floor. Tony fell backward, carrying me with him through the dining room door where he sprawled face up on a glass-topped table.
We struggled there for a moment, both trying to gain an advantage. The table swayed crazily beneath our combined weight until the overstressed wrought-iron supports gave way and bent double. The glass itself crashed to the floor, splintering into huge shards four and five feet long.
When we landed, I was still on top and hanging onto Tony's legs, preventing the damaging kicks that were sure to follow if I let him loose. I saw Rhonda scramble desperately out of the way, kicking the assault rifle in front of her. For a moment Tony seemed stunned, breathless, then he began to clutch at my face. His sinewy thumbs were probing for my eyes, trying to blind me. I shook my head from side to side, trying to elude his grasp without letting go of his legs.
Just as his hands closed over my face, I heard Rhonda's voice say, 'Freeze!'
There was unmistakable authority in the menacing word. Tony's fingers went suddenly limp, and he winced with pain.
'Get off him, Beau,' Rhonda said urgently. 'Be careful.'
I glanced around, unable at first to see where her voice was coming from although she seemed to be somewhere behind me. When I tried to get up, I had to ease myself up over the assault rifle, which Rhonda Attwood held firmly, pressed deep in Tony's crotch. He tried to wiggle away.
'Don't you move,' she ordered.
I wasn't sure at the time if she was bluffing or not. In fact, I'm not sure to this day whether or not she would have shot his balls off, but she sure as hell sounded serious, and Tony wasn't willing to call her on it.
I reached out to take the gun, but she shook her head and held onto it. 'Check on Guy,' she said. 'He may need help.'
Actually, guy Owens didn't need any help at all. With the semiautomatic in his hand, he was prodding the writhing Paco to his knees and forcing him over against the wall. As he moved, Paco clutched his gut and blathered that he needed a doctor.
Guy handed me the 9-mm. 'Watch these guys,' he said. 'I'll be back in a minute.'
'Are you going to call for help?'
'No,' he said. 'I'm going after super glue and duct tape.'
'You're crazy,' I yelled after him. 'If you don't call the cops, I will.'
'Don't bother,' he said. 'They already cut the phone lines.'
'I'll go to one of the neighbors then,' I said, as he came back into the room carrying a gigantic roll of duct tape and a vial of super glue. Taking the lid off the super glue, he went straight to Paco.
'Open your mouth,' Owens ordered.
Paco looked at me, rolling his eyes in fright. 'Open your mouth, damn you,' Owens repeated.
Reluctantly, Paco opened his mouth and Owens spread a thin line of glue like a welder's bead across the terrified man's lower lip. 'Hold 'em together, now,' Owens said. 'And don't move.'
Paco did as he was told. I was afraid Guy Owens had gone totally round the bend.
'Look, Guy, this has all been too much for you. You've got to settle down and start thinking calmly. I'll go next door and call the sheriff.'
'The hell you will,' he said to me, and then to Rhonda, 'Bring that other one over here. We'll glue his mouth shut, too.'
Tony came across the room at Rhonda's urging and submitted to the super-glue treatment. As soon as he had administered the glue, Guy began the process of stripping off their clothes and taping their hands and feet together. He worked quickly, purposefully, with no lost motions.
'Are you listening to me?' I demanded. 'What in the hell do you think you're doing, Ownes? Why are you messing around with glue and duct tape? This has gone just about far enough, don't you think?'
Owens didn't stop as he answered. 'Their boss-man, some asshole named Monty, gave us two hours to come down here to the house, collect the money, and get back. If we're not back by the deadline, he'll kill Michelle.'
'So what's the matter with calling the sheriff? It's a kidnapping, for Chrissake. Call in the fucking F.B.I.'
Guy Owens turned to Rhonda. 'What's your name?'
'Rhonda,' she answered. 'Rhonda Attwood.' He did a momentary double take as her name registered, then he caught himself.
'Get the truck then load all that money back in the briefcase, Rhonda. We'll need to take that along. And you,' he said to me. 'Help me get these creeps loaded into their Isuzu. They made me drive. I left the keys in the ignition. We'll bring it right up to the door so the neighbors don't get an eyeful.'
Without a word, Rhonda jumped to do his bidding. She left the money where it was and went to get the Trooper. I lingered for a moment, and Guy Owens rose to his feet, leaving Paco and Tony on the floor with their feet duct-taped together and their forearms taped to their thighs. Almost the same size, we stood there glaring at one another across the two bound men.
Unlike me, Lieutenant Colonel Guy Owens was used to having his orders followed without question. When I didn't move, he finally lost patience.
'Get with it,' he bellowed into my face. 'You want me to call the sheriff, do you? Well, I called the goddamn sheriff yesterday and they wouldn't even take a goddamn report. Said Michelle was probably a runaway. Said to call them tomorrow if I didn't hear from her today.'
Dismissing me, Owens turned away and started toward Paco as Rhonda came back in through the door. Obeying his orders to the letter, she had left the Trooper right outside with its motor running.
Owens picked up Paco and began muscling him toward the door.
'These two jokers picked me up this morning while I was out jogging and dragged me up the mountain to meet their boss. He wanted me to see for myself that they were holding Michelle. As soon as she saw me, Misha told them where to find the missing briefcase. Monty sent us back here to get it and said that if I tried anything funny, if any cops showed up when we came back, he'd kill her. Now do you understand?'
I was beginning to. 'Where is she?'
'Up in the mountains at a place called Montezuma Pass. It's near the southern end of the Huachucas in the Coronado National Monument. From the rest area up there, Monty can see for miles in any direction. He'd know well in advance if I was bringing help with me. If we throw some clothes over these two clowns and fasten them in the car with the empty AK-47 next to Tony's shoulder so it looks like he's still got me covered, we may be able to trick him.'
'What about us?' Rhonda called from behind us as she snapped the briefcase shut on the last of the money. 'What can we do to help?'
'I thought about that while I was out getting the tape,' Owens answered. 'Monty doesn't know you, and he doesn't know that little blue car of yours. It's Sunday. Lots of people go up into the Huachucas for picnics on Sundays.
'You two go on ahead,' Guy Owens continued. 'Monty won't expect help to get there before I do. Michelle is in a blue Blazer parked near the restroom. When I get up there, I'll create a diversion somehow, draw Monty away from his truck, while you go in and try to get Michelle out.'
I don't know if Guy Owens' job called for him to be a military strategist, but he sure as hell was one. In minutes he had evaluated the forces available and come up with a plan that was gutsy enough that it just might work.
'Gotcha,' I said, and started moving Tony toward the door. Rhonda, holding the AK-47, hurried ahead to open the door for all of us.
'Help Guy with our passengers,' she said briskly. 'I'll go back and get the money.'
CHAPTER 19
We loaded the bound and muzzled Paco and Tony into the Trooper and taped them into place with more duct tape, fastening them securely to seat belts and seat supports. Guy taped the stripped-down AK-47 to Tony's shoulder. That way, it would be invisible through the blacked-out side and rear windows, but for someone up on a
