Desert Guardian (15 page)

"You
weren't bad, but I don't think it was worth eight hundred dollars."

"Hey,"
she said, indignance making her voice squeak. "I'm not a whore."

"Yeah?
Well, neither am I, but I still want my money."

Eye's
brimming with tears of hurt and anger, she said the most difficult thing she'd
ever had to say to anyone. "I trusted you, Sam, and I'm depending on you.
I need your help."

He
paused, his expression stern though his mouth twitched as if holding back
something he was desperate to say. "Sorry, kiddo, but you're on your own."
Without another word, he turned to face the window. Outside, the cheerful song
of chickadees cut sharply through the chilly silence.

Kelly
sat for a minute, gazing at his rigid back. She felt the blood drain from her
face as she recalled their lovemaking of only a few hours ago. An icy emptiness
seeped into the pit of her stomach. What had happened to so drastically change
those magical moments into this dark spell of despair?

She
bit her lip to stave off the tears already spilling down her cheeks. Sam
thought she had tricked him into helping her. He thought she was a whore.

So
she'd been wrong about him, and he really was like every man she'd ever risked
getting close to. Promises meant nothing to him. Trust was just a five-letter
word. Fine. She'd take matters into her own hands and save Jake on her own.

She
flung back the covers, leapt from the bed, and stomped out to the living room.
After furiously yanking on her jeans and tennis shoes, she scoured the room for
her backpack, her vision blurred by the tears that wouldn't stop. A map lying
on the coffee table caught her attention. Sam must have been studying it before
she woke up. She grabbed it and stuffed it in her back pocket.

Kelly's
mind whirled as she pushed her emotions aside and tried to regain her senses.
She had to think hard about what to do next. She obviously couldn't stick
around to use Sam's computer for accessing the Internet, so she'd have to find
the same resources somewhere else.

She
spotted her backpack leaning against a bookcase and snatched it up off the carpet.
When she did, a large book that stuck halfway out of the second shelf fell to
the floor. Kelly stooped to pick it up and read its title: DESERTS OF
CALIFORNIA. The cover photo looked familiar. Had she been to this desert
before? She peered up at Consuela's painting above the fireplace and held the
book up to compare them side by side. The book's photo was of the same
location, minus the comet and Consuela's spaceship. She thumbed to the table of
contents, and at the bottom of the page, she found the photo credit with the
photograph's location circled in ballpoint pen. The picture had been taken at
Devil's Playground in Kelso, California.

Was
this a message from Consuela? The book was positioned as if to purposely fall
when the backpack was moved. Maybe Consuela had kept in touch with the cult,
and this was her way of letting them know where to find Jake. Perhaps she'd
rigged it like this to keep Star Mother's sentries from knowing she'd left them
a message.

Kelly
peered down the hall toward Sam's bedroom and almost called out that she knew
where they'd find the new camp.
 

 
Without the money to pay Sam's fee, she
had no choice now but to continue on her own. That's what he had just told her
to do. And as much as he'd hurt her, she couldn't help hoping he would change
his mind. She laid the book on the coffee table and opened it to the page with
the circled photo credit, placing it where Sam was sure to see. It wouldn't
take long for him to make the connection and decide what to do. She just prayed
he would make the right choice.

Sam
stared out the bedroom window for a long time. He felt used. Five years ago, he'd
been used in a similar way by Valya and had vowed it would never happen again.

Thinking
back to that night, he remembered how Valya's long-fingered hands had caressed
him, her nails scraping down his back as he gave her what she wanted. At what
point during this lurid one-night affair had his mother died? Before, during,
or after he had coupled with Star Mother's bitch-queen? The memory almost made
him gag.

Now
he wondered how he could have been so sure about Kelly's feelings for him. The
energy between them was real, her affection sincere. At least that's how it had
seemed at first. Could he really have been so wrong?

Valya
and Kelly were nothing alike. Comparing the two of them was like comparing an
alligator to a kitten. Of course he hadn't been wrong about Kelly. Dammit! He
kicked the bed frame, and it scooted a few inches across the hardwood floor. He'd
been a fool. A bitter, guilt-ridden, pig-headed fool.

If
only they'd waited to make love until
after
this business with her brother was over. He had thought he could resist, that
his focus on the task at hand would be enough to bolster his willpower. But
Kelly's allure had been far too tempting to ignore, and he couldn't let her go
on believing he wasn't attracted to her.

He hadn't
meant what he'd said about her not being worth eight hundred dollars. She was
worth a million dollars, a billion dollars; she was priceless. Damn his pride,
and damn Valya for making him believe all women had ulterior motives when it
came to sex. Kelly, who genuinely cared about him, was better than that.

Sam
pulled on his jeans and a T-shirt and stalked down the hall to apologize to
Kelly for being an insensitive ass. But when he reached the living room, she
wasn't there.

"Kelly?"
He meandered through the kitchen to the utility room and opened the back door. "Kelly?"
No answer. And she wasn't in the bathroom, either. Panic gripped him, and he
raced out the front door to the deck where he saw her rental car was gone.

She
had taken him at his word, and he couldn't blame her for leaving. He'd given
her no choice. Now she was gone, and he had a fair idea what her intentions
were. He had to find her before she got herself into trouble.

He
spotted the open book on the coffee table and flipped to the cover. It was a
book on the deserts of California, the same book he had loaned Consuela a few
months ago to create the painting that now hung above his fireplace.
 

Sam
looked from the painting to the book and back again, then opened it to the page
Kelly had obviously wanted him to see. The photo credit and location were
circled in ballpoint pen. That had to be where she was headed, believing it was
the new location of the cult's camp.

He
hastily pulled on his hiking boots, grabbed his car keys, and filled a duffel
bag with his intervention tools: nine-millimeter Glock, .38 revolver, a vial of
chloroform, clean rags, first aid kit, duct tape, and a few feet of jute twine.
He shrugged on his leather jacket and went out to coax Cody into the Jeep.
Prepared for the final showdown, he set out for Devil's Playground.

****

Traveling
at a good clip down Highway 40, Sam expected to come across Kelly's rental car
at some point. Did she even know how to get to where she was going? She'd taken
his road map, so she knew which route would take her where she wanted to go.
She should be traveling along this highway. But if so, where the hell was she?

The
engine light on his dash started to flash then glow with insistent warning.
Within seconds, steam billowed from beneath the Jeep's hood. "Dammit."
He pulled to the side of the road and cut the engine.

When
he lifted the hood, thicker clouds of steam poured from the radiator. The hose
had sprung a leak, and once the steam cleared, he noticed a tear had nearly
severed the hose in two. Calling a tow truck was out of the question. He couldn't
risk losing more time than he already had. There was a chance Kelly could be in
trouble, and she'd need him to help her out of it.

Once
the radiator cooled, he would wrap a strip of duct tape around the hose. A
temporary fix, but it should hold for a few more miles. Before doing that he'd
have to replace the water lost through the leak. He'd passed a gas station
about a quarter mile back, so after giving Cody a firm command to stay with the
Jeep, he set out at a trot in that direction.

Panting,
he said aloud, "Please, Kelly, wait for me before doing anything stupid."

****

Kelly
felt as though she'd been driving for hours. The area of private land that Star
Mother now occupied was only a couple of miles outside Kelso, but driving the
little car along rutted back roads took more time than she had expected. Once
she spotted the camp, she quickly found a hiding place for the car: an old
miner's shack about a quarter mile from the nearest trailer. The shack wasn't
very big, its walls of rotted wood revealing enormous gaps on all three sides,
but the mesquite trees around it served as adequate camouflage.

She
had stopped at a discount store along the way to buy a white bed sheet that
could be fashioned into a Star Mother robe, or a reasonable facsimile of one.
The robes were nothing more than a few yards of fabric draped over the shoulder
and tied at the waist like a toga.

Because
most of the sentries knew what she looked like, she had also bought a wig of
curly black hair. The scarf she'd purchased would help hide her face.

Weapons
would have been nice, but the best she could come up with was a keychain
pocketknife. She didn't have the time or money to buy a gun, but last summer's
self-defense class gave her some ideas for weapons she could make from almost
anything. She just hoped none would be needed.

She
planned to blend in with the cultists before wandering off to find Jake.
Approximately three hours from now it would be twilight. She and her brother
would sneak out of camp, slip into her car, and just drive away. Nothing could
be simpler. Thinking back, she could have saved herself eight hundred dollars
by playing out this scenario two days ago, only then she never would have met
Sam.

Sam
.
She closed her eyes and burrowed her face in the sleeve of his flannel shirt
that still smelled like him. She was still angry, but she missed him despite
his hurtful words and her doubts about trusting him anymore.
 

Her
makeshift robe tied securely at the waist with a strip of torn sheet, she
tucked the pocketknife in her jeans pocket. The silver earrings she wore were
shaped like serrated leaves, a perfect weapon if she couldn't get to her knife
in time. The canvas belt holding up her jeans had a buckle that would do considerable
damage when swung at someone's head. As an afterthought, she slipped a nail
file and a safety pin into her shoe. Now she was ready for almost anything.

Already
sweating beneath her layers, she tugged the wig onto her head. While tucking
stray hairs beneath the elastic cap, she had the sensation of being watched.
Her pulse sped up, which made her ears ring. Carefully withdrawing the
pocketknife, she flicked it open and spun around with the knife poised to
strike. When she saw who stood there, her knees nearly buckled beneath her.

"Consuela?"
she gasped.

Consuela
beamed at her and flung out her arms in invitation for a hug.

Kelly
embraced her then pulled back. "What are you doing here?"

Consuela
looked up at the sky and pointed.

"You're
here for the comet? But you don't believe in that anymore, do you?"

Her
answer was a calm, beatific smile.

"Did
you come here to help Sam and me?"

The
young woman bobbed her head, her smile growing broader.

"Thank
God you're here, Consuela. I was so worried about you. You can leave with me
once we get my brother out. Sam will be so happy when he finds out you're safe."

Consuela
nodded and pointed at her chest, as if to emphasize how safe she was.

"Can
you take me to my brother?"

The
young woman grabbed hold of her hand and led her away from the car. Kelly
practically had to run to keep up with her as Consuela trotted toward the
circle of campers and tents.

The
sun was low in the sky but strong enough to turn up the heat under Kelly's
toga. Adding to that was her apprehension over walking straight into camp in
full view of every cultist in sight. Someone was sure to think her appearance
there odd enough to question. This wasn't part of her plan.

She
made Consuela stop behind a camper that looked like the one she'd stayed in a
few days ago. Her voice stern, she said to the younger woman, "This is
supposed to be secret, Consuela. I'm disguised for a reason."

Consuela
gave her a puzzled look.

Kelly
began to wonder if she might be a few bricks shy of a load. Or maybe her
English wasn't very good, in which case Kelly was in trouble because she couldn't
speak anything else.

Consuela
pointed to a tent at the far side of the circle.

"Is
that where Jake is?" Kelly asked.

She
continued to point and tugged Kelly's hand to get her to follow.

Kelly
resisted, a tingle of fear climbing up her back. She had a bad feeling about
this. Still holding Consuela's hand, she dragged the woman with her to the far
end of the camper, where she peeked around the corner at a small group of
cultists bustling about their daily duties. Women scrubbed clothing on
washboards in tubs of sudsy water. Some of the men pushed wheelbarrows filled
with rocks, others carried firewood, but most intriguing were the men and women
huddled around two enormous engines perched on wheeled platforms. Tools clanked
against metal as they worked.

A
line of children marched across the crude courtyard and stopped beneath a
canvas tarp supported by four aluminum poles. They had to be Valya's offspring,
her contribution to Star Mother's repopulation of Atria.
Oh, brother.

One
little girl caught Kelly's eye. She looked about four, maybe five years old,
with glossy brown hair that fell in long waves to the center of her back. Her
dark eyes, their color hard to discern from a distance, squinted in the bright
sun, reminding Kelly of Sam. In fact, the child had Sam's prominent cheekbones
as well as his expressive mouth, which looked pouty on the child. Could Sam be
her father? No. He would have mentioned something about a child. If he'd known
about the girl, he would have rescued her from these people the moment she was
born. But the longer Kelly stared at her, the more she was convinced the child was
Sam's.

"Valya's
children?" Kelly asked Consuela, who nodded.

Her
head foggy with this new surprise, plus her confusion over what Consuela was
doing here, Kelly allowed herself to be led around the camp's perimeter to the
largest tent.

She
blinked and asked, "Is my brother in there?"

Consuela
threw her arms around her neck and hugged her tight. What was she so happy
about? She nudged Kelly toward the tent flap and looked at her expectantly.

Kelly
heaved in a breath to bolster her courage. She hoped there were no guards
inside so she could speak with Jake in private. She grabbed the edge of the tent
flap, whipped it open, and darted inside.

"Kelly,
my dear," crooned a woman's saccharine voice. "Welcome back! We're so
sorry your last visit with us was cut short. Did you bring The Arrow with you?"

Kelly
stared at the woman, whose white hair hung in a long, braided rope over one
shoulder. This was Valya? Of course. She remembered her now, though vaguely.
Her brief time at the Yucca Valley camp was still a mind-bending blur. She
couldn't help but stare at the statuesque cult leader, the woman's height reaching
six-feet-something, her ice-blue eyes sharp with an inner intensity that made
Kelly want to shrink away and hide. Sam had told her Valya was in her forties,
but he had to be mistaken. She didn't look much older than Kelly. Then again,
the latest advancements in plastic surgery worked wonders these days.

"Cat
got your tongue?" Valya asked.

Kelly
cleared her throat, where her heart had lodged. "Uh, no. Sam isn't with
me. I came by myself."

The
older woman raised both eyebrows in a silent question.

"I'm
no longer using Sam's services."

"Why
not?"

"I
can't afford him."

"Ah,"
Valya said with a nod. "So you're doing this all on your own. You've come
to collect your brother, is that right?"

Kelly's
hopes raised a notch, and an apprehensive grin twitched at her lips. "His
family needs him to come home."

"Of
course they do, dear," Valya said, her conciliatory tone like that of a
concerned aunt. "But I'm afraid that's impossible. Jake will be taking the
first and only flight to Atria tomorrow morning at ten a.m. sharp, and he's...
resting up for the trip."