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“Roger that.”
Robie aimed the launcher at a spot in front of the wave of ATVs.
Four-three-two-one.
He hit the trigger and the RPG left the launcher, arced upward, and then came down within a foot of where Robie had been aiming.
The explosion rocked the still air, sounding like thunder from the storm bearing down on them.
The car and the ATVs did what Robie had expected. They stopped and through his optics he saw figures jumping out of the vehicles and taking cover.
Reel spoke into his ear. “Nice touch.”
“See if you can get a look in the car now.”
He could hear Reel’s steady breaths in his ear until she said, “The driver has exited. He and another man have taken up cover behind the vehicle.”
“Anyone else in the car now?”
A few seconds went by. “There’s something in the backseat, Robie. It could be a person. It could be Luke Miller.”
“That’s what I’m figuring. They brought him along alive to witness the fun before they put a bullet in his head. I need the guys outside the car to leave that immediate area but leave the car operable.”
“On it in five.”
Robie loaded his last round into the launcher and moved forward, keeping low, but also keeping his night optics on the car that was less than half a football field from his position.
He counted off the five seconds and on the fifth beat Reel’s sniper rifle thundered. Two rounds hit right next to the car. The third passed right over the trunk. The fourth kicked up dirt a foot to the left.
The two men hiding there did the only sane thing. They ran for it.
Robie was now in a full sprint.
“Robie, they’re on the move.”
“Burn ’em right after I fire. Move them all away from the vicinity of the car.” Robie stopped, knelt down, hefted the launcher to his shoulder, took aim, and fired.
The RPG flew a short distance and then hit the dirt about sixty yards to his right.
An instant later Reel’s rifle opened up and she rained bullets down on the men from right to left and left to right. Dirt, grass, and rocks flew up in the air near the men. Reel was not aiming to kill them, just to get them to move. Her rifle was her cattle prod.
Robie was sprinting once more and reached the car five seconds later.
He ripped open the door and checked the backseat.
Luke was back there, trussed up, gagged and unconscious, but Robie could find no visible wounds.
Robie checked the man’s pulse, found it, slid into the driver’s seat, turned the key, and the engine came to life.
He said into his headset, “I’m taking him to the Yukon. Disable the ATVs. Then meet me there.”
He hit the gas and the car jumped forward. Immediately, shots rang out and several pinged off the skin of the car. Robie ducked as one blew out the rear glass, with a shard of it slicing across the back of his neck. The blood dripped onto the seat.
Then Reel opened fire, and this time her rounds connected with rubber.
Eight shots later every one of the ATVs was rendered inoperable with an incendiary round smack in its gut that had ignited the fuel tanks. Explosions rang out over the darkness even as the rain started to pour. And then came the lightning, which lit the sky like detonations in the clouds, and the following booms of thunder were very nearly deafening.
And then came the hail, and the burning ATVs were quickly doused, but still unable to move.
Robie reached the Yukon at the same time Reel raced into view. Together they lifted the still-unconscious Miller into the back of the Yukon. They jumped into the front seat and Robie took the wheel.
Reel eyed up ahead. “You going to run the gauntlet?”
Robie shook his head and looked behind him. “I’m going to make a new road. We’ll pick up Holly on the way.”
He slammed the Yukon into reverse and the four-wheel-drive vehicle hurtled backward until Robie spun it into a J-turn, and with the truck pointed the other way, he hit the gas and the Yukon leapt forward.
They had gone a quarter of a mile when Reel said, “There she is.”
Sure enough, Holly was struggling along in the darkness over the uneven ground. She was now drenched with rain. She heard them coming but apparently couldn’t see it was them, because she started to run away.
Robie sped up, and once they were beside her Reel rolled down the window and called out to her. Holly immediately stopped running.
“Get in!” called out Reel.
Holly grabbed the door handle, threw her suitcase in, and followed right behind it.
She slammed the door behind her and Robie accelerated.
“Luke, oh my God! Luke!”
She put her arms around him and started sobbing. “Oh, please tell me he’s not dead. Please.”
“Probably drugged.” said Robie. “Nearest bus station?”
“But what about Luke’s car?”
“Not happening. The bus station?”
“There’s a Greyhound station sixty miles to the west on the main road.”
They raced on with the storm chasing them the whole way. Ten minutes later Robie worked his way over to an asphalt road, while Reel checked the GPS.
She directed him to the town with the bus station, and they arrived there over an hour later.
By this time Miller had woken up, and he and Holly were hugging in the backseat.
As they slowed to a stop at the bus station, Reel checked her phone.
She said, “A bus is leaving for Denver in thirty minutes. You can get there and then make plans to get to LA. Bus, car, train, or plane. Do you have money?”
Miller nodded. “I got credit cards. Luckily, those dumb shits didn’t think to take my wallet.”
“They were tapping your phone,” said Robie. “That’s how they knew where you were meeting both times. And if they’re tapping your phone they may be able to trace your credit cards. Do you have cash?”
“Probably not enough,” conceded Luke.
Robie and Reel took out their wallets and gave them what they had.
“This should be enough to get you out of the state,” said Robie.
“Thank you so much,” said Holly. “And we will repay you. I swear.”
Luke put out his hand for Robie and Reel to shake, “I want to thank you both. You saved my ass and Holly’s.”
After they shook hands, Robie said, “You can clean up in the restroom. How did they get a hold of you? An ambush somewhere?”
“Exactly. Then they shot me up with some drug.”
As they climbed out of the truck Reel asked Miller, “Were you really that bored that you had to join those guys?”
“It was beyond stupid,” said Miller sheepishly. “But they talked a good game, at least initially. I pretty quickly figured it out and just wanted to escape.”
“Remember to take the swastika off,” said Reel. “Hard to make the right kind of new friends with that on your head.”
“Right,” said Miller.
“And get rid of your phone,” added Robie. “They can track it even when you’re not using it.”
Miller reached into his pocket, pulled it out, and chucked it into a nearby trash can.
Holly hugged both Robie and Reel and said, “Thank you so much.”
“Call your sister,” said Robie.
“I will. Look, I know all that stuff I said about my family and all. The truth is, I was jealous of Valerie. You’re right, she wears the uniform. She was out there fighting the good fight. Risking her life. I thought no matter what I did that I could never measure up to that. So that was my problem, not hers. She’s been nothing but supportive of me, no matter how many mistakes I made. I know she loves me and I love her.”
