“Any luck?” Heather asked.
“Afraid not,” he said. “How about you?”
“Nope, but don’t get discouraged. We’re doing everything we can.”
She glanced at the boss, but he was on the phone, not paying attention.
“By the way,” she asked, “how did you manage to get yourself shipped to Fargo? You seem like a pretty sharp and dedicated guy.”
“Wrong place at the wrong time.” He didn’t want to talk about how stupid he’d been. He’d diddled with his old boss’s grown daughter. Hadn’t realized she was married with two kids. Those being the boss’s grandkids, who the woman had left home alone while she snuck off to break her marriage vows with Beau while her husband happened to be out of town. What a huge mistake!
-o-o-o-
CO 141, South of Naturita, Colorado
Another nurse, Donna, was Jackie’s labor coach. Athena also helped out however she could, such as by giving Jackie sips of water and using napkins to dry the sweat on her face.
The inside of the bus darkened as they approached the storm. Now, Athena could hear the thunder. It seemed almost continuous.
Maggie said, “Guess what, folks? We just passed a sign. We’re in Utah. Where the hell are we going?”
The question bounced around, but nobody on the bus seemed to know the answer, not even Misha. They kept moving through parched, rolling land spotted with small junipers and sagebrush. The storm continued to produce lightning, and it struck the ground all around them. Not much rain. This was a dry electrical storm, the kind that set lots of fires.
Soon, Jackie’s contractions were only seconds apart. Athena didn’t let herself imagine what Jackie was feeling. At least she had two nurses helping her.
Erica said, “I can see the baby’s head. Won’t be long now.”
Maggie went forward. The bus slowed almost to a stop and turned onto a dirt road. Two hundred feet away from the highway, the driver stopped. The sedan pulled in behind the bus.
The air around them seemed to crackle, like everything was charged with electricity. A huge bolt smashed into a stop sign back at the highway, blasting it to bits. At the same instant, an enormous boom shook the bus.
Jackie shrieked. She was doing her best, but the conditions were awful. Not much Athena could do to help, except to encourage Jackie to push.
A few minutes later, she delivered a pink and screaming baby girl into the world. The bus filled with applause.
Erica cut the cord, washed the baby with a clean cloth soaked with water, and swaddled her in a blanket. Although exhausted, Jackie held the baby tightly.
Misha was all smiles, and without the least bit of apparent shame, he grabbed the infant from her mother. The bastard gave the baby to Erica and led her forward.
Jackie sobbed. Donna and Athena tried to console her. It was impossible.
The storm continued around them, but no more close strikes. Through the rear window, Athena watched Misha force Erica and the baby into the sedan’s backseat. One of the men inside the car, the biggest one, got out. The sedan’s driver backed up to the highway and raced off to the east.
-o-o-o-
Misha ignored the Greek as they climbed on the bus. Sabin’s secrecy was ridiculous. Misha still had no idea where they were going. They’d been traveling for over half of the fucking day, zigzagging all over the West, with Misha every bit as much a prisoner as the women and girls.
Even worse, his flask was empty.
The driver backed up to the highway and headed west. Misha only knew two things about Utah. First, it’d once hosted the Winter Olympics, and second, it was filled with Mormons, some kind of bizarre American Christian sect. As far as he could tell, the state was a desert wasteland. As for the Mormons, Putin hated them. Who could blame him? Misha prayed that Langer didn’t want to operate a new compound in Utah.
But like most of the rest of his life, Misha had lost control. The single good thing that happened recently was Jackie giving birth. That meant an extra $312K in his Cayman Islands account. Definitely worth celebrating, if he had anything to celebrate with.
To try to cheer himself up, Misha strolled down the aisle and performed a quick mental calculation. He was surrounded with ten-million-dollars-worth of babies-in-the-womb. And many more would soon be born at their new destination. Things could be worse.
He wandered forward again and sat behind the driver, another giant headache. Killing him would be a pleasure, as soon as they reached their new home.
When they’d reached the first small town in Utah, Monticello, Misha’s frustration was higher than ever. Despite several not-so-subtle hints to Sabin, the bastard refused to tell Misha where they were going.
They’d left the thunderstorms behind, but several plumes of smoke rose in low mountains about ten miles west of town. The lightning had probably started several fires there. What a godforsaken hellhole.
Misha stood beside the driver to make sure he didn’t try any tricks in a populated area. The main highway they’d been following for hours ended at US 191.
Sabin said to the driver, “Go left.”
He did. Misha remained where he was until they reached the outskirts of town. Then, he turned to sit next to Leo again, behind the old man.
But without warning, the bastard slammed on the brakes and turned sharply left. Misha lost his balance and fell backward, hitting his head on something. A sharp pain, then nothing.
-o-o-o-
When the driver suddenly veered left, Leo reached out to grab Misha’s arm to steady him. But his friend fell backward too quickly. With a loud crack, his head hit the metal step at the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t move again.
The driver had pulled into an empty parking lot next to a church. With the bus still in motion, he hit the air brake button, locking all the bus’s wheels. It screeched to a halt as the driver released his seatbelt, opened the door, and lunged for it.
But Leo had already instinctively reached for his pistol. He roared in anger and put two bullets into the back of the driver’s head before he could scramble over Misha.
Sabin swore in Greek then switched to Russian. “Leonid, close the damned door, now! Get us away before any police arrive.”
Leo needed to learn how to drive this vehicle quickly. Fortunately, he’d been watching the driver for hours. Leo jumped into the driver seat and closed the door. He released the air brake, shifted the transmission into drive, and swung the bus back toward the main highway.
The females behind him were screaming, but that was somebody else’s problem. The stink of burned gunpowder filled the air. Two corpses in as many seconds. Incredible.
Sabin yelled over the din, “Everybody, shut up and remain seated!”
Leo made sure it was safe to proceed onto the highway then turned left to drive south once more.
Just that quickly, things seemed normal again. The police might be on the way, but Leo heard no sirens yet. Hopefully, most of the noise from his gunshots had been confined to the bus.
“Before I lose my cell signal,” Sabin said in Russian, “you must find a safe place where we can stop. I have to report this catastrophe immediately.”
Just outside the town limits, Leo spotted a dirt road that led to an abandoned grain elevator. He pulled behind the silos to hide from anyone on the highway.
Sabin scrambled over the two dead bodies and strode away to have a private conversation.
Leo was tempted to heave the driver’s body out the door and drive over it a few times, but he was a soldier. In the past, he’d never let his anger overwhelm his reason. Following this impulse would mean leaving considerable evidence behind.
Chapter 16
When the bus had swerved left, two booms echoed like bombs inside it. Athena’s nerves, already frazzled, had sent a blast of electricity through her, and her forehead throbbed again.
Jackie’s eyes opened wide, and Athena tamped down her panic to help her
friend. Jackie was suffering so much worse. Everything else in the world was just background noise.
Once the bus stopped behind the large white building, Maggie whispered to Athena, “Something’s seriously out of control up front. Can’t tell what yet, but something happened to Misha.”
“H-hopefully, one of the other thugs shot him.” But Athena knew that was ridiculous.
Then, more whispers and guesses filtered back. Misha might really be dead. Too much to hope for.
Athena couldn’t keep a grin off her face while she talked to Maggie. “If they’re right, it’s great. I can’t imagine any bastard worse than him.”
The older woman shook her head. “If you’d ever spent time in a war zone, you’d know Misha’s average on the monster spectrum. The Taliban and ISIS fighters in the Middle East regularly rape and mutilate women and children. Just for the hell of it.”
Maggie understood monsters much better, no question, but what Misha had done to these women and girls had been brutal. He had taken control of their bodies and forced them to accept human embryos from God only knew what source. It was an unusual—but horrible—form of rape. And he’d killed several women, one that morning.
-o-o-o-
Eventually, Sabin returned to the bus, his face flushed red. Leo didn’t say a word. Langer had obviously chewed the man’s ass out, despite him having done everything correctly. Misha had told Leo many stories about how the insane megalomaniac in New York would fly into a rage. He was eager to blame anyone else when problems inevitably arose in connection with one of his crazy schemes.
Leo wanted nothing to do with the man, but unfortunately, quitting wasn’t an option. Once someone started working for Langer, it was impossible to say goodbye. Lots of warlords acted that way.
“Keep driving south,” Sabin barked in Russian. “It isn’t far now. We’ll speak in private after we arrive.”
“Of course.” Leo had been trained since a teenager to follow orders.
-o-o-o-
US 191, Blanding, Utah
A half-hour after leaving Monticello, Leo slowed to enter another small town in the middle of nowhere. He half-expected a roadblock, or a cop car waiting for them to show up, but nothing. They quietly rolled through town.
Fifteen minutes later, Sabin told Leo to turn west on an obscure state highway that passed the eastern end of Lake Powell. They were now south of the mountains Leo had first seen west of Monticello. The terrain in this area was rugged and barren, with lots of hills and valleys covered with sagebrush and the occasional pinion pine or juniper.
Sabin told him this used to be Apache territory before the Mormon pioneers arrived. But it was hard to believe anyone could’ve survived in this empty and arid land before the advent of modern technology. Even today, damn few people lived here.
After several miles of ups and downs, Sabin said, “Slow down. We’re close.”
Leo reduced his speed to thirty.
“There, take the next right,” Sabin said. “That dirt road with no marker.”
It was barely wide enough for the bus.
“You know where we’re going, right?” Leo asked in Russian. “If we get stuck, we will be truly fucked.”
“I’ve visited the new compound. This bus can make it. Take the corners very slow. Oncoming traffic will have to stop suddenly.”
It was obvious because the bus filled the road, but Leo kept that snide comment to himself. Sabin didn’t have much of a sense of humor.
It seemed like days since they had left Durango, and Leo was more than ready for this road trip through hell to end. Thanks to the fucking bus driver, Leo was friendless half a world away from home.
-o-o-o-
When they turned off the highway, Athena’s heart sank. This place was far more isolated than the other compound. Even if someone had read one of the leaflets they’d dropped in Norwood and called Beau, they were now at least a hundred miles away. No chance that the FBI could find them.
They drove for a few miles on a road that meandered alongside a dry creek bed. They steadily climbed into the foothills of the mountains Athena had seen earlier, but the fire she’d noticed had to be many miles to the north.
Finally, the bus stopped in front of a driveway under a log arch formed by three tree trunks. The driveway was blocked by a heavy metal gate. A sign hung down from the top span that said Homestead House.
The property was surrounded by a rusty, six-foot-high, chain-link fence. Shiny No Trespassing signs covered the fence and the gate.
The driveway seemed to meander along a narrow, dry wash. The gate opened, and the bus proceeded ahead. Athena soon lost sight of the entrance.
They drove for a mile or two, creeping along the narrow double-track, which was full of rocks and potholes. At one point, they passed a narrow gap in the surrounding cliffs which stretched hundreds of feet into the sky.
Eventually, they came to a second old fence. This one also chain-link, but it was eight feet high. Above it, new coils of concertina wire glistened in the fading rays of the sun. The second metal gate was even sturdier than the earlier one.
The big guy from the sedan exited the bus, climbing over the two dead bodies still blocking the door, and unlocked the gate. He motioned for the bus to follow as he walked up the access road.
Here, the land opened up into a large flat meadow about ten acres in size at the bottom of a box canyon. Old mine workings covered the western wall of the canyon. The meadow was surrounded by the inner fence topped with razor wire. Clumps of dead grass and sagebrush grew here and there, along with a few juniper bushes.
On the west side of the canyon, near an adit, a large, two-story log building sat by itself. On the east side of the bus, a pair of even larger, three-story buildings stood close together. They reminded Athena of military barracks. Maybe they’d been built to house the miners. In addition, several other smaller structures existed. All looked like they’d been built long ago and abandoned. The air was faintly scented with dust and sagebrush.
The bus stopped close to the nearest three-story building. After Leo opened the bus’s door, he pulled the bodies out a dozen feet and left them on the ground.
The bigger guy stepped onto the bus and stood at the front of the aisle. With a booming voice, he said, “This is your new home. We hope you find it acceptable. As you leave this vehicle, please grab one of the bags you women brought along and take it inside the dormitory building. There, you can sort out who owns what. Your dinner will be provided shortly. I must insist that you remain in the building until tomorrow morning.”
Leo helped the other guards unload the plastic bags from the bus’s storage compartments. Athena and the other women and girls trudged by and picked up whichever bag was closest to them and hauled it inside.
The big man who seemed to be in charge pointed at a metal building nearby and said, “Rick, there you can find the food the women will need to make their dinner. A cart behind the building will help you bring everything over.”
Rick nodded and headed in that direction.
The boss then motioned for Leo to follow him to the two-story log house.
Athena didn’t think her spirits could get any lower, but the sight of the old dude ranch, or whatever the hell it used to be, made her heart ache. It would be impossible for any outsider to find this place. Plus, so far down in the canyon, this abandoned mine site would be dark and freezing all winter.
Jackie struggled to exit the bus. She was too much for Donna alone, so Athena and Maggie helped with Jackie.
A girl immediately in front of them muttered about crappy accommodations in the middle of nowhere, and she was right. They might as well be on the far side of the world.
The dormitory’s door opened onto a large living area. Closest to them, two beige sofas were arranged on each side of a stone, see-through fireplace. The wall nearby was covered with books and DVDs. Farther away, another wall was covered with a large TV. Several more
sofas and padded chairs surrounded it.
The girl in front of Athena said, “Well, at least it’s better than what we had before. Not much, but not worse.”
Athena had barely gotten a chance to see the old dormitory, so she couldn’t compare this place to that. Beyond the living area, twelve circular oak tables included matching chairs. That was no doubt where they’d eat their meals. And beyond the tables, Athena spotted a restaurant-style kitchen. It included a spacious island with an indoor grill in its center. Racks hanging down from the ceiling held pots and pans. The floors were freshly varnished pine.
A nice prison, but a prison still. Getting out of this new compound was going to be a bitch. She could tell that much already.
The women set down the bags and milled about, looking for their own stuff. Athena found her bag, pitiful as it was. She was glad to have the blankets and the clothes on her back. They were all she could call her own in this gulag.
-o-o-o-
Leo marveled at the inside of the two-story log building. It was old but was decorated like an exclusive lodge for rich hunters. The main entrance opened into a cavernous room with a massive stone fireplace surrounded by rustic furniture. Animal heads and Western paintings adorned the varnished log walls. Along one wall close to the fireplace, a mahogany bar covered with brass fixtures glittered in front of a mirrored wall. Best of all, the mirror was partially obscured by dozens of bottles of expensive liquor.
Sabin motioned for Leo to sit at a spruce table with plush chairs, and Leo sank into one. He was more than ready to relax, but something was wrong. Why was he being pampered?
Then, Sabin walked over to the bar. “Vodka?”
Sabin was undoubtedly singling him out. That didn’t bode well, but Leo couldn’t just walk away.
He nodded at the Greek and awaited Sabin’s next move.
The man brought two highball glasses filled with a clear liquid. Leo sipped the ice-cold vodka, definitely first-rate booze. He gulped half the glass.
Sabin did the same and licked his lips. “Good to be here at last. I was beginning to wonder if we’d ever arrive.”
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