“Did the town still have a lot of Mexican-Americans?” Haley asked,
“It did. I’m not sure how many will be left now.”
“Hyphenated-Americans.” Stryker sighed. “I don’t think of Americans as being anything but American. I don’t know why groups that claimed to want to be fully integrated us also demanded that we create separation by designating them as something more than just American. It always puzzled me.”
“I once had a woman correct me when I called her African-American. She said she was a Caribbean African-American.”
“Well, from my point of view, we took the whole political correctness thing way too far and it ended up becoming an obstacle to us actually treating each other better and more fairly,” Stryker said.
“I never got all the awards shows for minorities only,” Erin added. “Why did they need separate awards that were limited to only their ethnicity, and yet they participated in the award shows that were open to all? It always struck me as unfair.”
“No idea.” Haley shrugged. The group sat in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.
“So, tell us about the town,” Haley said to Annie.
“Not much to tell,” she replied. “It had a population of around 4,000, but spread out over a county. The town itself had one shopping market, a gas station, a coffee house, and police station.”
“Is it pretty?” Haley asked.
“I guess. It’s surrounded by low mountains, so it’s in a valley. The Virgin River is just north of the town and there are hot springs on the southern side that people claim work wonders on your health and stuff like that.”
“Did you ever soak in them?” Haley asked.
“No, I guess I always felt pretty good so there was no need.”
“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going to bed. There’s nothing else to do,” Erin said.
“Me too,” Haley added. They both got up and walked to opposite corners of the back of the room, and lay down on the mattresses. Annie slept next to Haley, but on her own mattress.
“You coming to bed?” Erin asked Stryker.
“I’m going to stay up for a bit. But, I’ll hit the sack before too long. He walked over to the door, opened it and looked around the showroom, and then closed and locked it.
He sat down on a mattress next to the lantern, opened his atlas, and studied the Utah map. Highway 9 left the interstate, heading northeast, and led directly into La Verkin. It would cut some miles of the longer route, but the road looked to be much smaller.
“That won’t take but an hour, if that,” he mumbled to himself.
“Come to bed,” Erin said.
“On my way.”
He closed the atlas, turned the lantern to the dimmest setting, and crawled into bed, spooning with Erin.
“Sleep,” he said.
CHAPER SIXTEEN
Stryker called Edwards before the rest of the group was awake, and spoke to him while seated on a couch in the showroom. The sat phone made a bunch of clicks that sounded like some African language, and finally Edwards answered.
“Yes?”
“Just checking in.” Stryker paused to hear his response.
“We’re in Portland, checked out my parents’ house, and we are heading to their lake cabin to see if they are there.” He sounded discouraged.
“So, you’re not sounding like you’re very hopeful.”
“I’m not.”
“Why?”
“They would have left a note or something. My father was hyper-organized. We have to go check it out, but I’ve already accepted their deaths.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
A long pause ensued, and Stryker wondered what to say. He and Edwards had both already suffered tragic losses, but Stryker was at a loss for words.
“You still there?” Edwards asked.
“Yes, I just don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” he replied, his voice still despondent.
“Are you going to follow the route we discussed on the trip south?” Stryker asked.
“Unless something comes up.”
“Make sure you let us know if you decide to take any detours.”
“Got it.”
“Have you run across any trouble?” Stryker asked
“No, we’ve only seen a few people and they were all traveling, just like us. Nobody raised a fuss with us and we only stopped to talk to a woman traveling by herself. We kept moving the other two times we saw people.”
“Is Elle with you and up?”
“Yes,”
“I’ll get the ladies up and put them on speakerphone. They all miss her and I am guessing they would like a chat. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
Stryker carried the phone into the back room and shook Erin awake. “Elle’s on the phone. You guys want to talk?”
“Absolutely,” she replied, instantly awake.
“Get the others up. I’ll make the coffee.”
“You got a full charge on the phone?” Stryker asked Edwards. “Cause you are probably going to need it.” He heard a soft chuckle.
“Yeah, we have a solar charger in the back seat of the Humvee and let it charge every day.”
“I’m doing the same with our Humvees.”
“What happened to the pickup?”
“We swapped it out. I can tell you about that tomorrow, the ladies are all up now, so why don’t you put Elle on?”
“Got it.” The phone went quiet for a moment, and Stryker heard Elle’s voice. He handed the phone to Erin, and went to make coffee as the women gathered around the device.
A few minutes later, he handed coffee cups filled with the steaming liquid to the ladies, went back and got his own, then grabbed his atlas and topo maps and headed back to the show room.
They pulled into La Verkin the following morning at around 9:00. Annie rode again with Stryker, mute as a monk in meditation, and he stared around the small town as it passed by their windows.
Stryker thought the town was not unlike his own hometown. They drove by a gas station, a dollar store, a car repair shop, and then entered the town. The homes were modest, cars parked in front of abandoned houses, and the yards were filled with weeds.
“Where is your daughter’s house?”
“Straight ahead. I’ll tell you when to turn.” They passed several abandoned cars and a home that apparently had burned down. All that remained was a faint outline of the skeletal structure of the framing, with much of that twisted off at odd angles. Erin and Haley followed them a safe distance and Stryker kept track of them by glancing at the rear view mirror.
“Turn here. It’s the second home on the left.” Annie motioned to the left. They rounded the corner and pulled up in front of a tiny home that badly needed paint and other maintenance. An impossibly old faded blue Impala sat on flat tires on the driveway. Its body had obviously been dented several times.
Stryker turned, got out of the vehicle, then held up one hand to keep Erin and Haley at a distance. They stopped, and Erin gave Stryker a thumbs up to indicate her understanding.
“Why don’t you shout out her name so we don’t surprise her if she’s home?”
Annie stood by the passenger’s door and yelled, “Julie, are you home?”
Silence.
She repeated the shout.
Nothing.
“Okay,” Stryker said. “Wait here.”
He walked up to the front steps and tried to quietly get to the porch so he could look in a window. Each board he stepped on groaned loudly from his weight, and he finally just walked up the steps and looked through the front window.
Nothing.
He walked to the front door and tried to open it, but it was locked.
“Key?” He asked Annie.
“She used to keep it under the mat.” Annie remained standing next to the Humvee.
“That’s original,” Stryker muttered.
He retrieved the key, opened the door, and entered the house with his carbine at the low ready. After clearing the kitchen and bedrooms, he walked back to the porch and motioned Annie to come in, and then motioned for Erin and Haley to move to their position.
Annie walked directly to the fridge and plucked a piece of paper from under one of the magnets. When Stryker looked confused, she said, “We used to leave notes for each other here.”
She unfolded the paper, read for a moment, then started to weep gently.
“What is it?”
“She’s at Zion Park with my brother. They’re both alive.” She still wept gently, but beamed a smile at the same time. It was one of the most peculiar expressions he ever witnessed.
Erin came through the door, followed by Haley. Both weapons were at the low ready.
“What is it?” Erin looked at Annie, who was now seated at the kitchen table, again reading the note, and sobbing gently.
“They’re both alive and at Zion Park,” Stryker replied.
“Thank God!” Haley said.
“It’s a miracle,” Annie said when she finished the note. “Both she and Bob survived.”
“That’s definitely one for the win column,” Stryker replied. The truth was he was anxious to be rid of Annie. She was not really harmful, but her presence was grating on him. The moodiness and almost sullen silence was unpleasant at best.
“We’re so happy for you,” Erin said, and both women went over and hugged her. Annie stopped sobbing and hugged them both back.
“Well, I guess we go to the park,” Stryker said.
“It’s only about twenty minutes away,” Annie replied.
“Well, let’s go,” Erin said.
“I got the lead again,” Stryker replied. “Maintain distance discipline and keep your eyes open. We are going to be passing by a lot of high ground on the way to the park, and it’s a perfect place for shooters.”
“How do you know that?”
“I looked at the maps.”
“When?” Erin asked.
“A few days ago. You said you wanted to go to the park, so I checked out the route.”
“I can guide you there,” Annie said.
“No need. We turn left here and get on Highway 9 until we pass the towns of Rockville and Springdale, turn left at the dead end, enter the park. The only thing I don’t know is where in the park we’re going.”
“They’re at the Lodge.”
“That’s around one mile north of the turn off on the right hand side of the road,” Stryker replied. “I thought Erin and I might stay there if we took a day to visit the place.”
“You’re a spooky person sometimes,” Annie said. Stryker beamed back at her and Erin just smiled.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They passed through a mostly empty countryside for a few miles and then entered Springdale, as announced by the road sign. There were a few farm implement dealers alongside the highway on the west side of town, a hotel, and a fast food restaurant. As they entered the town, Stryker noticed a lot of homes had historical plaques.
They moved farther into town, and passed what must have been thirty mom and pop restaurants, each with a sign that announced its presence in more cheery tones than the last.
“What is with this?” Stryker asked Annie, who sat in a flinty silence since they left the house.
“You mean all the restaurants?”
“Yes.”
“We’re at the mouth of the entrance to the park, so tourists used to get food here before they spent the day in the park.”
“How crowded was it?” he asked.
“During the summers, it would take hours to get from here to the visitor’s center, and you had to take shuttle buses from the parking lot most often. The lots were all full and the side streets of the town would be full of cars.”
“Well, not a problem now.”
“No, it isn’t,” she replied with a tone of regret.
The road dead-ended ahead and Stryker turned left, passing several parking lots that lined both sides of the road for close to a mile. They passed through an open gate to the park, then a sign that announced it, and continued driving until they parked in front of the Zion Lodge. The building sat in a small meadow, with low mountains seemingly etched in the background. An eerie fog surrounded the entire area and a dense mist swirled over the ground. Stryker could see they were in a valley in which most of the upper elevation lay partially hidden from his vision by the fog.
The Lodge was a massive structure, and the main building was three stories high. The front of the hotel was covered with a porch that ran the length of the building. To the right of the main structure were several buildings that were multi-family units, and all had patios or balconies. He could see plastic furniture on each of the patios, with many chairs lying on their sides. One lonely patio table lay stuck against the bushes that surrounded the south side of the condos. He parked well away from the main building and again studied his surroundings. Something seemed to be eerie about the lack of light and the looming building in front of him.
“Okay, stay here,” he said to Annie and motioned for Erin to stop her vehicle short of the building. He emerged from the Humvee wearing his vest and carrying the M-4.
As he walked toward the hotel, the door opened and a younger woman emerged and shouted, “That’s far enough. I got a man with a scoped rifle on you and you better damn well stop now!”
Stryker stopped, then glanced to the upper stories of the hotel and saw a glint coming from a room on the third story.
“I would guess he would be in a room around number 308,” he said with smirk on his face.
“You don’t need to know that.”
“I already do.”
“How?”
“Because you have the room numbers on the bottom floor doors, and I saw the reflection from the open window two floors above number 108.”
“Julie,” Annie yelled from the Humvee. She got out and ran toward the young woman, and the two embraced in a fierce hug before pulling back and examining each other.
“Mom,” Julie said, “What happened to you? Where have you been? Why are you still alive? Why are you so thin?” The words rushed out of her in a flood, and then she began weeping.
“I’m fine.” Annie hugged her again. “I’ll tell you everything later.”
“Dad?” Julie asked after her sobbing subsided.
“No.” Annie shook her head. “He died on the second day. I’ve spent the rest of the time trying to get back here.”
They embraced again, and Annie patted her back softly.
“Is that Frank in the window?” she asked after Stryker pointed up.
“Yes.”
Annie waved at the window, and then bellowed, “Frank, its Annie.”
“Annie?” He stuck his head out the window and his face broke into wide grin. “I’ll be down in a second.”
“Tell that guy to not use a scope when he is looking into the sun, even in this faint light.” Stryker said as he passed by. “I’m going to make coffee and then we can all enjoy the moment.”
“Who the hell is that?” Julie asked as the giant moved around her and passed into the building.
“I’m still not really sure,” Annie replied slowly, hugging her daughter again.
Erin and Haley moved up to where they stood and waited for them to finish their hug.
As Stryker walked across the lobby, two men descended the staircase at the back of the room. Both carried scoped .308s and wore holsters on their hips. Both leveled their rifles at him, and both stopped in their tracks at the bottom of the stairs.
“Which of you is Annie’s brother?” Stryker asked.
“That’s me,” the taller one on the right replied.
“Former Marine, right?”
“Well, yes.”
“Me too. Annie told me about you. You can lower the weapon, I’m not looking for trouble.”
“Did you bring her here?” The secon
d man said.
“You must have seen us pull in.” Stryker replied. “You got a name?”
“Frank.” He lowered his rifle and moved toward him. “What’s yours?”
“Stryker.”
“Is that your first name?”
“It’s the only name.”
Stryker examined the man who stood before him. He looked to be in his forties, had the lean wiry look of a distance runner, and prominent crow’s feet around the eyes. His eyes were an odd green color and his expression was relaxed.
“You might want to tell your friend there to lower the weapon,” Stryker said dryly. “You’re standing between him and me, and if I did something to make him want to shoot, he’d have to do it through you.”
“Makes sense. Tom,” he turned back toward the man, “put the weapon down. He’s okay.” The man looked reluctant, but lowered the rifle.
“Pleased to meet you.” Frank offered a hand. Stryker extended his, the men shook, and then Frank took a step back and examined Stryker with a frank gaze. Stryker looked down at the man with the same expression.
Tom looked a lot like Frank but was slightly shorter. His weapon was pointed down and hung from a sling, but still in his hands.
“You related?” Stryker asked.
“Cousins,” Frank replied.
“You might want to go outside and say hi to Annie.”
“You good here, Tom?”
The man nodded, but did not take his eyes off Stryker. He looked uncomfortable with the situation. Stryker glanced down at his rifle and noted it was not a .308, but a Camp Marlin .45. It was a good weapon.
“I’ll be outside for a minute.” Frank walked through the lobby and out of Stryker’s line of sight.
Tom continued to stare up at Stryker. When Stryker stared back at him, he looked away and then quickly back.
“I don’t want you nervous about me, Tom, because if you are, then I am going to get nervous about you and something that doesn’t need to happen might happen. So, just calm down. I just spent days hauling Annie across three states and if I was going to do something bad, I would’ve already done it. I saw both of you on the third floor the minute we pulled into the parking lot, and didn’t do anything about it, so you’re good with me. So, try to be good with me and we don’t have a problem.”
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