Eric watched through his binoculars as a grey crew cab pickup and two identical black SUVs traveling close together approached and finally passed their position. They were all civilian vehicles, the SUVs looking nearly new, with their shiny factory paint and windows tinted so darkly that Eric couldn’t see the drivers or other occupants inside them. Their passage along the road here could be related to the men that took Shauna, or it could mean nothing at all. It was impossible to tell at this point. For several minutes after they disappeared from sight, they could hear the sound of their motors as the vehicles worked their way back and forth up the switchbacks to the top of the pass. When the sounds died away, it was time for them to follow, as it was the way they were going anyway, and Eric could only hope that if anyone else came along while they were up there that there would be a place to leave the road with the horses before they were caught in the headlights.
The temperature plummeted rapidly after dark and the wind at the top of the pass made the cold dangerous, but the Apaches didn’t seem bothered by it and Eric wasn’t about to acknowledge that he was in front of them. Night was the only feasible option for following this road, as the terrain presented no other routes through the pass that the horses could negotiate. They pressed on once they reached the summit and began a long winding descent down the west side through miles of heavy forest that finally gave way to a more open, brushy country with scattered pines and cedars growing at the lower elevations. It was here that they came to another gravel road that turned off the pavement to the north, and Luke dismounted to use his flashlight to study the first fifty feet or so of gravel.
“There’s been a lot of traffic in and out of here,” he said. “Come and see this.”
Eric walked over to see what he was shining his light on in an area of wet silty ground where the gravel was thin, and saw distinct, well-defined tire tread marks.
“This is the same pattern we saw at the place where they killed the horses. It doesn’t mean it was them, but it’s the same brand and model tire. Where does this road go? Does the map show it?”
“Yes,” Nantan said, as he joined them, squatting down to lay it out under Luke’s light so he could see it. “It may be outdated, but it shows that this first turn off west of the pass runs north eight miles to a dead end. It shows a forest service work station up there.”
“Which would definitely be closed now, if it wasn’t already,” Eric said.
“Yes, of course, but that doesn’t mean someone’s not using it.”
“Someone is definitely using this road,” Luke said, “and recently too. Look at this; these tracks are fresh. Made tonight.”
“Maybe the truck and the two SUVs we just saw earlier?”
“Maybe. We haven’t seen any other traffic, so it seems likely to me.”
“Then we should follow this road a short distance and find a place to wait for daylight. Then, we can watch for any traffic coming in or out in the morning and maybe one or two of us can recon that work center and see if anything is going on there.”
They found a place where the gravel road crossed a low ridge just a couple miles north of the pavement and then set up on a brushy hill that would afford a view of the road from both directions after sunup. Eric was wired, as he was excited about this new development, so he agreed to take the first watch while the other men got a couple hours of sleep. He would get a brief nap before dawn if possible, but even if he didn’t, Eric was ready and anxious for what the coming day might bring. If those tire tracks really were one and the same as the ones they’d found where he knew the men left with Shauna in their vehicles, then there was hope that he might learn where they took her. Eric was going to make somebody talk if he suspected they had answers. And if he couldn’t think of a way to do it, he was sure the four Apache warriors with him would help him think of something.
Building a fire was out of the question of course, so the only respite from the cold that Eric got was the short hour and a half he spent in his sleeping bag after Red, the quietest and most reserved of the four Apaches, relieved him of his watch. When he crawled back out at dawn, he guessed the temperature was somewhere in the low teens, if not the single digits. His companions still seemed unfazed though, and Eric knew it came from a lifetime of living in the mountains and working outdoors on the range before they joined the military to spend yet more time in harsh conditions as special forces operators. It was good to be in the company of men such as these again, and Eric was beginning to feel like he was part of a team once more, despite getting off on the wrong foot with them in his initial introduction.
Once the sun was up, its warmth brought rapid relief from the chill, and the five of them picked spots on the hillside where they could take advantage of it while still remaining concealed from anyone passing by on the road below. Two hours passed with nothing breaking the silence but the screech of a hawk circling high overhead, and then everything changed when Luke alerted them with a low whistle and Eric looked at where he was pointing to see a plume of dust around the next bend in the road to the north. The more open country here afforded a good view for nearly a mile, and Eric waited as he trained his binoculars on the moving dust until the source of it rounded the bend. The first vehicle was a pickup truck, followed by two SUVs that he thought could well be the same two they’d seen the afternoon before on the other side of the pass. A fourth vehicle was following the SUVs now though, and he saw that like the one in front, it was a four-door pickup truck.
They were moving fairly slow on the rough gravel road, and it was several minutes before they passed by, the occupants unaware that they were being watched. Eric could clearly see the driver and two other men through the windows of the lead pickup. They were wearing camouflage BDUs of some kind, but the truck was an ordinary Ford F250, gray in color with no markings of any kind. He’d caught a glimpse of a driver and front seat passenger through the windshield of one of the SUVs too, but the dark windows blocked any view of the rear seats or cargo areas. The only other thing that stood out about the two SUVs was the absence of license plates on the rear of either one, while the Ford had a plate that was so covered in dust it was impossible to tell which state had issued it. Bringing up the rear was a silver Dodge Ram, and Eric saw two men in the front seat of it as well. That truck was cleaner, and when it went by, he could clearly see it bore Texas plates.
There were places where the road to the south was out of view behind the hills, but the dust the trucks kicked up made it easy to keep track of their progress until they crossed another open area where they were in plain view again, still maintaining their slow, but steady speed. Luke looked back at Eric and the others and signaled that he was going down there to check the sign in the road. As he went on ahead, the rest of them moved closer as well, eager to learn if Luke found a match. It took him a few minutes to find a clean tire track from the pickup that the two SUVs following hadn’t driven over, but when he did, Luke gave a thumbs up.
“This tread from the gray Ford is the same as one of those from the place they killed the horses. It may be a coincidence, but that seems unlikely to me now, especially after seeing those guys dressed like soldiers, the way the girl described them.”
Eric glanced back to where he’d last seen the truck, leading the SUVs south. All were out of sight now, obviously headed to the paved road, where they would leave no trail that could be followed. The only thing left to do was to continue their plan to recon that work station and see what was going on there. He was almost certain they would find more evidence there, and likely more of those men, who were possibly using it as a base of operations. The five of them gathered around the map again to study the terrain in order to decide the best approach, as they obviously didn’t want to use the road. They had decided on a couple of possibilities when Tommy, who had walked back up the hill a bit, called out to get their attention.
“One of those trucks is coming back! I think it’s the Dodge!”
“Just one of them?”
&n
bsp; “Yes. That’s all I see. The rest must have turned onto the road.”
Eric knew it was time to make a decision. This was an unexpected opportunity they needed to take advantage of, but in order to do so, they had to act fast. “Keep an eye on it and make sure the others don’t come back too!” he called back to Tommy, before turning to Nantan, Luke and Red: “We need to stop that truck and get some answers. We know the work center is still a few miles to the north, far enough that no one there will know if we act fast.”
“As long as more of them don’t come out the same way,” Nantan said.
“That could happen but cutting these two off in an isolated area like this seems easier than questioning someone at a possible outpost of unknown strength. We need to find out who these people are, and if they were involved in the raid on the cabin.”
“I agree,” Nantan said. “Do you want to block the road? Shoot out their tires when they go by, or what?”
“No, I want to flag them down; alone. I’ll be walking down the road when they get here, apparently unarmed and looking lost and desperate. You and your men will be covering me from up there and across the road too. They’ll probably stop and try to detain me. Then, you’ll have them.”
“Unless they open fire on you without asking questions first.”
“That’s possible, but I trust that you’ll have my back. I’d rather not have any gunplay at all. It’ll be much better if we can do this quickly and quietly, but one way or the other, I think we should take the chance.”
Nantan agreed and after quickly scanning the available nearby cover, called to Tommy to remain on the higher ground and be ready with his rifle. Luke would take a low position on the opposite side of the road, while Nantan and Red crouched behind the nearest concealing bushes they could find next to where Eric would step into the roadway. The horses were still well-hidden from view in the trees higher up the hillside, and Eric stashed his rifle behind a nearby boulder, keeping only his Glock on him, concealed in his belt under his jacket. Using dirt from the side of the road, he did his best to look the part of a lost and desperate man, smearing it on his face and clothing and into his disheveled hair.
He could hear the truck coming by the time he was ready, the automatic transmission shifting gears as it pulled up the steep grade just to the south. Eric didn’t look back at Nantan or the others. His attention was focused on the sound, and he walked down the middle of the road with a sudden urgency, as a man looking for a second chance at survival might be inclined to do upon hearing the arrival of potential help. When the truck finally rolled into view just fifty yards away, Eric stopped right where he was in the middle of the road and began waving his arms to flag it down, making it obvious he was desperate for help.
The driver hit the brakes at the unexpected sight and skidded on the gravel, causing the truck to fishtail a little and almost go off the steep shoulder before it came to a stop. Then the passenger side door flew open and the other man stepped out with his handgun drawn, pointing it at Eric as he took up position behind the door.
“FREEZE RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! KEEP THOSE HANDS UP WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!”
“I just need help!” Eric said. “I need water! Do you have any water?”
Now the driver exited the vehicle as well, slamming the door shut behind him. He had drawn his pistol too, and he and his partner advanced in Eric’s direction.
“How did you get here? Where did you come from?”
“I don’t know! I’m lost! I didn’t know this road was here until I stumbled onto it from down there.” Eric nodded in the direction of the brush-covered valley to the east. “I just need water. And a ride to the nearest town, if you can take me, so I can get home!”
“This is a private road, and you’re trespassing on private property! We’re going to give you a ride all right, but first, you need to get face down on the road, and then put your hands behind your back!”
Eric didn’t argue with him and complied immediately. He wanted both of these men to keep their full attention focused on him, trusting that his new-found warrior brothers would take care of the rest before the one walking over to him managed to get the zip tie he’d pulled from his pocket into place around his wrists.
Twelve
ERIC FELT THE SHARP pressure and the weight of a knee in his back as the man who’d approached him circled around behind him to secure his hands while the other covered him from near the front of the truck. He pretended to be confused as to why they were detaining him, still asking for water and a ride to keep their attention centered on him and away from their surroundings. As the one on top of him worked to pull his wrists together, Eric saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and then the weight was suddenly gone as Nantan’s body slammed into the man from one side, carrying him hard into the loose gravel of the road. Eric sprang to his feet in time to see that Red had taken care of the driver, who was now disarmed and in a choke hold from behind. He glanced back to see Nantan on top of the other man, his knife already at the man’s throat. The situation seemed to be under control and Eric was about to collect both of the pistols when gunshots rang out from the direction of the pickup. He saw Red and the man he was restraining both go down as bullets punched through the windshield.
Eric dove for the ground as he reached for his Glock. There was someone else in the truck, probably in the back seat, firing at them through the glass! But before Eric could get into position to return fire, multiple rifle shots erupted from the hillside and incoming bullets tore through sheet metal and glass, putting an end to the gunfire from the truck. The shooter inside was neutralized, so Eric turned his attention back to Red and the other man just as he saw that Nantan had subdued his adversary with a heavy blow of his fist.
The shooter inside the truck had been using a pistol, Eric knew that from the sound of the reports. He had gotten off several rounds before Tommy and Luke took him out, and Eric now saw that Red was hit; sitting on the ground and holding pressure on his upper arm, where a dark stain was spreading in the fabric of his coat sleeve beneath his fingers. The man he’d been restraining was less fortunate. He’d taken friendly fire from his buddy in the truck who tried to rescue him, and the round that went through the back of his head was lights out for him.
Tommy and Luke had ceased firing by the time Eric made this assessment, but they were still covering the truck with their rifles. Eric crawled to the front passenger’s side fender and waited until Luke gave him the thumbs up signal from his side of the road, as he could apparently see from his position that the shooter was no longer a threat. Eric verified this with a quick check of the back seat, finding a dead man there dressed in the same BDUs as his two companions, and a 9mm Beretta on the floorboard under him, where it had fallen. Eric grabbed the weapon, furious at himself for making such a dumb mistake. This third guy they didn’t anticipate could have killed Red as well as Nantan and himself. He hadn’t seen anyone in the back seat when the truck passed before, but Eric figured the man must have been there all along, maybe napping or ducking down out of sight as soon as the driver and the other guy up front saw Eric standing in the road. He missed getting a fatal hit on Red, probably because he was too hasty when he began firing, and he’d killed one of his on instead because Red had unwittingly pulled the man into the line of fire when he got hit. Now they had two dead men of unknown association on their hands, and only one left alive that might be able to give them the answers they sought. They needed to get the bodies and the truck off the road, but when Eric walked around to the driver’s side, he saw that Tommy had shot holes in both the front and rear tires.
“What’d you do that for?” Eric asked him, when he and Luke made their way down to the road.
“Just making sure no one got away, you know. I wasn’t sure how many were in the truck. I just shot the shit out of it as soon as that guy started firing.”
Eric figured it didn’t really matter. There was no place in the immediate vicinity to get it off the road and hide it any
way. They would just have to hope another vehicle didn’t come along before they were done here. Tommy helped him put the two bodies in the bed of the truck though, at least getting them out of sight, while Luke went to assist Red with his wound. There were three mil-spec select-fire M4s in the vehicle in addition to the handguns the men had been carrying, and Eric put them across the hood and then went through the glove box to see what he could find. The truck was registered to a consulting firm in Texas he’d never heard of, and there was nothing to indicate any government or military affiliation. He’d seen enough by now to know though, that these men were professionals, and not some loosely organized civilian militia group. Further digging through the center console revealed that he was right, and Eric cursed under his breath as he stared at the I.D. badges he found in there among the papers and cigarette packs. He’d suspected the men were contractors, but he had not expected to find this outfit working here in the U.S. C.R.I. was one of the more notorious private contractor companies he’d ever run across, and their operators had been involved in atrocities in certain countries that made even ISIS terrorists look like the good guys. Eric had been contacted by them on more than one occasion, and though their offers exceeded anything he’d ever earned in his life, he hadn’t entertained the idea of accepting one even for a minute. What they were doing here he had no idea, but he knew that if they had men working here, it had to be at least as lucrative as the abundant work available to them in Europe and elsewhere.
“You got any idea who they are?” Tommy asked, as he came back over to see what Eric had found, admiring the nice rifles. “Are they working for the cartels?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say so, yes, because it would take that kind of money to hire them. C.R.I. is a contracting company that’s known for dirty work; willing to do most anything if the price is right.”
“Too bad we had to kill those two before you could question them.”
Feral Nation Series Box Set 2 [Books 4-6] Page 45
