around looking for a little Bighorn buffet will smell the blood. I’ve had a cougar following me for the last few miles, and I’m pretty sure there’s a good-sized grizzly out there, too-and brother, when those professionals come in here they are not going to concern themselves with which meat is alive and which meat is dead.”
The last part was mostly horseshit, but I didn’t figure his Phoenix-born ass would know the difference any more than Hector’s Texas one did-besides, the abstraction of a bullet was one thing, but being eaten alive was something else.
“I figure that putting you in the Ameri-Trans driver’s uniform was Shade’s idea, but after seeing how the other flanking efforts had fared, especially with your buddy Calvin back there, you took exception. That’s when he cuffed you to the grating and left you here with a pistol that’s only got one bullet.” I shifted my weight forward. “What were you going to do after you shot me, hope that you could fish the cuff keys out of my belt?”
He still didn’t move, but the end of the cigar flared again.
“Well, I’ll make sure I fall out the back. Then you can sit here eating Funyuns and fattening up for what happens next.”
He finally swallowed and shifted; the semiautomatic pistol clattered onto the metal floor between us.
10
“Only a professional criminal would neglect to ask an officer to uncuff him, but the dead giveaway was the Funyuns. Who but the Junk-food Junkie would know that the cutout window in a bag of chips was replaced in 2005?”
He nodded and rubbed his wrist, trying to work the blood back into the white and stiffened hand now cuffed to the other in his lap with those cuffs attached with my own to the bench seat.
“Fuck.”
“Yep, it never pays to have a nom du criminal.”
Along with the 9mm, he’d had one of the next-generation satellite phones, which I activated. The battery was fully charged and should be plenty good enough for my purposes; within thirty-six hours I intended to be sipping an Irish coffee somewhere warm. “Were you supposed to call him when you were done with me?”
“Yeah.”
I stared at the phone and then tossed it onto his lap. “Call him.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“Call him; tell him I’m dead and that you’ve uncuffed yourself and need to know what to do next.”
He looked at the phone but made no move to try to dial. “We’re supposed to like meet somebody.”
I plucked a Funyun from the bag beside him and ate it; it wasn’t the usual and tasted like onion-flavored insulation, but it would have to do. “I’m aware of that, but I want to know who and where.”
He sat there. “I can’t lie to him.”
“What, you’ve suddenly developed scruples?”
He picked up the phone and held it out. “He’ll like kill me; after he kills you he’ll come back here and kill me.”
“So, they are coming back this way?”
“No, but he’ll make an extra effort after I lie to him and he kills you. Hey look, I don’t know who we’re meeting or where. Shit, man… I don’t know where the hell I am right now.”
Still holding the 9mm, I sat on the opposite bench and looked at him. “Call him, or when I go I’ll leave the door back here open and let nature take its course.” He still didn’t move. “Survival of the fittest.”
He looked like he might cry but thumbed the CALL button and bent down so that he could hold it to his ear. After a moment, he spoke into the receiver. “He’s dead.”
There was a pause.
“No, like really. I shot him and got the keys off of him. He’s like lying here and I think there are animals outside…” He stopped talking for a moment and swallowed, the fear wafting off of him like a bad smell. “What? No, like he’s dead and…” He paused again, froze like that, and held the phone out to me, the tears openly flowing. “He says he wants to talk to you.”
I sighed and took the phone. “Yes.”
The singsong rhythm of his voice sounded close. “You should be getting kind of tired about now, Sheriff.”
“Actually, no. I’m used to the altitude, and I’ve been cooped up most of the winter and been looking forward to getting out of doors.”
“It’s beautiful up here isn’t it-sacred land.”
“Yep, it is.” I waited, but he didn’t say anything. “I’m sure we’ve got more to discuss than the scenery. Look, Shade, I don’t know where you think you’re going, or who you think you’re going to meet. ..”
There was a long pause, and then his voice bounced off the satellite in the cold dead of space and landed in what was left of my ear. “You should stop now, Sheriff. I gave you those four in hopes that that would be enough. Remember, there are only the two hostages and me. I’ve given you all I’m willing to give; if you continue to pursue me any further-I will begin taking.”
I measured my next words carefully, knowing we were playing a balancing act, attempting to get into each other’s head. “I want you to listen to me very carefully, Shade. Those two people are the only reason you’re still alive. I know you’ve got that. 223, but if you keep going up on this trail you’re going to hit some long meadows and then open areas above the tree line, and when you do you’re going to feel an itch between your shoulder blades, a. 45-70 itch. That’ll be me-and it’ll be the last thing you ever feel.”
I listened to him breathing on the other end of the line; then he spoke in a voice that was monotonous and unemotional. “Tell Freddie that I’ll be back for him.”
The line went dead.
“What’d he say?”
I thumbed off the phone. “He says he’s having a wonderful time and wishes you were there.” I drew the pack onto my shoulder along with the Sharps and grabbed the snowshoes beside the door.
“Hey look, you’re not going to like just leave me here, right?”
“I am but don’t worry, I’m going to use the phone to bring the cavalry to you.”
“What about the bears and the mountain lions?”
“When I leave I’ll close and latch the door. Both of them are amazingly adaptable hunters, but one thing they don’t have is opposable thumbs, which means the next thing that opens the cargo hold will be human. It’ll probably be Henry Standing Bear, a big Indian fellow, or a mean little brunette deputy of mine by the name of Victoria Moretti-if I were you, I’d hope for the Cheyenne.”
I stood there for a moment, thinking about what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. I had limited resources and a limited amount of time. I pulled Saizarbitoria’s cell phone from the inside pocket of my jacket, rescued it from the waterproof Ziploc, and flipped it open; it was still out of service. I closed it and put it back- insurance, just in case I was to get to an altitude where it might get a signal.
I looked at the satellite phone in my other hand and thought about which of two calls I wanted to make. I punched in the office number.
“Absaroka County Sheriff’s Department.”
“It’s me.”
“Where are you!”
I held the receiver a little away from my ear. “Ruby, I need you to listen. I’ve got one of the Fed satellite phones now, so this is the number where you can reach me, and I was right, the numbers are sequential. I’m at the waterfall meadows on Tensleep Creek where I’ve got a vehicle broken down. Is there any backup nearby?”
“Wait… meadows at the base of the falls at Tensleep Creek, right? Yes, they broke through on the east and west slopes. Saizarbitoria is arranging transport for that agent.”
“McGroder. He’s alive?”
“Yes, and Henry’s with search and rescue. They’re getting ready to head out from there. Did you really leave a man handcuffed to a water pipe at Deer Haven Lodge?”
