Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

Durango

We traded positions after four hours, as Harding stated. I fell asleep right away but have since woken up as the sun is rising.

I check the phone Harding gave me for the time, but it's dead. "What time is it?"

"Almost five thirty," Harding says.

I sit up. Rover is still sleeping next to me.

"Where's Moose?" I expected him to be sleeping, too.

"Here," he says.

He's beside a tree next to Damien.

Davis runs toward us. "A car is coming."

We all jump up.

Damien groans. "I'm too old to be sleeping on the ground."

"No time for complaints," I say as I grab his arm and rush him deeper into the woods.

Rover does the same with Sylvia.

The car moves off the dirt roadway near where our car is parked. Instead of stopping, it continues in our direction but can't get too far due to all the trees. Harding and Davis are both hiding behind trees but have their guns ready.

The driver's door opens, and a woman in a red coat gets out. "Where is he?" she shouts. She has an accent I can't yet place.

"Put your hands in the air!" Harding yells as she steps out from the tree.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman asks.

"Do it!" Harding yells.

The woman puts her hands in the air.

"Nancy?" Damien says.

"Stay back!" Harding orders Damien.

"It's okay. She's my friend."

Nancy's hands drop. "What the hell, Damien? You were supposed to meet me this morning. Are you not going to repay me?"

"How did you find us?" Harding asks.

Nancy reaches into her pocket.

"Hands where I can see them!" Harding demands.

"I'm just getting my phone," Nancy says as she slowly pulls it out of her. "I tracked Damien with my app, and it led me here."

"Explain," I say.

"I tracked his phone," Sylvia says.

"He was held captive. He doesn't have it," I say.

"I have it," Sylvia says. She walks over to where she had been sleeping and pulls it from her purse. "I turned it on earlier to check the time."

Harding approaches Nancy. "Put your hands in front of you."

She does, and Harding quickly zip-ties them together.

"What the hell?" Nancy says.

"I don't know you, which means I can't trust you," Harding says as she pats Nancy down. Then Harding inspects her car. "No weapons."

Harding grabs Damien's phone out of Sylvia's hand. "We need to get the hell out of here. Now," she says. "If she tracked him, someone else may have as well." She throws the device on the ground and crushes it. There really wasn't a point to that except to let Sylvia know how pissed she is. If it is being tracked, it's too late to stop it now.

"I need to use the bathroom before we go," Sylvia says.

"I'll come with you," Harding says.

"No, I'll just go behind the trees over there." She walks away before Harding can say no.

"I got her," Moose says as he joins Sylvia and walks into the woods.

"I gotta go, too," Damien says.

I follow Damien.

He goes around a tree and glances at me. "You going to watch?"

I turn my back to him. "Make it fast."

A shot rings out. I spin around and grab Damien, taking him to the ground with me.

"Shit!" Moose yells.

"What's going on?" I yell back.

"I fell into some kind of trap," he says. "Fuck!"

I sit up just a little to inspect Damien. That's when I see it. He's been shot in the head, and he's dead.

Sylvia runs over and sees Damien. "They shot him! Those bastards shot him!" she screams.

I grab her and carry her to the other side of the tree.

"Durango! Where are you?" Harding yells.

"I'm here," I shout back. "Damien is dead."

Harding runs through the trees into view.

I nod to the other side of the tree. "We were over there."

"Where's Moose?" she asks.

"Over here!" he shouts.

I run to him, staying low.

Moose is in a hole, grimacing.

"Can you climb out?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No, I got stabbed by a tree on the way down." He points to his calf, where a branch appears to have pierced it.

"Any other injuries?" I ask.

"No, I don't think so."

Rover runs up to my side. "Did you see where the shot came from?" he asks.

"No," I say. "But I believe it came from over there." I point.

That's when I notice it. Through the trees, it's hard to see, but there is a ridge within view. Dammit. Anyone could have been up there.

A flash on the ridge catches my eye.

"Did you see that?" Rover asks.

"I did," I say.

"Let's go."

We head through the trees to the edge of the hillside. There are a couple of dirt paths that appear to go to the top of the ridge. Rover leads on the path that is shielded by bushes. We keep low, hoping whoever is up there doesn't see us.

Although it's likely after shooting Damien, the killer ran away, unless he was directed to take out more than just Damien. We make it to the top of the ridge, and there is no one here.

"Our shooter was here," Rover says, pointing at a bullet casing on the ground.

He picks it up with a leaf and pockets it. "Not sure if Harding can get anything off this, but it's worth a try."

After a quick look around, I find three cigarette butts. All the same brand. I pick those up in a leaf as well. We make our way back to the others.

Moose is out of the hole, and Harding is tying a ripped shirt sleeve around his leg. The stick is still stuck in his leg. Davis, who is missing a shirtsleeve, is standing near Sylvia, who is hunched over a log, crying.

"He needs stitches," Harding says, nodding at Moose. "And we need to get Sylvia out of here and find out what she knows."

"What do you want to do about Damien? We can't exactly show up somewhere with a body," Rover asks.

"We have to leave him," Harding says.

Sylvia wails louder.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a choice," Davis says.

Harding nods to me. "Durango, Rover, I need to talk to you."

We follow her out of earshot of the others.

"I saw you go to the ridge. Did you see anyone?"

"No. But we did find a bullet casing and some cigarette butts. We have those in our pockets. Someone was there," Rover says.

"I'll get those from you later. Right now, we need to get out of here before the shooter comes for the rest of us." She shakes her head. "This is really fucked up. We needed Damien."

We walk back to the group as Davis is helping Sylvia into our car.

"I'll drive Nancy's car so we all don't have to be cramped in one," Rover says.

"I can drive," Nancy says.

"Not an option," Rover says. "Where are the keys?"

"In the ignition," Harding says.

I help Moose into the car with Sylvia. Then I get into the backseat of Nancy's car as Davis gets into the passenger seat of the other car.

Harding pulls onto the highway first and leads us back to the field where we originally flew in. There is no plane in sight, but there is a car with a man standing next to it. She parks behind it, and Rover pulls up behind her.

The man greets Harding as she exits the car. She opens the back door and bends down.

"Give Moose the backseat," she says.

We exit the car and stand next to Sylvia.

"Moose, Arnie is a doctor. Arnie, this is Moose. Can you fix up his leg?"

The man nods and gets to work. I watch as he cuts off Moose's pant leg at the knee. Next, he gets out a large bottle of vodka.

"Everyone," Harding says to get our attention, "the plane should be here in five minutes. As soon as Moose is patched up, we are out of here. If you see anyone coming up this road, make sure you are on the other side of the cars."

"Got it," Rover says.

"Ah, fuck!" Moose yells out.

I turn and see the doctor pull the stick out and pour the vodka over the wound. Poor guy. I hope we can get him back to the States tonight.

The roar of an engine catches our attention, and we all glance up to see our plane coming in for a landing.

"How's it going?" Harding shouts to the doctor.

"Almost done!" he yells back.

Once he lands, Vlad steps out all smiles. "Good morning! Are you ready?"

I want to smack the smile off of him. If only he'd been here last night, Damien would be alive and Moose wouldn't be injured. We would be on our way home by now.

Davis steps up to Vlad. "Almost."

Tires screech from down the road. We all turn to see a vehicle rounding the corner and coming our way at a high speed.

"Everyone take cover now!" Harding yells out.

We all jump or run behind the cars. Rover grabs Moose and gets him out of the backseat and behind the vehicle. His lower leg is now covered in gauze.

As the other vehicle draws closer, the window rolls down, and the barrel of a gun peaks out.

"Gun!" I shout. I grab Nancy, who, for some reason, stood up, and we fall behind the trunk to protect ourselves.

A passenger in the backseat gets several shots off as it drives by. Harding fires back and hits the shooter. Rover carries Moose, and we all run onto the plane as our attackers attempt to turn around on the skinny road.

"Go, Vlad! Now!" Davis says as she latches the door.

The rest of us are in our seats but ducked down. I'm at a window watching the gunman. Another window rolls down.

"They are coming at us with another round!" I yell.

Vlad turns the aircraft and drives it down the field, away from them as fast as he can. Soon we are in the air. I listen to the engine but hear nothing wrong. I think we are going to be all right.

"Well, I guess I'm going for a ride," says Arnie.

"Does anyone know how to fly this thing?" Vlad asks.

Davis runs up. "I do, why?"

Vlad's grip on the controls loosens. "I've been shot." He slumps forward. The plane stops ascending and begins to dive.

Rover gets Vlad out of the pilot's seat, and Davis steps in. While Rover follows Arnie's instructions to get Vlad flat on the floor, Davis stops the dive and resumes our ascent.

"Put pressure on the wound," Arnie yells at Rover.

I move over near them. "I'm here if you need me."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Nancy says.

"If you are, go to the back," I yell to her.

Fortunately, Vlad was shot in the arm, and Arnie is able to stop the bleeding. "He needs a hospital as soon as we land," Arnie says. "He's in shock."

Vlad is alert now, and he turns his head away from his wound. "Can't stand the sight of blood," he says.

"We can get help once we land in Minsk, but we need to keep moving," Harding says.

"I'll stay with him," Arnie says, "but you will need to get your friend proper medical treatment soon as well."

"We will. Sorry for the detour to Minsk," Harding says.

Arnie shrugs. "It's always an adventure with you."

I go sit next to Moose. His wound is covered in gauze.

Moose nods to his leg. "I've never seen someone put in stitches that fast. Hope it holds."

"Me too," I say.

I glance to the back, and Sylvia is comforting Nancy. Once Nancy feels better, I want to find out why Damien owed her money. She might be a larger part of this.

But first, we need to get these two medical help and hope whoever fired shots at us doesn't figure out where we are going.