The Spirit Survives (16 page)

As they were loading Phil on the Gurney he said to Jockey, “Listen I’ll be okay. You stay here with the copter and get some help to rescue that man. He may already be dead, but we don’t know that. You must help him! Be careful Jockey, I love you.”
 

Jockey nodded and kissed him. “I love you too. Don’t worry I’ll handle it. I’ll come to the hospital as soon as we get this under control.”

She wiped a tear from her eye and the ambulance sped away.

Chief Henry arrived on the scene and asked what he could do to help. Jockey told him that she needed an experienced rescue person to take Phil’s place or a helicopter pilot to fly the copter while she performed the rescue.
 

Rex interrupted. “Listen Chief, we don’t have time to wait on a pilot, even if you find one available. I’ll do it. There’s no other way. That may be Ben Harris, and I owe it to him to try. I won’t take no for an answer. Let’s get going, Jockey.”
 

Jockey knew that Rex was right. This would be very risky for him, since he had no experience, but she would instruct him as best she could. When they arrived at the copter, she expertly strapped him into the rescue seat. She placed three of the flukes of the seat between his legs, disconnected the snap hook of the safety strap from the v-ring, pulled the safety strap free and passed it under his arm and around his back and under the other arm. She then reconnected the v- ring to the snap hook and tightened the strap.
 

“Listen carefully, Rex,” Jockey said. “Just slide out the door and I’ll steadily lower you through the hole and to the ground. There is a wolf beside the body and he may be dangerous.”

“I can handle the wolf,” Rex replied. “Just get me to the bottom of that cave.”

Jockey quickly instructed him on how to strap the injured or dead man to him for the hoist back up to the copter.
 

Rex listened carefully and hoped that he could remember all of the instructions.
 

Jockey jumped into the pilot seat and lifted off.
 

Rex grabbed her binoculars and looked down into the hole when Jockey was directly over it. He saw the wolf now lying quietly beside the body. The man was not recognizable since he had a full growth of beard and looked frail and dirty.

“Ready?” Jockey yelled over the roar of the copter’s engines.

Rex gave her a thumbs up and slid out the copter door.

The cable creaked as he was slowly lowered down to the hole. This time, the wind remained calm and Jockey was meticulous in her actions. As Rex got closer to the ground, the wolf glanced up at him. He limped to the side as Rex hit the floor of the cave, then looked at him with sad watering eyes and lay down. He was apparently near death.
 

The stench in the cave made Rex gag. He looked over to the source of the odor and saw the half-eaten and decaying body of a man. Before inspecting the body, he placed his fingers gently on Ben’s neck to check for a pulse. He felt a weak pulsation and knew he was alive.

 
He yanked some slack from the cable and walked to the other body, holding his hand over his nose. He noticed a bulge in the rear pocket of the man’s jeans. The jeans had been partially cut off. He reached in and pulled out a wallet, which he needed for identification. He placed the wallet in his front pocket, walked back to the other body and looked around. About ten feet to the left, he saw an area that was set up like a base of operations. There was a knife, flashlight, several empty cans, backpack, cell phone, cigarette lighter, an empty pack of camels, and what appeared to be the remains of a headless snake, which had been blackened by a fire. The remnants of a fire were in front of the area. Rex assumed that this was the source of the smoke he had seen the day before. The snake appeared to have been the only source of food for the last few days. He picked up the cell phone and put it in his pocket. If the man was Ben Harris, the cell phone would give him valuable evidence surrounding the sequence of events.
 

Having inspected the scene for any other crucial evidence, Rex picked up the man and strapped him to his own body, just as Jockey had instructed him. He knew that Jockey was watching him through the binoculars and waiting for a thumbs-up. As he snapped the final strap, the man opened his eyes. A soft moaning came from his lips. He was trying to talk.
 

Rex listened intently.

 
“I’m not leaving without the wolf,” the whispery voice pleaded, “Not without the wolf.”

Almost as if he understood the words, the wolf hobbled to Rex’s side. Rex reached down to pet the wolf’s head, essentially to see if he would try to bite him. However, the wolf merely collapsed
. This is crazy as hell,
Rex thought as he reached down to pick up the limp body of the wolf. With Ben strapped to him and the wolf in his right arm, he gave Jockey the thumbs-up. The cable tightened and began to lift the peculiar trio to the copter.
 

Within minutes, Rex arrived at the door of the copter, grabbed the side, and laid the wolf on the floor in front of the passenger seat. He pulled both himself and Ben into the copter, unstrapped Ben, and slid him into the seat. He sat on the side with half his body hanging outside the copter. He’d risk his life for a human, but doing it for a wolf was a little over the top.

Jockey landed the copter expertly on the road. The rescue squad was waiting, thanks to an emergency call from Chief Henry. They immediately removed Ben from the copter placed him on a gurney and strapped an oxygen mask over his nose. Another paramedic hurriedly connected him to an IV. “What about this animal?” the first guy yelled.

“Take him with you,” Rex answered. “Save him if you can.”

The still body of the wolf was carefully laid in the ambulance. The vehicle sped off with sirens blaring.

Jockey ran up to Rex and hugged him. “That was a very brave thing you did,” she said. “You’re a fine man.”

“I can say the same for you, Jockey,” he said. “Now you go see how Phil’s doing.”

She nodded, proceeded to the copter and lifted off. Jockey waved as the copter headed for Tomahawk.
 

Rex walked to the police car and sat down. He wanted to go to the hospital to see Ben, but first he had to brief Chief Henry on what he had observed in the cave. He called out and Chief Henry joined him in the car. Rex described the dead body and grabbed the wallet he had recovered. He checked the driver’s license and determined that the dead body was the remains of a man named Cherokee Alvarez from Chicago. He handed the wallet to Chief Henry and proposed that he needed to get the FBI involved in the background check of the dead man. Depending upon the outcome of the check, the FBI might send a forensic team to check out the cave for evidence and the cause of death.
 

After answering all the Chief’s questions, Rex asked to use the police car to go to the hospital to verify the identity of the man he had rescued. He thought it was Ben Harris but needed to be sure. Chief Henry agreed and Rex immediately left the scene.

Chapter 39

The only thought in Bo Lopez’s mind as he drove back to the Residence Inn was that he could surely use some raw sex. Killing invariably made him horny. He chuckled as he recalled how Cherokee had assaulted the young girl on the mountain. Then killing the sexy cop titillated him even more. Maybe he could tempt Strawberry Shortcake from the reception desk to have a fling. A couple of hundred dollars usually was enough of an enticement. If that didn’t work out, he had that sexy bitch tied to the bed in the motel. Even though she was the bait for the Harris guy, he was determined to satisfy his cravings tonight, whatever it took.

Bo pulled into the parking lot, got out of his SUV and went to his room. He put Leah’s cell phone on the coffee table, walked to the kitchen counter, removed the glasses
and prepared two bourbons and cokes. He added ice and climbed the stairs to the loft. He set the two drinks on the end table, tore the tape from her mouth and untied her. Leah knew better than to make any loud noise because Bo had warned her that if she did he would punish her severely.
 

She looked sadly at him and said in a wispy voice, “May I go to the bathroom please?”
 

Bo took her by the arm and led her to the bathroom. He actually turned his head as she used it.
 

Leah washed her hands and asked, “May I take a shower?”
 

Since Bo thought screwing a nice clean woman would be more fun, he agreed.
 

She turned on the faucet and removed her clothes. She knew Bo was watching her, but she felt filthy and wanted to feel the hot steamy water cleanse her. She unwrapped the motel soap bar, got into the shower and began scrubbing her face and body. She tried to ignore Bo’s eager eyes. She attempted to close the shower curtain, but Bo grabbed her hand and said, “Keep it open.”

Bo stepped out to the bedroom and retrieved his drink. He sipped it as he watched Leah bathe. He felt himself harden, looking at her full breasts as she washed them with soap. The nipples were pink and erect as she rubbed them. She turned her back to him as she washed between her legs.
 

After about ten minutes Bo said in a husky voice, “That’s enough, get out.”

He handed her a towel, and she dried and wrapped the towel around her. “Please let me wash my clothes, it’ll only take a few minutes,” Leah pleaded. Bo agreed and watched her as she washed them in the sink. When she finished rinsing the clothing, she hung them over the shower curtain bar to dry.
 

“I made you a drink,” Bo said as they walked back to the bed.
 

Leah picked up the drink. “Thank you.” She realized that the drink was extremely potent and only took a few sips.
 

Bo set down his drink. “Listen, let’s get to the point. I can tell by your recent behavior that you want to make things easier for yourself. I need some tonight, and if you accommodate me, I’ll make things much more pleasant for you. If not, things will get worse.”
 

Leah just looked at him and said nothing.
 

“What about it baby, will you cooperate? You know I can force you if I want to.”
 

He reached over and grabbed her left breast and squeezed it.
 

That was more than Leah could take. “I’ll die before I let you rape me, you bastard!” Leah screamed and threw the drink in his face. The alcohol momentarily blinded him and, as his hands went to his eyes, Leah threw the glass as hard as she could in the direction of his groin. It connected, and Bo let out a loud grunt.
 

Leah tried to leap out of the bed, but Bo grabbed her arm and threw her back hard. He ripped the towel from her body and attempted to pin her down as she thrashed naked under his powerful grip.
 

She kicked at his groin but missed and hit his upper hip. Bo punched her in the stomach. She passed out as he punched her again.

Bo tied up her soft naked body and put the tape back over her mouth. His balls ached where she had hit him with the glass. He picked up his drink from the end table and walked back to the living area. He added bourbon to the glass, went to the couch and sat down. That bitch had taken away his desire for sex, for the moment. If he didn’t need her as bait to get Ben Harris, he would just rape her and kill her right now. When he silenced Ben, he planned to do just that.

Bo picked up Leah’s cell phone from the coffee table and turned it on. He checked the most recent calls and found six calls to Ben Harris’s cell phone. The girl had certainly been trying to reach her boyfriend. Bo’s plan was simple: he would force Leah to call Ben again. He planned to let her talk for a minute then take the phone and arrange for a meeting to swap her for $10,000. He wanted Ben to think it was a simple ransom kidnapping. When Harris met him for the swap, he would kill them both. He could then return to Chicago and get the hell out of this God-forsaken place.

It was about 9:45 p.m. and his desire for sex had returned. He didn’t want to mess with that bitch Leah again. Maybe it was time to try his second option.
Watch out Strawberry Shortcake, here I come,
he thought.
 

Bo washed his face, combed his hair and put on his favorite black golf shirt. He even splashed on a little cologne and headed to the front desk.

At this hour, the lobby was empty, and there was no one in sight at the front desk. Bo punched the little bell and waited. In just a moment, Strawberry Shortcake emerged from the back. A broad smile was on her lips as she greeted Bo. “How can I help you, sir?” she purred.
 

Bo pulled out a roll of money to impress her and said, “Honey, I need change for a hundred, so I can get a paper from the machine.” Gina’s eyes lit up when she saw the roll of hundreds.
 

She said, “Yes sir,” and took the hundred. She returned and gave him a fifty, two twenties, a five, four ones and four quarters
.
Bo took the money and handed Gina the fifty.
 

“This is for your trouble, honey,” he said. He saw her eyes light up as she grasped the fifty. “There’s a lot more where that came from,” Bo expressed, “If you’re interested?”