by Patrick Shea
“Smart man. Let’s meet on I-90 in the middle of Butte at nine o’clock tomorrow.”
“I’m going to have to drive through the night to get there, and I can’t guarantee I’ll be there on time. You want to wait or you want to push the time back a couple of hours?”
“I’ll be there at nine o’clock with the girl; if you aren’t there I may reconsider the exchange.”
“I’ll do everything I can to be there on time, but I won’t meet you in the middle of Butte, I don’t trust you not to have shooters there and the city gives you too many hiding places. I’ll only meet you in the country where there are no hiding places. Your side of Butte is all rock; I’ll meet with you somewhere between Butte and your place. I’ve got a map; let’s talk about what works for both of us.”
“I don’t really care what works for you, except I’ll give you the fact that Butte provides too many risks. Let’s meet at the Farmington Road exchange on I-90. The only cleared lanes are the eastbound lanes. Come alone.”
“I’ll agree with your choice of locations, but I’m not coming alone. I’ll bring a small army with me and you can do the same. I’ll keep them out of sight and out of reach of your shooters.
“I’ll keep my men south of the exchange point and you can have anything north of there. Anyone in sight I’m considering fair game so keep your men back. You can do the same.
“There should only be four people visible, you and me and Rick and Shelly. I’ll stop fifty yards from the exchange point and walk him to the exchange, and you do the same with Shelly. I’ll be armed and I expect you to be as well. Call me at nine o’clock and we’ll both start walking at the same time.”
“That’s a lot of dictating for someone who ain’t in a negotiating position.”
Danny said, “I’m not negotiating, I’ll be there at the designated time under these conditions. I won’t call you between now and then and I won’t answer any calls from you. If you’re not there with Shelly in the morning I’ll come straight through to Opportunity, or wherever you’ve gone, and we’ll settle up then.
Danny finished by saying, “I’m out” and broke the connection.
He knew he was taking a risk but he didn’t think Turner was experienced enough to know what to do. He’d have to go through with the exchange as planned, or he’d have to run, and given he would have to go overland Danny didn’t think running would be an option for Turner. He also knew he would be back tonight unless disaster struck, but he wanted Turner to think he would come straight to the exchange point, and meet the group from the park at that location.
He called Sam and talked with her and Noah at some length about the preparations they would need to make. He also asked her to tell everyone that if Turner called, to just hang up. When she asked if that wasn’t taking a risk he agreed it was, but one he felt was justified.
He reached the lodge at ten o’clock that night. He asked to meet with Ben and Heather first.
Danny asked Ben, “Are you sure you’re ready for this. It’s going to be hard on you and on Heather. You’ll be laying in snow for hours and its damn cold outside. We have good winter equipment but you’re still going to freeze out there.
“And then you are going to have to move and move quickly, like you’ve been nice and warm for hours. This is a mental process and you need to prepare for it.”
Ben looked him in the eye and said, “I’m from Montana and I know what cold is. I’ve also spent a lot of time outside in my life. You don’t have to worry about me.
“I have a concern though. You let Turner pick the place where we’ll make the exchange; I’m worried about that and the advantage it might give him.”
Heather spoke up and said, “Ben, he didn’t let Turner pick the place, he narrowed it down to a few possible places, all of which he felt had advantages for us.”
Danny smiled and said, “That’s right of course, but how did someone your age assume that so quickly?”
“I had a good teacher. I’ve been with Jack Sweeney and he’s spent hours teaching me and grilling me. I’m afraid I might be starting to think like him.”
Danny laughed and said, “I’m looking forward to meeting Jack. Our paths came close to passing a couple of times in past years but I was on my way in when he was moving out so I know him only by reputation. We’ll be able to rely on him tomorrow.”
“Heather, how good are you with shooting from four to five hundred yards.”
“I’m not great, but I’ve become pretty good with a 30.06 and I’m not bad with a 16 from closer range. I’m not sure how I’d do with the ZR-50, but it seemed to go okay earlier today.”
“How about your navigation skills?”
Heather looked serious and said, “Jack says that gene might be dormant in me.”
Danny laughed and said, “Ben, you’ll be the navigator. We’ll go over the maps in a couple of minutes, and again before we leave. I need both of you to get some sleep before we move out.”
The discussion continued for another hour and then Danny told everyone to get some sleep. He would expect to see them back in the lodge at three a.m.
Suddenly only Noah, Sam and Danny remained.
Sam said, “Danny, you haven’t included me in any of this. I didn’t want to complain in front of the group but you know I won’t let these people risk their lives without me.”
“I do know that, and I have plans for you and Noah. I wanted to keep this part of the plan to a small group of us. Too many people have rolled in here in the last week. I know they all came to help but I can’t be sure about everyone.
“I also think that if Turner or any of his group has decent military training they are likely to be doing the same thing we’re doing and if they capture any of our people I don’t want this to come to light.”
They talked for another thirty minutes and then went to their respective RVs to see if they could get a couple of hours sleep.
Noah sat in the living room and thought through what Danny had asked him to do. He wasn’t at all surprised by the request. Only that Danny had so easily attributed those capabilities to someone he didn’t know well. Wednesday was going to be an interesting day.
Chapter Forty: The Exchange
Wednesday, near Butte, Montana
Danny drove his RV towards the meeting site while Ben and Heather sat together in the back.
Heather had just asked Ben why he was doing this and Ben was trying to explain.
“I think it was how I was raised, both my Indian heritage and my western heritage. I was taught that in order to be a man I had to be willing to do the hard things in life. I used to think that wasn’t as important in today’s world as it had been in the past, but I’ve changed my mind on that.
“Time or circumstances seem to have little influence on the obligation I feel. My grandfather raised me and he always stressed that real men take care of their families. They do so regardless of the cost to themselves. That’s the deal men make when they decide not to live alone. He used examples like working jobs you didn’t like, or working for people you didn’t like. He used to laugh and tell me that was why it was called work. It was something you had to do whether you liked it or not.
“He also told me that women had their own obligations as part of the partnership, but I should worry about mine and mine alone. If I partnered with someone who felt the same as I did I’d have a good life.
“So I’m here because of my grandfather I guess, but only in a distant way. I’m here because what he taught is now part of me. I know this is dangerous but I don’t really have a choice, I have to do this if I want to be able to look at myself each morning, but more importantly it’s because I know it’s the right thing for me to do. I can’t let others be responsible for my life.
“What I don’t understand is what you’re doing here. This isn’t part of your obligation I don’t think. It would’ve been easy for you to just not say anything and you would have stayed at the park.”
“I don’t know if
I have as good an answer as you have, but I think it comes down to a couple of things. Like your grandfather my parents taught me the difference between right and wrong, and I can’t ignore that no matter how scary things are. My Dad also taught me that as a female in the modern world I could achieve any heights I wanted to tackle, but with that opportunity came responsibilities that were quite different from traditional responsibilities.
“I thought a lot about that the first day I met Jack and I watched his friend Jane shoot and kill a guy who was kidnapping me. I wasn’t prepared to take responsibility for myself that day, and I decided that was never going to happen again. I was raised better than that.
“Lastly, I ended up partnering with Jack Sweeney. I can’t even tell you how that actually happened. But I’ve learned more in this new world than I would have thought possible. And I learned that I could sit back and act like a scared little girl, or as Jack says, I could join the men and women on the line.
“Before I met Jack I didn’t know I had that choice, and since I’ve met him I’ve found out that while I don’t like the fear part of this, I surely like how I feel afterwards. And I’ve come to like the excitement involved in this. Not so much that I want to risk my life, but I guess enough so that I do risk it.”
Ben said, “I think what you’ve said is that our reasons aren’t too different are they?
“No, I guess not.”
As they finished the conversation Danny stopped his RV on I-90. It was almost four o’clock and was still three hours before daylight and five hours before the exchange. He was parked next to Wild Horse Meadow, which was a couple of miles from the meeting site.
He helped Ben and Heather dress in their heavy snow gear and white camouflage, and then the three of them unloaded the big snow mobile and the trailing sled from the trailer.
Danny said, “You’re on your own from now on. Make the best decisions you can and keep undercover. As long as the two of you are alive and shooting the rest of us will have a chance to survive this. Heather, you load and spot until either Ben is hit or you come under attack. If that happens you both defend yourselves and then go back to covering us if you can.”
“You’ve got the maps and you have to find the hill we marked for you. Anyone shooting from anywhere else is fair game for us, so do this right. Ben, Noah tells me you’re a superb outdoorsman; you’ll need all of your skill for this.
“Good luck to both of you. Remember, if we can’t meet back here I’ll see you in West Yellowstone. You have enough fuel on the sled to get you back. If you end up going that route stop every few miles and turn your engine off. Sound carries a long way in the cold so listen for signs of anyone else out there with you, and don’t make any assumptions about what direction the bad guys might come from.”
Ben and Heather said goodbye and mounted the snow mobile and drove off.
Danny had dropped Noah about a half mile back. He was now making his way due north on snowshoes.
If Turner had already deployed men, Danny wanted them to know there were people on snow mobiles out there somewhere. However, he didn’t want them to guess that Noah was on foot and on the north side of the exchange point.
He turned in his chair as Sam opened the bedroom door and joined him.
She said, “Rick’s still trussed and gagged and on the bed, but Danny, I feel guilty about this, are you sure it was necessary to keep me hidden from Ben and Heather?”
“I hope it proves to be unnecessary, but the two of them are in the most vulnerable position. If Turner outguessed me they could be captured before anything starts.
“I believe Turner is giving up Shelly so easily because he really wants revenge on you and Noah. If Turner finds out you’re here with me that could change everything.”
“Okay, I understand it even if I wish it were different. What do we do now?”
“We wait here for about an hour. At six o’clock I’ll drive forward and stop fifty yards short of the exchange point. I’ll put on my snow camouflage and crawl forward through the ditch until I’m close enough to watch Turner approach.
“The exchange is an overpass where the interstate goes over the local road so Turner and I will be on opposite sides of that small hill.
“I don’t think Turner’s the kind of man who would lie out in the snow for a couple of hours just to see if I was up to something, but I am. So I’m going to keep an eye on the other side of the hill.”
“You’ll be out there for a couple of hours, won’t you freeze to death?”
“I’m hoping not. I’ve got pocket hand warmers for six pockets and a pair for each snow boot. I’m more afraid I’ll go up like a torch before we’re done.”
Sam smiled and said, “You’re not funny, and this is no time to be making jokes.”
Danny just smiled at her, reclined the drivers chair and closed his eyes. In about thirty seconds he was asleep.
Sam could only shake her head and wonder how a person got to the point where they could sleep at a time like this. Her stomach had been doing flip flops steadily since they had left the park.
The militia who had followed Danny’s RV parked just short of Wild Horse Meadow. They all had their engines running and interior lights on, although the running lights and parking lights were all dark. Danny wanted Turner to know that he had been serious about bringing a small army with him.
Occasionally someone would move one of the trucks or snow plows either closer to the front, or more to a side or even back a little bit. It looked like the drivers were nervous, and they had good reason for that.
Ben and Heather had reached the hill without trouble. They had a clear shot to the exchange point which was five hundreds yards away. Ben was relieved about the distance. He knew he was good, but he was a lot better at five hundred yards than at a thousand yards.
The wind was still and he hoped it would stay that way.
They sat back to back, each in a double sleeping bag that had been zipped together. They both had thermos bottles with them, and an entire collection of hand warmers. They were cold but not miserably so, and the temperature would help make sure they didn’t doze off during the early morning.
Using military night vision goggles Ben watched the meeting point and Heather watched for anyone approaching from behind. Danny had stressed that if Turner had military experience he would have at least one shooter focus on this hill and her job was to find him.
They sat in the middle of a rock outcropping near the top of the northwest side of the hill. They felt it offered ideal protection from both directions, although they knew by nine o’clock they were going to be lying side by side looking due north. If they hadn’t found the shooter by then, they could only hope there wasn’t one.
Ben laughed lightly and Heather said, “Ben what in the world are you laughing at?”
“I don’t know why I was so careful with the snow mobile. I even idled the last mile just to keep the noise down.”
“So?”
“I gotta tell you, I’ve never heard anyone’s stomach growl as loud as yours does.”
Heather giggled and said, “That’s not true and you know it. It’s just gurgling a little bit, it’s not even growling.”
“I hope I’m not around you when it growls then, I’d be afraid it would cause the earth to tremble.”
Heather giggled again and said, “I’ll get you back for this you know, it isn’t polite to be indiscreet with us women.”
Noah had walked north for a mile and a half and then turned west. He crossed Sheeps Gulch Road and continued until he was within sight of the intersection of Montana highway 1 and I-90. It had been a tough walk over snow covered rocky hills. His job was to let Danny know how many vehicles and men from Turner’s camp moved onto I-90. He had a small transmitter wired to a throat mike and he turned the radio on once every thirty minutes to report to Danny. He was outfitted like the others and had his old 30.06 with him.
He was supposed to have stayed in the hills to the east of I-90 a
nd Hensley’s gulch, but he realized that it was just too far for him. He would be able to see vehicles with no trouble, but he wouldn’t be able to see occupants at all.
Shortly after he had arrived at his lookout he had heard unusually loud engine noise but couldn’t see the source. He called Danny to tell him he had been right.
He decided that while he still had time before dawn he would move closer. He knew he would have to stop once vehicles started to move, so he was cautious to stay near cover.
By six o’clock he had crossed both the gulch and I-90 a hundred yards north of the intersection with highway One. He was now in Opportunity moving towards the saloon. He stopped at the first street off the highway and found a suitable hiding place. And like the others he settled in for a long wait.
At eight thirty Noah called Danny to tell him he had heard multiple engines start but as yet nothing moved. Fifteen minutes later he called again to let him know that an RV was approaching I-90 and that there were about twenty pickup trucks following the RV. All of them had rifles sticking out of the windows. Some of them had two occupants but most had only the driver. Those with only the driver still had the passenger window partly down with a rifle apparently wedged in the seat and the barrel sticking out the window.
Noah said, “Danny, there are only women in the pickups, no men at all, and no sign of Shelly.”
“Noah, how can you tell who the drivers are?”
“I either have the eyes of a hawk or I’ve moved a little closer than we discussed.”
“How close are you?”
“I’d guess about twenty yards from my hiding place to the road here in Opportunity.”
Danny snorted to himself. He would’ve moved that close himself, but he wouldn’t ask Noah to do so. “Okay, that makes it a sure thing.
“Since you’re in town you might think about stealing a pickup truck for the trip back. You’ll have to wait for whatever is going to happen to happen, but it’s probably better than trying to get out on foot and snowshoes in broad daylight.
