Chapter 15

I let Suzy and Kathy lead off as we headed down the trail. I looked up when I saw Suzy stop. She had half turned in the saddle. “Matt, what’s wrong with Shadow?”

Looking ahead, I saw that Shadow had froze and was on point.

I immediately drew my Henry from the scabbard and jacked in a round.

Slipping from the saddle, I slowly walked up to Suzy. I could see the nervousness on her face. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“I’m not sure. I want you two to stay here. If something happens, you two haul ass to town and get Paul.”

“I’m not leaving you, Matt.”

“This isn’t the time, Suzy. If there’s something wrong up there, I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”

As I eased up to Shadow, I could see him quivering. When I got about five feet away. I could see what he had spotted.

There was a trip wire strung across the trail.

I slowly backed away, trying to watch both sides of the trail at the same time.

When I got to Gunnar, Suzy and Kathy were missing. Looking around, I spotted them in the brush just off the trail. I took my position on the other side.

“What is it, Matt?” She whispered.

“Someone’s strung a tripwire across the trail. I’m not sure, but it could be the trigger for an ambush.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Well, first things first.” I whistled Shadow a heel command. Like I did, he backed up about five feet. Then, he turned and ran back to us. As soon as he got back, I gave him the guard command. I knew that whatever happened, he would stick to the girls like glue.

“OK, honey, now comes the hard part. If this is an ambush, somebody is out there watching the kill zone. What I’m going to do is circle around and see if I can spot them.”

Two hours later, I had circled the area and found nothing. When I got back to the starting point, I explained what I had found to Suzy.

Then I eased back up to the trip wire and started checking out the booby trap. It was a simple setup. Strung at 3 and 5 feet, I found the traps. There was a trip release with a shotgun shell in it. When the wire was released, anyone in range would have caught a load in the belly and chest.

The releases were manufactured, not improvised. Someone set this up deliberately and then left it. Anyone could have been the victim.

Then Shadow got into the act. He started his low growl. He does this when he is not sure what is going on, but whatever it is, he does not like it.

Before we could do anything else, A voice called out. Whoever it was had a deep voice with a European accent.

“Mr. Reynolds? If you can hear me, Mr. Reynolds, I would like to talk to you. I promise that nothing will happen to your lovely horses. They are fine animals, and I do appreciate good horse flesh. I much admire the dog also. A good K9 is handy to have around.”

Suzy and I looked at each other. Neither of us had an answer. And the only way we could get one was to talk to whoever it was. “OK, you’ve got our attention. Who are you? What do you want?”

“Well, Mr. Reynolds, You can call me Commander. I am the leader, CEO if you will, of a group of professionals that supplies services, training, and equipment to groups with unique needs.”

“My ‘Company’ has operated around the world for many years. We were in South Africa during the 60’s and 70’s. Southeast Asia during the American war in Vietnam. We have been in South America, including Mexico and Cuba. We were in Eastern Europe during the fall of the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian uprising. We were in Bosnia and Croatia. And most recently in the Middle East.”

“We provide, to the highest bidder, whatever that group feels the need for. Training, Equipment, Intelligence. All at a cost, of course. We have also been known to provide our services to both sides. For example, we worked with both Bautista and Castro. And if it hadn’t been for a snotty New England Democrat, we would still be working there.

“I should also tell you that you and I were both in Iraq at the same time. Mr. Reynolds, you raised all kinds of a ruckus with Saddam and the Russians. I would strongly suggest you do not travel anywhere where Mr. Putin is important.”

“Thanks for the travel hint, but what is it you want? Why are you here?” I asked.

“Well, That’s the thing, Mr. Reynolds. With the current situation in the Middle East, our services are slowly being discontinued. The military toys of oil sheiks and their overindulged children, are now being taken over by true professionals. Professionals trained by the US, Russians, and British militaries. Surprisingly, both Korea’s have also thrown their hats into the ring. They have turned into real military powerhouses in recent years.’