High Desert Barbecue (17 page)

“
How can you say that about-?”

“
Rupert sounds like a fucking loon! That’s all I’m—”

“
There’s no fucking way they don’t get cold—”

S
cott raised his pistol.

“
I’ll be doing them a favor, honest to God. At least, I’ll be doing
me
a favor.”

S
cott sighted in on the largest of the pursuing rangers. He focused on the pistol’s front sight, the target’s crew cut blurring into obscurity as his finger squeezed the trigger…

S
hit! He couldn’t do it. Dangerous lunatics they might be, but he wasn’t yet at the point where he could just shoot one down in cold blood.

F
eeling like an ass, Scott changed the point of his aim to a rock just in front of his original target. The man walked along, punching the air with his hand, lips moving seemingly without connection to the sound rebounding from the canyon walls.

“
Well, if he’s such a fucking genius—”

“
All I’m saying is that cold is
cold
—”

“
He’s a sensitive, brilliant lover of plant life-”

L
over of plant life? Scott wondered. Literally? What in Hell is that all about? What are they? Psycho grad students? That might narrow it down to Forest Service, after all, or NOAA—those fish-and-wind types are pretty freaky. Or a few other agencies, to be honest. But the pyromania and armed pursuit … He pondered on his questions as he squeezed the trigger.

A
n explosion rolled through the canyon, smothering the sounds of argument. The lead man staggered and dropped like a sack of cement, leaving Scott wondering if a ricochet had made up for his squeamishness. The man’s comrades disappeared almost as quickly, though a foot or a rump poked out here and there from inexpertly taken cover.

“
Hold it right there you tree fuckers!” He was still fixated on the last words to echo through the canyon before his shot. “I’ve had it with this shit. Throw out your—”

S
cott never got to finish his command. A burst of automatic gunfire sounded, followed by the insect whine of ricochets and the crashing of branches falling to the ground. He ducked behind a boulder and covered his head with his hands. At a lull in the firing he peered out and squeezed off a shot at a faint glimpse of motion. Then he dropped to his hands and knees and began crawling as quickly as possible back up the canyon toward Rollo and Lani. A quick look behind him revealed a head rising from behind a distant bush. He fired again. Then he continued his scurrying way among the sharp rocks and sharper thorns, his gun hand cocked at an angle to keep the pistol out of the dirt.

T
en long minutes later he stopped to assess his various nicks, cuts and bruises. A long scratch down his right calf oozed red. He doffed his cap to scratch his sweaty scalp and noticed a neat bite out of the brim where a bullet had apparently passed.

H
e fingered the damaged fabric while thinking back on his moment of restraint just before firing his warning shot. He punched himself in the thigh.

“
Dumbass.”

Chapter 36

“
I thought we discussed the whole shooting frenzy issue yesterday,” Jason said to his assembled team. He fumed and glared at his comrades, who gathered behind as much cover as they could find in the wake of the ambush.

I
n return, the targets of the ranger’s wrath kicked at dirt, sniffed and nervously eyed their toes. That is except for Ray and Samantha. Ray glared right back, while mopping with the back of his hand at a red pattern of dots that might have been freckles if they weren’t oozing blood down his cheeks. A spray of rock fragments sent flying by a bullet had left their mark on his face—and his mood. The combination of the bloody freckles with the shiny, though somewhat tattered loincloth had Jason thinking of a cartoon character … Baby New Year! That’s it. A really belligerent Baby New Year recovering from a bender.

I
n contrast, Samantha just stared back looking wide-eyed and slightly hurt. Jason battled to keep from sinking into those damp orbs. Well, and the firm, if dusty orbs below. They weren’t large, but he just wanted to sink his face between—

H
e caught himself.

“
Well, didn’t we?”

B
ob cleared his throat.

“
Uh, sorry Jason. That was us.” He indicated himself, Rena and Samantha.

R
ena waved.

S
amantha shrugged and eased out a rueful smile.

“
What happened?”

B
ob started to speak, and then hesitated.

“
Really. I want to know why you’ve shot off most of our ammo.”

“
Well, that
is
how we’re used to shooting.”

“
Yeah. We talked about that.”

“
And then there’s that whole ‘tree fucker’ thing. That’s just wrong, and I think we’re a little sensitive.”

R
ay refocused his glare on Bob. His mouth opened to speak, but froze in place. His lips tightened and he shook his head. He emitted a deep sigh.

T
erry stared off into space, squinting and obviously lost in thought. His eyes suddenly widened.

J
ason was intrigued though not very surprised, but decided to stick to the issue at hand.

“
Well, did you at least hit anything?”

“
Oh sure!”

“
Really! Let’s go see if he’s—”

“
Oh. You mean the guy shooting at us. No, I’m pretty sure we missed him.”

Chapter 37

L
ani was nervously pacing around a small clearing with Champ dogging her heels when Scott caught up with his friends.

“
Told ya,” Rollo said to the woman. He sat under a stubby tree with his pack at his side and his rifle across his knees. An uncapped water bottle sat within easy reach.

“
You look comfy,” Scott said. It was all he could get out before a blonde cyclone flew across the clearing and buried herself in his arms. He returned her attention for a long moment, every bit as happy to see Lani as she was to see him.

“
Well, one of us had to get comfortable. She’s been wearing grooves in the dirt. But I told her you’d come back all right.”

“
You had faith in my abilities?” Scott had reclaimed his lips and now buried his face in Lani’s hair. “Shucks.”

“
Some. More than that, though, I figured that a gunfight is a heroic way to die. You’re not the type to go out all that heroically. You’re more a die-in-a-compromising-situation kind of guy.”

“
Thanks.”

R
eunited with his girlfriend, Scott spared a moment to rub Champ’s head, acknowledging the affection of the beast who stood almost erect on his hind legs, leaning against the couple and licking both their faces.

“
We heard the gunshots,” Lani said.

“
Yeah. I got stupid and fired a warning shot. They responded with World War 3.”

R
ollo snorted, snatched the hat from his own head and threw it against the ground, doing the aged fabric no perceptible harm. A cloud of dust rose around the brim, and then settled in place. The hat’s fabric blended in as if camouflaged.

“
Now are you convinced they’re trying to kill us?”

“
Yeah. I am.”

“
What do they want?” Lani asked.

“
I’d guess they’re not happy that we witnessed whatever it was we saw in the forest, but I don’t know. You need to see them. It’s like being chased by a well-armed circus sideshow.”

“
You teach them any manners back there?” Rollo asked.

“
I taught them to keep their heads down; but they did the same for me. I don’t think they’ve given up, if that’s what you mean.” He paused. “And that brings up a point. The firebugs outnumber us, are better armed than we are and apparently have a shitload of ammunition. We’ve been lucky so far, but they could easily catch up with us.”

R
ollo grunted. Lani crinkled her forehead—a smudge of dirt clung there, left by her clinch with Scott—and glanced nervously down the canyon.

“
Then, shouldn’t we get mov—”

“
You
should get moving. You and Champ with the phone and the video.”

H
e handed over a folded piece of paper.

“
Here’s the log-on information for the mailing-list server and my YouTube account. Just find a cell-phone signal, upload the video and send the information as an e-mail formatted like it says.”

“
What?
You have to be kidding me! I’m not going anywhere without—”

“
He’s right,” Rollo said.

“
No he’s fucking not!”

R
ollo sighed and shuffled his feet.

S
cott jumped in.

“
If Rollo and I stay back and block the canyon, you have a much better chance at getting through with that footage we shot of the forest fire being set. Then we can get some help.”

I
t won’t do us any good if they come up behind us when we’re unprepared.” His voice softened. “And honestly, honey, we can’t always watch our backs.”

L
ani nodded.

S
cott reached out with his phone in his hand.

“
Here’s the video evidence. Remember to upload the file before sending the email. You OK with that?”

L
ani hesitated, staring at a spot on Scott’s chest. Champ picked up on the mood. He looked at Scott, then at Lani, and whined. Simultaneously, the two humans patted his head.

L
ani chuckled. “You’re a good doggy daddy.”

“
Yeah, well. He resembles your family more. That schnozz of his …”

L
ani hit him.

R
ollo cleared his throat.

“
I think you should get going. There may not
be
any more bad guys by the time you get that video delivered.”

“
You’re going to get them all with that .22?”

R
ollo shook his head.

“
Hell no. I got me a jen-you-wine battle rifle in that cache. With plenty of feed to keep it happy.”

L
ani looked straight up.

“
Way up there?”

“
Well … yeah.”

S
cott raised his eyes, visually scaling the nearby cliff, and gazed at the rim above. Crags, ledges, sharp ridges of rock and tough, gravity-defying vegetation rose to meet the sky. He shuddered.

R
ollo chuckled.

S
cott tore his eyes from the view above and began pulling at the velcro straps holding his pistol holster in place.

“
What are you doing?” Lani asked.

“
Giving you my gun. You remember how to use it, right?”

“
Uh … yeah … why?”

S
cott gave a last tug and freed the strap from his backpack’s hipbelt. He handed the pistol over to Lani, whose mouth hung slightly open as she accepted the gift.

“
Remember, use your thumb to disengage—”