by John Bowers
*
Back on the street, Nick turned to face Mijo.
“Your abuela, huh?”
Mijo shrugged with an embarrassed grin.
“It works with most people.”
“You don’t have any place to live?”
“I have a few friends. Sometimes they let me sleep in their houses, when the weather is cold.”
“And the rest of the time?”
“I get by.”
“By stealing?”
“Sometimes. But I never take anything expensive. I only take what people can afford to lose.”
“How do you know what they can afford?”
“I know everybody in town. I know who has money and who doesn’t.”
“That doesn’t make it right. How do you feed yourself?”
“I get by.”
Nick stared at him a moment.
“You eat out of garbage cans?”
“Sometimes. And some of the restaurants give me leftovers. They never sell all the food, and they save some of it for me.”
Nick gazed down the street, thinking. Everyone he had talked to about the boy had expressed a bit of irritation at his conduct, but none seemed genuinely angry at him. In spite of their annoyance, they seemed to be caring for him in a somewhat informal manner. He really was, apparently, the town’s wayward child.
“Okay, Mijo, I’ve got things to do. I have to leave you now.”
Mijo squinted at him.
“You coming back?”
“I dunno. Maybe.”
“Why can’t I go with you?”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care. I want to hang out with you.”
“Well, I appreciate that, but I didn’t come here to hang out. I have a job to do.”
“You going to el castillo?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how to get inside?”
“Not yet.”
“I do.”
Nick frowned.
“I know how to get in. I’ve been there a bunch of times.”
Nick cocked an eyebrow. “No you haven’t.”
“I have, too! A bunch of times!”
“And how did you get in?”
“Through the tunnel.”
“There is no tunnel. I checked the blueprints.”
“There is too! I used it a bunch of times.”
“Don’t lie to me, Mijo. This is important.”
“I’m not lying.” The boy crossed his heart and held up his right hand. “I swear it.”
“Did anybody see you?”
“Brandy saw me once.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me I should leave. She said Mr. Tinker-Smith wouldn’t like it if he found out.”
“Did she tell him you were there?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know?”
“They never closed the tunnel.”
“You went back?”
“Yeah. A bunch of times.”
“How long were you inside?”
“I spent the night there. A bunch of times.”
“And nobody saw you except Brandy?”
“Trevor.”
“Who’s Trevor?”
“He runs the train.”
“The train?”
“Yeah. You remember the railroad tracks that crossed the road by the castle?”
“I remember.”
“Mr. Tinker-Smith has his own train. Trevor drives it.”
In spite of himself, Nick felt his heart beating faster. The blueprints had shown no covert entries or exits to the castle, and he hardly dared to believe Mijo’s story, but…if the kid was telling the truth, this might be the break he was looking for.
He took Mijo’s shoulder and nudged him toward the taxi.
“Get in.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “Where we going?”
“To the castle. You’re going to show me. And Dios save you if you’re lying.”
Chapter 30
Saracen’s Castle – Lago District – Tau Ceti 4
Kenneth Saracen stood at his broad, forty-foot window and stared out at the rain streaks that slanted down the glass. The wind had risen and the lake surface was now grey with chop. The weather could be erratic at this time of year—the light snow from the night before had melted and the morning, though chilly, had been bright and sunny. Now the afternoon sky was blotted out by dark, heavy clouds, black with water. The deluge would break any minute, and if it continued past sunset, falling temperatures would turn it into snow; if the wind did not abate, it could become a blizzard.
He looked at his watch again. Danube hadn’t called back, but it had only been a couple of hours.
Still…
If she hadn’t called, that meant Walker was still out there, still a threat. Not only that, but his senses would be on high alert, thanks to that degenerate bitch Ginny. It was unlikely Walker knew about the castle, but not impossible. Sam and Joker were in custody in Orosi and might have talked, though he didn’t think so. They were loyal followers who had been with him for years.
But he couldn’t risk it. The Cross woman had found him, and if she could find him, then so could Walker. It was time to take precautions.
He picked up the comm set and punched a button. Brandy answered almost at once.
“Yes sir?”
“Assemble the crew in my office. We need to conference.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
***
Victoria sat on the floor of her closet and waited. The air inside was getting colder. She gripped the coat hook in one hand and yawned, trying not to shiver. Her nerves were tight with tension, but her situation was no longer hopeless. She had a weapon now, and only needed the opportunity to use it.
It probably wouldn’t be long now. She was getting hungry, so it must be close to noon. Brandy would probably bring her something to eat before long. Hopefully she would come alone…
***
The entire crew arrived in less than five minutes. Saracen leaned casually against the front of his desk, arms crossed. His people lined up in front of him, almost at attention, their eyes expectant. Saracen did a mental head count. Phil, Patrick, Bodie, and Brandy. Danube was on assignment, and the men he had sent to Orosi—Sam, Charlie, and Joker—would not be coming back any time soon. Especially, Charlie, who was dead. That left four people to defend the castle against Walker.
Not nearly enough. Saracen would never admit it, but Walker terrified him. The man was relentless, a predator. Saracen had sent more than a dozen people to meet Walker on the Alpha Centauri Express, and only one had survived. Walker and his partner had killed the others.
Four people. He needed more.
“The first thing you need to know is that Charlie Gaspar is dead.”
All four stared at him in shock. Phil Wasserman, a former Star Marine, asked the obvious question.
“How?”
“We’re not sure exactly what went down, but he apparently got into some kind of argument with Bert Carter and killed him. Then one of Carter’s people killed Charlie. Sam and Joker have been arrested.”
Several others started to ask questions, but Saracen held up his hands.
“We can deal with all that later, but what it means right now is that we’re short three people. The real news is that Nick Walker is on TC 4. It took him two years, but he tracked us here from Alpha Centauri, and he’s looking for blood. Danube has a bead on him and I expect a report from her before long, but until she checks in I have to assume that he knows about the castle. We need to take steps.”
“What about Ginny?” Brandy asked.
“Ginny is dead.”
“What!?!”
Saracen nodded. “Danube called this morning to say that Ginny had Walker in her sights, but he spotted her somehow and took her into custody. When he finished interrogating her, he killed her.”
&n
bsp; “Oh, my god!”
“We don’t know if Ginny gave us up or not. Danube said Ginny’s arm was broken, so Walker may have tortured it out of her. Until we know more, we have to operate on the assumption that he knows about the castle and will try to get inside.”
Wasserman scowled. “All by himself?”
“Maybe, maybe not. We know for sure that he’s been in contact with the law enforcement officials in Orosi and Hardwood, so he may bring reinforcements.”
Saracen surveyed them with a grim expression.
“Until this is all sorted out, I want the towers manned. Phil, you and Patrick get set up on the corners so you can cover as much ground as possible. Bodie, contact some of your YWL kids and get them over here. Give them rifles and tell them to kill anybody wearing a cowboy hat.”
Bodie Buchanan nodded.
“I know just the boys for the job.”
“Good. Get on it.”
Saracen reached into his desk and pulled out a stack of portable transmitters. He tossed one to each of the group.
“Attach these to your collar and check in every thirty minutes. If you see anyone trespassing, call immediately. This is serious, boys and girls. Our survival depends on it.”
The men nodded and began to disperse. Brandy frowned in disappointment.
“What about me?”
Saracen patted her on the shoulder.
“You’re my reserve. If anything happens to one of the others, you’ll have to take his place.”
Brandy’s expression relaxed and she almost smiled.
“Okay.”
“While we have time, I want you to go outside and send the stoneworkers home. Tell them I’ll pay them for a full day’s work, but I want them off the property.”
“They’re going to ask why.”
“Tell them I’m expecting guests. It’s starting to rain, so they’ll have to knock off pretty soon anyway.”
“Yes, sir.”
“When you’re done with that, you might as well take Miss Cross something to eat. We want her to stay healthy.”
“We do?”
“Absolutely. If Walker actually gets inside, she may become very valuable to us.”
The Road to Lago – Tau Ceti 4
Nick was a little ambivalent about taking Mijo with him as he approached the castle; taking a civilian into danger was a big law enforcement no-no, times ten if the civilian was a juvenile. But Nick needed to get inside the castle, and going through the front gate would probably get him shot. The kid claimed to know a covert entrance to get inside; he would get what he needed from Mijo, then send him back to safety.
Black clouds had boiled up since he arrived in Lago and now a cold rain was starting to fall. From the look of things, it would soon become a deluge. As they drove along the lake shore toward the castle, Nick eyed the clouds with mixed feelings—on the one hand, a hard rain would be cold and miserable, but on the other, it might make his approach to the castle easier.
He switched on the wipers as the rain fell harder.
“How much farther?”
“See that bridge?” Mijo pointed. “There’s a dirt road that runs under it. Turn in there.”
Nick squinted and identified the bridge. He hadn’t noticed it when they drove down from Hardwood. He checked the road in both directions and began to slow. One car was headed in his direction, its headlights burning through the rain, but it whipped past without a problem. He didn’t get a look at the pilot.
He pulled off the road onto the dirt track. The rain was churning it into mud, but it remained firm enough as long as he kept his speed down. He followed it forty or fifty yards until it twisted back to the left and passed under the bridge. Nick guided the taxi underneath the bridge and stopped.
“Now what?”
“The road runs along the edge of the lake, all the way to the trees.” The boy pointed again. “Once you get to the trees, you can get to the tunnel.”
“If we take this road all the way to the trees, can anyone see us from the castle?”
Mijo looked uncertain. He shrugged.
“Yeah, probably. There’s a big window on this end. It’s up high.”
“Can you see it from the road?”
“What, the window? Yeah.”
“Then they can see the road, too.”
“Not if they aren’t looking.”
Nick grunted. They’ll be looking.
He stepped out of the car and walked through the gloom to the end of the culvert. Rain was pounding the bridge above him, the runoff pouring in streams onto the road below. The lake was starting to disappear, fading into the grey downpour. Nick realized he had three choices—drive down the road and hope no one would pay attention to a public taxi; wait for dark and go on foot in the hopes he wouldn’t be seen; or go now and trust the storm to screen him from view.
None of those choices was attractive, especially if Saracen’s people were using IR equipment to pick up body heat signatures. But the main entrance to the castle was even more impossible, offering no approach that couldn’t be seen from the castle towers. Except for the slope down to the lake, the west end seemed to be the best bet. The slope was dotted by clusters of trees, but most of it had been cleared. Too bad the trees didn’t cover the entire slope.
Mijo exited the car and came up to stand beside him.
“What are you gonna do, Nick?”
“I need you to tell me how to find that tunnel.”
“I have to show you.”
“Forget it. I’m leaving you here.”
“Why?”
“There could be shooting.”
“That’s okay. Just give me a gun.”
Nick laughed. “Not a chance.”
“Why not? You’ve got two of ‘em. Three, with the rifle. I just need one.”
“You need to do what you’re told.”
Mijo grinned at him.
“Nick, you don’t think that will work on me, do you? I never do what I’m told.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out. But this time it’s different. You could get killed.”
“So could you. We’re in this together, ain’t we?”
“No, we ain’t. Now tell me where to find that tunnel.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean, you can’t? Just describe it to me.”
Now Mijo laughed.
“Nick, I can’t. I have to show you.”
“Look—”
“All those trees look alike, especially now, in the rain. I can take you straight to it, but I can’t describe it to you.”
Nick heaved a deep breath. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he understood what the kid was saying. Pointing someone to a particular tree in a forest was sort of like pointing to a particular asteroid in a field of millions. Without specific landmarks, or some method of measurement, it was an impossible task.
Before he could form a reply, Nick heard an approaching car. He might not have noticed except it began to slow, and a moment later he heard the crunch of tires on the dirt road behind him.
With a stir of apprehension, he turned in time to be blinded by a pair of headlights that pulled to a stop directly behind the taxi.
Hardwood – Tau Ceti 4
It was two in the afternoon when Sheriff Kirk Thomas heard a tap on his door and looked up.
“It’s open.”
To his utter surprise, the man who stepped through the door was Chief Roger Blankenship of Orosi. Thomas knew Blankenship, but rarely saw him more than once a year. The woman with him was a stranger, although she did look vaguely familiar.
Thomas got to his feet.
“Chief! What a surprise. What brings you to Hardwood?”
Blankenship, sporting a bruise on his forehead, looked almost sheepish. He turned to the woman and introduced her.
“Sheriff, this is Connie Ventura.”
Connie Ventura, a dark, pretty woman, leaned across the desk to shake hands.
“Pleased to
meet you, Sheriff.”
“Likewise.” Thomas smiled briefly and looked at Blankenship again.
“Sorry to break up your day, Sheriff, but I understand you know a man named Walker?”
“I do. He came to see you, too?”
“Not…exactly, no, but he was in our town yesterday. He caused quite a stir.”
“I’m starting to think he’s pretty good at that. Did he cause you any trouble?”
“At first I thought he had, but now I think he may have done us a favor.”
Thomas pointed to a couple of chairs facing his desk.
“Take a seat. Tell me about it.”
Blankenship talked for fifteen minutes. Connie Ventura jumped in occasionally with details. When they finished, Thomas felt a crawl along the back of his neck.
“So you think Walker is really onto something.”
Blankenship nodded.
“Yeah, at this point I do. And if he’s right about Tinker-Smith, I think we—you and I, and maybe Buono over in Lago—also need to get involved. If anything happens to Walker and the Federation comes sniffing around asking about it, we might have a hard time explaining why we left him high and dry.”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“Just for the record, I don’t much give a shit what the Federation thinks, or the Confederacy, either. But I think Walker is genuine. I checked his story with Alpha Centauri, and he’s legit.”
He sighed, his eyes troubled.
“What you probably haven’t heard is that, in the last thirty hours or so, we’ve had four murders right here in my town.”
“Four!” Blankenship looked shocked. “What the hell?”
“My sentiments exactly. Walker’s theory is that Tinker-Smith sent someone to kill him, and the victims got in the way.”
“Do you have a lead on the killer?”
Thomas told Blankenship about the arrest and subsequent murder of Ginny Stapleton. And Billy Stanfield.
“Where is Walker now?” Connie asked.
“He headed off to Lago. Said he was going to take Saracen down. All by himself, if necessary.”
Blankenship looked at his watch.
“How long ago?”
“Maybe three hours. He left around eleven.”
Blankenship exchanged glances with Connie Ventura, then looked at Thomas again.
“We need to back him up. I brought two men with me; if you can spare a couple, we might be able to give Walker some help.”
