Nine-Tenths (36 page)

Leonard’s throat constricted. “Perhaps Natalia doesn’t need to be hearing this.”

Chester leapt from his chair and screamed, “Perhaps it would do her some good to take notes and spread the word. This practice of sanitizing history has got to end.” He began to pace in agitation.

“It’s okay, Dad,” Natalia said, but her voice betrayed fear.

“If people understood why this ideology is inherently flawed, we might prevent the horrors it unleashes.” Chester’s voice trembled and he stopped in his tracks, trying to compose himself. He resumed a moment later filled with vigor and rage. “The problem with Marxism is that intelligence and ingenuity are not required for success. Only party loyalty, or in our case loyalty to the administration, is rewarded. It is a breeding ground for an oligarchy of thugs. People with no skills whatsoever, who pander to the Feds, move up the ladder into positions of privilege. Violence and torture are just games they play along the way.”

By this time, Natalia was sobbing. Aiden ushered her out of the cabin. Grateful for the boy’s gesture, Leonard breathed a sigh of relief.

Returning to his seat, Chester appeared unfazed. “Yet the ideologues cannot recognize the source behind decades of misery. It’s as if there’s a federally mandated cap on the number of neurons allowed to cross their synapses.”

Leonard chuckled inadvertently. His gut was churning and he felt that if he didn’t dilute the impact of the details, they might consume him.

Chester stared, but he did not seem angered by Leonard’s nervous laughter. He almost appeared to understand. Jaded, the bearded man muttered, “So that’s what happened here.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Leonard wandered outside to get some fresh air, trying to block the images of horror and destruction that threatened to shatter the thin sheath protecting his sanity.

Natalia sat on a large rock by the stream and Aiden threw a tennis ball for the black lab.

“Come on, Hayek,” he shouted. “That’s a good boy. Such a good boy.” He ruffled the fur on the dog’s head.

Hayek leaned in to give Natalia a slobbery dog kiss. She giggled and wiped her face.

“That’s not how we kiss the ladies, Hayek,” Aiden scolded. “Shame on you.” He threw the ball and the eager pooch took off running.

Leonard did not appreciate a teenage boy talking to his daughter about kissing, but he resisted an impulse to interfere. After everything they heard inside, Leonard was surprised to see Natalia looking modestly happy. He realized then that the gentle boy and the playful dog were just what his daughter needed at that moment. Chester’s shocking account of the Raze was only one of many miseries Natalia had endured in the previous forty-eight hours. Kidnapped by her brother and tossed into a motel, wrenched away from her mother and thrown into prison, not to mention hiking over a mountain and being held at gunpoint. If the tough young lady were capable of reaching a tipping point, she would have collapsed by now.

Hayek returned with the ball time after time, never tiring of the game. As Leonard watched the three of them — laughing, wagging, and enjoying one another’s company — he smiled. With no leash or kennel, Hayek’s life epitomized the dream of every dog; a snapshot of freedom so innocent it nearly overwhelmed Leonard. He looked away, tears forming in his eyes.

Why are you so choked up over a dog? Get a hold of yourself.

But something deep inside Leonard stirred. He knew it really had nothing to do with Hayek. Natalia talked and laughed with the boy, flirting casually. Leonard, new to fatherhood, felt distrustful and protective. Still, one day he would have to step aside and allow Natalia to pursue her own life. As he observed his daughter forging a connection with her new friend, he understood that he could not stifle that urge to freedom. Like all creatures, she would seek it. The quest for independence is a natural instinct.

The distant sound of motorized vehicles interrupted Leonard’s revelations. Natalia and Aiden turned suddenly to investigate the source of the noise. They wandered over to where Leonard stood.

Two motorcycles raced up the hill and stopped abruptly at the end of the driveway. The riders simultaneously reached for their pistols. They regarded Leonard and Natalia for a moment before relaxing their grip and removing their helmets.

A husky, dark-skinned man dismounted and ambled toward Leonard. His companion, a petite blond woman in her twenties, followed. A huge smile lit up her pretty face.

“Newbies,” she said, winking. “Welcome to the free world.”

The large man offered his hand and announced, “I’m Russ.”

“Leonard.”

“Wicker,” the young woman chimed in, shaking Leonard’s hand.

Natalia stepped forward and Aiden made the introductions.

“We were worried we’d lost you,” Wicker said in a lighthearted tone.

Lost us?

“Where did Ches’ drag y’all from?”

“The aye…Eisenhower Tunnel,” Leonard stammered. “We walked through and…” He considered saying
and they held us at gunpoint,
but he thought better of it.

She whistled. “Impressive. How far did you hike?”

“We lost our car at the infirmary.”

Grinning, Wicker said, “I’ll bet that’s quite a story.”

Chester emerged from the cabin. Wicker sidled up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“How ya doin’, Teddy Bear?” she cooed.

He grabbed her for a brief, platonic hug before turning to Russ. “What the devil, Lambert? You have amazing timing. I snagged a couple of runaways.”

“That’s why we’re here, Ches’,” Russ said.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been trying to call you.”

Intrigued, Leonard asked, “Don’t the Feds intercept your calls?”

“We’ve got a microwave network,” Russ explained.

“The signal is transmitted across short distances, from dish to dish, along a line of sight,” Chester added. “We only have a problem when we get a huge snow dump.”

“Which luckily, or unfortunately, depending upon how you look at it, we haven’t endured this year.”

“One of your dishes must be out of alignment, Teddy Bear.” Wicker gestured at Natalia and Leonard. “We knew they were coming and wanted to warn you.”

“So I wouldn’t shoot them?”

She laughed and lightly punched him on the shoulder. “I got a message from Shinskey this morning.”

“Max?” Leonard asked.

Wicker smirked. “Yeah. Max. He thinks he’s really cool with his undercover code name.”

“We indulge him,” Russ said.

“Did he talk to Alina?” Leonard asked, hoping for comforting details.

Wicker and Russ exchanged a somber look. It was as if a large cloud swiftly covered the sun.

“What?”

“She’s in prison,” Russ said. “They grabbed her yesterday afternoon.”

Natalia put her hands over her mouth.

“But Max can get her out, can’t he?” Leonard asked optimistically.

Russ shook his head. “We have over a dozen moles in the prison system. One of our sources sent an encrypted email to the intelligence team in Grand Junction. According to him, Alina’s in Arvada Maximum. No one’s ever broken out of AM.”

“Maximum security? Alina?”

“She’s lucky she didn’t end up in the infirmary. She’s suspected of a political crime. Wiping is a serious offense.”

“Wiping?”

Russ tilted his head to one side, a slight frown forming on his face. “You two, from what I understand.”

“You mean, disabling our transmitters?”

“You’re clean, aren’t you?”

Leonard staggered and hobbled over to a tree. He placed his hand on the rough bark and buried his head in his arm. “My God. What have I done?”

A moment later, a gentle touch on his shoulder sent a quiver through his body.

Her voice brimming with compassion, Wicker said softly, “We all know the risks when we become counter-revs. Shinskey…uh, Max…spoke very highly of your wife.”

“He loves her,” Leonard whispered, almost choking on the words.

“I’m sorry?”

“He loves her, doesn’t he?”

Wicker leaned against the tree and lifted Leonard’s chin with her finger. “I don’t know the answer to that question, Leonard, but I do know Shinskey thought Alina was an extraordinary, brave woman.”

He nodded, as if her reply affirmed his hypothesis. “He loves her,” Leonard said.

Wicker shrugged. “Maybe.”

She took his hand and led him over to where Russ and Chester stood. Aiden and Alina sat fifty yards away on a large tree stump, the young girl’s head upon Aiden’s shoulder, his arm around her back.

“So Alina’s lucky she ended up in prison, huh?” Leonard asked dryly. “Why didn’t they just send her to the infirmary?”

Wicker bit her lip and gazed at Russ, her eyes saying something Leonard could not quite decipher.

“There was someone who wanted visiting rights,” Russ explained gravely.

Wicker stomped on Russ’s foot.

For a moment, Leonard assumed they spoke of Max, but that arrangement didn’t make sense. Max would not have the clout to tell the Feds where to place Alina.
In fact if he interfered, they’d just haul him away, too.
A split second before the thought made a complete circle through his brain, Leonard’s heart dropped like a grapefruit rolling off the counter and onto a cold, tile floor.

“Carlyle,” he muttered, his mind struggling with the concept.

Wicker turned her lips inside until they formed a thin, pink line. Natalia and Aiden reappeared. Thankfully, they had not heard Leonard’s remark.

“Let’s go inside,” Chester said, stirring the dismal silence. “We still have some squirrel jerky on the table.”

Leonard felt a wave of nausea rip through his stomach. Natalia visibly gagged. The three other adults missed the spectacle, but Aiden stifled a laugh. Surely the boy understood that snickering in the wake of his new friend’s devastating news was entirely distasteful. Leonard nearly told him off.

But, out of the blue, Natalia burgeoned with emotion, as if the situation fed her need to release anger. She shoved Aiden, causing him to stumble backward. Clumsily, he steadied himself. Advancing on the poor boy, Natalia shouted, “Squirrel jerky? You fed us squirrel jerky? That’s so sick.”

He chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. “Actually, Miss City Girl, starving to death is sick.” A smile remained on his face but the impact of his words hit their target. Natalia nodded, capitulating, and Aiden put an arm over her shoulder.

Leading her to the cabin, he said, “We have peaches.”

“Peaches?” she said skeptically.

“Yeah. Peaches. They grow in trees.”

“Where the squirrels live.”

“Right. And on a good day, we can catch a whole meal with one stone.”

She looked at him, incredulous. “You hunt with stones?”

“No, goofball. We use traps. You’re so damn gullible.”

She punched him several times as he escorted her up the steps and through the door. They passed right by Leonard as if he were not there.

***

After Russ and Wicker polished off the squirrel jerky and traded stories with Chester, Aiden divided up the peaches. Lush and tender, they were the perfect afternoon snack.

Wiping his hands on a cloth napkin, Russ pushed away from the table. “Let me get the supplies,” he said, as he exited the cabin.

What about Alina?

Leonard wondered why the subject of his wife’s fate no longer occupied the minds of his companions.
Because her fate is settled,
he lamented. The realization gored his conscience. Every step he took in the free world and every breath of mountain air had come at the price of Alina’s freedom. He would never forgive himself.

I should go back to Denver. Turn myself in. Make Carlyle use his influence to get Alina out.
The thoughts buzzed in his brain like a cloud of locusts on the descent. Then his eyes caught Natalia’s.

Please, Leonard…make it count.

Alina gave up everything. It was Leonard’s duty to honor his wife’s parting request and make her sacrifice count for something — their daughter’s new life in Grand Junction.

I will, Alina. I promise.

Russ returned with a backpack. He laid it on the table and pulled out a bottle of shampoo, a half-dozen batteries, a box of ammunition, four rolls of toilet paper, and two peaches carefully wrapped. Russ also retrieved several silver coins from his pocket.

“Perfect,” Chester said in delight. “The Browning twenty-two is cleaned and ready to go.”

Staring at the silver coins, Leonard’s heart sank. “You don’t use regular dollars in Mesa County?”

“No worries,” Russ said. “Woods here won’t take paper money, but we still have plenty in circulation.”

“We don’t have any money, Dad,” Natalia whispered in panic.

“Supposedly your mother sewed our savings into the sleeping bags. But since we were missing maps and flashlights, perhaps we ought to verify that it’s really there.”

Leonard spread the sleeping bags out on the floor and caressed them gently. Nothing crinkled.

Aiden handed him a pocketknife. “Just poke around a little,” the boy suggested.

After cutting several small holes, Leonard discovered something near the bottom of his sleeping bag. Hundred dollar bills. Natalia’s bag also contained them. The Tramers fished through the bags and began counting the cash.

Wicker grinned. “That oughta get you set up real nicely.”

“Good,” Chester said. “The newbies are financially covered. Let’s finish our transaction, Russ.” He made his way to the front door. “I’ll turn on the generator.”

A moment later, a soft hum purred somewhere behind the premises. Chester returned and wandered to the back of the cabin. Wicker and Russ followed. In curiosity, Leonard trailed behind them, leaving Natalia to stack the money and tuck it into his backpack.

Chester stopped at a large wooden door with several locks. He pulled out a ring of keys and unlocked the door, using a different key for each bolt. The door swung open with a creak. Chester flipped on a switch and a seventy-five-watt light bulb popped on, providing adequate illumination for the ten-by-twenty foot, windowless room.