A Hole in the Sky (7 page)

Like the rest of the women in the Lucky Buckle Mine, Susan had been forced to endure the humiliating process many times before, and it never got easier. She kept her eyes forward, gritted her teeth, and tried to ignore Pete Pardo’s rank body odor as he pawed her body and nuzzled a cheek. “Uh-oh,” Pardo said, “this one is carrying concealed weapons. Two of ’em!”

It was an old joke, but Tom Olson never got tired of it, and laughed appreciatively. “You’d better let me check ’em out, Pete. Who knows? Maybe you’re wrong.”

And so it went until both men had groped Susan more
than once and Cooper chose to intervene. “Save some for later, fellas. We’ve got a collapse in Tunnel Four—and Atkins is dead.”

He didn’t mention the women, injured or otherwise, but Susan didn’t expect him to.
“Dead?”
Pardo demanded incredulously. “He owed me half a box of .22s. The bastard.”

“You’d better get going,” Olson put in. Now that the guard knew about the cave-in, he was worried about how Brewster would react if the twosome were delayed.

Susan was ordered to enter the tunnel and Pardo gave her a pat on the fanny as she walked past. A line of dangling lightbulbs led her back to the natural cave where Brewster’s quarters were located. Susan felt the usual sense of fear as she brushed between a pair of makeshift curtains and entered what she thought of as “the lair.” A fitting analogy: Brewster was a beast, and he lived in a cave.

The relatively narrow entrance opened up into an irregularly shaped chamber that was about thirty feet long and twenty wide. The rocky floor was covered with overlapping mismatched rugs. The main furnishings consisted of a black potbellied stove, an imposing desk, and an enormous bed.

At the moment, a prisoner named Corly Posner was sitting on it with her back resting against the mahogany headboard. She was painting her toenails red, and when she looked up, the puffy black eye was plain to see. Though servicing Brewster had its privileges, not the least of which was escaping the sort of fate that had befallen the women in Tunnel Four, it had its risks as well. The warden’s temper being one of them.

Susan’s thoughts were interrupted as a Hudson’s Bay blanket was thrown aside and Brewster entered the cavern. He was wearing a waist-length leather jacket, khaki pants, and a pair of hiking boots. After placing his Fareye
rifle in a rack alongside some other weapons, Brewster removed his jacket and turned to face his visitors. He had dark eyes, a formidable nose, and had chosen to shave his head rather than wear a halo of hair. “Aren’t you supposed to be up in Tunnel Five?” Brewster demanded, as he eyed Cooper.

Cooper’s feet shifted nervously. “Tunnel Four collapsed, sir. Atkins was killed—and what’s left of the crew is trapped.”

Brewster circled the desk and sat in a thronelike chair. “Okay,” he said calmly. “That explains your presence. Why bring
her
along?”

Cooper’s eyes flicked towards Susan and back again. “Inmate Farley believes there’s a way to rescue the crew in Tunnel Four in a matter of hours rather than days.”

“So rather than steal the idea, and claim credit for it, you brought her along to take the blame if I think it’s stupid.”

Cooper seemed to wilt under Brewster’s unblinking stare. “I thought she should have an opportunity to speak for herself,” he said lamely.

The warden laughed contemptuously as his eyes shifted to Susan. She felt as if his gaze were stripping her clothes off. “So, Inmate Farley, let’s hear this idea of yours.”

Susan swallowed the lump in the back of her throat and tried to muster more saliva. Then, careful to keep her sentences short, she told Brewster how the ventilation shaft could be used in a rescue effort. He toyed with an ivory letter opener while she spoke—and nodded when she was through.

“Short and to the point. I like that,” Brewster said, as he studied her. “Some women don’t know when to keep their mouths closed.”

Susan saw Corly flinch out of the corner of her eye. “It’s hard to know for sure,” Brewster continued conversationally, “but I have a suspicion that you might look
pretty good without those overalls. Or anything at all, for that matter.

“So here’s what I want you to do. Accompany Boss Cooper back to Tunnel Five, pull the crew out of Tunnel Four, and report to me. Oh, and one other thing.”

By that time Susan was scared, and sorry she had put her idea forward. What had begun as an attempt to help some fellow inmates had turned into a nightmare. “Sir?”

Brewster jerked his head in Corly’s direction. “Take that piece of shit with you.”

More than two hours had elapsed since the cave-in by the time a tripod was set up over the ventilation shaft and Susan was lowered down through the narrow chimney that connected Tunnel Five with Tunnel Four. She used a claw hammer to bang away at the worst obstructions as the beam produced by her headlamp played across the glittering surface in front of her.

Then she arrived in a circle of light, where three anxious women were waiting to receive her. Mundy’s face was smeared with dirt. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Farley. We owe you.”

“You’d do the same,” Susan replied, and wondered if it was true. “How’s Liddy?”

The other woman shook her head. “She stopped breathing. We couldn’t bring her back.”

“I’m sorry,” Susan said soberly.

“Yeah, we all are,” Mundy replied. “We’ve got a splint on Johnson’s leg. We’ll send her up first.”

They spent the next hour piling rocks over and around Liddy’s body while a succession of women were winched through the shaft to the lateral above. Finally it was Susan’s turn. Her body twirled gently as the rope pulled her upwards. Eager hands were waiting to pluck her out of the hole and unbuckle the harness. A boss named Riley had arrived to take charge. Cooper couldn’t meet
her eyes. “Let’s go, Farley! It’s time to get cleaned up. The warden is waiting for you.”

“Yeah,” Riley put in, as he grinned lasciviously. “Brewster wants to thank you in a very special way!”

Cooper didn’t laugh, but a couple of the women did, which showed how hard some of them had become. Susan was following Cooper towards the elevator when a hand touched her arm. As Susan turned, her light came around to illuminate Corly’s battered face. She blinked.

“Farley?”

Susan paused. “Yes?”

“Be careful. He’s mean.”

“Why did he hit you?”

Corly looked away. Tears cut tracks through the dirt on her face. “I told him that I’m pregnant.”

“I’m sorry,” Susan said softly. “But I have some good news for you.”

Corly wiped her nose with the back of a wrist. “Really? What’s that?”

“Brewster is going to die.”

Corly might have spoken, might have asked how, but Susan was gone by then.

It took Susan about an hour to finish a lukewarm shower, fix her hair as best she could, and apply some color to her cheeks and lips with a borrowed lipstick. Then, certain in the knowledge that she wouldn’t be back, she made her way through the sparsely furnished dormitory. The workday was over, so the other inmates were present, and all of them knew where she was going. Most of the women pitied her. A few no doubt thought she was a slut. Some even envied her, absurd though that clearly was.

But Susan’s thoughts were elsewhere. She wasn’t sure exactly when the decision to kill Brewster had been made. The last time she was groped? When she saw Corly’s
black eye? It hardly mattered. What
did
matter was to do the job quickly.
Always take your first opportunity. Odds are there won’t be a second one
.

That was what she had learned at the Freedom First training facility near Custer, Montana, during the run-up to the assassination attempt on President Grace. The crime for which she had been arrested, tried, and sentenced to a federal penitentiary. Except that facility had been overrun by the stinks—causing the government to send her to Canon City, and then to the mine. So unlike the other inmates, even those convicted of murder, Susan was a
trained
killer. And that could make an important difference.

Taking Brewster out wouldn’t be easy, however; she knew that, and what felt like a lead weight was riding in the pit of her stomach as Cooper waited for her to step off the elevator. Susan was received quite differently now that she had been selected to serve as Brewster’s companion. There were no lewd comments, and no unnecessary physical contact, as Cooper rode the elevator down and Susan was subjected to a perfunctory search.

“Okay,” Pardo said, gesturing towards the tunnel. “It’s time to go to work.”

“Yeah,” Olson agreed. “We’re counting on you to keep the warden real happy!”

The guards were still chuckling as Susan walked the length of the passageway. She pushed one of the shower curtains aside and entered the cavern beyond. Brewster was seated at his desk, oiling the Colt .45. He put the pistol down on a rag next to a handful of gleaming bullets. “Not bad,” he said admiringly. “Not bad at all. And I hear the rescue was a success.”

Susan came to a stop in front of the desk. Her eyes took everything in. That included Brewster, the Colt, and each object on the desk. She spotted a variety of weapons to choose from besides the pistol. An ivory letter opener.
A pair of scissors. Even the ruler had some potential. “Yes, sir,” Susan replied woodenly.

“ ‘Sir’ might be a bit too formal,” Brewster said, as he stood. “I have a first name, you know. It’s Hiram.”

“Yes, sir. I mean Hiram.”

“That’s better,” Brewster said, as he circled the desk. “I like your style. No attitude, no games, no silliness.”

Susan turned to face him so that he couldn’t get between her and the desk. She forced herself to maintain eye contact with Brewster as he ran a knuckle down the curve of her cheek. She shivered. “Are you afraid of me?”

“Yes,” Susan answered honestly, as she turned a couple of degrees to the left.

“Good. If you do what I say, and behave yourself, life could be very comfortable.”

Susan knew that Brewster was going to kiss her, and as their lips met, she forced herself to kiss him back. She even went so far as to open her mouth for him as she completed the half-turn and felt his hands begin to explore her body. The desk was directly behind her now and at least two feet away.

Brewster was kissing Susan’s neck by then—and chuckled as he felt her fingers fumble with his belt buckle. “You are a hot little minx! No messing about! I like that.”

And he was telling the truth, which became quite apparent as Susan pushed his pants down and cupped his genitals. “I want to do something special for you,” she whispered huskily. “Are you ready?”

Brewster grinned. “I was born ready!”

“Really?” Susan inquired sweetly, as she closed a callused hand around his testicles. “Let’s see if you’re ready for
this.
”

Brewster screamed, and his hands went to his groin as he fell over backwards. That was Susan’s cue to turn and snatch the Colt off the desk. First she had to thumb the
loading gate open. Then she had to insert the cartridges while rotating the cylinder. But it was child’s play, really, since she had been taught to fire her father’s .45 at age fourteen, and mastered the weapon shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, Susan could hear Brewster swearing as he battled to regain his feet and hoist his pants up. Did she have time to load four of the six chambers? Or only three? It was a life-and-death decision. Because Brewster was a lot bigger and stronger than she was. And if he got his hands on her, the fight would be over very quickly indeed.

Susan chose to close the gate after inserting three rounds. She turned just in time. Brewster shouted something incoherent and charged. Susan squeezed the trigger and heard an impotent click as the hammer fell on an empty chamber. It was a single-action revolver. So before she could fire the weapon a second time she had to pull the hammer back again. Was there enough time? Or was she about to die?

Brewster was only inches away when the pistol went off. The lead slug punched a hole through his intestines and blew a bloody divot out of his back. He swayed drunkenly, looked down at his belly, and was still trying to inspect the damage when he keeled over backwards.

Susan brought the Colt up and was holding it with both hands as Pardo and Olson charged into the cavern. The men were heavily armed and with only two bullets left, each shot would have to count. Pardo took a slug in the chest, stumbled, and took a nosedive.

Olson fired, missed, and paid the price when a well-aimed bullet smashed through his forehead. His boots left the floor, and he seemed to float briefly, before landing with arms spread. Dust exploded up out of the carpet.

Susan stood there for a moment as gun smoke swirled around her head. Then, conscious of how vulnerable she
was, she circled around behind the desk. Less than a minute later, the pistol was reloaded and ready in her hand as she crossed the room to where the green Hudson’s Bay blanket hung.

After slipping through the doorway, she followed a short tunnel to a wooden ladder. A patch of gray sky was visible above. Brewster had been careful to provide himself with a back door and Susan planned to use it. But not until she returned to the cavern and collected at least some of what she would need in order to survive outside.

She had just reentered the cave, and was about to visit the weapons rack, when Brewster uttered a heart-rending groan. “I’ll bet that smarts,” Susan said unsympathetically. Then she shot him in the head. “Have a nice trip to hell.”

The sky was blue, the highway was gray, and Capelli was running. With each stride, his sixty-pound pack parted company with his sweat-slicked back and hit him. He could just drop it, of course. But what then? How long would he last without food or backup ammo? Although that would be a moot point if the stinks caught up with him. At least a dozen of the creatures were closing in on them including a squad of Hybrids, a couple of Steelheads, and a hulking Ravager. None of which was of any concern to Rowdy, who was loping along at Capelli’s side with his mouth open and his tongue flapping in the breeze.