Chapter 16

I knew that our options were limited. With them between us and the cabin, we could not run for home and fort up there. But I was sure that they did not know about my hideouts. Nobody but Suzy knew about them.

After my run in with Stephen Daniels and his gang, I had set up several hideouts around the mountain. They were well hidden and had enough supplies to last a week.

I looked over to Suzy and whispered, “Mountain One.” She grinned and nodded her head. Then, before they had a chance to respond. We mounted up and started galloping in the other direction.

Mountain One was my name for a natural Fort near the top of the mountain and above the tree line. The only access to it was a game trail that could be easily overlooked. One person could defend the trail from the hideout.

After getting the horses out of sight, I checked our back trail and could not see anything, but I knew it would not be long.

The commander had given us until sunrise to decide, and I was not going to wait that long to make our move. As I was watching the trail, Suzy came up next to me. “What are we going to do, Matt?” she quietly asked.

“I figured they’ll catch up to us in about an hour. So, for now, we can relax.”

“Relax?” Suzy blurted out. “If we’ve got that much time, we should keep moving. Try to put even more distance between us and them.”

I did not say anything for a while. I could tell Suzy was getting impatient. Finally, I said, “It won’t do any good, even if we got away. It would only be a matter of time before they caught up with us again, or someone else like them would. Somebody who will be smarter and meaner. These people won’t stop as long as they think Kathy’s alive and won’t be satisfied until they have her or her body.”

I could see the worry in Suzy’s eyes. “We can hide out and wait until they lose interest.”

“It won’t work, Suzy. They’ve been fooled once before.”

“What are you suggesting, Matt? Surely you aren’t thinking about giving her up?”

“No, Suzy, that won’t happen. I’ll die before I let them get their hands on her.”

Suzy was confused and in a near panic. “Well, then, what? What are we going to do?

“It’s very simple, Suzy. Kathy has to die.”

“WHAT,” Suzy screamed. “You’re not suggesting.” She stopped and just stared at me. Wide-eyed with a look of horror on her face.

“No,” I quietly said. “I’m not suggesting that we kill her. But we have to make it look that way to the rest of the world.”

For the next 30 minutes, I explained to her what I had planned.

“OK, Matt, then what? How do we keep them from discovering she isn’t dead?”

“That’s the hard part, honey,” I replied. “You and Kathy have to disappear, and I have to stop anybody from following you. I have to be the witness to your deaths.”

“OK, but for how long? When can we come back?”

My voice cracked when I said, “You can’t. As long as those cartel people have power, you both will have to stay away.”

I could hear the fear in her voice when she asked, “But where will we go?”

“You go back to your daddy’s mountain. Your kinfolk will keep you safe and hidden. That’s something they are used to doing. They’ll know who to trust and will watch for any strangers.”

“But what about you, Matt? When will you be joining us?”

“I won’t, that’s the point. They’ll only stop looking for Kathy if they think she’s dead. They’ll be watching me to see if I follow you. You have to get her out of here, and I’ve got to convince the world that she, well, you know what they have to think.”

For the next hour, Suzy hung on to me, crying. When I spotted movement in the tree line, I said, “Suzy, they’re here. You need to go back under cover in the rocks. Please set up a fire and get some food and coffee for us. Then I’ll need you and Kathy to get some rest before you take off.”

Suzy reluctantly agreed and went to set the fire.

I had several reasons why I wanted to set a fire, first for the obvious cooking and coffee reasons. Second, was so the commander and his gang would know where we were. I planned to keep it burning all night. For my third reason, I hoped that the watch he would set would concentrate on that fire. I was unsure if it would screw up their night vision, but I hoped it would distract them while Suzy and Kathy made their getaway. I figured that sometime between 2:30 and 3:00 would be the best time for them to go.