The Devils Punchbowl

bird

doesn?'t remind me of helicopters, but of a young man I never met in life. Ben Li. A computer genius who told Tim Jessup to ?ask the birds? about his insurance policy. What I don'?t understand is why, if Li had a cache of sensitive data, he didn't use it to save his life when Sands and Quinn began to torture him. If I can answer that question, maybe I can find what no one else has been able to: something valuable enough?or dangerous enough?to purchase Caitlin?s freedom.

CHAPTER

61

Caitlin has been walking so long that her feet are numb. If she hadn'?t had to kick so hard to get the roof open, she would still be running, running along the road until she reached a town. She could do ten miles if she had to. But the bruises in her heels are to the bone?she can hardly take the pressure of her own weight on the asphalt.

Six times she?s seen the lambent glow of headlights in the sky, then raced into fields beside the road before the lights appeared. As the sound of the engines grew, a frantic compulsion to leap out of the field and flag down the driver would grow in her chest, but each time she fought the urge into submission. Over and over she hears the voice of Tom Cage telling the story of the poor girl who escaped from Morville Plantation and reached the sheriff?s office, only to be driven back into forced sexual slavery by squad car.

Before her feet became numb, Caitlin had found herself sobbing every few minutes. Nothing she did could block the memories rising out of the dark. The rape wasn'?t the worst of it. The worst was Linda hanging from the Cyclone fence, her dress tucked as modestly around her legs as she could make it, a last attempt at dignity from a girl who?d had all dignity stripped away from her. Caitlin?s memory of heaving Linda?s legs out through the window is growing vague. The sight of a Bully Kutta hanging suspended from a dead

knee seems beyond comprehension, something Caitlin dreamed in a fever.

But it happened,

she tells herself.

I did that. It?s like those soccer players who survived that plane crash in the Andes. You do what you have to do?.

Sooner or later, I'?ll come to a place that has a phone. If not, I'?ll just keep on until I drop or the sun comes up.

CHAPTER

62

Kelly, my father, and I are seated around my kitchen table with half-drunk cups of coffee in front of us, three pistols centered between them. Danny and Carl have taken the JetRanger back to Athens Point. Because of the guilt he feels about Caitlin?s kidnapping, Carl tried to remain behind, but the sheriff ordered him back, and that was that. The Ervin brothers are still outside, guarding us as they have almost from the beginning. Mom and Annie are sleeping in Annie?s bed upstairs. We?re on our third pot of coffee, and though everyone is exhausted, no one has made a move to a bedroom. I?'ve been trying to wade through the Po file Lutjens sent me, but there?s so much raw data that I can?t really digest it. Ever since we were forced to abandon the helicopter search, a feeling of desperation has been growing in me. I want to do something?anything?to get Caitlin back.

?You want me to give you a shot so you can sleep?? Dad asks. ?Just put you out for a while??

?No. We don'?t know how things might break tonight. I have to be ready for whatever happens.?

?Okay.?

?This is the toughest kind of situation to take,? Kelly says. ?You have no control over events, and that?s hard to handle when you?re used to having it.?

?I'm about ready to say to hell with Po, call Caitlin?s father, and break this story nationwide.?

?Worst thing you could do. That'?s the one thing that might force them to kill her. Po would be gone, and Hull would vanish like a puff of smoke.?

?He?s right,? Dad says softly.

?I know.?

Kelly leans forward and forces me to look him in the eye. ?Sands isn?t going to kill her, Penn.?

?How can you be sure??

?Put yourself in his shoes. Sands took her because he felt he had no choice. I don'?t know what Caitlin did, but somehow she made herself a threat to the Po sting. As for why I'm sure they won'?t kill her?apart from everything we?ve discussed?it comes down to this: Sands was looking into my eyes when I made that promise Monday morning. He knows that if Caitlin dies, he dies. Maybe not today, but one day soon. He doesn?'t want to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life.?

?I think he?s lived that way since he was a kid. It?s a way of life for him.?

?He won'?t kill her.?

Dad looks less certain. ?Remember, Son, our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.?

?That'?s a fine sentiment. But in this case my greatest hope and my worst fear are opposite sides of the same coin. It?s either/or. Caitlin?s alive or dead. She?s coming back or she?s not. And as things stand, we have no control over the outcome.?

?She?s alive,? Dad says with conviction. ?I know she is. I can feel it.?

My father has never been the mystical type. ?Feel it? Aren?t you the one who told me that when you die, you?re dead??

?I am. But sometimes I have a feeling about things. Things as they'?re supposed to be.?

?What?s your feeling now?? Kelly asks.

Dad takes my hand and squeezes as hard as he can with his diminished strength. ?Caitlin?s going to be part of this family for a long time. I

know

that. I refuse to accept any other possibility.?

For a few seconds I actually believe him. Then Kelly sits erect, grabs his pistol, and jumps to his feet. ?There?s somebody outside.?

He?s right. Someone?s knocking softly on the front door. With Kelly in the lead, all three of us walk to the foyer. He motions us back, then, holding his pistol along his leg, leans against the wall beside the door and says, ?Who?s there??

?Walt,? says a male voice. ?Walt Garrity.?

We all look at each other in surprise. Kelly reaches out and opens the door, aiming his gun through the crack. After a moment, he pulls Walt through the door and shuts it behind him.

?What happened?? I asked. ?You have any word on Caitlin??

Walt shakes his head dejectedly. ?Nothing. I'm sorry, boys. I'm blown.?

?What do you mean??

?My end of this operation?s over.?

?Let?s get back in the kitchen,? says Kelly. ?You want some coffee, Walt??

?I wouldn'?t turn it down. I got a long drive ahead of me.?

In the kitchen Walt sits to my father?s right, and I sit opposite him while Kelly pours the coffee. Walt waves his hand over the cup to indicate he wants it black.

?So what happened?? I ask.

?They had the dogfight tonight, like I said. I went. Took a hooker with me for cover. I?'ve had one with me every night. Started out with a white girl, local. Tipped her heavy and sent her home at the end of each night. But