ZACA (Zack Tolliver FBI)

by R Lawson Gamble

  Zack felt mild frustration. Nothing seemed to work out this morning. Maybe Jesus was sleeping in; he certainly deserved it. Zack had a key. He unlocked the door, pushed it open. Another surprise––the security chain wasn't on.

  Zack's frustration turned to annoyance. His instructions had been clear. The man's life depended on these security measures, after all.

  "Jesus." Zack looked around the room. It was light, the drapes open wide. The covers were thrown aside, the bed empty. "Jesus," he called a bit louder. The bathroom door was open. It, too, was empty. What the hell...?

  Zack surveyed the room from the bathroom door. Everything was as he left it last night. How could Jesus be so careless? Where had he gone? Had he run again? He called Eagle Feather.

  "Yeah?"

  "Get up here right away. Jesus is gone."

  "Gone?"

  "Yeah, gone. I'm standing in the room. The security chain wasn't engaged––the place is empty. The clothing I left on the chair for him is gone."

  "Is he with Susan?"

  "Nobody answered when I knocked on her door. I've got a key. I'll go take a look...wait. There's something written on this pad."

  Zack leaned down to read it. The writing was a scrawl, words misspelled. It read: "If U want the gurl alive don't talk to no one. Wate for call."

  Zack breathed hard. "Eagle Feather, get here quick." He hung up, his head spun. He sat on the edge of the bed, stared at the note. This didn't make sense. Why Susan? Why had the note been left here? Where was Jesus?

  Eagle Feather appeared in the door.

  Zack pointed at the pad.

  Eagle Feather came and read it. He grunted. His eyes widened. "Where's Jesus?"

  "I don't know."

  "Have you been to Susan's room?"

  "No, not yet."

  They left, walked down the corridor to Zack's old room. Zack knocked again, this time loud and insistent. When no one answered, he used his key to get in. The room smelled of Susan, but she wasn't there.

  At the late hour their meeting adjourned last night, they were too tired to carry anything beyond necessities to their new rooms. Most things in the room belonged to Zack. They saw a change of clothes Susan had piled on the chair. The bed covers were thrown back.

  "Wherever she is, she's still in her nightclothes," Eagle Feather said.

  "I see no signs of a struggle." Zack walked to the door. "The chain catch isn't broken or even bent, no sign of forced entry."

  "They could have used some ploy to gain entrance. If they were professional, you wouldn't expect signs of struggle."

  "Damn." Zack slumped into the chair. "What's going on here?"

  Eagle Feather glanced at him. "Do you think this is about Jesus, or something altogether different?"

  "I'm no believer in coincidence. Jesus is gone, too. Maybe he somehow knew they were here, ran, got away."

  Eagle Feather inspected the carpet near the door, shook his head. "Nothing." He glanced at Zack. "It's strange that with all your warnings last night, both of them were so careless."

  Zack had other concerns. "We can't go for help with this. We can't take a chance they might hurt Susan, whoever they are. We don't know who we can trust anymore."

  Eagle Feather sat down on the bed, studied Zack's face. "Only one person knows we had Jesus."

  "Malden. I know, I thought of that. I just can't believe it."

  "He sat with us at breakfast. What better way to keep an eye on us while his men kidnapped Susan."

  Zack slapped his forehead. "I can't believe how stupid I've been. You warned me about trusting Malden."

  Eagle Feather got up, walked to the window. "What I don't get, why kidnap Susan if they already have Jesus? What do they need Susan for? Jesus is the one they've been trying to kill."

  Zack shook his head. "Maybe they think we still have Jesus. Whatever it is, they want something from us. Susan is their leverage." Zack stood. "Let's go back to the other room and do another look around. I'll put that note in a Ziploc, send it to our lab in Arizona. Maybe we can get a print. It's not gonna help us right now, but..."

  They closed and locked the door behind them, walked back to the larger room. Zack bagged the note. They inspected the room closely this time.

  Zack found a few specks of sawdust near the door. He looked up at the security chain; saw where the screws had pulled out. He gave a low whistle, showed it Eagle Feather.

  "They forced the door."

  "Why this room?" Zack said. "Why Susan's room? Did they come for her after all?"

  He heard a sound. It came from the wardrobe. They walked softly to it. Zack stood beside the door; Eagle Feather flung it open, pulled aside the bathrobe.

  Jesus crouched there, his face drained of color. He tried to rise, fell on the floor instead. Eagle Feather helped him to his feet, got him to a chair. Zack poured him a cup of water.

  Jesus drank; spoke all in a rush.

  Eagle Feather translated. "Susan was here. She came to get some things. Someone knocked on the door, said they were room service. She had Jesus hide in the closet. Jesus heard loud noises. He was afraid to come out, thought the men might still be here."

  "They didn't search for him?"

  Eagle Feather posed the question; Jesus shook his head.

  "They didn't know Jesus was here," Zack said. It came to him all at once. "Otherwise, they would have looked in the closet."

  "They came for Susan."

  "Right. They knew we had Jesus, but didn't know where we had him." Zack gave a sudden grin. "That lets Malden off the hook. He knew Jesus was in this room."

  "Then why Susan?"

  "Maybe they hope to trade Susan for Jesus."

  There was nothing to do now but wait. Zack stayed in his room. He didn't think they'd use the house phone, more likely his cell. Regardless, he didn't want to chance missing the call.

  The hours crawled by. Jesus kept occupied with a Spanish TV channel. Zack and Eagle Feather took turns napping; even forty-five minutes of sleep refreshed them. Zack's cellphone rang just before 2 PM. Zack grabbed it.

  It was Sergeant Montana. "We found Dom." His voice was terse.

  "Is he okay?" Zack tried not to sound too ingenuous.

  "Not at all. The team found his fancy rifle next to a whole lot of blood. We won't know for sure if it's his blood until we get it tested. Regardless, we're treating this as murder."

  "There's no body, like the others?"

  "Yeah, just like the others. Like the one's you boys keep stumbling over."

  Zack didn't reply.

  "I want you and your friend to stay available."

  "Are we suspects?"

  "Of course not. You might be able to assist us, though." Montana ended the call.

  Zack sent a meaningful glance at Eagle Feather.

  "They found him, eh?"

  "He says to stay available."

  Eagle Feather grunted. "Seems we've got no choice, anyway." He lay back on the bed, supported by pillows. "They figure anything out we didn't already know?"

  Zack gave a wry grin. "Even less."

  His phone rang again. He looked. This time it was Malden.

  "I expected to hear from you guys before this," Rick said.

  "There's nothing to do right now but wait."

  "Did Jesus have anything to add?"

  Zack peeked at Eagle Feather as he spoke. "Still nothing to help us understand why someone wants to kill him. Right now, though, you might as well get some of your other work done. We'll call you if there's a break."

  "Sure there's nothing else I can do? You want me to come interview Jesus? Maybe I'll have more luck." Malden seemed insistent.

  "What Jesus needs most right now is rest. When he's more relaxed, he'll remember more. He's wound tighter than a piano string."

  Malden rang off, said he'd be around if needed.

  "You decided not to tell him about Susan." Eagle Feather peered at Zack.

  "Not 'til I'm absolutely sure about him. I've made too
many mistakes as it is." Zack climbed out of his chair, paced around the room. "We've had every call but the one we want."

  Eagle Feather watched him. "Save your energy. You may need it later."

  The afternoon wore on. Around four o'clock Jesus told Eagle Feather he was hungry.

  " I understand that much," Zack said, and grinned. "I forgot about lunch." He looked at Jesus. "Pizza?"

  Jesus nodded his head eagerly.

  Zack glanced at Eagle Feather, grinned again. "The universal language." He reached for the house phone. "I'll order some up for us."

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  Zack walked down to the lobby to pick up the pizza. He'd ordered two full size pies. There'd be leftovers, but he wanted to be sure everyone got enough. By the time he was back in the room and they began to eat, it was after five, nearly time for dinner.

  After two bites, Zack's phone chirped for a text message. He put down his pizza, picked up the phone. "Here it is, men."

  He read it aloud. "Go to GPS location. Bring Jesus and your Navajo friend. Tell no one or she dies."

  Everyone stared at the phone. There was no need to translate for Jesus; it was easy to see he understood.

  "It's Jesus they want," Eagle Feather said.

  "It's all three of us they want. They've had Susan all day. They know everything she knows by now; therefore they know everything we know. Worse, they probably believe we know more than we actually do."

  "Like what Jesus knows that we don't know."

  Zack nodded. "Exactly––what Jesus doesn't know he knows. When we go to this GPS location, I don't think any of us are expected to walk away."

  "You have a plan, White Man?"

  "Not yet." Zack did a search with his smartphone. "Let's see where these coordinates put us." He brought up the results. "Zaca Lake, it says." He held up the screen. "Right there. It says it will take us 50 minutes from here."

  Eagle Feather stood. "It'll feel good to do something, even if it does put us at the wrong end of a firing range."

  Zack walked to the door, turned to Eagle Feather. "I'm going to get some things from my room. When I come back, you go get what you need. Explain to Jesus what's up; tell him it's strictly voluntary."

  Eagle Feather raised an eyebrow. "We can't show up without the main man, can we? They'll kill Susan."

  "They plan to anyway, along with the rest of us. Once we're all gone, there's no proof of anything."

  Eagle Feather shook his head. "I'd sure like to know what it is they think we know. That would be some consolation, anyway." He turned to Jesus.

  Zack went to his old room, took out his backpack, loaded it up. He removed his sidearm from the bedside table drawer, checked the load. He put on the shoulder holster, holstered the gun. His worn Stetson went on his head. He was ready.

  When he returned, Eagle Feather told him Jesus insisted on going along. "I hope he understands, I explained several times."

  Zack glanced at Jesus. The man returned his look with a steady gaze. Zack knew he understood, nodded his appreciation.

  Eagle Feather went to his room to prepare.

  Zack turned to the wardrobe, looked through it. He found the clothing Jesus wore when he ran away from the hospital. Zack took it all out, dumped it on the floor. He stuffed it into the hotel laundry bag. A full size pillow and two small decorative pillows from the bed went on the floor next to it. Jesus watched with a puzzled expression.

  Eagle Feather returned with a backpack. He eyed the pile in the middle of the floor. "We don't really have time to do laundry."

  Zack didn't smile. "Get me the laundry bags from the other rooms."

  Eagle Feather returned with two more bags, dropped them on the pile. "I see you've come up with a plan."

  "A partial one, anyway." Zack gave a tight grin. "We need to get all of this down to my rental without the hotel staff seeing us. Stuff the pillows in the laundry bags. We can each carry one."

  At the rental, the backpacks went into the trunk, the laundry bags in the back seat. Zack ushered Jesus into the front passenger seat. Back at the open trunk, he pulled a handgun from his pack, gave it to Eagle Feather.

  Eagle Feather took it, hefted it. "What is this, a toy?"

  "It's a Beretta Nano. It's five inches long, and just an inch thick, so you can hide it almost anywhere. Drop it in your shirt pocket, if you want. It's a 9mm, plenty of power, but you're gonna have to get close."

  Eagle Feather snapped the magazine release button to inspect the load. "Eight plus one? How many of 'em do you expect me to take on?"

  "I don't want you to run short."

  He closed the trunk and they walked around to the passenger side. Eagle Feather stood at the open door as Zack knelt to talk to both men. "They're expecting to see three people in this car. That's what we're gonna show 'em. Eagle Feather, give Jesus your hat. I know, I know, you never go without it. I'm hoping they know it, too. Jesus will ride up front here, like he's you."

  Eagle Feather grinned. "I'll use the clothing and pillows to build a Jesus in the back seat."

  Zack nodded. "You got it. When we get close enough, I'll let you out, give you time to locate them, get close. Then wait for us. When we approach, we'll stay just far enough away so they can't see us clearly."

  "And then?"

  "Play it by ear."

  "Sounds good."

  Zack drove and Eagle Feather went to work on the decoy. He explained the plan to Jesus. "You don't do a thing," he told him. "Stay in the car. If shooting starts, get down low. As long as you don't get out, we can keep up this ruse."

  Jesus' eyes glistened with excitement.

  Zack watched the Mexican in the mirror. He's glad to have a chance to strike first for once, he thought.

  The drive took less than fifty minutes. Zack slowed to allow Eagle Feather time to finish the dummy. The silhouette in the rear view mirror looked very real.

  Foxen Canyon road wound past Zaca Mesa Winery then up a steep grade and over a rise. On the downhill side, Zack turned off. A gate blocked the road. "This is the way to the lake. It's five or six miles. This access road goes along the base of that ridge over there. We'll need to get close before we let you out, Eagle Feather. You'll want to stay on the ridge side of the road until you get close to the retreat buildings."

  "How many buildings?"

  "I'm can't tell, looks like several. There's the main lodge, right on the water. Cabins are spread out around the lake past it."

  "Caretakers, campers?"

  "There's gonna be at least a caretaker, they probably disabled him." Zack went to the website, looked up the retreat schedule. "According to this, there shouldn't be any guests, but we've got to be careful, just in case."

  Jesus climbed out, opened the gate for Zack to drive through. They took it slow, watched the terrain, tried to assess their progress. It was coming on twilight, light enough to see yet, but detail blurred at a distance. After four or five miles the road split. Zack went left, close to the ridge. He glanced in the rear view mirror. "Get ready." After another tenth mile he slowed to a crawl. "Now."

  Eagle Feather pushed open the rear door, rolled out as the car moved on. Zack reached behind his seat, pulled the rear door shut as he drove. The road looped around a sweeping corner, with cliffs on their left. Then the cliffs receded and they were in a wide valley. A lake came into view. Pine trees clustered near it.

  "Okay, amigo, the fun's about to begin," Zack said.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Jesus was terrified. He understood few of Señor Zack's words. He did know the FBI man intended to meet with the hombres who wished him dead. He did not believe the dummy in the back seat would save their lives.

  The Indian man had told him he had a choice, whether or not to go with them. In his heart, Jesus did not believe this, but he did believe these men were in danger because of his own actions. It all began with his anger with the supervisor Rafael. If he had managed to hold his temper, none of this would have happened. Therefore he
saw it as his duty to face these evil people, whoever they were.

  At some point during his experience in the mountains, Jesus began to believe he would never return home to Mexico. He would die here. It had made his choice to join the FBI man and the Navajo easier.

  Now the car inched along the gravel road. Shadows were long and deep. They approached a large building next to the lake. Señor Zack studied it as he drove. There was no sign of life. The large glass-paneled entranceway was closed, no light shone inside. Everything was deserted. Up the slope on their left another building came into view. It too looked deserted.

  They drove on. The road continued along the lake. Here and there Jesus saw cabins peek out among the pines. The road forked. One side continued along the lake, the other angled toward the mountains.

  Señor Zack stopped the car. He studied both roads. He glanced at Jesus. "I'm going to flash the lights. Someone is watching us now, you can be sure. Be ready to get low the moment I tell you."

  Jesus understood the get down part. He watched tensely. The FBI man flashed his lights three times. They waited. Señor Zack sat still. He seemed very calm, peaceful, even.

  Jesus felt his leg muscle quiver, tried to stop it.

  He saw motion up the road to the left among the pines. A pickup truck was coming. It inched toward them, stopped fifty yards away. A man climbed out the driver's side, stood behind the open door. He reached into the cab, brought out a rifle. He held it in his right hand, the barrel resting on his shoulder.

  Jesus could not see the man's face well, yet something about him was familiar. The man called to them.

  "¡Hola! Jesus. Is that you, mi compadre?"

  Jesus gasped. Jorge.

  Señor Zack looked at him. "Do you know him?"

  "Si. It is Jorge. He is mi amigo from Señor Reyes' rancho."

  "Not your friend so much, I'm thinking. Answer him."