by Billy Kring
Hunter glanced at the women approaching, noticing they’d slowed. They stopped completely at about seventy yards distance.
She held her pistol, the one she’d taken off the man at the ranch, and kept it at her side, her hand hanging loose with it. She said, “I don’t have time to mess with this. You three give up, right now!”
The women looked at her. Then at their surroundings. No one else showed, except for an occasional vehicle on Bell Street. “We think you better give up, to us!” Nadine said.
Hunter thought about the child in her back seat, and all that she’d been through. “You come any closer and I’ll shoot.”
“At this range? Good luck.” All three raised their weapons to show off.
Hunter took aim at the woman next to Nadine and shot her in the thigh.
The .40 round was loud, and sent the woman to the ground, hands flying to the side and her pistol sliding away on the pavement.
Hunter hopped in the driver’s seat and took off, checking her rearview mirror to see the other women kneeling over the wounded one. “That’ll keep them busy for a while.”
Kelly sat up and climbed over the back seat into the passenger seat. She reached across and put her fingers lightly on Hunter’s arm, just to be touching. She said, “Suretta has Anita, and Ramona. They were here right before you showed up.”
“Do you know where they’re going?”
“Maybe to the house where they kept us.”
“Tell me how to get there.”
Kelly pointed, “That way.’
She guided Hunter to the street, and then the house. No vehicles were parked in front, but Kelly said, “They always park in back.”
Hunter slowed and stopped her Cherokee right in front, then said, “Stay in the car.”
She went around the corner of the home, easing along with the pistol in her hand. A dog barked down the block, and she smelled someone grilling hamburgers outside over a Mesquite wood fire, the distinct smell stirring her appetite.
She reached the back edge and peeked around it, then stood and relaxed. No vehicle was there.
A man’s voice came from next door, ‘They loaded up all the kids and took off like they were scalded. The old man almost didn’t make it inside before she drove off.” He wore a cook’s apron and had a spatula in his hand. “Kind of glad they left. They were popping firecrackers around here and down by the river. We don’t need them catching the place on fire; there’s lots of dry wood down there.”
“Do you know where they were going?”
“Didn’t say.”
“Thanks.” The neighbor left to finish cooking and Hunter went to the rear door, finding it open. She pushed it and slid inside, then looked around for any clue that might tell her where Suretta and Paco took the children.
A noise made her turn, and Kelly came inside. “I’ll help you look.”
They checked every location in each room, and it was Kelly who found the slip of paper. She hurried to catch Hunter in another room and held out the paper, torn from sheet of hotel stationary. “I found this. It was in Paco’s room.”
Hunter took it and read the note. sonora bEEchcraft king s. Kelly said, “This is Paco’s handwriting. I recognize it because he prints, and always makes the e like a capital E.”
“What else have you seen that he wrote?”
“Notes to us.” Hunter sat up straighter at that.
“What did they say?”
“He told us we needed to escape, all of us.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I think he liked us.”
“I thought he was with Suretta.”
“He is, but he’s not like with her. He’s there, but I don’t think it’s because he really wants to be there.”
“He almost killed my friend, hit him in the head with a log, out at the ranch.”
“I found him taking medicine for his stomach, that pink stuff, and saw him crying when he thought no one was looking.”
“That’s something I’ll keep in mind. So, you think he left this as a message to us?”
“Or to anybody that might help.” She took a deep breath to relax and to control her still raw emotions, “I think he wants to be good, he just got mixed up with the wrong people. He’s kind of like Snape.”
“From the Harry Potter stories?”
“Uh-huh. It says it better in the books, but the movies are really good, too.”
Hunter liked this young girl, a lot. “I agree.”
“I watch them every time they come on tv. It’s faster than reading, but I read all of them again, almost every year.”
“I do, too.”
“You do?”
Hunter looked at her, “I’m not that old, so don’t be surprised.”
Kelly hid a grin, “That’s not what I was thinking.”
“Sure, it wasn’t.” Hunter tousled her hair. “Let’s go get Ike from the hospital and see if we can get to Sonora in time.”
“Are you going to call the police?”
Hunter thought about it, then said, “No, I’m worried Suretta will kill everybody if she notices police around. If she sees me, she’ll want to take me on face to face.”
Kelly looked at her with an oh no expression. “Don’t do that, please. She’s a terrible person, she’ll kill you.”
“I don’t plan on giving her a chance.” She thought a moment, then said, “Did you ever hear Suretta talk about her boss?”
“I heard her talking to him on the phone a couple times.”
“Did she ever say his name, or her name?”
“Not that I remember, but I got the feeling that it was a man.”
“Okay. You ready to get out of here?”
Kelly nodded, “Yes.”
Ike sat on the front steps of the hospital, a white gauze wrap around his neck like a cloth choker, and his foot tapping the lower step in impatience. Hunter stopped beside him, and Kelly hopped in the back seat, leaving the passenger seat open for Ike. He slid into the Jeep, looked surprised at seeing the young girl there, and said, “Thanks, Kelly.”
“Sure.”
He turned to the side to look at Hunter’s profile. “So, I guess you have your phone off, or my two hundred calls wouldn’t have gone unanswered.”
“I was busy.”
Ike snorted. “Hah.”
“Kelly and I found out where Suretta’s going with the other kids. Oh, and I shot one of her helpers in the leg.”
“What? Where?”
Hunter told him, and about how she found Kelly, and about the note Kelly found from Paco.
Ike thought a few moments, and slipped an index finger under the white bandage to scratch an itch. “Not gonna call the police?”
“I’m worried Suretta will kill the kids.”
“And Ramona.”
“And Ramona, yes. If she sees us, I don’t think she will. She’d like to take us out on her own.”
“You, maybe. Me, she likes.”
“Hah.”
“You need anything before we take off?”
“I need a weapon.”
“I’ve got one, a Glock .40. I took it from somebody.”
“Is it loaded?”
“I’ll give you the magazine. It’s full.”
“Then I only need a Hot Pocket and a coke. How about you, Kelly?”
“Same for me, except a Dr. Pepper.”
Hunter said, “Three of them, then, and I want a Dr. Pepper, too. We’re going healthy all the way on this.”
“It’s semi-vegan, I’m sure.” Ike said.
Kelly laughed.
Hunter liked that sound. She pulled away from the Hospital steps, drove to the nearest convenience store and gave Kelly some money to buy their snacks. While the young girl heated the Hot Pockets in the store’s microwave, Hunter said, “Kelly’s a terrific kid, but she’s stretched thin as a butterfly’s wing right now, and about that fragile. She told me she feels that she failed Anita and her friends.”
“She
didn’t, but thanks for telling me.”
Kelly returned to the Jeep and handed the two adults their food and drinks through the driver’s window, then she got in the rear seat behind Ike and dug into her food. “Can I have a gun, too?”
Hunter stopped in mid-bite. “Why do you think you need a gun?”
“In case you two get in trouble.”
Hunter glanced at Ike, who chewed a bite of the Hot Pocket, a faint smile showing on his lips.
She said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I can shoot. My daddy taught me. He said I was good.”
“I’m sure you are, but there’s more to it than shooting good.”
“I’m not careless.”
“Let me think about it.”
“Okay.” She took a bite of the Hot Pocket, having to use her fingers to catch the dangling string of cheese and put it in her mouth, and looked down the road, already putting the bad things and thoughts in a box in the back part of her mind, so she could deal with them later when things were better.
Hunter drove down the highway, looking constantly for Suretta’s vehicle, but also checking the countryside. As much as she loved far West Texas and the Big Bend, she liked this country as well, with the clear, spring-fed streams lined with pecans and oaks.
Ike seemed to be hurting, and Hunter noticed. “You okay?”
“Sure. Just a little headache.”
“I’m not so sure how little it is. What did the doctor say to you when he discharged you from the hospital?”
Ike looked out the side window, turning his face from Hunter. “He said I’m fine.”
Hunter peered at the back of his head, “Look at me.”
Ike turned, and she noticed a fine, reddish, watery drip come from his nose. “Your nose is bleeding. Now what did the Doctor say?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, because you didn’t talk to him, or nothing because he was doing sign language at you?” She was irritated, like dealing with a small, guilty boy.
“I knew I was fine, so I left. Satisfied?’
“How bad is your headache? Don’t lie.”
“It’s pretty bad.”
“Are you dizzy?”
“Little bit.”
Hunter’s lips thinned at his stubbornness. “Damn, Ike.”
“I need to be with you to help. The kids are in danger, you realize that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me help. I’m not a hundred percent, but I can still do what needs to be done. Haven’t you ever kept working when you were hurt or sick? Same thing here.”
“My, you’re so forceful.”
Ike grinned, then laughed. “You horse’s butt.”
“Eldorado is the next town. We’ll stop and get you something for your headache.”
“Okay.”
“And I’ll stop mentioning you trying to die on me.”
“Deal.”
Kelly sat in the rear seat, biting her lower lip and shaking her head in small, slow movements as she looked at the two people in the front seat.
Hunter turned her head and winked at her. Kelly said, “You two are like a brother and sister.”
Chapter 18
They pulled into Eldorado twenty minutes later, driving past the courthouse and the bank to a Stripes Convenience Store. Ike went inside and Hunter kept watch on the road for Suretta, and so far, no luck.
Ike returned with Dr. Peppers, peanuts, and some of the large Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, giving them to Kelly, along with the soft drink and the peanuts. He gave Hunter a pack of peanuts and a Dr. Pepper and kept the other ones for his own. He worked his neck as if it was stiff.
Hunter said, “Did you get something for your headache, or just candy?”
Ike patted his shirt pocket, “Got some Advil right here.”
Hunter pulled out on the main street and continued through town and on toward Sonora. She said, “My grandparents lived in Sonora.”
“Oh yeah?” Ike said. “It was a rough town from what I heard.”
“I guess. Will Carver, of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch outfit was killed here by the Sheriff. He was in Sonora at a bakery buying some pastries when they tried to arrest him, Carver drew his pistol from the waistband and the front sight hung up, causing him to almost tear off his trousers. That gave the Sheriff enough time to shoot him five times, putting an end to the confrontation. That was in 1903.”
“I’ll be.”
“The Babbs were around there at about the same time; this was before they moved to the country around Langtry and the Big Bend. The old man, Cherokee Bill, had killed twenty-three men in shootouts, and his son was almost as good. There were several families like that around there.”
She continued, “In the nineteen thirties, my grandfather was nine when he saw two men gunned down in Sonora. It was at a cantina down by the big draw. Seems these two guys were messing with an older gent’s daughter, sneaking into the house at night uninvited, going into her room, and wouldn’t leave her alone. He warned them once, but they didn’t quit, so he walked down to the cantina, went through the door, and found them drinking at the bar.
My grandfather and a friend were playing outside nearby and watched the whole thing. He said they heard shots, then the two men came running out of the bar and the old man followed them, shooting as he came. Both men fell about five feet from my grandfather. He was shaken up, but didn’t move. He told me he watched their eyes glaze over as they died.”
Ike said, “And he was nine? Holy cow.”
“There was other stuff, other shootings and killings, too.”
“Great place to grow up.”
“Funny, they thought exactly that. The country was wild far beyond the days of Hickok and Hardin. I think every town had some problems back then.”
“Maybe, but not everybody had Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch hanging around on their streets eating donuts.”
One cheek dimpled with a half-smile. “I guess not.”
As they drove into Sonora on Highway 277, Hunter pointed to the right, “There’s the golf course and the airport is just beyond it. I’ll go slow, see if you catch sight of the plane.”
Ike and Kelly watched until they were beyond it and turning off US 277 onto the access road for I-10 West. Hunter said, “See anything?”
“Nope. Not even golfers.”
“I’ll pull in here and we can watch from behind the hotel for Suretta and the plane.” She pulled into the Days Inn Devil’s River and went to the back area, parking in a space where they could watch the airport.
Kelly said, “I’m nervous.”
“Me, too.” Hunter said.
Ike said, “If shooting starts, you keep your head down.” He looked at Kelly as he said it. She nodded.
They ate the remainder of their peanuts and soft drinks, with Kelly breaking one of the large Peanut Butter Cups into thirds and handing both the adults a piece.
The airport seemed quiet, with no plane traffic and no suspicious vehicles in the parking area. Minutes passed.
Hunter licked the melted chocolate from her fingers and said, “I’ve got an idea.”
“What?”
“I’m going to drive out to the airport and park by the hangers, the ones closest to where the planes stop.”
“And do what?” Ike wasn’t arguing, but interested.
“When it stops and opens the door, I’ll run up the stairs and tell them to leave immediately.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll shoot their plane to pieces.”
“You gonna show them your pistol?”
“If I have to.”
“Let me do it. Suretta doesn’t really know you, so it might buy you a little extra surprise time when she drives in here.”
Hunter nodded, “When the plane leaves, it’ll put us right there with Suretta and her gang, and the kids. I can come up behind them while you hold their attention. What do you think?”
Ike didn’t have a chan
ce to answer as Kelly said, “There’s the plane.”
Ike said, “Time to rock and roll.”
Hunter drove the short distance to the airport entrance and, rather than park by the few vehicles there, maneuvered to the hangers and parked close beside the first one, which still left them able to see the plane and the entry to the airport.
As the Beechcraft King taxied closer, Hunter could see there was only a single person flying it, no copilot. Ike had moved between the first and second hangers, and she caught sight of his profile as he peeked from the hiding place, so focused on the plane he was like a cat watching a bird.
Kelly sat in the Cherokee, excited and a little scared watching the two grown-ups working to save the children. As the plane taxied almost to a stop and made a circling turn to be in front of the hangers, she glanced in the other direction at the airport entrance and saw three vehicles coming in close together. Suretta’s vehicle led two dark blue Suburbans, and Kelly saw people in each of them. Her stomach felt like it did when she had a sudden unexpected drop from a height.
Touching Hunter’s shoulder, she said, “Suretta’s here, and she’s got help.”
Hunter glanced at the vehicles and her mouth opened in surprise. “No.”
Ike rubbed his forehead, feeling the fever there, and watched as the plane stopped and the propellers feathered down. As the door opened and came down, Ike ran up the stairs and into the plane.
Hunter knew he hadn’t seen Suretta or her men.
Ike checked the plane’s interior, with the pilot the only one on board; a small, trim guy of about fifty, with white hair. Ike said, “You need to get this plane out of here, right now.”
“I have passengers to pick up.”
“No, you don’t. That would be kidnapping. You want that hanging over your head in court?”
His face paled, “No. They said a bunch of kids, that’s all.”
“Now you know. Get the hell out of here as fast as you can. They’ll steal your plane if you don’t.”
He didn’t answer, but started the engines and talked to the tower. Ike turned to go off the plane and looked through the plane’s small front window at people emptying from two Suburbans and Suretta’s vehicle, all in a hurry to get to the plane. “Go! They’re coming right now!”
Ike flew down the stairs as the plane revved up. The pilot pulled up the door and stairs, then taxied on the runway, accelerating as it did.
