Anacacho, An Allie Armington Mystery (30 page)

Thinking of Paul brings the past week to
mind. Has it only been seven days since I was kidnapped by that
horrible Luke Hansen? The endless hours spent in Mexico are over at
last, but at what price? Tears start as I remember there will be no
future for Miguel and Adelena, innocent victims of Paul’s demented
and grandiose plans for a life south of the Rio Grande.

And what of Jed and me? Safe for the moment,
but for how long? Ray Gibbs somehow knew we would land at the
Anacacho strip. Knew the exact hour. He came to kill us. When he
finds out he failed, he’ll be back.

Del reins in his horse and turns to face us.
“Okay, guys, this is as far as I go. I’ll telephone the sheriff the
minute I get home. There’ll be grub and water waiting for you at
the barn this evening, but don’t come down ’til dusk. Too easy to
spot a horse and rider on the side of the mountain.”

He turns his horse, then stops beside me. “I
hate to leave you, but Jed seems like a good sort. You’ll be safe
with him. I’ll get help to you as soon as I can.”

I nod and grasp his hand. “We’ll be all
right. I know the way from here.”

I join Jed, who urges his horse to the
right, then hesitates and turns. “We take the trail to the right.
Right?”

I laugh and shake my head. “No. We’re going
left.”

“
You’re kidding.” He leans
forward to inspect. “No way a horse can get through
there.”

“
From here it looks much
narrower than it really is. That’s why this place is safe. Follow
me.” I pass him and head left toward the cut in the sandstone, then
up the tight trail that hugs the side of the mountain.

We have traveled a quarter of a mile and are
at about five hundred feet when the sun breaks the horizon flooding
the vista in a golden glow. First the tower of the abandoned ranch
house, then the pumping oil wells that now belong to the Dardens,
and finally, in the distance, the hangar and airstrip come into
view.

The horses are breathing hard by the time we
reach the trail’s end and halt before the lean-to. To my dismay,
Paul’s prized hide-away has suffered badly from a year’s neglect.
The once-inviting pile of pillows—gone. The mattress, ravaged by
varmints, unfit for sleeping. And the protective canvas side-drops
hang pitifully at half-mast, flapping aimlessly in the
early-morning freshet.

Jed slides off his saddle. “Is this it? I
thought there was a cabin.”

“
This is all there is.
Hopefully, we won’t be here for very long.”

“
If Del sticks to his
schedule, we should see some action at the hangar by midmorning.
But I wouldn’t count on getting back to civilization until Cotton
has Gibbs in custody and that may take a few days.”

“
Thanks for the good
news.” I dismount and point in the direction of the mesquite copse.
“The horses need water. The trough is this way.”

Tending to the horses takes some time, since
Jed and I can’t agree. I say they should be allowed to roam. He
wants to tether them to the hitching rail by the trough in case we
have to make a run for it.

On close inspection, we discover the
hideaway is strategically perched on a small, steep-sided butte
with no other way down except the one narrow trail near the
lean-to.

After we release the horses, we hoist the
saddles over the hitching rail and start back for the lean-to, Jed
in the lead. “We can relax for a while. The area looks pretty
secure to me.”

“
It is—more or
less.”

He whirls to face me. “What do you mean by
that?” “Helicopters. That’s how Paul got the material up here to
build the lean-to. That’s how Bill rescued me from the druggies.
The sound of the rotors will give us ample warning to arm
ourselves, but there isn’t any place to hide.”

“
Damn. You’re dead right.
Why didn’t I see it before now? This place is nothing but an
over-sized landing pad.”

He turns and breaks into a lope toward the
lean-to.

By the time I find him, Jed is on his knees
pawing through the ammo boxes.

“
What on earth are you
doing?”

“
We need to spread this
stuff around. Find places where we can stash it—and ourselves—in
case.”

I kneel beside him. “Didn’t you hear me?
There isn’t anyplace to hide, except this lean-to, and it’s open on
three sides.”

“
There’s got to be
someplace else. Maybe under the mesquite?”

“
Trees have branches,
leaves, and lots of air spaces. Not much protection from a
bullet.”

Jed says, “You’re right. We’re sitting
ducks.”

I start to offer some consolation, but there
is none. If trouble comes from the air, we don’t stand a
chance.

“
Your friend Del must’ve
done his job,” Jed shouts from his lookout at the head of the
trail.

Sleep-sluggish from my boredom-imposed
siesta, I prop one elbow on the reclaimed mattress to see him
motioning for me to join him.

The hangar is surrounded by several
dome-tops and an emergency vehicle with lights still flashing.

Jed gives me a wide grin. “I saw the dust
first. Guess they didn’t feel the need to use sirens. Del must’ve
told Cotton they were dead.”

Miguel and Adelena, how sad their families
will be in a few short hours.

I settle beside him on the low boulder.
“What now?” “I guess we wait until dark.”

I do a swift check of my dusty and pungent
outfit. “I sure could use a bath and a real bed.”

He nods. “I could use a visit to my
family.”

“
Hopefully, this will end
quickly and we both can get on with our lives.”

We watch the ambulance pull slowly away,
followed by a couple of police cars, while the remaining men string
yellow crime scene tape from the hangar to and around the tiny
airplane.

An hour later only one car remains with only
one man, who walks the area before stopping beside the driver-side
door.

Jed turns to me. “Guess you know who that
is.”

IT’S BEEN PITCH BLACK for the last forty minutes and
an hour since Jed mounted his horse and disappeared in the dying
dusk. The moon won’t rise until almost midnight, so, with the two
loaded weapons, extra ammo and what’s left of the food and water,
I’m stationed in the middle of what remains of the mattress.

Despite the warm evening, I fight chattering
teeth. I hate that it’s dark because the usual insect and animal
sounds have magnified. Worse still, I have lots of time to think,
remember, and agonize over Paul, Miguel, and most especially
Adelena, who became my friend and ally. We were the only women
stuck in that bizarre ersatz world, each of us longing to escape,
each offering the other comfort and hope.

I jerk to at the sound of a distant snort
and stifle my first impulse to call out a greeting. What if Jed
were caught? What if?

I grope for the rifle and automatic, then
slide carefully off the far side of the bed, placing the rifle on
the mattress in front of me. I chamber a round in the automatic and
jump at the loud metallic click. At least I will have some cover
and a fair chance of getting off a few shots if there’s only one of
them.

The horse snorts again and gives a groan as
it struggles up the last sharp incline. After a few more snorts, in
between heavy heaving, feet hit the ground and I hear the sound of
a shotgun being breeched, then clacked shut.

Not a sound now. No steps. Nothing.
“Allie?”

It’s not Jed. “Allie?”

It’s Bill. I start to answer, then hesitate,
positive my hearing has been distorted by my surging heartbeats.
Now unsure, I remain frozen in place, my weapon pointed at the
sound of his voice.

Steps come toward me, then, “Do you have a
flashlight on you?”

I take a deep breath, lower my weapon, and
smile. It’s Kryptonite. “Bill?”

“
Thank God. I was
beginning to think...”

He stumbles onto the platform then bumps
into the bed with a couple of expletives.

The mattress jars as his body hits. “Jeez.
Don’t you have any light? I’m blind as a stump.”

Still on guard, I slide the rifle to the
floor, place the revolver next to it, and after a brief search,
find his hand.

To touch him after all this time sends a
wave of warmth through my body as unexpected tears come.

He pulls me toward him, moaning as we meet,
then his arms surround me as his lips command mine.

Our hunger is mutual and urgent. When we
break for air, we almost say in unison, “You don’t know how long
I’ve waited for this.”

Then we laugh. Mine is filled with relief,
joy, and a million other emotions that insist on crowding
along.

“
Is Jed okay?”

“
Should be surrounded by
his family right about now.”

“
He was great. Even
managed to keep Luke from killing me.”

“
I heard.”

I’m comfortably buried in Bill’s chest and
feel safe for the first time in what seems like months. Yet the
attorney in me wins over the woman in love. “Luke killed Reena. A
specimen of his DNA should nail him.”

“
We’ll get him. We’ll get
them all.”

“
Jed was a real hero.
Flying us out of there was...” A lump closes my throat and I have
to swallow a few times before I manage, “I’ll never be able to
thank him enough.”

“
Too bad about the other
couple. Jed was pretty broken up about that.”

“
Did he tell you about the
plant in your office?”

“
I was pretty sure who it
was, but I’m grateful for the confirmation. We’ll keep him under
tight wraps until all our ducks are lined up. Don’t worry, he’ll be
spoon-fed all info.”

“
Then, it’s
over?”

Bill softly kisses my eyes. “Not quite.”

I shove away the grim picture of the ravaged
plane and Adelena to greedily claim his lips for a second time.

He ends it with a gentle, “I’d be more than
happy to spend the rest of the night this way, but we don’t have
much time.”

I pull away at the serious tone to his
words. “What’s wrong?” “We have to get out of here.”

“
Gibbs?”

“
Or his men. I’m sure the
news of your survival has been leaked by now. I’m positive they’ll
make a pass tonight. Can’t afford not to. Thankfully, I beat
them.”

I grab the rifle and automatic. “It’s going
to be hard to round up my horse. He’s running free.”

“
No time. We’ll walk down
and lead mine. In case they catch us on the trail, we can use him
for cover.” He stands and pulls me along with him.
“Hurry.”

Rifle breached and firearm on safety, I
stumble behind him until he finds his horse.

He takes the rifle and snaps it shut. “Now
your revolver.”

After I hand it to him, he gives me a gentle
shove. “Sorry, but you’ll have to lead. Stay close to the cliff, if
you can use your free hand to judge the distance that would help,
but whatever you do, take your time.”

The dirt seems chilly beneath my sweaty hand
but offers comforting support as I timidly begin my descent.
Thankfully, the path has worn smooth with time and gravity helps me
downward.

For the next half-hour we work our way
toward the bottom of the butte and have just made the two large
boulders marking the trail when the familiar kak-kak-kak of a
helicopter motor sounds in the distance.

I FREEZE. “What now?”

“
Keep on going. Stay close
to the cliff. There’s a small thicket of live oaks across from the
opening to a cave. We’ll take cover there. It’s unlikely they’ll
check this side of the butte first. They’ll be concentrating on the
lean-to.”

He sounds confident even though the
helicopter is fast approaching, so I keep floundering ahead until
the sandstone seems to drop away. A rush of cold air flies past me
with a low “whoosh.”

“
Hold it. I think I’ve
found the cave.”

Bill moves to my side. “Don’t move. You take
the reins. I’ll lead. There could be a drop-off. No use killing
ourselves after all this. Damn. I wish we had a flashlight.”

He slips past me and hooks my hand through
his belt. After sliding one foot then another slowly forward for a
few steps, he stops.

“
There’s definitely cooler
air coming from ahead. Could be from an underground river. Stay
put. I’ll backtrack to see how far inside the cave we’ve
come.”

He has just edged past me and the horse,
when the helicopter’s deafening roar invades my ears as a glaring
strobe momentarily blazes the cave.

Startled by the noise and the light, the
horse lunges, pushing me forward into the returning darkness.

Knees crash into hard rock and hands fly
into nothingness as I pitch forward, crushing my stomach and
knocking the air from my lungs. As I haplessly search for breath, I
realize my arms are dangling downward and the weight of my upper
body is slowly slipping in that direction.

The pain in my lungs is unbearable. I try to
cry out but there’s no breath to give birth to my horror.

“
Are you all right?”
Bill’s words are thin with alarm. “Allie. Answer me.”

The horse whinnys and begins to move
frantically about, hooves striking one side of the cave, then the
other.

By the time Bill settles his horse, the vise
around my chest has eased a bit, allowing some air into my
lungs.

After what seems like forever, his hands
circle my ankles and he pulls me away from the edge of the
abyss.

He leans down beside me. “You okay?”