” she cried, jerking to a sitting position. “How is my brother?” The nurse pushed her back down on the bed.

  “He is being taken care of.”

  She sucked in gulps of air as she recalled their tumbling slide and the blood, so much blood. “Is he okay?”

  The nurse’s expression did not give anything away. “I will have the doctor come talk to you.”

  “Please...can’t you tell me anything?”

  The nurse had a professional, soothing response. “I promise the doctor treating your brother will come and fill you in as soon as she can.”

  Maddening. “I have to know. Just tell me...”

  But the nurse patted her arm and strode to the door, leaving her alone. Why wouldn’t they tell her? What if...? Tears filled her eyes. What if he didn’t make it? Her brother was her champion, her hero. He was the only one who knew everything about what happened before her sister ran away, and never once had he been anything but supportive.

  “She made her choices, Mara. Don’t let what she did color your whole life.”

  “I haven’t.”

  “No? What happened to your plans to be a vet tech?”

  “Someone has to help Mom and Dad run the store.”

  “That someone doesn’t have to be you, and they’ve told you as much. Let go of your guilt.”

  Remembering his crooked grin made muscles tighten in her chest, and it suddenly became difficult to breathe. In the ruined SUV he’d been so still. What if those terrible moments were their last together? Seth might be ripped from her life, just like Corinne. She began to tremble.

  The door opened and Levi entered, holding his cowboy hat clutched in his fist. Her breath came in tortured spurts. He made it to her bedside in two strides of his long legs and took her hands in his. He didn’t say anything at first, just gripped her fingers.

  “Breathe slowly.”

  She did. When the tightness in her lungs subsided, she swallowed. Part of her dreaded asking, but she had to know.

  “Is Seth alive?” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  Alive. She closed her eyes, and then an ocean of tears let loose. All she could do was sob and squeeze his hands. He held on, a silent comfort, though she didn’t want him to be. Eventually, she let go and took the box of tissues he offered. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to fall apart.”

  Levi did not say anything, true to form.

  She was about to press him for more details about Seth when the doctor came in.

  “I’m Dr. Imani Rice,” she said, settling into a chair, “a surgeon here at Las Vegas Memorial.” She looked impossibly young to be a surgeon. “I operated on your brother. He was injured by a bullet that skimmed his cheekbone and struck his right temple. Fortunately, it appears to have ricocheted off something in the car instead of striking him directly.”

  Mara gulped in a breath. It wasn’t a nightmare. Her brother had been shot. Her heart beat so loud it almost drowned out the doctor.

  “He came through the surgery, and his vitals are steady at the moment.”

  Steady. She wanted to rejoice, but she sensed there was something more.

  “He’s in a coma,” she heard the doctor add.

  A coma? Cold sweat broke out on Mara’s forehead. “When will he come out of it?”

  The doctor clicked her pen closed. “We’re going to do everything we can to make that happen.”

  Now all her alarm bells were shrilling. “Is there a chance he won’t?”

  “His brain has sustained a significant injury and there is considerable swelling. We removed a hematoma to alleviate the pressure, but the first twenty-four hours are often unpredictable with injuries of this nature. We will know more as time goes by. I promise I will keep you informed. Will there be any more family here to keep in the loop?”

  Mara closed her eyes. Her mother and father would be crushed. Having endured the disappearance of their youngest daughter, how would they cope with the current situation? She balled her hands into fists. They would survive because they knew God was with them in their suffering, every moment. But surviving and living were two completely different things. She was grateful when Levi answered the doctor for her.

  “Her parents are on their way.”

  When Mara reopened her eyes, there was an Inyo County sheriff standing behind the doctor and another tapping a message into a cell phone. She recognized the tallest as Jude Duke. She’d known him casually in high school, since Seth was close with the Dukes. The doctor excused herself, and Mara forced herself to focus on Jude.

  “How are you feeling, Ms. Castillo?”

  “Mara, please. I’m not sure even how to describe how I am. A wreck, I think. My mom...”

  He nodded. “Your parents should be here in a couple of hours.”

  She sank down deeper into the bed. Tears threatened again. As much as she wanted to compose herself and talk to the officer, she could not get her emotions in check. Sniffling, she tried to speak and then stopped. Each word stumbled over her tongue and refused to emerge. All she could think about was Seth lying in a coma from which he might not awaken.

  Levi shot a look at Jude. “It’s not... I mean could your questions wait a little while?”

  Jude started to answer when his phone rang. “We’ll come back after I check in with the other officers. I’m very sorry about the accident.”

  After the sheriff and the officer left, Levi poured her a glass of water. She sipped, grateful that he wasn’t peppering her with questions. He sat in the chair, forearms on his knees, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. His silent ways had always faintly annoyed her. At their family gatherings in Furnace Falls all those years ago, she would sometimes forget he was there, he would remain so quiet as the chatter filled up the corners of the house.

  “Don’t you talk?” she’d teased.

  “Only when I have something to say.”

  Now she found herself grateful for his reticence. The last thing she needed right now was small talk or empty platitudes about everything turning out all right.

  She watched him and thought about Seth. Best friends, Seth would do anything for Levi, even ruin himself financially on a wreck of a ranch. Levi knew that Seth had always wanted to live away from the city, closer to a country existence rather than the bustling Nevada city where he worked as a contractor. All Levi had to do was mention he was looking for a partner in his sad-sack ranch. Seth would not have said no to a friend, especially Levi, even after the guy had already failed in one business endeavor. Now her brother was unresponsive. Did he understand somewhere deep down what was happening to him? Was he scared?

  “None of this should have happened. I wish we’d never come here,” she blurted, suddenly furious.

  He jerked a look at her. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “There’s nothing you can say, is there? Seth and I came back here because my brother would do anything for you, including investing in your ranch.”

  “I didn’t twist his arm. He was eager to partner up.”

  “Because you are his friend and he was vulnerable after Tanya dumped him. You took advantage.”

  He flinched as if she’d struck him. “He’s my best friend.”

  As if that excused anything. “Mine, too, and now he might not make it.” She blinked back angry tears. Whe
n her vision cleared, she saw Levi standing now, hat dangling uselessly from his fingers, and there was such a pool of sorrow in his gaze that her anger dissipated into guilt.

  “I apologize,” she gulped. “My emotions are all over the place. You weren’t the cause of the accident.” Accident? Hardly. The bearded man knew exactly what he was doing. He was directly responsible, not Levi. “I caught a glimpse of the man who shot at us. He stepped out from behind a rock with his rifle aimed. He had a long wispy beard with a brown felt hat pulled low and a black bandanna covering his face.”

  Levi gaped. “That’s good. We can give that description to Jude when he comes back.”

  “But why would anybody...?” She felt her windpipe constricting again. She wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed to keep her wits from flying in all different directions or hurling her desperation at Levi.

  He bent, his gaze riveting her eyes to his. He said it so softly it was almost a whisper. “How can I help?”

  “You can’t.”

  “I’ll stay. If you need anything...”

  “My parents will be here soon.” The words would hardly come out.

  “I’ll be here until then. I can wait outside if you want.”

  What did she want? She wanted her brother to live, to be okay, to wake up with his customary ebullience in place. She wanted him to come marching in the door and help himself to a glass of her fresh-squeezed lemonade and pronounce it finer than frog feathers. She desperately wanted what had happened to be a terrible dream she’d awaken from any moment.

  He’s in a coma.

  Fear threatened to swallow her up. “I want to pray.”

  Her voice was no more than a tiny murmur in the sterile room.

  He paused for a beat, knelt on the floor, closed his eyes and began to pray, softly, rhythmically, like soothing music. Slowly her eyes closed, and she let the horror of the day fade into sleep.

  THREE

  Jude returned to interview Mara while the nurse was checking on her. Levi stepped outside to allow them privacy. He tried to ignore the scent of antiseptic and the unnatural hush that reminded him all too clearly of his stay in this same hospital after his accident. But this was far worse now, because he was on the other end, consumed by fear about Seth’s prognosis.