Deadly Journey (24 page)

Chapter 39

Outflanked

The young man
acted confused, rather than fearful. Bound with duct tape, secured to the base
of a bush, he wasn’t going anywhere soon. Lesson learned from Perez, I patted
him down for weapons. All I found was his iTunes player. Securing his wrists, I
tossed the tape to Leandra.

‘I’ll take over as lookout. Gag him for me.’

‘Not yet. I need to talk to him first. He’s
the only one at the farm who looked after me. He never left my side during my labour.
Listen, they’ve gone inside the barn and closed the door. Can’t we get back in
the crop duster and get the hell away from here and alert the authorities?’

‘Not without refuelling. Besides, we’d be
sitting ducks.’

‘What should we do now?’

‘You question the boy for information about
your daughter. I’ll move to a new position and fire off some shots at the barn
as a diversion to make them think we’ve moved and then come back here. Just one
thing, please keep scanning in all directions. We don’t want anyone getting the
jump on us again.’

More than anything, I was giving myself a
reminder. Three times in a row was beyond a joke, but then I wasn’t a trained
marine. I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out the GPS transmitter.

‘You know the drill. If I don’t come back,
press the button.’

Leandra took hold of the transmitter with
one hand and clasped her other hand in mine.

‘Good luck,’ she said and my hand untwined
from hers, lingering at our fingertips.

‘You too.’

This close to victory, I needed to up my
game. Crawling through the hedgerow and onto a dirt road, I scanned the flat
terrain covering our rear. I doubted even a snake could sneak up on us from
there.

Leandra started her questions as I set off
along the line of bushes.

‘Do you remember me? I was at the farm
having a baby.’

‘Baby
–
Rosa...’

Their voices drifted, mingling with the
rush of leaves in the strong breeze. Birds sang in the bushes. The midday sun
had sucked any moisture from the land. The heat of the day was unforgiving
–
relentless. Clouds of dust whipped up like mini-twisters,
dancing in front of my eyes, the occasional tumbleweed rolling by. After around
thirty yards, I stopped. The sun was high in the sky and to my back. At least I
thought it would blind Squat and his crew. But for now, shielded from the
breeze at the hedgerow, the rays were like laser beams trying to ignite the
hairs on the nape of my neck.

Crawling through the hedge on my belly and
into a ditch, I peered toward the barn. A rusting plough stood between the barn
and my position. The barn door was slightly open, maybe six inches, the gap
appearing as a dark band against the faded gray wood of the structure.

Lining my vision down the barrel of my
assault rifle, I concentrated on the opening and feathered the trigger. When I
lowered my breathing rate, my nerves steadied. A flash of white appeared in the
gap, about the right height for a T-shirt, and I squeezed a single round toward
the target. I remained motionless. The round struck the wall, three or four
inches to the left of the gap. A last-second adjustment at the idea the target
could be someone innocent wasn’t an excuse for my being unable to hit a barn
door.

Muzzle flashes appeared in the gap,
returning fire. The sound of automatic gunfire rounds pinged off the iron plough,
with some rounds swishing overhead, and I ducked back in the ditch and hugged
the ground, tasting the dirt. This time, the shooter hadn’t aimed short.
Bullets ripped through the hedge, showering me in leaves and twigs. It was too
close for comfort, but at least they had a secondary target.

I began to wonder where my head had been
at, returning there. The Zenith STOL had a short landing profile that on rough
ground, I could have set it down anywhere near civilization. All I would have
had to do was phone home to let everyone know I was safe, alert the authorities
to take down Squat, and find out what had happened to Leandra’s daughter. The
vision of Leila and her family lying dead in a heap rolled through my mind, and
reminded me why I was there.

I looked to either side along the drainage
ditch. As much cover as I had, I still felt exposed behind and on both sides. I
had only seen the three of them and I had one tied up, but that wasn’t to say
there weren’t more inside.

I doubted they would risk a full frontal
attack and tried to put myself in their mindset. The barn was a wooden
structure. It wouldn’t take a genius to work out that they could remove some
planks and exit from the back and into the woods, then simply hightail it out
of there. Then again, this was Squat. Somehow, I didn’t think he would be the
type to run, at least not with the comfort of an automatic rifle and ammunition
at his command.

I raised my rifle over the ridge of the
ditch, this time aiming blindly in the direction of the barn door and ducked
back. There was no return fire this time.

I was nervous about them not firing back.
They obviously had my position marked. If they hadn’t run, then I guessed they
were going to try out-flanking me. No sooner had that thought passed and I had
decided to return to Leandra than I saw a figure dart behind the engine block
of the pickup. It was parked thirty yards along the hedge to my right and next
to the gate. Easing back under the hedge, I could see enough through the cover
of leaves to keep a view of the pickup.

All my thoughts turned to a prayer that
Leandra had finished her questions and was alert to everything around her.
There was another burst of fire from the direction of the barn. I stayed focused
on my right flank. The figure darted from behind the vehicle out of my sight
through the gate. Their attempt at distraction didn’t work. I switched the
rifle over to three rounds and turned under the bush only to snag my pants on a
branch.

He wouldn’t need to cover the thirty yards.
All he would need to do would be to rake my position.

Chapter 40

The Challenge

Lying in the
hedgerow ditch, my pants were still snagged on a branch. Not daring to break
the twig, or to move, for fear of alerting my stalker, my body acted like an
amplifier. Every breath and beat of the heart sounded like a beat box with
sounds exiting woofer and tweeter speakers at full volume. Remaining
motionless, I peered through the leaves, training the barrel of my rifle in
Sidekick’s general direction. Another burst of automatic gunfire from behind me
and in the direction of the barn created enough commotion for me to break the
branch, releasing my pants.

Snatching my hand back to the barrel, I
caught a fleeting sight of a shadowy figure through a gap in the foliage, too
late to get a clear shot. Instinctively, I melded into the ditch and ducked.
Not a second too late, I was taking evasive action, rounds peppering my
position from the front; one bullet flying so close it almost parted my hair
–
then click.

More shots from the direction of the barn
and I used the sound to mask a change of position. Like a crab, I scrambled
along the ditch. My elbows and knees dug in, carrying me forward, cradling my
rifle. Heavy breathing aside and with my heart pumping crazily, the air was
still when I came to rest
–
that is, apart from the
metallic noises. When I peered through the base of a bush, there he was,
kneeling in the dirt road, frantically slapping the loading mechanism of his
rifle and then re-clipping his magazine. I took steady aim at his chest.

‘Drop your weapon.’

He glanced upward, and raising his rifle, I
squeezed the trigger. Three rounds hit him in rapid succession, ripping at his
T-shirt in close order. He keeled over, his blood forming a pool.

‘That’s for Leila and her family, bastard,’
I said in a mumble through gritted teeth.

More gunfire erupted from the direction of
the barn. Spinning around, I dropped to the ground and then scrambled back
through a gap in the hedge and into the ditch. I could see Squat and four of
his men were advancing, firing from the hip toward my original position. A
single shot from my left and one of the men dropped, clutching his chest, the
others freezing, except for Squat at their rear. He ran back to the barn door
and closed it behind him, leaving those remaining to dart behind the stack of
barrels. It had to have been Leandra who fired the shot.

They continued to spray rounds in my
general direction. Switching my rifle to automatic, I waited for a lull and
then, raising my head, I poked my automatic over the ditch and sprayed the
barrels with rounds. Aviation fluid spilled out from the bullet holes. I fired
another burst. One of the barrels exploded, taking off like a rocket and
landing on the barn roof, setting it ablaze, and rolled off into the other
barrels, leaving a stream of flames in its path. I looked on with my jaw gaping
as another barrel exploded and then another. The entire barn was quickly
ablaze. Figures ran around, engulfed in flames, their fate sealed. One by one,
they dropped to the ground, thrashing at first, then motionless, their clothes
still flaming. With the breeze drifting in my direction, I retched at the smell
of burning flesh mixed with the odour of aviation fuel.

I backed out from the ditch, through the
hedge and ran for all I was worth along the dirt road toward Leandra, to the
sound of more explosions.

‘Leandra, don’t shoot, it’s me.’

I dove under the hedgerow and into the
ditch alongside Leandra. Short of breath, I sucked in some air and I looked in
the direction of the barn in time to see the entire roof lift at the sound of
yet another explosion. The roof fell back and then collapsed. A column of
flames and smoke rose into the sky with the burning wood crackling.

‘That’s done it now. I wasn’t expecting
Squat to go to his own hell so quickly. Did the boy tell you anything? I can’t
see there being anyone left here to give us answers.’

I turned to look at Leandra when she failed
to answer. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She sat with her back hunched
against the ditch, her arm limp and holding the Glock loosely in her hand,
resting it on her lap. Her eyes seemed to plead for comfort. Wriggling over to
her, I put my arms around her and drew her to me.

‘Hey, I understand. The first time you
shoot someone is always the worst, and it wasn’t a pretty sight watching those
men burn.’

She pulled away from my hold. ‘It’s not
that... It’s—’

‘It’s what?’

There was a brief silence. I glanced at the
boy. She hadn’t gagged him, but she had connected his earphones to his iTunes
player. He was smiling and bobbing his head to the music, apparently oblivious
to all that had happened around us.

‘Rosa is dead.’

Stunned, despite what Perez had said, I
wasn’t ready for that answer. I turned sharply and looked directly into her
moist eyes. Leandra’s expression was solemn and her bottom lip trembled.

‘What
–
oh no. How?’

I drew her to me once more as she sobbed
and I kissed the top of her head.

Her voice faltered and was muffled, with
her head buried in my chest. ‘She was stillborn. I often wondered. I
–
I never did hear her cry. The guy you called Squat, he
–
he said to put her in the garbage.’ I gave her a squeeze. ‘Sanchez
here
–
he took her on his cycle to Saint Mary’s Church
cemetery in a nearby village and buried her in a flower bed next to a cypress
tree, after dark. He...’

Her words turned to wails. If I could have,
I would have sold my soul right there and then to make things different for
her. I blinked an eye and released a tear.

‘Shush there, you can tell me later. We
can’t stay here. Really, we need to get away from here to a phone. I hope we
can get the pickup going. There’s not much chance of refuelling the crop duster
now, is there?’

Leandra drew her head back and attempted a
smile. I let go of her and she lifted her T-shirt to dry her eyes.

‘What about Sanchez?’ Leandra asked.

‘We’ll take him with us and release him
near his farm. Squat and his cronies aren’t a danger to us now.’

Leandra took several deep breaths. Her eyes
misted with grief, but drawing on an inner strength, she somehow managed to
function. I had to admire her tenacity. After I passed her my knife, she sliced
at the duct tape binding Sanchez and released him. Looking on, watching her
comfort the boy, I wished it were in my power to take her home with me so she
could recover. Somehow, I felt emptiness inside at knowing we would soon be
heading our separate ways. A shrug of the shoulders dispelled the idea. All my
thoughts turned to getting home.

‘Stay alert,’ I said.

I felt an urge to hug her and shout “we’re
free” but a dance in triumph wouldn’t have been appropriate. For the life of
me, I couldn’t separate the relief that we were now on a home run, from the
sadness in my heart at Leandra’s plight and one she would have to face alone.

Leandra handed back the knife and ushered
Sanchez through the hedge and onto the dirt road. I took one last look over at
the barn in time to see the front give one last heave and collapse inward.
Sparks rose into the smoke, and the flames spiralled with a roar. The fumes had
thickened the air with a rancid taste that stuck at the back of my throat.

By the time I had worked my way out of the
ditch, Leandra was hopping down the dirt road, with Sanchez holding her arm and
helping her to keep her balance.

‘Wait for me.’

I caught up and walked ahead. The body of
Squat’s sidekick lay motionless on the road. His pool of blood had soaked into
the dirt, leaving a dark stain. I stopped and waited for Leandra and the boy to
catch up. Leandra averted her gaze from the corpse. Sanchez let go of her arm
and kicked the body.

‘Bad man. He did bad things to me.’ That’s
the way I translated his words.

I pulled him back. ‘Keep moving,’ I said,
and I took Leandra’s arm. We walked on until we reached the pickup.

‘Kurt, I can’t walk any further.’

I helped her to sit near the gate. ‘Watch
the boy,’ I said and opened the pickup door. ‘Damn, there’s no key. Wait there.’

I walked back to the body in the road and
used the toe of my boot to turn him over. The vision of him gunning down Leila
and her family flashed through my mind. I had no remorse at having killed him.
I just felt relief that the scumbag wouldn’t be around to end anyone else’s
life. Stooping, I fished in his pocket, located a set of car keys, and picked
up his rifle. Jogging back to the pickup, I wiped my bloodstained hand on my
pants.

Leandra held her ankle and winced. ‘It’s
starting to swell. It could be broken.’

‘Hopefully we’ll find a clinic.’

Over at the pickup, I yanked the door open
and climbed onto the driver’s seat, setting my rifle on the passenger seat; I
stowed the other rifle under the seat. I fumbled to insert the key into the
ignition, but it didn’t fit. My eyes darted around the dash and I pulled down
the sun visor, hoping to find a spare key.

I jumped when Leandra screamed.

‘Looking for these, American?’ Squat asked,
dangling a set of car keys.

Leandra’s face appeared in the mirror as he
dragged her to her feet by the hair. ‘Put your hands where I can see them, or
she dies. Move out of the pickup real slow.’

My automatic might just as well have been
the other side of the field, rather than sitting next to me.

‘I said, out of the pickup and keep your
hands where I can see them
–
now. Then move to the
tailgate.’

Slipping out of the driver’s seat, I walked
to the tailgate and stood facing him, shaking with rage. Squat grinned,
sidestepped over to Leandra’s gun lying on the grass, and toe-poked it out of
reach.

‘Perez isn’t going to like it if we’re
dead. The girl’s a ticket to his source of your cocaine,’ I said.

‘Well, now, you’re assuming I’ll own up to
killing you and your girlfriend, here.’

His reply confirmed what I hoped. The news
of Perez’s death hadn’t reached him. ‘Oh, I think he’ll find out. Can you
gamble on him not knowing?’

By his expression, he was calculating the
odds. He pulled at Leandra’s hair, tilting her head to one side and rasped his
tongue along her neck. Her face contorted and she scrunched her eyes closed.

‘Get off me, you animal.’

‘I’ll show you an animal.’

Releasing her hair, he mauled at her
breast. The young boy looked at Squat, horrified.

‘No harm in tasting the goods before I send
you back.’

He grabbed her hair again. Infuriated, it
took all my willpower not to lunge at him. But someone else was more incensed
and less restrained. The boy grabbed Squat’s leg and took a bite at his calf.
Squat grimaced, let go of Leandra’s hair and smashed the butt of his rifle into
the boy’s head. Then Squat showed the boy the barrel end of his automatic
rifle.

Leandra dug her elbow into Squat’s
potbelly, to the sound of an empty chamber as he squeezed the trigger.

I was already on him, tearing Leandra to
one side. It was too late. Squat sideswiped and smashed the stock of his rifle
into Leandra’s temple and stepped back. She screamed long and loud and fell to
the ground. Surging forward, I slipped my leg between and behind his legs as
both my palms smashed into his upper chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
In an attempt to subdue him, I dove on top of him. He suckered me in one fluid
movement, lifting a leg, digging his boot into my midriff and launched me over
him. Rolling over, I jumped to my feet. For someone so overweight, his agility
surprised me as he too sprang to his feet, drawing his machete. I pulled out my
knife and we circled. He glanced away and, following his line of sight, I could
see Leandra’s gun lying by the gate.

Our eyes followed each other and I cursed
inwardly at my height. His low centre of gravity made him an awkward opponent.
Not only that, but his blade gave him the reach advantage. Taking deep breaths,
I emptied my mind and concentrated on his every move and body language.

We continued to circle and jab at fresh
air. Only one of us was going to come out of this alive.