JET - Sanctuary

by Blake, Russell

  The tunnel narrowed further, and Alejandro looked back at her, his gaze grim. She slowed and then cocked her head and listened.

  “There. Do you hear that?” she asked.

  “Hear what? My ears are shot from the gunfire.”

  “Splashing. I hear splashing. Keep going.”

  Alejandro continued plodding forward, carried by desperation as much as current. They rounded another curve, and he disappeared from view. She gasped as his head sank beneath the surface, and then she too was pulled down as if by a subaqueous invisible hand.

  Jet struggled to hold her breath as she was pushed along, her velocity increasing, and just as she thought she was blacking out, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel manifesting in her mind’s eye, she realized that it wasn’t in her mind at all – there was a glimmer above her. She kicked upward with all her might, and her head broke the surface. She sucked in air reflexively, and Alejandro sputtered nearby as he treaded water and coughed.

  Jet looked around as sweet, cool air flooded her lungs. They were in a cavern, and at the far end was an opening through which sunlight was flooding. She swam for the gap, and Alejandro joined her, their wet clothes slowing their progress. When they made it, they found themselves at the top of a small waterfall where the subterranean reservoir spilled down the mountainside, forming a brook that trailed off into the brush.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had all the swimming I can stomach,” Alejandro said, eyeing the green grass that grew along the banks of the creek.

  “I’m with you.” Jet crawled onto the rocks at the side of the opening and studied the slope, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, lowered herself down. Alejandro watched her progress, and when she was standing on terra firma, followed in her tracks. They stood, dripping in the sun, and Jet raised an eyebrow. “Where’s your rifle?”

  “I dropped it when I went under. And I lost my pistol as well. Fell out of the holster.”

  She pulled the Glock from her waistband and dumped water out of the barrel. “At least I still have this. But I’ll need to dry it out. Give me a few minutes.”

  Alejandro nodded, and she set about fieldstripping it, inspecting each piece before reassembling the gun. “It should still fire. I just want to make sure there’s no grit in the workings. It wouldn’t do to have it jam.” Jet fitted the last part in place and stood. “So now what?”

  “Now we have to find a way off this mountain so I can get my people involved,” Alejandro said, his tone dark.

  “I suppose circling back around and taking on several dozen men is out of the question?”

  “With one waterlogged pistol? I think not.”

  Jet tilted her head back, luxuriating in the sun’s warmth after too long in the cold water. “Well, you’re the Chilean wilderness expert. I want my daughter back, and standing around here isn’t going to do it.” She opened her eyes and leveled a cool emerald stare at Alejandro. “Lead the way.”

  Chapter 23

  Colonel Campos swiveled as one of his subordinates by the mine entry called his name. He’d been alerted about the cave-in and casualties by radio and had issued instructions to inspect the length of the mine, leaving no inch unsearched. His instructions had been carried out to the letter, as he’d expected. What he hadn’t expected was to capture not only Rodrigo, who had surrendered shortly after the army had arrived, but also a man and his daughter – the man unarmed, although an AK-47 and a silenced pistol had been found on the floor of the tunnel before he’d been discovered hiding in a dead-end passage near the heart of the mine.

  Campos approached the man, who had been dragged to the entry by two soldiers. His daughter, no older than three, stood next to him, holding his pants leg and bawling quietly. Campos took in the man’s features, noting the leanness of his jawline and the unflinching intensity of his stare, and glanced at the filthy cast on his arm.

  “It’s not your lucky day, is it?” Campos said.

  The man didn’t respond.

  “Is this your daughter?”

  A curt nod, nothing more.

  “What were you doing inside the mine?”

  Nothing. No response, not even a flicker.

  “Perhaps you don’t understand the seriousness of your situation. You were involved in a gunfight in which a number of my men were injured. That makes you enemy combatants. Both of you. Which means you have no rights. I can do anything I like to you. And I intend to. If you don’t cooperate, you’ll never see the little girl again. Do I have your full attention now?”

  Another nod.

  “What were you doing in the mine?”

  “Trying to escape gunmen.”

  “Gunmen. I see. And why were they after you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Campos snorted. “You don’t know.”

  “That’s correct. All I know is they were shooting at us, so we ran into the mine.”

  “We. Who’s we?”

  “My daughter and I.”

  “Who else?”

  “That’s all I remember.”

  Campos eyed him doubtfully. “So you have convenient amnesia?”

  “I’ve been hiding in a mine for hours with a child. People have been shooting and blowing things up. Maybe it’s shock. I don’t know.”

  “Shock. I see. Not bad, but it won’t hold up under scrutiny, especially with a witness.”

  Matt didn’t blink.

  Campos grinned. “That’s right. We caught another of your group. A young man with more brains than you, obviously. He’s singing like a bird. And his story is nothing like yours.”

  Hannah looked up at Matt. “Want…my…mama!” she wailed, her voice torn with grief.

  Campos stepped back. “Silence!” he roared.

  The little girl continued crying. “Mama!”

  Campos flinched at the shriek and glowered at Matt. “Control your brat, or I’ll have my men do it for you,” he ordered.

  Matt shook his head. “Because she’s also a dangerous enemy combatant, right? A two-and-a-half-year-old terrorist?”

  Campos sneered at him. “You have quite a mouth on you. But I think you’ll change your tune shortly.” He nodded to the approaching lieutenant. “Take them to the outpost for interrogation. I don’t want anyone talking to them until I get there.” Campos had commandeered a deserted army encampment in the hills south of the mine and was using the buildings as his field headquarters. It was under the radar because it was officially closed down, and had the added benefit of being on government property, so he could fortify it as he liked without attracting any scrutiny from the local population.

  The lieutenant saluted. “Yes, sir.”

  One of the soldiers led Matt to a troop transport, and the other picked up a kicking and screaming Hannah and carried her to the vehicle. The colonel’s soldiers watched in silence, and a flutter of trepidation twisted in his stomach – there were limits to what he could do without stepping over a line from which he could never return, and he’d need to keep his nose clean or one nervous infantryman could cause him a world of grief. He was already on tenuous ground, but if he brutalized an infant and a foreign national… Even his command over his men had its limits – limits a smart man wouldn’t hurry to test.

  ~ ~ ~

  Alejandro moved like a ghost through the tall grass, surprisingly graceful for a city boy, Jet noted, as he neared the barbed-wire fence that enclosed the pasture they’d spotted. A dozen horses stood on the other side of the wire – three geldings and the rest mares, healthy, their coats shining in the sunlight. Jet could see that the adult horses had marks from bridles and saddles, so they were accustomed to being ridden – an inelegant but convenient mode of transportation in a rugged area with no roads in sight, much less any cars. She spotted a small farmhouse in the distance, so far away that it looked like a toy casually discarded at the other end of the valley. A shabby barn sat closer to the horses, on the other side of the pasture, unpainted and barely standing, sunlight sh
ining clear through its walls.

  Alejandro made a snicking sound with his mouth, and one of the mares regarded him with soft brown eyes. He slowly approached the fence and held his hand out, making a fist, as though he was holding something – perhaps a treat or a lump of sugar. The horse shuffled over, and he reached up and petted her, scratching around her ears, and then smoothing her mane as he purred endearments. A second smaller mare came over, followed by two of the ponies, and it quickly became obvious that all were not only tame but starved for affection. Jet joined Alejandro in rubbing their faces, and after several minutes he nudged her.

  “Think you can keep these ladies company while I uproot that fence post?”

  “I’ll give it my best shot. But make it fast, would you?”

  “That’s my intention.”

  He walked to the post and began working at it, shifting it back and forth until it fell, taking the fencing with it. He inspected his work and then moved to the next post and repeated the process. The horses seemed not to notice or care, and Jet had her hands full petting all of them, their big heads pressing her for favored position.

  Alejandro stepped back once he had the second post felled. “I’m going to get a couple of saddles. Stay here.”

  “It might be easier if I just walked over to the barn, don’t you think? The horses seem more interested in following me than in making a break for it. Poor things are probably bored out of their minds and would do anything for a run.” After a final pat on the head of the nearest mare, she marched across the pasture, followed by all but one pony and a shy mare that had hung back. Alejandro shook his head and hurried around the fencing to the barn, where a gate was held closed by a rusting length of wire twisted around one of the posts.

  He emerged from the bleak structure a few moments later with a blanket, saddle, and bridle. “Do you know how to secure this?” he asked.

  “No. Do you?”

  “Fortunately I spent summers as a boy at my father’s estancia, and we had horses. Which one do you want?”

  Jet turned and found herself facing the mare that had been trying to edge the rest away, vying for more stroking. “I think this one wants me.”

  Alejandro swung the gate open and moved to the horse, which stood calmly while he placed the blanket on her back, strapped the saddle in place, and fixed the bit between her teeth. He handed the reins to Jet and returned to the barn. Jet whispered to the mare, “You’re a good girl, aren’t you? I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  Alejandro was back within a half minute with another saddle. He made the snicking sound with his mouth again, and the mare that had originally greeted him ambled over to his side. He had the saddle on in seconds, and after fitting the reins, he mounted her in one smooth move.

  Jet was less graceful getting onto her horse, but managed. She’d only ridden a few times before, on her forbidden rendezvous with David so many years before. A wave of melancholy washed over her at the memory, but she banished it – she didn’t have the luxury of sentimentality.

  “Where to?” she asked.

  “To find a phone. We need reinforcements. My organization will be bouncing off the walls with my father in custody and my brother and me out of touch. Once I’m in contact, we’ll have options.”

  “Well, then, lead on.”

  Alejandro gazed at the sky to get his bearings and then set off in what seemed like a southern direction. The horses seemed happy to run. The day was beautiful: flowers in bloom, a susurrant wind rustling the treetops, nature beckoning. Soon they were out of sight of the barn, following a trail, and for a moment to Jet it could have been five hundred years earlier and they Spanish plunderers, so quiet were the surroundings, not a trace of modern civilization anywhere, only the steady clumping of the horses’ hooves.

  Jet cleared her throat and spoke quietly, her mind having been working over their situation.

  “There’s another possibility, you know.”

  “Possibility of what?”

  “How your enemies know where to find you every time.”

  “Really? What?”

  “Your brother.”

  Alejandro pulled on his reins and the horse stopped. “What are you saying?”

  “He was with you at the nightclub. You said the gunmen entered while he was in the bathroom, but when you made it out of the club, he was sitting in his vehicle outside.”

  “That’s nonsense. He’s my brother.”

  “And then at the hotel. Nobody knew you were there. And yet they found you.”

  “As you said, could have been a tracking device on the car or tracing the phone.”

  “Right. But explain the mine. No car tracking device. And the battery out of the phone.”

  “And no signal,” Alejandro reminded her.

  “No, that was earlier. We don’t know if there’s a signal at the mine. It’s higher, so it might have enough line of sight to hit one of the towers in the valley. The only thing we have to go on is your brother’s say-so.”

  “Which is sufficient for me.”

  “He got very uncomfortable when you asked for his phone, do you remember? Like someone had punched him. As you might expect if he’d made calls on it to your enemies.”

  Alejandro grew quiet, thinking.

  “And then he inexplicably refused to go into the mine with us. To not go would be certain death – there was nowhere to run to. And yet he was adamant. Which would make sense if he knew there was nothing to fear.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Alejandro asked, his voice tight.

  “Your father was arrested. So the head of your organization is out of commission. Then you’re attacked, and your brother is conveniently absent.”

  Alejandro’s expression darkened, but she pressed on.

  “At the mine, he seemed really resentful that you were telling him what to do at a crisis moment. That seemed completely out of character when it was happening. You were trying to save his life, and he was getting angry. Who responds that way?”

  “He was probably afraid. Maybe he’s got a thing about the dark. Or claustrophobia. I don’t know.”

  “Right. Or maybe he wanted to stay outside to avoid being killed when the gunmen went in to wipe us out.” Jet paused. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I got the impression that with your father out of the loop, you’re next in line. Is that not right?”

  “No, you’re right.”

  “So if he resents you anything like what I saw, it would be awfully convenient if you were taken off the game board. Then he would be running things. Which, if he’d already negotiated a deal with your rivals, might leave him in the strongest position he’d be likely to see in his life.”

  “I don’t want to hear any more.”

  “No problem. I just wanted to put that out there. Do you have an alternative explanation of how they found us at the mine?”

  Alejandro gave his horse rein, and it began moving again. Jet allowed him space – she’d made her point, and now he had something to think about on the long ride to wherever. He pulled away from her and cantered to the top of a rise where a copse of trees had managed a foothold on the inhospitable stone and stopped, his hand raised. Jet slowed as she neared, and then spotted what he’d seen.

  Down at the base of the other side of the hill ran a narrow road framed by heavy brush, an oak tree rising from one side of it – and a green army jeep parked in the shade with a soldier lounging against it, smoking, while his companion relieved himself behind the tree. Jet and Alejandro exchanged a glance, and she spurred her mare forward. The smoking soldier looked up but didn’t register alarm at the sight of a woman astride a horse. This was the country, after all, so it wasn’t unexpected or unusual. He waved at her as she approached, and she waved back, the Glock’s bulk at the base of her spine reassuring.

  Jet’s hair gleamed black as a raven’s wing as she closed the distance, and when she was less than ten meters away, she dismounted. Alejandro had hung back and was allowing his horse
to meander on the hill’s crest, so the soldier’s attention was entirely focused on the beautiful young woman who had materialized on horseback during his dull duty.

  “Hi, there. You wouldn’t happen to have an extra cigarette, would you?” Jet asked, throwing the soldier a brilliant smile.

  “Sure,” he said and fumbled in his uniform pocket. He found his pack and looked up to find himself staring down the Glock’s ugly barrel.

  “Remove your sidearm using only your index finger and your thumb. Don’t make a sound or you’re dead,” she whispered.

  The blood drained from his face, and he complied, moving slowly.

  “Good. Drop it on the ground and step away from the gun, over by the tree.”

  The soldier tossed the pistol into the grass and took three steps toward the tree.

  “Okay. Stop,” Jet called out in a louder voice. “Hey, I think your buddy here has a problem,” she said.

  The second soldier moved from the other side of the thick trunk, fiddling with his belt, and froze when he saw Jet holding the gun on him.

  “What is this?”

  “Play along and you won’t get hurt. I want you to reach for your weapon using your left hand and toss it on the ground. One false move and I shoot you.”

  The soldier glanced at his companion and then returned his gaze to Jet.

  She gestured with the gun. “Slowly. Do it now. I don’t have time for this.”

  He reached across and drew his weapon and then dropped it like it was a live snake. “Now what?”

  “Now go stand by your friend.”

  The soldier complied, and Jet signaled to Alejandro. He rode up and smiled at the vehicle.

  “I think our problems are solved,” she announced.

  “We could use the break,” he agreed, dismounting.

  She returned her attention to the soldiers. “Get your shoes off.”