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The midday sun beat down on Mack, and he wanted to wipe the sweat from his brow, but couldn’t with his hands tied behind his back, so he lived with the torment of it dripping into his eyes as he blinked it away.
“At least be man enough to tell me what your plans are.” Mack demanded. “Am I a dead man walking?” he asked darkly. It’d be nice to know if Clarissa wanted him dead, or was merely sending him another, stronger message. Perhaps if he got out of this alive, he might even heed her this time.
Black Hat simply snorted.
“I can pay you.” Mack was grasping at straws now. It was true, he had enough money stashed away to buy this guy off, but somehow he doubted his ploy would work. There was no way he’d pay a scumbag like this guy, anyway, but he needed to sound convincing. “I can double whatever Clarissa is paying you.”
“Move,” the man commanded, waving him forward with the loosely held gun, then pushed Mack in the back when he refused to budge, sending him off-balance. Mack barely stayed on his feet, with his hands behind his back, he almost landed face-first in the gravel. The man pushed him again, and Mack began walking toward the piles of rocks at the edge of the clearing, where the guy indicated he should go.
“Hey, Whip, you out there?” a voice echoed around the clearing. Shit, there was another one. He hadn’t counted on Black Hat having an accomplice. Mack swiveled his head to catch a glance at this new threat.
“Yeah, come on out, I got our boy leashed,” the man called Whip answered in a loud voice.
A figure emerged from the shadows of the open side of the building. He was carrying something, staggering slightly under the weight. A body. He had a body slung over his shoulder.
No.
Mack’s knees nearly gave way beneath him.
It was Bindi, her head hanging loosely down the other man’s back.
Was she dead?
Please, please, please, don’t let her be dead.
The man walked toward them, shuffling his feet through the dust. As he got closer, Mack saw he was a rotund man, nearly as wide as he was tall, and was perspiring profusely, large sweat patches staining the light blue T-shirt, the bottom of his shirt riding up to reveal a flabby paunch. He, too, was wearing a black, ten-gallon hat, but it didn’t seem to have the same menace that Whip’s leant him. He squinted at Mack through piggy eyes, his round face blotchy from the heat.
“It worked like a charm,” Paunchy Man said. “She came running in, so worried about the horses, she didn’t even see me until it was too late.”
“Good,” Whip replied. “Is the fire out? The last thing we need is to get penned in by another wildfire.”
“Yeah, of course. It was just a whole lot of green branches. They smoked like shit, but didn’t really burn, just like you told me.” The fat man gave a satisfied grin.
Mack was desperately trying to see if Bindi was still breathing, so he was only partly listening to the men’s conversation. Bindi, look at me, he pleaded silently. But she remained motionless.
“What have you done to her?” Mack snarled. “If she’s dead…” He clenched his fists in his bindings and turned to face Whip.
“You’ll what?” The other man laughed in his face. “You aint’ got much of a say in anything right now, fella.”
“Oh, she’s not dead,” Paunchy man piped up. “I only hit her with a bit of wood, she’s still breathing. See?” He turned helpfully to the side, so Mack could get a better look at Bindi’s face, which bounced bonelessly off the man’s fleshy hip.
“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” Whip snapped at the man. “Chuck her in the shaft. Then meet me at the car. We need to get outta here,” he commanded.
“Oh, yeah, right boss.” Paunchy man’s face fell for a second, then hardened, taking on a look of resolve. This guy might be an idiot, but he was still dangerous. He took off at a forced trot over the red ground toward the pile of large boulders to the left, Bindi’s arms flinging around like she was a rag doll as Mack stared helplessly after them.
Suddenly, Blue T-shirt stopped in his tracks and looked back over his shoulder. “What about the horses?”
“Shoot them,” Whip replied, after a moment’s contemplation. “Bit of a pity, they’re some fine horseflesh, but I’d never be able to sell them, they’re too recognizable. May as well make these stupid assholes understand who they’re dealing with. Make ’em sorry they ever crossed us.” Whip turned to grin at Mack.
No. Mack wanted to shout the word. The poor horses were innocent in all of this. Steve would be devastated by their loss. But then again, knowing Steve, he’d be more devastated knowing his staff were in danger. And Bindi was in danger. Terrible danger, if Mack couldn’t do anything to help her.
Mack rounded on Whip. “What are you going to do with her?” He’d mentioned throwing her down a shaft. That didn’t sound good. Bindi had told him all the old inspection shafts were boarded up, but he guessed it wouldn’t be hard to jimmy one open, if you were intent on mischief.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Whip replied cryptically.
Mack was desperate to follow Paunchy Man and took a few steps in that direction.
“Stay where you are,” Whip growled, menace clear in his tone. Then he narrowed his eyes and glared at Mack thoughtfully. “Stand still,” he commanded.
