by H. L. Wegley
“So I can call you Gem?”
“Only in private.”
“And you’ll stop calling me—”
She pressed a finger over his lips, muting his words. “Race you to the river, Lex.”
Chapter 9
Bladen Sikes sat in his rented van at the Otter Bench trail head cursing at the SUV sitting in front of him, doors open, occupants who knows where.
If his team didn’t take care of the two newsmongers soon, somebody’s head would roll, and it wasn’t going to be Blade’s.
Where was Kirby and his favorite play toy, the GA Precision rifle that he ran down the trail with? He hit Kirby’s number on his sat phone.
“Kirby here.”
“This is Blade. Haven’t you ran those two down yet?”
“You gotta be kidding. That girl should be on the U.S. Olympic team.”
“That is not what I expected to hear, commentary on the athletic abilities of our little saint.”
“She may be slender, but she outran James and me.”
“So you got James?”
“I didn’t’ say that.”
“Come on, Kirby. You didn’t need to run them down, just gun them down. And you can do that even if they have a thousand yards on you.”
“They actually had more than that. I’d swear Gemma Saint flew down that trail. And there are just enough juniper trees to block line-of-sight for that distance. But I know where they are. I think you need to call for the chopper.”
“If I need to. Now tell me why I need to. The maps say this bench ends in about four or five miles, and it’s a sheer five-hundred-foot drop down to the river, higher in some places. They’re trapped.”
“No, Blade. There’s a trail that goes down to the river.”
“Sure there is. These two didn’t exactly have ropes and carabiners hanging off them when they left the SUV.”
“It’s called the Pink Trail. I didn’t try it, but evidently some people do. It’s the only way they could have gotten away.”
“So they’re in the canyon?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“Okay, I’ll call for Drake and the chopper crew. We need to find them before dark, so we can end this little game of hide and seek.”
“Blade, do you plan to fly over them and shoot them from the chopper?”
“You got any other ideas?”
“Well, if you look around this area, you can’t go more than a half mile without running into some kind of house. I can’t see why, but people actually live in this desert.”
“Look, we take them out and we disappear. This whole operation is off-the-books. It never happened, and we didn’t do it if it did. Carr will back us up. After all, this was his brainstorm.”
“Do you want me to wait here and watch the canyon until the chopper arrives? You know, so they don’t backtrack?”
“It might be two hours, or more. Do you enjoy the heat, Kirby?”
“I’ve got water.”
“Walker and I have the air-conditioned van. Okay, you watch the canyon until 2:30, then come back and we’ll drive around to where these two are going to come out of the canyon.”
Kirby swore. “If you know where they’re going, why do I have to stay here and bake in this sun?”
“If they happen to backtrack, maybe to get James’s car, I want you there to take them out with your precision shooting.”
Blade ended the call.
How could a slip of a girl with a name like Saint and a would-be journalist cause so much trouble? And why couldn’t the best agents the FBI had run them down and gun them down?
As long as they eliminated the two before this day ended, Blade wouldn’t have to answer any potentially embarrassing questions from Carr tomorrow morning.
Gemma Saint seemed to have led a charmed life up until now. She was always one small step ahead. But, if Blade had calculated correctly, her charm would soon disappear.
Chapter 10
Pink Trail ended at river level on a flat, rocky bench. Patches of bushes and scrubby trees grew between the rocks. But this meager vegetation would hardly hide their bodies and would not stop bullets.
Twenty-five yards ahead of Lex and Gemma, the river ran strong and the current accelerated toward the rapids below. Maybe they couldn't drink from the river but soaking in its chilly water would cool their over-heated bodies.
The air at the bottom of the canyon became an oven in the searing afternoon sun and the afternoon wind blew up river, dry and hot. Rather than refreshing them, the breeze sucked more moisture from them.
Lex pulled Gemma to a stop at the edge of the river.
Something wasn't right. A tingling up the back of his neck seemed to confirm it.
He scanned the rim looming above them, looking for movement. Nothing. Then he surveyed the rocks and vegetation for protection.
Twenty feet down river from Lex, a rock shattered and sprayed fragments into the stream. From up river, a crack sounded, reverberating between the canyon walls.
“Sniper!” He hooked Gemma’s arm and dove behind a three-foot-high rock. “Keep your head down. His first shot was high, because he’s shooting downhill. The second one won't be.”
She pressed her head against his shoulder. “Could—could you tell where he was?”
“Sounded like he was way up river, but with all the echoing …”
“So now what?”
“We've got to get out of here. If we let him keep us pinned down, he'll move along the rim until he's on top of us. At some point, the rocks won’t provide cover and …”
“Don't say it, Lex. We've come too far. God wouldn't let that happen.”
“He doesn't always stop the bad things, Gemma. Like drunk drivers from killing people you love.”
“You are really encouraging. Did you know that? Don't answer. I'm praying anyway.”
“I didn't say don't pray. It’s just that—never mind. I've got to locate all the rocks that we can use for cover if we move downstream.”
She grabbed his arm. “But he can move toward us faster than we can go from rock to rock. We need a better plan.”
“The river’s not deep enough for us to swim underwater. You need seven or eight feet of water to stop bullets.”
“I couldn't stand being under for more than a few seconds anyway.”
“Even if someone was shooting at you?”
She didn’t reply.
Rocks clattered down the cliff and splashed into the river.
“I hope that was him falling off the rim,” Gemma said.
Lex peered around the corner of the rock they lay behind. He pulled his hand from the rock when it scorched his right hand. “No such luck. Just some rocks falling. He probably knocked them loose.”
Dust from the rocks swirled in the wind and then blew up river.
Based on the rocks he had knocked loose, the sniper appeared to be about a thousand yards upstream. At that distance, his shots would be accurate. And, if he got within five-hundred yards, the small boulder wouldn't protect their entire bodies. The sniper could shoot directly down on them.
“Gemma, in a couple of minutes he's going to be nearly on top of us.”
“We need to do something. I'm not going to lay here with my head against a hot rock while he shoots my legs off.”
“That's about the size of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don't know what I mean, Gemma.” Lex blew out a blast of air.
This situation had hopeless tattooed all over it. Maybe he should start thinking about how to sacrifice himself to save Gemma. She was the one who needed stay alive if justice was going to be served.
But what about the boys? They needed him, right now. He was Josh and Caleb’s stability and their link to their parents.
Lex stopped breathing when a loud buzzing echoed through the canyon.
Gemma’s wide eyes looked up into his. “Is that some kind of alarm?”
“You could say that. It's called an
alarmed rattlesnake, and this one sounds really riled.”
From the rim a yell sounded. Or was it a scream?
The buzzing continued.
Another gunshot echoed through the canyon.
The buzzing stopped.
A groan sounded from the canyon rim.
“Lex, was that what I think it was?”
“It was one rattlesnake fighting another. The wrong snake won but, if I'm correctly interpreting what I heard, we just leased another chunk of life.” Lex jumped up, pulling Gemma with him. “Run into the river and swim downstream as fast as you can.”
“But, Lex—”
“Just do it. We’ll go down river while the sniper is trying to decide what to do about those two holes in his leg and the snake venom running through his bloodstream.”
Hand-in-hand they plunged into the swift current of the river.
When the water ripped at Lex's thighs, he took the plunge and pulled Gemma down beside him in the chilling water.
“Swim hard until we get around the bend. I'll find a boulder we can hide behind and rest.”
He pushed Gemma downstream ahead of him.
She pawed and kicked at the water. It wasn't an efficient stroke, but with the aid of the current, they were putting lifesaving distance between them and the sniper.
If only the snake bite would keep him distracted for a couple minutes more.
When they entered the rapids below Pink Trail, Lex pulled hard on the water until he maneuvered his body downstream of Gemma. He guided her through the rocks jutting up from the river bottom.
Gemma was a quick thinker. Without being told, she entered the rapids with her feet downstream. One crack of their heads against a rock would be as deadly as the sniper.
They shot through the rapids and rounded the bend. When the water smoothed and deepened, Lex raised his head and looked downstream. He did a double take.
He could see all the way to the Opal Springs Dam, maybe a half mile down the river.
Lex turned to his left and studied the canyon on the west side of the river. A short way downriver the cliff on the west side became a giant stairstep. The step, a bench about a hundred yards wide, would push the gunmen back more than a hundred yards from the base of the canyon.
If he and Gemma hugged the west bank of the river, there would be no more shots from the rim. The sniper couldn’t see them.
With the tension of the previous hour easing, Lex took Gemma’s hand and pulled her to the left bank of the river. “He can't see us now. Let's drift and rest a while.”
Gemma nodded. “Lex, can I take a drink from the river? Just one? Please?”
“If you promise you won't swallow, you can rinse your mouth out, but be sure to spit it all out.”
He pointed to the line across the river about a half-mile away. “See the dam?”
When she didn’t reply, Lex looked back.
Gemma was floating on her back, spouting water from her mouth.
“You look like a whale.” Not her slender, shapely body, just the spout. Maybe he should have qualified his statement.
Her head rose from the water and she gave him a serious frown. “Gee, thanks.”
“I meant your mouth.”
“Have you ever looked at a whale's mouth? Gross, Lex. It's really gross.”
Unlike Gemma's mouth. Unlike anything related to Gemma. But this wasn't the time for these kinds of thoughts. “How are you doing? Can you tread water and maybe swim a little for another ten minutes?”
“I can do that. It's amazing how being in the water tricks you into thinking you're not as thirsty.”
“It cools us off so our bodies don't need water as badly.”
Lex snagged Gemma’s hand and pulled her close to him.
“Lex, what are you doing?”
Treading water, they could stay afloat with an occasional kick of their legs and a wave of their hands. He spoke in hushed tones barely audible above the sound of the rushing water. “We need to talk, but we don't need our voices echoing through the canyon.”
“Talk about what?”
“The dam’s about a half mile below us. It's a small hydro project. And it’s also where they get that Earth2O water, the same water you got from your tap in Madras.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. I was drinking two-dollar-a-bottle, tree-hugger’s water from my tap? I should have started my own business. But you are saying there's drinking water ahead?”
“Yes. But we're going to have to sneak past the security people at the dam. We’ll do that after dark.”
“But that’s not until after 10:00 p.m.”
“That's right. About nine hours from now.”
“Nine hours? I think I'll get a drink now. The river looks clear enough.”
“When you start puking and doing other stuff, don't ask me to help.”
“I won't.”
“You won't what?”
She blew out a sigh of defeat. “I won't take a drink.”
“Good girl.”
“Is that how you think of me?” Her eyes widened. “Never mind. Pretend I didn't say that. So what do we do for nine hours?”
“We’ll hide behind the rocks on the west side of the river, somewhere just above the dam. No one can see us unless they float down the river or …”
“Or what?”
“Come after us in a chopper.”
* * *
Lex’s sport watch had survived the time in the water. It said 2:30 p.m. when he helped Gemma out of the water and into the shelter of the rocks on the west bank of the river.
The dam lay less than two-hundred yards below them.
He’d found a tiny cove behind a rock formation tucked against the vertical cliff. The surrounding rocks would hide them unless their pursuers flew directly over them—not likely if a pilot wanted his wings or the rotor to avoid the rock cliff. And Lex doubted anyone would swim into the cove as he and Gemma had done.
The sun couldn't reach this part of the canyon in the afternoon. And, after spending well over an hour in the cold water, Lex's lips had turned blue.
Gemma shivered while she tried to give herself a bear hug.
It had been a grueling run and probably a frightening trip down the river for Gemma. But they were safe until tonight. Lex needed to lighten things up. “Gem, if you fattened up a bit you wouldn't have that shivering problem.”
“Fattened up? You already called me a whale.”
“Come here.” He scooted to Gemma’s side on the flat rock serving as their bench.
“What are you up to, Lex James?” She snuggled against him.
He’d noticed a pattern. Gemma’s words and behavior often didn’t match. What she said could seem harsh and unfriendly, but what Gemma did was often completely contradictory. It was much friendlier. At times, it became intimate. At least that’s how she’d behaved around Lex.
Gemma probably had a lot of trust issues. That can happen when the DOJ says they’re giving you protection then sets you up to take you out. Maybe her difficulty in trusting people made her reluctant to acknowledge their obvious mutual attraction.
Gemma’s body, trembling against his, felt like an earthquake. Maybe a four or five on the Richter scale.
“What am I up to? Gemma, you've got a mild case of hypothermia. Me too.”
“I can't believe we’ve got hypothermia with the temperature nearly a hundred degrees.”
Lex wrapped her up in his arms and rubbed the goosebumps on hers. “Don’t worry. It won’t last long at these temperatures.”
“This is rather—do you do this on a regular basis?” One corner of Gemma’s mouth lifted. Her enigmatic smile.
“Only with people I like. Other hypothermiacs can just shake, rattle and roll.”
“Lex, was Melissa one of those people you liked?”
Where was this going? “She was a friend, a girl I've known since grade school.”
“But did you like her?” She put a strong emphasis on like.
&n
bsp; “I don't know. That's what I was trying to find out. We were friends. Did a few things together, usually with a group from church. Then Josh and Caleb came into my life.”
“And they ran her off?” Gemma studied his face.
“That's their version. A little melodramatic. From the time I got them, I knew the boys would need more than just me. They were going to need a mother as soon as they were through grieving.”
“Where are they with that?”
“Crossing the finish line.” They seemed to be handling it better than Lex. “Those two are amazing. So bright, yet so much faith. They’ll be fine. But right after I brought the twins home, Melissa did an about-face. I saw a side of her I’d never seen before. One I didn’t like.”
“Sorry I brought this up. You don't have to talk about it if—”
“No. It's okay, Gemma.” He looked down into her eyes, deep brown pools that, in a strange way, reminded him of looking into Josh and Caleb's eyes. But his heart didn't thump like this when he looked at the boys, unless they had gotten into serious mischief.
With Gemma pressed tightly against him, she could probably feel each thump?
Lex sighed. “Disloyalty and lack of commitment … probably the two biggest failings of human beings. Melissa had them both.”
People always seemed to let him down. He couldn’t trust them. Melissa wasn’t the exception, she just happened to be the most hurtful betrayal, and it came at a critical juncture in Lex’s life.
That’s when he had decided to stop looking for a new mom for the twins. Then Gemma came into the picture and, in a few hours, everything seemed to have changed … provided their flight from the gunmen had a happy ending. And provided Lex wasn’t being overly presumptuous.
* * *
Gemma replayed Lex’s words. He had said he saw serious defects in Melissa. And he had said he didn’t mind talking about her.
So, should she cast some bait on the waters? Silly question. “Lex, does that mean you didn’t really love her?”
“Gemma, I could never love a woman like her. Besides, love is more than just a bunch of feelings.”
Lex had set himself up for this question. “Love without feelings? So what does love mean to you?”
