Rick gave me a strange look. “I think you owe Nanny an apology,” he said.
I touched the pouch beneath my waistband. I said nothing. I didn’t have to. I had learned another lesson from this strange companion of mine, and I knew that was what it was all about with Le Gardien. I glanced down the canyon. “We’d better go. We’ve got to get into that slot before they catch up to us.”
We started moving again, but this time in a steady trot. “You go in first,” I ordered. “Remember to move your wallet. Put your back against the right wall. Turn your head to the right. Once inside, you can’t turn back.”
“No!” he said. “You go first. You know the way.”
I knew what he was thinking. He was the one with the rifle, and it would be better if he was between me and Doc.
“We’ll have to leave the rifle. This canyon is too narrow. Besides, the last thing we want in a slot canyon is a gunfight. The good news is only Doc can follow us. Three feet in and Gordo would be stuck like one big pea in a very small pod.”
“Good.”
“Once we’re through that first slot, they’ll be a twelve-foot vertical rise. The rock fall is too steep to climb, but the slot is still narrow enough we can shinny up it by placing our feet on one side and our backs on the other.”
“Been there, done that,” he said. Even though he had never been to Leprechaun Canyon before, Rick was no stranger to climbing in canyons.
“Right. It’s pretty dark in there. It will take a few minutes for our eyes to adjust.”
“Got it.”
“Once we’re on top of the rockfall, we stop. That’s where we wait for Doc. Okay?”
He nodded, panting hard.
We slowed down as we approached another narrows. It was pretty tight for a short stretch, but by turning sideways, we got through it without much trouble. I led, keeping the pace brisk. When we came to where the canyon widened to about four feet, I raised my hand and pointed ahead of us. “There’s the junction.”
As we reached it, Rick removed the clip from the rifle, propped the rifle against one wall, then, using the toe of his boot, he buried the clip in the sand. He took a quick breath, forced a ragged smile, gave me a thumbs-up, and slipped into the left fork.
The junction’s left fork was maybe three feet wide, but it quickly doglegged to the left and closed in to less than half that width. While this wasn’t the worst place in the canyon, it was still pretty daunting. The slot was not strictly vertical, but tipped about ten degrees to the right of center. That meant we had to lean backward as we shuffled our way into the opening.
I took a quick breath, then slid in after him. “Here we go,” I said.
“Next time we go on a date, I get to choose the place,” he replied.
“If you’re still willing to ask me on a date after this, I’ll go anywhere you say. Deal?”
“Deal.”
From that point on it was total concentration. In less than a minute, we were in what felt like total darkness. I had my head facing forward, so I could make out Rick’s dark shape from time to time. But with the twists and turns, that wasn’t very often. As I slid through a particularly tight spot, where the clearance was narrowest at waist level, I felt the lower button on my blouse catch on the rock and pop off. Only then did I remember that the pouch was still wrapped around my waist.
Idiot! You tell Rick to take out his wallet and then you leave that around your waist? Brilliant, Danni. Absolutely brilliant. But there was nothing I could do about it now.
I pushed ahead, planting my left foot and thrusting myself sideways to the right. I could feel the fabric scraping across the rough rock, hanging up, then springing loose again. “Rick?” I said softly.
“Yeah?”
“Bad news.”
“Are you stuck?”
“No. You’re going to have to take me shopping again. I should have picked out jeans with a metal button and not a plastic one.”
He chuckled. “Never a dull moment with you, Danni.”
Somewhere behind us, we heard the soft murmur of voices. I stopped and so did Rick.
“They’re at the junction,” I whispered. “They’ll have to check out the right fork, but barely a minute into it and it ends in a nearly vertical drop. They’ll know we didn’t go that way. Doc will leave Gordo there to stand guard.”
“You really think Doc can make it through here?”
“He’ll donate some blood to the Irish cause, but he’ll make it.”
We said no more as we started forward again.
The rock fall was an easier climb than I remembered. There was enough room for Rick to give me a leg up, and I quickly shinnied up the rest of the way. Rick came up easily by himself. The narrow canyon continued on from where we were, but the top of the rock fall provided a small platform where we could stretch out. I felt like we were in a small cave. It was still pretty dark, but our eyes were adjusting, and I could make out Rick’s shape in the darkness.
“All right,” I said. “We wait here.” My heart was pounding, my mouth was dry, and I felt nauseous. Rick took my hand, and I put my other one over his. “Sorry for dragging you into this,” I said, keeping my voice low.
He said nothing, but I could feel his disapproval in the darkness.
“I mean it.”
“I know you do.”
And then I saw his shape looming closer. Before I could react, he leaned in and kissed me softly on the forehead. As he started to pull away, I tipped my head back. “I think you missed,” I murmured.
This time he took my face in both of his hands, leaned in again, and did it exactly right.
Chapter 66
It took nearly five minutes before Doc reached the bottom of the rock fall. We could hear him coming. We could hear him breathing. We could hear his clothes scraping on the rock. Our eyes were adjusting to the dim light, but when I finally saw his shape fill up the narrow crevasse, I couldn’t tell if he had the pistol with him or not. Best guess was yes.
Both Rick and I were breathing in slow, shallow breaths, hands covering our mouths, so as not to be heard, but even still, Doc stopped right as the slot opened up to give him access to the rock fall. I nudged Rick’s arm.
“Hold it right there,” Rick said. “I have a boulder ready to drop on your head.”
There was a short laugh. “And I have a pistol pointed at your girlfriend’s head.”
I couldn’t tell if he did or not, but the sudden chill I felt told me that he very likely did.
“You put your pistol down,” I said, “and we’ll put down the rock. Then we can talk.”
Doc let the hammer down with a soft click. Rick let the rock fall to the ground.
“So talk.”
“It’s over,” I said. “We give up.”
If he was surprised, I couldn’t hear it in his voice. “And why is that?”
“I thought we could get out of here and escape. The last time my family was in this canyon, we came down from the top. There are four major drops where we had to rappel down. We used deadman anchors and webbing to get down, but we left them in place for others to use, or for when we might came back again. But someone has taken them out. At least on the first vertical. We can’t go any farther.”
“And you propose what?”
I took Rick’s hand. “I’ll surrender to you if you let Rick and the highway patrol officer go. It’s over. I’m exhausted. I can’t do it anymore.”
Silence.
“No other conditions. Just take me to my mother and brother. I want it over with.”
Longer silence. Then, “All right. Ramirez? You stay up there until I call for you to come out. Danni, you come down now. Step past me and head toward the entrance. I’ll have the pistol pointed at you the entire time. You will stay no more than three feet ahead of me. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
I stood up and, with Rick’s help, descended until I was standing next to Doc. I could smell his sweat and the dust on his clothes. I
tensed, remembering what El Cobra had once said about Doc: “He’s not the only one who would love to get his hands on you, so behave yourself.” But he stepped back, letting me move past him as he waved the pistol in my face. “No more than three feet.”
I turned sideways and slipped into the slot, head turned away from him.
At about the halfway point, Raul suddenly yelled, “Lew!” In the closeness of the slot, his voice boomed like a shotgun, and I jumped a little, scraping the skin on one knee.
“Yeah!”
“I’ve got them. We’re coming out.”
“Okay. I’m here.”
Then Doc yelled in Rick’s direction. “All right, kid. You can come out now. But slow.”
“I hear you,” Rick called. “Coming down now.”
As we moved toward the entrance, the light began to grow brighter. In a couple of places, I could have turned my head and looked back if I chose to, but I didn’t want to look at Doc for one second longer than I had to.
I scraped up against the rock wall pretty hard and I felt the fabric of my pants rip and the button fall off.
I panicked for just a moment. I didn’t want to be standing there with my pants falling down and Doc and Gordo looking on. So the moment the slot widened enough for me to reach down, I did so. Just as I feared. The button was gone, and it felt like the remaining material was pretty much shredded.
Since we were nearly to the junction, I worked the pouch out from beneath the waistband. Holding it in one hand and clutching at my pants with the other, I stepped into the area where the two side canyons joined. I glanced back. Doc was only a few feet behind me with the pistol pointing at me.
I squinted at the sudden burst of sunlight, but as I did so, I looked around in feigned surprise. The passageway was empty. No Gordo.
“Lew?” Doc called out.
I looked down and saw that one corner of my shirt was gone along with the two bottom buttons. The waistband of the capris right around the zipper looked like a dog had been chewing on it. But the zipper was still holding and, for the moment, I was okay. Not that I was about to let go and test it.
“Lew!” Doc’s voice was sharper. Louder. No answer. He started muttering under his breath. I heard the words, el baño, which meant “the bathroom.” Doc glanced at me, then did a double take, staring at my left hand. “What are you doing?”
“Stopping my pants from falling off,” I snapped.
“No. In your hand.” He waved his pistol, the bandage on his hand flashing like a semaphore in the sunlight.
“Oh, this?” I held up the pouch.
He gaped at it as though it was something from one of his nightmares, then fell back a step, his other hand coming up as if to shield himself from it.
“How did you get that?” He pointed the pistol at my head.
“Surprise!” I said. “What you and Lew stole wasn’t the real thing.”
“Give it to me!”
“No.”
He cocked the pistol.
“Are sure you really want it?” I said, trying hard to keep my voice steady. “You’ve already got one bad hand.” I put the strap over my shoulder then quickly added. “I’ll give it to El Cobra. No one else.”
“If you so much as reach for it, I’ll kill you. Do you hear me?”
“I do.” And I knew that he meant it.
Just then there was a sound behind us. He whipped around, pistol jerking up. “Lew?”
The sound had come from the right fork. We both peered into it, but we couldn’t see very far inside.
“Lew! Is that you?” Doc called.
“Coming.” A moment later, Lew appeared. He reached out a hand to lean against the wall as he started to descend.
I stepped back to make room for him, a sudden rush of panic hitting me. Lew was where he was supposed to be, but he wasn’t supposed to be alone. Not if Clay had carried out the plan.
“I told you to stay here!” Doc shouted, his face twisted and ugly. It was clear he was not having a good day.
Then I relaxed, trying not to smile. His day was about to get worse.
As Lew squeezed through the narrow place, a head appeared just behind him, along with a rifle barrel aimed at Doc’s chest.
“Drop your weapon!” one of Clay’s agents barked. “Now!”
Too stunned to react, Doc just gaped.
I spun around as the sound of running footsteps reached us. Clay Zabriskie and two more of his agents, along with Officer Shayla Blake, were coming up the main channel, pistols drawn.
“FBI! Drop your weapon!” Clay barked.
I turned around in time to see Doc looking at me in complete shock. I smiled my prettiest smile at him. “I think they mean you.”
Part Ten: Confrontation
Chapter 67
Rick and I stood side by side, watching as they loaded Doc and Gordo into the FBI van. Clay had brought four agents with him. Always the thorough one, he had left the fourth agent with the vehicles to make sure no one came along to complicate matters. Now, three were taking the two captives in the van; the other one would drive the Explorer back.
Officer Blake came over. “Well, I’m off.” She gave me a funny look. “Assuming my car will start.”
“It will,” I assured her.
“I’ve got about a hundred and twenty-five supervisors at Green River waiting for my report. We rarely get this much excitement down here.”
Laughing softly, I asked her, “And what are you going to tell them about the handwriting on your rearview mirror?”
“You tell me,” she said. “What am I going to tell them? What was that? How did you do it? And the car?”
“It’s a long, long story.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Has this got anything to do with our last time together and that speed limit sign?”
“It’s a long, long story.” Rick repeated my words with a smile. “When this is all over, Danni and I would like to buy you lunch, Officer Blake. We’ll tell you the whole thing.” His smile broadened. “But I’m warning you, you’re not going to believe it.”
We turned as Clay came over. He had our two handheld radios. “I think you two will want these back.”
As we each took one, I asked, “What about the four men that are coming up from Bullfrog?”
“We decided it would be better not to take them. They could see us coming and alert El Cobra. This way they’ll know something’s happened to our two friends, but won’t know what. We’ve got to keep out of this—as far as El Cobra’s concerned—for as long as possible.”
I nodded in relief. I was glad to know that Clay was still taking every precaution to keep my family safe.
Rick raised his radio. “I know these have special long-range capability, Clay, but once we get into Iceberg Canyon, it’ll be too narrow for them to carry very far.”
“Right you are, Rick,” Clay said. “That’s why the surveillance team on the cliffs will have a relay transmitter.”
“You think of everything, don’t you?” I said, amazed.
His face slackened. “I didn’t think Raul and Lew would take you guys hostage. That could have been a disaster.” He shook his head. “Officer Blake told me what you did.”
“Not me. The Guardian.”
“Thank the good Lord you had it with you.”
“I already have,” I said fervently.
He turned to Rick. “The bigger problem will be getting those radios past El Cobra and his people. You know they’ll search you thoroughly. If we can’t communicate with you, it’s really going to handicap us.”
It was my turn for a solution. “If the pouch can make Cody and me invisible, I think two small radios shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
“Say what?” Blake said, jerking around.
Clay intervened smoothly. “I’ll join you guys for that lunch and try to help explain that, too. Danni, I put the rifle back in your truck. We don’t care if they find that.”
He held out his hand to Blake. “Offic
er, thank you for all you’ve done today. I’ll write a commendation to your supervisor. We deeply appreciate your help.”
“Yes,” both Rick and I chimed in.
“Thank you.” She flashed a grin. “It’s been fun. It’ll be hard to go back to the normal routine.” She touched the brim of her hat with one finger, slid her finger into a “pistol,” and pretended to shoot it at me. “I’m going to hold you two to that lunch,” she said. Then she chuckled. “Either that, or I’ll have to write up that ticket for Rick being fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit.”
As we watched the two vehicles leave, Doc’s satellite phone rang. Clay picked it up and looked at the number. “It’s him. He’s been calling steadily. Are you ready to talk to him?”
I shook my head.
“Why not?” Rick asked. “You’re going to have to do it sooner or later.”
I stuck my nose in the air and sniffed loftily. “Because I’m going to change clothes first.” And with that I stalked to the truck, climbed up in the back, and started rummaging in my bags. I found the other pair of capris I had bought at Kohl’s and jumped down again. As I passed by the two of them, I raised a finger in warning. “Not a word.”
Smirking, they pretended not to hear.
When I returned a few minutes later. I looked around for a trash barrel to throw away my ruined pants.
“You’re not going to throw those away, are you?” Rick asked.
“I’m not?”
“No, you’re going to take them home and put them in a drawer.” He withdrew the two pieces of nylon cuffs from his pocket. “And you’re going to put these with them. Someday you’ll be Grandmother or Great-Grandmother Danni, and you’ll show these to your grandchildren as you tell them your story.”
I was touched by that. “You’re right,” I said. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
We walked together to the truck. Rick rolled the cuffs inside the jeans and put them beneath the seat of the truck. Then he rolled the radios into a tight ball in one of his shirts before putting them in the bottom of my overnight bag. Just then, the satellite phone rang. We looked at each other as Clay pressed the speaker phone switch, tapped a button, and handed it to me.