Desert Guardian

by Duvall, Karen

  "Excuse me," Sam said to the man behind the counter. He squinted at the name badge pinned above the pocket of the man's shirt. "Bill?"

  Bill nodded.

  "You the owner?"

  "Where do ya think the name 'Bill's Eats' comes from?" he said, his whisky voice deep and phlegmy. "Can I get you somethin'?"

  "A Diet Coke," Sam said. "To go."

  Bill spun around and plucked a Styrofoam cup from a nested stack on a shelf.

  Sam slid onto a red vinyl stool at the counter. "Did a group of people wearing white robes come in here this morning?"

  Bill placed the cup of Coke in front of him. "Why do you want to know?"

  "My girlfriend and I are thinking of joining their group," he said. "They're called Star Mother. Ever heard of them?"

  Bill just looked at him, his expression flat.

  Sam groaned and pulled a twenty from his wallet. He slapped it on the counter. "Keep the change."

  "Well," the man said, grinning now, his tone cheerful. "Some of them white-robed fellers come through here early this mornin'. One of 'em wanted to use the computer to send an e-mail." He pointed to a computer station beside the pay phone. The keyboard was covered in food stains, and a layer of oily dust coated the monitor. A sign posted above it read: "Twenty Dollars Per Hour." What a rip-off. It was a miracle the machine even worked.

  At least now he knew for sure that Star Mother's followers had been here. Finding the camp's precise location would be tricky, but it was a relief to have narrowed it down.

  An elderly woman toddled up to him, her penciled eyebrows arched high over owlish eyes. "Your name Sam?" she asked.

  "Yes, ma'am. Can I help you?"

  She pointed a knobby finger down the narrow aisle of empty booths. "Nope. But you can sure help that young woman in the ladies room."

  His heart in his throat, Sam leapt off the stool. "Why? What happened?"

  "Don't know. But when I came outta there a minute ago, some young feller wearing shorts and a T-shirt wandered from the men's room straight into the ladies’ room—" She paused to lean toward the counter, shaking her finger at Bill. "The ladies’ room, Bill! Anyway, he's still in there. You better go see—"

  Sam was already running down the aisle.

  He heard a loud crash of breaking glass just as he shouldered his way through the door. Two men had hold of each of Jake's arms and were pushing his limp body up through the window. Kelly beat on one of them with her fists, but the man hardly seemed to notice. The man flung his hand back as if to brush away an annoying fly. He connected with Kelly's shoulder and knocked her to the floor.

  Sam grabbed her up and pulled her away from the window.

  "Sam! Stop them! They're taking Jake, and he doesn't want to go."

  He pushed her toward the door and yelled, "Stay in the diner. Don't go outside."

  She surprised him by not arguing and ran out of the bathroom. Jake was already out the window, one man dragging him toward the same van he'd seen at his cabin that morning. The second man was halfway out, and Sam leapt on his back to pull him inside. A stiff elbow in the gut sent Sam reeling, the wind knocked out of him, and by the time he recovered, man number two was outside and sprinting away. The engine gunned as the guy swung himself into the passenger seat, the van peeling out of the parking lot before the door was even closed.

  Chapter Seven

  "Let go of that door," Kelly screamed at Bill, who leaned against the diner's glass door to keep her from leaving.

  "Sorry, ma'am, but there's trouble out there," Bill said, looking over his shoulder at the parking lot. "You don't want yourself mixed up in it, you hear?"

  That's all she needed—another man telling her what she could and could not do. "I mean it, mister. Let me out or I'll call the police and have you arrested for... for..."

  Bill grinned, the gray stubble on his chin glinting in the sunlight. "For what?"

  "I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm sure it's illegal."

  "Deary, Bill's only tryin' to protect you," said the old lady she'd met earlier. "Your young man is in that bathroom fightin' the bad guys. He and Bill only want to keep you safe."

  A silent scream of aggravation went off inside Kelly's head.

  Sam came running down the aisle, stooped over as if out of breath. "They got away."

  The words were barely out of his mouth when an old blue van went tearing down the road in front of the diner.

  Bill looked at Sam. "Were those the hooligans who broke my winda?"

  He nodded.

  Bill moved away from the door and swept his hand out in front of him. "They're gone now, little Missy, so get on with ya. And have a nice day."

  Kelly glared at him, then at Sam. She peered outside at the empty road, the van barely a speck in the distance. She'd been so close! Just a few more minutes with Jake and she felt sure she could have convinced him to leave with her.

  She let out a sigh of resignation and gave Sam an apologetic glance. Had she really thought she could take on those two brutes and free her brother all by herself? Of course not. That's why she had Sam. "Thanks for trying to stop those guys," she told him. Looking at Bill, she added, "And thank you for keeping me from doing something stupid."

  ****

  "It can't be just an intervention now, can it?" Kelly watched Sam's profile as he focused on the two-lane highway ahead. They'd been on the road for about half an hour, and she'd told him everything that had happened in the diner's bathroom before he arrived.

  "No." A muscle twitched in his jaw. "But we gave it a good try."

  She wondered if playing her father's message for Jake had been premature. "Did I screw it up?"

  He looked at her and smiled. "No, you didn't screw it up. You thought fast on your feet. It would have worked if those guys hadn't been out there waiting for him. And for you."

  And for you. His words echoed through her mind, ominous and final. "So it has to be an outright rescue?"

  "I'm afraid so, and that makes it more dangerous." He gave her an apologetic look. "There's not a whole helluva lot we can do right now anyway. We know Star Mother's camp is here in Joshua Tree, and once we find its location, we'll still have to wait until dark before we can go in. In the meantime, how about some dinner?"

  "It's been six hours since breakfast, so yeah, I could eat."

  "There's a health food store up ahead. We'll grab a couple of sandwiches."

  "I know how Jake and those sentries found us," she told him.

  "You do?" he asked, looking surprised.

  "Jake told me. He said he posted an e-mail from the diner this morning, hoping you'd track him to the IP address. It was a trap."

  Sam ran a hand through his hair, the nut-brown ends curling up just above the collar of his black T-shirt. Puffs of road dust sifted onto his shoulders, and he absently brushed it off. "I'm not all that surprised. There's no telling how far Valya will go to get what she wants."

  A feeling of dread settled in Kelly's empty stomach. They'd been shot at last night by a couple of cultists on motorcycles, there'd been a rattlesnake in the kitchen this morning, not long after that she was almost kidnapped, then a second kidnapping attempt... It was for real. Everything. And she was smack-dab in the middle of it.

  "You okay?" Sam asked. He covered her hand lightly with his own, his fingers feather-light against her skin as if she might break. "You're shaking."

  The beat of her heart sped up. His hand felt warm, protective. She remained frozen, afraid that if she moved, he'd take his hand away.

  "Kelly?" he asked, sounding more concerned.

  She cleared her throat. A minute ago she'd felt sick with fear, but in an instant, Sam had eased that fear and replaced it with... longing. And anticipation. "I'm better now."

  He gave her a puzzled look. "Better than what?"

  "Better than being scared out of my mind."

  Sam's fingers closed around hers. "I won't let anything bad happen to you," he said, his voice deep with meaning.
"You have my word."

  Kelly believed him. She sighed, tempted to lean against his shoulder and inhale his scent, to smooth her hand over the cruel scar on his forearm. Even if his feelings went no deeper than obligation to protect a client, she'd savor this moment.

  Sam's hand released hers so that he could downshift, and the Jeep's engine groaned to a slower speed. "We're here."

  Too soon, Kelly thought. She would have been content holding his hand for hours, her hunger ignored, but they had work to do.

  The health food store offered little in the way of prepared food, but the dairy case had some plastic-wrapped veggie sandwiches and a few pint-sized bottles of organic juice. While paying for their meal, Sam asked the woman behind the counter if anyone wearing white robes with red sashes had been in recently.

  "Why? Do you know them?" the pudgy, middle-aged woman asked.

  "Were they here?" Sam asked again.

  Looking puzzled, the woman said, "Yes, about a half dozen of them came into the store early this morning. An odd bunch. Some sort of religious group."

  "Did they buy anything?" he prodded, his demeanor friendly and eager. Kelly marveled at the natural charm he could turn on and off at will. With just a few simple words and the flash of a perfect smile, the shop owner became putty in his hands.

  A dreamy smile on her face, the woman gestured toward a back wall covered by empty shelves. "Cleaned me out of all my canned goods and asked if I had more. I told 'em a shipment from my supplier would be here at noon." She slipped a folded piece of paper from a pocket in her apron. "They gave me a map with directions for how to find their camp in the desert. I had my son deliver several cases of canned goods to them a couple hours ago."

  Sam peered longingly at the map. Sounding wistful, he said, "My girlfriend and I are hoping to join their group, to become one with Star Mother."

  The woman raised an eyebrow. "Star Mother?"

  Girlfriend? Kelly's heart tripped on the word until she realized what he was up to: fabricating a story to get information. Of course. But it looked like fun, kind of an improvised skit. She had an idea and called on her limited acting skills from her high school drama club. "My parents are members. We came to ask for their blessing."

  Sam blinked, his brows arching up into his hairline.

  The woman's broad smile rounded her cheeks and squeezed her blue eyes into slits. "Congratulations!" She pushed the sandwiches toward Sam. "On the house. Consider it a wedding present."

  "Thank you." Kelly gathered up the sandwiches. "Honey, would you mind grabbing the juice? My hands are full."

  Turning to lean his back against the counter so the woman couldn't see his face, Sam silently mouthed the words, "What are you doing?"

  Kelly ignored him and eyed the map still in the store owner's hands. "Do you think we could get a copy of that?"

  "Of course." She ran the map through a fax machine to make a copy then handed Kelly the still-warm sheet of paper. "Good luck, you two."

  "We're going to need it," Sam mumbled to Kelly as they exited the store.

  Once inside the Jeep, Sam checked on Cody, who slept soundly in the back. He faced Kelly and said, "What on earth gave you the idea to tell that woman we're getting married?"

  Kelly's heart leapt into her throat. "It seemed like a good idea at the time—"

  "Good idea?" Sam chuckled. "Try brilliant. That was amazing. She bought every word without suspecting a thing. What made you think of it?"

  "I don't know. It just sort of popped into my head."

  Sam gave her a crafty grin, his eyes sparkling with affection. "You're really something, you know that?"

  A hot rush of blood warmed her cheeks.

  He reversed out of the parking lot and headed down the highway. "The sun's about to set, and I know the perfect spot to watch it go down. We can't do anything until it's dark so we might as well make the most of it. We'll have a picnic. Sound good?"

  "Sounds great." And very romantic.

  ****

  "You'll like Joshua Tree National Park," Sam said, eager to please her after all she'd been through that day. "The desert is beautiful in the spring."

  Kelly laughed and slid her blue-eyed gaze to meet his. "I know. I've lived around the desert all my life."

  He nodded, feeling like a dolt. "That's right, you're from Phoenix. Even so, the California desert is different."

  "Yeah?" Her tone sounded dubious.

  "Oh, yeah. The plants and animals, the colors, the unusual rock formations."

  She smiled at him, flashing those adorable dimples, and his chest tightened. Soon she would have her brother back. Her damaged family had already taken steps toward repair, and he envied her that. A family. A real family, not a group of misfits with a self-appointed matriarch like the family he'd grown up in. He hardly remembered how life had been before Star Mother, and he couldn't even recall his own father's face.

  Though he'd been ten when his young life had changed so dramatically, Valya had successfully wiped clean all memories of his father. What he remembered of his mother wasn't pleasant. Though he had loved her, he had resented her for standing calmly by as her son was physically and mentally brutalized by the religious cult she adored. Sam was convinced she had loved Star Mother far more than she had ever loved him. But knowing that made him feel no less guilty for his part in her cruel death five years ago.

  "Is something wrong?" Kelly asked, her eyes bright with worry. It touched him that she seemed to care so much.

  "Just thinking." He grinned, trying to hide the effect of his musings. Chatting about ordinary things would steer his thoughts in a less painful direction. "Good thing we have a copy of this map." He tugged the folded photocopy from his pocket. "Saves me the trouble of having to check all twelve of the backcountry boards to see if Star Mother's camp is registered." He handed it to her. "See where it's marked with an X? The camp isn't even inside the park grounds, which doesn't surprise me. They're using private land."

  She glanced over the map with a critical eye. "They're trespassing."

  "Not at all."

  When she tilted her head to question him with a silent stare, he said, "They did this all the time when I was a kid. Members of the cult would deed Star Mother's church a few acres of land they owned in the desert. The cult has access to hundreds of acres of private desert throughout the Mojave as well as Death Valley."

  He drove into the west entrance of the park. The narrow road wound through an arid landscape of yuccas and flowering cacti. Patches of colorful wildflowers peeked from between long shadows cast by slender rock formations scattered throughout the park.

  "So where are the Joshua trees?" Kelly asked.

  "You'll see. They grow at a slightly higher elevation."

  "Where are we going?"

  "I told you. To watch the sun set."

  A roadrunner skittered out of hiding then sprinted after something that ran for its life, probably a lizard. Sam knew the twilight hunters would come out soon, and he hoped to see a burrowing owl, maybe even a bobcat. He snuck a peek at Kelly and saw how attentive she was to the myriad wonders of nature they passed by.

  "You like the desert?" he asked.

  "I like to run in the desert at twilight, when it's cool."

  "Gotta watch out for coyotes."

  She glanced in the backseat, where Cody now sat up with his head sticking out the window, ears perked. He seemed his old self again now that he recognized where they were. Excitement glittered in the animal's eyes.

  "Aren't you afraid he'll run away?" she asked.

  "Not really," Sam said. "If he does, it just means we're not meant to be together." His heart gave a jolt when he realized he wasn't only talking about the coyote. His eyes met Kelly's for a split second before he returned his attention to the road.

  In less than twenty minutes, they arrived at Key Views, one of the park's most remarkable lookout points. It oversaw the entire desert to the Mexican border and offered a magnificent view of a vast, hill
y landscape. Stark shadows played within the crevices and washes spreading for miles, and the fiery colors of a setting sun lit up the sky. It looked unreal.

  "Wow." Kelly's gaze swept the beauty before them. She released a long breath and said, "Sam, I had no idea. It takes my breath away."

  He grinned, pleased with himself and his choice of picnic spots, and grabbed the bag of sandwiches. He tugged out a rolled-up blanket from behind the backseat and watched Cody bound over a rocky ledge to head out into the open park. Pointing at the horizon, he told Kelly, "The view's even better out there."

  Her eyes never leaving the fiery spectacle in the distance, she climbed from the Jeep and followed him. He spread the blanket on a smooth patch of ground beside a Joshua tree that had crooked branches like arms holding thick, green bottlebrushes. Sam sat on the blanket and patted the space beside him.

  She sat Indian style, and he handed her one of the sandwiches. "Still hungry?"

  Without a word, she accepted the food while watching the setting sun, blindly peeling away the plastic wrap before taking a bite.

  They ate in silence, savoring the colors that mutated into deep purples and vibrant blues as evening took over day. Stars glittered overhead, and the howl of a lone coyote pierced the night.

  "Is that Cody?" she asked.

  "Maybe." Cody was a wild creature, and no matter how domesticated he'd become, the open space of the desert would always call to his heart. "He's out there looking for his friends."

  "And you're sure he'll come back?"

  "I haven't lost him yet." Sam recalled the dozens of times he'd brought Cody to the desert and let him run free. Only once had the coyote stayed away all night, returning to their campsite the next morning with a torn ear and a blood-smeared muzzle. Sam guessed he had fought over a bitch in heat. It was nature's way.

  "Sam?" Kelly set her juice bottle down and tore her attention from the star-studded sky to look at him. "I need to talk to you about something."

  He frowned. She looked way too serious, and he had a feeling whatever she wanted to tell him had nothing to do with her family. "What is it?"