He pulled out a fold up shovel from one of the backpacks and started to dig. Steve knew this was going to be a long process, so he climbed down from the tree and made his way closer to the pit. He was hoping both pursuers would fall into it, and then he’d be done with the ordeal.
Chapter 49
As Steve was walking thoughtfully, Agent Thomas was digging thoughtfully. He was frustrated with this entire ordeal. When he was initially approached on this matter, he couldn’t imagine the endless problems that would result. He thought it would be easy money. He hadn’t even bothered to consider what the foreigners would do with whatever they were transporting. Thomas just wanted some money to pay off his bills and to finish his life in paradise.
As one partner lay dead next to him and another was lost in the river, Thomas began to see that this was not the best decision he had ever made. Perhaps these were not the right people with whom to have made a quick buck.
After digging a shallow grave, Thomas sat next to it and thought for a few minutes. He quickly reviewed his life. As a kid, he had always liked espionage and mystery shows. He would daydream often about life as a secret agent. He would imagine running through the forest, driving fast cars in chases, and jumping out of high-speed trains in order to catch the bad guys. As he sat now by this makeshift gravesite, it seemed he was the bad guy. How did this happen?
His dream of being a spy had continued through the college years. Some dreams fizzled, but this never once faded from his thoughts. He would be in the library to study but would catch himself daydreaming about capturing some double agent after a long chase through international territory. His alias would encounter battles, fistfights, gun battles, and close encounters with death, but he would always end up as the victor.
Reality seemed so far from his ideals of yesteryear. He had become a CIA agent, but it was a distant second to the heroic spy of his dreams. The work was exciting at times, but he never got to visit the world or chase international thugs. His life had proven rather dull, especially outside the realm of work. His professional life never became what he had hoped, and his social life was even worse. Relationship after relationship, but he never could find the right one. Later in life, he met a woman who seemed nearly perfect for his lifestyle, but soon after they were married, they realized they were unable to have children. They tried to work on the marriage despite this major shortcoming, but she had asked him for a divorce just a few years ago.
That seemed to be the beginning of the end. One thing lead to another, and his okay life started to fall apart at the seams. His social life began to fade again, and his professional life headed down a dark path. He was unable to get the cases that had any promise of upward mobility. He was constantly getting reprimanded at the office and slowly being ostracized by coworkers and friends alike. He was at work constantly, and his partners were switching with unusual frequency. It was just not where he wanted to be at this point in his life.
If the downfall at work was not enough to break him, he began to have issues with his sexual wellbeing. As time went on, he dared to get an opinion from a doctor. He soon discovered he had prostate cancer. There was talk about various treatments, but ultimately the surgeons recommended removing his entire prostate at his relatively young age to aggressively treat the cancer. Thomas had spent hours on the computer and talking with others to get different opinions, but the consensus was to have surgery and just move on with his life.
His life continued to sink downward until he received a most unusual call from a man with a strange Middle Eastern accent. It was strange indeed. He always dreamed of international activity but never as the bad guy. The talks with his new contact were short but seemed to provide everything he needed at the moment: money, freedom, and a chance to move away from this awful place. Every time he talked to this guy, the possibilities seemed endless. What they needed from him and what they offered didn’t seem so bad at first, but as he sat next to his dead partner, perhaps it was not such a lucrative payoff.
The money his ex-wife was able to pull from him with the help of an exceptional lawyer had taken him to the bottom. His bills too were quickly adding up. The call from this man came at a most opportune time, but then the man had done his homework and knew he found an ally in need of financial help in the worst way. They knew what they offered to him was too good to pass up.
Now Agent Thomas was in a much different place than he expected. He had no money, no wife, no prostate, and no morals. He was on the run from the very same people he had worked alongside for years. If that wasn’t bad enough, he was sitting next to a makeshift grave that he himself had dug for a partner who never even knew exactly what was going on. Thomas’s team only knew they were going to get an undisclosed amount of money. Thomas had done his homework too and found a few men with a situation similar to his.
Agent Bill Thomas was just another miserable person who was moving to the dark side with the consequences that resulted from his poor decisions. He quickly looked at the only other living person on his team as the man dragged the dead body to its temporary resting place. Thomas wondered for a moment if he should disclose the full truth. Should he tell him about the chip? Should he just shoot him now and keep the money for himself? That would be one less person to worry about. Thomas studied him and even reached to his holster to grab his gun. The other man, unaware of Thomas’ reflections, looked up for help. Thomas stared at him for a brief moment longer before dropping his arm. He stood up to assist his partner in burying their fallen comrade.
Chapter 50
Steve walked through the forest without a particularly quick pace, certain that the two agents would be busy for at least a few hours burying their partner. Agent Thomas doesn’t really seem to have much patience for the people he worked with, thought Steve. He knew that the agent was on a mission, but he was still uncertain as to what it was. This entire experience seemed surreal, especially for a young surgery intern just minding his own business.
Steve wished he had more knowledge as to what sparked the entire ordeal. So many people were involved, but for what? So many questions remained unanswered. He acknowledged that one certainty still stood out: they wanted him dead. If they did capture him, they would have plenty of ways to disguise his death, including his own traps.
He pushed the prospect out of his mind. He was close to his pit, so he picked a tree to use for spying. As he was climbing, he tried to listen for voices but heard none. He continued to climb until the point after which he expected the branches to break under his weight. He looked in the direction from which he had come but saw no sign of his enemies. He glanced in every direction but still nothing. Steve was surprised not to find them still digging. He scanned the area again in case they were setting him up with discussions of burials while really planning to take off after Steve. He climbed out of the tree somewhat anxiously, thinking they could be anywhere. He looked from side to side as he made his way down the tree. He couldn’t see anybody anywhere.
Suddenly he thought he heard voices, so he stopped quickly and turned his head slowly in the direction of the voices. They were just ten yards away. Steve tried to quietly come down the rest of the tree, but Thomas’ partner shouted, “Hey, there he goes!”
So started another fast pace chase through the brush. Steve didn’t have the upper hand this time with a good head start. He dodged tree after tree as he heard one, two, and then three gunshots. Fortunately, he knew exactly where he was and where the pit was. He ran as fast as he could with a few quick turns here and there to avoid the bullets rocketing from the guns.
Before long, he recognized his pit, covered with camouflage just as he had left it. He zigzagged around the pit with an extra turn to confuse his trail. He ran about twenty yards past the pit before turning around. They were already near the edge of the pit. Steve stopped and stared as they moved toward the pit.
Agent Thomas saw him and stopped running himself. His face revealed concern as to why Steve would have stopped.
> Steve noticed and realized that he had stopped too early. He was mistakenly giving the agents another advantage with time to consider the situation.
Thomas returned his gun to the holster. He picked up a log and asked, “Was this what you were hoping for?” He threw the log dead center into the camouflage of the pit. The log and the brush over the opening fell quickly to the bottom.
Steve turned and started running as fast as he could in a crooked path. He could hear Agent Thomas laughing as he started in after him again.
“Not so smart after all, huh, Carmichael?”
Steve refused to consider how poorly that had worked
out as he ran for his life. He continued redirecting himself in varying directions as he heard the intermittent gunshots. He was trying desperately to get further away from the two men when he tripped on a fallen tree branch. Quickly he darted up and continued to run, worried that the few seconds on the ground slowed him too much. He didn’t want to take the time to look back.
He was so concerned about getting away to safety he wasn’t even sure how close he was to the next trap. He realized he had only one more chance to take care of at least one of the men. He would have to find some other way to deal with the last man, but he couldn’t skip the rope trap near the hornets’ nest.
As he rushed past several large trees, he identified where he was in proximity to the rope. He wasn’t taking any chances this time: he was going to keep running after he passed the rope. If they missed it the first time, Steve would loop them around again. The extra distance would be better than having them discover the trap.
Fortunately, Steve heard a loud scream. He knew not to get too excited because it could be a few possibilities. One thought was that the men discovered the rope trap without getting caught, and the scream was to lure Steve back. The trap may indeed have captured one or both of the men, but Steve would have to be cautious if he wanted to backtrack to check.
He didn’t want to make his return obvious, so he started to walk back toward the hornets’ nest in a big half circle rather than back track the exact route he came from. A few steps later, he decided to climb a tree to get a view of the rope trap and watch the men from afar instead. As he was climbing, he could hear outrageous cries of pain. The more he heard the screams, the more sure he was that they were real screams of pain.
Nonetheless, he made his way up the tree and saw the horrific view of a man dangling by a rope lassoed around his left leg. He was trying desperately to reach up to his leg as if to get the rope off. Meanwhile, hornets were attacking him left and right. His arms were swinging back and forth trying to swat at the hornets, which was only making matters worse. With each swat came a few more stings from the hornets.
It was disturbing for Steve to watch the helpless man unable to release himself. His colleague was unable to help him because he was too high off the ground, and the hornets were sucking the life out of him. Unfortunately for Steve, the man dangling was not the ringmaster. Agent Thomas was jumping up trying to help free his friend, but he was well above reach for anyone on the ground.
The man’s screams quieted after a few minutes, and his movements were slower with less effort to free himself. The hornets were swarming all about him and appeared to be covering most of his body. Soon there was no movement at all. The hornets buzzed around their victim as if to acknowledge victory.
“Carmichael!” screamed Thomas. “I am going to kill you! I am going to inflict so much pain on you like you have never envisioned. You are going to wish you never had become a surgery resident. You are going to wish that you never worked with anyone from the hospital. You are going to wish that you never knew me because when I get a hold of you, I am going to torture you to the point of no return! You are going to wish that you never even considered any of those torture traps! I am going to kill you!”
Steve felt terrible about those traps. He hadn’t wanted to
make anyone suffer or die, but he didn’t want to die himself either. He wanted to shout out his apologies and hope the man would keep them in mind before torturing him, but he knew better. Thomas was not only out to keep Steve quiet; he wanted painful revenge for his partners. Once he had Steve in his custody, he would destroy him. There was no alternative: Steve still had to get the job done. He had to finish off this man, or he
was going to be killed.
Steve noticed Thomas’ voice growing louder, and then he remembered he was being chased. He flew down from the tree and started running away from the hunter. He darted through the woods and didn’t look back. From the amplitude of his voice, Steve could tell that Thomas was much closer than was safe and that he was gaining the proximity. He knew where he was when he first took off from the hornet’s nest, but now, as he was running for his life, he realized he was lost again.
With his heart pounding from exertion and panic, Steve made his way quickly through the trees. He nearly fell when he glanced up and saw the end of the forest. No more trees, no more brush, no more ground, and no more hope. He had reached a cliff at the edge of the forest and could run no further. He glanced over his shoulder. He could not see Thomas, but he could hear the rustling of brush as he follow.
Steve looked down and saw a river flowing about fifty feet below him. He thought it might be the same river he had been on earlier but had no recollection of where he was now in relation to the big lake. He knew he was losing valuable time just standing there, but he needed to clear his head to plan a quick escape.
He looked down again. He studied the surroundings all the way down to the river. He noticed for a quick second how beautiful it was but then recognized what he could hit on the way down if he jumped. Trees and brush extended from the side of the cliff all the way down. If he got a good thrust off the ground, he might be able to miss most of the branches. However, he had to hit the water just right in order not to break every bone in his body. He couldn’t enter headfirst with the rocks and underwater tree branches. So many possibilities could contribute to a rather dim outcome, but the torture Thomas had
promised was not a comforting alternative.
Just as he heard Thomas coming through the clearing in the forest, Steve noticed a kayak making its way down the river. He quickly glanced over his shoulder at the man with his gun in hand and then back to the kayak riding the current downstream. As he focused on the kayak, trying to understand why anyone else would be kayaking this time of year in the Boundary Waters, he realized he recognized the person paddling.
He heard Erica Miller scream, “Jump! Jump, you moron!”
Steve couldn’t believe it. What was Erica doing out here in the middle of the Boundary Waters?
It didn’t really matter. He glanced at the man whose only interest was in torturing Steve to death. He knew Thomas couldn’t see Erica. Steve had an outlet, dangerous, potentially fatal, but at least one outlet that would remove him from a slow death by an angry enemy. Worst case, dying from a dive into the river would give Steve a very quick, painless death.
He decided to take this situation as far as he could before getting shot or plunging to his death. He wanted some answers. He looked at the kayak below and then turned to Thomas. “What was this all about? Since you are going to kill me regardless, just tell me why. Why the hell do you want to kill me?”
Thomas slowed his pace. “You have seen too much, and you know too much. You are the last problematic link to this entire mission. To have you around flapping your lips and telling the proper authorities on me, what you had seen and who you had seen me with, would jeopardize my future. So I have to destroy you and all the knowledge you’ve stored up in your head.” He suddenly pointed the gun at Steve and fired a shot.
Steve jumped back a step as if there was more than a foot of safe ground behind him. He felt the bullet pass with a hissing sound. His heart was pounding right out of his chest. The man deliberately missed him.
“Kind of scared now, Carmichael? Nowhere to run now, huh?”
Steve looked at
the man and then down to Erica who was still shouting, “Steve, just jump! It’s almost twenty-five feet deep here! I have a depth finder for God’s sake. Just please jump before he kills you!”
Steve faced Thomas one more time. “But why the others? Why did you have to kill the others? Why the innocent nurses and A.J.? Why them?”
“Because you all were loose ends,” shouted the man. “I didn’t know who saw what, and I couldn’t take any chances. Once you are gone, I will become a very rich man!”
Steve had heard enough. As Thomas raised his gun again, Steve turned around and jumped as hard as he could away from the cliff. He heard another gunshot, but he was already past the edge and on his way down to the river.
Chapter 51
The dive down was more fun than being shot at, but Steve had just enough time to wonder what the water would feel like before he splashed through the surface. He was engulfed by freezing water in a split second. All other thoughts vanished as he focused on the abrupt change in temperature. The wet cold gripped his veins quickly. He became motionless as the water penetrated his clothes. He never felt the bottom of the river, but his body reached a plateau downward, then began its assent toward the surface. His body was so cold that he barely could move his arms upwards to help swim to the surface.
Breathing was not even a question for those few seconds under water. The cold shock numbed Steve’s mind. His head bobbed up out of the water, and he was in a daze. Erica was shouting his name, but he couldn’t comprehend her words. He was unable to focus on her at all.
She was waving her hands wildly, trying to get Steve to swim to her as quickly as possible. She was afraid the man was going to lean over the edge and start shooting.
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