Thunderbird

by Susan Slater

  + + +

  The night air was calming. Tommy rolled the passenger window down and let the cross breeze cool his face and neck. He had some thinking to do. And he was headed toward the stables almost before he realized it. Harley never let him down. Maybe he was a little quiet for a sounding-board but he never passed judgement and he would stand there as long as needed, just listening.

  The horse knew the sound of the Bronco and trotted to the front of his corral. His greeting was always the same, a low reverberating nicker that sounded like someone had just cleared his throat.

  “Hey, big guy.” Tommy held out a half of an apple, brown from being under the seat since yesterday’s lunch but nonetheless tasty, if he could judge from Harley’s enthusiastic munching.

  The thirty gallon half-barrel water container was almost empty, and Tommy dragged a hose from a coil by the tack room, fastened an end to a faucet and then primed the pump. The water that gushed out was well-cold and he scrubbed the sides of the barrel with his hands, dumped it, rinsed it and then left the nozzle in the bottom to fill. It was mindless work but seemed to help him get his thoughts in order. Harley stood quietly after he’d nuzzled the front of Tommy’s shirt searching for more apple.

  “You think I’m being stupid about Brenda?” Then Tommy laughed. This to a stallion that had taken out two panels of pipe fencing last month because a cute little quarter horse mare had cycled. “Something tells me you’d agree with what I’m about to do.”

  After a couple more minutes of scratching behind a big, black ear, Tommy turned off the water and recoiled the hose.

  + + +

  It took him forty-five minutes before he hit the washboard entrance to Chaco.

  “Damn.”

  Quickly, he grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and cursed the Bronco’s lack of suspension. The road was beating him to death. He was fighting to hold the car on course. Abruptly, he pulled to the side, got out and looked down at the left front tire. A flat. What else could go wrong? The fact that the spare bounced on the ground made him feel a little better. But should he continue on the spare? How long had it been since maintenance had checked any of the tires? Of all the rotten things to happen. He hated having to worry about the roadworthiness of a vehicle. But grousing wasn’t getting the tire changed.

  He dragged out the jack, propped a flashlight to shine squarely on the wheel, seated the jack, cranked up the left front and reached for the tire iron. The moon was well up now. He should be glad that the clouds had thinned. What he tried not to think about was the time that would be wasted. He pried off the hubcap, and leaned in to twist a lug nut—

  “Tommy?”

  Tommy jumped backwards, staggering to stand. He couldn’t see the figure blocking the light, yet the voice … He knew that voice.

  “Brenda?”

  He rushed to put his arms around her, but she pulled back.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you,” was all she said.

  Tommy felt awkward his arms dangling by his sides. He stepped back. Abruptly, he leaned over to pick up the flashlight.

  “I’ve … we’ve all been worried. Are you all right?” He tried to keep the emotion out of his voice. He wanted to grab her and hold her not let her push him away. But instead he just stood there.

  “Yes—more or less. I think I need to talk to someone.”

  Understatement, Tommy thought. “I can offer an ear, with or without the badge.”

  “Um, unofficial. Maybe, you could just take me home?”

  He didn’t say anything, didn’t question her wanting to go home. He simply finished putting the spare on and then held the passenger-side door open. Was he doing the right thing? He didn’t even want to know.

  They drove a back way, yet another dry arroyo-road that approached Brenda’s trailer from the west and kept the car hidden most of the time by steep, canyon-like sides. The going was slow. Tommy didn’t want to challenge the spare, which so far seemed to be holding up. But they wouldn’t gain anything by pushing it and breaking down again. They rode in silence. He respected her silence. She’d talk when she was ready.

  He wanted to tell her it would be all right. But maybe it wouldn’t be. Maybe that’s why she kept him from touching her. At this moment he was a police officer taking a suspect to her house, not to jail. Did she realize what he was willing to do for her? He’d never jeopardized his career before—so, why was he doing it now? But he knew before he glanced sideways at the figure huddled against the passenger’s door. There was no spark in this vivacious woman who used to joke and poke fun at him.

  At first Brenda stared out the window. Tommy watched as she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against the cool glass. But it was the tears that spilled over swollen eyelids and simply slid without a sound down her cheek that made his heart ache. He slowed the Bronco, then stopped, turned it off and pulled the emergency brake.

  She roused herself to look at him, fright registering in her eyes. “Why are we stopping?”

  “Brenda, you know you may be arrested when we get to the house. I can’t guarantee that someone isn’t watching, waiting for your return.” There, he had said it. At whatever cost, he had to know the extent of her involvement.

  “Arrested? Me? For what?” Brenda’s voice trembled.

  “For being an accomplice in the downing of a very expensive aircraft, the death of an unknown man, the theft of fifty million in prototype electronics, aiding and abetting one Ronnie Cachini—”

  “No. It wasn’t like that. I had no idea people would—”

  “What did you expect them to think? Someone signaled that plane to crash-land. It’s on tape. Ronnie Cachini was the pilot. You were at the site to meet him. The authorities believe another man was with you. A man who lost his life, became expendable and was blown up with the plane.”

  “That’s not so. The man was already dead. He was brought there by others.” She grabbed the door handle. “I can’t do this—I can’t report Ronnie, talk to the law. Talk to you.” Fresh tears.

  “Brenda, I’m a friend. A friend who’s realized how much you mean to him. I don’t want my badge to get in the way. I want to listen as a friend and help you.”

  She searched his face, started to say something but simply said, “Thank you.” But she took her hand off the door handle.

  He leaned over, put two hands on her shoulders and gently eased her to face him. She didn’t pull away.

  “Let’s start at the beginning. Please? I want to listen.” He spoke softly. “I want to know exactly what happened. I won’t make judgements. Who knows, maybe I can help.” Tommy snapped off the headlights and squared his body to face her. Night sounds pushed into his consciousness, the chirps and rustle of insects and small animals. A light breeze skipped across his neck. The air was cooler now but smelled richly of piñon and sage. He’d let Brenda take her time. And, yes, he felt exhilaration. She was with him. She was safe. He took a deep breath and waited.

  Brenda began slowly and recounted first how the coyote forced her to drive out of her way, how she saw the plane land, then be dismantled by a truckload of men speaking a language she didn’t recognize. She recounted how their leader sprayed the ground with bullets while she hid. But she was emphatic that these strange men, all six feet or taller, dressed in black, left the body, that she didn’t see Ronnie until he pulled her from the fire and carried her to safety.

  “Why have the two of you been hiding?” He just came out with it. But he had to know.

  “Ronnie … he insisted. He’s …” More tears. Tommy pulled a box of tissues from the glove box. “I’m so afraid he’s done something he shouldn’t have. I think he was involved in deliberately landing the plane so that it could be ransacked. He’s in on some deal to sell secrets.”

  “To whom?”

  Brenda shook her head. “I know Ronnie’s been in touch with someone. He’s had to wait until a deal was completed. There’s a meeting tonight. Ronnie kept one item that these people have to have. A
s soon as he turns it over, he’ll get paid. And as he says, it’ll all be over.”

  Tommy thought of the call Ronnie supposedly made to his mother using Edwina’s phone. He’d been right. More likely it was to his accomplice. “You’re certain about this?”

  “Fairly. He didn’t tell me much, but I don’t think he lied.”

  “Was Edwina killed because she found out where you were hiding?”

  “Edwina?” Brenda looked blank.

  “The park ranger.”

  “We didn’t see any rangers.”

  “Well, this one knew Ronnie, probably followed him back to the caves. Didn’t you wonder where he’d gotten the ham sandwiches and chips?”

  “At the Information Center. He bought them at a snack bar.”

  “No. A ranger provided them. Then this same ranger fell to her death—after her murderer crushed every bone in her hand.”

  Brenda sat forward so suddenly she grazed her head on the visor. “People think we, I, had something to do with the death of a park ranger?” She was incredulous. “That’s terrible. How could people believe—?”

  “Because the facts point to the two of you.” Tommy swallowed. No matter how uncomfortable she might be, he needed to know what happened. “Think. Did Ronnie say anything about meeting someone at the Information Center? Or did he meet her at the caves? I guess I just want to know how someone convinced her she was being attacked by an alien.”

  “You’re not making sense.” Brenda twisted away and again reached for the door handle.

  “Wait. If you’re innocent, you need to know the mess you’re in.”

  Brenda slumped back against the seat, her eyes closed. “Let me tell you what I know.” Tommy skipped the gory details but used the word murder again and finished with Edwina’s portrait in blood of her assailant. “Like this.” Tracing his index finger through the dust on the dash, Tommy drew the infamous alien head.

  Brenda gasped. “Oh no, oh my God they’ve found it. They’ll kill him. They don’t need him any longer. They already have what they want.”

  “Who has what they want?” Tommy grabbed Brenda by the arms. “Look at me. Why is Ronnie in danger?”

  Suddenly, Brenda began to sob. Tommy waited, then tried again. “Please, let me help you.”

  Finally, Brenda nodded, the sobs subsiding to occasional gulps for air. “Ronnie kept one piece of equipment. Maybe to safeguard his life in the first place, maybe to ensure payment … anyway, the electronics in the cockpit weren’t complete, not really workable without the pilot’s helmet. He took that with him.” She paused and put a hand to her forehead. “When he picked me up? Dragged me away from the exploding plane? I thought he was an alien. That drawing looks enough like the headgear, the slanted visor, the oblong roundness … but if this ranger was pushed off the edge of a cliff, then it means she surprised someone who’d found Ronnie’s helmet and flight suit.”

  “I think you’re right.” Tommy almost smiled. Such a simple explanation to all the alien hysteria. The true believers would be disappointed.

  “This is so terrible. Ronnie and I hid the stuff in one of the caves. It was too heavy and cumbersome to drag around. He’s going back for it tonight, meeting someone there … but that person already has what he wants. Oh, Tommy, he’ll be killed.”

  Tommy sat back. He knew Brenda was telling the truth. The hose that they’d found in the back cave proved that. Wasn’t that the very thing he was going to search for himself tonight? But who had killed Edwina? Obviously the same one who would confront Ronnie later that evening.

  “I’m going back.” Brenda opened the door.

  “No. Wait. You have to think of Mariah.”

  “I have to warn Ronnie.” She stepped out but hesitated. Tommy came around to stand beside her.

  She turned to face him, “What would you do if you were me?”

  What would he do? “It’s a tough decision.”

  “I still want to believe that there’s an explanation for what Ronnie’s done. Even if he did this thing, crash-land to sell electronics, he deserves to know the helmet’s been found and that someone may try to kill him. I owe him that. I can’t just let him be killed.”

  “I’m going with you.” The words seemed to hang in the air. Tommy almost wished he could take them back. But he knew he couldn’t let her go alone. And he knew he wasn’t going to detain her even if that’s what a code of ethics might call for—arresting her, taking her into Crown Point for further questioning. And he wasn’t going to call for help. Not now, anyway. He would go with her as her friend. He wasn’t trying to be a hero but he’d try to protect her. If they had any chance of being together, what he was doing was the only way—support her in something she had to do. If time was on their side, they could warn Ronnie before the meeting. But what would he do then? He honestly didn’t know. “We can’t take the car. The shortest way is cross-country and it’s a couple miles, at least. Are you up to a little hike?”

  “You don’t have to do this. I know what this could cost you.” Brenda stepped close and took his hands. “I wish things could be different. I’m so mixed-up. But when this is all over—”

  He stopped her from finishing the sentence by kissing her. He hadn’t planned on it. But she put her arms around his neck and kissed him back and it felt good. She relaxed a moment nestled against his chest. Then she pulled away and said, “A little payment for being so nice.”

  And he had the presence of mind to quip, “On an installment plan, I hope. But I could get to be expensive.” And she had laughed and nothing made him feel better than to hear the sound of bells.

  + + +

  Tommy didn’t think he had ever been that thirsty. They were pushing it now. Trotting a quarter mile, slowing to a jog, then fast walking—trying not to stumble over cactus and scrub brush. But the going was smooth and fast on the more-or-less level flatland in comparison to what the terrain would be like in another fifteen minutes when they would begin to climb. They didn’t talk. He tried not to think about what they would find. He wondered if they would be in time to warn Ronnie. But even more, he wondered if he would arrest him.

  The moon was obscured by clouds, but Tommy used the flashlight sparingly. He stripped to a T-shirt and left his stiff poplin shirt draped over a cholla cactus. Sweat glistened on his forearms and prickled across his neck. He’d tucked a snub-nose .38 in his pants pocket and left his revolver in its holster, draping the cumbersome leather belt over his shoulder. The key to being on the winning side would be surprise. That he knew.

  Brenda was part mountain goat when it came to covering ground. If she was fatigued, she didn’t show it. Once or twice she’d reached out to steady herself by touching his arm, then grabbed his hand while scrambling over a clump of granite. And each time she smiled, shyly but with a warmth he hoped wasn’t his imagination. He watched the curve of her back and hip as she climbed ahead of him and entertained thoughts of evenings in his apartment. But would he get that chance?

  Finally, he signaled for them to stop and he pulled Brenda back under an overhang of rock. They were at the base of the cliff that they would have to climb in order to get to the caves. To the right about a quarter mile was the Information Center. But straight up, protected by darkness was the quickest way to Ronnie.

  “I don’t think we should use the flashlight beyond this point. Even a pinpoint of light will carry a hundred yards.”

  Brenda nodded. She leaned over and rubbed a calf muscle.

  “We need a plan,” Tommy said.

  “What kind of plan?” He heard her sharp intake of breath.

  “Help. Backup, I guess. I’d personally feel a lot better if there was some muscle covering our flank. Guys spraying the ground with machine-gun fire don’t sound too pleasant to me. I think Ronnie could be outnumbered. We all could. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight when I let us just take off like this.”

  “But who would you call?”

  “With what you’ve told me, don’t you think t
he Air Force should know that Ronnie is alive but being threatened?”

  “Do you know someone?”

  “Colonel Hap Anderson. I’m not his biggest fan but he’s been in charge of the investigation along with another colonel. He’d be the logical one to call. And I guess I probably owe him.”

  “Would he arrest Ronnie?”

  “If he’s guilty. But aren’t we faced with a tough choice here? Ronnie has to be alive to explain himself” He stood silently and let her think. She needed to consider Mariah, too. There needed to be an end to all this. Finally, Brenda nodded.

  There was a pay phone outside the Center. Had the rangers said that it had been fixed? Tommy could only hope. Cell phones weren’t dependable in this remote part of the state. He chose not to carry one.

  “Stay here out of sight. Give me twenty minutes to reach the Center, make the call and come back.”

  “I want to come.”

  “Too risky. Two of us would be spotted easier than one.” Tommy stripped off his white T-shirt. “I’m not giving anyone a target if I don’t have to.” His dark skin would blend with the night. He wiped the sweat from his face and neck, then tucked the shirt in his belt.

  “I’m afraid for you to leave me.”

  “Stay here against the rock, under the overhang. You’ll be safe. Here. Take the revolver.” He took it out of the holster.

  “No, I couldn’t.”