Will listened to this exchange with half an ear. Hisattention was on Hedwig, who had her eye on Nemov’s shotgun. Hedidn’t like her expression.
“Let us make a deal,” Nemov said.
“Let us not,” Taylor returned, “and say we did.”
Hedwig sprang for the shotgun, but Will was faster.He dived, grabbed her by her ponytail, and dragged her back. Shelet out a squeal of pain and fury but stopped struggling, foldingher arms protectively around her middle.
“Down, girl.”
Hedwig let off a stream of invectives that mighthave made a Russian drug lord blink. If he wasn’t already used toher winning ways. She finished inexplicably with, “You have noright!”
“You see,” Nemov said. “You should leave her withme. I will split the reward money with you.”
“What have I told you two about eating juniperberries for breakfast?” Will confiscated Nemov’s shotgun. “Why’dyou uncuff her? It seems rash.”
“She could not climb in handcuffs.”
“Well, we’ll give her a helping hand with that.”Will reached for his handcuffs.
Hedwig gave a vicious but inaccurate kick at hislegs. He jumped aside. Nemov laughed nastily.
“I’m really getting tired of you two,” Taylorcommented. “You, the Mad Russian, take your — actually my —handcuffs out. Good. Now siddown, hands behind your head.”
Nemov slowly complied. Taylor reached across thewall, took the cuffs, and locked one end around Nemov’s hairy rightwrist, looped the other through one of the rusted rods partiallysticking out of the bricks, and locked it around Nemov’s leftwrist.
“That ought to hold you for a bit.”
Hands fastened behind his head, Nemov glared up athim. “This is not legal.”
“Isn’t it?”
Taylor looked at Will in surprise. Will said, “Uh,you really want to leave him like that?”
“What I’d really like to do is shoot him, but I wasthinking you’d probably object.”
Will hoped — assumed — he was kidding. He looked atHedwig, who was still glowering up at him. “My partner’s not in agreat mood. I’d advise you to start cooperating. If you don’t, thefirst thing we’re doing after we drag your ass off this mountain iscall the marshals and let them deal with getting you back to charmschool.”
She bared her teeth at him.
“I’m sure I can find a stake to chain her to,”Taylor said.
“You’d like that,” Hedwig said. “You don’t careabout me. I’d be safer with him.” She jerked her head atNemov.
Nemov nodded approvingly.
“Yeah, but who’ll protect him from you?” Will kneltand got Hedwig handcuffed. For all her quivering fury, she didn’tput up any resistance. If she was half as tired as Will felt, shehad to be ready to drop. Weren’t pregnant women supposed to sleep alot anyway? Maybe Hedwig hadn’t gotten the memo.
Will helped her to her feet. “Do we leave the fireor not?” he asked Taylor.
“What do you think?”
Will considered. “There’s nothing for it to burn inhere, but while it’s going it’ll keep off predators and act as abeacon for the choppers.” To Nemov he said, “The first phone we getto, we’ll contact the sheriffs and have them send someone foryou.”
“I will not be here.”
“That would be my suggestion, but if you come afterus, you’ll wish you’d waited for the sheriffs.”
Chapter Six
The MountainInn in Carrizozo was like a lot of motor courts built back in thethirties and forties. At night its blue and pink neon lightsbeckoned the weary traveler. By day it offered adobe-style cabinswith royal blue doors, paintings of Southwest Indian designs on thestucco facade, and shady, juniper-lined walkways. The pool wasbone-dry, aqua paint flecking away in the white-hot sunlight, butthe ice machine still worked. Taylor could hear it thumping andrattling outside their cabin window. It was the closest thing toair conditioning the Mountain Inn offered.
Inside the cabin, the red and brown furnishings wereugly and worn. The furniture was battered, but the rooms were cleanand the beds looked comfortable. Of course, anything short of aslab in a morgue looked comfortable to Taylor at that point.
It had taken them two hours to get down the mountainto a fire road. By then Hedwig had been out on her feet. Rescue hadcome in the unexpected form of a bumblebee yellow Hummer driven bya self-described “rock hound.”
Apparently flash floods were the equivalent ofChristmas for lapidaries. When the waters dried, all kinds ofgoodies could be discovered in the silt. Crowded in the backseat,shoulder and thigh pressed against Will’s, Taylor had listened in akind of dream state to their bewhiskered savior drone on about fireagates, Mexican opals, Apache jasper, and petrified wood. When Willhad asked about flood damage in the surrounding area, the GoodSamaritan had been vague but professed a belief that there had beenno loss of life.
He’d dropped them off in Carrizozo, population onethousand (give or take), a per capita income of slightly overtwelve grand, and an open invitation to any and all renewableenergy companies looking to invest. Welcome to hell, in otherwords.
It did have an airport, but it sounded too small fortheir purposes.
After checking in to the Mountain Inn, Will hadhandcuffed Hedwig to the bed in the adjoining room of their cabin —probably unnecessary as she was asleep before her head hit thepillow — and he and Taylor had spent the next hour calling rentalcar companies, ranger stations, and just about anyone they couldthink of.
“Who calls Cooper?” Will asked.
Cooper as in Assistant Field Office DirectorCooper. Their boss. The man who would have a few things to sayabout a pair of special agents who took it upon themselves to gohunting a fugitive suspected terrorist when their assignment wasmerely to escort her to LA.
“I will,” Taylor said. “It was my idea.”
“For the last time. You didn’t force me into this.We came up with this plan together.”
“Do you think it makes it better or worse that ittook two of us to come up with this scheme?”
“I think we should hold off talking to Cooper.”
“You mean because of the supposed leak to theDEA?”
Will shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“We can’t stay off the radar indefinitely.”
“I know. But —”
“I’ll tell him we’re following up a lead.”
Will’s mouth opened in objection.
Taylor added, “And I’ll call the office while he’sat lunch, instead of calling his cell.”
“Good thought.”
“Easier to ask forgiveness…”
Will was nodding. His own cell rang,
