Will fired a succession of rounds at the car to giveTaylor a little breathing space. He hit the gas tank twice, but ofcourse it was only in movies that cars conveniently exploded. Henailed the front right tire and, with grim satisfaction, watchedthe front half of the vehicle sag.
Dropping back, Will ejected the SIG’s magazine,replaced the empty clip with a full one, slapped the magazine backinto place.
Taylor was conserving ammo, laying down just enoughfire to keep the other two from advancing toward the copse whereHedwig hid. The female shooter was equally conservative, biding hertime, watching closely for a clear shot.
Two on two. Well, they’d certainly had worse odds.With the road in front of them and the downside of the knoll totheir rear, they were in pretty good position. If they had to fallback, the trees and vegetation supplied plenty of camouflage. Yes,it could definitely be worse.
And it could definitely be better. Will wasdisgusted with himself for missing the fact that they’d picked up atail. Even if they had been keeping well back — a big black sedan?It didn’t get more in-your-face than that. How long had he andTaylor been followed? He’d been so preoccupied with Taylor andkeeping an eye out for Nemov, he’d missed the obvious. And what wasTaylor’s excuse?
The male shooter made an attempt to get to the rockyincline to the right of the car, but Will held him off with threewell-placed shots. The woman directed her attention his way. Taylorrevived her interest in him with resumed fire.
The male shooter scrambled back into the car andblared the horn loudly. The female left cover and ran for the car,firing off a few wild shots and throwing herself inside.
The black sedan roared forward, knocking the silverSUV rental a few feet to the side and plowing past. The sedanfishtailed, screeching up the road several yards and disappearingaround a bend. The engine died.
They weren’t going far. Even if they wanted to, acouple of holes in the gas tank were sure to slow them down.
Taylor was up and running for the stand of junipers.Will started for the SUV. If it was still functional, they’d headback for Carrizozo rather than fall into whatever trap the suits inthe black sedan were planning.
“Brandt!”
He turned. Taylor reappeared, shaking his head.
“Is she hit?” Will gasped, sick at the thought.“She’s not dead, is she?”
“Gone.”
Chapter Eight
“Signal?”
Taylor shook his head. He resisted the temptation tohurl his BlackBerry at the nearest mountaintop. “We didn’t run themoff. They’re either blocking the road ahead or going for a betterposition.”
“Or both.”
“Or both. Either way, we can’t retreat. Not withoutthe Bionic Baby Maker.”
“She’s not going far.” Will ejected his pistolmagazine, checked the clip, reinserted the magazine. That would behis second and last clip. At a rough estimate, Taylor guessed Willprobably had six, maybe seven, rounds left. He hadn’t been planningto go to war. Neither of them had. He reached in his pocket, tossedWill one of his extras. It wasn’t regulation, but Taylor alwayscarried extra extras.
Will took it, slipping it in his vest pocket. “Iguess that answers the question about whether she was fakinglabor.”
“I guess. Listen, Brandt. If that car’s stillrunning, I think you should take it and head for the nearest rangerstation. We need some support here. There isn’t any point trying tokeep this thing secret now.”
“And in the meantime, you’re going to do what?”
“I’m going to find Hedwig and go to ground with heruntil you show up with reinforcements.”
“The guy who thinks Descanso Gardens is a wildernessis going to try tracking someone through Lincoln National Forest? Idon’t think so.”
“Hey, she’s no wilderness expert either. I’m theperfect choice to track her. She’s going to think like me.”
“Very funny. We’re sticking together.”
That was the way Taylor would prefer it, but honestycompelled him to speak. “We need some backup. We’ve got Dick andJane ahead of us and, for all we know, Nemov coming up on our ass.Ramirez might even be out there somewhere. The situation is out ofour control. We need help.”
“We’re sticking together.”
“Would you listen to me?”
“Would you listen to me? I’m not leaving youout here.”
What a really bad time to get choked up, but Willwas glaring at him, mouth thinned to a white line and eyes sobright they were glittering. Bad timing for both of them.
“Will…”
“I’m. Not. Leaving. You. Got that?”
Taylor took a deep breath. “It’s okay. I know you’llcome back.”
To his surprise, Will’s hand closed on his shoulderand pulled him forward into a fleeting but adamant press ofmouths.
“You’re right. I will. Always.” He released Taylorand turned away. “Let’s go. It can get dark fast in themountains.”
* * * * *
“Is there any chance she didn’t come thisway?” They had been searching the tree-covered hills for half anhour with no sign of Hedwig anywhere. Now it was mostly a series ofrocky downhill slopes. Where the ground wasn’t rock, it was coveredin golden wheat. Or something that looked like wheat but was morelikely weeds. There were a few scraggly pine trees and a lot ofjuniper and cactus. The air was sharp and clear as a crystal bell,and every clack of rock on rock seemed to carry formiles.
“This is the closest thing to a trail.”
Which wasn’t saying much.
Taylor paused to look over his shoulder — which waswhen he felt the ground give way.
For a confused instant, he thought he’d misstepped,that he was falling down the hillside, and then he realized that hewas falling into the hillside. The ground caved in aroundhim, dirt and rock crumbling down on him as he sank.
He seemed to hang, suspended, clawing the thick,moist dark, trying to climb back up to air and light, squinchinghis eyelids, spitting, breathing out against the smothering showerof debris. It felt for a moment like he might fight gravity.
Then he plummeted. He landed in soft earth, thoughhard enough to knock the wind out of him.
He could hear Will yelling. It sounded like a longway away.
Taylor blinked a couple of times and began torapidly take
