Redemption FinalWPF6 7 (12 page)

Gabe slowly withdrew from Uriah, tossed the condom to the
side, and stretched out next the big man. Diane mirrored his movements until
they had Uriah cocooned between them. Brushing a soothing hand over Uriah’s
chest, Gabe leaned on an elbow and looked down at his lover. “You okay, college
boy?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but cupped Uriah’s jaw in his hand and captured
his mouth. His kiss was returned, not with fire, just a sweet press of lips, a lazy
swipe of tongue. When Diane joined them in their kiss, Gabe felt his heart
swell and he blinked against an unfamiliar sting. He draped his arm over
Diane's back and held tight. He wanted this feeling to last forever.

Chapter Eleven

Uriah stretched out his legs and considered his options. He’d
been hiking for hours in a slow, ever-expanding circle around the cliffs that
towered on the east side of their campsite. Looking at the steady light
building in the east and the touch of pink just beginning to bloom in the
pre-sunrise sky, Uriah knew he had to hurry. Using Gabe’s observations from his
reconnaissance on their first afternoon and a process of elimination, they knew
where their shooter would have hidden. Given the harsh landscape, there were
only so many places a sniper could hide and still have a clear shot.

Scrub brush and desert sage were not enough to offer him
protection and that was all that remained between him and where he needed to
be. If their sniper had come back to try again, Uriah would be walking directly
into his line of fire, if he happened to be looking in this direction.

Now that he could see the lay of the land, it was obvious
now someone had been deliberately shooting at them. The question remained
whether one of them was a specific target or was this a more and random act. He
looked to the west as he drank his water and knew there really was no other
choice. He had to take a chance that it was random and hope that the shooter
was already gone. Because there was no way he was going to let Gabe and Diane
hike out tomorrow if there was any possibility at all of shooter aiming in
their direction.

By his reckoning, Uriah had another two miles to circle
around the butte that overlooked their beach. It had to be the place where the
shooter waited for them. Up until now his path across the flats would have been
shielded unless someone had specifically been looking. The way he figured it,
if this was a deliberate attack, then the shooter would be still facing the
beach. Given that no one had shot at him yet odds were pretty good his approach
up until now had been unobserved. With a mental shrug, Uriah stood, brushed the
dust from his shorts and resettled his hydration pack to sit more comfortably
on his shoulders. With a heavy sense of inevitability he started a zigzagging
jog across the last remaining open space. There was no sense in making himself
an easy target if someone really was waiting with a rifle and scope.

****

“God, I wish he’d get back.” Diane pushed at her hair and
winced at how hard it was to summon enough energy for such a small movement,
even in the relatively cool air of the early morning hours. Of course that
might have something to do with their evening activities and the too few hours
of sleep. Gabe grunted from where he leaned back against the cliff wall with
his eyes closed. He’d been sitting like that for over an hour. Still. Was he
calm or just too tired to move? Rather than wake her when it was her turn to
stand watch, he’d been the one to stay up to keep an eye out for trouble from a
possible unseen enemy. 

Now Uriah had been gone since long before sunrise, looking
for signs of that same unseen assailant. Diane was sure all danger was past.
Obviously the no one was just hanging out at the top of the cliff waiting to
take shots each time they emerged. After all, no one had taken a shot since
that first afternoon. She’d argued long and hard that it was a random incident,
most likely as Uriah had suggested, some young kid from the reservation.

Although she’d wanted them to stay together, she’d been
forced to admit they couldn’t stay huddled under the ledge, or glued to the
binoculars looking for signs of movement. It seemed logical that if one of them
was a target, then the shooter had to be familiar with the backcountry pass
process. Since she and Uriah were set to hike out today and Gabe tomorrow, this
would be the likely day for their assailant to return.

Her throat tightened and the breath shuddered into her
lungs. With a raised eyebrow, Gabe looked over at where she sat blinking away
the sudden blur of tears.

“Everything okay, Dee?”

“Yeah… I’m just worried about Uriah, I guess.”

“He’s a big boy, and out of the three of us, sending him was
the best decision. He’s the most fit to hike in this heat, and he seems like he
more than knew what he was doing in the desert terrain.” Gabe pushed himself up
from his slump. 

“Can ask you something, Gabe?” Diane asked. Her heart sped
up a little and she wondered if she was making a mistake.
Was it too soon?

“Sure. Not sure I have any secrets left from you.”

“Last night… That felt… I don’t even know how to explain it.
I felt so much more than I've ever felt. It's always been just sex before, you
know? Last night felt like love. How you know the difference?”

“You’re asking the wrong person, Dee. I’ve never been in
love.” Gabe looked toward the Colorado River and Diane realized he was hiding
his feelings from her.

“Gabe, what is it? What aren't you telling me?”

****

He looked down on the little campsite. He could just make
out the woman's legs inside their cave. It wasn't worth the shot. The one he
wanted was hiding. He'd had to leave them unobserved while he'd gone back to
the park. Too many questions would be raised if he'd not shown up for his
volunteer stint. Now, no one would look for him for the next three days and by
the time they found him, it would be too late. He stroked the barrel of his
rifle, aimed his cross hairs at the woman's thigh and wondered if he'd be able
to hit the femoral artery at this distance.

He lowered the barrel, took a sip of his water, and shifted
his pack to make himself more comfortable. Who knew how long today would take? At
some point the men would come outside and he would have plenty of time to line
a shot and finish what he’d set out to do.

“Why are you doing this?”

Startled at the question, he turned around, squinted into
the sun, and tried to identify who was speaking to him. Then he realized the
wind in his head had brought him a spirit. At first, he thought it was his
father because, after all, the gold had been his secret. A secret passed on by
his own father, Joe’s grandfather. The legend of Glen and Bessie Hyde had been
told for generations. The sad tale of the honeymoon that ended in their
mysterious disappearance in 1928, more than one hundred miles down river from
where Bessie had hidden a satchel of gold coins. The mystery had never been
solved. No one had ever thought to look upriver since she and her husband had
disappeared near river mile two thirty-two.

Of course, no one knew about the coins except his
grandfather. Months after the couple was reported missing, Bessie had returned
alone for her gold and his grandfather had killed her. Bessie hadn’t deserved
the money; it was Joe’s legacy, now.

As was his family duty, he’d kept the secret until the time
had come to use it for good, not evil. Pete. His Pete. He’d come to hurt the
Navajo then learned to love his own heritage. Joe and Pete would have done good
things for their people with the treasure, but first they’d needed to clear the
way, to help Pete escape. His lover had said he was going home to take care of
things and then would return forever.

“I asked why you were doing this,”
the voice said
again.

“You betrayed me,” Joe answered, still squinting at the sun.
“I know the truth now. You aren’t really dead. You lied so you could come here
and steal my treasure. Take your spirit and return to your body, Pete. I saw
your wife, I know you took a white man lover. It’s too late now—you can’t stop
this.”

Turning his back on the spirit, Joe raised the rifle once
again. There was no wind, nothing to interfere with his shot. He might've
missed the first time, but he’d been upset. He would not miss again. His
lover's betrayal could not be tolerated and he would leave no one behind who
could steal his legacy or reveal his secrets.

There was no one visible, but he could see from the play of
shadows that there was movement in the little cave. They were coming out.

“You never should've lied to me, Pete. You promised we could
be together forever. Now, I'm going to make sure that happens.”

****

Moving silently, Uriah approached from the blind side of the
sniper’s rocky shelter. After all the miles and hours, he was less than a mile
from where he started, as the raven flew. It wouldn't be a place where the
casual hiker would ever stumble across. It was technically challenging and with
the shale and loose rock, anyone other than the mountain goat was in danger of
plunging five hundred feet to the canyon floor below.

Further away from the river, sounds carried in this
particular part of the canyon. Uriah heard the man talking to himself. No…to Pete.
Holy hell the man thinks he’s talking to Pete. What the hell does he mean they
can be together forever? Pete is already dead.

Taking a deep breath Uriah steeled himself to look around
the protective rock to get a fix on where the man was standing. He pulled in a
breath held it, then risked a look. Pulling back, he assessed the situation.
The man was on his belly, elbows propped, gun resting on a small boulder. His
face was pressed next to the stock as he sighted through the scope on his
rifle.

Uriah's breath caught in his throat. He knew he had to act
fast. From his position the sniper would be able to see at least a few feet
into their partial cave. He had no idea where Gabe or Diane were, but
eventually one of them would move near the entrance or step out. He released
the safety on Gabe’s gun. He hadn't wanted to bring it…was unsure he could use
it. Now, seeing the man pointing a gun at the people Uriah was pretty sure he
was beginning to love was more than he could take. 

Looking from his own hand gun and back to the rifle, he
realized ordering the man to drop it like they did on TV wasn’t going to work.
Plus, the rifle was already trained on somebody; the prick could pull the
trigger. It wasn't in him to step out and shoot the bastard in the back, but
the people below were counting on Uriah and he wouldn't let them down. Moving
quietly, he scooped up a handful of small rocks.

With one more quick look to make sure the man hadn't moved,
Uriah tossed the rocks ten feet to his left. He heard the brush of sand, the
clatter of metal against stone, and he knew the ruse had diverted the weapon
away from pointing at the cave. He stepped out with the gun griped in both
hands and hoped the other man didn't notice the tremor.

“Put down the rifle. There's nobody here to hurt you— I
won't hurt you, but you have to put down the gun.”

“Pete? They told me you were dead. But you're not dead. You
came to take my gold. And you brought her with you. You lied to me. You said
you loved me.”

“Pete was my brother. My name is Uriah. I'm not Pete. I know
you. Joe, right? I saw you at the ranger station.”

Shaking his head, Joe started to breathe fast. “Don't.
Don't. Don't lie to me. You promised. Never again. I won't believe you. We’re
to be together forever. We’re going to be dead.” Joe's hand started to shake,
the rifle twitched as it turned to aim toward Uriah. Everything seemed to slow.
He watched as the long, slender barrel came up, Joe's finger found the trigger.
His own gun hung heavy in his hand and he knew he stared into the face of his
own death.

“Wait, Joe. Don’t you want to know?” The rifle lowered
fractionally, but Uriah wasn't sure that was much better. A belly shot would
just take longer to die.

“Know what? I spoke with you on Saturday. You said you'd be here.
You said you were leaving your wife for me. I thought you loved me. ”

Realizing he was fighting for his life with a very unstable
man, Uriah took a deep breath before he spoke. He really didn’t want to hurt
him. Whether or not Pete had loved him, his brother had certainly taken
advantage of the man. He was prepared to do just about anything to bring this man
back from the edge of his delusion. “Look at me, Joe. I am not Pete.”

Joe's eyes blinked rapidly and the barrel of the rifle drifted
farther to the right. Uriah took that as a good sign. He started to inch
forward as he kept talking.

“Did you know he had a brother named Uriah? That’s me. I’m
his brother. People say we looked a lot alike. Do you think I look like Pete? He
was older than me.” Uriah risked breaking steady eye contact and turned his
head away so that his hair showed, a long tail hanging behind his back. “See my
hair, Joe? It's long. Pete didn't have long hair. I'm taller than him, too.”

Uriah looked back in time to see Joe lower the rifle even
more and the muscles in his belly began to relax.

Joe’s eyes filled with tears and his whole body seemed to
slump in on itself. “You really aren’t Pete, are you?”

“No, but he
was
my brother, and I did love him. You
should know that he and his wife were getting divorced. He must have been
coming out here to be with you. You don’t need to hurt anybody. Why don’t you
give me the rifle? We can walk back together. Maybe talk a little more about
Pete.”

“Pete’s never coming back,” Joe said, and the tears started
to spill. Uriah walked forward slowly. He would take the gun and wrap his arms
around this poor broken man. Then he could lead him back to their camp and
together the three of them would take him home and give him the help he needed
to heal.