Mexican hat (32 page)

grilled him about Karen. Stiles got everybody back in the truck, took over the driving, and kept his eyes peeled, hoping Karen would come into view. They caught up to her at the last curve in the road that dipped down to the ranch. Jim killed the engine, and with Edgar at his side he ran to her.

Jim had to pry the Winchester from her hands. Karen grudgingly let it go, looking at him with smoldering eyes that were as dangerous as any he had ever seen.

Edgar enveloped her in a hug. Karen remained immobile, her arms locked against her side. Some of the tenseness faded, and she raised a hand and patted her father reassuringly on the back.

Molly and the kids surrounded her, the children jabbering and scared. Karen's expression softened. She let go of Edgar, dropped to one knee, and wrapped Cody and Elizabeth in her arms. Jim hushed everybody up and corralled them back to the truck. With Cody on her lap and an arm wrapped around Elizabeth, Karen sat on the tailgate and answered Jim's questions.

When Jim had heard enough, he gently squeezed Karen's hand in appreciation. "That was one hell of a thing you did."

"It wasn't half what I should have done," Karen said hotly.

"You did enough. Now we know what we're facing." He turned to Edgar. "We need a new plan."

"I'm going with you," Edgar snarled.

Jim nodded. "I'll take the point on this one." He looked at the sky. Thick clouds were gun-metal gray. "Molly, stay here with Karen and the children. If anybody comes anywhere near you in a threatening manner, shoot him. We'll sort it out later."

"I'll do it," Karen said flatly.

Karen's eyes were smoking again. An argument wasn't worth the time. "Fine," he said. "Both of you can do it. Take turns." He swung

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back to Edgar. "You're going to be my distraction. Give me ten minutes to get into position before you drive down there. I want to be inside the house when you pull up."

Edgar glanced at Jim's sling. "You're wounded. I should be the one going in."

Jim pulled his arm free and felt the stitches in his biceps start to pop. "I want you under cover at all times."

"I'll use the truck."

"Good enough. Put a couple of rounds into the house to get their attention. And for chrissake, don't shoot me or Kerney."

"Don't worry, son. I know how to take fire and put steel on a hard target."

"I believe you do, Colonel Cox."

Jim looked at the group. Molly and Karen seemed solid. Cody and Elizabeth were wide-eyed with apprehension.

"Nobody here is going to get hurt," Jim said to the children. "I want you both to do exactly what your mother and Molly tell you."

The children nodded gravely.

"Are you set?" he asked Edgar.

"Ten minutes and counting," Edgar replied, looking at his wrist-watch.

Jim kissed Molly.

"I thought she was your partner," Edgar said.

"I lied."

"I am," said Molly.

Jim flashed her an enormous smile and kissed her again. "I partially lied," he said to Edgar.

With Molly's 9mm in his waistband, Jim trotted down the hill and started a curving loop toward the ranch house. Behind him he heard Cody announce in a loud voice that he wanted to go with Grandfather.

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"You're staying right here, young man," Karen said, holding Cody back with a hand clamped firmly on his shoulder. He pouted, stomped his foot, and tried unsuccessfully to pull free. She didn't let go until Edgar drove around the bend and out of sight.

Cody waited until the other lady said something to his mother that made her look away. Then he darted into some bushes at the side of the road and started running full-tilt down the hill to catch up with Grandfather.

OMAR DIALED KAREN'S NUMBER and let it ring for a long time before hanging up. He put the receiver down and stared at Kemey as though he were responsible for Phil's lateness.

Kerney sat in the middle of the floor where he'd been dumped. The cuffs cut into his wrists, and his knee felt as if it had been blown out.

"They should have been here by now," Gatewood said, walking back to his position behind Kemey.

Eugene Cox had the AK-47 resting on both arms of the wheelchair, his fingers near the trigger housing. It was loaded with a full clip. "Go find them," he ordered. "I'll take care of Kemey."

Gatewood hitched up his belt and puffed out his cheeks. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

Eugene gave him a scornful look. "Don't treat me like a cripple. Get going."

As Omar turned for the door, he heard the sound of an engine and tires on gravel. "No need to," he said as he walked to the window to look out. "Phil's here."

"That's not Phil's tmck," Gene said. "I know the sound of it."

Two shots shattered the window high up and bits of glass rained

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down on Gatewood. He ducked beneath the sill and looked over at Eugene.

Kerney lashed out with a foot and kicked the wheelchair. It spun Cox around. Eugene pulled the trigger, and slugs dug into the wall, gouging holes and sending plaster fragments flying about the room.

Omar yanked his sidearm as Kerney swiveled to face him. Before Gatewood could pull off a round, Jim Stiles stepped into view and put two bullets in Omar's head, blowing his face into a bloody mess. Kerney lunged to his feet and made for Stiles, AK-47 rounds tearing up the floor behind him as Eugene spun the chair back, firing with one hand.

The AK-47 stitched Omar as he was falling. Kerney slammed into Stiles as Jim swung the pistol in Gene's direction. He knocked Jim sprawling on his back in the hallway and landed on top of him. AK-47 rounds blew through the wall above their heads as Jim pulled Kerney down the hallway into the kitchen.

"Get us the fuck out of here," Kerney hissed.

Stiles got Kerney on his feet and ran him out the back door into the yard behind a cord of stacked firewood, Kerney fell awkwardly over a power lawn mower and banged his head against a gasoline can.

"Who is at the front of the house?" Kerney demanded as he untangled himself.

"Edgar Cox."

"What are his orders?"

"Distraction only."

"Do you have a handcuff key?"

"In my wallet."

Kerney turned his back and held out his hands. "Get these damn things off me."

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Jim released him. Kerney rubbed his wrists and shook his hands to get the circulation going. Another burst came from the house. Eugene was firing out the front door. There were two sharp cracks from Edgar's rifle as he answered back.

"Stay here and cover me," Kerney said.

"What are you going to do?"

"Get Gene out of there. Alive, if I can."

"How are you going to do that without a gun?"

Kerney grabbed the gas can, and the liquid sloshed inside. It felt half full. He opened the cap and took a whiff to make sure it was gasoline. It was.

"That's not very sporting," Stiles said.

"Got a match?"

"No."

"Give me a round from your gun."

Jim ejected the chambered bullet, and Kerney pried the cartridge apart with a penknife. "You're a good shot, I hope," he said, as he poured the powder into the gas can.

"I hit Gatewood, didn't I?" Jim answered.

"At close range, but remind me to thank you later." Kerney recapped the can and dragged it along as he crawled on his belly to the open back door. He looked at Stiles, who had taken up a good prone position behind the woodpile with the semiautomatic extended and ready.

Jim gave him a thumbs-up sign. Kerney pushed the gas can into the kitchen, crouched low, and ran like hell to the woodpile. He jammed his shoulder on a log as he flung himself next to Jim. Stiles cranked off two rounds, and the can exploded. Kerney took a quick look. Fire ate across the kitchen floor.

Eugene Cox rolled out of the hall into the kitchen and stopped as the fire moved toward him. Kerney pulled his head in. A burst of automatic fire tore into the woodpile.

"Shoot back," he ordered.

Stiles held the pistol over the top of the woodpile and squeezed off two rounds. The spent cartridges bounced off Kerney. The AK-47 fell silent.

"Did you hit anything?"

"I doubt that I even hit the fucking house," Jim replied.

The heat of the fire grew. Kerney took another look. The back of the house was engulfed in flames, and Eugene was nowhere to be seen.

"What now?" Jim asked.

The staccato sound of the AK-47 firing at the front of the house came before Kerney could respond. He waited to hear return fire. Two more shots came from Edgar Cox.

"Time to join the party," he said.

Bent low, they used the picket fence for concealment and stopped at the corner by the front yard. The porch was empty. Through a window, they could see flames blazing, flash-burning the curtains and peeling off the wallpaper. Thirty yards away, Edgar's truck was parked at an angle to the house, slightly to the rear of Gate-wood's police cruiser. The patrol car had taken bursts from Eugene's AK-47 through the hood and front tires.

Kerney couldn't see Edgar, but Cody was running across the open field with Karen hard on his heels. Molly and Elizabeth stood exposed at the edge of the pasture. All of them were well within range of Eugene's AK.

"Holy shit!" Jim spat as he spotted the women and children.

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Ammunition started to blow up inside the burning building. Eugene rolled out on the porch just as it caught fire and flames whipped up to the roof. He jammed in a fresh clip and started firing. Bullets chewed up the ground, sprayed across the police car, and shattered the windshield of the truck.

Jim steadied the semiautomatic to take Eugene down before he hit one of the women or children. Edgar beat him to it. The muzzle flash came from under the truck, and the bullet took Eugene in the chest. The wheelchair wobbled backward as Gene slumped over and dropped the AK.

Nobody moved until Edgar crawled out from under the truck. He stood rooted to the ground. Karen covered Cody from danger with her body, and Molly was hunched down with Elizabeth wrapped in her arms. Karen picked up Cody and started running toward Molly and Elizabeth.

Edgar didn't move an inch.

Kerney's eyes followed Karen. She checked Elizabeth to make sure the girl was all right before turning to take another look at the blazing fire. Then she walked with Cody in her arms and Elizabeth and Molly at her side to cut off Doris Cox and her children, who were running full-tilt across the pasture. With Molly, Karen held Doris back and herded everybody away.

Stiles and Kerney joined Edgar. He said nothing until the porch roof caved in and Eugene's body started to burn. The second story blazed. Heat stung their eyes and blew hot against their faces.

"I can't believe what I did," Edgar finally said.

"You did the right thing," Kerney replied.

"There were women and children to protect," Edgar said softly.

"I know," Kerney answered.

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Edgar's blue eyes snapped back to the burning house. Images sixty years old blended with the sight of his dead brother burning in the fire. "No, you don't know," he said in a bitter voice. "You don't know the half of it."

"Maybe I do," Kerney responded. "Eugene told me a very interesting story."

Edgar stared at Kerney for a long time before he broke eye contact. "Good. I'm glad. It's time everybody heard that story."

"Mind telling me?" Jim inquired.

"After I talk to my daughter," Edgar replied.

"Fair enough."

Edgar dropped the Winchester, turned on his heel, and walked away.

Jim and Kerney moved back from the intense heat. The structure burned like a massive, billowing bonfire. Small-arms rounds randomly exploded inside the house.

"Where is Phil?" Kerney asked.

"If Edgar's truck still runs, I'll show you."

"What happened to Karen?"

"I'll fill you in on the way."

They cleaned the glass off the seat, and Kerney drove. The clouds lifted from the top of Mangas Mountain, and a dim red light flashed from the lookout station. Whoever was up there probably had every piece of fire equipment in the district rolling. The wail of sirens carried by the breeze confirmed it.

Jim looked at his arm. Blood soaked the sleeve where the stitches had given way. The adrenaline rush had ended, and the wound throbbed like hell.

"Karen is no lady to mess with," he began, grimacing in pain.

"Tell me about it," Kerney replied.

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n

After Jim's briefing and a quick check of Phil Cox, who wasn't going anywhere, Kerney took control of the arriving fire crews. He posted two Forest Service firefighters with rifles on the hill above the ranch to keep spectators away. Then he called Carol Cas-sidy by radio, gave her a quick rundown on the situation, and asked her to send every law enforcement specialist from the Luna and Reserve districts as backup until the state police arrived. He wanted no repeat of the Elderman Meadows fiasco, and enough cops around to keep the locals at bay, especially any militia members who might show up and cause trouble.

He left Jim with a paramedic and went looking for Karen. He spotted her hurrying across the horse pasture from Phil's house.

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"Are you all right?" he asked when she reached him.

"Fine. How about yourself?"

Kerney smiled. "I'm okay."

"You're limping badly."

"It will pass."

She smiled grimly. "My father told me what happened between him and his brother at Elderman Meadows. He said you heard something about it from Gene. Is that true?"

"Gene told me one hell of a story, and I believed every word of it."

"What do you know?"

Kerney recounted what Eugene had told him.

"It's quite a family I've got, isn't it?" Karen said.

"The part of it I like seems pretty solid."

She smiled with her eyes, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a quick kiss. "Thanks."