Serve & Protect

by L. J. Breedlove

  She frowned. “Or blow up the road so that people couldn’t get in here?” she asked.

  “Maybe? It’s late in the season for an avalanche, and we seem to be below the snow zone,” he said, thinking out loud. Chase us further up the slopes? Or carry a dozen dead bodies up past the snow line and bring down an avalanche? What the hell was Norton thinking?

  He sighed. “Back the car around to here?” He tossed her the keys.

  He started carrying the C-4 out of the tent and toward the SUV. Couldn’t leave it, he thought. But it would be a damn sight easier to just take the blasting caps. He looked at the barbeque as he carried out the bricks and stacked them in the back of the SUV.

  “That safe?” Angie asked.

  “C-4 is remarkably stable,” he said. “I could light it on fire, and it would just smolder. Even if I shot it, it’s unlikely to do anything. It needs a detonator. And someone has those stashed in their backpack, or somewhere else in camp. I’d rather find those, but we don’t have the time, and they might not even be here. So, we’ll take the C-4.”

  He looked at the barbeque again. He shrugged, and opened up a brick, took out some about the size of a wad of gum and worked it in around the ignition to the barbeque. “Might not do anything,” he said. “But what the hell?”

  “Mac!” Angie said scandalized. “It will kill someone!”

  He shrugged. Thought about that dead boy out there. “Tough shit,” he said.

  She looked at him for a moment. Then nodded sharply. “We going back?” she asked. “Because we should go while there’s still some light and maybe you won’t need headlights. Those headlights will show quite a ways.”

  Yes, they would, he thought, and nodded. “Anything else we need? Or need to do here?” He looked around. The handheld in the front seat crackled.

  “Getting dark, boss,” a voice said. “We should head back to camp.”

  “We haven’t found him yet,” Norton’s voice said.

  “And we’re not going to tonight,” a third person said. “Time to call it in.”

  “All right, yes,” Norton said impatiently. “See you at camp.”

  “Time to get out of here,” Mac said.

  He started the SUV, backed it around, and headed out to the road, such as it was. This Explorer handled the ruts better than his 4-Runner did, he admitted. But he was running without lights, which meant sliding in and then grinding his way out of the ruts when he misjudged the shadows, and it was slowing him down. He shook his head.

  “Going to have to go to lights,” he said.

  “Our camp is another 30 minutes,” she said.

  He frowned. The radio crackled. “Son of a bitch!” someone said.

  Mac laughed. “OK, lights it is,” he said. “We’ve got to go for speed.”

  He turned them on, carefully accelerating as his eyes adjusted. The woods seemed darker and more threatening illuminated by the headlights. It flattened them into a 2-dimensional barrier. He avoided looking away from the rutted dirt tracks.

  “There’s a turn coming,” Angie said, she’d found — or had — a pen flashlight, and was studying the map. “Look to your left.”

  Mac slowed a bit, not wanting to miss it. The radio was alive with sounds of angry men. “We need to get back before they decide a night hike to our camp is a doable thing,” he said.

  “There!” Angie said and pointed. Mac took the turn, and the SUV bounced a bit as he crossed the ruts, and the Explorer tires slipped on the muddy edges. He kept the gas steady, his arms locked so that the steering wheel didn’t jerk away.

  Sand is worse, he reminded himself. Although he wasn’t sure it was true. Regardless, this was different than that war zone. But a war zone nevertheless, his hindbrain insisted. Yes, it was, he thought.

  “Up ahead,” Angie said. “But they’re not going to know it’s us, Mac.”

  “Great, some trigger-happy wannabe is going to drill a hole in our only ride out of here?” Mac muttered with a laugh. He stopped just outside the clearing, and opened the door. “Craig, Rand! It’s Mac!”

  “Son of a bitch,” Craig called back. “Damn near lit you up!”

  “Coming in,” Mac answered. And he slowly drove forward into the camp.

  Ken Bryson was there, and Mac was relieved to see him. He was uninjured, but two of his team had taken bullets. And one was dead. Ken had left him behind, and he was looking grim. Mac assumed someone had told him about Cleve as well.

  “Ken, Rand, Craig?” he said softly, “I need to show you something.” He opened up the back. They stared at the C-4 in silence. “Couldn’t find the detonators,” he said, so I grabbed the bricks. Left a bit behind as a present, but there’s no guarantee I even found all the bricks.”

  Rand didn’t show any expression. Craig looked sick, while Ken had the kind of cold fury that made smart men walk softly.

  “Norton?” Bryson said.

  Mac nodded. “Grabbed a handheld, and the base. Been listening. Heard his voice. They called off their hunt for the night. The first one got back to their base camp about 20 minutes ago. And they weren’t happy. Might not have been a good idea to stir them up, but I figured we needed at least one rig for the wounded to get us out of here.”

  “Long walk,” Ken said.

  Mac shrugged.

  “They’re going to be hunting us the entire time,” Ken continued. “Craig told me what you said about shooting a deputy. You’re probably right, although two dead men changes the equation somewhat. And this? They planned to blow shit up until no one could ever figure out what happened here, and blame it on all the weaponry?”

  “That’s how I read it,” Mac agreed. “No guarantees I got all of it.” Then he grinned. Craig took a step back. Smart man, Mac thought, because he was feeling pretty predatory about now.

  “I may have left a bit, packed in around the ignition of their barbeque,” he admitted.

  The men looked at him in silence. “Now that’s just mean,” Rand said. “What’s that barbeque done to deserve that?”

  Mac laughed.

  “Will it work?” Craig asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mac admitted. “But I was feeling pretty damn ‘mean’ when Angie found these.” He grinned at Rand.

  “Angie found them?” Ken asked.

  “I was looking for bread for sandwiches,” she said. Mac had been aware of her standing behind him — he found he was always aware of her — but Craig jumped a bit. He didn’t think Rand or Ken knew she was there; they just weren’t the flinching kind of men. “And I’m a curious person, so I may have gone through most of their supply tent. And then I found... that.”

  And since it said C-4 on the side, and anyone who had watched a movie in the last two decades knew what C-4 was? Here they were.

  Ken studied the bricks. Mac didn’t think that was where his thoughts were, however. It would fall to Ken to get them out of here. Finally, Ken sighed. “Get some food,” he said. “And some sleep. No sense in us trying to get out of here tonight either.”

  “You got any ideas of how to get us out?” Craig asked in a low voice.

  Ken shook his head. “No, but we’re in a better position than we were an hour ago,” he replied. “Good job, Mac, Angie. Mark said you went overland?”

  “Angie navigated, I... watched,” Mac replied. “I’m headed toward that food and a sleeping bag. We’ve covered some serious ground today.”

  Ken looked at Angie, and nodded. “I wasn’t joking about hiring you,” he said. “Even for some weekends? I get trips where it would be good to have a woman along.”

  “We’ll talk when we get out of here,” Angie agreed. She looked pleased at the idea, Mac thought. Be worth slipping a word to Janet about the bizarre scheduling going on in the photo department. Ken nodded.

  Mac closed the hatch of the Explorer, and locked it up. He didn’t trust the wannabes. He wasn’t sure he trusted anyone. Except Angie. Maybe Ken. But even Rand and Craig had their own priorities, and he didn’t think
they were sharing.

  But then he wasn’t a trusting kind of guy anyway.

  They walked toward the tables where Mark was serving up sandwiches and beers. Mark smiled. “Even got one Mountain Dew left for you,” he said.

  “Save it for breakfast,” Mac said. “I’d hate to have to drink coffee to get going in the morning.”

  Craig ordered the wannabes to bed. Ken and Rand checked on the wounded. Mac sat at the table with a bottle of water and a sandwich and looked over the camp. Angie sat next to him, saying nothing. She had to be exhausted, he thought. He was exhausted. But there hadn’t been a word of complaint or negativity all day.

  I want this one, he thought suddenly. Determined in a way he hadn’t been with Kate or any previous women. And there had been a fair number of them. He snorted. There had been a lot of them, he conceded to himself. But Angie Wilson? This one he wanted to keep.

  Good to know, he thought, and then turned his thoughts to surviving another day, and getting everyone home in as close to one piece as was possible.

  With the wannabes and the injured cared for, the camp leadership — Ken, Rand, Craig, Angie, and himself — huddled around the table.

  “We need a perimeter guard,” Mac said tiredly. “I can do early morning, but I’ve got to crash for a bit.”

  Ken nodded. He looked around the camp. “I’ll take first watch,” he said. “My camp. My responsibility.”

  Craig looked at Rand. “Preference?”

  Rand shrugged. “I’m the one who stayed put, remember?” he said. “I’ll keep Ken company, then bridge to you. We can play it by ear about when we need to wake Mac up. Angie? You sleep. Keep Mac company in the morning. Works best to have two people anyway.”

  Mac didn’t argue. He hit the latrine, and was asleep in his sleeping bag before Angie even got into the tent.

  Chapter 23

  Mac wasn’t sure what woke him up. He lay very still and listened. He could hear the soft sounds of Angie sleeping. That was it. He frowned. He got up, pulled on clothes, and grabbed his pistol before easing out of the tent. It wasn’t sun up yet, but it was close because he could see. And it was cold. That’s what they needed — a snow storm to blow in, he thought glumly. He stood by the tent and listened. He didn’t hear anything.

  And he should, he thought suddenly. He should hear whoever was on guard. Maybe even Rand starting breakfast. More sounds from the tents. There was nothing. He looked over at the vehicles. The one he’d drove into camp last night was gone.

  “Son of a bitch,” he said softly. That was probably what had awoken him, the vehicle leaving. Angie came out of the tent and stood beside him.

  “What?” she said.

  “They left us,” he said grimly. He stood still, surveying the camp. There was a sound behind him and he turned, his pistol pointed and ready.

  “Easy,” Rand said. “I argued. And I’ve got a knot on my head to show for it.”

  “What happened?” Mac asked. He dropped the pistol down; it wouldn’t take but a moment for him to bring it back up, and Rand knew it.

  “That handheld? Norton started talking until Ken finally answered. Norton promised him safe passage out with all the clients and the wounded if he’d leave you behind. Both of you. To be honest, I didn’t have much of a problem leaving you behind for the sake of the clients, but leaving Angie behind? That bothered me, and Ken too. But Ken can make hard choices, and he has two dead, five wounded, and a bunch of worthless clients. Craig was grim. But he could do the math too. Norton promised a second rig down at the fork in the road — so, they hot-wired the vehicle — and moved out. About 30 minutes ago. I turned away from Ken and Craig to go wake you up, and Craig gave me a nice love-tap. And so, I’m still here.”

  “Key was in my pack,” Mac said slowly. Fuck. They’d taken his gun that was stashed inside and left the rest of the pack sitting outside the tent next to his boots. He glanced over. They were still there. Be a bitch of a walk if they weren’t.

  “Yup,” Rand said. “My argument was that given the offer, you’d probably volunteer to stay behind if they took Angie to safety. But Craig didn’t want to risk it. I can understand. He’s got a business to run, and he’s got these crazy clients. And a dead client still out there to explain at some point. Ken? He’ll get them out and come back. I’d bet my life on it.”

  “You probably have,” Mac said. He sighed. “They’ll come for us. And we should be elsewhere when they do. But damn, man, is there any chance of some food?”

  Rand snorted. “They didn’t take anything but people and weapons, so one thing we’ve got is food.”

  “They take the C-4?” Mac said as he followed Rand toward the kitchen area. He glanced at Angie. She looked pale. Tired, dark circles under eyes. But she was composed. No hysterics.

  “Yeah.”

  “Must be a full vehicle,” Mac observed and took the sandwich Rand handed him. He handed another to Angie. She started to refuse it, but Mac said quietly, “Eat. You’ll need the energy.”

  “And I’m making coffee,” Rand said. “I need coffee.”

  Angie took a deep breath, then let it out. “I could use a cup,” she admitted.

  “The wounded are in the vehicle,” Rand said as he set about making the coffee. “Mark was driving. Ken and Craig were scouting, and the rest were told to walk and stay with the vehicle.”

  “Do you trust Norton’s word?” Mac asked.

  “That’s another question,” Rand agreed. “I don’t see what benefit there is for Norton to let them go. Dead men tell no tales. So, conquer and divide? Ken didn’t disagree, but at least one of those men won’t make it if they don’t get him to a hospital.”

  “It really depends on what Sensei is telling them,” Mac said. “He’s got some way to communicate with Norton. I wonder if Norton is still taking his orders?”

  “No clue,” Rand said. He handed Angie her coffee, and leaned against the table to drink his. Mac rummaged in the ice chest for his Mountain Dew. The three of them considered the situation while they silently drank their morning jolt of caffeine.

  “Options,” Mac said at last. “One, we start hiking out. Probably could even catch up with the car, and to be honest? I think they’re going to need us. Two, we say screw them, they’re on their own, and figure a different route out of here where Norton’s not likely to find us. Three? We take the fight to Norton. Much as I like that one, the odds aren’t in our favor. Four? We wait, hope that Ken sends help before Norton gets us. We could actually set up a pretty defendable camp here, or not far from here.”

  “Can I vote for sit somewhere and cry?” Angie said with a laugh. She shook her head.

  Rand pointed his finger at her, and nodded.

  “Label that option 4b,” Mac said smiling. “Because I’m pretty sure staying here makes us sitting ducks, and we’ll be in tears.”

  “Why is Norton doing this?” Angie asked. “Can we think about motivation for a minute? And is there any reasoning with him?”

  Mac looked at Rand, raised an eyebrow. “What do you think? You know the man better than we do.”

  Rand poured himself another cup of coffee and took a big gulp of it. “How much do you know about Norton?” he said at last.

  “Former Skinhead, washed out of the Marines because he was terrorizing Latinos in San Diego, hates women who don’t know their place, and is a constitutionalist sheriff?” Mac said dryly. “Did I miss anything?”

  “Bible-thumper, God-and-guns racist, and sociopath?” Angie added.

  “The question is, is he crazy?” Mac watched Rand who was struggling with something. “And maybe the question is, Rand, who are you?” he added slowly.

  “You didn’t miss much in your list about Norton,” Rand said. “And crazy? This crazy? I didn’t think so. It’s Sensei I’m after.”

  “Homeland Security? Or FBI? You know an agent named Rebecca Nesbitt?”

  Rand grinned. “I know Rebecca,” he admitted. “Smart woman. And I got a call on Thu
rsday from her telling me to expect you. She was concerned, she said, and mentioned that things tended to go boom when you are involved. And yes, Agent Stan Warren is probably on a flight out here. Not that he has a chance of getting here in time for anything except for the cleanup.”

  “Kind of his standard modus operandi,” Mac muttered. “Good to know that if we end up having to shoot our way through a dozen deputy reserves, we might have an FBI agent to help spin the story. So, are you FBI?”

  “Yeah, Seattle office,” he said. “I do this with Ken to clear my head, you know? So, when this Sensei thing came up, it made sense to embed me as much as possible. Especially on these wilderness trips.”

  “They’ve been hunting men?”

  Rand was silent. “Can’t prove it,” he said finally, and he sounded frustrated about it. “But I’ve seen those bodies.”

  “Well, you’re going to be able to prove it now,” Mac said, and he tossed the Mountain Dew can in the trash. “Because we’re the prey on this hunting trip.”

  “Shit,” Rand said.

  Mac rummaged through the remaining food and water bottles, then repacked his duffel pack. Found the first aid kit Ken had left behind. He looked at Angie. “You take water, your camera, and the gun,” he said. “You’ve got the compass. No matter what happens, you keep going, and get yourself out of here, are we clear?”

  “Not without you,” she said.

  “If necessary? Without me,” Mac said. “If we become separated? You keep going. If I get wounded? You keep going. You’re the best partner I could hope for, Angie, and I’m planning on both of us getting out of here, and then we can talk about ‘partners’ in a different context. But I need to know that you will do this. Don’t count me dead unless you see the body at the funeral. But you keep plowing ahead, no matter what happens. And I’ll find you. I swear.”

  She looked at him, searching his face. Then she stood on her toes and kissed him. Wasn’t a peck on the cheek kiss, either. Mac responded to her urgency with an urgency of his own.