Desert Guardian (22 page)

She
frowned. "You what?"

He
hesitated, unsure what he was about to say. He had missed her horribly after
she'd left him yesterday, a sense of emptiness hovering over his heart. But
that wasn't it. His feelings ran deeper than that. Trust? Yes, he trusted her.
Friendship? Of course. They had shared secrets neither had spoken to another
soul. It was their shared bed he thought of now, the intimacy of their
lovemaking, which had freed him from a tortured past filled with deceit and
false promises. A dark past of loneliness, fear, and pain, all because of Valya
and Star Mother.

"Sam,
are you all right?"

He
glanced down at Cody, who waited patiently beside him with anticipation shining
in his dark, canine eyes. Without looking up, he told Kelly, "Stay in the
van and keep out of sight. I won't be long, but the second you hear my Jeep,
get ready to move."

She
nodded.

As
he turned to go, she grabbed his arm. "Sam?"

They
locked eyes, and she thrust herself up on her toes to grab him around the neck,
hugging him fiercely. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

He
drew back then tenderly traced her bruised lip with his thumb. "Wait for
me."

Her
eyes glistened in the starlight. "I won't go anywhere without you. That's
a promise."

****

Kelly
watched Sam's tall, confident figure vanish into the night. She felt suddenly
cold, aware the effects of Valya's concoction may not have completely
dissipated after all. But she was coherent enough to understand the fix they
were in.

They
were all trapped. She felt enough residual paranoia to know she was on the
brink of panic. What if they got caught? That would mean certain death by
suicide, probably by poison. She recalled the Jonestown tragedy, the massacre
of so many innocent people, and drew a correlation between Jim Jones and Valya.
The woman didn't even have a last name. Did she think she was a rock star? Hardly.
She was pathetic and completely insane.

Kelly
desperately wanted to know what Sam had been about to say before he’d run off. He'd
had a profound tenderness in his eyes, but also confusion. What was he confused
about? Did he regret apologizing for his hot words spoken in haste yesterday?
If she hadn't lied about the money, he'd have had no reason to become defensive,
to guard himself against the pain caused by a betrayal of trust. He had
believed her, and she'd let him down. How would she mend the gap she had
created between them?

She
checked on Jake, holding her hand against his hot forehead. He burned with fever,
yet his body shivered as if cold. He groaned, his legs jerking before going
instantly still again. She had to find something to keep him warm.

Something
gray had been wadded up and shoved into a crack in one of the windows. She
shook it out and held it up by the shoulders, seeing the shirt was way too
small for Jake. Seeing the torn remains of her own shirt, she decided to wear
it herself. It smelled musty but was whole and unstained and at least had all
its buttons.

She
sniffed the air, wondering where that horrible stench was coming from, then
realized it came from her. There were bits of clothing scattered all over the
van's floor, and she riffled through them, looking for something to replace her
soiled jeans. A pair of wrinkled athletic shorts caught her eye, and she
plucked them from the pile.

She
had to find a way to rid herself of the odors her hair and skin had absorbed
from the prison trailer. After peeling off her ruined clothing, she hunkered
down behind the van and scooped up handfuls of sand to rub on her bare skin. It
wouldn't be the first time she'd had to take a sand bath. Frequent camping
trips in the Arizona desert had taught her to use alternate resources for
bathing when water couldn't be found.

She
donned the shirt and shorts, sans underwear. Scrounging around the back of the
van, she searched for a jacket or blanket for Jake. A bundle of brown fabric
caught her eye, and she reached beneath a seat to haul it out. The fabric was
wool, moth-eaten and torn, but it would keep Jake warm. She grimaced at the
rodent droppings that tumbled from the folds and scattered across the floor. At
the center of the roll was a crude crossbow, handmade by the look of it. A
small quiver of arrows was tucked in beside it.

Now
Kelly had a weapon, though she doubted the tiny arrows would cause much damage
if she had to shoot someone. Each arrow was around six inches long and fit
neatly into the slotted groove atop the crossbow. The weapon was obviously made
to kill birds and rabbits. The arrows may be too small to kill a person, but
they would surely slow someone down.

An
expert with a slingshot as a kid, she didn't think this contraption was much
different. Or at least she hoped not. She set the crossbow beneath Jake's seat
then covered her brother with the blanket. He shuddered and moaned but didn't
speak. She felt his head. No change.

"Please
hurry, Sam," she murmured.

****

Sam's
chest ached, his bruised ribs getting the better of him, but the quarter-mile
climb up the ridge had to be made fast. It didn't help that he hadn't eaten in
nearly twenty-four hours, so he was understandably weak.

Cody
had reached the Jeep before him and now sat in the passenger seat.

"Show
off," he said to the coyote.

Cody
panted, his open jaws like a mocking grin.

Sam
rushed to the hidden compartment beneath the backseat and lifted out the rifle.
He positioned himself on a cluster of large rocks overlooking Star Mother's
camp. Below him, every tent and camper was in full view. He switched on the
rifle's infrared light and braced the firearm against his shoulder, peering
through the scope in search of the generators.

They
were gone.

"Impossible."
Sam stood and ambled to the left then crouched and readjusted the scope. All he
saw were tents and trailers, not a soul in sight. And not a generator, either. "Damn
it!"

Cody
whined behind him. Sam ran to the Jeep and replaced the rifle in its
hidey-hole. "Okay, boy," he said to the coyote. "We need a new
plan. But first we have some rescuing to do."

Sam
started the Jeep and headed down a narrow trail used mostly for foot traffic. Huge
rocks and a variety of cacti made the drive down more than a little bumpy.

Von
and Valya knew he wanted to shut those generators down. But Valya
should
think he was still tied up. If
she were protecting the generators, she knew he'd escaped. And if she knew he'd
escaped, then she must also know that Jake and Kelly were gone as well.

"I
think we're in trouble." He accelerated down the treacherous trail. The
coyote bounced on the seat as the Jeep's tires left the ground more than a few
times.

Once
on semi-level ground, Sam cut the engine and let the Jeep's forward momentum
carry them downhill. He stopped twenty yards or so short of the van.
Please let them still be there
.

Kelly
must have been watching for him because she emerged from the van and ran toward
him, coming to a halt a few feet away.

"You
okay?" Sam whispered.

She
nodded and stepped closer, her eyes locked with his. Her ragged breaths came in
short bursts, followed by a muffled cry of anguish. He held his arms open, and
she fell into them, pressing her face against his chest, her shoulders jerking
with each sob.

"I
was afraid you wouldn't come back. Take us home," she said.

"I
will. I promise." He wrapped his arms more snugly around her, careful not
to touch the small of her back where the whip marks were the worst. He noticed
she'd changed out of her jeans and wondered where the shorts had come from. The
shirt, too. She even smelled a little better.

He
pulled back from her and asked, "Anything happen while I was gone?"

She
shook her head. "Nothing. In fact, it's been spooky quiet."

"Spooky,"
he echoed, listening hard to the desert stillness. Not a cricket chirped, not
an owl hooted, not a coyote howled. His shoulders tensed, and he felt time
slipping away faster than he could think.

"Help
me," he said, as he leaned into the Jeep and grabbed the steering wheel. "We've
got to push the Jeep closer to the van, between it and the nursery tent. We'll
have only seconds to get out of here once I grab Lynette."

Kelly
ran to the passenger side and opened the door. She leaned forward, her powerful
runner's legs pushing against the baked desert floor. Between the two of them,
they inched the Jeep closer to camp.

Once
Jake was securely belted in the backseat, he motioned for her to climb behind
the wheel. "The key's in the ignition," he told her. "If I'm not
out in five minutes, it means something's happened to keep me inside. I want
you to leave without me."

She
blinked and shook her head. "No way. We're not leaving you behind."

"You'll
have to. Go immediately to the police station in town and tell them what's
going on. Jake's condition should convince them."

"What
about you?"

He
ignored her question. "The police should make it here in time to prevent a
mass suicide."

"I
can't let you risk yourself."

"And
I can't leave Lynette. If I'm caught, I want you and Jake to at least save
yourselves. It would be senseless for the two of you to stay just because of
me."

Kelly
stared at him for several long seconds before reaching out to lay her splayed
fingers against his chest, over his heart.

He
grabbed her hand and turned it over to place a gentle kiss on her palm. "Don't
worry. I'll be fine."

She
nodded, her smile sad and encouraging at the same time.

He
pulled the revolver from the waistband of his jeans and headed for the back of
the nursery tent.

Every
nerve ending came alive as he crawled the last few feet across the baked earth
to reach the tent. His leather jacket had opened, and grains of sand clung to
his sweaty chest. The complete silence made his ears ring, and his palms itched
from small pebbles wedged within the calloused lines of his hands. When he
reached the flap of canvas covering the tent's rear entrance, he lifted it and
peered inside. Dark as pitch.

"Lynette?"
he whispered, and crawled inside. Aware she may not join him willingly, he
tugged the vial of chloroform from his jacket pocket. His gaze wandered across
the floor of the tent, searching for her sleeping siblings, but he found only
scattered blankets and a few pillows. Feeling sick with his deceit, he said, "Sweetheart?
Will you come out and at least tell me goodbye?"

A
light suddenly flared from behind him, and he spun around to face it.

"Hello,
lover," Valya said, her lips carved into a crooked grin.

Lynette
leaned against her mother, her eyes wide with fear and bewilderment. Valya
grasped the child's shoulder so tightly that her knuckles were white. "Mommy,
you're hurting me."

"Hush,
Lynette," Valya hissed. "Your father and I are having a discussion."

Sam's
mouth went completely dry. He couldn't speak. He couldn't do or say anything,
especially when he saw his Glock clutched in Valya's hand. It was pointed at
his heart.

"We
can all leave our bodies and go to the starship right now," Valya said in
a resonating monotone that raised the hairs on the back of Sam's neck. "The
comet is close, so close you can see the tail. Did you see it, Sam? Isn't it
beautiful?"

"Yeah,
I saw it," he said, his voice scraping his throat like sandpiper. "A
bunch of rocks racing through space. Big deal."

Her
grin broadened. She glanced to her right, at the holder of the flashlight. Sam
shielded his eyes and blinked.

"Sorry,"
said a familiar voice. "Didn't mean to blind you." The light lowered
and Von emerged from the shadows. "I'm afraid you didn't make your escape
fast enough. Valya is way too observant, and her maternal instincts kicked in
with a vengeance. Coming back for the child was your undoing."

"I
had no choice," Sam growled.

With
a lift of his brows, Von said, "But now you've sealed the fate of your
lady friend and her brother."

"Kelly
should be halfway to the police station by now," Sam said, hoping she
really was.

Valya's
insane smile didn't falter. "Good. Then I don't have to worry about taking
her Essence with us and having her interfere with my family. As for the police,
by the time they get here—if they even believe Kelly's story—our
earthly bodies will be nothing but empty husks."

Sam's
throat constricted as he thought about the future Lynette might never see. Her
death would be on his head if he didn't do something fast. His pistol still
held firmly in his hand, he knew he couldn't use it. A retaliating shot from
Valya's weapon would do him in. However, he had another weapon. An unstable
one, but it would have to do.

He
curled his tongue behind his top teeth and blew out a whistle so sharp it made
Von wince. A flash of gray fur flew through the tent flap toward Valya. She
screamed as Cody's jaws clamped around the forearm holding the gun.