Wind River Undercover

by Lindsay McKenna

  Sweat dripped off his brow as he continued to dig. What were they thinking when Jose and Kaen started shooting at them? He was sure they were scared out of their minds, confused and fearing for their lives. He’d have taken off just like they had. The only thing that didn’t fit was that Anna was firing back at them with a pistol. And she hit Manuel. His brows drew downward. She was one helluva shot. She was the only one of the two returning fire against them. But she was a rancher. And all ranchers knew how to use a rifle. Manuel had been killed with a pistol. Jamming his boot sole down on the shovel, he dug the first foot of the black, damp soil.

  “Hurry up!” Jose yelled over at him. “We don’t have all day!”

  Glancing in Jose’s direction, Elisha scowled, said nothing, and dug faster and deeper. In another ten minutes, Elisha had a makeshift grave created. Kaen came over to help him take Manuel’s sagging body to the grave. Together, they threw the heaps of dirt upon the body. Mentally, Elisha prayed for Manuel. These were hard men, but they had souls. Well, all except for Jose; he didn’t think Jose had one at all. He was a sociopath. Elisha had looked the word up online and Jose’s behavior fit that definition completely. It also made him far more distrusting of their boss. He’d seen Jose shoot two other soldiers in the head on different missions because they weren’t fast enough or had given Jose some lip, which he didn’t like. Out came his Glock pistol. And he cold-bloodedly killed each of them without an afterthought.

  Elisha wanted out of this job. He had been uneasy when Kaen had contacted the drug lord, asking to be a part of his sprawling gang that moved drugs from Central America and were pushing aggressively into North America. The pay was better, but Elisha had argued with his brother and lost. His argument was that he didn’t want a drug lord coming into Wind River Valley. They had always run drugs locally, peripheral players in Wyoming. They didn’t make a lot of money, but they’d made enough to survive. Pablo Gonzalez, the Guatemalan drug lord, had paid them five times the amount they made on their own. And Kaen couldn’t resist the money.

  Giving the black soil a mournful look, they finished burying Manuel. Kaen grabbed bunches of brown pine needles, covering up the freshly turned soil, trying to hide it. Elisha doubted that anyone would ever come back to this meadow, it was so far away from civilization. No one but a hungry bear would find the grave. No one.

  “HEY!” Jose screamed, jabbing his finger at the road. “RIDERS! SHOOT THEM!”

  Elisha gasped, his eyes rounding. Gabe and Anna! Again!

  “Damn them,” Kaen snarled, running for their truck to get their weapons.

  Gunfire erupted.

  Elisha ran after his brother, confused and upset. By the time they got to the truck, Gabe and Anna had disappeared back into the tree line. Gone! Like ghosts. Gasping for breath, Elisha had his AK-47 in hand, but there was nothing to shoot at.

  The gunfire abruptly ceased.

  Jose was screaming at all of them to get into the trucks.

  They had to get out of here!

  Relieved that they weren’t going to chase them, Elisha put the safety on the rifle and set it on the floorboards. Kaen was making sure that the bales they had were hidden beneath the tarp before getting into the driver’s seat.

  “Damn those nosy ranchers!” he spat, putting the truck in gear, jamming his foot down on the accelerator. “What the hell is the matter with them? Jose will want them dead.”

  Elisha hurriedly put on his seat belt, the truck swerving and revving through the mud. “He doesn’t know they’re our next-door neighbors.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Kaen bit out, his glare straight ahead, following the other trucks out of the area and down that barely used road.

  “But if we don’t tell him they’re our neighbors,” Elisha said, holding on and bracing himself as the truck fishtailed down the slope, “Jose won’t know. We can play dumb, Kaen.”

  “Shut up! You’re talkin’ crazy. Jose will find out!”

  “Don’t tell him!” Elisha said more strongly. He gripped the seat and placed his large hand against the door, the swerving knocking him around.

  Kaen cursed. “You’re too damned softhearted! You always have been!”

  “You can’t tell Jose, Kaen. You cannot!”

  Kaen’s eyes slitted and he jerked a swift look in his brother’s direction. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. They live next to us! They’ve seen the bales in our truck just now. They’ve seen us. They probably can identify us. Has that gotten through your thick, stupid head? Has it?”

  “They’ve been good to Mama. You know they’ve cared decently for her! They’re good people, Kaen. They try to do right by others. They probably rode up here in the first place just checking out their property, is all. I’m sure they never expected to run into bales dropped in that meadow. And by the way? That meadow is ON their ranch property! They had every right to be up here!”

  “I know, I know. Dammit! But they’ll turn us in! We shot at them! Who knows? Maybe they’ve been winged. Maybe they’ll die out here somewhere. We can always check on them when we get home once we stash the goods in our barn. And tomorrow, we gotta take the truck and goods and drive out to California to drop the drugs off to the dealers.”

  Elisha sagged against the seat as the trucks moved from the hidden back road and onto the highway that would take them home. Already, the other three trucks were speeding at least eighty to ninety miles per hour, wanting to escape what had just happened. “They’re innocent,” he argued heatedly. “I’m not gonna be part of killing them, Kaen. I just won’t.”

  “Don’t let Jose hear you say that, you stupid idiot! He’ll pull out his pistol and put a bullet into your head for that!” Kaen yelled. He stomped on the accelerator, the truck roaring, leaping forward to catch up with the other three fleeing vehicles.

  Wiping his sweaty brow, Elisha said nothing. He knew what his brother had said was true. “What can we do?”

  “I don’t know! But what if those two get back to their ranch and then call the sheriff? What then? Chances are they’ve identified us. We’ll get arrested. We have drugs in the barn. They’ll find them because they’ll come to our house with a drug-sniffing dog. Hell! I don’t know what to do!”

  “We can’t hurt them! They take care of Mama when we’re gone!”

  “Yeah, well, we’ll be in prison again thanks to them snooping around! I don’t think they are gonna let this go.” Kaen shook his head. He picked up his cell phone, punching it to get in touch with Jose, who was in the lead truck.

  Elisha stared in horror at Kaen. “No!” he cried, making a grab for the phone.

  “Damn you!” Kaen yelled, pushing his hand away.

  The truck swerved.

  Elisha hung on as Kaen regained control of the truck. “You can’t tell Jose! He’ll have us kill them! I won’t kill two innocent people!”

  “Shut up!” Kaen said, and he got Jose on the phone.

  Breathing hard, Elisha sat there, feeling nauseous, scared, his mind moving between Jose ordering a hit on Gabe and Anna and them going to prison once more. He hated prison! He didn’t ever want to go back to that cage! Oh, if only they hadn’t seen them! Would Gabe and Anna call the sheriff ’s department in Wind River once they got cell-phone coverage? And had they identified Elisha and Kaen? Did they see them? If so, Elisha was sure these two innocent ranchers would tell the sheriff. And then . . . they would be arrested or a warrant put out for their arrest. The sheriff would hassle their mother, too, if they were not found to be home. Miserably, Elisha shut his eyes, torn up and not wanting to kill anyone. He hated killing. Kaen enjoyed it, but he never had. Kaen had always called him a “mama’s boy.” Told Elisha he was weak and unreliable. That he didn’t have the balls to be a real man.

  Trying to shut off the conversation Kaen was having with Jose, Elisha sat there, numbed out, tense and wanting to scream in utter frustration. If only his neighbors hadn’t seen them on that mountaintop. If only . . .

  If they were foun
d and put into prison? Then their mother would be on her own. Would Gabe or Anna take care of her despite what happened? He found them to be honest, stand-up people, ranchers who, when they gave their word, it was an honor they would carry out until their last breath. Roberta dearly loved Anna. She had called her the daughter she’d never had, but wished she had. Anna was so kind, loving, and gentle with Mama. Elisha had felt so beholden to the two ranchers for their kindness. Out here in Wyoming, people relied on one another all the time. They gave one another help and support when needed, without asking, and they were always there. Ranchers were the heart and soul of Wyoming. Stand-up men and women who were good for their word. Rubbing his sweaty face, Elisha heard Kaen end the conversation. He dreaded what would come next.

  * * *

  Gabe was torn between the injury of Anna and her horse and trying to escape once more. He didn’t think that the soldiers would follow them, however. They needed to get those bales out of sight as soon as possible. Red jogged along and they kept moving in and out of the trees, heading deeper inland. This forest had saved their lives twice with its wealth of heavily wooded hills and slopes. No ATV or truck could ever drive through it to catch them. But were there other roadways that they didn’t know about? Could they drop the bales in the trucks and send someone back after them?

  The June sunlight was lower on the horizon, sending golden slats and streamers through the woods, lighting it up like a lantern pushing away the gloom. It made it easier to see. His heart was in anguish over Anna’s horse falling. She could have been killed. Gabe knew the personal emotions he was wrestling with had no place in this mission right now, so he jammed them down deep inside him and pushed his horse to a faster trot. He wished to hell he could know what was in the minds of those soldiers. Who was the leader? What were his plans? Would they just blow Gabe and Anna off and forget about them, focused instead on the drug drop? Or not? Worse? The Elsons knew the color of the horses they had on that ranch. They would recognize them. Even trying to go back to the ranch would be risky. The Elsons could be waiting to take them out if they ever made it back home. Helplessness overwhelmed him for a moment.

  “Hey,” Anna called, riding up behind him, “can we rest a moment?”

  Gabe pulled his horse to a stop. “Yeah. You okay? Is Top limping?”

  “No, he’s fine. I just need to put feet on the ground for a moment.” She twisted around, looking behind them. “Do you think we can? Or do you think they’re on our tail?”

  Gabe looked back and then down at her. He saw how stressed Anna was. “Sure, let’s take a ten-minute breather. We’ve put at least two miles between us and them. If they are following us, they’re on foot. And these pine needles cover our tracks. The minute a horse’s hoof presses down on them, they spring right back up. We are very, very hard to track.” He dismounted and dropped the reins on his horse. Both were ground-tied trained. It meant to the horse that if the reins were on the ground, they didn’t wander off.

  Coming around, he said, “Drop your reins. I’ll help you off.” He saw several bloody scratches on her cheek where she’d fallen when Top had stumbled and fell. Placing his hands around her waist, he easily lifted her out of the saddle. He saw the surprise in her features, but she didn’t protest. Instead, Anna placed her hands on his broad shoulders as he eased her to the ground.

  “Ohhh,” she moaned, gripping his upper arms as he allowed her to take the weight, “I’m so damned sore, Gabe.”

  He kept his hands around her waist, assessing her. This had been grueling for Anna. “You probably have more bruises on your body than you know right now,” he said gently. “Can you stand or do you want me to hold you for a moment?”

  She looked up, her lips twisted. “Give me a second . . .” she said, and she moved her weight from one foot to the other, making sure she could stand on her own. “My legs feel like two wishbones,” she griped.

  Gabe nodded, seeing her grit and courage. “This has been one helluva day. It’s bad enough we’re being shot at and chased. But to not have rider’s legs or even remember how to ride a horse on top of it all, I think you’re pretty special. I’m proud of you, Anna.”

  “Thanks . . . the insides of my thighs feel raw.”

  “They aren’t, but our flesh is pretty tender on the insides of our legs and it doesn’t take much to make it feel like you’ve been skinned.” He wanted to hold her more but she took a step back, releasing his arms, so he let go of her waist. Studying her, he saw the exhaustion in her eyes, too.

  “I was thinking,” she told him, looking around again. “The Elsons know who we are. What’s to stop them from waiting for us when and if we get out of this situation? They could put the drop on us when we drive back to our ranch.”

  He took the reins from her horse and let them go. Sure that the horses could use a breather, too, he slid his hand around hers. “Come on, let’s walk around a little bit and get our sea legs back. We’ll both keep watch.”

  As they walked a slow circle around the standing horses whose fur was dripping wet with sweat, Anna said, “We aren’t even sure the soldiers didn’t find our truck and trailer. They could have hot-wired it and it’s gone, too, Gabe. We could be really stranded.”

  “It’s a possibility. Or, they could be hiding nearby our truck and trailer, waiting to bushwhack us, too. Be hiding up on that slope that’s covered with trees. We wouldn’t be able to see them until it was too late.”

  “This is a mess.” Scowling, Anna said, “You have any ideas on what to do?”

  “We have to try to get back to see if our truck and trailer are still in the parking lot. That’s our best option on a list that sucks.”

  “There’s so little traffic on this dead-end highway to this parking lot that we’d never be able to stop another vehicle and get some help from the driver,” Anna muttered, shaking her head.

  “It would be pure luck if that happened, and I don’t count on luck in a circumstance like this.”

  “Neither do I,” Anna growled unhappily. She looked at her arms, which were protected, part of her jacket torn when she hit the ground earlier.

  “Have you ever been in a similar situation like this tracking down your target in the jungle?”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “I had just taken out my target and thirty drug soldiers flowed into the jungle surrounding the villa afterward. I had to hotfoot it out of there pronto. They’d have killed me if they’d found me. Luckily, I found an old, rusted-out and unused water pipe and I crawled into it, covering the front of it with plant branches and debris, to hide myself. They walked all around the area. I sweated it out. They never found me, but it was too close for comfort.”

  He gave her a concerned look. “I’m glad I didn’t know you then,” he rasped. Framing her face with his hands, he felt her startle, not expecting this at all. “If I had, Anna, I don’t know what I’d have done.” He leaned down, his lips hovering scant inches from her own. “Now? It’s different, my heart, mi corazón. I want time with you. I want to share my life with you,” he said, and he leaned down, tenderly moving his lips against hers, feeling her instantly react, a low moan in her throat, her arms coming up to surround his shoulders, pressing herself against him. For that molten moment, danger didn’t exist. He tasted the pine upon her lips, the strength of her, strong yet soft, giving and taking. As he inhaled the scent of her skin it made him dizzy with need. Reluctantly, he broke contact, staring into her drowsy-looking eyes. “You are precious to me,” he rasped, his voice breaking as he caressed her flushed cheek with his thumb. “We’re going to survive this, Anna. Somehow . . . we will . . .”

  She released him, closed her eyes, and rested her cheek against his chest, the pounding of his heart against her ear. Encircling his torso, she whispered brokenly, “Ever since this happened, Gabe, I’ve realized that all I wanted was you. Time with you. Away from all this danger . . . possibly losing our lives . . .”

  He heard the catch in her low, raspy voice, understanding this wa
s a woman who didn’t cry over little things. Her tears wet his jacket and he slid his fingers over her tousled hair, part of it still captured up in a ponytail and the rest jerked free when Top fell. “We want the same thing, the same thing . . .” he rasped, and he closed his eyes, resting his jaw lightly against her temple, savoring the contours of her body against his own, memorizing this moment because he knew it might be the last time they would ever embrace each other.

  Easing away from him, Anna stared up into his troubled gaze. She could clearly see the love he held for her. And it had to happen now. In the midst of the worst day of their lives, with no guarantee that they would get out of this fiasco alive. Her voice was choked with tears. “I want a life without violence . . . I want quiet, peace, and loving you . . . just you . . .”

  It felt as if an icy hand had gripped his heart as those whispered and torn words washed across his soul. Gripping her, he held her tightly against him, kissing her hair and her temple. “I love you, Anna. With everything I have, I love you . . .”

  They stood there another minute, both realizing that they could be followed by soldiers who wanted to take their lives. As they unwillingly broke apart, Anna looked at the horses. They were exhausted, their heads hanging. They needed water. And rest. Their ears were not perked up and they weren’t looking in any particular direction, which would have alerted her to humans on their trail. Like all animals, they had exquisite hearing. For now, they were safe.

  “We need to turn our focus on them. Let’s find a water source?” she asked, pointing to the horses.

  Gabe nodded. “On the main road into that meadow, there’s a nearby creek. I think we should try to make a semicircle around to it.” He looked up at the darkening blue sky. His watch read six P.M. By eight P.M., it would be fairly dark. “We need to get to the edge of that meadow, get the horses a drink, and then try to make it parallel to that road and head out toward the parking lot. That map showed this road leading to it.”