Slash and Burn

Chapter 37

I hung up the phone.

There was a bad taste in my mouth and I felt like spitting. I’d have done so but there was a lady present. Imogen was sitting next to me in the back seat of the Windstar. Rink was in front of her, and Harvey was driving. We were on the move on the streets of Pilot Point so that we didn’t present a sitting target if indeed Huffman was trying to vector in on Kate’s phone.

‘We should bring in the FBI.’ It wasn’t the first time Imogen had suggested it.

We’d already had this conversation and discarded the idea. But for Imogen’s sake, I explained our conclusion.

‘I’ve killed men on your behalf, Imogen. I’d rather see an end to this without facing the rest of my days behind bars.’

‘I’d rather go to prison than end up dead,’ Imogen huffed.

‘Not me.’ I left the subject of involving law enforcement at that. Imogen had her part to perform in my plan to get Kate back. It was going to be tricky and carried an element of risk. Imogen could very well die in the execution. But, the way I saw it, she owed her sister that at least.

‘Head for Quicksilver Ranch,’ I said to Harvey and he nodded.

We followed East Liberty Street out of town, picked up the highway north into Grayson County then took a minor road towards Huffman’s place. We were back in semi-rural pastures dotted with trees and bushes. A little further on we’d find the prairie where the earlier ambush had occurred. For the purposes of an exchange for ransom like the one we were on our way to, we’d have normally picked a more public place. That would have cut down on the likelihood of a gun battle. But under these circumstances — and in order for my plan to work — I required the empty prairie. I didn’t want any witnesses. None whatsoever.

It was dusk by the time we arrived at our first stop. The drop-off point was as secluded as we could hope for, with only longhorn cattle as witnesses.

Rink and Harvey were out of the Windstar in an instant and both disappeared into the long grass. I climbed into the driving position and set off. Imogen was sitting with her eyes closed. Her face was pale and there was a sheen of sweat on her forehead.

‘If everything goes to plan we’ll have Kate back within the hour,’ I reassured her.

‘And if it doesn’t?’

‘We’ll probably all be dead. But I’m not planning on that. Just do as I instructed and everything should be fine.’

‘What if Huffman kills me the second he sees me?’

‘Then I’ll kill him.’

‘That’s a great consolation,’ she muttered.

‘He won’t shoot you, Imogen, he wants what you recorded on your camera. If he shoots you he’ll never get it. He’ll be worried about copies and want to check that he has all those accounted for before he does anything to you.’

‘He’s reckless, Joe. He likes confrontation. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shot me just for the hell of it. Just to see how you will react.’

‘Then he’ll be sorry.’

‘You’re very sure of yourself,’ Imogen said. ‘What makes you think you can take him out before he gets you?’

‘I was a professional soldier for fourteen years. I’ve been in similar situations before. Huffman’s just a punk who has murdered a few other punks. I’m pretty sure I can handle him.’

My words sounded conceited, but I said them more to give Imogen hope than because I believed them. She snorted. ‘Jake was a professional soldier too, Joe. And we both know what happened to him.’

‘Yeah. He gave his life for people that he cared for. If it comes to it, so will I.’

Looking in the mirror I saw that Imogen’s eyes were now wide open. She was staring back into my reflection. Finally she sighed. She’d caught the hidden meaning in my words.

The rest of our journey was done in silence. But it wasn’t that far, just a mile or so. I brought the Windstar to a halt adjacent to an entrance I hadn’t reached that first time on this road. There was a gate, and a copse of trees, and I’d been correct when first I’d spied this place and concluded it was the way to Quicksilver Ranch.

I surveyed the land beyond the gate. Nothing moved. Twilight was setting in and a shadow passed over the prairie. I couldn’t see any sign of the ranch itself so it must have been somewhere beyond the horizon. I turned to Imogen. She blinked back at me, tears in her eyes.

‘I never intended for any of this to happen.’

‘I know.’ Reaching over the seat I took one of her hands. ‘Keep your chin up, Imogen. Everything’ll turn out fine.’

‘As long as we get Kate back.’

I was determined that we would. Letting go of her hand, I reached for my SIG, checked it and I was good to go.

‘Remember, just do as we agreed.’

‘OK.’

No argument from her this time: made me feel a whole lot better about what was to come. I shifted the Windstar into drive, touched the gas and drove through the gate on to Huffman’s territory. At the quarter-mile mark, I stopped the vehicle and got out. I opened the rear door and held out my hand to help Imogen out of the car. It was the last time she’d be treated gently before this was over with.

I could hear vehicles approaching.

Without looking for them, I grabbed Imogen by the collar of her jacket and dragged her to the front of the car. There I threw her down on her knees in a billow of grit and dust. I stood behind her, pulled out my SIG and jammed it tight against the top of her head. Imogen began wailing. Finally I looked up and saw three vehicles approaching in convoy. They stopped a hundred yards short of us and figures began climbing out of the cars. I wasn’t surprised to see that one of them towered over all the others: Larry Bolan back where he belonged.

Other than the photos that Harvey had shown me on his laptop, I hadn’t ever laid eyes on Robert Huffman. Excluding Bolan, there were five other people who moved to the front of the lead vehicle. They were all dressed in what amounted to pseudo-military gear. One of them was much slighter of build and for a fraction of a second I thought that it could be Kate, but I quickly discarded the notion. It was a woman, but whereas Kate was tall and graceful, this woman held herself with the same masculinity as all the others in the group. Three of the others held guns, while the final man had his hands clasped at his navel as though in prayer. I took that one to be Huffman.

‘I’ve brought Imogen, Huffman,’ I yelled at him. ‘Show me Kate right now or I put a bullet in her brain.’

I was gratified when the man in a state of prayer shouted back at me. ‘What are you doing, Hunter? You don’t think I believe you’d kill the woman?’

‘It’s because of this cheating bitch that I’ve gone through hell. Believe me: I’d kill her as soon as look at her.’

Huffman came forward and the four with him fanned out. The two on the far sides lifted their rifles and aimed at me.

‘I’ve got a round jacked. Any of your guys get itchy fingers, I might just slip and kill her by accident,’ I called.

Huffman waved their guns down.

‘Show me Kate. Now!’

It was Larry Bolan who turned back to one of the vehicles. He leaned down, and came out with a squirming bundle that I recognised as Kate. He flung her over his shoulder. Clever, Bolan, using her as a shield. He came to stand next to Huffman. Kate twisted her shoulders to peer back over Bolan and even from that distance I saw her eyes grow big and round. Then she went into a wild frenzy, twisting, trying to get free of Bolan’s grip. Beneath the gag her shouts were guttural and I guessed that she was cursing me. I had a gun to her sister’s head, so I suppose her reaction was justified.

‘Gone home to roost, eh, Bolan?’ I shouted. ‘I’m not surprised really. You know what they say about shit sticking together.’

Bolan looked at his boss, but it appeared that Huffman hadn’t caught the meaning in my words. I wasn’t about to make him any the wiser, but it didn’t do any harm to place Bolan on the defensive. In return, Bolan lifted his free hand and flipped me the finger.

Right back at you, I thought.

‘So how do we play this, Hunter?’ Huffman asked.

‘You send Kate to me. When she’s midway, I set Imogen off from this end.’

‘No. We send them at the same time.’

‘OK. Just send her.’

‘Where’s the camera?’

Pulling Imogen’s camera out of my jacket pocket I lifted it for him to see. ‘You mean this one?’

Before he could answer I lobbed it as hard as I could into the long grass in the field on my right. Hanging on to the damn thing would have guaranteed a volley of shots at both Imogen and me. Better to have Huffman worry that the camera wasn’t the one he wanted and have no way of knowing without checking it first. It was a mere distraction, but enough to keep us alive a little longer.

‘I take it that you’ve made copies. How can I be sure that you won’t use them against me?’

‘Huffman,’ I said, as pedantic as I could muster. I did a reasonable impression of a man on the verge of insanity. ‘I don’t give a shit about you or what you’ve done in the past. All I’m interested in is getting my woman back. What you do with this bitch or any evidence she has against you is your business. Just get on with it. Send Kate to me so we can make the exchange and I can get out of your hair.’

Huffman stood silently for a moment, deep in contemplation. Finally his chin came up and I saw a smile like that of a shark. He nodded to Bolan and the big man placed Kate on her feet. He leaned in close to her and said something in her ear but I could not hear what it was. Kate turned towards me and there was a mix of hatred and confusion and something else in her face when she looked at me.

I pulled Imogen to her feet none too gently. I didn’t take the gun from her head.

Then I waited.

When Huffman pushed Kate forward, I did the same to Imogen. Both women took a stumbling step towards each other. I lifted my SIG, aiming it between Imogen’s shoulder blades. If Huffman believed that the camera was the one that he wanted, or my denial about copies, he didn’t make any sign, so I still held the upper hand while I could threaten Imogen’s life.

Mirroring my action, Huffman’s sidekicks raised their guns and aimed them at Kate. Bolan pulled out the cannon he’d used to down the chopper earlier in the day, but I noticed him subtly weighing up the others, deciding which one of them was the greatest threat to his personal quest for vengeance. Huffman stood with his hands clasped. He watched the proceedings with his smile fixed in place.

‘Remember the plan,’ I whispered and Imogen replied by stiffening her shoulders. She sobbed, and this time it wasn’t an act.

The women approached each other, their steps short and full of apprehension. I could only see Kate’s expression, but I guessed that Imogen’s would be the same. Both women were terrified, but full of an overwhelming love for the other.

Just keep walking, Kate, I thought, don’t do anything to spoil the plan now. I saw her gaze flicker past her sister and she looked at me. I couldn’t show her anything but a stern face; if I did anything else it would spoil everything.

The sisters’ steps grew faster as the distance between them lessened. I could hear both of them making wordless noises and I hoped that they wouldn’t give in to their urge to run to each other and hug.

‘Keep on walking, Kate,’ Huffman warned from his end. ‘No talking to your sister. No touching either.’

‘You heard the man, Imogen. If you want your sister to live, do exactly as he says.’ As I shouted those words I saw Kate’s face twist. If she’d had her gag removed she’d have been cursing me loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ten feet separated them.

Kate angled towards her sister.

Imogen shook her head savagely, telling her not to come near.

Five feet and Kate held her sister’s gaze as though their souls were locked in an embrace.

Three feet.

Two.

One.

I wanted to yell at Imogen, but if I did that the others would fire out of reaction. Instead, I had to wait for the longest second of my life.

In the next instant, Imogen twisted towards Kate, grabbed her as though taking her down in a tackle and both women rolled together to the side of the road and into a shallow gully.

At the same time I rushed forward, firing shots as rapidly as I could squeeze the trigger.

Huffman’s people didn’t react until a full second and a half after we did.

The two with their rifles raised swung them to find me. I zigzagged, firing back at them. From that distance, and at a run, only a lucky bullet would strike them, but it was enough to make them flinch. Their return shots scorched the air around me. I was still thirty yards short of the women, who were already beginning their crawl in my direction. Another half-second passed and then the remaining man and woman with Huffman and Bolan had their guns up.

‘Don’t kill Ballard!’ I heard Huffman roar.

His command was enough to halt all their bullets as their brains assimilated this new information.

Undeterred, I continued to fire.

My bullets struck the vehicle behind Huffman, and I saw him leap to the side, then scurry backwards to put the vehicle between us. I wasn’t concerned about him getting away; I only wanted Kate — and now Imogen — out of there. Angling off the road, I went into the ditch. Rain hadn’t fallen lately and the ditch was dry. I pounded along it firing the occasional shot at the group of vehicles.

Huffman’s killers were spreading out.

A tall man who looked like he was more used to wrestling steers than firing an assault rifle dropped to one knee and placed the stock of his M16 to his shoulder. He had me in his sights.

Then blood puffed from his head and he went down on his belly, his rifle rolling away from his spasming fingers. A second or so later the crack of a M24 sniper rifle rolled across the prairie.

Thank God, my friends had made it to their positions in time.

‘To me,’ I yelled at the sisters. ‘Keep low, but get here as fast as you can.’

Coming to a halt, I fired a round at another of Huffman’s men. He was a muscle-freak but even his overdeveloped pectorals wouldn’t stop a jacketed round. He went over backwards, landing on his ass in the road. But then he was rolling to one side, avoiding my second shot. Sitting up quickly, he pulled the trigger on his assault rifle and I had to flatten myself against the ground to avoid the bullets. Kate and Imogen’s screams were strident and I blinked up at them, seeing them throw themselves down together.

‘Get up,’ I shouted at them. ‘Stick together. Huffman still wants you alive, Imogen, they won’t shoot at you.’

My words of advice weren’t true of my own predicament. The muscle man loosed another volley of rounds at me and dirt and blades of grass were kicked into my face. I closed my eyes to avoid being blinded. They were only shut for a second. During that time, I heard the thunder of a sniper rifle and the man’s M16 fell silent. When I looked for him he was lying belly down and his head was no longer fully attached to his body.

Then I had to move. Larry Bolan let loose with his Magnum and the noise was like a cannon-roll. Beside him, Huffman’s gun also spat fire. Then Rink or Harvey put some Winchester rounds through the vehicle they were standing beside and both men leaped for cover.

Kate’s police training was taking over now that she’d recovered from the initial shock. I saw her haul her sister up and they began running towards me. I covered them, firing at the remaining male stranger. This man looked whip-thin, and he moved sinuously to avoid my bullet. He fired back and I wasn’t so quick. The bullet nicked my trapezius muscle and took a chunk of meat with it. Luckily for me it was on my left side so my gun arm was not impeded — that was if I discounted the feeling that I’d just been kicked by a mule and the resulting fire that spread down my chest.

‘Get in the car and keep your heads down,’ I told Kate as she bundled Imogen towards me. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second and I saw that the hatred there a moment ago was gone. She now appeared full of gratitude and not a little concern at the blood pouring out of my jacket collar. ‘I’m OK, just get going.’

‘Give me a gun, Joe,’ she said. ‘I can help.’

‘Just help me get Imogen in the car.’

The sinuous man and the woman had dropped to their knees and both had their guns trained on me. However, Imogen and Kate were now in their line of fire and they could not shoot for fear of hitting Imogen. I back-pedalled, keeping up the status quo. I didn’t fire on them, merely kept them in my sights. I couldn’t see Huffman or Bolan, and guessed both had taken cover when Rink and Harvey had opened up on them.

‘It’s done, Huffman,’ I yelled over the sudden silence. ‘Finished. Leave it at that and we’ll disappear. You’ve got the damn camera and the evidence you’re worried about. You don’t need Imogen any more.’

My words were all bullshit.

I knew that things weren’t finished and so must Huffman.

But they were for now.

Kate and Imogen piled in to the Windstar and I was only seconds behind them. Throwing the vehicle into reverse I drove backwards at speed, hit a handbrake turn and then rocketed for the gate. In my rear-view mirror I saw the four remaining figures converge at the front of the lead car. None of them raised their guns.

The last thing I heard from behind was a defiant roar that I put down to Larry Bolan. There was no way things were finished.