Betrayal in the Badlands

by Dana Mentink

  Logan shimmied back farther until a sharp ridge of rock pressed into his spine. Autie had ammunition galore, he was sure. There was no chance Logan could retreat without being picked off as he did so.

  “Captain Price?” Autie’s voice was louder now. “I will offer you the honorable way out. If you surrender, I will be happy to kill you quickly instead of hunting you down like a rabid cur. Consider it a sign of respect from one soldier to another.”

  “Respect this,” Logan muttered. Gritting his teeth, he slowly unzipped his backpack and removed a metal cylinder. He mentally calculated the distance and took a deep breath before he pulled the ring. The smoke grenade sailed through the air in a neat arc. It landed with a clatter just behind Autie’s hiding place and the yellow haze surged out with a hiss.

  Logan didn’t waste time. He ran up the trail holding his breath, just ahead of the smoke screen, leaving Autie to fight his way past the stench of terephthalic acid.

  It would buy him minutes, five at the most.

  He plunged on as fast as he dared along the uneven ground until his way was barred by a hoodoo. The ground next to it had given way.

  He read the signs, the fallen rock, broken vegetation.

  She’d tried to wriggle past and fallen.

  He risked a moment to scan the area with his binoculars, but since the ground dropped sharply out of sight, he could not pinpoint her location. With no more time to waste, he took off down the slope, following as best he could the trail of disturbed ground.

  The sun was fully overhead now, baking the rocky surface.

  He cast a quick glance at the summit from which he’d come. The choking smoke was clearing now, wafting up into the sizzling blue sky. Autie would be coming soon and he would be angry at being tricked by the smoke bomb. Logan ran now, scanning in every direction as the sign of Isabel’s passage grew fainter with every step. Soon it had petered out altogether, swallowed up by a rugged layer of broken rock. He found himself caged in by a forest of knobbed pillars. Far below, he knew, was a bowl-shaped depression of grassland and trees. She’d have headed there, he thought, but probably did not have the strength to make it.

  Breath heaving, he made a tight circle. Her tracks seemed to have vanished, but pressed into the soil he found the unmistakable prints of a mountain lion.

  The animals were skilled hunters. Silent and deadly, much like Autie himself. His pulse edged up a notch.

  Find her, Logan. Find her.

  He kept looking, peering into any crack or crevice that might be big enough to conceal her.

  She was hiding, he desperately hoped, not unconscious from blood loss or hypoglycemia. He kept his eyes off the mountain lion tracks. Or worse.

  Fearing he’d alert Autie to his location, but running out of options, Logan called her name.

  “Isabel? Where are you?”

  A sultry breeze teased him and a fat lizard scuttled by his feet.

  He tried again, in a louder tone. “Isabel, honey, you have to help me find you. Tell me where you are.”

  At first he thought it was the wind, playing with his desires. Then the sound repeated itself.

  “Here,” came the ragged whisper. “I’m here.”

  Isabel lay in a tiny cave bored into the rock by water that had long ago disappeared into the desert’s unforgiving sand. The heat from the gravel underneath her and the rock pressed into her back felt as though she’d crawled into an oven. She wanted more than anything to escape the burning, but she could not move. Her legs were two useless things and her head spun. Still she heard, or thought she imagined, Logan’s voice calling to her.

  “I’m here,” she called, throat so parched that it came out as a croak.

  The effort used up her energy and she closed her eyes.

  A hand touched her arm tentatively and she found Logan kneeling over her.

  “Isabel, I’m here.”

  He pressed a bottle to her lips and she thought nothing had ever tasted as delicious as that sip of warm water. Still, she wondered if she was imagining his presence.

  “Tell me where you’re hurt.”

  “Just my shoulder, but I’m all wobbly.”

  He eased her into a sitting position and his green eyes swam into view. The intensity in them drilled into her. He stared at her, eyes roving, until he finally pressed his face to hers, lips tracing her cheekbone.

  “I thought I might be too late.”

  She tried to answer through an onslaught of tears. “Autie put me in a car. I tried to call you, but he shot at me.” She grabbed his hand. “Oh, Logan. He wanted you to follow so he could kill you, too.”

  Logan rummaged through his backpack. “He can take his best shot, but he won’t win.”

  She felt a thrill of terror. “Is he still out there?”

  “Yes.” Logan removed a protein bar from his pack. “Close. We’ve got to get you stabilized and out of here.”

  He unwrapped the bar and handed her a chunk.

  The thought of eating was detestable, but she managed to get it down and drink another few sips of water. He turned and she caught his profile. His hair was matted with blood, a gash showing blue-black on his temple.

  “You’re hurt.”

  He shrugged. “Own fault. Autie planted a bomb in the car and I didn’t catch on quick enough. Must be getting rusty.”

  Her tears flowed in earnest then. “Logan, you never should have come for me. Never even gotten involved in this mess.”

  He took hold of her hands and squeezed. Hard. “I’m only going to say this once because we don’t have time. There is no place that I would choose to be right now except by your side. Got it?”

  No words came. She clung to his fingers and blinked back the tears.

  “Can you stand?”

  “Yes.” She wasn’t sure at first she could deliver on her promise. Her legs were as unruly as a new colt’s, but she made it, clinging to him as she swayed before regaining her balance.

  Logan crouched at the cave opening, staring fixedly at the horizon. “He’ll know we’re making for the green because that’s our best chance of getting help. There’s a trailhead there. We’re going to have to go about it the long way.” He pointed to a route that took them through a path heavy with tall desert grasses and fallen rock. “We can keep some level of cover there. Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  As quietly as they could manage, they scurried out into the harsh sunlight, which dazzled her eyes for a moment. Keeping hold of Logan’s hand, she followed blindly.

  Her earlier words came back to her. Never trust a man again. Especially a handsome man. And that was precisely what she was doing. Furthermore, she knew it was exactly right. She trusted Logan with her life.

  And her heart.

  Trying to keep the pace without stumbling, she wondered if they would encounter Autie waiting around the next pile of rock, rifle at the ready. He’d been one step ahead of them and now they were in his playground.

  She focused on moving her weak legs forward. Each yard they covered seemed to be hotter than the last, until finally he pulled her into the shade of a low cliff and told her to drink. He was sweat-soaked and a little pale, she thought, pushing the bottle back to him.

  “You drink. You haven’t had any.”

  He waved it away. “I’m fine. Drink.”

  She took a small sip and recapped the bottle as the truth dawned on her. The meager half-full bottle was all the water they had until they were rescued.

  Or Autie found them.

  Stifling a shiver she followed him as the path sloped down into yet another depression of bone-white rock. Logan climbed over a low boulder and turned to offer her a hand. As she crossed, her foot knocked loose a rock that fell with a thud onto the path. The rock rolled past a small hole in the ground and a stream of wasps jetted out in an angry line. Jabbing, retreating and jabbing again, they swarmed around until the air was alive with them, the furious buzzing deafening.

  She screamed and held her han
ds up to protect her face.

  They buzzed around her, stinging repeatedly, entangling themselves in her hair.

  Trying to bat them away seemed only to enrage the wasps more as they enveloped her body in a humming cloud. Panic surging, she started to run until Logan caught up with her and she’d gotten enough distance from the horde.

  He pulled her into some meager shade and slapped the insects away, yanking off the ones who continued their relentless stinging, disentangling the few who had burrowed into her hair. When it was finally over, her arms were punctured in multiple places, her face on fire from the wasps that made contact there.

  Logan wetted a section of gauze with the precious water and she pressed it to the worst of the stings.

  “Are you allergic to insects?”

  She shook her head. “No, but I wish they were allergic to me.”

  His smile was tight and she looked more closely into his face.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I didn’t even see that hole in the ground.”

  He shook his head wearily. “I didn’t see it, either. Focused on other things.”

  The realization hit her like a vicious stinging thing. Her scream had not scared the wasps in the least. It had done something far worse—revealed to Autie their exact location.

  TWENTY ONE

  Though he continued on, urging Isabel forward, Logan knew there was no way they would reach the green before Autie caught up to them.

  The Badlands hemmed them into a raised plateau, a section of rugged rock scorched by water that had long ago been sucked away, ravaged now only by the wind and the relentless sun. Isabel was weak, moving slowly.

  Autie would catch them. It was just a matter of time.

  There were only two options. Stay alive until help found them, or take Autie down.

  Autie, he knew, was likely to find a location above them on the rim of the plateau where they’d run after the wasp attack. He’d wait patiently. Fully armed, with enough food and water to sustain him. Sooner or later, Logan would have to move to avoid encountering the mountain lion or to seek better shelter when night fell.

  The time was almost five and already the shadows were lengthening, the heat at its most intense. As hot as they were now, in a few hours the temperature would plunge. He eyed Isabel where she sat, eyes closed.

  Her face was pale, skin marred by wasp stings. The bandage on her shoulder showed signs of fresh blood. Unzipping his pack, he crawled to her, easing off the sodden strip of fabric.

  Her eyes found his. “Putting on your doctor hat?”

  He didn’t like the faintness in her voice. Pressing the water bottle to her parched lips, he made her drink. “Just going to redress the wound. Then we’ve got to move again.”

  “Where?”

  Anywhere, just to buy time and stay alive until help came. He figured it was best not to tell her about the grim reality, but something in him felt different now. She was not a mission, nor a civilian. She was a woman who had survived more than he could ever understand. A woman of strength and generosity that took his breath away. A woman he loved and would not lie to.

  He stroked her cheek. “We’re pinned down here, honey. The best we can do is keep moving until help arrives. If I get the chance to take Autie out, I will, but he’s careful.”

  She blinked and then gave him a smile that melted his heart.

  “Thank you for being honest with me.”

  He sighed. “I don’t know why, but with you, I want to be completely honest, to show you who I am. Even the not-so-good parts. I guess this old soldier is trying to learn some new tricks after all.” He gritted his teeth. “Why can’t I get you out of this? I’ve completed hundreds of successful missions. Why can’t I rescue you?”

  She reached for his hand. “You already have.”

  He brushed his lips to her forehead, burning hot. Helplessness welled up again. Autie would hunt them down like animals until he made the kill. For Logan, it was the end he’d been preparing for his entire career, the one he knew lay just beyond the next downed airplane, or hidden inside some nondescript burned-out shell of a house.

  But Isabel?

  She should not pay this kind of price.

  He murmured a silent prayer and laid down his pride. Help me, Lord. I can’t save her, but You can.

  The thwop of a helicopter engine cut through the stillness.

  Logan’s heart leapt. “It’s a police chopper. They’re looking for us.”

  His mind raced. Autie was watching. If Logan stepped out to signal the chopper, he’d be a dead man.

  If he didn’t, the aircraft would likely pass by and move to another search grid.

  Their lives were ticking down to the final minutes. No water, Autie closing in, Isabel weakening.

  He felt her grip tighten on his hand, bringing him back.

  “Logan, I know what you’re thinking. If you go out there, Autie will kill you.”

  “If I don’t, they won’t find us in time.”

  She clung to his hand until her fingers dug into his. “Please don’t do it.”

  “It’s going to be okay.”

  “No, it’s not.” Tears started down her face. “Not if you die. Not if you give your life for mine. Since that day I saw you so many years ago, some part of me has known that I needed you. You can’t go out there to die. I won’t let you go.”

  “Shhh. I have to get us help.”

  “No,” she whispered. “Please.”

  He kissed her gently on the mouth. “You’ve taught me so much about what is really important in this life. I love you, Isabel, and I have to do this.”

  She opened her mouth to reply, tears flowing freely, but he did not wait to hear.

  He turned quickly and, crouching low, he ran.

  Isabel cried out but Logan was already gone. Gathering up what little strength she had left, she crawled out of her hiding place. No plan formed in her mind. No goal other than to find Logan and stop him.

  She’d lost Cassie, without the chance to tell her how much she loved her.

  He would not go out and die, not without knowing that she loved him, too. Desperately. Mindlessly. With a love so pure and light, she knew it came straight from the Lord. It was a sweet emotion, unclouded with the guilt and terror that had driven her into Rawley’s trap.

  Autie couldn’t take him away from her.

  Knees shaking, she made it to her feet and lurched out of the shelter.

  The chopper was lower now, flying in wide circles over the blistering landscape, whirling the red earth into eddies of rust.

  She strained her eyes, desperate to catch sight of Logan, to stop him.

  Half-blinded by the sunlight streaming over the cliff tops, she grew dizzy. Forcing herself in the direction she figured he’d gone, she half ran, half staggered. He would head to the highest point, she thought. A place to signal the helicopter.

  A tiny blur of movement caught her eye. A figure moved at a quick pace through the rock. She caught no more than a dart of shadow. Was it Logan? Or Autie?

  Before fear could override instinct, she took off toward the movement.

  Logan climbed the twisting path to the highest point on the plateau. He’d have a moment to fire off the signal flare, and a few more to try to conceal himself until Autie showed up. He’d be an easy target with no escape route.

  An idea formed so quickly he didn’t have time to think it through. Passing a sharp turn, he pulled out his sunglasses and wedged them into a hollow of rock. Continuing around the corner he checked the line of sight. Perfect. He would see Autie coming just before he rounded the corner. It would buy him only the tiniest bit of surprise, but it would be enough.

  It had to be.

  He moved on a few more paces before he knelt to extract the signal flare from his backpack. With ten thousand candle-power and a six-and-a-half-second burn time, the signal should alert the chopper. He hoped so, because Autie would be onto him before he had a chance to deploy the other three he’d
brought along.

  He loaded the flare and aimed, releasing the missile into flight.

  His hope soared with the projectile, as it arced three hundred feet into the air in a blazing trail of light.

  Lord, let it be enough.

  Isabel’s breath caught as she saw the plume of fire cut through the air. He’d done it. She watched in terrified fascination as the chopper slowly turned, like some ungainly flying insect. It swiveled to the right and left, drawing closer, and then inconceivably moving away. Her heart filled with hope, but the chopper did not come closer to rescue them. Had it not spotted the flare? Were her eyes playing tricks on her?

  It didn’t matter now, she realized. Autie most certainly had seen it and was heading for Logan.

  She stumbled on, hands grabbing at the rocks as she pushed herself forward. She wanted to scream his name, but her mouth was so dry only a rough bark came out. From somewhere she heard the sound of feet crunching across the gravel.

  Logan flattened himself against the boulders, ignoring the sharp points that cut into his back. He kept his eyes trained on the sunglasses he’d wedged into the rock. They reflected nothing back at him yet, but he’d heard it, the tiny snap of a dry branch.

  Autie was on his way.

  It was too late to reposition himself. Even a slight movement would reveal his location. With no gun, he was going to have to do it the hard way. On some level, it pleased him. If he could disarm Autie, they’d go hand to hand, the way a fight was supposed to be. No weapons, just strength and cunning and, most importantly, will.

  Logan knew he had Autie beat on that score.

  His win would ensure that Isabel would live.

  Bring it, Autie. I’m ready for you.

  She kept running, plowing over the uneven ground, heedless of the sweat that ran into her eyes. Memories of her sister urged her on, giving strength to her battered body and tattered spirit. She thought idly of Blue Boy.

  Would he find his way home? She prayed the Lord would lead him back, if not to her, then to people who could care for him, nurture him and help him forget the abuse he’d suffered. She fell heavily on one knee, hands pressed to the hot surface.