Lionel Hawkins could feel the car he was in come to a stop, but he had no idea where he was. One minute, he was working at home, the next, he was drugged, tied, gagged, blindfolded and placed in the trunk of what appeared to be a fairly expensive car. He was being jostled as he started coming to, and suspected he was being taken somewhere remote. But where? And for what? Was he going to be killed? His stomach knotted up at the thought.

He heard the trunk latch and was hauled up by at least two strong sets of hands. He felt the punch to his stomach and thought he was going to throw up. He was tossed to the ground and thought he would soon be shot in the head, but the expected gunshot never came.

Instead, he felt several kicks to his ribs, followed by something wet being poured on his forehead. He heard two men laughing, but the real kick to his stomach was the laughter of the third person. It was the laughter of a woman. But not just any woman. It was Cheryl, his wife, the woman he had loved exclusively for over a decade.

“I always wanted to piss on him like that,” she said as the others two snickered. “Too bad his mouth wasn’t open at the time.

“Why don’t we just do him right here?” he heard one man say.

“No, no,” he heard his wife argue. “Between the heat and the snakes, he’ll be dead soon enough. I don’t want anything that could lead authorities back to us.”

“Besides,” he heard the other man say. “It’ll be years before anyone finds him out here. By then, there’ll be nothing left but bones.” The other two laughed at that. He could hear his wife move, then he smelled her perfume as she knelt close to him.

“I’m sorry it has to end like this, dear,” she said sarcastically as the other two laughed. “But you knew it wouldn’t last forever. Besides, Enrique and his men fuck me better than you ever could.” That prompted even more laughter. “Believe it or not, this isn’t personal. It’s just business. Oh, who the hell am I kidding. Of course, it’s personal.” She snickered, then stood back up. “Untie his hands,” she told the other two men.

“Are you sure?” the first man said.

“Yes,” she said. “Leave his legs tied and his blindfold on.” She knelt by her husband. “Now, you be a good boy and count to 100 after we leave before you untie yourself and take off the blindfold. You hear me?” Lionel nodded his head, unable to say anything with the gag in his mouth. She stood back up. “Do it,” she ordered.

Lionel could feel one of the men cut the zip ties holding his hands behind his back.

“You’re getting off easy, cuck,” the man whispered. “If it were up to me, I’d blow your fucking brains out then feed you to the fish.”

When his hands were free, he rubbed his wrists together. The man left him and got back in the car. He heard his wife one last time.

“Now you be a good boy and do as I say,” she said. “Otherwise, I’ll just have to sic my dogs on you. I’d like to say it’s been nice, but that would be a lie. Now do humanity a favor and die, okay? That’s a good boy.” She laughed and closed the door. He cried as he heard the car take off. He counted to 100 as she said and removed the blindfold and gag. He squinted his eyes until he got used to the bright light and looked around at the harsh desert terrain. He knew he wouldn’t last very long out in the open.

He untied his legs and stripped off his shirt and his jacket. He tied his shirt around his head to give him some protection from the oppressive heat. He could barely make out the tracks from the vehicle he had been in and decided to follow them as far as he could.

As he walked, he thought about his life with Cheryl. They met in law school, dated, fell in love and got married. They both worked for a large legal firm but he felt like his talents were being wasted. He didn’t go to law school to get rich, after all. He genuinely wanted to help people. So he started his own firm about three years after they graduated, dedicating at least 10 percent of his billable time to pro-bono work, helping people who needed legal advise but couldn’t afford it.

Cheryl helped him out when she could and seemed supportive of his work. At first, she admired his “gumption” and his willingness to strike out on his own, taking on the big firms all in the name of community service. But something happened along the way.

It turned out Cheryl wasn’t as concerned about helping people, unless she was the one who benefited. Her goal was simple – get rich and powerful, and not necessarily in that order. While she was giving his fledgling firm lip service, she was schmoozing big-wigs in other firms, hoping to land a position as a partner.

She eventually landed a position with one of the largest firms in the area and was soon making much more than he was. And she wasn’t shy about her new status in life. At her insistence, they split up their bank accounts and she rarely contributed to the bills, even though she made much more than he did.

She bought herself a brand new BMW, while he got around in a five-year-old Toyota he maintained himself. Worse yet, she rarely let him ride in her car, unless it was to cart him to one of her social events, where she would introduce him before disappearing with her new colleagues to do God-knows-what.

Her new position also required her to travel – a lot. She was often gone to New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Miami, Seattle – even London and Paris. She had even joined her partners on cruises to the Bahamas and the Mediterranean, telling him that spouses weren’t invited.

In the last two years, she was gone more than she was home and she even missed their last two anniversaries. She always promised to make it up to him, but she never did. Their tenth anniversary was coming up, but this year, he decided to do nothing just to see if she would even notice. So far, she hadn’t said a word.

He was pretty certain she had been cheating on him lately. All the signs were there, but he didn’t have any concrete proof – at least nothing that would stand up in court. Worse yet, he couldn’t afford to pay for a private investigator, especially since all of his money went to keeping his business and household afloat. Several times, he could smell another man’s cologne or after shave on her. He also smelled something else on her more than once.

Of course, their sex life had hit rock bottom in the last two years. They used to make love several times a week, but now, he was lucky if they got together once or twice a month. Even then, it felt as though she was just giving him a quick mercy-fuck to hold him over until she could be bothered to be in his presence.

Things got worse in the last year and a half or so, but the last six months were the absolute worse. The firm she worked for assigned her to a client who demanded she service him exclusively. Now, she was taking trips all over Latin America – Bogota, Lima and Mexico City were just a few of her destinations, along with all of her other trips. Having been raised by a mother who emigrated to the States from Costa Rica, she was fluent in both Spanish and English – something that worked to her favor in this new assignment.

He knew nothing about this new client of hers, other than he was very rich, very influential and very demanding. And he was quite certain she was screwing him on the side. But again, he had no concrete proof. Not that it would matter a whole lot. He knew he would get screwed in court no matter what.

So he bided his time, deciding that at some point she would go off the rails. Then he would make his move. He had already done all he could to protect himself and his fledgling business from her so it was just a matter of time. But he never thought she would do this.

He wondered what brought this on, then he remembered some forms she wanted him to sign and notarize on behalf of her client. She said it was some kind of import/export thing, but he refused to do anything with the paperwork, not knowing her client and not knowing what it was he intended to do with it. Moreover, he wondered, if it was legit, why couldn’t she have her own firm handle it? It all seemed too fishy to him.

She even offered him a large sum of cash – that’s right, actual cash money – much more than would be required to trigger an investigation should he actually try to deposit it all at once. She showed him the cash, which was stashed in a briefcase, and that raised all kinds of red flags.

Was she involved in something illegal? Was her client looking to smuggle drugs or guns? His first instinct was to contact the authorities, but he held off until he could learn more. In hindsight, he realized he should’ve been more proactive. Sadly, Cheryl wasn’t too open about it, simply telling him that if he couldn’t handle filing a simple form, she would find someone else who could.

But, she said, she would give him a chance to rethink his position. He remembered telling her he needed more information about her client and his intentions, but she scoffed at the notion, saying he should simply trust her in this.

Then there was the day he found that slip of paper stuck between the forms she wanted him to notarize in advance. It had the number 350 next to the initials AK and a date with what looked like GPS coordinates scribbled in a man’s handwriting. It made no sense to him, so he showed it to one of his colleagues, Andy McGregor.

“Let me see if I can make sense of all this,” Andy said. The next day, Andy came to him and suggested it could indicate the date and location for a shipment of illegal arms.

“There’s no way Cheryl could be mixed up in anything like that,” he told Andy.

“Are you 100 percent certain?” Andy asked. “After all, you said she wants you to notarize forms that haven’t even been filled out or signed yet. If it were me, I’d go straight to the ATF with this. I wouldn’t waste any time.”

“Let me talk to Cheryl first,” he said. “Thanks for looking this over.”

“You’re welcome, Lionel,” he said. “But I think you’re making a huge mistake by not going straight to the authorities.” As it turned out, Andy was right about his inaction being a mistake. He got home and had no sooner put his briefcase on his desk when he felt a prick at the back of his neck. Seconds later, it was lights out.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his leg and yelled out. Looking down, he saw a rattlesnake. He was so lost in his own thoughts he didn’t even hear the snake shake its rattle. Damn, he thought. Looking around, he found a large rock, picked it up and smashed the snake’s head just as it prepared to strike again.

His leg ached and he hobbled to a joshua tree, hoping to get a bit of shade. He knew that if the bite wasn’t treated quickly, he could be a goner. But he had nothing – not even a pocket knife. Cheryl and her goons had taken everything from him when they kidnapped him – even his watch and wedding ring. He watched as the sun dipped below the horizon and knew there was a possibility he wouldn’t last till morning. He felt himself start to slip into unconsciousness and did something he hadn’t done since he went to that crusade thing 15 years ago – he prayed, “God, please help me.”

...

It was late in the afternoon and as was our custom, we sat on the back porch with our nine-month-old son, William. I enjoyed this time with my family, recalling the day’s events and looking forward to the next day. My lovely wife, Danni, sat next to me and put her head on my shoulders as I bounced our son on my knee. She got a kick out of watching me talk baby-talk to our child.

“It’s a good thing no one can hear you right now, Amos,” she said, laughing. “They’d think you were going through your second childhood.” I laughed and kept on bouncing William. That’s me, by the way -- Amos Jones.

“Aw, he’s just a baby,” I said. “Gotta have some fun with him sometime.” Just then, our doorbell rang. I handed William to Danni and got up to answer it. I was surprised to see my Grandpa Elijah at the door. As always, he was dressed like a character straight out of an old western, complete with duster and battered Stetson.

Grandpa Elijah, by the way, isn’t JUST my grandfather. He’s my great-great-great-great grandfather. You might say that’s impossible, but here he is at my doorstep. Don’t ask me to explain it, because I frankly don’t understand it myself. Let’s just say he helped me deal with my cheating wife, Andrea. That happened before I met my current wife. And yes, she knows who he is as well.

“Come on in, Grandpa,” I said. “Long time no see. How’re ya doing?” He came in and gave me a big hug.

“Finer ‘n frog’s hair,” he said, smiling. “Jes’ came by ta see mah grandsons – both of ‘em.”

“We’re all out back, enjoying the sunset,” I said. “C’mon out. You want a beer?”

“Of course,” he said. “Need something ta wash down this trail dust.” I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and went out to the back porch, and saw he had already sat down and was bouncing little William on his knee, making baby noises as the youngster smiled. He took the beer from me, and swallowed half of it before putting the bottle down.

“See?” I asked, looking at Danni. “I’m not the only one who does that.” She laughed. Grandpa Elijah looked at us, confused.

“Does what?” he asked.

“Danni was giving me grief about making baby noises at William here,” I said. He laughed.

“Well, I was doing this a hundred years before either of you were a twinkle in yer daddys’ eyes,” he said. “You know, William here sure looks a lot like yer Grandpa Jedediah at this age,” he added.

“You mean, my great-great-great grandfather?” I asked. He nodded his head.

“Yup,” he said. “One and the same. He was about this age when things went to hell in a handbasket.”

“You mean the war?” I asked.

“Yup,” he said. “Rebs fired on Fort Sumter and the next thing you know the whole country’s at war. Brother against brother, the whole thing. I joined up with a regiment forming up in Indianapolis. We were an infantry regiment at first, but later became a cavalry unit. That’s the last time yer Grandma Lizzy or the kids ever saw me alive.”

“Damn,” I said. “That had to be rough.” He nodded his head.

“Yeah, it was,” he said. “We were all over the place – Shiloh, Chickamauga, Atlanta, a hundred other places. Seen a lot of good men die on both sides.” I thought I saw a tear form in his eye. He wiped his face and turned his attention back to William.

“I hope you never have to experience anything like that, son,” he said quietly. His face suddenly changed for a few moments. He stood up and handed William to me. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’ll be right back. You got a snakebite kit or something?”

“Of course,” I said. Anyone living in these parts would be crazy not to have one, but there were some who argued the suction kits could cause more harm than good. Fortunately, we had a doctor in the area who still made house calls and was known for his rapid response.

“Good,” he said. “Get it ready and be prepared to call a doctor.” He left the house and a few minutes later, was back, carrying a man who had a shirt wrapped around his head. Grandpa set him down on the couch and put his damaged leg so it would be below his heart. Danni handed me the kit and called Doc Thompson as we cleaned the man’s wound. He was still breathing, but it was clear he wasn’t doing too well.

A few minutes later, Doc Thompson came to the door and Danni rushed him inside. Doc was well known to everybody in the area. He was a kindly, older man who used to work at the hospital in town before putting up his shingle out here. He took one look at the man and knew what had to be done. He reached into his bag and pulled out two fresh syringes and two small bottles of fluid – I presumed it was antivenom. He gave the man two shots, then handed us some pills for nausea.

“Looks like you got to him just in time,” he said, standing up from the man. “Keep an eye on him, don’t let him get up and don’t give him any food or water for a while. Keep that foot below his heart level. If his condition gets worse, call me and we’ll get him to the nearest ER. If his face starts to swell up or he starts vomiting, call me immediately. I’ll be out in the morning to check up on him.”

“Is he going to be okay, Doc?” I asked. He nodded his head.

“I think so,” he said. “It looks worse than it really is, but keep an eye on him just the same. I gave him a tetanus shot and some antivenom, but if he gets worse, he may have to get an IV. I hate to ask, but do you know if he has any insurance?”

“No idea, Doc,” I said. “Listen, I’ll take care of the cost. Just send me the bill.”

“Well, okay,” he said. “Let me know when you can get any information on him. Damn government paperwork makes things a whole lot harder than they need to be. What happened to him, anyway?”

“He was dumped,” Grandpa said. “Left for dead.”

“Maybe you should call the sheriff,” Doc said.

“Not much the sheriff here can do,” Grandpa said. “Don’t worry, he’s in good hands.”

“Well, okay, if you say so,” Doc said. “Keep an eye on him tonight. I’ll see y’all in the morning.” We thanked him as he left, then sat down in the living room.

“What’s going on, Grandpa?” I asked. He took a deep breath before continuing.

“His name is Lionel Hawkins. He’s an attorney in southern California. His wife and some of her goons bushwhacked him, took him out to Death Valley and dropped him off to die,” he said.

“Did he do something bad?” I asked. Grandpa shook his head.

“No,” he said. “He’s completely innocent. His wife, well, that’s another story.” He looked up at Danni. “Can you get information about someone on that computer thing of yours?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I still have my Lexis-Nexus access. What do you need?”

“I’d like all the information that thing can give you on Enrique Castillo and Cheryl Hawkins,” he said.

“You mean the wealthy Mexican businessman?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “One and the same.”

“Okay,” she said. “And I take it Cheryl Hawkins is this man’s wife?”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “She’s also an attorney. Her maiden name is Lindstrom, and she uses that a lot as well.”

“I’ll get right on it,” she said. “It’s about William’s bedtime anyway, so I’ll put him down and get started.” He nodded his head, saying nothing. I knew he was trying to work things out in his mind so I said nothing for a few minutes.

“What are you thinking, Grandpa?” I asked.

“I’m thinking our friend here stumbled onto something he shouldn’t have,” Elijah said. “Something big. And now his wife is trying to frame him to cover up their activities.”

“What?” I asked. “Drugs? Guns?” He shook his head.

“I’m sure that plays a role in this. Nah, there’s something bigger,” Elijah said. “It’s just not coming to me, though.”

“You think this is something like what Mike was up against?” I asked. He shook his head.

“Not quite,” he said. “Lionel’s wife wanted him to stamp or notarize some kind of forms but he refused. Told her he didn’t know her client and didn’t know his intentions. Then he accidentally stumbled on something just before they bushwhacked him. I don’t think he even realized what it was he found.”

“Is that what you’re trying to figure out?” I asked. He nodded his head.

“Yeah,” he said. “Unfortunately, Lionel’s memories are a bit fuzzy right now.”

“You can read memories?” I asked. He smiled and nodded his head slightly.

“A bit,” he said. “One of the perks of the job. Maybe after he wakes up I can get a better read.”

“I thought you said you could read a man’s face,” I said. He nodded his head.

“I can,” he said. “I can tell a lot from a man’s face. But not necessarily everything. The trick is to look into his eyes – those are the windows into a man’s mind.” I took in what he said for a few moments before speaking again.

“Whaddya say we go out back for a beer and a smoke?” I asked. He looked at Lionel for a second, then nodded his head.

“Why not?” he asked with a smile. “Can’t do much more here till he wakes up.” We got up and headed out back, stopping at the fridge long enough to get two longnecks. I pulled out the case he gave me, opened it and offered him a cigarette. He took it as I pulled out a match and struck it on my jeans. He puffed as I lit his cigarette, then lit my own. We stared out into the darkness, lost in our own thoughts for a while.

“These jobs you do, Grandpa,” I said. “Are they always like Mike’s or Lionels?”

“Nah,” he said. “Most of the time, they’re pretty straightforward. Kinda like yours. More often than not, the fellas I help don’t even know I was involved. I kinda like it that way. But lately, it seems they’ve gotten a lot more complicated, a lot more intense. Sometimes, it makes me think people don’t even know the difference between right and wrong anymore. Worse yet, a lot of ‘em don’t seem to care.”

“I can understand that,” I said. “Well, Danni and I will do everything we can to help.”

“I appreciate that, son,” he said. “It means a lot to me. Especially since I’m not up on all this new-fangled technology of yers. In my day, it was a lot simpler. Shoot the bastard and be done with it. Not quite so easy anymore. Speaking of shooting,” he began.

“Yes?” I asked.

“You’ve been practicing with that rifle I gave ya?” I nodded my head. The last time I saw him, he gave me a Winchester Model 1892 44-40 rifle with a modified lever. It was designed so that all I had to do to fire the thing was cycle the lever after putting a pin in place. It worked a lot like the rifle used in that old television western.

“Sure have,” I said. “Funny thing, though.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Darn thing never seems to run out of bullets,” I said. He laughed.

“Noticed that, have you?” he asked with a grin. “That can come in handy in a gunfight. Trust me, you take care of it, and it’ll damn sure take care of you.” We finished our cigarettes and our beer and headed back inside. Danni was waiting for us in the front room. She had several sheets of paper in her hand.

“I looked up Castillo and Cheryl Lindstrom/Hawkins for you,” she said. “You ready to hear what I learned?”

“Sure,” Elijah said, sitting down.

“Okay,” she said. “First off, according to what I could find, Cheryl last worked as an attorney for Dewey and Cheatham in southern California. I’m not sure if she’s still employed there or not, but Castillo was her most recent assignment. Apparently, she handles all of his legal work in the U.S. She also travels with him a lot. Mexico City, Bogota, Caracas, even overseas. There’s been articles written online about Castillo and a lot of the pictures of him seem to include her. And she looks more like arm candy than a high-priced attorney.” She stopped to hand us a printed photo.

Cheryl was a very attractive woman with long dark hair and doe-like eyes. Her Latin heritage was easy to spot. She wore a short dress that showed off a lot of well-toned leg and a fair amount of cleavage. Castillo looked to be a little older than her and appeared to be quite refined in his expensive suit. He had his arm around her and she seemed to enjoy the embrace. It was obvious there was chemistry between them.

“There’s more. Castillo has large villas in Colombia and Mexico,” she said. “He’s also been under investigation by Mexican authorities for various allegations. Drugs, guns, human trafficking, you name it. Nothing ever came of those investigations, however, since they magically seemed to disappear. It also appears that lately, he’s been very active politically in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. That’s the biggest state in Mexico and borders Texas and New Mexico.”

“What do you mean, active?” I asked.

“It seems he’s been building up a coalition to eventually oust the political leaders there,” she said. “It’s not really that much different than rich people here in the states propping up politicians. He’s already gotten several mayors replaced with politicians loyal to him and he’s gotten a number of bureaucrats replaced as well. People are starting to ask questions.”

“But you think there’s more to it?” Grandpa asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s hard to tell just from these reports.”

“Alright,” Grandpa said, taking the stack of papers from Danni. “I’ll go through this. Much obliged, Danni. Why don’t you young’uns get some sleep and I’ll stay up with Lionel here.”

“Are you sure, Grandpa?” Danni asked. “You need your sleep, too.” He laughed at that.

“Don’t worry yer pretty little head, sweetheart,” he said. “I have no need for sleep anymore, remember?”

“Sorry, forgot,” she said. He kissed her on the forehead as she walked upstairs. I looked at him before I went up, but he was already going over everything Danni gave him.

“Goodnight, Grandpa,” I said. He looked up and gave me a wave.

“Goodnight, son,” he said. “Don’t worry about disturbing me, by the way,” he added with a smile. I knew what he meant. Danni could be a screamer at times. I smiled and headed on up. As it turned out, I didn’t have to worry much as Danni kept a pillow close by just to keep from screaming out.

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of bacon and coffee and knew Danni was already up and about. I went into the bathroom and did my business, took a shower, dressed and headed downstairs.

“‘Bout damn time you got up, sleepyhead,” Grandpa said, laughing. “Half the day’s gone already.” I smiled and went into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and give my wife her morning kiss. I wrapped my arms around her and nuzzled into her neck.

“Damn, that smells good,” I said.

“Thank you, kind sir,” she said. “But you’d better let me finish before it gets burned.” I gave her a kiss, grabbed my coffee and went into the front room. William was in his high chair and Lionel was awake but still laying on the couch.

“How are you feeling?” I asked. He looked at me, confused.

“My leg hurts like hell and my back itches,” he said. “Where am I? Who are you people? How did I get here? Am I...”

“One question at a time,” I said. “To start, no, you’re not dead. My name is Amos Jones. The woman making breakfast is my wife, Danni, and this other fella is...”

“Justice O. Peace,” Grandpa said, holding out his hand. Lionel took it and looked closely at Grandpa.

“I remember seeing you,” Lionel said. “You were the one who picked me up in the desert.” Grandpa nodded his head. “How did you know where I was?”

“You asked for help,” Grandpa said. “I answered your call.” Lionel thought back and remembered his prayer. He looked at Grandpa, shocked.

“Are you...” he began. Grandpa shook his head.

“No, no,” he said. “Not even close.”

“So, where am I?” Lionel asked.

“Texas,” I told him. “Are you up for a little breakfast?” He nodded his head.

“Yeah, I’m starving,” he said. Danni brought him a plate of bacon and eggs and set it on the coffee table after putting down a placemat. “Thank you so much,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “Dig in.” He didn’t have to be told twice. He picked up the fork and scarfed down the food as though he hadn’t eaten for days. Danni brought out food for the rest of us and we sat and ate in silence. She sat with William and fed him as she ate, placing him in his playpen when she was finished.

“So,” I said after I finished. “What can you tell us? How did you end up in Death Valley?”

“Is that where I was?” he asked. I nodded my head.

“Yeah,” I said. “What happened?”

“The last thing I remember was setting my briefcase on my desk at home so I could go over some paperwork,” he said. “The next thing I know, I’m tied up and in the trunk of a car. The car stopped and they threw me out. My wife pissed on me and made it clear she wanted me dead.”

“Oh my God,” Danni said.

“What kind of paperwork?” I asked. He shook his head.

“Just some things Cheryl – that’s my wife, by the way – wanted me to notarize for her client,” he said.

“This is important, Lionel,” Danni said. “What kind of papers?”

“She’s been after me to pre-notarize and sign documents for some kind of import and export thing her client is doing,” he said.

“Wait,” Danni said. “She wanted you to sign and put a notary stamp on something that hadn’t even been signed or completely filled out yet?” she asked, shocked.

“Pretty much, yeah,” he said.

“Why?” Danni asked. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“You’re wife is an attorney, right?” she asked. He nodded his head.

“Yeah,” he said.

“So why couldn’t she take care of this if it’s so important?” Danni asked. He shook his head.

“Again, I don’t know,” he said. “I asked her, but she just blew me off. I told her I wouldn’t do it unless I first met her client and discussed it with him and I also told her I refused to put my stamp on anything that wasn’t completely filled out and verified first. Look, I don’t have much, but I still have my integrity.”

“I understand,” Danni said. She looked at Grandpa and I before speaking again. “I’m smelling a very large rat here,” she said. “Nothing about this makes any sense.” She turned back to Lionel. “Did she offer you money?”