“Dangerous propaganda,” she muttered to herself.
The interest LAD had in Bic Turner turned out to be pragmatic—weapons. But not just any weapons. Believing they had a constitutional right to bear arms equivalent to any available to the US military, LAD was buying thirty select-fire M4 Carbines. Since firing M4 rifles on full-auto chewed through loads of bullets, LAD also ordered forty thousand rounds of ammunition. It took Eddie the better part of two weeks to load the rounds at his uncle’s shop, and package them in water-tight storage boxes. To top it off, the neo-Nazi group also demanded at least 250 pounds of high explosives.
After months of searching, Bic finally turned up a deal on three hundred pounds of extra gelatin nitroglycerin dynamite. The seller of the dynamite claimed to have acquired it from a mining company in Wyoming.
Filling the weapons order took seven months, and a considerable outlay of cash to purchase the civilian rifles, which Bic modified, not to mention the ammunition components and explosives. He’d been able to convince LAD to front him seventy-five-grand to cover the upfront expenses.
Now, with the mules loaded with close to a ton of weaponry, ammunition, and explosives, he stood to make a nice profit. Enough to move his retirement up by at least ten years.
Chapter 2
The ridge Danya was following dipped down to a large meadow. She imagined this was a lake at one time. But now the water had mostly receded to a grass-covered plain. All that was left of the lake was a shallow pond ringed by a marsh.
As she descended, her path converged with the trail, and she joined Bic and Eddie.
She pointed forward. “Take the pack train to the edge of the cattails, and unload the merchandise. Stack the crates side by side on firm ground, and don’t let the mules enter the marsh if the ground is too soft.”
“How will we know if it’s too soft?” Eddie said.
Once again she was taken aback by his simplistic thought process.
“Because they’ll sink in the mud,” Bic replied. “Go on, Eddie. I’ll be there in a minute.”
As Eddie led the pack mules away, Bic faced her.
“I hope you’ll give my nephew some slack. He’s a hard worker, and very conscientious. Just not too bright.”
She nodded and gazed beyond Bic, toward the younger man following his uncle’s orders.
“Does he understand what’s going on?” she said.
“He knows we’re meeting a group who will buy the rifles, ammunition, and explosives. And he knows he stands to make a good cut.”
“Does he know how to use that rifle he’s carrying?”
“Sure. He’s done a lot of shooting at the range. Pretty good shot.” Bic grinned.
“Really. At the range.” Her tone oozed sarcasm. “So Eddie knows how to shoot, but does he know how to use that weapon as a tool?”
“Well…I…”
Truth be told, Bic didn’t think of guns as tools, but as something merely to be used in sport shooting, or purely for entertainment.
“Yeah, I thought so. Tell me, does Eddie comprehend the risk?”
Bic pinched his eyebrows. “I’m not sure what you mean. You make it sound like we’re trying to rip off the Mob. Or rob a bank. LAD has agreed to the price. If they want to renegotiate, well, that’s why I hired you.”
“Right. You should have told me.”
“Told you what?”
Eddie had tied the mules off to bush willows, and was rubbing the nose of one. Looked like he was talking to the animal, but he was too far away for her to hear.
“Eddie is mentally challenged,” she said, “and I’m not convinced he understands that we could find ourselves in a gunfight. Look at the way he’s bonding with the mules.”
Bic turned and watched as Eddie moved from one pack animal to the next, rubbing each nose and patting their necks.
“He has a way with animals. Always has. They seem to trust him.”
“That’s because they sense that he’s not a threat. Don’t you see? Humans are, by nature, predators. Animals sense this, and it puts them on guard, makes them warry. But Eddie’s not that way. He’s simple, pure. Do you think that will escape the notice of the people we’re about to meet? They’ll see Eddie for what he is, the weak link, and they will exploit that.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you’re an asshole. You should have fully briefed me. And because you didn’t, you’ve placed your nephew, and this mission, at great risk.”
“Just calm down.” Bic raised his hands, palms toward her. “You work for me, remember? And I’m in charge here.”
“Not anymore.”
For a tense three seconds, the two just stared at each other.
Finally, Bic yielded. “All right. So now what? And why should we unpack the mules, anyway? It will take an hour for LAD to balance the loads and strap the cases back onto the animals.”
“That’s the point. They’ll be occupied doing that while we get the hell out of the area.” Danya closed the gap until she was inches away from Bic. “Look, I know you don’t get it. So let me dumb it down for you. You’re delivering thirty military-grade assault rifles to a bunch of neo-Nazis. Each rifle can fire fully automatic. You’re also delivering a shit-load of ammunition and three hundred pounds of high-grade explosives. To top it all off, we’re a long way from civilization. There won’t be any cavalry to come to our rescue when this deal goes south.”
“How can you be so certain they’ll double-cross us?”
Danya furrowed her brow. “Are you for real? I just spelled it out for you.”
Bic put his hands on his hips and paced in a circle.
“So you’re convinced they’ll take the weapons and keep the money.”
“Duh. Do ya think?”
Bic
