Chapter 12

Princess was glued to me as I dragged Breaker’s body away from the crash site and tried to compose him the best I could, given the situation. Sam wasn’t going to enjoy seeing his brother dead under any circumstances, but seeing him crumpled and dirty would be too much. It took some time, but I successfully moved him into the shade and straightened him up. Then I rummaged through his things and changed his shirt to hide the bullet wounds and blood stains.

Killer howled beside the body at one point and I felt his sense of loss and grief. He let me hug him while he mourned, and that brought Spike in for some attention. We remained beside our friend, holding a vigil against the heat of the day and the dangers of the night. There was no way I was allowing some coyote, or carrion to feed on his dead body. As long as I had breath, his body would be safe.

To make the wait tolerable, I dragged food and water out to the shady spot, so we could sit in some sort of comfort, while we waited for rescue. Princess finally stretched out and slept, with her head across my legs, while Spike and Killer bracketed their master. At eleven sharp I turned on the phone and waited for Sam’s call.

It never came.

Whoever killed Breaker had obviously gotten to Sam, which meant I was in real danger. Rather than panic, I did what I planned in case the call never came. During the long wait I decided that I would take one of the jeeps and the dogs, and drive out following the trail left by the other vehicles.

I was armed, alone and angry. If they came for me, they were going to have a fight on their hands. Because everyone they sent so far was dead, those freaks would be expecting a sick, injured, little boy. Killing me should be child’s play for them with Breaker out of the way.

Maybe...

Maybe not...

The only sure thing was that we would get a chance to find pretty soon.

Just before loading up the dogs, enough food and water for the four of us for several days, and all the weapons and ammunition I could find, I used the dead man’s phone to call the only phone number I knew.

“Mercy Hospital. How can I direct your call?”

“Can you connect me with Doctor Halberstadt, please?”

“Doctor Halberstadt is not available right now. Can I take a message?”

“This is Ross Thompson and it’s an emergency. Can you connect me with Sienna Tenley?”

There was a short pause and Sienna came on the line. “Ross? Are you Ok? Why are you calling in the middle of the night? Where are you? What’s happening? The operator said it was an emergency...” The fear was palpable in her voice.

“It’s really bad, Sienna. I’m out in the desert someplace. The FBI sent me away with someone special, but people came and killed him and they’re after me. I took this phone from one of the people who tried to kill me and didn’t know any other phone numbers, so I called the hospital.

“Can you call the court and see if you can find either Judge Marshall, or Marcus? They’ll know what to do. I might not be able to stay on the phone because the battery might die. I’ll hang up and turn it off, but call me back at this number in two hours and I will turn it back on...” She was so flustered that I had to repeat things a couple of times to be sure she had all the necessary facts.

When I shut off the phone the silence was painfully quiet. The stillness made me terribly aware of just how alone and helpless I really was. Suddenly I couldn’t wait for the two hours to pass, so I could speak to Sienna again.

The dogs were happy to jump into the jeep and leave with me. Once their master was dead, they must have decided that I was their new alpha and that made me their responsibility. It was a comfort knowing I had them to keep me company until help came, or the others showed up and killed me.

I knew what direction to take and removed the bulbs from all the vehicle lights to make as small a visible target as possible. The jeep was rugged and when I siphoned the gas from the other ones to fill the tanks on the one I chose to drive out, there was nothing to do but try to survive. I found several spare gas cans and filled all of them in case we needed to fuel before we arrived ... somewhere.

The moon cast just enough light so that I could follow the dim dirt path and we rolled along slowly and carefully, kicking up as little dust as possible. Princess sat directly behind me, resting her head on my right shoulder. Spike took the co-pilot seat and Killer sprawled across the back bench. Everyone looked happy to be doing something as we ate up the miles that took us away from Breaker’s little valley. We drove along quietly until exactly one-hundred and twenty minutes passed. And then I stopped and fired up the satellite phone.

It rang almost immediately.

“ ... hello...” I was afraid the caller might not be a friendly.

“Ross? This is Agent Fred Gottfried. I was in the courtroom with you the other day. Are you safe?” He was obviously a man of action not words.

“Yes. I’m safe, but scared. I have Mr. Breaker’s dogs with me in a jeep I took from the people who killed Mr. Breaker. We’re trying to follow the route they drove to get to us, but it’s dark and I broke all the lights so nobody could see us coming and it’s getting harder to see...”

Fred seemed very glad to hear my news. “OK. We have your location by your phone’s locator. It gives off your longitude and latitude and we can follow those coordinates in to come get you out of there. The big thing is that you need to get off the road and find a cave, or rock depression to hide in until we arrive. If we can pick up your coordinates, they can too. So turn off the phone until you find a good place to hide.

“Ditch the jeep once you know you’ve found the right place. Then turn on the phone, call the number you see on the dial and once I answer, turn it right off and take out the battery. That way no one can use your phone to track your location before we pick you up.

“Do you understand, Ross?”

“Yes. I’ll find a hiding cave, loose the truck and call you, then take out the battery and wait until you come for me. Is that right?”

I could hear the relief in his voice. “Yes. That’s perfect. You are so brave. I can’t wait until we can get you out of then and hear all about your adventure. Stay safe and we’ll be there soon.”

After I turned off the phone, I turned to the dogs, and said, “Well, folks. It’s just us, again.” Princess leaned in closer to give me courage, while her buddies just stared.

It took time, but I found us a cut out that would keep us out of the sun and give us cover should we need to defend ourselves. Once everything was moved from the jeep to the cave, I ditched the jeep in a culvert where it would be impossible to find it unless you were flying right overhead. It took a little while, but I dragged enough tumble weeds and branches over it to keep it from sticking out like a sore thumb, and then led the dogs into our little home.

Just before I quit, I called Fred and he noted the coordinates. Then I removed the phone’s battery and settled down to wait. All three dogs arranged themselves around me for protection. I took turns giving them water and treats from our stash until they seemed content and slept.

The dogs alerted me to the sound of another helicopter. It flew almost directly over us heading for the valley. It was still pitch dark and they obviously missed the ditch where I left the jeep. The little bit of camouflage I managed to pull over it must have done the job. The minutes dragged unmercifully as I waited for either the FBI, or Breaker’s executioners to come for me. Princess sensed my distress and roused the other two. They shook off the effects of sleep and stood guard as we waited.