by S. J. Lewis
“Sam? SAM?”
“I’m still here, Red.”
“Is there somebody there with you?”
“It’s okay, Claudie.”
She hoped it truly was. “I don’t think I’m going to get very far, and I don’t know how long this ravine is. But…I think I see some mountains in the distance.”
“What do they look like?”
“Kind of raggedy. And I remember something…Just before she locked me in the trunk, Anna said that I’d start baking as soon as the sun rose. Maybe this ravine is facing East?”
“Okay, Red. Good thinking. That narrows it down some. Stay by the car. Someone’s gonna come for you.”
“Sam, I don’t think you can trust the police here.”
She heard him chuckle. “Don’t worry, Red. I can trust these guys. Stick by your car and wait. I’m comin’ too. We’re gonna be out of contact for a little while.”
“Sam…”
“Yeah, Red?”
“I love you.” The words came out before she quite realized what she was going to say.
“I love you too, Red,” he answered. He sounded utterly serious. “I’m comin’. Hold tight.” The connection broke. The weak signal was still there.
She shuffled back to the car. Her heart was pounding, but not from fear or exertion. After all this time, she’d finally told him…and he had said he loved her! Well, whatever came next, at least they’d told each other how they felt.
She waited…and waited. After a while, she heard a helicopter, distant at first, but coming nearer. She heard it pass overhead and recede. Then it came back. It seemed to be moving more slowly now. Her cellphone chimed.
“Yes?”
“It’s me, Red. Can you do anything to make a signal?”
“Ah…maybe. I have some road flares, but there’s a lot of dry brush around here.”
“Try it Red…but be careful.”
She took one of the flares out of the box. Lighting it, bound as she was, was going to be a problem. Finding a safe place to put it might be an even bigger problem. But if it meant getting out of this place, she would find a way. She picked a spot in the soft sand that seemed to be far enough away from anything combustible and set the flare. On her third try, the flare lit. She shuffled away from it, back to her car, and picked up her cellphone.
“Sam? Does that help? Sam?”
“Hold on, Red.” The phone was silent for a moment. Then he was back. “Yeah, Red, that worked great! They have you spotted now. Just stay put. They’ll be there soon.”
The helicopter hovered around the area for a few minutes before moving off. Its sound faded away. Claudia missed it badly. In the deep silence of the desert, she felt very much alone. Then she faintly heard a long, mournful howl, and wished for the loneliness to be back. Did coyotes attack people? Did they hunt in packs?
She had just about decided to get back in the trunk and close it if a pack of coyotes came looking for her when she heard the sound of a motor. It came closer. She hoped it was her rescuers, and not Anna or Pipes coming back. Just in case, she hefted the thick dry branch she’d found while looking for a spot for the flare. She didn’t know what kind of a fight she could put up, but she wasn’t going to go easy if it came to that.
A big vehicle growled into view. It stopped just short of the still-sputtering flare. Its headlights blinded her for a moment. Blinking, she raised her branch as she heard doors opening.
“Who are you?” she challenged. She hoped she didn’t look too ridiculous.
“Hey, take it easy, lady,” A deep male voice replied. There was something peculiar about the way he spoke. “We’re the good guys.”
Claudia heard his companions laugh. She didn’t know why they would find his comment funny. “Who sent you?” she demanded. She didn’t lower the branch. Her eyes had adjusted to the glare of the headlights. She could see that there were three men in all.
“It’s okay,” the first man said. “Sam sent us…and I guess you must be ‘Red’?”
Claudia lowered the branch. It was getting heavy anyway. The men came forward slowly. “We’re Tribal Police,” the first man announced. He was bigger than his companions. He stepped past the flare and turned to show her the patch on the sleeve of his shirt. Claudia dropped the branch and sagged back against her car. She gave a long sigh of relief.
“You okay?” He came closer, reaching out to help her stay upright. Claudia realized she was shivering, partly from the chill of the desert night, partly out of sheer relief. She was safe.
“I’m all right,” she answered. She held up her fettered hands. “Can you get these off me, please?”
***
The SUV bounced and rolled as they left the ravine. Claudia sat in the back, next to the youngest of her rescuers, who had introduced himself simply as ‘Joe’. ‘Al’, the big man, was also the leader and driver. ’Eddie’ was the last of the three, sitting in the front seat next to Al. Eddie was using the radio, reporting on the situation. Al needed to keep all of his attention on the trail. Watching it go by, Claudia marveled that Anna had been able to drive the car so far along it.
“We’re taking you someplace safe,” Joe told her. “Sam didn’t think it would be a good idea to bring you back to town.” He looked grim. “Hope they catch that bitch.”
“Where is Sam?”
“He’ll meet us there,” Al called back over his shoulder. “He was pretty worried about you. Never heard that man sound nervous before.”
“Where is this safe place?” Claudia gently rubbed at her wrists and hoped it wasn’t very far away. She was feeling oddly shaky now that she’d been rescued. It was something like the overwhelming horniness she always felt after escaping death or serious injury, but not quite. She wanted to be with Sam. She wanted him to hold her, and she wanted to ask him how he’d been able to put together this rescue mission so quickly. After that, she would ride him into the ground.
“It’s a little motel on the reservation,” Eddie answered. “Not much to look at, but it’s clean. Gets some tourist traffic in the Spring when they have trail rides.”
***
It certainly wasn’t much to look at. There were ten single cabins arranged in an L-shape along two sides of a big, square parking lot. They looked weathered, but sturdy. Opposite one of the line of cabins stood a gas station, a general store and a wide, one-story wooden building. There were some cars parked in front of the cabins and a few more cars and pickup trucks parked by the general store. Al steered for the wide wooden building and parked in front of it. Before he’d had time to switch off the engine, Claudia saw Sam come running out to meet them. She threw her own door open and threw herself into his arms and kissed him, long and hard. She didn’t care what anyone watching might think of it.
“Damn, Red,” he said, still holding her close. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”
“You couldn’t know,” she kissed him again, quickly. “I couldn’t know. I’m all right, Sam.”
“C’mon in, Red. Some people want to talk to you.”
As she slid an arm around his waist her hip bumped against a big revolver riding in a holster. “Hey, what’s this?”
“I’m not takin’ any more chances with you, Red,” he answered simply. “Let’s go talk to the men.” Claudia’s rescuers followed them in.
The building was some kind of community center. The front was one big room with a pool table, a ping-pong table, soda and snack machines, a television in one corner and some old, mismatched chairs. Two men in suits rose to their feet as she and Sam came in. They looked very out of place and not very happy.
“This is her?” one of them asked curtly, nodding at Claudia.
“This is Ms. Cole, yes,” Sam replied. “I suggest you be polite to her. She’s had a rough night and so have I.”
“We’d really rather do this in our office downtown,” the man said. He had a heavy, jowly face though he didn’t look fat. His companion had utterly forgettable features, not too tall,
not too heavy or thin, average face and hair. Claudia was sure they were cops, and probably Federal.
“Ms. Cole ain’t leavin’ the reservation ‘til Turco and Pipes are picked up,” Sam said.
The jowly man regarded Sam for a long moment. He seemed to want to say something to him. Then he sighed and shrugged. “Alright, have it your way. Ms. Cole, could you please give us your statement about the events tonight?”
“Yes,” Claudia nodded. “But first, I’d like to know who I’m giving my statement to.”
“Agents Smith and Bowen,” Jowly said without identifying which of them was which. “FBI. Since you allege you were kidnapped and you were found on Indian land, this falls under our jurisdiction for the moment.” He gave Sam a dark look.
“All right,” Claudia said. “I suppose it was you who provided the helicopter?”
“Ms. Cole,” Jowly looked back at her. “I can’t answer that question. May we proceed? Please, sit down.”
They used a tape recorder. Claudia gave them an account of what had happened to her. That didn’t take long, but Jowly had a lot of questions for her afterwards and that did take a while. Sam never left her side through the whole interview. Al, Joe and Eddie drifted off to the pool table. Agent Jowly glared at them when they started playing, but they ignored him. It felt very late when the two agents finally packed up their gear.
“Thank you, Ms. Cole,” Jowly nodded to her as they were leaving. “We expect to have Ms. Turco and Officer Pipes in custody very soon.”
“Thank you, Agent…” Claudia caught herself. She had been about to say ‘Agent Jowly’. “Thank you both.”
After they left, Al, Joe and Eddie stopped their pool game and meandered over.
“You all done now?” Al asked. Claudia stood up and offered him her hand. “I want to thank the three of you for saving me,” she said.
Al grinned and shook her hand. “It was our pleasure, ma’am. You should be safe here now with Sam guarding you.”
Joe and Eddie shook her hand in turn, both grinning. Then they left and she was alone with Sam.
“You’re going to have to tell me just what you did to get me rescued tonight,” she smiled at him.
“Okay, Red,” he smiled back. “But it’s late and we’re both a little tired. How about we go to the cabin I rented. We can…talk in private.”
“Mmmm…” she purred. “I’d like that! These cabins do have bathrooms, don’t they? I feel all gritty.”
“Sure do,” Sam answered. He offered her his arm. She wrapped both of her arms around it and they left the building. Once outside, Claudia noticed that it seemed to be later than she’d thought. The general store and the gas station looked closed, and there were lights on in only a few of the cabins.
“This way,” Sam pointed at a cabin on the far side of the parking lot with his free hand.
“The one with the pickup truck parked in front of it?”
“Yep. It’s a company truck.”
“Your company?”
“Have a look for yourself, Red.”
As he went on ahead to unlock the cabin door, she lingered behind for a look at the truck. The lighting around the parking lot was weak, but she could make out…a dog? Under the logo was the legend: “Pender Engineering”.
“Why do you have a dog for a logo?” she asked as she started towards the cabin again.
Sam had just opened the door. He swung it open and turned back towards her. “It’s not a dog…” he began.
There was a sudden flurry of motion from inside the cabin and a sickening thud. Sam dropped as if he’d been shot, half in and half out of the doorway. Anna Turco stepped out of the darkness of the cabin, straddling him. She was holding some sort of club.
“Hah,” she spat. “Going to fuck him again, were you?” She hefted the club. “Come inside or I kill him right now.”
Claudia had no doubt Anna would do it. She also had no doubt that if she went inside as Anna had ordered, Anna would kill both of them. She had no idea how Anna had found out she’d been rescued so quickly, but that was a question that could be answered later.. She started towards the cabin, hoping she looked scared. Well, she was scared…as scared as she’d ever been in her life. Sam lay motionless as she came closer.
“Hurry up,” Anna hissed.
There was scant chance that anyone would come out to see what was going on. As she drew near to the doorway, Anna stepped to one side to let her through, no doubt planning to bash her skull in once she had a shot at her back.
Claudia suddenly lunged forward, raking her nails across Anna’s face. She barely dodged the swing of the club as Anna reacted a little too late.
“You bitch!” Anna snarled as Claudia backpedaled into the parking lot.
“Not so pretty now, are you?” Claudia taunted. “Come on over here and I’ll do it again.” If Anna was as psycho as she thought, she might forget about killing Sam first.
“You…filthy…whore!” Anna ran towards her, raising the club. There was murder in her eyes. Claudia gave a silent thanks for all the painful lessons with Carline. She sidestepped Anna’s attack at the last second, tripping her as she went by. Anna stumbled and fell heavily on the packed dirt and gravel of the parking lot. She lost her grip on the club, and it went skittering away. Claudia screamed. In the movies, heroes and heroines always fought in silence, but she wanted an audience. She screamed again as Anna picked herself up.
“I’ll kill you with my bare hands!” Anna snarled.
“Come on, you psycho bitch,” Claudia retorted. “You haven’t even touched me yet.”
This time Anna moved in slower. It gave Claudia time for another scream. Somewhere in the desert night, a coyote howled in answer. The two women circled each other. Anna was looking for an opening. Claudia acted as if she was going to scream again and Anna rushed in. Claudia spun away from her and tripped her again. This time, Anna staggered but didn’t fall. As she whirled to charge in again, Claudia let loose a window-rattling, hair-raising shriek. Lights came on in the general store, some people were coming out of their cabins. Intent on killing Claudia, Anna ignored everything else. Claudia hoped someone was dialing 911. Anna seemed to have a maniac’s strength and energy. All she would have to do was get her hands on Claudia for a moment, and she could easily snap her neck.
Anna came in swinging. She was quicker than she looked. She managed to graze Claudia’s cheek with a punch that would have flattened her if it had connected squarely. Claudia tried to back away, but she couldn’t move backwards as fast as Anna was coming at her. She aimed a clumsy kick at Anna’s leg. Anna saw it coming and dodged it. It was a trap. Claudia’s sudden second kick connected with Anna’s knee. Claudia felt something crunch. Anna’s face went white and she dropped like a sack of dirt. Her mouth worked like a catfish’s, but no noise came out. She gasped and whimpered and writhed in agony. Finally, she shrieked. Claudia kicked her, again wishing that she was wearing her hard, fake snakeskin boots now instead of her running shoes. Anna grabbed feebly at Claudia’s ankle. Claudia shook loose and backed away. Anna wasn’t going anywhere now, but she was still dangerous. She turned to run back to Sam.
A pickup truck came roaring into the parking lot. It slid to a stop in the middle of the lot. Intent only on Sam, Claudia ignored it.
“Stop right there!” She recognized Pipes’ voice. Oh, crap! What was he doing here? She could hear sirens approaching. She turned to face him. Maybe she could stall long enough for help to arrive.
Pipes was standing behind the opened door of his truck. He had a gun aimed at her, but he looked nervous as he noticed all the witnesses standing around.
“Shoot her! Shoot her!” Anna shrieked. “Shoot her, you limp-dicked piece of shit!”
Pipes appeared to gather himself. He was forty or fifty feet away. There was a chance he might miss, but he had an automatic, it was likely that once he started shooting he probably wouldn’t stop until the magazine was empty. He looked panicked enough to try to shoot all th
e witnesses too. Some of them dashed back into their cabins.
“Go right, Red. Quick!” Sam’s voice was weak, just barely loud enough for her to hear him, but not loud enough for Pipes to hear over the rapidly approaching noise of a siren.
She dove to the right, rolling on the ground. BangBOOM! The two shots echoed through the parking lot. She heard a man screaming. She hadn’t heard a bullet go past her, and she didn’t seem to be shot. Still lying on the ground, she looked around. Pipes was down, lying on his back screaming. His left leg was covered in blood.
She ran over to Sam. He was sitting propped up against the wall of the cabin. He held his big revolver still aimed at Pipes. He looked as if he was going to shoot him again. She was careful not to get in his line of fire.
“Sam! Are you okay?” She came closer.
“I don’t think so, Red,” he said. His voice sounded slurred.
“Are you shot?”
“No. But I took a hell of a hit to my head, and my left side ain’t workin’ too good.”
An SUV appeared, police lights flashing. Men poured out of it, guns drawn. People started yelling. Sam lowered his gun as if it was suddenly too heavy to hold up. “Damn,” he breathed. His eyes closed.
Chapter Sixteen
The small plane taxied to a stop in front of a sheet-metal building that appeared to be a hangar. Claudia smiled at Sam and gave his hand a little squeeze. He smiled back, even though she’d had a deathgrip on that hand from the time they’d taken off. Before, she’d been wishing that air travel could recapture a little bit of the romance of its earlier days. After the ninety-minute flight in this fragile, one-engine machine she’d had enough of the romance of flying to last her for quite a while. The air was a lot bumpier in a small plane, and while it might fly at a lower altitude than a big jet, the ground below still seemed very far away.
Sam reached forward to pat the pilot’s shoulder. “Thanks, Carl,” he said. “I really appreciate you coming to get us.”
Carl half-turned in his seat. “No problem, neighbor,” he replied. “I always wanted to try out this bird of yours. When do the medicos say you’ll be able to do your own piloting again?”
