No Return

The man simply grinned but said nothing.

Wes looked out his window. Though a half-moon was beginning to rise in the east, it was still too low to provide much illumination. Still, he was able to make out the bulky shape of B Mountain off to the left, and knew they must be on the highway to Trona, the same highway that ran by the Pinnacles, where the crash had occurred.

At first he thought that was where Dori was taking them, though he had no idea why. Unless, that was, she’d turned the tables and was actually working for Forman. But the commander seemed just as out of the loop as Wes felt. Then, just before the highway dipped down into a narrow, rocky canyon that would have taken them toward the Pinnacles, Dori turned onto a dirt road leading southeast into the wilderness.

Wes had been on this road back in high school, but where he’d been heading then and where they were heading now couldn’t be the same, could they? That didn’t make any sense.

Hell, none of it made sense, he thought.

Ahead the road forked. The fork to the right was wider and more traveled, leading to God knew where. The one to the left was in far worse shape and led up into some hills in the east. It was the left fork Wes had gone down last time. And, before she even turned the steering wheel, he knew that was the direction she was going to take this time, too.

The car bounced as it hit a rut, knocking Wes into the commander.

“Hang on, gentlemen,” the man with the gun said.

Wes moved back to his side, then tried to anchor himself with one hand on the door and the other against the roof.

They were going to have to stop soon. The road only went so far. He just hoped when they got to the end there would be other cars, throwing off whatever plan it was Dori and the man with the gun had in mind.

When they took the final turn, Wes’s hopes rose as he spotted something parked up where the road terminated. Maybe it was going to be all right. There were others.

But as the distance closed, his rising hope nosedived. The other vehicle wasn’t a car at all. It was a …

… horse trailer.

The Lincoln lit it up as they drew near. It had been backed in so that its doors were on the far side, away from them. And though it showed signs of age, it wasn’t falling apart, and therefore couldn’t have been out here for very long.

As soon as Dori brought the Lincoln to a stop and turned off the engine, a deathly quiet settled over everything.

Finally she turned so she could look at Wes and Commander Forman. “My friend here is going to get out. He’ll open the door next to you.” She flashed a glance at Wes. “I’ll wait here while you both climb out. And in case you’re thinking of trying something …” She raised her hand in the air. Like her friend, she was also holding a gun, only hers seemed even larger. “Everyone understand?”

“You need to let me go right now,” Forman said. “I’m an officer in the U.S. Navy, and you do not want the kind of trouble we will bring down on you.”

“Have you looked outside, Commander?” Dori asked. “We’re at least twenty miles from the closest building. Where do you think you would go?”

A superior smirk grew on the commander’s lips. “You don’t think I would have met Mr. Stewart without any backup, do you? I have a tracking chip. Within minutes a naval helicopter full of Marines is going to land. And when they do, if I’m not free, you will not survive.”

“A helicopter full of Marines.” Dori laughed, deep and loud. “You’re a liar, Commander. If that were true, don’t you think your rescue team would be hovering above us right now?” She shook her head. “No. You came alone, thinking you could shut Wes up, because guess what? Turns out Wes was right. You make me sick, Commander. You’re just lucky Wes here sickens me more.”

“What are you talking about?” Wes asked. “I barely even know you.”

“Where’s the chip?” Dori’s partner asked the commander. When Forman didn’t answer, the man leaned over the seat and slammed the butt of the gun against the commander’s cheek.

Forman grunted as he fell back against the seat. “In my shoe.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Dori declared.

“I think we should check, anyway,” her partner said.

She shrugged. “Why not? All right, Commander, toss ’em both up here.”

“I will not!”

Dori aimed the barrel of her gun at his chest. “Fine with me. We’ll just take them off you after you’re dead.”

The commander did nothing for a moment, then reached down and removed his shoes. “It doesn’t matter. They already know where I am.”

“Shut it,” Dori’s partner said as he grabbed the shoes.

He then climbed out of the car and dropped them on the ground. A few seconds later, there were two loud gunshots.

“What do you know?” The guy held a shoe in the doorway so Dori could see it. “There was something there.”

Dori smiled at the commander. “They don’t know where you are now.”

“That’s not how that works,” the commander said. “They already know our position. And destroying the chip is their signal to land.”

“If you say so,” Dori said, still smiling.

Forman looked out at the sky, his eyes searching for something that didn’t appear to be there.

The door beside Wes opened.

“Now, both of you, out,” Dori said.

Wes climbed out first. The commander, feet clad only in socks, followed.

The half-moon dimly illuminated the desert in a gray-blue light.

“Stay right there,” Dori’s partner said, his gun trained on them.

Once Dori was out, she pointed her gun at the commander, then said, “Wes, you’re going to help my friend here, then we’re all going to go for a walk.”

The man waved the end of his barrel toward the horse trailer. “Come on,” he said. “Around to the doors.”

Not seeing much of an option, Wes did as he was ordered.

“Open it,” the man said once they’d reached the back.

Wes grabbed the handle, yanked it up and to the right, releasing the latch. Because of the angle, gravity held the doors in place. He pulled outward on the one covering the right half, then gave it a little push so it swung all the way out, then over, where it slammed against the outside of the trailer with a loud bang.

The interior was bathed in darkness.

“The other one,” the man said.

Wes repeated the action, this time with the left side.

Now that both halves were out of the way, dull moonlight was able to penetrate a few feet into the trailer. With the exception of some debris jutting out of the edge of the darkness, the rest of what Wes could see was barren floor.

“Go on,” the man said. “Inside.”

“You’re going to lock me in?” Wes asked. “Why? What have I done to you?”

“Inside,” the man repeated.

Wes’s eyes narrowed. This was ridiculous. Whatever game they were playing, he was done.

“No,” he said.

The man raised his gun. “Inside.”

“No,” Wes repeated.

“Fine.”

Wes held his ground as the man sighted down his barrel at his chest.

“I would think you’d want to go inside,” Dori said.

Wes jerked at the sound of her voice. She and the commander had moved around the trailer and were