Canyon Standoff

by Valerie Hansen

  “Which won’t be a problem after today or tomorrow,” he said, wondering why that conclusion bothered him.

  She was close enough to overhear. Smiling, she asked, “What won’t be a problem?”

  Gabe recovered and gestured over his shoulder. “Your FBI buddy. If you hadn’t vouched for him, I’d think he was an imposter instead of a seasoned negotiator. Doesn’t he do anything except deliver ultimatums?”

  “If I remember correctly, he’ll change tactics later. Right now he’s testing their responses to authority.”

  Ushering her closer and helping her drop the pack, Gabe made sure she was hidden from view. “He should be glad I’m not on the receiving end of his threats. If I were those guys in the station, I’d probably take a potshot at him.”

  “I imagine he’s wearing a vest.”

  Gabe huffed. “Not on his head.”

  “I don’t think they make a big enough bulletproof hat for Andrew’s head. But he is good at ducking.”

  “Apparently. He’s lived this long.”

  Chuckling, Holly merely rolled her eyes. Dark humor was so much a part of both their jobs, it was natural to fall back on it when the going got tough. That was another thing Gabe appreciated about her. She shared the tendency to use sarcasm and supposedly inappropriate comments as an emotional release instead of acting surprised or offended. Basically, she got him. And he understood her, too. That hadn’t been as evident when they’d originally met and gotten acquainted but it was certainly clear now. It was a relief to be able to be himself around her.

  Was that why he was so attracted to the pretty FBI agent? he wondered. Maybe. The list of things about her that he liked and admired was growing by the minute, which was disconcerting to say the least.

  Gabe cleared his throat. “What’s your feeling about the atmosphere out there? Are we handling things okay or are the tourists about to mutiny?”

  “A little of both.” Holly handed him a bottle of cold water. “Some supplies are starting to run low because we’re keeping everybody together down here but so far, so good. As long as they stay hydrated they’ll be okay. Maybe not thrilled but healthy. Beyond that, I wouldn’t worry about civilians. They’ll muddle through.”

  “I suppose rumors are flying.”

  “Mostly true ones from what I could overhear. They’ve figured out we have a serious problem and are basically trying to get shots with cameras and cell phones to send home to friends. Your guys are holding the line okay.”

  “So they’ve reported. I just wanted your opinion.”

  Holly beamed at him. “That’s what I love about you, McClellan. You actually do want to hear what I think. Lots of people ask and then don’t listen.”

  He tilted his chin to point. “Like Agent Summers?”

  “Oh, yeah. He’s the poster boy for Misogynists-R-Us.”

  “His age probably has something to do with that.”

  “I think he was asleep during the last fifty or sixty years. He hasn’t changed with the times.” Holly sighed. “He’s not the only agent I’ve met who thinks I’m just eye candy rather than actually being qualified.”

  Gabe almost choked on his water when he started to laugh in the middle of a swallow. “Eye candy? Now who’s stuck in the past?”

  Holly laughed with him and slapped him on the back to stop his coughing. “Sorry.”

  “I’ll live.” As he’d been talking to her, he’d also kept part of his attention on the chillingly quiet ranger station. Now he set aside his water bottle and raised binoculars. “Uh-oh.”

  She was at his side, eager for a peek. “What? What do you see?”

  “I’m not sure.” Gabe handed the binoculars to her and waited while she adjusted them to her vision. “Look toward the rear. In that pile of big boulders that sits to the east? I thought I saw movement.”

  “I...don’t... Maybe. It’s really hard to tell with the rising heat making the air shimmer. Could it have been a mirage?”

  “I suppose.” Knowing she was probably right wasn’t enough for him. Not this time. “Keep watching. I’m going to work my way around to a different vantage point.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No.” The set of her jaw and sparks in her eyes didn’t make him change his mind. “I need a steady observer to keep an eye on me and keep looking for whatever I saw, assuming I didn’t imagine it.”

  “But...”

  He could tell that his logic was getting through to her. “I mean it, Holly. I’ll have a radio with me, muted. Don’t try to contact me. If I need help, I’ll call for it. In the meantime, I don’t want any chatter to tip off those guys holding out in the station. As far as they know, we’ll all be sitting here waiting for Agent Summers to talk them into surrendering.”

  “All but you.”

  “Hey, I could send one of my crew but the medics are crucial and so are law enforcement.” As he spoke he was stripping off his utility belt and uniform shirt, leaving only his khaki cargo shorts and a T-shirt. Then he grabbed a forest green ball cap and put it on backward to hide the National Park Service logo. “How do I look?”

  “Like a ranger in a poor disguise,” she said wryly. “You’re too clean for a hiker and too dry for a river rat.”

  “Hiking all the way around the building should fix that,” Gabe replied. “I’ll brief my rangers before I leave and borrow a radio. You can keep mine.” He managed a smile for her benefit. “You’re staying put, right? Promise?”

  Although she shrugged and made a face, she nodded. “Promise. Anything else?”

  He sobered, knowing it would kill the mood but needing moral support. “Yes,” he said. “While you’re at it, you might want to pray for all of us.”

  “Redundant but sensible,” Holly said. “I haven’t stopped talking to God since my partner was wounded in Vegas.” Reaching out, she touched his arm.

  A shiver ran through Gabe despite the hot day. He saw Holly’s eyes widen at the same time his own jaw dropped slightly. She’d felt it, too. He knew she had.

  It’s because of the tension and this untenable situation, he told himself, nothing more.

  He stepped back. Broke contact. Yearned to at least give her a parting hug. That was crazy. She’d laugh in his face if she didn’t slap it.

  Therefore, he reasoned, turning away to brief his team before heading for the ranger station, kissing her is totally out of the question.

  When he realized what his mind had just suggested, he blushed. Tried to refocus. Checked the position of the pistol now tucked at the small of his back under the hem of his T-shirt, then tugged down the shirt and started on his mission.

  Birds called overhead and swallows swooped. A squirrel chattered. Groups of antsy tourists seemed to notice him despite his so-called disguise and several tried to approach but he was moving too fast.

  Away from Holly. Toward possible danger.

  And still he imagined kissing her.

  NINE

  Holly’d had a bothersome flaw in her personality for as long as she could remember. She hated to wait. For anything or anybody. That was one of the mistakes she’d made that had gotten Ivy in trouble. Holly had gone to pick her up after an evening class, as promised and had waited what she considered a reasonable amount of time. Then, after texting and getting no reply, she’d driven away, assuming Ivy had gone out with friends and was simply being inconsiderate. It had happened more than once before.

  Exactly what had occurred after that hadn’t been proved but the authorities suspected the younger woman had been waiting for a taxi when she was picked up by someone else, beaten to death and dumped by the side of the road.

  Hardly a day went by that Holly didn’t relive the guilt and wish she’d had the patience to wait just a little longer. Which was why she was currently pacing behind the makeshift barricade and paraphrasing to herself about
“letting patience have its perfect work,” as scripture taught.

  She huffed. “Yeah, patience. Big whoopee. Like I’ve ever had as much as I need.” Knowing that truth and dealing with the repercussions were at war in her mind. She’d managed to do well on her field testing for the Bureau by sheer force of will, but there were times in real life when she felt as if she’d jump out of her skin if she didn’t act. Do something. Anything. This was one of those times.

  Most of the rangers with her, including Gabe, had changed to cooler cargo shorts and were taking turns observing the station while Andrew Summers continued to broadcast into the void. When he switched to using the handheld radio, Holly thought her stomach was going to give back that last bottle of water. Hands fisted, she listened.

  “Attention in the ranger station,” Summers said firmly. “I know you can hear me. It’s my job to help you work this out so nobody gets hurt. I don’t want to send armed men in there but I will if I have to.”

  The radio crackled with muttered cursing.

  “No reason for that attitude,” Summers said. “Calm down and let’s discuss this. I’m willing to be reasonable.”

  Holly was not surprised that there was no answer from the men in the station. Any change in tactics would set the crooks’ nerves on edge, and threatening an armed attack was bound to put them on guard even more. They would check windows. Scan their surroundings. And if they did that, they could spot Gabe approaching.

  Worse, he’d muted his own radio so he wouldn’t know what Summers had said. She couldn’t warn him. If ever there was a good reason to break protocol and follow the courageous ranger, this was it.

  “Patience, Holly, patience,” she told herself, countering urges to move with reasons to obey Gabe’s orders.

  A brief scan of the rocks behind the station showed nobody. That proved nothing. Just because she couldn’t see danger lurking in the shadows, it didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Suppose one of those shady men down by the river was involved. Yes, it was unlikely. Unfortunately, she’d neglected to mention her intuitive reaction to Gabe.

  Her hand went to her waist and rested on her empty holster. Limited in firepower by her earlier encounter with one of the fugitives meant she now carried only her holdout gun. She pulled the small revolver from its holster, flipped open the loaded cylinder and peered down the short barrel from the rear before closing it. It looked clean. Which meant she wasn’t exactly helpless.

  “Okay, so now what?” she wondered aloud.

  None of the rangers were close enough to hear and answer. Holly scanned the group. Most were kicking back, saving energy for whatever was to come. As they should be, she thought.

  Binoculars brought the faraway rock field into clearer focus. Where was Gabe? And what about the felon he thought he’d seen trying to sneak off? She doubted a seasoned ranger would have imagined an enemy where there was none, yet at this moment she was seeing only rocks.

  Holly stiffened, grasping the binoculars tighter. What, or who, was that? It certainly wasn’t an adult and unless she was imagining things, there was more than one small person at the edge of the rockfall. What were kids doing playing around out there? Where were their parents?

  She shivered at the thought of innocent children caught in the midst of an ambush, and at the mental image of Gabe letting down his guard enough to be harmed because of it. That was not going to happen to him—or to those kids. Not on her watch.

  Holly started forward, intending to alert one of the rangers and beg him to do something. Contrary reasoning stopped her. Once she notified the others, they would be bound by duty to force her to stay away. Chances were they wouldn’t break the rules and intervene without a direct order, either. She had to handle this situation herself. Foolish or not, there was no other way.

  No one stopped her or even seemed to notice as she left the barricade. Small of stature and a woman, she was practically invisible to most officers and to a large segment of the civilian population. In this case that was definitely to her advantage.

  What was her plan? she asked herself, realizing she had none other than to reach those errant children and pull them back, out of danger. That was enough. She was a quick thinker. A seasoned adversary. She could make further choices once she was closer and could see exactly what she faced.

  And, hopefully, she could also keep Gabe from being targeted. That was her main goal.

  That and staying alive.

  * * *

  As Gabe worked his way through the sparse, low brush and between the scrubby tamarisk and willow trees of the canyon floor, he encountered several tourists trying to take pictures of the besieged ranger station. One man was so engrossed in getting the perfect shot, he didn’t notice Gabe coming up behind him. A firm hand on the tourist’s shoulder got his attention. The guy jumped and yelped like a coyote with its paw stuck in a trap.

  “Whoa, man, you scared me. Don’t sneak up on a guy like that.”

  Gabe glared. “You know this area is off-limits, right?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Stuffy rangers tried to stop me but I outfoxed them and cut around. If I can get the pics I want, I can sell them for enough to pay for my vacay.”

  “And endanger other lives in the process. Or don’t you care?”

  “I care. I care. I’m not hurtin’ anything. I’m just standin’ here, waiting for something interesting to happen. No crime in that.”

  Gabe reached into his pocket and produced his badge. “Disobeying a park ranger here is the same as doing it to the police in a city. We’re law enforcement. And we take our jobs very seriously.”

  The sight of the badge seemed to knock the wind out of the trespasser. He gave a weak smile and shrugged. “Okay. Sorry. Um, can I go now?”

  “As long as you go back behind the lines we’ve set up. And stay there. This isn’t a game. I know you came here to enjoy yourself but it won’t be at someone else’s expense. Got that?”

  “Yes, sir. Understood.”

  Gabe paused barely long enough to watch the interloper jog back the way he’d come, then continued his mission. One of the hardest things for rangers to get across to park visitors was their authority. They were supposed to keep the peace without looking as if they were doing it. In other words, make the public feel welcome and safe, yet keep them out of trouble.

  Gabe huffed. It would be a lot easier if they’d obey the simple rules that were meant for their own good, such as staying on the trails and not climbing railings to peer over the edge into the mile-deep abyss. Most of them got away with it. Some didn’t. During peak summer months, his Search and Rescue crews averaged at least two critical patients or accidental deaths a day and sometimes more. If a slip and fall didn’t cause the problem, simple dehydration could bring hallucinations and lead to a coma, particularly if the victim was hiking without proper preparation.

  The ranger station lay ahead to his right. Gabe concentrated on working his way around it at a distance. There were enough scrubby trees to mask his approach and, thanks to subdued colors of his clothing, he felt well hidden.

  A joyful-sounding squeal split the air. Gabe froze. Hair at the nape of his neck and on his forearms stood up. The noise was coming from behind the building. Of all the sounds he might expect to hear, high-pitched laughter was the least likely, yet that was exactly what it was.

  Moving in a crouch, he worked his way from tree to tree, taking care to keep an eye on the windows and door of the station. Blinds had been pulled, which was to his advantage—as long as nobody inside decided to take a peek.

  More laughing and screeching echoed. Kids? He clenched his jaw. Was that what he’d seen in the first place?

  Well, it didn’t matter. If one of the killers was trying to escape, it was Gabe’s job to stop him. If some kids had managed to sneak past other rangers and had entered dangerous territory, taking care of them was his job, too. And after he’d res
cued the children he suspected were playing in the rocks, he’d have a serious talk with their parents.

  That was assuming he could get to them without being spotted and was able to shepherd them out of danger before the criminals holding the station figured out what was going on.

  “Yeah. No sweat.” Gabe shook his head in disgust. “Just when I thought we had the problem contained.”

  Making a dash for the nearest corner of the stone-and-wood building, he flattened himself against the wall, breathing hard and trying to keep from making gasping noises.

  He waited. Nothing happened. Nobody moved inside that he could tell and the sound from among the boulders had ceased.

  Slowly, cautiously, he drew his gun, his thumb on the safety, index finger resting against the trigger guard. Then he held his breath and leaned just far enough to peek around the corner. What he saw across the expanse of rough, boulder-strewn terrain took his breath away.

  Incredulous, he tamped down the urge to shout. There were children, all right. Two young boys. And holding their hands on the opposite side of the station yard was a familiar woman.

  Unbelievable. Holly Forbes was right in the midst of the danger despite his firm orders to stay put.

  There was no way he could reach her without exposing himself to being shot at so he held his position. And seethed. Wondered if he had ever been this angry with anybody else.

  Gabe was beyond words. If Holly had been standing in front of him right then, ready to take an official dressing-down, he wouldn’t have known where to start.

  A slight noise inside the station building caught his attention. He raised his gun and pivoted around the corner.

  Holly’s gaze met his. She drew the children closer and froze, apparently waiting for him to recognize her.